Date
1 - 5 of 5
Some more "Midnight Sun Ultralight DX:ing"!
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Hans Ostnell
Hi again! Well, I couldn't resist the temptation to pay another visit to my "DX Caravan", located some 30 km south of Vardo island, on the mainland, about 200 meters from the Komgvaer River. A very nice and quiet location, although the area right now is populated by numerous "hords" of salmon-anglers from all of Europe, who travels up here to do some really serious fly-fishing - hoping to catch one or two of our world famous arctic salmons (and they do - lots of them!). I will have my fair share of fly-fishing in late August, right before the season ends and most of the tourists have went back home - leaving the best catches for us "locals". Still waiting to catch that monster "mother of all arctic salmons"... pretty sure I will get it this year (something I say every year) ;) So, armed with my 12" x 7.5" FSL and my brand new and supercharged Skywave CC, I went down there on the friday afternoon, and stayed for two evenings. A-index was 25 and K-index was 1, the geomagnetic field was reported to be very quiet, so I had good confidence to receive some signals also this weekend. The Skywave CC (more about that onen in a later posting) worked like a charm, teamed up with the FSL. As a recerence, I had attached my Wellbrook ALA-1530 on a camera tripod, some 20 meters from the caravan and connected the coax to my trusty old ICF-2010. Yet again, I noticed that the FSL and ultralight receiver easily outperformed the ALA-1530/ICF-2010 combo on all signals! Actually, weaker signals on the FSL was not there at all on the ALA-1530. No, the Wellbrook antenna works according to it's specs, but it seems that the FSL is much more sensitive... Well, during the two evenings, I heard the usual bunch of Iranians and a lot of other stations from the middle east. Also some European signals later in the evenings, and among those I must mention Radio Oltenia Craiova, a small 1 kW station in Romania on 1314 kHz, which came up with a very nice ID at 21:41 UTC friday evening. This was a big surprise for me, and an all time new one as well. I've heard other romanian stations on 1314 kHz before, but never this one - it's usually Antena Satelor of Radio Romania Actualitate which is heard on this frequency. Also worth to mention, is China Radio International and their Xinjiang-transmitter on 1521 kHz, which was logged already at 19:00 UTC friday evening. I have never heard this station that early on the season, one month before the season actually starts. Nothing at all on ALA-1530/ICF-2010, but a pleasant signal on the FSL/Skywave CC combo. Strange... or..? Here's the complete log from the two evenings:
73's de Hans / LA2MOA Vardo island / Komagvær Arctic Norway 12" x 7" FSL + Skywave CC (mod.)
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Hi Hans,
Thanks for the excellent, detailed report of your CC Skywave + FSL antenna DX from your "DX Caravan" 30 km south of Vardo Island. I'm happy that you were able to track down stations like the 1 kW 1314-Radio Oltenia Craiova in Romania, and 1521-CRI. Also, your description of the salmon anglers from the rest of Europe reminded me of the "sleeping squatters" at our DXpedition site on the Oregon state coast last month, as we chased South Pacific DX from a plunging ocean side cliff (photo attached). Perseus-SDR DXers Chuck Hutton and Tom Rothlisberger were also at the site.
Like you, I was using a "Supercharged" CC Skywave and large FSL antenna (both a 17" and 15" model), and had a lot of fun with their excellent performance. The best DX was probably the 1 kW station 936-Chinese Voice in Auckland, New Zealand, at 11,031 km-- surprisingly strong for such low-power.
Thanks again for sharing your DXing success!
73 and Best Wishes,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
-----Original Message----- From: hans.ostnell@... [ultralightdx] To: ultralightdx Sent: Sun, Jul 12, 2015 6:35 am Subject: [ultralightdx] Some more "Midnight Sun Ultralight DX:ing"! Hi again!
Well, I couldn't resist the temptation to pay another visit to my "DX Caravan", located some 30 km south of Vardo island, on the mainland, about 200 meters from the Komgvaer River. A very nice and quiet location, although the area right now is populated by numerous "hords" of salmon-anglers from all of Europe, who travels up here to do some really serious fly-fishing - hoping to catch one or two of our world famous arctic salmons (and they do - lots of them!). I will have my fair share of fly-fishing in late August, right before the season ends and most of the tourists have went back home - leaving the best catches for us "locals". Still waiting to catch that monster "mother of all arctic salmons"... pretty sure I will get it this year (something I say every year) ;)
So, armed with my 12" x 7.5" FSL and my brand new and supercharged Skywave CC, I went down there on the friday afternoon, and stayed for two evenings. A-index was 25 and K-index was 1, the geomagnetic field was reported to be very quiet, so I had good confidence to receive some signals also this weekend. The Skywave CC (more about that onen in a later posting) worked like a charm, teamed up with the FSL. As a recerence, I had attached my Wellbrook ALA-1530 on a camera tripod, some 20 meters from the caravan and connected the coax to my trusty old ICF-2010. Yet again, I noticed that the FSL and ultralight receiver easily outperformed the ALA-1530/ICF-2010 combo on all signals! Actually, weaker signals on the FSL was not there at all on the ALA-1530. No, the Wellbrook antenna works according to it's specs, but it seems that the FSL is much more sensitive...
Well, during the two evenings, I heard the usual bunch of Iranians and a lot of other stations from the middle east. Also some European signals later in the evenings, and among those I must mention Radio Oltenia Craiova, a small 1 kW station in Romania on 1314 kHz, which came up with a very nice ID at 21:41 UTC friday evening. This was a big surprise for me, and an all time new one as well. I've heard other romanian stations on 1314 kHz before, but never this one - it's usually Antena Satelor of Radio Romania Actualitate which is heard on this frequency. Also worth to mention, is China Radio International and their Xinjiang-transmitter on 1521 kHz, which was logged already at 19:00 UTC friday evening. I have never heard this station that early on the season, one month before the season actually starts. Nothing at all on ALA-1530/ICF-2010, but a pleasant signal on the FSL/Skywave CC combo. Strange... or..?
