--- In ultralightdx@..., "Chris Knight" wrote:
>

> I use the SS/SR charts from the NRC/IRCA clubs available as reprints.

If you're willing to do a little more work, you can get the info direct from FCC, for U.S. stations, anyway. FCC will supply day and night patterns (assuming they're different) in PDF, as well as SR/SS times for each station.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=<call> is the place to start (use /fmq? etc for FM stations). My other resource is a periodically updated list of U.S. and Canadian stations, that gives program and network details, usually accurate.  http://www.amlogbook.com/freq.htm

Pick a few frequencies with likely candidates, then head over to FCC for pattern and time data. DX Atlas will let you stick pins at the correct coordinates, then roll ahead in time to find the grayline dates.

> Sunset skip across the other pond (Gulf of Mexico) should be exciting from
> your QTH! As the sun moves west, stations with day power and patterns should
> be in for a few minutes at full strength before they power down. You should
> be able to get some decent reception from TX, AR, LA, MO and points west
> using this technique.

The way the earth is tilted right now makes things very interesting. In December, the whole east coast and half the Midwest were dark before Florida, so things really perked up at sunset. Now it's calming down a bit.

> This is all calculated and really
> is what brings in some of the best greyline DX. I've seen 660-KTNN and
> 1580-KMIK both in AZ reported from FL using this sunset skip DXing
> technique. I've used it to log some east coast stuff such as 660-WESC (now
> WLFJ) in SC.

I've heard a 1kw in El Paso (KSVE 1650) and 5 other Texans, but haven't jumped the border into New Mexico yet. I can't believe you haven't logged Florida. We have a lot of stations, but not many 50 kWs. There should be a couple you can snag, though. Sunrise on the east coast of Florida is about 1040Z this week. It takes about 10 minutes for the terminator to transit the peninsula, and another 5 minutes after that to cover the Panhandle.

73,

Jim, KR1S
http://qrp.kearman.com/ 

Jim,

Thanks for the tip on DX Atlas! It looks like great software. Here's one of
the best-kept AM BCB DX secrets:

I use the SS/SR charts from the NRC/IRCA clubs available as reprints. Those
charts specifically show SR/SS times for each zone, determined by the FCC,
when a station can power up/power down. Times listed are the average times
for a particular month. These power up/power down times are calculated based
on the middle date (average) of the month. In some circumstances a station
may be powering up just before local SR or powering down after local SS.
This would happen mostly around the first and last dates of the month and
should affect northern stations slightly more than southern ones. Also, this
effect wouldn't be very pronounced around the equinox months (March and
Sept.). Using the NRC/IRCA charts, you can plot a really good target list
and when to listen. I'm guessing this is one of Rob Ross' strategies in
logging so many stations.

Sunset skip across the other pond (Gulf of Mexico) should be exciting from
your QTH! As the sun moves west, stations with day power and patterns should
be in for a few minutes at full strength before they power down. You should
be able to get some decent reception from TX, AR, LA, MO and points west
using this technique. As for sunrise, this technique won't play nearly as
well. Along the west coast, sunset skip won't play as well either. The best
you could hope for is getting some sign-ons and station power-ups from the
NE US at sunrise in the summer months April-August while FL is still in
darkness. I'm sure DXers on the west coast will argue they can do pretty
well with sunset skip around Nov. to Jan. This is all calculated and really
is what brings in some of the best greyline DX. I've seen 660-KTNN and
1580-KMIK both in AZ reported from FL using this sunset skip DXing
technique. I've used it to log some east coast stuff such as 660-WESC (now
WLFJ) in SC.

73,

Chris

Chris Knight (N0IJK)
Fort Lupton, Colorado
http://sites.google.com/site/ftluptonulrlogs/

--- In ultralightdx@..., "Chris Knight" wrote:
>
>
> It may be time to start a station target list, analyze SR/SS charts, and
> review the NRC antenna pattern book! I'm saving the heavy artillary
> (Beverage antennas) for later...hi.

Just turn off Cuba! Congrats on that nice Web page. You've got me beat on states and provinces. One province and 25 states here. I use DXAtlas to look at SR/SS, but I'm rarely up at sunrise. Sunset finds me looking east across the pond.  See you in the lists!

73,

Jim, KR1S
http://qrp.kearman.com/ 

Jim,

Congrats on the 263 total stations!

