[IRCA] 1710 Mystery Russian - Bearings Measurements

[Guy Atkins <dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've spent at least a couple hours today trying to pin down the bearing of
the 1710 kHz mystery station from my location. Most of the day only a
carrier was audible, and it was really difficult to find a null point due to
the very weak signal and varying signal strength (typical: -102 to -111 dBm
in less than a minute). It takes my rotor with the ALA100 about a minute to
turn 360 degrees, so with the variable signal it was nearly impossible to
discern a believable bearing.

Within the last few minutes though--about 1/2 hour past local SS--the
Russian language audio appeared on 1710 and the signal has steadied a bit.
The strength is about -96 dBM (S-5), and it's getting stronger by the
minute.

Interestingly, I'm getting a sharper peak with the ALA100 vs. a sharp null.
This is really helping out with the confidence level for DF'ing, and the
station is appearing on a bearing of 0 - 180 degrees (as close to a true
north-south line from my Puyallup location as I can measure).

A lot of potential communities are on this bearing: all of the south Puget
Sound area (Kent, Auburn, Renton, etc.) as well as Mercer Island & Bellevue
on the East Side of Seattle. Farther north, potential locations are
Kirkland, Kenmore/Bothell, Everett, Marysville, and into Canada...
Abottsford.

Mount Vernon, Bellingham, and Blaine are at approximately 350 degrees from
Puyallup, so they are possibilities too, as others have mentioned.

To the south of me there are not many potential targets, but there is Graham
and Orting. I'm not aware of any Russian communities in these towns, but it
would be simple enough for me to drive out there to check reception. For
that matter, I could investigate Kent, Auburn, Renton, and Bellevue easily
on my drive to & from work.

A useful Web site is http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators,  with various
ways to calculate distances and bearings between different cities.

73,

Guy Atkins
Puyallup, WA
www.perseus-sdr.blogspot.com
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