Excellent night on aero bands

[lanbergld]

As usual when thunderstorms are in the area, last night I got extremely good range on the HF bands (in all directions) from my QTH in downtown Richmond VA, East Coast USA.

I used my Realistic DX-400 with a window loop of 14-ga Flexweave wire, to note the following:

6673 USB -- San Francisco ATC -- good clear copy of control and a vague copy of the planes (which were over the Pacific Ocean)
5450 USB -- RAF Volmet (England) -- fairly strong copy with good S-meter peaks
5616 USB -- Gander ATC -- decent clear copies of both control and planes
6739 USB -- Andrews AFB -- fair to good, transmission was fast & brief and then gone, did not sound like the usual EAM message

(And of course NY Radio Volmet and NY ATCs on USB: 3485, 5550, 5598 and 6628)

Also noted was 27429.5 LSB -- a freebander in Missisissippi "247", very good copy, but did not copy the person on the other end

These were all logged between last night, 5/29/09, between 0305 and 0600 UTC.


Larry Lanberg

Richmond VA

[Fast1eddie]

Nice!!! Wish I had never sold my 440.....

[lanbergld]

Hello Ed, Well the radio I use is actually a DX-400. Now, recently I did buy a used DX-440 on Ebay ($51) and have been playing with that also. For the DX-440 I attach an MFJ-956 preselector to get comparable reception. Somewhat comparable, anyway.

Its strange too, because the DX-440 is rated higher than the DX-400, by Fred Osterman. But the DX-400 leaves the DX-440 in the dust (!) when it comes to sideband utility receiving. In fact I sold my IC-R75 and FRG-100 just to stick with the DX-400 on utility monitoring.

Every now & a blue moon you can see a DX-400 on Ebay. They sell for a low price, simply because no one bids on them. The DX-400 just doesn't have that 'name recognition', apparently because it wasn't on the market for very long.


Larry Lanberg

Richmond VA

[ridgescan]

You are getting a lot of cool stuff off that loop! Good for you

[shaft]

Listening to NY ATC on 5550 last night and heard the controller work an American and a JetBlue flight out over the Atlantic. I heard both pilots give postion reports, Alt, and fuel levels... Fun stuff, first time having the 817 set up for it.

[pathalogical]

Originally Posted by lanbergld

As usual when thunderstorms are in the area, last night I got extremely good range on the HF bands (in all directions) from my QTH in downtown Richmond VA, East Coast USA.

I used my Realistic DX-400 with a window loop of 14-ga Flexweave wire, to note the following:

6673 USB -- San Francisco ATC -- good clear copy of control and a vague copy of the planes (which were over the Pacific Ocean)
5450 USB -- RAF Volmet (England) -- fairly strong copy with good S-meter peaks
5616 USB -- Gander ATC -- decent clear copies of both control and planes
6739 USB -- Andrews AFB -- fair to good, transmission was fast & brief and then gone, did not sound like the usual EAM message

(And of course NY Radio Volmet and NY ATCs on USB: 3485, 5550, 5598 and 6628)

Also noted was 27429.5 LSB -- a freebander in Missisissippi "247", very good copy, but did not copy the person on the other end

These were all logged between last night, 5/29/09, between 0305 and 0600 UTC.


Larry Lanberg

Richmond VA

I also like listening to MWARA, but am a bit discouraged when doing so. I have a Grundig G5 with 25' of speaker wire clipped to the telescopic antenna. I really improves the reception. I hear the ATC very well, including 6673 but can barely hear the pilot even when listening closer to home on 5550, the pilot is really faint.

Is this common when receiving mwara ?

[ka3jjz]

It's almost impossible to predict whether you will hear the pilot or not. It depends greatly on how the signal is propagating to you, the frequency, time of day/night and the type of antenna the plane has (among other things). It's possible that the signal is skipping over you at times; hard to be sure. As a very rough approximation (and yes, I can see the purists getting ready for the flames now...) think of a triangle with you in the open area. You would get some signal, but far less than the far end of the triangle, which might approximate where the first skip the signal takes would actually arrive.

You can't go too big with an antenna on a portable, unfortunately. A better antenna would help some, but the pilot's signal will still be weaker than the ATC, which is also likely to be using a bunch more power than the plane's radio. 73 Mike

[lanbergld]

Hi folks, and thanks for the encouragement ridgescan!

Pathalogical, as far as hearing the pilots talk, I can easily do this when QRN is low (i.e. 'band noise' is at a minimum) and also when I've got no RFI creating a bunch of noise. I can create that condition in 2 ways: Grounding and also using quad-shielded coax for antenna lead-ins.

I am fortunate that the Realistic DX-400 has 2 screws for the antenna terminal -- one is a ground screw. I have quad-shielded coax leading from both screws (I only use the coax's center conductor to attach). Both of those pieces of coax lead into my wire loop antenna, each coax length attaching to each free end of the loop.

