HF Reception Is Still Terrible

[GB46]

Thanks for the links. Need to figure out how to use 'em.

Well, in EiBiView you'll get a help menu by left-clicking the gray area at the top of the screen, where the station name, etc. is located. If you right-click instead, you'll get the configuration dialog; have your local coordinates ready, in decimal format (west of zero longitude is a negative number).

Just be sure when you use the latest CSV database file -- "sked-a18.csv" -- that you remove all the data files with "14" in their names. The program was last updated in 2014. For summer schedules, the year number is preceded by "a", and for winter schedules by "b".

 

[GB46]

Believe it or not, what I'm suggesting is that in tough times, it might be worth it to learn morse code - even from just an swl standpoint. Nope - not used commercially any more, but plenty of amateurs use CW for fun, and the fact that generally, it gets through noise and bad propagation quite a bit better than ssb.

The fun I'm talking about as an swl that has no intention of becoming a ham is this:

1) Who are these guys tickling my s-meter when for all intents and purposes, the bands seem closed?
2) Where are they?
3) How much power are they running?
4) What antenna are they using?

This basic information is usually exchanged at the start of a conversation. As an swl, if they went beyond that into a ragchew, I just moved on to hunt down the next pair of stations and so on.

Without having to run a decoder, learning cw - even just for swl'ing - can be a blast. And maybe put that expensive rig to use when broadcast reception is so bad that you want to just pull the plug.

An interesting development, is that aside from just quick exchanges of information, normal rag-chews, and big-time contesting, is the quickie-contests that have appeared in recent years. I'm talking CWT when the band just pops up with these guys and then can seem to fade away just as fast.

I learned CW when I got a novice and then a technician-class ham licence as a teen. I was pretty good at sending it (being a musician, I can get a good, even rhythm going), but I'm a bit slow when copying it. Those contest guys send way too fast for me. Sometimes even the decoder has problems with their messages.

My main stumbling block has always been the numbers. I know the patterns, which are logical enough, but need some time for them to sink in before I can interpret them. By the time I've done so, I've missed the rest of the message. Then too, I've gone way out of practice, since leaving ham radio fifty years ago.

It's a lot like speaking a second language. For example, I can speak German fairly well, but when listening to native German speakers in their conversations with other Germans, I can get lost pretty easily.

 

[ridgescan]

Well, in EiBiView you'll get a help menu by left-clicking the gray area at the top of the screen, where the station name, etc. is located. If you right-click instead, you'll get the configuration dialog; have your local coordinates ready, in decimal format (west of zero longitude is a negative number).

Just be sure when you use the latest CSV database file -- "sked-a18.csv" -- that you remove all the data files with "14" in their names. The program was last updated in 2014. For summer schedules, the year number is preceded by "a", and for winter schedules by "b".

Thanks for the tip! I'm lost in there.

 

[GB46]

Thanks for the tip! I'm lost in there.

It was a bit daunting for me at first, too. In the configuration dialog, you'll see check boxes for language groups. You can edit those groups by putting in the language abbreviations, and checking the language groups you'd like to display in the schedule. If you check "All", you'll get a very long list! I use only the first group, which I've edited to read -TY,-MX,-CW,-TS,E,D . -TY allows for the display of RTTY stations, -MX is music only (in other words, few or no announcements in any language), -CW is obvious, and -TS is for time signals. The other two in my group are for English and German broadcasts. I don't understand other languages well enough to make their broadcasts useful.

The auto-update feature is nice. I currently have mine set to 15 minutes, so the screen refreshes every 15 minutes. Sometimes it's better to disable that and use F5 to refresh manually, otherwise you can wind up losing your place in the list. Maybe 30 minutes would make more sense.

I was watching the entry for New Zealand on 13845 prior to 0400 UTC, and as soon as the clock reached 0400 that broadcast vanished, because of RNZI's frequency change to 11825. Unfortunately, this sent me right to the top of the list. I've chosen to start at 2500 kHz, since stations on lower frequencies than that are too difficult to hear over the noise at this location.

 

[Boombox]

RE: Ham SWLing: I've been doing it in some form since the 1980's. It can be fun at times. When conditions are in, you'll never know what you'll hear. The most recent surprises were Indonesia on 40 meters, in the early morning -- but that was probably in 2014 or 2015.

I know enough CW to read some of the slower QSOs -- 7-8 wpm maybe. Beyond that, I can catch the call letters and a few other things, and it makes that portion of the ham bands more interesting.

Even if one can just catch call signs, it is a great help. It opens up a big chunk of the ham bands to potential listening.

 

[WA8ZTZ]

a PAR EF-SWL which will have the 45' of flexweave replaced with 300'.

Extended mine to 100'... big improvement on LW/MW sigs.

 

[pjxii]

http://services.swpc.noaa.gov/images/solar-cycle-sunspot-number.gif

I still haven't figured out how to add a photo using my iPhone (no computer here), so this is a link to a chart of the current sunspot cycle up until August 2018.

For me, judging by the sunspot numbers when I was last happy bandscanning on HF, a number of at least around 25 would have me jumping for joy...

 

[pjxii]

Extended mine to 100'... big improvement on LW/MW sigs.

Awesome! How far down into the longwave frequencies did you see improvement? That's been my main interest last few years.

Where are you located? Wondering if Medi 1 Morocco on 171 reaches you...

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Awesome! How far down into the longwave frequencies did you see improvement? That's been my main interest last few years.

Where are you located? Wondering if Medi 1 Morocco on 171 reaches you...

QTH is Michigan.

Noticed considerable improvement on all LW freqs.

Sometimes in the Winter with good conditions and a dark path in between, Morocco can be heard here.