Finding Your Best Crystal Radio 'DX Diode'
SMS7630 Schottky Vf = .147V Id = 9uA Vdx = 61 |
'95481' Vf = .246V Id = 13uA Vdx = 53 |
Vf = .252V Id = 12 Vdx = 48 |
Vf = .335V Id = 13uA Vdx = 39 |
SMS7630 Schottky Vf = .147V Id = 9uA Vdx = 61 |
'95481' Vf = .246V Id = 13uA Vdx = 53 |
Vf = .252V Id = 12 Vdx = 48 |
Vf = .335V Id = 13uA Vdx = 39 |
Thanks to May (VA7MAY) and Mark (VA7MM) spending the time to scan my 630m QSL card collection, I have now been able to complete their work by posting a dedicated page for the cards.
If you've ever wondered what can be worked on this 'below the broadcast band' MF amateur band, then viewing the cards and reading their comments may give you some insight into its character.
Another month has zoomed by and it's CLE time once again. This is a challenge for all newcomers to NDB listening and the ultimate test of your medium frequency receiving capabilities. Can you meet the challenge?
For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmitted on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier was tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident could be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone was actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone was 1054 Hz.
Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.
Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.
All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.
From CLE organizers comes the following info:
Hello all
Here are the full details for this weekend's co-ordinated listening event.
It is open to everyone including CLE new-comers:
Days: Friday 27 Oct. - Monday 30 Oct.
Times: Start and end at midday, LOCAL time at the receiver.
NB: Most of us are changing our clocks by one hour this weekend.
However UTC time (as shown in our logs) continues unaffected.
Range: 335.0 - 349.9 kHz
Wherever you are, please join us and log the NDBs that you can positively
identify that are listed in this busy frequency range (it includes 335.0 kHz
but not 350 kHz), plus any UNIDs that you come across there.
Short and long logs are welcome (in-between ones are good too!)
Send your CLE log to the List, preferably as a plain text email
(not in an attachment) with ‘CLE297 FINAL’ in its subject line.
Please show on EVERY LINE of your log:
# The date (e.g. '2023-10-27' or just the day no. '27') and UTC
(the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz (The beacon's nominal published frequency)
If you don’t know it, please visit https://rxx.classaxe.com
where you will find all the details.
# The Call Ident.
Show those main items FIRST on each line, before other optional details such as Location, Distance, etc. If you send any interim logs during the event, please also send your 'FINAL', complete, log.
Always make your log interesting to everyone by giving details of your listening location (the 6-character Locator) and brief details of the receiver, aerial(s), etc., that you were using.
We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 19:00 UTC
on Tuesday so that you can check that your 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 1 November. We will then hope to complete making the combined results within a day or two.
You can find full information about current and past CLEs from the
CLE page https://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm.
You can also find your relevant seeklists made from REU/RNA/RWW by visiting https://rxx.classaxe.com/cle.
Good listening
Brian and Joachim
(CLE Coordinators)
(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)
This summer’s Sporadic-E season has pretty much wound-down once again. As E seasons go, this one ranked right up there with the worst of them but this comes with some provisos.
Over the past several years, my only interest has focused on Europe and Asia, looking for any DXCC entities that I have not yet worked and I tend to ignore most domestic openings unless the MUF appears to be climbing into the range of 2m.
YZS-362 Coral Harbor, NU (ve3gop.com) |
Another month has zoomed by and it's CLE time once again. This is a challenge for all newcomers to NDB listening and the ultimate test of your medium frequency receiving capabilities. Can you meet the challenge?
When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone approximately.
For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmitted on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier was tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident could be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone was actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone was 1054 Hz.
Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.
Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.
All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.
From CLE organizers comes the following info:
Hello all,
Our 294th Co-ordinated Listening Event is almost here.
First time CLE logs too? Yes, please!
Short logs are always as welcome as long ones.
Days: Friday 28 July - Monday 31 July
Times: Start and End at midday, your LOCAL time
Range: 350.0 - 369.9 kHz
Please log all the NDBs you can identify that are listed in this range (it includes 350 kHz but not 370) plus any UNIDs that you come across there.
