CLE 213 Results

As usual, the wonderful LF and MF conditions experienced during the week went into the dumper as the CLE weekend arrived.




Looking back, most of this can be blamed on our monthly (~28 days) repetitive schedule which nicely matches the rotation of the Sun. It seems that the same large coronal hole stream that whacked us during CLE 212, is the same one that showed up for CLE 213 right on schedule. Perhaps we need to shift our schedule by a week in case it wants to hang around for yet another rotation.

Conditions were not as bleak as I make them sound but they were a far cry from those enjoyed earlier in the week. The skip seemed fairly long on all three nights, but most signals were on the runty side, with only a few making strong appearances here on the left coast.

As shown below, conditions were quite 'flat' for the entire weekend and propagation did not vary much in quality other than favoring slightly different regions each night. Interestingly, 'YLH - 247' in Landsdowne House, Ontario, whose antenna was pictured on my last blog, was not heard at all on both Friday or Saturday but had a booming signal on Sunday night.

         Date 27 27 27 27 27 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 29
         UTC 0900 1200 1500 1800 2100 0000 0300 0600
         SFlx 81 81 81 81 83 83 83 83 83 83 83 83 85 85
         A-in 12 12 12 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 7 8
         K-in 3 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 2 3

My usual procedure with the Perseus SDR is to record the CLE segments of the band for two minutes, every hour and every half-hour, from shortly after sunset to local sunrise. It then requires several hours of carefully going through the recordings to see what CLE signals were recorded ... sometimes spending up to an hour on one frequency only, sorting out what was coming through.

I have also found that the classic blue-screen waterfall does not yield the best contrast for finding weak signals ... the 'photo-negative' screen shown above is far superior, with signals in black appearing on a white background.


26 02:00 240.0 BVS Burlington, WA, USA
26 03:00 241.0 YGT Igloolik, NU, CAN
27 03:00 242.0 ZT Port Hardy, BC, CAN
26 03:00 242.0 XC Cranbrook, BC, CAN
27 08:00 242.0 MMI Athens, TN, USA
26 07:30 242.0 EL El Paso, TX, USA
27 06:30 244.0 TH Thompson, MB, CAN
27 06:30 245.0 YZE Gore Bay, ON, CAN
28 15:00 245.0 HNS Haines, ALS
27 06:30 245.0 CRR Circle, MT, USA
27 06:00 245.0 CB Cambridge Bay, NU, CAN
27 09:30 245.0 AVQ Marana, AZ, USA
27 04:00 246.0 ZXJ Fort St. John, BC, CAN
27 09:00 247.0 YLH Lansdowne House, ON, CAN
27 08:00 248.0 ZZP Queen Charlotte Is, BC, CAN
27 08:00 248.0 QL Lethbridge, AB, CAN
27 08:00 248.0 QH Watson Lake, YT, CAN
27 07:30 248.0 PQF Mesquite, TX, USA
27 06:30 248.0 GLA Gulkana, ALS
27 08:00 248.0 FRT Fairmont, SC, USA
27 08:00 250.0 FO Flin Flon Municipal, MB, CAN
27 08:00 250.0 2J Grand Forks, BC, CAN
27 08:00 251.0 YCD Nanaimo, BC, CAN
27 15:00 251.0 OSE Bethel Apt, ALS
28 08:00 251.0 JZY Macomb, IL, USA
27 06:30 251.0 BR Brainerd, MN, USA
27 08:00 251.0 AM Amarillo, TX, USA
27 10:00 253.0 GB Marshall, MN, USA
27 08:00 254.0 ZYC Calgary, AB, CAN
27 08:00 254.0 SM Fort Smith, AB, CAN
27 04:00 254.0 EV Inuvik, NT, CAN
27 04:00 256.0 LSO Kelso, WA, USA
27 14:00 256.0 EB Edmonton, AB, CAN
27 14:00 257.0 XE Saskatoon, SK, CAN
27 05:00 257.0 SQT Melbourne, FL, USA
27 07:00 257.0 SAZ Staples, MN, USA
27 08:30 257.0 PEA Pella, IA, USA
27 07:00 257.0 MB Saginaw, MI, USA
27 14:00 257.0 LW Kelowna, BC, CAN
27 12:00 257.0 HCY Cowley, WY, USA
27 08:00 258.0 ZSJ Sandy Lake, ON, CAN
27 06:30 420.0 V7BE2 XOC, XUU
27 08:00 420.0 PK Olathe, KS, USA
27 08:00 420.0 FQ East Chain, MN, USA
27 04:00 421.0 VLY McKenney, TX, USA
27 08:30 422.0 EA Kearney, NE, USA
27 06:30 424.0 RVJ Reidsville, GA, USA
27 06:00 425.0 PFL Fort Sill, OK, USA
27 06:00 426.0 FTP Fort Payne, AL, USA
27 08:00 426.0 EN Council Bluffs, NE, USA
27 07:30 428.0 POH Pocahontas, IA, USA
27 07:00 432.0 IZN Lincolnton, NC, USA

