Australia heard in Michigan this morning on medium-wave!

[kilokat7]

I've been chasing this one for a while now as a carrier-only during morning DXing sessions. Finally nailed some audio and an ID from 4QD Emerald, QLD. this morning a few minutes prior to my local sunrise at 1147 UTC. Like the 120 meter domestic Aussie broadcasters, this too had the better signal using the North D-KAZ antenna. When switching to my South-west phased BOGs which have done well before in picking out low-band trans-pacific MW DX, it was only "barely there" as a weak het. 9,081 miles from Emerald to my receiver! Here's a bit of the reception including the ID for "ABC Local Radio": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00ea9cVsboo

What's a "D-KAZ" antenna, you may ask? More info here on how to build one for yourself:

http://www.durenberger.com/documents/DKAZ070314.pdf

This antenna has also become my "go-to" antenna for HF as it outperforms my phased BOGs on shortwave every time. I highly recommend this antenna if you have a little space to play with outdoors and enjoy rolling your own antennas.

 

[ka3jjz]

TPs (or Trans Pacifics, as it's known) are a great catch when you're in the Midwest or even further East- helluva catch on your part

Mike

 

[LZ56]

Outstanding! Congratulations. Are you gonna ask for a QSL card?

I've heard plenty of LW and MW TA (trans-Atlantic) DX here in Ohio but TPs have eluded me for over 40 years. Sigh.

 

[krokus]

Nice catch. I hope that I could catch the station broadcast from where I used to live.

Sent via Tapatalk

 

[kilokat7]

Thanks guys. @ LZ56: I usually don't go after QSL cards anymore but I'm tempted to send off a report this time!

 

[majoco]

Well done, Kilo, I can't get many BC band Aussies here as our local stations are on the same channels - perhaps you try for some Kiwis!

 

[k9rzz]

Excellent achievement. Must be one of the few times Australia has EVER been heard in Michigan. Especially in recent years.

 

[robertmac]

A result of the recent high solar flare?

 

[AA6IO]

Excellent achievement. Must be one of the few times Australia has EVER been heard in Michigan. Especially in recent years.

I second the "excellent achievement" comment. Beautiful catch from across the Pacific in Michigan.
Steve AA6IO

 

[kilokat7]

Thanks guys. People who understand propagation a lot better than I do are calling this a high latitude skewed path reception due to the fact that reception was best off my North antenna.

majoco: I'd love to snag one of your Kiwi's over here, and believe, I'm trying! 1503 seems my best bet here.

 

[k9rzz]

Supports the notion that you need more than one antenna. If you just had the west one, which one would think would be the best antenna for that path, then you might not have made that catch.

 

[LZ56]

A result of the recent high solar flare?

As I understand it, solar flares cause geomagnetic storm (aurora) conditions, which severely inhibit skywave reception from high latitudes (skywave signals are absorbed and do not "skip"). Maybe the ionosphere really "calmed down" a lot after the solar storm subsided, thus allowing the Kilokat7's skewed high-latitude reception of 4QD. . . . Just guessing . . .

 

[kilokat7]

Supports the notion that you need more than one antenna. If you just had the west one, which one would think would be the best antenna for that path, then you might not have made that catch.

Correct. During the time of reception I did some quick comparisons between antennas. My D-KAZ is reversible from the shack, with the flick of a switch I can change orientation to either North or South, and with the flick of another switch, I can quickly change to the phased BOGs. This signal wasn't even there on the phased BOGs and dropped down to just a faint carrier when switching the D-KAZ to the south, as expected. You can never have too many antennas!

 

[pb_lonny]

Well done on logging an Australian station