Send your final CLE log to ndblist@groups.io, preferably as a plain text email, not in an attachment and - important - with 'CLE294' and 'FINAL' in its title.
Please show the following main items FIRST on EVERY line of your log:
# The Date (e.g. 2023-07-28) or just the day (e.g. 28)
# The Time in UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal published frequency, if you know it.
# The Call Ident.
Optional details, such as Location and Distance, go LATER in the same line.
Please make your log useful to everyone by including your listening location, its 6-character Maidenhead Locator if you know it, and brief details of the receiver and aerial(s).
We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 19:00 UTC on Tuesday so you can check that your log has been found OK.
To be included in the combined results, do make sure that your log has arrived on the List by 08:00 UTC on Wednesday 2 August at the very latest.
We hope to make all the combined results within a day or so.
You can find full information about current and past CLEs from the CLE page https://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm.
You can also find your relevant seeklists made from REU/RNA/RWW by visiting https://rxx.classaxe.com/cle.
Good listening
Brian & Joachim
(CLE coordinators)
(Reminder: If you wish you can use a 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)
CLE's provide several purposes. They:
Courtesy: arrl.org |
A recent e-mail in the AWA Group from Eddy, VE3CUI, elicited some intriguing comments which you may find of interest. Highlights from the exchanges have been selected for brevity:
Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/3:
I'm here at the summer cottage, gamely calling "CQ" with my trusty old Vibroplex Vibrokeyer on what sound like dead bands on 15- and 20-meters...yet, when I check the on-line DX Beacon, my quota of entries at 100 is exhausted from across the continent, and beyond, from monitoring stations that have clearly copied me.
All of a sudden, 15-meters just explodes with CW contestors in the middle of Wednesday afternoon with morse machines all honking out endless "CQ CWT" at some 30+ WPM. I snag some very easy quickie exchanges from "VE7" and "W6" from the west coast --- and then just as suddenly, the contest is over and I'm right back to "CQ...CQ...CQ" in silence again, all in vain.
How very ironic that self-professed "...devotees" of the CW art and craft --- "CW Tops-Ops" --- can all devote attention to the object of their affection for but one single hour, and in the middle of the week...! Shouldn't they otherwise be gainfully fully employed earning a living, like all of the other non-retirees...?! Otherwise, why "...kiss and run" so, if they really and truly love the mode...?!
I just do not get it, I'm afraid...
Robert KG4KGL:
Well, as for the middle of the week timing, more people work from home now. I guess they stepped away from their work computer and spent an hours snagging some QSOs.
Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/ |
List candidate AP-378 Mayne Island, BC...Can you hear it? |
Here is the remaining information needed for this weekend's CLE 292. Please give it a try, especially if you have not entered before. MF conditions have been very good this week.
Hello all
Our 292nd CLE starts at 12:00 UTC this Friday (probably ‘today’ as you read this) and it ends at 12:00 UTC on Monday.
Big thanks to those of us who each chose 1, 2 or 3 ‘special’ NDBs for us all to try and log during the event. Several of you also gave interesting reasons why they are special – something for the Coordinators’ Comments afterwards!
That’s not a lot, so, for THIS CLE ONLY, everyone is invited, wherever they are, to make ONE OR TWO SEPARATE LOGS – one log made in the ‘normal’ way (e.g. listening from home) PLUS, if you wish, a separate log made vIa any kind of remote receiver (WebSDR, KIWI, etc.).
