[IRCA] UltraOkie Composite DX Log Updater
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[IRCA] UltraOkie Composite DX Log Updater



As long term members of this group already know, the three Ultralighters who are clustered in north-central Oklahoma have formed a sub-group practically from the beginning of Ultralighting (Richard Allen, Kirk Allen, John Bryant.) Since we are all located in a 40 mile diameter circle, our DX conditions are often quite similar as are, often, our catches. Naturally, we find that sharing catches and tips amongst ourselves in near real time is a very useful pursuit. We touch base every morning by e-mail, with informal loggings, unids, comments on conditions, etc. This activity has really helped each one of the three of us and has multiplied the fun quite a bit, too. This kind of sub-group (one exists in the Pacific-Northwest, too) is highly recommended for DXers living fairly near each other.

Another thing that the "UltraOkies" have done is keep a running Composite Log among the three of us. We have not indulged in the "who heard it First" competition that some folks do find fun, but we have found that the composite log between the three of us is a running Target List for each one of us. The log was updated weekly during the main DX Season and during our summer period, we had planned a monthly update pattern. With migrating from Oklahoma to the NW recently, I fell behind on updating the Composite Log and have just completed that chore for the first time since mid-April.

Beside a running and very relevant Target List for each of the three of us, The Composite List is a good tool for some fairly unsophisticated statistical analysis. For instance:

The group as a whole just crossed the 900 Stations Heard barrier with Kirk's most recent logging from a couple of mornings ago. The average time of the three of us in Ultralighting is a year, though Richard has been involved a bit longer and John a bit less than that. The average individual Stations Heard count is 600 (Richard about 650, Kirk about 600 and John about 550.) The conclusion from that bunch of numbers is that each of us managed only to log 2/3 of the stations that the whole group did..... or more positively, each of us have at least 300 more stations to log that one or more of the others heard during the past 15 months. That is a very hopeful outlook to consider when you are "stuck at 552 stations and have DXed out the band...." as I was feeling right before I left Oklahoma. Despite the fact that mostly all three of us were listening every morning and often some in the evening, too, there had to have been quite a few stations that escaped all three of us. So..... Ultralighters logging 600 or so stations from one location is provably just a start.

Looking over our new stations since mid-April, it does appear that the summer season has led us to new catches closer to home than was the case during the traditional Fall/Winter/Spring season. The vast majority of our new ones were from nearby states. That was not 100% true, however, since Kirk managed to catch a new one in Detroit and another (on 1300KHz.!) in Seattle. I managed a new one in Frankfort, KY as well.

After avoiding the Graveyard frequencies for the first 6 months or so, five of the six channels have yielded between 14 and 17 stations each for the group. Only 1240 is lagging with a total of 8 stations heard. Our composite Graveyard count is 88!

The UltraOkie Foreign count, especially the Mexican Count is impressive:

Mexico      121 Stations
Canada      24 Stations
Cuba           22 Stations
Japan            3 Stations

Singleton stations in Anguilla, Neth. Antilles, Dominican Republic, Hungary and Venezuela

That makes our composite Latin count at 147 Stations.... Not too bad from Northern Oklahoma, with a pocket radio.

For new people on the group, I should mention that Richard DXes exclusively in the Barefoot Class, using a tiny Sony T615; Kirk DXes with an E100 Slider (E100 modified with an 8" ferrite bar and a sliding antenna coil) sometimes assisted by an inductively coupled Select-a-Tenna. I DX, usually, with an E100 Slider directly coupled to a major outside antenna, usually the Wellbrook Phased Array, a highly directional array of loops phased against each other. It is more than a little interesting that Richard uses the least sophisticated DXing set-up and has the most stations. I have the most sophisticated arrangement and have heard the least number of stations (hummmmmmm!)

So..... if you have been doing Ultralighting for a year and have less than 900 stations logged, you gotta have hope that there are more than 300 stations out there,, just WAITING for you to catch them!!!! And from the bunches of stations that we have logged in the past two months, the summer season is also, provably, quite productive... even for folks with high station counts.... Come on back, you FM Woosies!!!

Happy Fourth of July to the USA members of this group.... and a belated Canada Day to our northern neighbors. With Canada Day on the First and Independence Day on the Fourth, those of us here on the Border throw a four day party!!!


John Bryant
Orcas Island, WA
Winradio G313e and various Ultralights
Wellbrook Phased Array + Superloops





_______________________________________________
IRCA mailing list
IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca

Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers

For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org

To Post a message: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx