26 December 2006 Free Radio Report from Dunlo, PA, USA

[Dave Valko]

Propagation conditions have been horrible the last few weeks. (Good timing though as I've been sick and was unable to do any listening). The poor conditions continued over Christmas as well. Its been difficult to identify anything because the signals have been so weak. If any of you can help with the UNIDs, I'd gratefully appreciate it. Thanks.

6220.37 Mystery R. Hrd unusually high above 6220. 2119 "She Drives Me Crazy" by FYC at t/in. Anmnts during song w/morning and afternoon greetings. "...let us know...", ments of radio, then usual W ID jingle, into song by Madonna. 2126 "Mystery R. worldwide" w/"X Files" jingle, then live annt w/nice ID and TC. Ment of Dave Walker, e-mail mysteryradio@googlemail.com, Mystery R. contest anmnt, etc. Back to mx at 2132. 2141 "...Mystery R live...", ment of freq and contest again, and "Mystery QSL". 2147 "Shake, Shake, Shake" by KC. More of the same past 2245. Only fair and fady signal w/lcl TVI and some SSB traffic QRM. (23 Dec.)

3920 R. Mistletoe Forgot to write down (or record WWV) the time, but tuned in sometime around 2335. Found mx and later an anmnt at one point. Totally unreadable though because of lcl noise and Ham net right on top. I did recognize an unusual version of "We Three Kings" probably abt 2355, then another anmnt almost readable. Gone shortly thereafter. I feel I could have IDed if not for the interference. Found out later this was R. Mistletoe. (24 Dec.)

24 December 2006: Although it was much quieter than the evening before at home, conditions were just horrendous!! Totally dead with unusually high amount of static crashes for Winter!! Conditions were the absolute worst they've been all season, and at the worst possible time. I never expected conditions to be this awful. Only logged 2 stations in the hour and a half I stayed out. I called it quits early.

RX: JRC NRD-535D
ANT: 315' Beverage (BOG) at 50°
QTH: Pennsylvania State Game Lands #26
Duration: 0640-0910 UTC
Solar Indices: S.F. = 73 A Index = 16 K Index = 3 No storms oddly enough.
WX: Windy, cool 36° F. (2° C.)

Noticed R. Nacional Saharaui (Algeria) is now on 6210 from 0700-0900. Effectively eliminates another pirate freq.

6220.43 Mystery R. Just a very weak carrier and maybe hints of audio at 0640 start. Definitely audio by 0711. Never got any better. Nothing hrd here either at home before or after this listening session!! (24 Dec.)

6300 Skyline Int. R. Extremely weak carrier here noted back at home at 0805. (24 Dec.) IDed per uk DXer blog.

25 December 2006: Regardless of how bad conditions were, I was intent on going out to listen. Poor conditions but a little better than yesterday. Still high static noise levels for December. There were a total absence of pirates until 0800. Conditions improved a bit, but then died out after 0830.

RX: JRC NRD-535D
ANT: 315' Beverage (BOG) at 50°
QTH: Pennsylvania State Game Lands #26
Duration: 0700-0920 UTC
Solar Indices: S.F. = 74 A Index = 12 K Index = 2 No storms.
WX: Starry then clouded up. Frosty, chilly 27° F. (-2° C.)

6260 R. Mistletoe 0756 repeating "Sleigh Ride", ID and e-mail at 0805. Remake of "All You Need is Love" at 0830, then long tlk, then recognized "Ho Ho Ho, Who'd Be a Turkey at Christmas". 0847 ID and into "Wonderful Christmas Time" by McCartney. Cats at 0852, then s/off anmnt at 0855. Pgm seemed to start again at 0857. So obviously a recorded pgm. Still going at 0907 and 0920. Best signal on the band. (25 Dec.)

6300.87 Just a carrier at 0759, but getting some CW QRM. Possible audio. Gone at 0810 check. (25 Dec.)

6296.79 Carrier here at 0801, but pulsing UTE QRM as well. Possible audio at 0809 check during break in UTE xmsns. (25 Dec.)

6280.8 R. Black Power Extremely weak at 0802 t/in. Def. M vcl in song at 0806 check, then UTE started again. Audio just at threshold. 0819 quick peak w/lively familiar Pop song done in GM. Can't recall the title. Another brief peak at 0822. A little mx at 0835. (25 Dec.) ID per Gert on ALI Free Radio Board.

6324.93 Orion R. 0804 definite mx. 0814 jingle sounded like Orions, then John w/ID anmnt. Into Oldie. Strongest signal next to Mistletoe, but horrible UTE right on top!! The UTE was just too much. (25 Dec.)

6298.33v Antonio R. 0816 massive drifting up quickly from 6297.4 to 6298.33 where it settled by 0825. A little mx at 0827. Still there at 0836 check. Too much UTE QRM here. (25 Dec.) ID per uk DXer blog.

