HFU HF Underground
Loggings => Longwave Loggings => Topic started by: ThElectriCat on September 12, 2018, 0542 UTC
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logs for 9/11/18 0230 to 0330 UTC
received on a 70's analog receiver, inverted L, Shasta Lake, CA
YYF 390Kc Penticton BC CAN
DC 326Kc Princeton BC CAN
RYN 338Kc Tuscon AZ USA
XX 344Kc Abbotsford BC CAN
MEF 356Kc Medford OR USA
YK 371Kc Yakima WA USA
MF 372Kc Mansfield OH USA (longest distance yet with from my location)
OT 378Kc North Bend OR USA
PI 383Kc Pocatillo ID USA
QQ 400Kc Comox BC CAN
MOG 404Kc Montague CA USA (this is my test signal, audible day and night, stable, and clean, i can pretty much always hear it)
MW 408Kc Moses Lake WA USA
A little surprised to hear ohio nearly 2400 miles from me. but I certainly got a positive ID.
My inverted L feeds the 50 ohm input of my receiver through a 20,000 ohm to 50 ohm isolation transformer. it really brings a lot more signal in than the loop in my shack
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A little surprised to hear ohio nearly 2400 miles from me. but I certainly got a positive ID.
My inverted L feeds the 50 ohm input of my receiver through a 20,000 ohm to 50 ohm isolation transformer. it really brings a lot more signal in than the loop in my shack
Could be the Ohio beacon, don't hear it very often here at my Michigan QTH but it reportedly is still on the air.
However, there is also an NDB MF at Medford, Oregon on 373kc, maybe that is what you heard.
Anyway, what are the details on that transformer ? Where did you get it or was it something you built ?
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MF 372 in OH was logged here in Chicago about a week ago, so it is certainly on the air. I am in agreement with pv that this more likely is the beacon in Medford. To clear this up, you might want to try listening around local noon. From your location, Medford 373 should show up as a daytimer.
MOG 404 and MW 408 are excellent propagational beacons for those of us farther to the east. When these are strong, it is worth the effort to check for others from the Pac NW.
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ElectriCat,
Got curious about the 2 NDBs associated with Medford, Oregon.
The airport is known as Rogue Valley International Medford.
As per its name, it is located in a valley. Looks like lots of high rapidly rising terrain all around the airport.
Could be a bit of a challenge in crummy WX. The NDB 356 MEF looks like it is on or just north of the field.
NDB 373 MF is a LOM for ILS/LOC RWY 14. It is located about 4 nm from RWY 14 threshold. There is also
a VORTAC located a short distance north of MF. Lots of navaids for this airport, perhaps because of its
location. This information was the result of a quick internet search and may not be current.
Lots of navaids are being taken out of service.
btw, any info on that transformer would be appreciated
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I originally thought the MF was 373 in Medford, but I am confident in my receivers frequency accuracy. I have not however heard MF again, from either location. and certainly not in the daytime. Even MEF in Medford is usually weak here. I would love to have heard MF in Ohio, and maybe I did, but I wont assume until I log it again.
The transformer I use is a small 1.25 inch moly toroid, with 100 turns of 24 ga. magnet wire and 5 turns of 18 ga. insulated wire. The 5 turn winding is secondary and feeds my 50 ohm input directly. the 100 turn winding is fed by a 25 foot tall, 35 foot long inverted L, against ground. The isolation between the primary and secondary is over 600 volts. Some of these were heard with an indoor tuned loop about 0.75 meters in diameter, mostly when close in qrm was too bad with the wire.
my receiver has a switchable attenuator up to 50 db in the front end, and if I had to use it, I switched to the loop.
anyway, some new beacons from today. all after local dark, of course.
YKA 223 Kamloops BC CAN
XC 242 Cranbrook BC CAN
VR 226 Vancouver BC CAN
YK 269 Castlegar BC CAN
along with all of the usual ones,
MOG 404 Montague CA USA
QQ 400 Comox BC CAN
OT 378 North Bend OR USA
MOG is audible day and night. nearly full quieting, usually needs an attenuator at night.