Here's the complete log from the two evenings:
73's de Hans / LA2MOA
Vardo island / Komagvær
Arctic Norway
12" x 7" FSL + Skywave CC (mod.)
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Hans Ostnell
Many thanks, Gary!
Yes, I've been following your last expedition to Rockwork 4 closely, and been studying your logs with envy, hi! I must admit, that DXing the mediumwave band in the beginning and mid July, is a totally new experience for me, since we have 100% daylight and the sun is above the horizon 24/7 until the end of this month. And, if I hadn't been trying the FSL last weekend, I would more or less still have beleived that the band is totally dead up here this time of the year... Nothing could be more wrong. There's plenty of signals for afew hours every evening, even this time of the year - the whole matter is to use a setup sensible enough to detect them... By the way, I'm pretty impressed of your 15" and 17" FSL:s. Do you have a good description of these antennas, as I'm planning to build a "monster size" FSL for myself. If the A and K-indexes are favourable, I will have another go to the "DX-caravan" also next weekend. 73! Hans / LA2MOA
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Hi Hans,
Thanks for your very generous comments on the recent DXpedition!
<<< By the way, I'm pretty impressed of your 15" and 17" FSL:s. Do you have a good description of these antennas, as I'm planning to build a "monster size" FSL for myself. >>>
Yes, I have attached design photos for both of these mega-FSL models with this email. There haven't been any construction articles written for them yet, but I know that all of the required parts are still available on eBay, and other sources.
As for the 7.5" loopstick CC Skywave model, the modified Sony ICF-2010 SSB spotting receiver and the 17" and 15" FSL antennas used in the recent Rockwork 4 DXpedition, these are all shown in a Rockwork 4 Cliffside video posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMajwIVPjuo . The New Zealand propagation had already collapsed by the time the video was shot, however, so I wasn't able to include an FSL antenna inductive coupling boost demonstration (like I did with 531-PI last July). Good luck in your antenna construction, Hans!
73, Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
-----Original Message-----
From: hans.ostnell@... [ultralightdx] To: ultralightdx Sent: Sun, Jul 12, 2015 9:39 am Subject: Re: [ultralightdx] Some more "Midnight Sun Ultralight DX:ing"! Many thanks, Gary!
Yes, I've been following your last expedition to Rockwork 4 closely, and been studying your logs with envy, hi! I must admit, that DXing the mediumwave band in the beginning and mid July, is a totally new experience for me, since we have 100% daylight and the sun is above the horizon 24/7 until the end of this month. And, if I hadn't been trying the FSL last weekend, I would more or less still have beleived that the band is totally dead up here this time of the year... Nothing could be more wrong. There's plenty of signals for afew hours every evening, even this time of the year - the whole matter is to use a setup sensible enough to detect them...
By the way, I'm pretty impressed of your 15" and 17" FSL:s. Do you have a good description of these antennas, as I'm planning to build a "monster size" FSL for myself.
If the A and K-indexes are f avourable, I will have another go to the "DX-caravan" also next weekend.
73!
Hans / LA2MOA
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One more design photo, Hans (the 17" DXpedition FSL antenna).
73, Gary
-----Original Message----- From: D1028Gary@... [ultralightdx] To: ultralightdx Sent: Sun, Jul 12, 2015 9:15 pm Subject: Re: [ultralightdx] Some more "Midnight Sun Ultralight DX:ing"!
Hi Hans,
Thanks for your very generous comments on the recent DXpedition!
<<< By the way, I'm pretty impressed of your 15" and 17" FSL:s. Do you have a good description of these antennas, as I'm planning to build a "monster size" FSL for myself. >>>
Yes, I have attached design photos for both of these mega-FSL models with this email. There haven't been any construction articles written for them yet, but I know that all of the required parts are still available on eBay, and other sources.
As for the 7.5" loopstick CC Skywave model, the modified Sony ICF-2010 SSB spotting receiver and the 17" and 15" FSL antennas used in the recent Rockwork 4 DXpedition, these are all shown in a Rockwork 4 Cliffside video posted at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMajwIVPjuo . The New Zealand propagation had already collapsed by the time the video was shot, however, so I wasn't able to include an FSL antenna inductive coupling boost demonstration (like I did with 531-PI last July). Good luck in your antenna construction, Hans!
73, Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
-----Original Message-----
From: hans.ostnell@... [ultralightdx] <ultralightdx@...> To: ultralightdx <ultralightdx@...> Sent: Sun, Jul 12, 2015 9:39 am Subject: Re: [ultralightdx] Some more "Midnight Sun Ultralight DX:ing"!
Many thanks, Gary!
Yes, I've been following your last expedition to Rockwork 4 closely, and been studying your logs with envy, hi! I must admit, that DXing the mediumwave band in the beginning and mid July, is a totally new experience for me, since we have 100% daylight and the sun is above the horizon 24/7 until the end of this month. And, if I hadn't been trying the FSL last weekend, I would more or less still have beleived that the band is totally dead up here this time of the year... Nothing could be more wrong. There's plenty of signals for afew hours every evening, even this time of the year - the whole matter is to use a setup sensible enough to detect them...
By the way, I'm pretty impressed of your 15" and 17" FSL:s. Do you have a good description of these antennas, as I'm planning to build a "monster size" FSL for myself.
If the A and K-indexes are f avourable, I will have another go to the "DX-caravan" also next weekend.
73!
Hans / LA2MOA
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