|
This test certainly proved that even short duration
tests
can meet with much success!
Gerry Bishop was the first to report the test, logging the
code
and sweep tones starting at six minutes past midnight
from
his shack in Niceville, Florida.
Next in was Dave Hochfelder in Central NJ, who logged
the
test under the more dominant station from Alabama. Doug
Pifer in Albany, Oregon logged in with the first Western
US reception of the test, hearing both codes and
sweep
tones.
Steve Francis added Tennessee as the fourth state to
copy
the test, and Les Rayburn heard the test despite a lot of
local QRM from an electric fence in Alabama. The
state
total continued to grow as Russ Johnson logged the test
in
Lexington, North Carolina.
Tom Jasinksi heard the test from his shack in
Shorewood,
IL, as did Pete Dernback who pulled the Code in
from
St. Louis. Pete also reported heavy interference from
Spanish station KBGG and gospel from Alabama's WEUV.
Rick Shaftan also struggled with WEUV, but pulled out code and sweep tones at last. Patrick Martin keep his batting average
for DX Tests in the superstar range, by easily copying the test
from Seaside, OR. "Willis" noted the test from his home in
Old Fort, TN, as did Mike Westfall in Los Alamos, NM who
logged the test on a car radio in his wife's car, no less!
Saul Chernos also had a successful reception on a car radio
from Toronto, adding Canada to the mix. Coloneldx@xxxxxxxxx
noted the test, "well heard" at his home in Louisville, KY.
Steve Ratzlaff logged the test using his AR-7030 receiver
and a 1600 foot longwire from his home in Elgin, OR, while
an Icom R70 and a Quantum Phaser were the weapons
of choice for Mike Hardester who heard the test in
Jacksonville, NC.
Greg Myers easily heard the test from his home in Largo, FL.
Like many DX'ers he also tried for the 570 KLIF, but
had no luck due to the strong Cuban station on that
frequency.
Tom Kenny heard the sweep tones and code from his home
on the Jersey Shores near Toms River, NJ. He passed
along his thanks to all involved in the test, as did most
DX'ers who reported.
Barry McLarnon seems to hear everything from his shack in
Ottawa, Ontario, and this test was no different. He reported
logging the sweep tones and code starting at 0106 EST. Shawn
Axelrod keep the heat on Barry, by logging the test from
his home in the Great White North as well...
Rene Tetro heard "faint sweep tones and Morse code, but no
voice" from his home in Lansdale, PA. Bill Harms "managed" to
hear the test from his home in Maryland, struggling with
poor equipment, including a Drake R8B, K9AY antenna
and a Quantum Phaser. Considering his handicap for
using such inferior gear, it's a wonder he can hear
anything! :)
Nigel Pimblett reported the test from his home in Dunmore,
Alberta...but noted that he still needed WEUV whose
powerful signal hampered reception for many of
us in the East. Proving that one man's DX is another
man's pest...
Marc DeLorenzo overcame the Gospel music to
capture the test signals from his home in Cape
Code, MA. Frank Aden reported "weak code and sweeps"
from the great Western state of Idaho. Bill Block
in Prescott, Arizona was able to log the test using his
R-390A and an EWE antenna.
Glen Hauser heard the test well from his site only 400km
away from KKLF, and reported that the test signals
did not run on sister-station KLIF on 570 (which
explains why we couldn't hear it! Maybe we
can sweet talk Hue Beaver into running a test
on 570 soon too!)
Others finding happiness with this test were Greg Coniglio in
NY, and on the opposite coast, Art Peterson added
California to the list of states hearing this test! He logged
it despite heavy QRM from XEPE, noting that the
test continued past it's scheduled time.
IRCA Guru Phil Bytheway kept his recording running past
the scheduled time too and was glad that he did. Just
as he was about to give up, Morse Code flowed out
of the recording! Does anyone else miss Phil's great
e-mail newsletter? -Les
Craig Barnes in Wondervu, Colorado even managed to snag a
voice ID during the test despite interference from KBGG.
Rounding out those who enjoyed this widely heard test.
In the category of "maybe", came reports from folks like
Jim Renfrew in Buffalo, NY who reported hearing
just the sweep tones, or Pete Taylor in Tacoma who
reported hearing bits of code at 0106, but felt like his
file would need audio processing to have any hope
of extracting an ID.
Mike Stonebridge in St. Isidore, Alberta reported a mix
of three stations that allowed him to only hear the sweep
tones of the test. Better luck next time, Mike! True disappointment came for some DX'ers though. Dennis Vroom
battled a huge signal from XEKTT from his home in Vancouver,
WA without any luck. Martin Foltz in Mission Viejo also struggled
without success to hear the test over the powerful Mexican
stations.
JD Stephens didn't manage to log the test, but not because of propagation or interference, he simply got his nights mixed
up! He had his recorder all ready to go, but for Friday night...
one day early. On a positive note, he did log KKLF on it's
regular schedule and will be sending an MP3 recording of
that ID.
Soapbox:
Wow big sweep tones in the recording!
Those are way more effective than cw.-Russ Johnson
Got home at 0122 EST and the morse code is coming through fine.
-Patrick Martin
If the cw got any slower I would have went
to sleep.
-Willis, Old Fort, TN
The code and also the sweep tones really
made it through. Would not have logged this [test] without! -Saul Chernos
The sweep tones easily cut through the dominant "talkback weekend" program
station; The morse code sometimes was easily heard as well.
-Steve Ratzlaff
Severe QRM from presumed
WEUV with gospel. Imagine such a strong signal with "only" 1kw >:-o -Mike Hardester
WEUV was dominant but I heard some of the morse but I
must say the sweeps really break through as I could hear them very well. Thanks to all involved in getting this DX test accomplished. -Tom Kenny
I find it hard to believe that WEUV is dropping to 1 kW night
power...
-Barry McLarnon
No voice announcements made it but the sweep tones cut through
like a hot knife through butter!
-Marc DeLorenzo
BTC Comments:
This test is one of the most widely heard in recent memory.
Signals
ranged literally from Coast to Coast, with reception in both
New
York and California. A total of 18 states and three
providences of
Canada logged the test, and this is just passed on the initial
reports!
It's become clear that the famous "NRC Sweep Tones" cut
through
the noise to an even greater extent than Morse code, and
we'll
push for their use in all future tests. For the record,
the
Morse Code was sent at 5wpm and 10wpm. For those
of us who can copy code at 20 word per minute or
faster
speeds, five words per minute can seem slow, but I
think
it cuts through noise better.
It's also clear that the 570 station KLIF is needed by many,
so
we'll try to twist Hue Beavers arm to see if we can
arrange
a test for that frequency as well.
Reception reports should be sent via e-mail only,
please
include an MP3 recording.
If you really can't convert your cassette into an MP3, or
have to send snail mail, then you can forward
those
cassettes to me. When I have time (likely months
from now) I'll encode them and send them to
the station on your behalf. Obviously this
is an option of last resort.
Our special thanks again to Hue Beavers, the
staff
and management at KKLF, and also to Bill Hale
of the National Radio Club for making this
test possible! What a great way to start the
2005-2006 DX Test season.
Don't forget this weekend's rare
dual
test from both WNTP 990khz and
WFIL 560khz!
73,
Les Rayburn, N1LF
NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator
High Noon Film
100 Centerview Drive Suite 111 Birmingham, AL 35216 205.824.8930 205.824.8960 Fax 205.253.4867 Cell http://www.highnoonfilm.com |
_______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://arizona.hard-core-dx.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