29 january 2012

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION .... that was the key yesterday morning as there was virtually nothing on my recordings and my files were deleted early but Paul Crankshaw over in Troon which is roughly 20 miles from here had the following logs

1450 HJNL La Carinosa, Manizales 0400 pf
1130 HJVA R Vida AM Basica Bogota 0400
1070 HJCG R Santa Fe, Bogota 0400
980 RCN Cali 0400
770 RCN Bogota 0400
680 WAPA San Juan PR 0300
730 HJCU R Melodia/Lider Bogota 0300
1060 HJLY R Delfin, Riohacha 0300 pf
1100 HJAT Caracol, Barranquilla 0300
1320 HJNO La Carinosa, Girardot 0300 pf
pf = personal first

i had my 240 deg pennant in use for my recordings yesterday morning but i had mostly mush or hardly any signals at all and i am pretty sure the sea path that Paul has helps allot. this morning wasn't much better although from 0700 there was a couple of SS stations coming in but the band peaked after TOTH and its mostly music on my recordings and not much talk and nothing really that sounds like id"s.

Radio Rebelde Cuba on 1620 had quite a good signal at 0700 ( unknown location 3 listed ) but i am struggling for id"s as the band peaked after TOTH and nothing much at BOTH. while Rebelde is quite a common catch here in Scotland the signal was not too bad considering i am using an indoor antenna and a video of the reception can be seen on the following link Radio Rebelde 1620 0700

i was chatting to Ken who had his west beverage in use yesterday morning and he also reported the band was poor and as i type Paul is not on skype as yet but i will be interested to see what logs he gets this morning.

26 january 2012

with the recent solar activity the mw band has been extremely poor here and although Paul Crankshaw ( Troon ) had some good Latin conditions on Sunday i think it was with a couple of pf"s my enthusiasm is just not there at the moment and i have not been recording overnight the past couple of days and just having a look when i get in the shack in the morning. i have 07 - 0830 from this morning but after having a quick check it doesn't look too promising and i noticed the Bahama's on 1540 from 07 but very little else and although my indoor antennas work not too bad when conditions are poor this is when i struggle.

22 january 2012

well what a complete fool i was this morning .. i was checking a file and i had a unid ss on 1060 which the guys on skype had a listen to and i posted it on the real dx group in hope for an id and not only that i deleted the original Perseus file in thinking that there was nothing really worth keeping on the file ..... it has turned out i have loaded up a file from 2 years ago which i thought was this morning and as i said i have deleted the file and there must have been something interesting on it if i had kept it DUH ! so i am standing in a corner hanging my head in shame .... i have put my Perseus files that i am keeping on another hard drive so that mistake wont happen again. nothing really interested on this morning clips well i hope it was this mornings lol !

20 january 2012

although some huge signals yesterday especially 0300 and the likes of WWVA WOOD WLIB were at local levels there is still not what i call real dx coming in as yet but with these strong signals it gives other dxers the chance of logging some new ones and as i have said before what i call common stations will be dx for other guys. this morning was similar to yesterday in the stations that were coming in but i have only had a quick  scan of my recordings and hopefully more to follow ....

17 january 2012

nothing much to report on MW and pretty much similar conditions since my last post. WABH 1380 and CFAB 1450 are a regular catch this season which i would have been glad of last season and we are nearing the end of January and still no west coast received here this season as yet apart from a extremely weak tentative KOMO on 1000 a week or so ago. nothing much to talk about this morning and it shows how different locations receive different things as Stu down in London logged  WVAE Bideford ME 1400 at 06 this morning while all i had was the usual CBC.

i have uploaded a video showing the AM rejection function on the Perseus which you activate by going to 25 kHz bw then ie if on 1030 as shown on the video hold the shift button and double click on the offending carrier and if conditions allow you have a chance of some TA stations that you wouldn't normally receive. i have noticed though if you go to 1040 and do the same you receive 1030 ???? and i wonder if anyone has reported this bug but looking at the Perseus yahoo group i don't think it will be worth asking as it seems the software updates have stopped and any suggestions sent to Nico are not getting answered. you can see the video of the AM rejection function here Perseus AM Rejection Function

15 january 2012

i forgot to set my recordings last night and i only managed 0800 0900 and the band seemed very average and i have uploaded a video showing the more common stations that were coming in at 0900 this morning and nothing really to get excited about. once again 1450 CFAB WINDSOR NS was logged at around 0815 but it was very weak and the file has been deleted as i have a much better recording  from last year. you can see 0900 from this morning on the following link  0900 15 january 2011

10 january 2012

one again nothing much happening on MW this morning and the Latin America conditions were gone this morning and the more common east coast USA stations were coming in. i had a VOCM ( i think) id on 1240 at around 0603 but no local id and 1590 was just a rumble with stations mixing on my recordings.

Mark Borthwick down in the borders has put up a interesting video of a hombrew antenna splitter he has made and it cost around £5 to make and i am pretty sure it will work as good as any commercial one and you can see the video on the following link  Marks homebrew splitter

low vhf is showing some life again and as i type 0925 there is some Russian pmr comms up to around 39 MHz and 29.500 - 29.600 FM is quite active with hams although i haven't heard any calls as yet.