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Just tuned to 372/373. I cannot hear either of the MF beacons, There might be a carrier on 373, but its not really strong enough to be sure.
I would guess I heard the carrier of 372 in Ohio, but the identifier of the other, 373 in Medford.
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I originally thought the MF was 373 in Medford, but I am confident in my receivers frequency accuracy. I have not however heard MF again, from either location. and certainly not in the daytime. Even MEF in Medford is usually weak here. I would love to have heard MF in Ohio, and maybe I did, but I wont assume until I log it again.
The transformer I use is a small 1.25 inch moly toroid, with 100 turns of 24 ga. magnet wire and 5 turns of 18 ga. insulated wire. The 5 turn winding is secondary and feeds my 50 ohm input directly. the 100 turn winding is fed by a 25 foot tall, 35 foot long inverted L, against ground.
You may be aware of this but FWIW, U.S. beacons are modulated at 1020 cycles. Therefore a signal will be heard offset 1020 cycles either side of the carrier frequency. In other words, a beacon transmitting on a frequency of 373 will be heard at 372 and 374. Canadians mostly use 400 cycle modulation. Some beacons, especially Canadians, may only transmit one sideband, usually upper.
In actual practice this can be interesting, for example, if your receiver has narrow enough bandwidth, you may be able to receive a U.S. beacon and a Canadian beacon both assigned and transmitting on the same frequency. Tuning upwards you will first hear the U.S. lower sideband then the Canadian then the U.S. upper sideband.
This does not necessarily mean that you didn't hear the Ohio beacon. You may have heard it because MF Mansfield has been reported heard in California.
Otherwise, thanks for the transformer info. :)
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I am aware of the sidetone conventions, but if I use my receiver in bfo mode, I could have heard either sideband, unable to differentiate. I have noticed that sometimes, when 2 beacons are 2 Khz apart, both US, i have had difficulty dertermining which is which unless I use single sideband, because the lower sideband of the upper beacon is only 40 hz away from the upper sideband of the lower beacon. My LSB and USB modes have a minimum bandwidth of 2.5 Khz, so in noisy conditions, I use the BFO and DSB. ofsetting the BFO up or down can only do so much.
In my station I have a printout of all the beacons listed copied in California. and so far all I have copied are on it. I will be quite excited if I copy one that is not.
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In my station I have a printout of all the beacons listed copied in California. and so far all I have copied are on it. I will be quite excited if I copy one that is not.
If you have the space available, lengthening your antenna may help.
NDB DX is picking up as Autumn approaches.
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I most certainly will lengthen my antenna, and I may have a lead on a 35 foot rohn lattice tower, for free or very cheap, in which toploading will be the name of the game
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If you hear the beacon MF again, the ID interval for MF Medford is reported to be 7 1/2 secs and almost 6 secs for MF Mansfield...
good method to distinguish between them.
Also, somewhat recently obtained a MFJ 722B CW/SSB filter for the shack here. It really helps pull the weak signals out of the noise
as well as cut down the mixing and whistles of nearby signals.
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If you hear the beacon MF again, the ID interval for MF Medford is reported to be 7 1/2 secs and almost 6 secs for MF Mansfield...
good method to distinguish between them.