The logging at 0630Z of 'V7BE2' is a large drill ship, the "Deepwater Thalassa", located near the center of the Gulf of Mexico.

Hunting For NDBs In CLE 213

'YLH' - 247 courtesy: http://www.ve3gop.com/

This coming weekend will see another CLE challenge, this time in two ranges:  240.0 - 259.9 kHz plus 420.0 - 439.9 kHz.




A 'CLE' is a 'Co-ordinated Listening Event', as NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of the NDB spectrum.

A nice challenge in this one is to hear the Lansdowne House, Ontario, NDB, 'YLH' on 247 kHz. This one runs 250 watts and gets out well, having been logged from coast to coast. Listen for it on 247.417 kHz with your receiver in the CW mode.

From CLE organizer Brian Keyte, G3SIA, comes the usual 'heads-up':

Hi all,

Here are the final details for our 213th co-ordinated listening event this
weekend. First timer logs too? Yes, please!

Days: Friday 25 Nov. to Monday 28 Nov.
Times: Start and end at midday, your LOCAL TIME
Range: 240.0 - 259.9 kHz plus 420.0 - 439.9 kHz
(BOTH ranges are for ALL listeners)

Please log NDBs that you can positively identify in the ranges, plus any
UNIDs that you come across there.
The lower frequency range will be really hard for most Europe listeners,
the higher range not at all easy for most others.

Send your CLE log to the List, if possible as a plain text email and
not in an attachment, with CLE213 at the start of its title.
Show on EVERY LINE of your log:

# The Date (or day 'dd') and UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal published frequency (if you know it).
# The Call Ident.

Please show those main items first on each line, BEFORE any optional
details (Location, Offsets, Cycle time, Distance, etc.)
If you send interim logs, do make sure that you also send a 'Final' log
containing all your loggings. As always, please make your log useful and
interesting to everyone by including your own location and brief details
of your receiver, aerial(s) and any recording equipment that you used.

I will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 18:00 UTC on
Tuesday so that you can check that your Final log has been found OK.
Do make sure that your log has arrived on the List at the very latest
by 09:00 UTC on Wednesday 30th November.
I hope to complete the combined results later on that day.

To help you with your search you can find lists of your target NDBs at
http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm Select the SEEKLIST link there.
(To also see a MAP of the seeklist NDBs, just change 'List' to 'Map',
select 'All Results' and uncheck 'Clustering')

Good listening
Brian
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE co-ordinator)
----------------------------------------------------------

(Reminder: You could use any one remote receiver for your loggings,
stating its location and owner - with their permission if required.
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, whether local or
remote, to obtain further loggings for the same CLE). 


These listening events serve several purposes. They:

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are actually in service and on-the-air so the online database can be kept up-to-date

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are out-of-service or have gone silent since the last CLE covering this range

• will indicate the state of propagation conditions at the various participant locations

• will give you an indication of how well your LF/MF receiving system is working

• give participants a fun yet challenging activity to keep their listening skills honed

Final details can be found at the NDB List website, and worldwide results, for every participant, will be posted there a few days after the event. If you are a member of the ndblist Group, results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB DXing' or to meet other listeners in your region. There is a lot of good information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow the results of other CLE participants from night to night as propagation is always an active topic of discussion.

