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Messages - NQC

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 9 10
76
Hey All,

Extremely interesting.

A couple of points of order:

“VLF is used MORE “ now.Not sure if low power devices count or are cumulative, but HIGH power VLF is much more rare now.Not sure how to interpret that.

VLF too “ weak” , do  they mean too narrow ?

Anyhoo, a good read.

K

77
MW Loggings / Re: Not hearing Hudson Valley TIS lately 1710kHz.
« on: July 19, 2021, 1403 UTC »
Hey All.

Yes ,1710 Kc is probably the “ best” place to “play” due to it using short antennas.

But at least here, the X band has enough
open frequencies close to 1710 that it doesn’t matter.So I can QSY without any noticeable issues.

I DO have a 1 MC crystal  that is almost the size of a pack of Marlboros :)) .It’s another story completely.

But frankly , now my AM tx “goals “are to only cover maybe 200 ft East and also from my basement shop to the 2nd floor shack.Should be “ easy “ ( when I get to it - LOTS on the bench right now and only limited time to work on stuff.).

K

78
Weather / Re: rain
« on: July 09, 2021, 1018 UTC »
Hey Pinto and All,

Before dawn we started get into Elsa’s
rain shield.Only light rain so far.

Expecting 2-3 “ rain ,” some” wind here at Boston.

Isolated tornadoes seem to have already occurred in  NJ- gust 78 -from “nearby”twister ? Possibility  of tornadoes  Long Island, CT, RI and into SE MA later today.

No severe issues for Boston yet. We may be too far NW of track , but I will keep checking NWS web site during AM for updates.

K
K

79
Weather / Re: rain
« on: July 07, 2021, 1927 UTC »
Hey Pinto, All.

More rounds of heavy Thunderstorms yesterday.1000+ bolts / hr in area.

Heavy rain , 3/4” w/ some very small very close but not very loud strikes.

3 strikes within 500 ft or less to East.

Could see pale Peach Orange bolt, not overly bright.
Low amperage /“sort of high” voltage ?

Instant high pitch crack of respectable but not overly loud thunder. Like fireworks ,not thunder explosions.

This happened 3 times close to me and a few more maybe 1/3 to 1/2 mile.

Fast moving, edge of severe cell , but only weak strikes, moderate to heavy rain and maybe gust 40.Biblical looking though.

I have seen ultra weak in cloud lightning strikes during snow.Each next one failed worse, last one was just   light ,no thunder

Snow lightning is like no other.

Add : 7/7/21  2100 UTC .This time they used the "real" stuff. A number of local strikes, LOUD, but nothing like the "artillery barrage" in the heavier part of the cell. They were getting popped every 15 or 20 seconds.Fairly loud, but  low frequency  sounding , most seemed   powerful and  mean  ground  strikes 4 Miles south.Close miss. Yesterday the sky turned  green for the second time this year.We only got "some"  lightning (1 per minute ?). But kind of intense , with some strikes within 500 ft.Heavy rain also.

This morning 7/8/21 0800 UTC. More  storms at predawn  . A few strikes  not super close.With a  lot of  Cloud to Cloud lightning.Noted best was bright white horizontal bolt 10 Miles long?). Also had other spectacular in cloud strikes.

We got heavy rain , some lightning here.Most action 4 or 6 miles to North. Again ,like yesterday, close enough to really   see it well , but not on top of me  either.I'm OK with that.

Now close pass by Elsa.

More rain . FILL that reservoir :).



K

80
Longwave Loggings / VLF Lighting Direction Finding
« on: July 07, 2021, 1916 UTC »
Hey All,

DF of Dx storms 90 to 120 Mi to my West yesterday PM.

150 Kc somewhat weaker than higher up checks.Kind of a surprise.

Best was around 230 or 250 Kc , also ripping loud  at 520 Kc.

Things seemed to have rolled up or down in signal strength as one rolled 250 to 520 Kc.

Nice to near zero nulls on S  803a rig, gave a decent bearing to storm cluster.

I am working on other LF projects too.

de K

81
Hey Rob. 

Brazil allows some crazy power, one  station at  250 kw , a good number at 100 kw.

FWIW, Years  ago  I  BRIEFLY copied  a very probable Brazilian on AM b'cast   (up- for only 30  seconds good , then down and  gone for good  )   in MO on a  8 ft    loop crystal set.