The Radio Countries are in Alphabetical sequence, with the European ones flagged in yellow:
RADIO | NDB | |||
COUNTRY | ID | kHz | Chosen by | |
ALG(?) | ESR | 290 | Jorge G | |
ALS AK | PEE | 305 | Noel W | |
AUT | RTT | 303 | Andrea D | |
BEL | ONO | 399.5 | Roelof B | |
BRU | BR | 318 | Ken A | |
CAN BC | AP | 378 | Steve M | |
DEU | BRU | 427 | Hartmut W | |
DEU | FR | 297 | Hartmut W | |
DEU | HC | 330 | Hartmut W | |
DEU | LYE | 394 | Joachim R | |
DEU | NOR | 372 | Joachim R | |
DEU | WSN | 378 | Joachim R | |
ENG | BBA | 401 | Noel W | |
ENG | BPL | 318 | Alan G | |
ENG | BZ | 386 | Brian K | |
ENG | CAM | 332.5 | John M | |
ENG | CUL | 370 | Peter G | |
ENG | CWL | 423 | Noel W | |
ENG | EME | 353.5 | Peter G | |
ENG | EMW | 393 | Andrew P | |
ENG | EPM | 316 | Brian K | |
ENG | EX | 337 | Paul N | |
ENG | LBA | 402.5 | Alan G | |
ENG | LCY | 322 | John M | |
ENG | LPL | 349.5 | Alan G | |
ENG | SBL | 323 | Peter G | |
ENG | SND | 362.5 | John M | |
ENG | STM | 321 | Brian K | |
ENG | TNL | 327 | Andrew P | |
ENG | WL | 385 | Paul N | |
ENG | WTN | 337 | Dave R | |
ESP | SA | 416 | Jorge G | |
FRA | TLN | 322 | Giorgio C | |
FRO | MY | 337 | Roelof B | |
HOL | NW | 373 | Roelof B | |
HRV | RI | 289 | Andrea D | |
HWA HI | HN | 242 | Mike T | |
HWA HI | POA | 332 | Mike T | |
ITA | VIC | 417 | Andrea D | |
MDW | MDY | 400 | Mike T | |
MN USA | AA | 365 | Steve M | |
POR | STR | 371 | Jorge G | |
SAR | CAL | 316 | Giorgio C | |
SAR | DEC | 331 | Giorgio C | |
SCT | BRR | 316 | David A | |
SCT | OBN | 404 | David A | |
SCT | PIK | 355 | David A | |
SCT | SAY | 431 | Paul N | |
THA | NP | 383 | Ken A | |
THA | SN | 365 | Ken A | |
USA AZ | IP | 201 | Steve R | |
USA AZ | RBJ | 220 | Steve R | |
USA AZ | RYN | 338 | Frank O | |
USA CA | MOG | 404 | Frank O | |
USA CA | SB | 397 | Frank O | |
USA CO | ITR | 209 | Tony C | |
USA MO | FZ | 227 | Dick P | |
USA MO | JE | 397 | Dick P | |
USA MO | SU | 326 | Dick P | |
USA NE | CD | 362 | Tony C | |
USA NH | LAH | 276 | Stephen H | |
USA NH | LC | 328 | Charles D | |
USA NY | GF | 209 | Stephen H | |
USA OR | PND | 356 | Steven O | |
USA TX | DNI | 341 | Douglas S | |
USA TX | GG | 410 | Douglas S | |
USA TX | MA | 326 | Charles D | |
USA TX | ROB | 400 | Douglas S | |
USA VT | BT | 382 | Stephen H | |
USA WA | AW | 383 | Steven O | |
USA WA | BVS | 240 | Steven O | |
USA WA | MW | 408 | Steve M | |
USA WY | GYZ | 280 | Tony C | |
XOE | EKO | 375 | Dave R | |
There might be some discussion on the List about good remote receivers to choose.
(If you have kept the Results from previous CLEs, you might be able to see where users have made good results with their chosen remotes.)
Here are the Final Details again, sent before we had the finished seeklist:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all,
This coming weekend's Coordinated Listening Event is a very special one!
For the first time, the NDBs that we shall be listening for have all been selected by NDB List members during this last week.
Nearly all the replies had the suggested maximum of three NDB choices, mostly fairly local ones that have a special significance for that listener.
There will be about 75 different NDBs in all for everyone to listen for (not just those who chose them!)
YES – that sounds difficult for many of us, with most of the chosen NDBs in Western Europe and Western USA/Canada.
BUT recognising that, Joachim and I have been busy in the last few days finding a way to increase the number of available NDBs for each of us to listen for.
So, for THIS CLE ONLY, we can invite listeners, wherever they are, to make one OR TWO SEPARATE LOGS – one log made in the ‘normal’ way (e.g. listening from home) PLUS, if you wish, a separate log made via any kind of remote receiver (WebSDR, KIWI, etc.).
e.g. North American listeners could make a log as usual, PLUS a second listening via the Enschede WebSDR (University of Twente) in Holland.