If you are contemplating getting started on 630m, listening for NDBs  is an excellent way to test out your receive capabilities as there are several NDBs located near this part of the spectrum.

You need not be an ndblist member to participate in the CLEs and all reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers. 

'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!

Reports may be sent to the ndblist or e-mailed to either myself or CLE co-ordinator, Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above.

Please ... give the CLE a try ... then let us know what NDB's can be heard from your location! Your report can then be added to the worldwide database to help keep it up-to-date.

Good hunting!

Upcoming Solar Years ... Can They Be Too Quiet?

Most of us LF/MF and topband diehards have been looking forward to the next several years of low solar activity ... maybe even 'ultra-low' as some of the solar gurus are predicting.

An interesting posting on the Topband reflector a few weeks ago by noted propagation expert, Carl, K9LA, made me re-think my expectations!

I flagged the post for a later blog topic but have since seen the information pop-up on a couple of other reflectors as well as on the ARRL News page. Apparently I wasn't the only one to give the posting a double-take. If you missed it, here is Carl's post:

About a week ago Wolf DF2PY posted a message here commenting on the recent adverse levels of geomagnetic field activity and how it will now change for the good - giving us good 160m propagation.

We'll certainly see less geomagnetic field activity as we move into winter,
but there's another issue we should be aware of. The Sun's magnetic field
is weakening - probably to the lowest levels in our lifetime. With a weak
solar magnetic field, more galactic cosmic rays will be able to get into
the Earth's atmosphere. We are now seeing unprecedented high neutron counts (neutrons are one of the by-products of cosmic rays)

Since galactic cosmic rays are mostly *very energetic* protons, they can
get down to low atmospheric altitudes, causing collisional ionization in
the D region (and lower E region). A cursory estimate using cosmic ray
ionization rates confirms more ionization in the lower atmosphere. 160m is
not very tolerant of more absorption, so we may see an adverse effect of
the weakened solar magnetic field.

Many of us think that "solar min is solar min is solar min". But maybe a
solar minimum can be too deep for 160m. A good question to ask in the early 2020s will be "how was 160m?" So stay active on 160m and let's see what happens.

Carl K9LA

My initial response was to think that perhaps there wouldn't be as much to look forward to as I had been hoping for, when it came to improved LF, MF and 160m propagation. Carl's postulation was also backed-up by another mention on the Spaceweather site, although the influence of cosmic ray bombardment on radio propagation was not discussed.

As I thought more about this unfortunate possibility actually coming to pass, I thought back to my own on-air and listening experiences during previous solar-low years ... particularly the unprecedented low between our most recent cycle and its predecessor, Cycle 23.

The low period between these two cycles, as most will likely recall, saw the quietest solar conditions observed in the past 100 years. The solar-low winters saw week after week of a blank Sun, with solar activity virtually flatlining for the entire period. In 2008 there were 265 'zero sunspot' days and the following year saw another 262 days of blank suns!

These effects were well noted here for two winters that are usually prime 'DX times' ... if ever there were a period when cosmic ray bombardment should negatively impact low frequency propagation, surely it would have been then.

So just what did I observe?

What I saw was not only what I had been expecting but was much much better than I had ever believed possible. For west coast topband operators, the 'holy grail' of propagation is working Europe. Working Europe from here means that signals must travel through the polar regions, usually the kiss-of- death for weak signals, as the severe attenuation through the auroral zone means that it just doesn't happen very often ... except for this prolonged period of ultra lows. In a word, conditions to Europe were 'spectacular' ... night-after-night, for several weeks over a period of two winters, working Europe on 160 became normal.

On most nights, European signals could be heard before local sunset, and on several occasions, CW contacts with Europeans, were completed up to one and a half hours before my local sunset. As darkness set in, more signals would appear and the band would rapidly become populated with Europeans ... and only Europeans.

