Report From Dunlo, PA, USA, for 13 February 2011

[Dave Valko]

13 FEBRUARY 2011: With 4015 LHH being off (6210 doesn't really propagate well here) and 6959.8 Atlantic seemingly erratic, I really had no barometer to gauge how good conditions are. And haven't tuned around to find a fairly weak European broadcaster. So the only thing I've had to go by is the Propagation page on the DX.QSL.net Web site. There have been a number of sunspot groups this week and even an M class flare on Wednesday. So the Solar Flux has been much higher but the A Index has stayed relatively low. Conditions on the whole were about normal. A little better than they have been for about 2 months. Very fady though. Signals were already beginning to fade at 0800. Seemed a bit too early in the year for a morning fade that soon, and had to be due to conditions deteriorating. Indeed, when I returned home, found the K Index had gone up to 2 and the 1.0-8.0A X-Ray flux had gone way up. Had a rough time laying out the Beverage. There was a crust on the snow that just wasn't strong enough to support my weight. I broke through, sometimes going in quite deep in the snow. It took a lot of effort. Fortunately it wasn't bitterly cold. It was nice to hear R. Experience for the first time.

RX: Microtelecom Perseus SDR with ARR preamp.
ANT: 315' Beverage (BOG) at 50°.
QTH: Pennsylvania State Game Lands #26
Duration: 0705-0925 UTC
Solar Indices: Solar Flux = 96 A Index = 3 K Index = 0 No storms. Average X-Ray Flux was B1
WX: Partly to cloudy sky. Low 20's F. (around -6° C.)


5820.04 Orion R. Signal came on at 0754:25 and usual 'Om-pah' Polka start at 0755:12 followed by a nice Waltz. 0800 Percy Faith. Canned ID at 0803 and "Off Shore Echos" ad. 0807 "Oh Lonesome Me", then jingle ID at 0808 and anmnt by John w/morning greeting to R Saxonia. Ment of 6255, and July 2nd. 0814 "Help" by The Beatles. 0819 John back w/ment of Saxonia on 6255 again and reception report, and info abt the Summermeeting. Into "Jumpin Jack Flash" by The Stones, 0825 "Man of Action" theme. 0836 canned "free radio" anmnt then long live anmnt w/greeting. Came back at 0855 and still audible but dropping out. Barely any audio by 0920. (13 Feb.)

6200 This is R. Bulgaria Int. in SP from 0700-0730, not NHK.

6200.04 R. Orang Utan Bluesy Rock song. Schlager at 0739 w/W vcl. Anmnt at 0743:55. More anmnts at 0750 and 0755 but just not good enough to copy anything. Could only recognize the voice. Getting some SSB traffic QRM from 6201 after about 0741. Faded like everyone else but still barely there at 0920. (13 Feb.)

6210 LHH Coming up out of nowhere at 0757 when other stations were fading. 0758 DJ chatter, then Pop song at 0759. 0802 song anmnt and tlk by M. Ment of "Laser" and "...the best music...". Another song, jingle, and more tlk. Faded then and barely any audio. 0834 jingle in strange voice. Really came up nicely at 0835 w/"Laser Hot Hits" jingle then Dance mx. Weird propagation this morning. (13 Feb.)

6215.84 Found a signal here the entire time and thought it might be King Shortwave. But it never drifted (like King Shortwave does) and hardly varied in strength from start to finish. So must be a Perseus artifact. (13 Feb.)

6219.90 Misti R. Signal came on at 0820:49. Definitely mx on a few peaks at 0835-0838. Faded then. Looked like it went off at 0915:10. Would have been much better an hour earlier. (13 Feb.)

6239.96 R. Caroline International Came on the air at exactly 0826:57. Seemed like mx weakly modulated. Echo anmnt at 0829:30. Getting some nice peaks right at 0830. 0837:10 slow deliberate M voice w/'roomy' echo. Tuned out at 0841 but was still there on return at 0855. Then R. Borderhunter came on at 0901:17 on 6240. I see Iann's blog he had R. Rainbow reported here. Were they relayed by R. Caroline Int.?? (13 Feb.)

6240 R. Borderhunter 0905 mx suddenly coming up nicely very briefly on a few peaks w/"Dancing Queen" by Abba, then "Eye in the Sky" by Alan Parsons. 0911 usual Waltz and voice-over anmnts w/ID and freq., etc. 0915 "More Than a Feeling" by Boston. 0919 very brief anmnt and into DT Pop song. Getting some annoying QRM from a pulsing UTE just above. (13 Feb.)