(That supports hundreds of simultaneous listeners and is good on the NDB frequencies).
Times: Start and end at midday local time at the receiver.
Targets: The Nominated NDBs ONLY The seeklist is to follow.
(the NDB nominations finish today at 16:00 UTC*)
(QRG: ALL NDB frequencies, 190 – 1740 kHz)
Send your final one CLE log, or 2 separate logs, to NDB List, preferably as plain text emails, not in an attachment, with CLE292 and FINAL at the start of their title.
Please show on EVERY LINE of your log(s):
# The full Date (or Day no.) e.g. '2023-05-26' (or just '26') and UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC)
# kHz (the beacon's nominal published frequency)
# The Call Ident.
Other optional details - Location, Distance, etc. - go LATER in the same line (or in footnotes).
Please make your log useful to old and new members alike by ALWAYS including the receiver’s location, its 6-character Locator if you know it, and brief details of the receiver and aerial(s).
We will send an 'Any More Logs?' email at about 20:00 UTC on Tuesday evening so you can check that your log(s) have been found OK.
To be included in the combined results, all logs must arrive on NDB List by 09:00 UTC on Wednesday 31st May at the very latest.
We hope to complete making the Combined Results within a few days.
Good listening
Brian and Joachim
ndbcle'at'ndblist.info
In preparation for something never done before in a CLE, the organziers are asking for your input. See their quest below. I will post the usual 'Hunting For NDBs..." blog outlining all of the rules in a few days but in the meantime, please see if you can help and hopefully participate in the monthly activity.
Dear Beacon Listener
Joachim and I (Brian) are asking for your help!
We would like to know which active NDB is your NEAREST and which two others are also of special interest to you.
Maybe you have visited the site of one or more NDBs or you have other special reasons to remember them.
Everyone is invited to send us their own three ‘votes’, so we hope to have a large number of special NDBs to listen for during the coming coordinated listening event (CLE).
Your choices, with everyone else’s, will decide all of the NDBs in the Seeklist for the event.
This is our FIRST ‘YOU-CHOOSE’ CLE (and it will probably be our last!).
You do NOT have to listen yourself in our 292nd CLE (26-29 May) though everyone will be very welcome to send a log if they want to - but you will probably be interested in the results, showing who logged your own chosen NDBs and from where.
Please send your choices during the next 7 days to ndbcle@ndblist.info (that email address sends only to us, your Listening Event Coordinators Joachim and Brian)
Please help us by using the following format for your votes:
NDB1: (your nearest?) Ident: ABC 345 kHz Location1
Ideally, your 3 choices should be NDBs in your own Radio Country,
NDB2: Ident: DEF 543 kHz Location2
or in ones that share a land border with it.
NDB3: Ident: GH 432 kHz Location3
(e.g. If listening from Oregon, try to choose from OR, WA, ID, NV and CA)
You can find our list of all the Radio Countries at:
Chosen by (your name): eg Brian Keyte
https://www.ndblist.info/index_htm_files/countrylist.pdf
Your Radio Country: eg ENG
I can be identified: *YES / NO
Joachim or I will send an acknowledgment for your ‘votes (see below) to your sending email address.
(If someone has already nominated one of your NDBs - unlikely? - we’ll invite you to choose an alternative)
*The CLE results will NOT show who nominated any of the NDBs.
However, in the Coordinators’ Comments afterwards we’ll probably mention some of the interesting reasons why NDBs were chosen.
Please choose NO above if you would NOT want to be identified there.
If there is anything you need more advice about, or if you have any other comments, please feel free to email the two of us at ndbcle@ndblist.info
73
Joachim and Brian
ZSJ-258 Sandy Lake, ON (ve3gop.com) |
This coming weekend brings CLE 291. This is a challenge for all NDB hunters, both new and old and the ultimate test of your medium frequency receiving capabilities. Can you meet the challenge?
When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone approximately.
For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmitted on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier was tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident could be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone was actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone was 1054 Hz.
Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.
Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.
All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.
From CLE organizers comes the following info:
Hello all,
This coming weekend we have another chance to enjoy a Coordinated Listening Event. All CLE logs will be very welcome, short or long.
