Take Off to the Great White North

[pinto vortando]

Thnx! Haha yea Thunder Bay...makes perfect sense.

I'm taking a liking to CW...I seem to catch on quick...my father was a HAM...electrical engineer and he was pretty much exclusively CW Dx. He was always taking the sweepstakes...

So I'm enjoying this...I like Morse code. I'm taking a liking to it.

And hell I'm not doing bad! So far I have not misidentified CW traffic. This is right up my alley. I swear--i'll be proficient soon enough!

 just wanted to thank ya for the advice and especially the CW practice frequencies!

 and btw I was hearing sum of these NDBs just now...

362 KHz 'SB'...Sudbury, ON   

I tell ya tho...I'd love to be in Europe with the LW. Is North American LW pretty much just beacons? Does anyone talk in this range?

Anyway I'm pickin up Morse fast. I'm a musician. I know my mother always said she couldn't tell the diff between a dot and a dash. Weird!

Thnx again for your help! I'll be monitoring the NDBs I'll check back with you guy! peace!

Being a musician, CW (Morse) will probably come naturally to you.  Worked with an engineer at a TV station once a while ago who could easily copy 30+ wpm.  He also had a night time gig at a neighborhood bar as the piano player.  This guy could play anything you cared to mention off the top of his head... amazing.

There is no LW broadcasting in the U.S.  Pretty much limited to Europe and Africa.

Summer is not the best time for LW DXing.  Too much T-storm static in the air.  However, beacons can still be heard.  Early morning a couple of hours before sunrise is usually best.
Try putting your 750 in SSB mode and tune very slowly and listen very carefully.  Headphones are also a big help as many of the signals are very faint.

Plug an external antenna into that jack on the ferrite bar.  You will be able to hear many more beacons.

Here are some commonly heard beacons that should be copyable from your location with a good antenna:
245  YZE    Gore Bay  ON
276  YEL    Elliot Lake  ON
328  YTL    Big Trout Lake  ON
329  YHN   Hornepayne  ON
346  YXL    Sioux Lookout  ON
379  DL     Duluth  MN
382  YPL    Pickle Lake  ON
400  CI      Sault Ste. Marie  MI

[pinto vortando]

Hmm...if the NDBs  are transmitting 360°....not pointed anywhere in particular...why are they called "non-directional" beacons instead of "omni-directional" beacons?

Good question...  have wondered about this myself.  Apparently a matter of semantics.  Nondirectional and omnideirctional essentially mean the same thing in that the signal is transmitted equally in all directions.  In actual practice, a low band NDB transmits a signal in all directions but no directional information is contained on the signal.  The automatic direction finder (ADF) in the aircraft along with the associated loop and sense antennas figures out the direction to the station and drives a pointer needle on an instrument that points the direction to the station.  A VHF Omni station (VOR) also transmits a signal equally in all directions but directional information is placed on the signal.   The omni receiving equipment in the aircraft can tell which radial "to" or "from" the station that the aircraft is on.  Flying using a NDB requires considerably more skill than that required to use a VOR as it is much more difficult to correct for wind drift when using just a NDB.  When using a VOR the pilot just has to keep the aircraft on the VOR radial.  With the NDB, there is no radial.  Although both NDBs and VORs transmit equally in all directions, the subtle difference is that the NDB transmits no directional information whereas the VOR does. Both NDBs and VORs are gradually disappearing as GPS replaces them.

Anyway, hope this all isn't too confusing.  There are plenty of books and information on the internet that can explain this way better than me. 

 

[[tRMZ]]

The beacons send the Morse slowly enough that you can write down the dots and dashes and decode it later.  In fact, most pilots don't know Morse.  The dots and dashes are printed out for them on various navigational charts next to the beacon location.  However, learning Morse (called CW by Hams) can be rewarding.  Go to the ARRL website and look up the W1AW code practice schedule.  They transmit code practice sessions every evening on various frequencies.  They put in a good signal here usually on 40 meters 7047.5 khz.  Put your 750 in SSB mode and fine tune in the code with the BFO knob.

NDB stands for "Non-Directional Beacon" which actually means that the beacon transmits in a pattern equally in all directions.  They are used for aeronautical navigation.  The aircraft is equipped with a radio called an ADF (automatic direction finder) that when tuned to the beacon frequency drives an instrument with a pointer that points the direction to the station.  This technology has been around for a long time and has been largely superceded by newer technologies the most recent being GPS.  Therefore, many NDBs have been and are being phased out.  Enjoy them while you can.

That beacon QT that you are hearing is a Canadian across the Lake from you located in Thunder Bay Ontario.  It actually transmits on 332.  From your location you are well positioned to be able to hear lots of Canadian beacons.  Fortunately, the Canadians have not been phasing out their beacons as much as in the U.S.  Often, the NDB is the only navigational aid available at many very remote Canadian airstrips. 

