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I spent all of the first couple hours on MW, only
checking for LWBC later at 0230 utc. Very poor for LWBC with only 153 and
171 with poor audio (compared to the previous two evenings). But MW was a very
different story, with good hets beginning already at 2350 utc, the first time I
turned the radios on. From then on, things just got better, with several TAs
eventually heard with fadeups for decent audio. One could spend several
hours at the dials just checking for TAs, and do this for several nights in a
row, if these good conditions keep going! I have other things I should be doing
in the evening, that just aren't getting done! I finally broke off for
supper, and when I came back at 0315 utc, the band had completely changed. Only
a few weak hets (apologies to Glenn Hauser, they're hets to me), and no audio at
all. On LWBC the same, only a couple of weak hets.
But prior to that, for awhile, the band had hets on
almost every 9 kHz channel (where there wasn't strong domestic signals covering
up being able to hear a het).
I've been wanting to try a EWE antenna on MW
for a number of months now, and hearing TAs lately was the impetus to get out
today and actually make one. It took a number of hours (practically all day,
actually), but I have one up and running, and used it tonight. I only have one
tree for a support to the south, so I had to find a matching tree to the north,
for my TA EWE. After finding one, and using a tape measure to check for a decent
horizontal run (130'), I climbed the north large pine tree and cut off the dead
branches, for a clear shot to the south tree. The EWE turned out as a
25x130x30 foot version pointed NNE. I used a 10kohm pot, the first one I came
across in the junkbox, and used an LF beacon to the south to try to get an
approximate null, but just about any value I tried below 2000 ohms gave a 5 S
unit null on the beacon. I need to find a more accurate nulling method! But the
EWE certainly works, both on LF and MW. My other TA antenna for MW is a
south-pointing unterminated (N/S) 400' longwire. The EWE is not as sensitive as
the wire below about 800 kHz, but from then on, is equal to or better than
the longwire antenna, and on many frequencies the EWE is much better due to the
nulling action to the south cutting out the splatter from that direction--very
impressive. After 15 minutes of switching back and forth between antennas, I
eventually just stayed on the EWE. (I left the pot set to 1000 ohms. I also need
to find out if nulling at LF is the same as nulling at MW, for the same pot
position, but from my first results, I doubt that the pot needs to be precisely
set--the null resistance seems to be fairly broad and non-critical. But more
tests need to be done on how to properly null, once I figure out how to do
that.)
All I have for TA identification is the
September 2005 EMWG--is there something better I should be using? I'm very new
to this TA game!
Steve Ratzlaff
Elgin, OR (NE Oregon)
819 Egypt. 0205 utc, weak with Arabic
chanting
864 two stations heard, presume Egypt and
France. 0227 utc, dominant audio had man talking at poor level
1017 presumed Turkey. 0203 utc, poor, man
talking
1089 not sure, Russia or England. 0216 utc with
music then deep-voiced man talking, weak, couldn't get the language, didn't
sound English. EMWG gives Russia sign-on at 0200.
1134 Croatia. First audio at 0202 utc, with man
talking; later with music, poor at the start. All my TAs have deep fading
cycles.
1215 England, Virgin Radio at 0211 utc playing
modern rock music at weak/medium level
1314 Norway. Audio first heard 0106 utc, playing
big band jazz, weak. This lasted to my last check around 0230 utc, with heavy
fading, and audio coming and going. My best TA.
1575 UAE. First audio at 0117 utc, with modern pop
music heard, at weak level. As with 1314, lots of fading up and down, until last
0230 check.
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