Days: Friday, 21st April – Monday, 24th April
Times: Start and end at midday, local time at the receiver
Searching for: NDBs in the ranges
240.0 - 259.9 kHz and 420.0 - 439.9 kHz
BOTH frequency ranges are for ALL listeners.
REU and RNA show that the number of NDBs, each
of them heard by at least 10 or more listeners in the
last 12 months, was:
240-259.9 kHz 420-439.9 kHz
REU 30 116
RNA 54 54
Please log the NDBs you can identify that are listed in the ranges, plus any UNIDs that you come across there.
You can find details, lists and maps of the beacons in those ranges, if you go to https://rxx.classaxe.com/cle.
Send your final CLE log to ndblist'at'groups.io with “CLE291” and
“FINAL” in the email Subject.
Please show on EVERY LINE of your log:
# The full Date (or Day no.) e.g. ‘2023-04-21’ (or just ‘21’)
and UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC)
# kHz (the beacon's nominal published frequency if you know it)
# The Call Ident.
Other optional details - Location, Distance, etc. - go LATER in the same line (or in footnotes). Please make your log useful to old and new members alike by ALWAYS including your own location (and 6-character Locator if you know it) and brief details of the equipment and aerial(s) that you were using.
We will send an 'Any More Logs?' email at about 20:00 UTC on Tuesday evening so you can check that your log has been found OK.
To be included in the combined results your log must have arrived by 09:00 UTC on Wednesday 26th April at the very latest.
We hope to complete making the Combined Results within a day or two.
Good listening
Joachim and Brian
(CLE coordinators)
If you would like to try some remote listening - you could use any one remote receiver for your loggings, stating its location (and with the owner’s permission if required).
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, whether local or remote, to make more loggings for the same CLE.
CLE's provide several purposes. They:
YYH-290 Taloyoak, NU - courtesy ve3gop.com |
Another month has zoomed by and it's CLE time once again. This is a challenge for all newcomers to NDB listening and the ultimate test of your medium frequency receiving capabilities. Can you meet the challenge?
When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone approximately.
For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmitted on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier was tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident could be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone was actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone was 1054 Hz.
Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.
Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.
All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.
From CLE organizers comes the following info:
Hello all
Our 289th co-ordinated listening event is this coming weekend.
It spans a 50 kHz frequency range - about three times wider than usual.
Rxx suggests that there are plenty of NDBs to hear and they are not
changed much since CLE274, the last time we used these frequencies.
Days: Friday 24 February – Monday 27 February
Times: Start and end at midday, your LOCAL time
Range: 270.0 - 319.9 kHz (NDB signals only)
Any first-time CLE logs will be extra welcome, as always.
Please log all the NDBs that you can identify and any UNIDs that you
may come across there.
Please don’t report the DGPS signals in part of this frequency range.
Send your final log to the List (not in an attachment, please)
with 'CLE289’ and ‘FINAL' in its title (important).
Show on each line:
# The Date (e.g. '2023-02-24', etc., or just '24' )
# The Time in UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the nominal published frequency, if known.
# The Call Ident.
Please show those main items FIRST. Other optional details such as
Location and Distance go LATER in the same line.
As always, of course, tell us your own location and give brief details of
the equipment that you were using during the Event.
We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 19:00 UTC on
Tuesday so you can check that your log has been found OK.
Do make sure that your log has arrived on the List by 08:00 UTC on
Wednesday 1st March at the very latest.
We hope to complete making the combined results within a day or two.
You can find full details about current and past CLEs from the CLE
page https://rxx.classaxe.com/cle It includes access to the CLE289
seeklists for your part of the World, prepared from all the previous
loggings in Rxx.
Good listening - enjoy the CLE.
Brian and Joachim
(CLE coordinators)
(If you would like to listen remotely you could use any one remote
receiver for your loggings, stating its location and owner and with their
permission if required. A remote listener may NOT also use another
receiver, local or remote, to make further loggings for the same CLE)
CLE's provide several purposes. They:
YNE - 207 Norway House, MB (tnx ve3gop.com) |
Yes! It's CLE time once again. This is a challenge for all newcomers to NDB listening and the ultimate test of your medium frequency receiving capabilities. Can you meet the challenge?