However, you will need a good antenna to get the most out of your 750.  That rotatable ferrite will pull in only the strongest nearest signals.  The nice thing about the 750 though, as you have noticed, is the ability to connect an external antenna to the 3.5 mm jack on the ferrite bar.  Go to the Universal Radio website and get a mono-mini to SO-239 adapter (their part #1619) that will plug into the 3.5 mm port.  Get a pre-assembled RG-8X coax with PL-259 connectors on each end.  Universal sells them in various lengths from 25' to 100'.  The coax will run from the adapter to your antenna.  My suggestion would be the  EF-SWL antenna (Universal #2205).  Or you can homebrew your own antenna with whatever wire you may have around.  All kinds of antenna plans on the internet.  Just be sure to disconnect the antenna when not in use to protect from lightning damage.  (btw, you can also use that EF-SWL antenna for shortwave listening on your 750... get adapter Universal #2122 and connect to the BNC connector labelled SW on the right hand side of the 750 and make sure the INT/EXT antenna switch is in external EXT). 

Hope this helps get you started.  Any questions, just ask.

Hey buddy this is TOTALLY awesome advice, especially regarding EXT antenna to connect...honestly I've been trying to figure that out. The adapters and the coax and all this...but now u gave me superb advice and I thank you very much. Even including item # for some of the equipment? Thanx man!

[[tRMZ]]

I'm just learning Morse...last night I copied 382 KHz. ..listed here as Iroquois Falls, ON...

on the list here I read that the CW says 7P...but I think I heard 'YPL'.

Do u know if that's correct?

[jFarley]

Yes; YPL is correct, and is also on 382 kHz.  7B has an offset of ~1015 Hz, while YPL (the dominant Canadian on this freq) has offsets of approx +/- 400 Hz.

The best most up to date NDB listing can be found at: https://www.classaxe.com/dx/ndb/rna/signal_list

Here there are very good search capabilities to help you ID what you hear, and this is an invaluable resource for the NDB DXer.

If you are interested in being a part of the global NDB community, I suggest subscribing to the NDB list group, which can be found at: https://groups.io/g/ndblist

joe

[pinto vortando]

Given your location you probably heard YPL.  It puts out a good signal.  In fact, at night it covers the more local to me XU London ON on the same freq.
Try www.dxinfocentre.com.  Lots of good stuff there including a list of NDBs. 

[pinto vortando]

Quebec in here this morning 1 1/2 hours before sunrise:

338  ZEM   Eastmain  QC
340  YY     Mont Joli   QC
344  YGV   Harve St. Pierre  QC
351  YKQ   Ft. Rupert  QC
366  YMW  Maniwaki  QC
373  2Q     Mt. Laurier  QC

edit:  just occurred to me that YY and YGV would have been in daylight

Couple more early this morning 7-23-18:

360  PN    Port Menier  QC
373  YXK  Rimouski  QC

[pinto vortando]

Noisy conditions early this morning, lots of T-storm QRN as the WX map showed lots of storms mostly across the southern and eastern States. 
Heard only a few beacons in Ontario, all fairly local.  So was quite surprised to hear 206  QI  Yarmouth  NS in here with a rather nice signal.
FWIW, a nearly 900 mile path, most of it would have been in twilight.

[pinto vortando]

260  YAT Attawapiskat ON and 260  UFX St. Felix deValois mixing in the heavy QRN this morning.
Also was able to pull 289  YLQ LaTuque QC and 300  Ogoki Post ON out of the DGPS band din.

[pinto vortando]

Band was very quiet early this morning.
385  QV  Yorkton  SK  had a good signal in here.

[pinto vortando]

Pulled these out of the DGPS band this morning:

289  YLQ   Latuque  QC
290  QR    Regina SK
291  9Q    Amos  QC
300  YOG  Ogoki Post  ON
305  YQ    Churchill  MB
317  ZZR  Trenton  ON
317  ZMX  Montreal  QC

[pinto vortando]

Hat Trick !

Three NDBs at Hamilton  ON  heard this morning:

221  HM
266  ZHM
397  ZHA

[pinto vortando]

Fall season conditions continue to improve with less QRN.
Some Canadians heard here this weekend that are not received here too often:

206  QI    Yarmouth  NS
209  IB    Atikokan  ON
212  SJ    St. John  NB
244  DG   Chute des Passes Dangereuses  QC
305  YQ    Churchill  MB
323  KR    Schefferville  QC
344  ZSB  Sudbury  ON
350  DF    Deer Lake  NL
362  SB    Sudbury  ON
371  GW   Great Whale River  QC

Propagation was especially good to the East with loud sigs from the Maritimes.

362 SB usually comes in here strong day and night... it was included because
the other beacon there, 344 ZSB, is rarely heard here

[[tRMZ]]

11:45z WEBEQUIE 355 KHZ 'YWP'

11:50z INTERNATIONAL FALLS, MN
353 KHz 'IN'

Also I'm copying good ol' DULUTH, MN...379 KHz 'DL'.

Btw I'm actually geographically closer to WINNIPEG than I am to DETROIT! like 15 miles closer

[[tRMZ]]

Fall season conditions continue to improve with less QRN.

Yeah I should say so! I haven't listened in a few months...right now atm I hear NDBs all over the place! woot!