More Navigational Beacons

CA to WA1LOU

Before I went to bed last night, I tuned down the navigational beacon longwave band and logged six new ones:

BX on 220 kc transmitting 2 kW from Lourdes de Blank Salon, Quebec, 1005 miles to the northeast

QY on 263 kc transmitting 24 watts from Sydney, Nova Scotia, 718 miles to the east-northeast

YHR on 276 kc transmitting 500 watts from Chevery, Quebec, 881 miles to the northeast

NM on 278 kc transmitting 15 watts from Matagami, Quebec, 606 miles to the north-northwest

CA on 281 kc transmitting 1 kW from Cartwright, Newfoundland, 1111 miles to the north-northeast

YTA on 409 kc transmitting 13 watts from Pembroke, Ontario, 359 miles to the north-northwest

Nice thing about chasing navigational beacons is that as soon as you hear one, you can identify it because all it transmits is its callsign over and over again.

As usual lately, equipment used was an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

F8

Victoriaville Airport

After feeding the cats at 0900 UTC, instead of going back to bed, I checked the AM band, but found nothing interesting. So I tuned to the navigational beacons and heard a half dozen beacons I had logged before including ML in Monroe, Louisiana, on 392 kc, 1232 miles away.

I heard a very weak beacon on 384 kc, so I hung in there for awhile and finally heard F8, a new logging from Victoriaville, Quebec, transmitting 25 watts, 310 miles to the north.

Equipment used was an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

This Day in History… Transatlantic Cable Service

Better late than never...

On August 16, 1858, the first message was sent via the transatlantic cable.

The telegraph was the first device to send messages using electricity. Samuel F. B. Morse is credited with inventing the telegraph. He first demonstrated the telegraph in 1837.

Read the rest of the story here.

Bear III

Late Friday afternoon, my daughter yells out that there is a bear in our back yard. Sure enough... I look out the ham shack window and there is a black bear walking around the premises.

This is my third bear sighting here at the WA1LOU QTH on the top of Compounce Mountain and I have seen evidence of other visits in the past. It sure makes life interesting and for the next few days, I will make sure that all is clear before I go outdoors.

8 at 0800

Instead of recording the 0900 UTC top-of-hour, I switched to 0800 UTC and logged eight new stations!

WMSA on 1340 kc in Massena, NY, transmitting 910 W, 246 miles to the north-northwest

WASR on 1420 kc in Wolfeboro, NH, transmitting 137 W, 161 miles to the north-northeast

WAZN on 1470 kc in Watertown, MA, transmitting 3.4 kW, 104 miles to the northeast

WUVR on 1490 kc in Lebanon, NH, transmitting 640 W, 145 miles to the north-northeast

WSMN on 1590 kc in Nashua, NH, transmitting 5 kW, 107 miles to the northeast

CHRN on 1610 kc in Montreal, PQ, Canada, transmitting 1 kW, 266 miles to the north

WNRP on 1620 kc in Pensacola, FL, transmitting 1 kW, 1108 to the miles SW

WPLA on 1670 kc in Dry Branch, GA, transmitting 1 kW, 845 miles to the SW

Using an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.