E.g. 282.5 RT (AUI), 284.5 MH (TUA), 312.5 KML (SYR), 328.5 EGT (NIR), 400.5 COD (ITA).
When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone approximately.
For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmitted on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier was tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident could be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone was actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone was 1054 Hz.
Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.
Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.
All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.
From CLE organizers comes the following info:
Hello all,
Do try not to miss our 288th co-ordinated listening event - it starts this Friday at midday. This could be an ideal CLE to try out for the first time, but everyone is welcome, as always, of course!
Days: Fri. 27th - Mon. 30th January, Midday-Midday, your local time
NDBs on frequencies from 190 - 239.9 kHz
PLUS: normal NDBs with carriers on 'half-way' frequencies ( nnn.5 kHz )
from 190.5 - 999.5 kHz
So for all of us it is a CLE in two parts - the first part is hunting for the NDBs whose published frequencies are lower than 240 kHz.
The second part is hunting for the NDBs whose carrier frequencies are 'half-way'.
E.g. 282.5 RT (AUI), 284.5 MH (TUA), 312.5 KML (SYR), 328 EGT (NIR), 400.5 COD (ITA).
The seek list below includes the ones that are more likely to be logged.
(Europe listeners will hear few or none from part 1, while the
listeners away from Europe will hear few or none from part 2)
Please send your final CLE log to the List, if possible as a plain text email and not in an attachment, showing 'CLE288' and 'FINAL' in its title.
(Loggings from both parts can be shown in the same list)
Please include on EVERY line of your log:
# The date (or just the day 'dd') and UTC (days change at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal frequency.
# The Call Ident.
It is important to show those main items FIRST - any other optional details such as Location, Distance, etc., go LATER in the same line.
Don't forget to give your OWN location (your 6-character Locator if you know it please) and details of your receiver and aerial(s), etc. Others will be interested to know, especially new members - and old ones with failing memories like mine!
Listening around the 'half-way' frequencies means we might also catch some interesting non-CLE beacons – you can tell us about those too, but in a separate list.
Joachim and I will be processing the incoming logs as usual - please look out for our 'Any More Logs?' email at about 19:00 UTC on Tuesday evening, with a list to let you check that your own log has been found OK.
Do make sure that your log has arrived on the NDB List at the very latest by 08:00 UTC on Wednesday.
Good listening
Brian and Joachim
(CLE Coordinators)
If you wish you could use any one remote receiver for your loggings,
stating the location and owner - and with their permission if required.
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, local or remote,
to make further loggings for the same CLE.
For your full seek list in the 190-240 kHz range just go to Rxx (https://rxx.classaxe.com/cle) for your part of the World.
Below is the seek list which includes the ‘nnn.5’ NDBs that are more likely to be heard.
courtesy N8RS |
YPO-401 Peawanuck, ON tnx: ve3gop.com |
When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone approximately.
For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmitted on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier was tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident could be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone was actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone was 1054 Hz.
Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.
Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.
All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.
From CLE organizers comes the following CLE info:
Our 285th Coordinated Listening Event starts on Friday.
This frequency range is not packed with signals for any of us, but if conditions are OK there could be some nice surprises.
Do join in, whether you have days to spare, or only an hour or so over the weekend.
Days: Friday 28 October - Monday 31 October 2022
Times: Start and end at midday your LOCAL time
PLEASE NOTE that most of us will be changing our house clocks
during the weekend, but UTC time continues without changes.
Range: 400 - 419.9 kHz
Please log all the NDBs that you can identify with nominal (listed) frequencies in the range - it includes 400 kHz, but not 420 kHz - plus any UNIDs that you come across there.
Send your final log to the List (no attachments please) with ‘CLE285’ and 'FINAL' in its title.
Show on each line:
# The Date (e.g. '2022-10-28', etc., or just '28' )
# The Time in UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the nominal published frequency, if known.
# The Call Ident.
Please show those main items FIRST. Other optional details such as Location and Distance go LATER in the same line.
As always, of course, tell us your own location and brief details of the equipment that you were using during the Event.
We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 20:00 UTC on Tuesday so that you can check that your log has been found OK.
Do make sure that your log has arrived on the List by 09:00 UTC on Wednesday 2 November at the very latest.