SOME REAL JUICE  !

Not sure what the Brazilian flame throwers  will do during all this,

K

82
Weather / Re: rain
« on: July 04, 2021, 0056 UTC »
Hey Pinto.

Rounds  of  thunderstorms lately , some severe .

6-30-21 : PM   100 degrees, then absolute monster Cumulonimbus w/huge vicious  anvils and  high winds. Sky turned green just to our South.Outflow winds higher than seen  here in quite a while. 
Up to 300 + flashes every 10 minutes in area .  Thunderstorm outflow   downdraft wind   boundary, well outside /ahead from precip area  was  visible on Radar,  length 25 + mi long .

Second 6-30-21 round of thunderstorms after dark, much lightning,  and much more rain than earlier severe event. I caught some nice high altitude lighting on video.

Copious rains lately- cumulative,since Wed,  3 " + in gauge . Some "training" /"conveyor belt"  precip events  lasting all night.

7/3/21: PM was VERY heavy , almost torrential ,  rain with occasional lightning,  then an hour or so  break of only light  rain , then  just "heavy" rain  with  a  few more bolts. Yet the closest SURFACE feature was  150 + miles to South. Stuff apparently happening upstairs. Cool (to almost   COLD)  for July.

Wild , you gotta love New England

I am still welcoming  ALL the water we get though. Still a blessing, No "excess" yet.
 
 

K

83
Hey Boombox,

Great to see your comments.
I hope it all works out for Brazil.

OT, I see you have  a “TRF” rig on your equipment list. Is it home brew ? Any details.

I have a few projects on the bench, a TRF included.

K

84
Hey All,

I was aware that Japan 's FM band went down to 76 Mhz.It apparently worked out for the Japanese a lot of years ago."More power to the Japan", but things are a lot  different now compared to when  they  extended FM.

I am not really sure what is fueling the Brazilian extension though. Is it  mostly low power translators ?? Is there THAT much of   a long term future market in 1930's style/ over the air/ 76 Mhz  FM  analog  technology ?

Isn't the REAL lucrative (greedy) future on 800 or 900   (or higher) Mhz)  (or fiber optic) were folks are  forced to PAY for it ?

Will this new FM band  be like our local  WMEX  1510- "ME TV  Radio"  (run by Me TV) ? 'MEX  is  LITERALLY  3 minutes or more  of  the same repeating commercials all about "Me" Tv shows (What time  Gilligan's Island  is on , etc)    grudgingly  punctuated  by   maybe 2 minutes of   music. PURE TORTURE.

I am going to wire  FIVE 1510 Kc  traps in series so that I NEVER even  have to  hear two seconds of it  as I quickly tune by  :).

(OT-WMEX was once an early and very  influential  rock station. "How the mighty hath fallen". The "Me Tv" folks have soiled  this call sign .The FCC should  retire WMEX, and give them something like WBAD instead . Nauseating stuff.I'd rather listen to 12 straight hours of my local TIS. I hope Brazil doesn't  wind up with content like this).

Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of ALL broadcasting if , in  my opinion, it is "useful" or desired by the general public. If Brazil can actually get more listeners onto conventional FM , great.Is there a lot of public "enthusiasm" for this move ? I HOPE so, but don't know for sure.

OR is this a "push" from the Brazilian   broadcast business without a huge actual  need ? I am not sure either way (and probably shouldn't guess) whether this actually good for or  really desired by  the Brazilian PEOPLE (or not) . I'd need more info.

A band extension is a rather straightforward event with little in the way of new technology required, other than buying  an extended receiver.

I have heard that Brazil is also home to a LOT of FM pirates. Is this just going to make more room for them ?

I am just  a bit gun shy from past experiences  about who really wants these things, that's all.

Remember the AM stereo systems ( PLURAL), IBOC, shortwave DRM,digital TV and maybe another 1 or 2 other
"misguided" technologies that were "solutions in search of a  problem" or simply just  NOT  desired by the general public.

The Brazilian extension may not fall into this category, but....

Just sayin'.

K

85
Hey All,

 6/27/21 1400 UTC .I logged the same Haitian station  described  in my earlier  post.