Most of the time there were no signals from North America evident, just Europeans ... a condition that had me shaking my head in disbelief night after night. It was something I had never observed before, as I watched 160m behaving more like 20m CW on a good day to Europe! During this period, my DXCC totals skyrocketed from 99 to 143 worked, as new Europeans and Africans were added to my logbook.

Signal levels were also outstanding, often pushing the FT-1000 S-meter well past the S9 level. On one particular night, I recall hearing an SM4 calling CQ, with just such a signal. I set my output power level at 10 watts and gave him a call, to which he quickly responded. If cosmic ray bombardment was at a high level, it was not reeking any havoc as far as the west coast path to Europe was concerned! For the record, my topband system is nothing special, consisting of a simple 'half-sloper' over a poor ground and a very old amplifier running about 500W output.

My other favorite winter pastime is chasing NDBs in the MF range between 200-500 kHz. Exceptional east west conditions were evident throughout the two winters of ultra-lows.

On one such night, I noted a new strong signal where none had been previously heard. Because of its strength, I surmised that it was probably a new NDB in nearby Washington state. Noting its ident ('NYA' on 414 kHz), I was not able to find any reference to such a beacon being previously reported and turned to the Yahoo ndblist group for help, posting my catch as 'unidentified'. Almost immediately I received a response, telling me that the signal I was hearing was located in Europe ... Svalbard to be exact, located midway between Norway and the North Pole!

Now, European NDBs have never been heard from the west coast, other than occasional signals from some of Greenland's powerhouses, so this represents a very rare event. Although I have often listened for this signal, it has yet to be heard here again and my logging of remains its only reported foray into any part of North America. Unfortunately, in 2015, it was listed as 'decomissioned'. I have no doubts that this rare propagation was a result of the solar flatlining conditions of the time.

As chilling as Carl's warning sounds, he himself admits uncertainty with a 'let's wait and see' attitude and after reviewing my own experiences under what surely must be similar conditions, I'm still very optimistic over what might be in store. Hopefully we shouldn't have to wait too much longer to find out!

More On The PAØRDT E-Probe

Courtesy: http://www.leeszuba.com/projects/

Another recent reflector question about noise mitigation for active e-probe antennas brought further incite from Roelof Bakker, PAØRDT.





I found particular interest in his method of determining if the noise is being picked up by the antenna or being introduced by the feedline. As well, Roelof suggests one of the most important aspects of homebrewing ... keeping detailed notes of all tests or changes. He also suggests maintaining a healthy outlook regarding noise and rather than getting discouraged, take on the challenge of overcoming it!

Hello all,

I have been dealing with this subject for more then 10 years now and
I am pleased to pass on what I did learn so far.

The first item to look at is noise pick up on the feed line. This
can be a coax cable or a CAT5/6/7 network cable. Looking for noise
pick up on the feed line should be done without the active antenna
connected. Otherwise everything should be the same as when using the
antenna.

Ideally the antenna should be replaced by a 50 ohm termination that
can handle the power that is supplied by the DC-power supply feeding
the antenna. However, this is not necessary to achieve good results.

I am fortunate to own a PERSEUS SDR, that besides an excellent
receiver is also a nice piece of test gear. For noise pick-up
measurements I use HF-Span that changes the PERSEUS into a 0-40 MHz
spectrum analyser with a noise floor of -112 dBm. For narrow band
measurements the PERSEUS is used with Linrad, which can provide
accurate results.

Whilst looking at noise pick-up on the cable, one can unplug all
suspect devices and check if the noise is still present.

The most effective measure is grounding the shield of the coax cable
at the bottom of the mast, but I had still noise ingress of about -
100 dBm around 15 MHz. This could be solved by moving the power
supply and interface of the antenna from the operating position to
the location of the cable entry to the house. This minimises the
length of cable inside the house before the a rf-isolating
transformer used in the interface.

It is mandatory to use a separate radio earth, isolated from the
mains earth. My PC is connected to a mains outlet with a mains earth
connection, but no other equipment in the shack is using the mains
earth. This works for me.

