Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] Grayland - Feb. 19-22, 2014

["Mark Durenberger" <Mark4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bill:  NICE work on your report!  That's a lot of info; easy to understand.

Interesting what you're finding with 'over-sized' D-Kaz antennas.  I had 
settled on a 120 ft/20ft and found it suffered a bit on the low end of the 
MW band...but it turned out to be hot a long way up into SW.  What height 
are you using with the 160-foot array?

Here's a thought that may or may not make sense.  I've often wondered if 
extending the null-pot to the shack might disrupt the linearity of the D-Kaz 
null.

When the weather's nice, I work from the null-pot location, extending the 
receiver feed instead.

9:1 at the receive end is almost a perfect match to Cat5.  I run the Cat5 
around to the null-pot end (staying away from the antenna).  The Cat5 feeds 
a 2:1 that perfectly matches the Perseus input.

(Still found some RF amplification was a good idea for the MW low-end, but 
the stability was rock-solid and the null was fairly uniform across a couple 
of octaves.)


Regards,

Mark Durenberger


-----Original Message----- 
From: Bill Whitacre
Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2014 10:05 AM
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America ; 
am@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [NRC-AM] Grayland - Feb. 19-22, 2014

I visited Grayland, WA February 19-22, 2014 and did some TiVo SDR DXing 
using a 180' DKAZ antenna at ~280 degrees.

I'm still reviewing wav files but results thus far are here:

<http://realmonitor.com/am_logs_grayland9.php>

Nothing earth-shattering though hearing Indonesia [on 999kHz] at any time is 
welcome.  A few observations:

- 180' DKAZ is a GREAT low-band antenna.  I've experimented with 88, 112, 
128 and 140' versions before and this is by far the best for the low end. 
Unfortunately, high end nulls suffer as a result and it may be that 160' is 
a 'sweet spot' that covers nearly the WHOLE band.

- Feb. 21 and 22 were like two different seasons as the 21st had nice 
sunrise enhancement to the Far East while the 22nd was more DU thanks to an 
A-index of over 40.

- I used remote termination - 9:1 transformer at the null end of the 
antenna, ~600' of CAT5 to Room 15 at the Grayland Motel where a 100 Ohm pot 
'controlled' the null.  Worked very well and I was able to put a decent null 
on stations off-the-back as well as Portland area by virtue of being a 
little too close to the neighbors cyclone fence on the south side of the 
property which I believe skewed things a bit.

- I also ran a ~800' BOG directly west from just outside Room 15.  Not very 
impressive results on 'live' listening but I've yet to review Perseus wav 
files.

Check out the 'Summary stats', 'Map' and 'AzBar' links on the grayland9 page 
as well.  They're fun and maybe even useful.

Oh, and if you haven't visited one of my previous DXpedition webpages 
there's no 'traditional' logs -- just links to sounds along the far right 
side.  Click on the 'little x' and you'll hear what I heard -- dates & times 
as column heads.

Enjoy!

Bill Whitacre
Alexandria, VA
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