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best time for US stations being heard in UK

seta <michael.setaazul@...>
 

Paul and Mark,

Thanks for the response. Very helpful!
I look forward (?) to some early rising once
I have built the ferrite aerial etc.
I am on the southwest coast of the UK,
next stop Cape Cod, so to speak,
so I am hopeful!

Michael
Paul Logan
 

Hi Michael,

I concur with Mark Connelly, the best time to check for TA signals is in the hour before and after local dawn. You will hear some in the late evenings as east coast Canada and US enter darkness but the dawn openings are more fruitful with mainland Europe being in sunlight and everything west still being in darkness.

Newfoundland is the easiest area to hear with receptions this time of year from about 8pm local until an hour after dawn, conditions allowing.

Heres a list of TA's that I have heard on a barefoot ultralight, might be of some use to you in terms of targets. I've heard a few Caribbean and South American signals as well but the following are the meat of whats been heard. Maybe two dozen others were heard with an ultralight and an external antenna.

540    CBGA New Carlisle, QC
540    CBT Grand Falls, NL
560    CHVO Spaniards Bay, NL
580    CFRA Ottawa, ON
590    VOCM St. Johns, NL
600    CBNA St.Anthony NL
610    CHNC, New Carlisle, QC
620    CKCM, Grand Falls, NL
640    CBN St. Johns, NL
650    CKGA, Gander, NL
650    WSM Nashville, TN
660    WFAN, NYC, NY
670    WSCR Chicago, IL
680    CFTR Toronto, ON
680    WRKO Boston, MA
700    WLW Cincinaati, OH
710    WOR, New York, NY
730    CKAC Montreal, QC
740    CHCM Marystown, NL
750    CBGY, Bonavista Bay, NL
760    WJR, Detroit MI
780    CFDR Dartmouth, NS
780    WBBM Chicago, ILL
790    WAXY South Miami, FL
800    CKLW Windsor, ON
800    VOWR, Saint Johns, NL
810    CJVA Caraquet, NB
820    CHAM Hamilton ON,
830    WCRN, Worcester, MA
840    WHAS Louisville, KY
850    WEEI Boston, MA
860    CJBC Toronto, ON
880    WCBS, New York, NY
890    WLS, Chicago, IL
920    CFRY Portage La Prairie, MB
920    CJCH Halifax NS
930    CFBC, Saint John, NB
940    CINW Montreal QC
950    CFAM, Altona, MB
950    CKNB Campbellton NB
960    WEAV Plattsburgh, NY
1000    WMVP Chicago, IL
1010    CFRB, Toronto, ON
1010    WINS New York, NY
1020    KDKA Pittsburgh PA
1030    WBZ Boston MA
1040    CJMS Saint Constant, QC
1040    WHO Des Moines, IA
1050    CHUM Toronto, ON
1050    WEPN New York, NY
1060    CKMX, Calgary, AB
1060    WBIX Natick MA
1080    WTIC Hartford, CT
1100    WTAM Cleveland OH
1110    WBT, Charlotte, NC
1120    KMOX St. Louis MO
1130    WBBR, NYC, NY
1140    CBI Sydney, NS
1140    CHRB, High River, AB
1140    WQBA Miami FL
1150    WHBY Kimberly, WI
1160    WYLL Chicago, IL
1170    WWVA Wheeling WV
1180    WHAM Rochester, NY
1190    WLIB NYC, NY
1190    WOWO Fort Wayne, IN
1200    CFGO Ottawa, ON
1200    WKOX Newton, MA
1270    CJCB, Sidney, NS
1300    WOOD Grand Rapids, MI
1310    CIWW, Ottawa, ON
1320    CJMR, Mississauga, ON
1330    WRCA Watertown, MA
1380    CKPC, Brantford, ON
1390    WEGP presque Isle, ME
1390    WPLM Plymouth, MA
1400    CBG Gander NL
1470    CJVB, Vancouver, BC
1470    WLAM Lewiston, ME
1500    WWWT Washington DC
1510    WLAC, Nashville, TN
1510    WWZN, Boston, MA.
1520    WWKB, Buffalo, NY
1530    WCKY Cincinnati, OH
1540    CHIN, Toronto, ON
1540    KXEL, Waterloo, IA
1550    CBE Windsor, ON
1560    WQXR New York,
1570    CFAV Laval, QC
1580    CKDO, Oshawa, ON
1600    WUNR, Brookline, MA
1660    KQWB Fargo, ND
1660    WCNZ, Marco Island, FL
1660    WFNA Charlotte NC
1700    KVNS, Brownsville, TX
1700    WEUP Huntsville, AL
1700    WJCC Miami Springs FL