We hope to complete making the combined results within a day or two.
You can find full details about the coming CLE from the RWW Website, including the CLE285 seeklists for your part of the World – just select CLE from the main menu.
Details about current and past CLEs are available from Alan’s NDB List Website, http://www.ndblist.info
Good listening
Brian and Joachim
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From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'ndblist.info
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE coordinator)
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(If you would like to listen remotely you could use any
one remote receiver for your loggings, stating its location
and owner and with their permission if required.
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver,
local or remote, to make further loggings for the same CLE)
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
Crystal Shortwave Receiver of Al Klase (N3FRQ) |
The Facebook Crystal Radio DX Group’s fall listening event was held two weekends ago over a two-night listening period. Unlike last year’s event, this was not a contest but rather a leisurely opportunity for members to take some time to see what they could hear with their setups. Also unlike last year, this one introduced and encouraged members to see what they might hear on shortwave! Since circuits losses are measurably much higher as you climb above the broadcast band, audio amplification (AF) was permitted to encourage members to give it a try as this was a whole new region to explore for most of us.
Oct 1
Some of the BCB and SW construction inspired by the recent listening event is shown below. For more information and more sets, please visit the Facebook Group and consider taking part in our next event, sometime in December ... maybe you can build the perfect SW tuner!
Terry Jean Double-Tuned Loopstick BCB Tuner |
James Kern Double-Tuned BCB Tuner |
Ferhat Yavas Shortwave Tuner |
Armando Anazco BCB Tuner |
Doug Allen (K4LY) Shortwave Tuner |
If you enjoy DXing the broadcast band, then the weekly ‘DX Central MW Frequency Challenge' may be of interest to you. It’s run and organized by Loyd Van Horn, W4LVH, a dedicated DXer and a big promoter of BCB DXing.
Basically, participants are asked to listen on the chosen frequency (or frequencies) for a one week period (Friday to Friday) and report what they have been able to identify. Results of course will be different throughout the continent but if you are near any other listeners, it’s always fun to compare your final results.
The new frequency (or frequencies) are announced Friday evening on Loyd's regular live-feed Youtube channel as well as on his Twitter feed @dxcentral
Loggings are reported via a fill-in form which is updated weekly.
This week's frequencies are 670-702kHz - What do you here there?
Time marches on and once again, it's CLE time. This is an opportunity for you to discover the KIWI SDR online network and to put it to use for hunting NDBs ... either close to you or on the other side of the world!
For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmitted on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier was tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident could be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone was actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone was 1054 Hz.
Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.
Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.
All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.
From CLE organizers comes the following CLE info:
Hello all
Here are the final details for our special 283rd listening event which starts this coming Friday.
Joachim and I are grateful for the questions, suggestions and help in the last few days. Thanks also to Martin, who has made some changes that improve the way RWW handles logs that have been made at remote receivers.
Days: Friday 26 August - Monday 29 August
Times: *Midday on Friday to *Midday on Monday,
local time at your chosen REMOTE RX
QRG: Normal LF/MF frequencies (190 - 1740 kHz)
NDBs: A MAXIMUM of 100 normal NDBs (not DGPS, Navtex, Amateur, .. )
(That’s not intended to be a target to reach!)
Please check that you will be following the help given in the Early Advice, sent last Saturday, and in the later contributions to the List.
Send your CLE log to the List, preferably as a plain text email (not in an attachment) with ‘CLE283 FINAL’ in its subject line.
Please show on EVERY LINE of your log:
# The date (e.g. '2022-08-27' or just the day no. '27') and UTC*
# kHz (The beacon's nominal published frequency)
If you don’t know it, please visit https://rxx.classaxe.com where you will find all the details.
# The Call Ident.
*UTC is the same everywhere of course - but
*Midday local time can always be checked from your browser by entering e.g. time timbuktu (try it now!)
Show those main items FIRST on each line, before other optional details such as Location, Distance, etc. If you send any interim logs during the event, please also send your 'FINAL', complete one.
Please make your log interesting to everyone by giving details of the listening location and brief details of the receiver there thatyou were using.
We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 19:00 UTC on Tuesday so you can check that your 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 31 August. We will then hope to complete making the combined results within two or three days.