Quite good  car radio  at South Boston, MA/ seaside , very gradually degraded as I traveled toward my home QTH.

When we got close,it completely went  away.

K

86
Hey Poacher,

Nice catch.

While never common,"back in the day" LW b'casts  for me weren't a HUGE deal either.Especially in winter.

Now  LW BCAST  stations are dropping like flies.

My new 5 ft loop (not done yet ) will have the "fairly easy"  ::) capability too rewind on the fly from 1/4"  spaced for the   530-1710 Kc  range down to LW at much closer or no spacing (we'll see how THAT works out,   ???).

 No more rooftop ants here  and portable  LW can be noisy in local area anyways .

 I will try loop (and maybe a ferrite tank to rcvr coupled long wire) at the beach, maybe  when Wx gets cooler.There is nothing better than an ocean horizon for Trans Atlantic MW or LW !

 So- LW b'casts -Get 'em before they're gone.

Ditto re LW beacons.

de N1NQC

87
Propagation / Re: The Termination Event?
« on: June 19, 2021, 2346 UTC »
Hey Dood,

Interesting read, I guess "we'll" see.

K

88
Weather / Re: eclipse this morning
« on: June 14, 2021, 0136 UTC »
Hey Pinto,

My wife and I saw it through thin cirrus and light  attenuation filtering. Incredible !

 Looking forward to 2024 in VT !

K

89
MW Loggings / Re: Dxpedition to Wells, Maine
« on: June 11, 2021, 1015 UTC »
Hey All,

Good to hear from everyone.

Dood, I am sure you already know this but in areas of poor ground conductivity multiple rods , buried radials or 6 or 10 ft elevated counterpoise(s)-OR- 3" or 4 " deep   buried counterpoises , flat top/cage antennas etc ,could be useful to try.Much re antennas and grounds winds up being experimental.

Also dipole antennas MAY  prove as a alternative to  property that has   poor grounding opportunities  . Admittedly this is  MUCH more of an option on HF than on MW though.

 I have played  a lot with high elevated  antennas (some   at over  600 ft above the street !) .Now  I'd  love   to try any number of  "near ,on or in Earth RF  systems": Ie Earth rods as antenna, especially at V/ULF, Earth  telegraphy  ,as  well as radials /counterpoises,on ground or  buried antennas.I do as much as I can under the circumstances.I have in the past successfully used  deciduous trees for VLF lightning/whistler reception, if that "counts" as a "Earth system". FWIW, pine trees don't work.

A times I really like to "limbo LOW" and have used the HFU SDR's for sferic work  way down  to as low as  TWO Kc.(Tnx Chris).

I have had times were a ground helps and other times when it almost completely kills reception, especially with certain very high Q circuits  on MW or with "high"  Q circuits  on HF. Experiences are going to be different for various  situations.

FWIW, My most extreme ground was 500 ft of bare copper laid into the sea for reception of SAQ Sweden on 17.2 Kc.Ant.was  2000 ft field telephone  wire  laid along sand  dune base, Rcvr Icom  R-70 on battery. 

Since  the downsizing of my "serious" ham gear( Icom, Motorola, et al ), most of my rigs have no ground terminal.I have tried the negative terminal of the battery as a substitute, it usually didn’t do much of anything.

When I go on dxpedition having things quick, simple , low profile and safe is important.
 
Throwing a thin wire up into a branch or setting up a stand alone loop is one thing.But rods , radials , etc become it bit more difficult, even if they could definitely help reception.

Usually I have to share my space with other users ,so I like to be as subtle as possible.







K


90
Equipment / Re: " Feedline " Antenna - "450 " Ohms
« on: June 10, 2021, 1954 UTC »
Hey Rob.

I had this set up many years ago:

A VERY high Q 660/46 coil was on a 4 gang ceramic . My 100 ft roof top inverted L on directly hot end, no ground
( ground killed Q) .

When coupled to a ferrite radio the tank was SO hot that you could blow by a station very easily, even with a 6:1 ball drive.

The audio was pinched SO tight, it made my superhet sound like a regen.

The Q was simply ridiculous.

I may not get the same results with my future pursuits, but MAN, what a set up THAT was !

Kind of nice that “ less may be better “ ( 1/8 wave or less) for a quickie set up /take down.

K

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