HFU HF Underground
Loggings => Longwave Loggings => Topic started by: ratroo on December 23, 2012, 0516 UTC
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I scan longwave every so often and besides some very faint morse code, I've heard absolutley nothing. The morse code was on freq. 202 at about 430utc on 12-22. Anybody ever hear anything on the longwaves??
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Yeah, hear a lot of NDBs from around 200 to 420 or so, then a few more from 510-529, including NAVTEX on 518.
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Yeah. Not much going on there. Not even worth scanning, unless you know Morse code.
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Yeah. Not much going on there. Not even worth scanning, unless you know Morse code.
*gasp*
HERETIC! >:(
*beats silly with NERF bat*
http://www.lwca.org has info on experimenters down there :)
Peace!
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Conditions were decent earlier when I checked. I heard European broadcasters on 162, 171 & 183 KHz. On the best nights I've had audio on most of the Euro broadcast channels.
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I forgot to check the LW euro broadcasts last night :(
Generally only a handful of nights per year that I can hear them.
Also, Algiers on 153, and BBC on 198. 198 has a powerful NDB in North Carolina (DIW) that makes things difficult for me.
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I've looked for LW & MW Euro stations, but the most I get is an occasional weak carrier in the waterfall on MW. Never strong enough for audio. Have yet to see anything on LW from there.
And there is also http://www.500kc.com (http://www.500kc.com)
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I'm very new to all of this so I'm still trying to get the hang of things. I'm using a Tecsun pl 660. Refmo I bet that NDB you are talking about is what I heard though, around the 195-205 range. Was strongest for me at 202. So I'm guessing if its a non directional beacon, that its not for aircraft? What would the purpose of it be then??
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NDB's are for aviation navigation. The signal has no inherent directional info. The aircraft has a specialized antenna/receiver to determine the direction to the signal.
More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-directional_beacon
Aircraft also often tune to AM broadcast stations with their NDB receiver for use in navigation.
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Thanks for the info refmo. The one you were saying was in North Carolina I bet is what I heard.
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Used to fly and used the ADF for listening to AM broadcast stations all the time. Even used the AM broadcast stations for navigation (unofficially).
One beacon I used a lot was Kenie (AA) on 365 kHz. To this day (20+ years later), still tune in to hear the ol' friend sending AA out to the world.
Interesting thing... listened for our two local beacons, Hopey (PPI) on 400 kHz and Vagey (AP) on 338. Found Hopey going strong, but only thing I hear on 338 is SHL. Its in Sheldon, SD.
Looks like Vagey went away, as don't see it on the sectional.
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Ill take a look at that sectional map and start printing and logging. LW is the band that I really know the least about. I did do some graveyard dxing on MW for a short bit around 0500utc this morning. Got KMOX out of St. Louis. That's a good distance from here. That was interesting.
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I actually started learning Morse code for the purpose of logging beacons, mainly NDB's! Overnight around here, I get tons of them on LW, mainly Quebecois and Ontarian signals, but quite a few locals as well. When I'm home, Monah "MS" in Madison blasts in, for good reason, and "UNU" out of Juneau and "RYV" in Watertown are pretty clear. Here, Kooky "AQ" out of Appleton can be loud, but isn't always. I've only managed one Iowan and one Michigan NDB each so far, and amazingly caught a Tennessee one on the extreme low end of MW one night in the recent past.
I would absolutely love to be able to catch a Euro or African broadcaster on LW, but haven't managed it yet. Much of what I hear as far as broadcast stations go are either harmonics or unintentional LW broadcasts of local stations. An-noy-ing!
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As of late have been spending more time down there seeing what's going on.
Down around 200-220, heard a couple of NDBs deep into Canada (hundreds of miles north of here) and they were coming in better than the local beacon.
On 518 kHz are NAVTEX stations. Bunch from around the US & Canada and I've been able to get Bermuda & Greenland.
Down in VLF, can easily hear a very strong USN station in LaMoure, ND on 25.2 kHz. A couple of other USN stations from Washington (state) and Maine on 24.0 & 24.8 kHz. There's another on 40 kHz. Plus the venerable WWVB on 60 kHz.
SAQ, a very old transmitter over in Sweden will be pumpin' out the dits on 17.2 kHz starting at 0800Z on 12/24/2012. They'll fire up the ol' fella at 0730Z to get it warmed up.
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimeton_VLF_transmitter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimeton_VLF_transmitter)
http://www.alexander.n.se/transmissions.htm (http://www.alexander.n.se/transmissions.htm)
There's a whole world beneath the AM broadcast band.
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I've thought about learning Morse code, I think it would be beneficial. I'm going to try to fire up the Tecsun tonight and scan some. I hate cold weather and I'm not standing outside to do it, even tho I know it would be better lol. Everybodies comments have been helpful and I appreciate it. Looking forward to learning more and sharing my interests with people who have the same interests.
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Here in Newfoundland I hear quite a number of NDB's as well as a number of broadcast stations on Longwave.
Some of these include Luxembourg on 234 England on 198, Iceland on 189, Poland on 225 , Monaco on 216
Germany on 183, France on 162 and Morocco on 171, and Ireland on 252
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You can get *Monaco*? Now I'm really envious! I've been trying for Monaco on shortwave since April, no luck. I'd have no chance of catching them on longwave at all.
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0500z LW bandscan through the Euro channels:
153: Strong carrier but no describable audio.
