Wednesday 19 August 2015

Hunting For NDBs In CLE 197

'ZSJ-258' Sandy Lake, ON
Yes ... it's CLE time once again! For you low-frequency buffs, another challenge awaits. This month's frequency range covers two sections of the MF band, 240-259.9KHz and 420-439.9KHz. Both regions have plenty of targets for North American and European beacon-hunters.

A list of all of the North American  targets in this range can be found in the RNA database, while targets for European DXers will be found here... specify the frequency range wanted and check 'show all results'.

An excellent target for this CLE is 'ZSJ', the Sandy Lake, Ontario NDB (258KHz) shown here. Its 500W signal and big antenna get out very well ... it has been heard in Europe as well as in Hawaii.

From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA) comes the following reminder:

Hi all,

Here are the final details for our 197th co-ordinated listening event this
weekend. First timer logs too? Yes, please!

Days: Friday 21 August to Monday 24 August
(that's a week earlier than usual)
Times: Start and end at midday, your LOCAL TIME
Range: 240.0 - 259.9 kHz plus 420.0 - 439.9 kHz
(BOTH ranges are for ALL listeners)

Please log NDBs that you can positively identify in the ranges, plus any
UNIDs that you come across there.
 


Send your CLE log to the List, if possible as a plain text email and
not in an attachment, with CLE197 at the start of its title.
Show on EVERY LINE of your log:

# The Date (or day 'dd') and UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal published frequency (if you know it).
# The Call Ident.

Please show those main items FIRST on each line, then any optional details
such as Location, Offsets, Distance, etc.
If you send interim logs, do make sure that you also send a 'Final' log
containing all your loggings. As always, please make your log useful and
interesting to everyone by including your own location and brief details
of your receiver, aerial(s) and any recording equipment that you used.

I will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 17:00 UTC on
Tuesday so that you can check that your Final log has been found OK.
Do make sure that your log has arrived on the List at the very latest by
08:00 UTC on Wednesday 26th August.
I hope to complete the combined results later on that day.

You can find CLE-related information from the CLE page,
http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm , including access to the seeklists
that have been made for the event from REU/RNA/RWW.
(NB: To also see a MAP of the seeklist NDBs around you, just change
'List' to 'Map', select 'All Results' and uncheck 'Clustering')

Good listening
Brian
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE co-ordinator)
----------------------------------------------------------

(Reminder: You could use any one remote receiver for your loggings,
stating its location and owner - with their permission if required.
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, whether local or
remote, to obtain further loggings for the same CLE).

These listening events serve several purposes. They:
  • determine, worldwide, which beacons are actually in service and on-the-air so the online database can be kept up-to-date
  • determine, worldwide, which beacons are out-of-service or have gone silent since the last CLE covering this range
  • will indicate the state of propagation conditions at the various participant locations
  • will give you an indication of how well your LF/MF receiving system is working
  • give participants a fun yet challenging activity to keep their listening skills honed

Final details can be found at the NDB List website, and worldwide results, for every participant, will be posted there a few days after the event. If you are a member of the ndblist Group, results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB DXing' or to meet other listeners in your region. There is a lot of good information available there and new members are always very welcome.

If you are contemplating getting started on 630m, listening for NDBs  is an excellent way to test out your receive capabilities as there are several NDBs located near this part of the spectrum.

You need not be an ndblist member to participate in the CLEs and all reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers. 'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!

Reports may be sent to the ndblist or e-mailed to either myself or CLE co-ordinator, Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above.

Please...do give the CLE a try....then let us know what NDB's can be heard from your location! Your report can then be added to the worldwide database to help keep it up-to-date.

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