It may be time to start a station target list, analyze SR/SS charts, and
review the NRC antenna pattern book! I'm saving the heavy artillary
(Beverage antennas) for later...hi.

The latest stations heard here were XEVK-1010 and XEIB-1170 for Latin
Americans #29 and #30. XEVK has a new slogan "La Poderosa". XEIB was still
using "La Primera". My ultralight web page was recently updated with a
better station total breakout upon the announcement of the new Centurian
Award (link is in my sig below). As Jim mentioned my total is 264 so he's
catching me and fast by using the Cuban wall to his advantage.

73,

Chris Knight (N0IJK)
Fort Lupton, Colorado
http://sites.google.com/site/ftluptonulrlogs/

--- In ultralightdx@..., "jim_kr1s" <jkearman@...> wrote:

Let two weeks slip by without DXing, and Chris Knight has pulled ahead
of me, with 264 ULR stations to my 263. When John Bryant announced the
Centurian awards, I started from scratch to see how many Cubans I could
log. It seemed possible to get 100, but now I have some doubts. There
are 59 in the new log, and 7 previously logged that haven't been
re-logged, but the pond may be fished out. I'm just far enough from Cuba
that not too many make it through in daylight, eliminating most of the
daytime-only stations. BTW, if you look at WRTH and see several Cuban
stations on one frequency, chances are, all or most are daytime-only.
This is especially true if more than one network shares a frequency. I
heard more than one Reloj on the same frequency at night once, and they
were a little out of sync, so there were three Rs in the Morse Code ID,
instead of two!

Spending time digging for Cubans (I call it Operation Bay of Sigs) has
netted a few new TA and domestic stations along the way. Last night,
Absolute Radio 1215 was stronger than ever here, and I figured a few
more Europeans might fall in, but AR went away and took the rest of the
continent with it. Even the Africans were no shows. The aurora looked
pretty fat last night, and skip generally seemed short. WWVA was a
powerhouse in the car yesterday morning, but WACV in AL was dominating
1170 at SRS this morning, with brief appearances by WAVS down Fort
Lauderdale way.

Combining the ULR log with the regen log, I have 349 overall (since last
September), so I need to figure out what the ULR has missed and find
them again. These days I seem to spend more time sorting spreadsheets
than listening to the radio. But I enjoy jousting with the Knight, and
now I have a plan to get ahead of him again!

73,

Jim, KR1S
http://qrp.kearman.com/ <http://qrp.kearman.com/>

Operation Bay of Sigs.............CUTE, JIM.....REAL CUTE...........OH BOY, I didn't realize we have a retired comedian on the board!!!! :P :P :P


Alex N8UCN / KOH8IG / SWLR-RN037

Let two weeks slip by without DXing, and Chris Knight has pulled ahead of me, with 264 ULR stations to my 263. When John Bryant announced the Centurian awards, I started from scratch to see how many Cubans I could log. It seemed possible to get 100, but now I have some doubts. There are 59 in the new log, and 7 previously logged that haven't been re-logged, but the pond may be fished out. I'm just far enough from Cuba that not too many make it through in daylight, eliminating most of the daytime-only stations. BTW, if you look at WRTH and see several Cuban stations on one frequency, chances are, all or most are daytime-only. This is especially true if more than one network shares a frequency. I heard more than one Reloj on the same frequency at night once, and they were a little out of sync, so there were three Rs in the Morse Code ID, instead of two!

Spending time digging for Cubans (I call it Operation Bay of Sigs) has netted a few new TA and domestic stations along the way. Last night, Absolute Radio 1215 was stronger than ever here, and I figured a few more Europeans might fall in, but AR went away and took the rest of the continent with it. Even the Africans were no shows. The aurora looked pretty fat last night, and skip generally seemed short. WWVA was a powerhouse in the car yesterday morning, but WACV in AL was dominating 1170 at SRS this morning, with brief appearances by WAVS down Fort Lauderdale way.

Combining the ULR log with the regen log, I have 349 overall (since last September), so I need to figure out what the ULR has missed and find them again. These days I seem to spend more time sorting spreadsheets than listening to the radio. But I enjoy jousting with the Knight, and now I have a plan to get ahead of him again!

73,

Jim, KR1S
http://qrp.kearman.com/