Thanks, That seems like a really good way to check
luckily for me, my receiver has an insanely high tolerance to intermodulation, so I can get by with no preselector. I can use a 30DB preamp hooked up to my inverted L and tune the am band with almost no birdies or intermod. When running with no preamp, its almost impossible to receive intermod
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Loggings for 9/15/18 0300z to 0500z, same WJ DMS-105a-2 RX and inverted L antenna
New loggings for me in this location have an asterisk
*UAB 200 ANAHIM LAKE BC CAN
*CG 227 CASTLEGAR BC CAN
YZA 236 ASHCROFT BC CAN
YCD 251 NANAIMO BC CAN
LW 257 KELOWNA BC CAN
VR 266 VANCOUVER BC CAN
*SLE 266 SALEM OR USA
YK 269 CASTLEGAR BC CAN
YYF 290 PENTICTON BC CAN
ONO 305 ONTARIO OR USA
*UNT 312 PENTICTON BC CAN
DC 326 PRINCETON BC CAN
RYN 338 TUSCON AZ USA
XX 344 ABBOTSFORD BC CAN
*SBX 347 SHELBY MT USA
NY 350 ENDERBY BC CAN
*ON 356 PENTICTON BC CAN
YAZ 359 TOFINO BC CAN
*RPX 362 ROUND UP MT USA
*DPY 365 DEER PARK WA USA
*ZP 368 SANDSPIT WA USA
YK 371 YAKIMA WA USA
*EX 374 KELOWNA BC CAN
*KZ 376 OLDS-DIDSBURY AB CAN
OT 378 NORTH BEND OR USA
*YPL 382 PICKLE LAKE ON CAN
PI 383 POCATELLO ID USA
YWB 389 KELOWNA BC CAN
ULS 395 ULYSSES KS USA
*SB 397 SAN BERNARDINO CA USA
QQ 400 COMOX BC CAN
MOG 404 MONTAGUE CA USA
MW 408 MOSES LAKE WA USA
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That YPL Pickle Lake ON is a real powerhouse.
Said to be running a KW and heard as far away as Europe.
Nice catch on the KS beacon, that one is elusive here.
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do you mean KZ?
if so I just barely got it, ten minutes of trying to copy with my 150 hz cw filter.
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do you mean KZ?
if so I just barely got it, ten minutes of trying to copy with my 150 hz cw filter.
Actually was referring to the Kansas beacon 395 ULS.
Keep the logs coming.
Have heard a number of the British Columbia NDBs here but have never logged anything in WA, OR, CA.
So, keep the logs coming, gives me some beacons to seek.
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oh, KS as in the state, not the callsign, That one isnt strong, but I have gotten it a couple of times, it seems pretty constant, although weak
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Loggings for 9/16/18 0400z to 0600z, same WJ DMS-105a-2 RX and inverted L antenna
New loggings for me in this location have an asterisk
*HLE 220 HAILEY ID USA
YKA 223 KAMLOOPS BC CAN
CG 227 CASTLEGAR BC CAN
YZA 236 ASHCROFT BC CAN
YCD 251 NANAIMO BC CAN
LW 257 KELOWNA BC CAN
VR 266 VANCOUVER BC CAN
YK 269 CASTLEGAR BC CAN
*GEY 275 GREYBULL WY USA
YYF 290 PENTICTON BC CAN
*TV 299 TURNER VALLEY AB CAN
DC 326 PRINCETON BC CAN
RYN 338 TUSCON AZ USA
*BKU 344 BAKER MT USA
XX 344 ABBOTSFORD BC CAN
SBX 347 SHELBY MT USA
NY 350 ENDERBY BC CAN
MEF 356 MEDFORD OR USA
YAZ 359 TOFINO BC CAN
RPX 362 ROUND UP MT USA
*ZP 368 SANDSPIT WA USA
YK 371 YAKIMA WA USA
*MF 373 MEDFORD OR USA
EX 374 KELOWNA BC CAN
OT 378 NORTH BEND OR USA
PI 383 POCATELLO ID USA
YWB 389 KELOWNA BC CAN
ULS 395 ULYSSES KS USA
QQ 400 COMOX BC CAN
*FN 400 FORT COLLINS CO USA
MOG 404 MONTAGUE CA USA
*CHD 407 CHANDLER AZ USA
MW 408 MOSES LAKE WA USA
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That 344 BKU Baker MT beacon was reported to be of the air earlier this year but have also heard it here recently.
Good to hear it still on the air. It must be running some power than typical (25w) because it usually has a good signal in here when we get
propagation to the west.
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BKU is 80W IIRC
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Thanks, That's good to know, That one isn't strong here. My log also says reported off the air, but there's no update on that newer than about half a year old.
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BKU is 80W IIRC
tnx for the info