Good listening
Brian and Joachim
(CLE Coordinators)
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Here is additional information to help you in CLE283:
CLE283 – further guidance
Please be aware that, because most of the available Web-SDRs can be shared with a number of other users, there may occasionally be a need to wait your turn to use a particular one.
If you plan to participate in our upcoming CLE, you can use any one remote receiver for your loggings, stating its location (and web-address if possible) and with the owner’s permission if required.
You may NOT also use another receiver, to make further loggings for the same CLE.
Here’s a list of what can be found on the internet and there are definitely many more.
Kiwi receiver map : http://rx.linkfanel.net/
The KiWi-receivers are amongst the most popular web-controlled remote-receivers and there are many of them to explore all over the world.
Simply select a receiver from the map and it will start playing.
The KiWi-software is easy to use. For beacon hunting I found that it is best to switch to CW mode, fully zoom in and set the bandwidth to about 40 Hz by dragging the left and/or right side of the bandwidth indicator until the bandwidth suits your needs.
Type “h” or “?” to see a list of keyboard shortcuts. Also a right-click in the waterfall or frequency scale will bring up a Kiwi-specific menu.
WebSDR receiver List and map : http://www.websdr.org/
You can select a receiver from the list by clicking on the displayed link. However, you should make sure it supports the desired frequency band by observing the information in column “Frequency Range” because not all receivers do support the NDB-Band.
However, the wide band web-sdr at the University of Twente does and it is, by far, the most popular receiver using the websdr-software.
There’s also a search box near the top of the page allowing you to specify the frequency range.
To access the receivers-map, you have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the web page.
Clicking on the icon for a particular receiver displays an info-box which shows the available frequency ranges as well as a link to start the receiver.
GlobalTuners : https://www.globaltuners.com/
GlobalTuners provides access to remotely controlled radio receivers all over the world.
You can tune the receivers to listen to any desired frequency band.
Be aware that this webpage requires a login to access any of the available receivers.
Also, for most of the receivers, listening time has been limited by the operators.
SDR-Console :
You can use Simon Brown’s marvelous software SDR-Console to listen to a huge number of remote receivers.
Simply download SDR-Console from https://www.sdr-radio.com/download#Release and install it on your PC.
Once the radio selection screen is displayed upon start of the software, select tab “Server”, click on button “Definitions”, click on “Search” and select “V3 Server”.
Then click on button SDRSpace.com and select a receiver from the list.
Perseus SDR :
Each Perseus Receiver comes with a server module which allows sharing of this Rx via the internet.
You can select those receivers via the Perseus server-map : http://microtelecom.it/map/ServersMap.html
However, this requires a Perseus SDR and the Perseus Software to be installed on your pc.
Please be aware, that listening to a Perseus server needs some forwarding of TCP/UDP-Ports in your firewall.
Please refer to the manual (Client-Server Perseus Software Reference - EN02.pdf) which comes with the Perseus software for more information.
This webpage provides a good start if you are searching for a web-receiver.
You can search by selecting
OpenWebRx is a clone of the “Kiwi SDR-Software” and allows to put all kinds of SDR receivers on the internet using a small Linux PC like the RaspBerry Pi.
Here is some additional advice from Martin Francis, the designer of the RWW database:
And remember, if you are using a radio in Australia for example - choose RWW as your system; if your receiver is in Europe REU will be your choice; if it's in the Caribbean, you will choose RNA.
You can use the filtering capabilities in the RXX system to give you likely targets - so if that remote radio is in New Zealand, you can show signals that have been heard IN New Zealand.
And if the radio you choose is already in the RXX system, you can go to 'Personalise' and select that actual radio to see distances and bearings to each station in your targets list.
NOTES ON LOGGINGS:
If you submit logs from a location NOT already listed in RXX, please include as much info as you can to help our admins get your logs uploaded and create a new profile for that location.
Please include the specific URL (website address) used to access the radio, together with the receiver owner's callsign if they have one, and the town, state / province (if it has one), country, timezone and Grid square.
Also include the location YOU remotely operated the radio from (YOU are the OPERATOR in this scenario), especially if you haven't submitted a log before.
These listening events serve several purposes. They