There is also a discussion about the use of a common mode choke
versus a rf-isolating transformer. I have tried both and they both
work. However a rf-isolating transformer is much easier (and
cheaper) to build than common mode chokes with a winding of coax
cable.

In this regard, I should mention a source of interference that is
easily overlooked: receivers. It is not uncommon to own more than
one receiver and it appears that the antenna port is often far from
clean. I am using four SDR's which are fed from a balanced Norton
amplifier / four port splitter and these produce noticeable noise.
Using four rf-isolating transformers at the outputs of the splitter
eliminated the noise. My mini-whip is feeding up to 8 receivers
(hardware) via amplifiers /splitters / rf-isolating transformers
without degrading the receiver noise floor by mutual noise ingress.

The last point is about masts. A metal mast will decrease the signal
level when the antenna is mounted close to it. A short PVC extension
mast will help. The reason I am using a non-conductive mast is a
practical one as cheap and sturdy stackable camouflage net mast
sections were and are still available in western Europe. These are
ideal for either testing antennas and for permanent installations.
Metal masts can introduce problems by being resonant at a certain
frequency and receiving noise that can be transferred to the feed
line. However, checking the feed-line as described above will make
clear if this is the case or not. If there are no problems, there is
nothing against the use of a metal mast.

As every location is different, it is no use to provide an exact
recipe to solve noise problems. I believe that a systematic approach
is mandatory; take notes etc. as it is too easy to run in circles.
By all means do measure what you are doing, otherwise you will walk
in the dark for sure.

The good news is that it is still possible to build a low noise
reception system in the city and doing so can be fun! What might
also help is to change the attitude from 'it should not be there
after all' to 'what can I do about it!'

Best regards and 73,
Roelof Bakker, pa0rdt

If you're thinking about having a listen on LF or on 630m, the e-probe antenna can be a very effective solution .... and it takes up very little space. The finer details regarding the PAØRDT active antenna may be found here and here. All previous blog postings related to this topic may be found here.

630m Crossband Summary

As in previous events, last night's activity was both exciting and successful. From out west here however, things got off to a very slow start and it took some time for conditions to 'cooperate'.

My take on last night's odd conditions may or may not be correct but it seemed that the skip zone on both HF and on 630m was unusually 'long', right from sunset. I have noted similar conditions on the broadcast band, when conditions favor the trans-Atlantic skip regions. I suspect that the skip was towards the eastern regions of Canada where there is sparse activity or, more likely, somewhere further out in the Atlantic regions.

Long conditions like this make it almost impossible to hear closer in stations on HF, such as those up and down the coast or in nearby states, while shutting out most North American reception on 630m. There was also strong evidence that the bands had gone unusually long, when Steve, AA7U, a veteran LW / MW DXer in Arizona, reported early in the evening that he was hearing good signals from Morocco and Algeria on LW ... most unusual from out west!

Western 630m stations worked nothing out of the local region for several hours and the more 'usual' contacts with Oregon, Montana and California were absent altogether ... until around 0500Z when Eric, NO3M in Pennsylvania, replied to one of my 473 kHz CW CQ's on 80m. We quickly exchanged reports and as the long skip began to shorten, Eric went on to work my remaining three VE7 neighbours ... a first for him!

At 0600Z, Eric called me again to give me a 589 report, indicating how quickly the band had improved. With the shrinking skip-zone now moving west, stations in the midwest (WI, MN, IA and CA) were easily worked as the band shortened-up. It's a pity that more eastern stations didn't stay up later, as the band really did not fully cooperate until it was well past bedtime for most regions to the east.

Back east, both Joe, VO1NA on the 'rock' and Mitch, VE3OT in London, Ontario, had good nights, with Joe having a nice crossband CW contact with PE5T in the Netherlands who later reversed roles and worked Frank, VO1HP, who was transmitting on 80m but listening to PE5T on 630m CW! Hopefully this exchange will encourage more two-way trans-Atlantic in-band CW work between Eastern Canada and Europe as there are now numerous European countries with 630m band privileges.

Here is a brief logbook summary for the various Canadian crossbanders.

