Re: [IRCA] 1500 KHz "Mystery Station"

[Les Rayburn <les@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

My understanding is that the best way to obtain a bearing to a station is the procedure that Fred outlined below. 

Using a bi-directional loop, rotate the portable radio or loop antenna until you achieve the deepest null on the desired station (or mystery signal in our case). Make a note of this bearing. 

Then do some quick calculations to determine the bearings to the station which will be 180 degrees from the deepest null point. So if the deepest nulls runs due North and South from your location, the desired station will be on a due East/West line. 

I fully expect some outliers with these bearings. Lots of things can account for this. Local noise, terrain, and overly broad patterns in loop antennas. But if we get enough people to report their bearings, weâll be able to quickly see which bearings are outliers and discard them from the data. 

Iâm going to drive to a nearby field that is flat, open, and free from local noise sources to try again tonight. I want to be sure that local factors are not affecting my own bearing reports. Fortunately, there is a nearby sod farm that is perfect for that. 

What we need are more people to report on this. If youâre located in the Eastern US or Canada, or the Midwest, your reports are needed. Please take a few moments tonight to go outside with a portable radio and try to obtain a bearing. We could especially use DXâers in Florida or the Gulf Coast. 

Tim has been kind enough to post a YouTube video to give  you an idea of what this mysterious signal sounds like: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M4opnMHq88&spfreload=1

We generally believe that itâs being caused by a transmitter malfunction, or problem in the audio chain at the station resulting in the signal being over-modulated. 

Your help in solving the mystery is greatly appreciated. Darn those meddling kids! 





73,

Les Rayburn, N1LF
121 Mayfair Park
Maylene, AL 
EM63nf

Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA. 

Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip. 


> On Feb 8, 2016, at 9:03 AM, Fred Schroyer <ibfreditor@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Hi all, the "someone in SW PA" is me; sorry I forgot to give my QTH in an
> earlier posting! To add a little more: I'm in Waynesburg, PA 15370, in
> extreme SW PA, almost at the intersection of 40N / 80W. Using my CCrane
> Skywave, walking around the yard, every night at various times between 7
> and midnight EST, I usually hear our mystery noise behind WFED.
> Consistently, I get sharp & total nulls nearly East-West (skewed a couple
> of degrees toward ENE-WSW, as measured with my iPhone's compass), so that
> indicates the noise source could be roughly along the parallel of 40N. The
> other night on my way home from work in nearby Morgantown, WV, I heard it
> weakly on the car radio, behind WFED & others before sunset, around 1730,
> when skip was strongest eastward (NYC, Canadians, Virginia). If we get
> enough data points, I guess we'll nail the curious thing!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2016 18:34:08 -0900
> From: "Paul B. Walker, Jr." <walkerbroadcasting@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America
>        <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: "Name missing - wghauser@yahoo_com" <wghauser@xxxxxxxxx>,   "ABDX
>        Yahoo Group - abdx@yahoogroups_com" <ABDX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> "National
>        Radio Club NRC am@nrcdxas_org" <am@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [IRCA] [dxld] Re: 1500 KHz "Mystery Station"
> Message-ID:
>        <CADC3Yg2rfXVhrBGRDUkNv+R-CBBg5hKVvqreDiY4pwkfk+TA8g@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
> 
> Someone in SW Pennsylvania said it was in an east/west line from them, so
> how far south can this be?
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