6272.02 Flux AM Def. carrier at 0823 and then extremely weak audio, mx. Still not any stronger at 0833, but there appeared to be audio. Def. mx at 0850, kind of sounded like "Rumbleseat" by Mellancamp. UTE QRM here as well. (25 Dec.) ID per Gert in ALI Free Radio Board and by stn op.

6306.1 Bavaria R. Int. Extremely weak carrier at 0825. Impossible. Not there at 0837 check. (25 Dec.) ID per Gert in ALI Free Radio Board. Wish conditions would have been better. This would have been a new station for me.

6285.07 WNKR Weak carrer at 0842. Like others, this was impossible. (25 Dec.) Confirmed it was WNKR per uk DXer blog.

At 0858, I noticed there were at least 6 stations on at the same time: 6324.96, 6298.4, 6285.07, 6280.8, 6272.02, and 6260.

6300.3 Carrier showed up here at 0903. Was off around 0910, but then noted again at 0914. Too late and conditions too poor. (25 Dec.)

6238.98 BRI Carrier here before I left at 0920. (25 Dec.) Roger Davis confirmed it was BRI.

26 December 2006: It was infinitely more quiet than the last 2 days and signals just a bit stronger. Still way below normal though. I listened mainly with the AGC off just to get a little more increase in signal strength. Decided to go out to listen only because Mystery R. was on and K Index was 1 indicating it might be worth the trip. Even the X-Ray flux was low. For the solar indices being so low, I expected conditions to be better.

RX: JRC NRD-535D
ANT: 315' Beverage (BOG) at 50°
QTH: Pennsylvania State Game Lands #26
Duration: 0700-0905 UTC
Solar Indices: S.F. = 76 A Index = 7 K Index = 1 No storms.
WX: Foggy, damp. Much warmer, 41° F. (5° C.)

6285.32 WNKR Signal here when I started just before 0700 and audio just coming through. A little mx at 0706. Not quite strong enough to recognize song. Anmnts after every song. Ended anmnt at 0716 w/ment of "broadcast". 0730 song anmnt. 0740 "...thank you very much..." and ment of UK. Occasional pulsing wideband UTE QRM. Seemed to disappear around 0743. (26 Dec.)

6266.08 UNID. Definite stn here after 0700 w/audio. Equal to WNKR at best. Unfortunately it was gone at 0717 check. (26 Dec.)

6220.04 Mystery R. 0700+, usual fare. Peaking at S-4, sometimes up to S-5 today. (26 Dec.)

6210 Nacional Saharaui was on at 0700 but was off later in the half hour and still off at 0736. (26 Dec.)

6210 R. Telstar South Weak carrier at 0745 while Nacional Saharaui was off. Poss. audio at 0747, and definitely audio at 0756. Mx at 0809 peak, and 0826 M anncr nicely on peak. Sounded like a UK accent. 0827 M over mx again, then Rock mx. Couldn't get much more out of it. (26 Dec.) Thanks uk DXer for ID in ALI Free Radio Board!!

6281.43 R. Merlin Int. Carrier at 0749. "More Than This" by Roxy Music coming through at 0750. 0754 "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison. Drifting down to 6281.38 by 0803. Really faded by 0819 check, and extremely weak at 0830. Intermittent UTE a terrible problem here. (26 Dec.) ID per Radio Ramona in ALI Free Radio Board.

6289.45 Carrier at 0800 but a lot of UTE activity here. Gone at 0811 check. See 6290.87 below. (26 Dec.)

6265.67 Antonio R. Definitely here at 0804. Drifting up slightly to 6265.72 at 0816 check. Extremely weak audio at 0817. Impossible though. (26 Dec.) ID per uk DXer blog.

6290.87 R. Scotland Int. (prob.) Here at 0811, probably same as heard on 6289.45 just a minute earlier. Extremely weak but audio just barely detected. Still too close to the UTEs. No better at 0821 but audio definitely there. Still in at 0834. UTE off at 0835 but signal only barely there. Still in after 0900. Freq rock steady here. (26 Dec.) uk DXer logged this here at 1015.

6310.03 Extremely weak carrier at 0833. No chance. (26 Dec.)

6261.77 Extremely weak carrier at 0836. Sounded like some audio at 0845. Still in there at 0903. (26 Dec.)

And that's all for this Christmas holiday. I hope that everyone had a great Christmas. Hopefully propagation conditions will be better on New Years. I'm looking forward to it!!

[JoJo]

Hello Dave,

Many thanks for the logs, much appreciated. I hope you had a nice x-mas.

[Dave]

Hi Dave, Unfortunatly that wasn't WNKR on 6285 on the 26th of December, as I didn't fire the tx up that day!
Sorry!

Dave Martin.