But anyway pathological, if you can just keep experimenting with your wire(s) hopefully you too will figure out a configuration that minimizes band noise. Then you will easily hear the planes.


Larry Lanberg

Richmond VA

[pathalogical]

Originally Posted by ka3jjz

It's almost impossible to predict whether you will hear the pilot or not. It depends greatly on how the signal is propagating to you, the frequency, time of day/night and the type of antenna the plane has (among other things). It's possible that the signal is skipping over you at times; hard to be sure. As a very rough approximation (and yes, I can see the purists getting ready for the flames now...) think of a triangle with you in the open area. You would get some signal, but far less than the far end of the triangle, which might approximate where the first skip the signal takes would actually arrive.

You can't go too big with an antenna on a portable, unfortunately. A better antenna would help some, but the pilot's signal will still be weaker than the ATC, which is also likely to be using a bunch more power than the plane's radio. 73 Mike

Thanks ka3jjz !!! MWARA seems to be the opposite of civil air comms, where I can hear the pilot loud and clear but the atc is weak. Fortunately I live along final approach and can hear the atc quite well --- sometimes even when the plane has landed and is reading back taxiing info back to ground control !

[pathalogical]

Originally Posted by lanbergld

Hi folks, and thanks for the encouragement ridgescan!

Pathalogical, as far as hearing the pilots talk, I can easily do this when QRN is low (i.e. 'band noise' is at a minimum) and also when I've got no RFI creating a bunch of noise. I can create that condition in 2 ways: Grounding and also using quad-shielded coax for antenna lead-ins.

I am fortunate that the Realistic DX-400 has 2 screws for the antenna terminal -- one is a ground screw. I have quad-shielded coax leading from both screws (I only use the coax's center conductor to attach). Both of those pieces of coax lead into my wire loop antenna, each coax length attaching to each free end of the loop.

But anyway pathological, if you can just keep experimenting with your wire(s) hopefully you too will figure out a configuration that minimizes band noise. Then you will easily hear the planes.


Larry Lanberg

Richmond VA

Thanks for your input as well Larry ! As I mentioned, I'm running a 25' length of speaker wire, which is actually Left and Right. The most I can do is pull it apart (you know how they're moulded together) and twist the ends together to make a 50' run. And I could get another coil of 25', pull that apart.....but then my bedroom will look like it's waiting for the electrical inspector...hopefully it's a she !!!!!!!!!! hahahaha

[DPD1]

Originally Posted by pathalogical

I also like listening to MWARA, but am a bit discouraged when doing so. I have a Grundig G5 with 25' of speaker wire clipped to the telescopic antenna.

Be careful clipping it right on the antenna like that... That model is easily damaged by static. There's a mod you can do to lower the chance, but without it, numerous people have blown up the radio with a static shock to the antenna.

[gcgrotz]

Hi Larry from a native Richmonder:

Try 5616, it is one of my favorites. Also 8891 and 8918. Often you can hear Carribean flights in the daytime.

I can't believe you sold an R75 for the DX400, is it that good? I love my R75, it compares very favorably with the DSP rx in my IC746PRO except below 1.8 MHz where it is superior because the 746 is choked off.

[lanbergld]

Hey gcgrotz, well I'm a native New Yorker actually, but have lived in & around Richmond most of my life. Currently I Dx from way up a downtown high rise -- the old LexingtonTower on Franklin St. Remember "Top of the Tower" restaurant? But anyway, about the IC-R75 vs. DX-400...

...I sold the IC-R75 grudgingly to meet some money needs (the reason most of us sell good radios). I then began using the DX-400 to temporarily fill that void. It wasn't long before I discovered that the DX-400 does a splendid job for utility Dx -- really professional quality. At that point I asked myself, 'Why spend $600-$700 on another receiver when THIS performs the same function, and sometimes better??!'. On the DX-400 I also nabbed my best mile-per-watt LW beacon catch, a little 25 watter in Ohio.

Plus, the DX-400 has 2 features I really like: Large BFO knob and also an antenna trimmer. I prefer to use manual BFOs like this, rather than simply push an LSB or USB button.

Oh, and sure I listen to 5616 Gander, and 8891 almost nightly. I hit all my favorite aero frequencies at least once per night, while I'm fishing for new catches.

Most recently I purchased a used DX-440, which descended from the DX-400 in 1985. I'm having fun with this set also, and am getting some really good aero Dx, including the pilots. But with the DX-440 I had to add a preselector -- the MFJ-956 -- to get readable copies of the really distant stuff...

...and I suggest that pathalogical try to put an MFJ-956 on his Grundig G5. It made the world of difference for me, on the DX-440.

The DX-440 with MFJ preselector is now my avatar photo, just so you guys can see it. I really couldn't use the DX-440 without it.


Larry Lanberg

Richmond VA