VO1NA:
VO1AKA, N1BUG, PE5T, VO1DI, VO1HP, W3LPL

VE7SL:
VE7BGJ, VE7BDQ, K7CW, VE7CNF, VA7DXX, VA7MM, AH6EZ/W7, VA7JX, W7GKF, VE7PS,  NO3M, VE7CEK, W0YSE, WA9ETW, KB5NJD, KB7N, K6GZ, W0LS, KG0VL

VA7MM:
KB7N, W7AMD, K7CW, KG0VL, VE7BDQ, VA7JX, VA7DXX, AH6EZ/W7, W7GKF, VE7PS, NO3M, VE7CNF, K6GZ, W0YSE

VE7CNF:

AH6EZ/W7, K7CW, KB7N, KG0VL, W0YSE, K6GZ, KR5D, NO3M, VA7JX, VE7BGJ, VE7PS, W7GKF, VA7MM, VE7BDQ

VE3OT:
N1BUG (ME), K1RGO (CT),  NF4C (NC), W3LPL (MD), KC8BW (MI), W8ICN (MI), K4SAV (AL), K2OS (NY), N4NTO (NC), WA9ETW (WI), W2JEK  (NJ), W1JA (MA), N9UA (WI), VA3SC (ON), VE3IQB (ON), WZ9B (IL), WD8DSB (IN), NO3M (PA), NK8X (MI), W0JW (IA), K1QQ (NH)
 

VE7BDQ:
VE7KW, VE7BGJ, AH6EX/W7, W7GKF, K7CW, VA7MM, VA7JX, NO3M, VE7PS, KB7N,VE7CNF, K6GZ, VE7SL


For a summary of N1BUG's activity from Maine, along with some recordings, visit Paul's posting here.

I would like to express my thanks to all of those that participated, including the U.S. experimental stations,  either by sending reports or by being on the air to provide two-way activity ... without your interest and taking the time to prepare your station's capability, events such as this would never get off the ground!

Hopefully by this time next year, a 630m ham band will be a reality in the U.S.A. and that we will all be able to work each other directly on 630m! It is also hoped that this weekend's activity will encourage more Canadian amateurs to give 630m a closer look ... we are extremely lucky to have this small segment of the spectrum available to us and are quickly learning of its potential to support superb groundwave communications as well as offering exciting DX possibilities.

For an even more in-depth summary of this weekend's event, please visit KB5NJD's blog summary here.

For more help in building your own 630m station, see KB5NJD's 'Instructional Topics' pages as well as on my own 630m blogspots here. Together, these two sources will provide you with weeks of thought-provoking bedtime reading!

Thanks again, for your participation.

Saturday's 630m Crossband Night - Reminder

This is a reminder of tomorrow's '630m activity night'. Highlights of the evening will see six different Canadian stations seeking contacts with other amateurs in North America via the 'crossband mode' as they call CQ on 630m CW but listen for replies on their announced (QSX) HF frequency. As well, there will be an increased level of on-air activity from many of the U.S. experimental stations, as they beacon or work each other on various modes including CW and JT9, the WSPR QSO-mode. The experimental stations are also seeking your reception reports.

More information may be found here regarding the activity night, including a detailed list of participating Canadians along with their respective transmitting and QSX HF listening frequencies.

As is often the case, old 'Sol is threatening to throw some junk our way over the next day or two, right on time for our event but please don't let that stop you from participating as often this can actually enhance propagation, especially on the north-south path.

We hope to see many of you tomorrow night!

Worldwide SDR's Online

The University of Victoria online SDR from SDR.hu

A posting today on Yahoos' ndblist Group by Geir, LA6LU, pointed to a list of online SDR receivers at various locations around the globe. I have seen similar lists like this in the past, only to be disappointed when finding many of the receivers impossible to get operating or arriving at a dead link. This list appears to be up-to-date as a quick check of four random receivers saw all four come to life quickly!

