[IRCA] WWNH 1340 Madbury NH DX Test Results (A New Record!)

["Les Rayburn" <les@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"The DX'ers Best Friend", Paul Walker did it again, arranging for a DX test
from the rare state of New Hampshire. This is perhaps the 8th or 9th test
that Paul had either personally conducted or played a key role in arranging
during the past three seasons. And it looks like he may even pull off 
another
one from hard to hear South Carolina soon. (Stay tuned for details)

Paul, thank you doesn't cover it.

WWNH currently does not have a "record holder" for it's best DX...one of the
loggings below can now claim that record. Visit Bill Hale's great Graveyard
DX Achievement web site for details:
http://www.nrcdxas.org/GYDXA/

Here are the results:

WWNH actually performed an last minute DX test on September 30th, prior to 
the
announced test in October.  A few lucky DX'ers were up late and on the 
e-mail lists (it pays to be
connected to the Internet) and snagged this "mini-test".

Rene Tetro of Landsdale, PA heard the test "loud and clear". Other 
"probable" loggings
included Russ Johnson and Bert New of Watkinsville, GA. Joe Miller of Troy, 
MI
heard some tones, but not enough to claim reception. Ditto for Bill Harms.

Willis in Old Fort, TN also heard brief bits of code and sweeps, but his 
local, WBAC
in Cleveland, TN made reception very difficult.

The Main Event on November 5th saw mixed geomagnetic conditions, and
receptions reflected it. First to report success was Wade Smith of New 
Brunswick
who copied sweep tones, Morse code, and TV show themes. John Sgrulletta
of Mahopac, NY pulled out the sweeps and code as well.

Barry McLarnon of Ottawa, Ontario returned to his winning ways, logging yet 
another
test. What is his secret?

Peter Jernakoff sent in a nice MP3 of his recording from Delaware, and Jeff
Falconer submitted a detailed written log of details from the test, 
confirming
his reception from Clinton, Ontario.

Michael Diers used a Watkins-Johnson HF-1000 (nice rig!) and a Kiwa
loop to pull in the test from Huntingon Station, NY. While Brent Taylor
needed only a Sony 2010 and the Radio Shack loop to pull this one
in from Doaktown, NB in Canada.

Ron Musco used the Drake R8B and a set of longwires to log WWNH,
noting that the sweep tones made all the difference in Poquonock, CT.
A Drake R8 and some attic mounted wires helped Jim Chenard of
Blairstown, NJ add this one to his log, and yet another Drake R8
owner, Brett Saylor found success in Central, PA. (Maybe Drake's
are the secret weapon?)

Saul Chernos used his trusty car radio in downtown Toronto to
pull in some "faint sweep tones", so maybe the magic isn't in the
rig afterall. Dave Hochfelder heard sweep tones and the theme from
"Jeopardy" in Highland Park, NJ, and another success story came
in from Michael Procop who logged the test in Bedford, Ohio
using a Kenwood R600 and a homebrew loop antenna.

A Quantum Loop and a Drake R8B were the tools de jour for
Phil Greenspan in Marshfield, MA, and he gives them credit
for his logging of the test. Vermont got into the act with
another successful test logging from Steve Howe in St.
Albans. He's been hearing them all this season!

Another superstar DX'er, Mark Connelly noted the sweep tones
during the test. WWNH is a daytime regular for him, but hard
to hear at night. Dave Pyatt used the rock solid NRC 545 receiver
along with a 40" homebrew box loop to snag a new one from his
shack in Burlington, Ontario. Nice catch, Dave!

We have also heard reports of possible receptions from California
and even Australia, but we've haven't yet received the recordings
to verify these.

I haven't calculated the distances for these receptions, but the
one that is furthest away should automatically qualify for
the NRC Graveyard DX Achivement listing on Bill Hale's
web site. There is currently no record holder for WWNH.

Visit his site to see how to submit your logging:
http://www.nrcdxas.org/GYDXA/


Paul Walker's "relief operator" failed to show up on time, forcing Paul to
stop the test early at around 12:40AM EST. Paul had to be back on the
board at 6AM, so he really had no choice. Some folks tuned in late to
try for the test, and missed any chance of hearing it because of this
situation. Lesson learned: Get em while they're hot! :)

Many found that this New England state will remain out of their logs for a 
bit longer,
trying but failing to log the test. These included Les Rayburn of Helena, AL 
who
dug through almost four hours of recordings without a trace, Doug Smith of
Nashville, and even Neil Kazaross came up short too, making the bitter
medicine easier to swallow. If Doug and Neil didn't hear it then conditions
must have been bad!

James Niven usually has good ears in Moody, Texas, but was lone star blue
after this test. Bill Dvorak of Madison, WI had to taste defeat, as did 
Randy
Stewart of Battlefield, MO.

Propagation to Southern states was also poor, with Chris Johnson of
South Carolina failing to hear this one, and the some Yankees joined
their Rebel brother's misery, like Jim Renfrew of Byron, NY who
reported, "no love from NH."

Mike Brooker of Tronto, NH also had no love, and joining him in 
disappointment
was Martin Foltz of Mission Viejo, CA, proving again that conditions must 
have
been poor when all-stars like these fail to log new ones.




SOAPBOX

WWNH  Sweep Tones coming through loud and clear in SE PA.
-Rene Tetro, Landsdale, PA

I've been after this one for years!
-Ron Musco, Poquonock, CT

The channel was pretty jammed and this was faint through the
jumble. Sweep tone make it out much better than the Morse
Code.
-Jim Chenard, Blairstown, NJ

Kind of handicapped here. I have a local on 1340 that I could null, but
the null is in the wrong direction, so I had really no shot at this one,
though I did try for it.
-Randy Stewart, Battlefield, MO

A shame ... had just gone to the radio for a
post-midnight DX session.  This would explain why I
heard nothing the final 2 hours of the test.
Thanx for your efforts just the same.
-J.D. Stephens, KY

 In general 1340 was "mush" about 50%
of the time, a country station calling itself "God's Country" about 40%
of the time, somebody running the New England Patriots - Indianapolis
Colts game about 8% of the time, and snippets of the WWNH test the
other 2%.  On a non-auroral night WWNH's groundwave simply cannot
compete with the blob of skip signals.  It is too close (about 40
miles) to present any serious skywave signal of its own.
-Mark Connelly, Billerica, MA

73,

Les Rayburn, N1LF
NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator









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