First, let me say that the eclipse was not total here at my QTH, only about 95%, but good enough for the following observations.
My setup outdoors began at about 1330 (all times EDT) with a Grundig Satellit 750 connected to a PAR EF-SWL antenna and a CCrane 2E with no external antenna.
Several AM BCB stations were monitored including:
610 WTVN Columbus OH
700 WLW Cincinnati OH
890 WLS Chicago IL
1120 KMOX St. Louis MO
1540 KXEL Waterloo IA
1630 KCJJ Iowa City IA
All are 50kw except KCJJ which is 10kw day, 1kw night and WTVN 5kw.
KMOX, WLW, and WTVN were very near the path of totality.
Monitoring these stations before the eclipse:
WTVN, weak and noisy but readable
WLW, noisy but perfectly readable
WLS, about S7
KMOX, KXEL, KCJJ, no sigs, just noise
The penumbral phase of the eclipse began here at about 1400. At first, no difference was noticed in any of the baseline observations mentioned above.
95% "totality" here wasn't until 1514 and nothing different really happened until about 1500 at which time the band began to change.
KMOX, KXEL, and KCJJ signals simultaneously began to emerge from the noise level and all were soon "armchair copy". At the same time, WTVN
began to sink into the noise. The signals from WLW and WLS changed little if any. In other words, pretty much what nighttime band conditions
would be like. At my QTH, KMOX, KXEL, and KCJJ all usually have goods sigs in here at night. WLW and WLS are marginal as my QTH is probably located in their skip zone. WTVN faded into the jumble as it does at night. These conditions lasted until at least 1530 or so when the noise and QSB began to take over.
Otherwise, the sky had an eerie darkness, the air temperature felt 10 or more degrees cooler, and a robin in a tree in the yard started singing as though nighttime was approaching. It was certainly an interesting afternoon.
My setup outdoors began at about 1330 (all times EDT) with a Grundig Satellit 750 connected to a PAR EF-SWL antenna and a CCrane 2E with no external antenna.
Several AM BCB stations were monitored including:
610 WTVN Columbus OH
700 WLW Cincinnati OH
890 WLS Chicago IL
1120 KMOX St. Louis MO
1540 KXEL Waterloo IA
1630 KCJJ Iowa City IA
All are 50kw except KCJJ which is 10kw day, 1kw night and WTVN 5kw.
KMOX, WLW, and WTVN were very near the path of totality.
Monitoring these stations before the eclipse:
WTVN, weak and noisy but readable
WLW, noisy but perfectly readable
WLS, about S7
KMOX, KXEL, KCJJ, no sigs, just noise
The penumbral phase of the eclipse began here at about 1400. At first, no difference was noticed in any of the baseline observations mentioned above.
95% "totality" here wasn't until 1514 and nothing different really happened until about 1500 at which time the band began to change.
KMOX, KXEL, and KCJJ signals simultaneously began to emerge from the noise level and all were soon "armchair copy". At the same time, WTVN
began to sink into the noise. The signals from WLW and WLS changed little if any. In other words, pretty much what nighttime band conditions
would be like. At my QTH, KMOX, KXEL, and KCJJ all usually have goods sigs in here at night. WLW and WLS are marginal as my QTH is probably located in their skip zone. WTVN faded into the jumble as it does at night. These conditions lasted until at least 1530 or so when the noise and QSB began to take over.
Otherwise, the sky had an eerie darkness, the air temperature felt 10 or more degrees cooler, and a robin in a tree in the yard started singing as though nighttime was approaching. It was certainly an interesting afternoon.