The site is run by Andras Retzler, the author of the OpenWebRX software that enables these SDR's to be made seamlessly available online through your web browser. Since all of the sites use the same software, all receivers appear the same, thus providing a very short operational learning curve. At the time of this posting, there were 76 online SDRs, a number that fluctuates slightly throughout the day. Conveniently, the site also indicates how many users are currently using any individual receiver.

I can think of several very handy uses of such a resource, from checking your own on-air signal to confirming, in real time, a suspected DX catch that you might be hearing from your own location. You may even be interested in putting your own SDR online for others to share. It really is a very useful resource and while there, check out the rest of Andras's interesting site.

CLE 212 Results

Friday's auroral condx courtesy of :OVATION

Well another CLE has come to pass with most listeners in North America reporting poor conditions ... other than those in the southern states.








As typically happens when hit with a serious geomagnetic event (why do they always coincide with our CLE's?), northernmost stations are affected worse than those further south. This disturbance was a strong and persistent solar wind, making the band very noisy. Signals in the Perseus SDR waterfall that looked as if they should be easy copy, were mushy and run together, making many idents uncopyable in the solar wind noise.

Welcome to CLE 212 couretsy of: OVATION

The east-west path, being reliant on quiet geomagnetic conditions, was totally absent, with no NDB's from Ontario making it into my log. Somewhat surprising was the rarely heard Galapagos Island NDB on 272 kHz ... heard widely throughout North American.

GLS - 272 Galapagos courtesy: Google Maps

As usual, my receiver for the CLE was the Perseus SDR along with my normal LF / MF inverted-L antenna, tuned to ~ 300kHz.


29 08:00 272.0    YLB         Lac La Biche, AB, CAN
29 11:00 272.0    XS             Prince George, BC, CAN
30 06:30 272.0    GLS         Galapagos, GAL
29 05:00 274.0    FR            Fort Resolution, NT, CAN
29 08:00 275.0    SF            Williston, ND, USA
29 07:00 275.0    HIN         Chadron,NE, USA
29 05:00 275.0    GEY        Greybull, WY, USA
29 06:00 275.0    AV           Winnipeg, MB, CAN
31 12:00 277.0    OT            Worthington, MN, USA
31 05:00 280.0    GYZ         Guernsey, WY, USA
31 13:00 281.0    CRN          Sparrevohn, ALS
30 13:30 283.0    DUT          Dutch Harbor, ALS
29 08:30 284.0    QD            The Pas, MB, CAN
29 13:00 284.0    FHR          Friday Harbor, WA, USA
29 08:00 287.0    ZWG         Winnipeg, MB, CAN
29 08:30 287.0    PE              Peace River, AB, CAN
29 08:30 290.0    YYF           Penticton, BC, CAN
30 08:00 290.0    QR             Regina, SK, CAN
30 08:00 292.0    ZET            Edmonton, AB, CAN
30 08:00 293.0    TOR          Torrington, WY, USA
29 08:00 293.0    MB             Sidney, BC, CAN
30 08:00 295.0    8C              Fairview, AB, CAN
29 08:30 296.0    LGD           La Grande, OR, USA
29 08:30 299.0    TV              Turner Valley, AB, CAN
30 10:00 302.0    QW             North Battleford, SK, CAN
29 08:30 304.0    FH              Mc Leod, AB, CAN
29 08:30 305.0    Z1               Three Hills, AB, CAN
29 08:30 305.0    ONO          Ontario, OR, USA
30 06:30 307.0    M5              Manning, AB, CAN
29 08:30 308.0    ZZD            Edmonton, AB, CAN
29 08:30 311.0    9Y               Pincher Creek, AB, CAN
29 08:30 312.0    UNT           Naramata, BC, CAN
29 08:30 317.0    VC              La Ronge, SK, CAN

The results from all participants can be found in a few days at the NDB List website, or if you are a member of the ndblist Group, results will also be posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'art' of NDB DXing or to meet other listeners in your region. There is a lot of helpful information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow and chat with other NDB chasers regarding antennas, techniques, unidentified signals and  nightly propagation ... and, if you are building a 630m station, listening for NDB's is a great way to determine your receive capability and if it needs improvement.