If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask on or off list.

regards

Paul Logan,
Lisnaskea, N. Ireland
MarkWA1ION
 

Based on my 1977 trip to Ireland when I logged numerous US and Canadian stations on a Realistic 12-655 "TRF", I would say get started about an hour before local dawn. Interfering mainland European stations to the east will start fading as they enter daylight. You should be able to get some North American signals up to 30-60 minutes after dawn there: even longer than that if you have salt water immediately to the west and northwest of your location. Western coastal sites in Ireland - Sligo, Clifden, Westport, and Dingle - outperformed Dublin where there was much more land in the way of the DX.

To some extent the principles that Gary applies to Asia openings from the US West Coast apply to North American peak reception in Europe.

On the opposite end of this path (hearing Europe from eastern US/Canada), local sunset +/- 1 hour is best. So when we're hearing your side the best isn't necessarily going to be the best time of night for you DXing the reverse path. The time that provides the desired darkness route consistent with minimized closer-station interference is what works in either case. It just turns out that 2030-2230 UTC might be best here in the eastern USA and 0500-0700 UTC does better in the UK.

We have a list member in Northern Ireland who can give you a much more up to date look.

You might want to consider Medium Wave Circle membership. After reading a few of their bulletins, you will have a very good idea about reception times best suited to TA DX there, and which stations are being heard on a variety of receivers from ultralights up to AOR 7030+ and Perseus.

Mark Connelly, WA1ION
Billerica, MA + South Yarmouth, MA, USA

--- In ultralightdx@..., "seta" <michael.setaazul@...> wrote:

Kevin,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I´m glad my G8 and plans
fit. I also have an elderly ICF-SW1 which needs
new tantals in the AF stage, but which otherwise might
benefit from the experiment.

(I also have an Eton E5 and a SONY ICF 7600D, both
of which need attention, and wouldn´t qualify anyway.
I´ll whisper the bad news to them gently...)

It will be a while before I can get operative. If I
want to try for US stations, what UTC time of day
would be best? Are there MF propagation predictors
on the web?

Michael


----- Original Message ---------------------------------

From: "dhsatyadhana" <dhsatyadhana@...>
To: <ultralightdx@...>
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 5:57 PM
Subject: [ultralightdx] What Is an Ultralight Radio?


Hi Michael:

Thanks for your question. The Ultralight Definitions are in the Files section, in Folders 1 and 2, here on the Group, and
are listed below as well.

Let us know how the G8 experiments go! This would be an "unlimited class" Ultralight which will hopefully allow you to pull
in a lot of good DX.

Thanks - Kevin S

- - - - -

The Ultralight Definitions

1. It is a simple shirt pocket-sized radio of not more than approximately 20 cubic inches.
2. It is an entertainment-grade radio, as opposed to enthusiast's radio. As such, it will usually not have AM synchronous
detection, SSB clarification or other specialized features.
3. It is readily available to the hobby in new or used markets at the time of its approval.
4. It costs no more than $100 retail at the time of approval.
5. It is primarily a radio. While it may have other features as well (MP3 recorder, etc.), the design and function should
have radio reception as its focus.
6. It is not a "novelty radio" such as Coca Cola Can radio, Mr. Potato Head, etc.

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