6278.02 R. Experience Here playing "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd at 0733. Into "Bang a Gong" by T Rex at 0735-0739. 0742:53 M anncr w/what sounded like an ID and "good morning". 0743-0745 "Black is Black" by Los Bravos. Anmnts at 0748:20 including e-mail addr. At 0749:47, they tuned the transmitter up to 6278.26 for 10 seconds, then 6278.47 for a couple seconds, and 6278.53 for 13 seconds, 6278.66 for a few more seconds, 6278.83 for 10 seconds, and up to6280 at 0751:05. Stayed on 6280 for 1:45 and tuned back down to 6279.32 where it settled. UTE QRM was just hammering it after 0753. More anmnts at 0759, but impossible. Faded after 0800 but was still audible to at least 0840 but just not strong enough. The signal was still in there at 0920 when I quit. Well modulated. Voice audio seemed too bassy. Nice to hear a new station. (13 Feb.)

6287 R. Shadow Already an OC when I started recording at 0730. Audio came up w/mx at 0730:19. 0731:31 some sort of jingle w/M in electronic robotic voice, then into "Wipeout" by The Surfari's. Pretty nice and clear at 0737-0738 on peaks, but modulation seemed too low. W w/ID in echo sounding like "This is R. Shadow ??". 0836 thought I heard the beginning of "Fox on the Run" by Sweet. Best strength I've had from this in a very long time (at least in the first10 minutes). Pulsing UTE on 6289 causing some QRM. (13 Feb.)

6306.29 UNID. Signal on at 0737:24. Definite mx about a half minute later. Unfortunately it went off at 0739:19. (13 Feb.)

6309.09 UNID. On the air at 0746:23 already playing mx. Seemed about same strength as stn on 6306.29 earlier, and sounded like the same song. More nonstop mx. Strong enough to recognize the Rock song at 0800 but didn't. Gone at 0802:37 when the song ended. Drifted down to 6309.05 by s/off. Who was this?? Someone testing presumably. (13 Feb.)

6425 The UTE was back here.

6959.82 R. Atlantic 0843 Blues song, then into "I Feel the Earth Move" by Carol King at 0844, followed by "Mrs. Vanderbuilt" by Wings, and another song at 0852. No anmnts. Signal oddly fluttery. (13 Feb.)

[JoJo]

Hello Dave, thanks for the log. Nice you where out again. WX was Sunny here, but cold, so I went out only for a walk with the dog

[Kai]

Hi Dave!

Your reports are always a fascinating read. It's particularly interesting to see what lengths some people go to to log exotic stations (I understand it, because I like to go on this kind of expeditions myself. I whish I could do it more often!)

I also like the reports from Terry in Newfoundland, but I think he's sitting in his armchair listening ...

Keep up the good work, Dave and Terry (and the other contributors from across the pond)!

Kai

[Caroline]

Hi Dave,

lot of thanks for your log of us yesterday morning on 6240kcs, its really
great, because I think, it was the first time that you were able
to receive us there!!!!

Power was about 80watts by using a 10mtrs high Inverted-vee
antenna.

Hope, you might soon again be able to receive us there and
thanks again!!!

Greetings,
Radio Caroline International.

[Dave Valko]

Thanks for the kind response, guys!!

I really enjoy listening to all who go on the air. Of course it would be nice if I had equal reception at home as I do at the State Game Lands. But there's a kind of 'charm of inconvience' going out to listen in the cold and snow in the dead of night!! Its a lot of fun to be honest.

Radio Caroline International, thanks for replying. I'll send you a report and some other things as soon as I get a chance. Many things to do here.

JoJo, keep up the good work my friend!! And the nice variety of music. No QRM from the SSB stations yesterday morning!!

[r.shadow]

Hello Dave

Thanks for log me again over there for along time .

I still working on the audio .

Greeting to you and the family.

Radio-Shadow .

[newfoundland dxer]

Dave, I am amazed at at your receptions Sunday morning. Conditions here were terrible.

I have to admit to being somewhat envoius of your Perseus receiver too. Having the ability to scan the entire band must be very nice. And being able to track frequency changes (like you did with Experience) is amazing. It is just not possible with an old-fashined reciever like mine. As much as I like "spinning the dial", I admit the Persues has distinct advantages, so I may have to consider upgrading.

Keep the reports coming. It is always fun to compare logs.

Kai, you are correct. I sit in my armchair in my den, in complete comfort The hardest thing that I do is drag myself out of bed at around 0430-0500 local on Sunday mornings, which is nothing compared to Dave. I love my Europirates, but Dave shows true dedication.

Cheers, Terry