162: Bad QRM here, but audio poking through from France.
171: Spine chilling exotic music from Morocco, I enjoy this one the most.
183: Decent audio from Germany.
189: Iceland in and out with music.
198: Weak talk from BBC.
As usual with these stations, sometimes you need to park it on a frequency for a bit as the fading on LW tends to be looong.
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As usual with these stations, sometimes you need to park it on a frequency for a bit as the fading on LW tends to be looong.
Yep!
That's why common LowFER modes are QRSs-60 and 120 ;)
Peace!
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For copying code on longwave, all you need is a code chart, and write down the dits and dahs, and then correlate what you heard with the chart. You don't really need to know the code well, although it helps.
I myself don't listen to the longwaves much. Lately it's just been the AM band for me.
I probably should get back into it and log some beacons before they all leave the air.
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Speaking of NDB's, I caught a new one for me last night. YPH, out of Inukjuaq, Quebec. LDM in Ludington, Michigan was also coming in beneath UNU in Juneau, which is fairly unusual for this location. Must've been just the right sort of conditions.
I don't know if anyone is interested or not, and I should probably start an entirely new thread for this, but here are the NDB's I've managed to snag since I first started exploring longwave in late April. I've got twice as many Ontarians as almost any other!
AQ, Kooky - Appleton, Wisconsin
CI, Koloe - Sault Saint Marie, Michigan
EOK, Keokuk, Iowa
GW, Jarpik - Kuujjuarapik, Quebec
LDM, Ludington, Michigan
LYQ, Morrison, Tennessee
MRJ, Mineral Point, Wisconsin
MS, Monah - Madison, Wisconsin
NM, Matagami, Quebec
OS, Pober - Oshkosh, Wisconsin
QT, Thunder Bay, Ontario
RYV, Rock River - Watertown, Wisconsin
SB, Sudbury, Ontario
UNU, Juneau, Wisconsin
YAT, Wapisk - Attawapiskat, Ontario
YFM, La Grande, Quebec
YHN, Hornepayne, Ontario
YKQ, Waskaganish, Quebec
YLD, Chapleau, Ontario
YMW, Maniwaki, Quebec
YPH, Inukjuaq, Quebec
YPL, Pickle Lake, Ontario
YQA, Muskoka, Ontario
YTL, Big Trout Lake, Ontario
YXL, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
YY, Mont Joli, Quebec
YYU, Kapiskasing, Ontario
YZE, Gore Bay, Ontario
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Very cool list! Thank you.
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Euro BC stations are fun to log. Usually after 0600 UTC you can start logging them fairly easy. An hour after taking this vid with only my 80m dipole, many of these stations are stronger to far stronger now. Should have waited ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iyygjCvGb4
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Euro broadcasters are coming in on just about all the Euro broadcast channels right now - even 177. Good LW conditions tonight - many are very strong.
0742z: I have Iceland on 189 coming in right now on the barefoot DX-440 - wow!!!
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I would love to be able to get some of these, but I have harmonics of local MW broadcasters splattering all over that part of LW. Is there any way to get rid of these annoying things, or do I just have to go somewhere without stations on 1480 and 1310 before I can hear anything of note in the 170-180's?
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I would love to be able to get some of these, but I have harmonics of local MW broadcasters splattering all over that part of LW. Is there any way to get rid of these annoying things, or do I just have to go somewhere without stations on 1480 and 1310 before I can hear anything of note in the 170-180's?
What kind of receiver are you using - DX-398? Is it connected to an external antenna? If so then the external antenna is probably overloading the radio. If you are still receiving harmonics without any external antenna connected then I doubt there's anything you can do to remedy this, unfortunately, unless you have an RF gain control that you can back off. My old DX-440 actually does pretty good on LW using its internal ferrite loop, no harmonics ever noted on LW off the internal antenna.
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I would love to be able to get some of these, but I have harmonics of local MW broadcasters splattering all over that part of LW. Is there any way to get rid of these annoying things, or do I just have to go somewhere without stations on 1480 and 1310 before I can hear anything of note in the 170-180's?
First thing I would try is to push the Attenuator button.
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I would love to be able to get some of these, but I have harmonics of local MW broadcasters splattering all over that part of LW. Is there any way to get rid of these annoying things, or do I just have to go somewhere without stations on 1480 and 1310 before I can hear anything of note in the 170-180's?
First thing I would try is to push the Attenuator button.
That will indeed suffice for front end/mixer overload issues, but if it's due to actual mixer byproducts, there's lots of Googleable low pass filters for LW listening that are easy to home brew :)
Peace!
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And with all that great knowledge bestowed upon thee, we have yet another night of great European LW BC station listening happening right now ;D Yes, in a neighborhood near you. Listen up folks, twist those dials, tweak those wet noodle antennas, turn those loops, switch those phasers. Lets get the LW party going :D
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Jeepers creepers, I never had a clue about most of that! :) Thanks folks.
Pulling the loop antenna does seem to help, at least as far as the 180's are concerned. The 170's are another matter entirely. I'll try futzing with the RF gain control and attenuator and see what that does. I also need to change the batteries in this thing and unplug from the wall, as I haven't had a chance to tinker with the power supply. Darn noisy thing.
Maybe one of those searchable no-pass filters would help with the actual 1480 and the way it splatters all over MW. I can't get much of anything for literally 40kHz in either direction due to the way it flings signal around. I like the station - Spanish-language music, mostly - but sheez!