Reflections about a remote mediumwave listeners station

This section displays the status of my logged USA & Canada states. It will be updated.







List of abbreviations for states

Pin board at Google Maps

Status 11 January 2019

Heard states/green (USA): 26
Confirmed states/red: 0
Latest heard or confirmed: 590 KXSP, Omaha, Nebraska

Heard states/green (Canada): 5
Confirmed states/red: 1
Latest heard or confirmed:

Map source: Free Software Foundation. The source has been changed.

You can find all the logs of the year here: logs_2018.pdf

One year is long, and sometimes it's better than the previous one. What does the station look like at the end of 2018?

The question is not easy to answer. I had to fall back on the notebook after the failure of the tablet. In a 220V environment no problem, but in the 12V mode, you are constantly confronted with run-down solar batteries. The solar system could be expanded to 10 times, and even then I would not be safe from failures. Therefore, I will keep the plant in its current status. But the reasons are elsewhere. The 12 / 19V voltage converter causes slight disturbances in the MW range here and there. They were not available in tablet mode, because the power was converted from 12 to 5 V with a length-controlled power supply. That's why I plan to buy a 50 Ah Lion battery in 2019. He should supplement the existing 22 Ah Lion battery. Together with the notebook battery, I would then come to a running time of 5-7 hours. That is still little, but a bit more comfortable with a corresponding operation.

The mediumwave band from 500 to 2000 kHz in the early afternoon. The formerly low-interference remote location is developing into a HF-picket fence. It looks bad, the disturbances can often be excluded by sidebands. If the signals attract, so after dark, you do not get too much of it. Only the SE leg of the K9AY hides the interference very strong. A disturber shuts off punctually at 17z.

Azimuthal Map
Center: 50°35'1"N 8°40'40"E
Courtesy of Tom (NS6T)



QTH: D-35390 Giessen/Germany

All 50 m Antennas are connected through a RPA-2 Preamplifier.
I am working on a 250°/ 70° direction.

On 24.10.2018 at 1624z I managed the reception of 5AN, ABC Adelaide on the frequency 891 kHz. The weak signal could only be identified with the help of the webstream. The 50 kW transmitter from the state of South Australia is my first Pacific broadcast on medium wave.

Actually, everything was not a problem. The components were assembled, the elements assembled, the wire roll positioned in a bicycle trailer, and we went out to the neighboring meadow. There, first the earth piles with the connection components were cut into the dry soil, then the galvanized 300 m cable was towed from point A (NE) to B (SE), the 80 m long coax was laid out to the hut, and the RPA- 2 connected. The first test showed remarkably good signals over the entire medium wave, no additional amplified noise due to the preamplifier, in short: the perfect antenna for receiving from the NE direction. A two-hour recording showed me later, how good 300 m antenna cable can be.

I sat in my garden hut in front of the waterfall screen and listened intently, likening the reception to the now weak K9AY, it was around 1930z when I heard voices unknown from outside. When they did not stop, I left my seat, walked to the shack, and watched a person slam through the blackberry hedge. I would not want to go through that, I said. Police, was the answer. In the light of the flashlight I could see the lettering on the man's jacket. In fact, I said.

Displaced dog owners carrying their Fiffies on the meadow suspect a power cord, the policeman said, while his companion expertly examined the coaxial cable. It's an antenna, I confirmed, and that's guaranteed no electricity in it. Good - the law did not come to the dicuting. Now the identity card was checked, a radio check was made, and then I was allowed to roll up the quickly mounted antenna again. So that the dog owners can perform their Fiffies again the next morning. We'll check that later, they said before I let them out through the official entrance to the garden. No, we do not want to go through that again, they said, and disappeared in the darkness of the night.

Days later, I realized that the preferred direction of arrival from NE was not guaranteed at all, because one earth point was in the wrong position. So it is not even a pity that the experiment did not work out. It was exciting enough, from planning to firing.

40 safe meters remain me, NE 4-5 m pulled over the impenetrable blackberry hedge, soon. After all, it's my garden, and I do not keep dogs.

Antenna building material for a 350 m BOG. The line should run in NE / N direction, be largely invisible, and waterproof. Most of the material comes from a pasture fence shop, secret slogan: "Your partner for good MW-DX". The antenna is placed as soon as conditions permit on the neighboring meadow.

For construction: The Beverage boxes are installed in watertight HT tubes, the cables are routed through watertight cable feedthroughs. The ground wires at both ends are bolted to the ground rods. An approximately 60 m long coaxial cable is laid underground to the shack. If necessary, the ring insulators are placed in the ground at long intervals, bolted to wooden bars to keep the BOG flat and tight.

The BOG is connected to an RPA-2 Modular Receive Preamplifier by DX-Engineering.

On 26.6. in the morning around 03 UT I was able to record good MW conditions to Peru. Overall, conditions have improved again after weeks of receiving very poor signals from South America. The following stations could be identified perfectly.

2018-06-26 (Screenshot)

1470 0245 PRU OAU4B Radio Capital, Lima/Pantanos de Villa (lim) ID 10752 km
1510 0250 PRU OCX6Q Radio Alegría, Arequipa (are) sev. Alegria IDs, strong 10739 km
1490 0258 PRU OCX4P Radio La Luz, Cerro de Pasco (pas) ID 10572 km
1570 0258 PRU OCU4J Radio Bethel, Lima (lim) ID 10732 km
1480 0300 PRU OAZ7G Radio Espinar, Yauri (cus) ID R Espinar 5685 km
1500 0300 PRU OBX4I Radio Santa Rosa, Lima/San Miguel (lim) sev. IDs

2018-06-28

1490 0300 PRU La Voz de la Liberación via Radio Cadena Sur, Cusco ID
(Thanks to Christoph Ratzer from Austria)

2018-06-30

1570 0256 PRU OCU4J Radio Bethel, Lima (lim) IDs 10732 km
1500 0300 PRU OBX4I Radio Santa Rosa, Lima/San Miguel (lim) ID 10745 km
1470 0305 PRU OAU4B Radio Capital, Lima/Pantanos de Villa (lim) ID, strong sig, long skip 10752 km

2018-07-02

1500 0303 PRU OBX4I Radio Santa Rosa, Lima/San Miguel (lim) ID 10745 km
1470 0306 PRU OAU4B Radio Capital, Lima/Pantanos de Villa (lim) ID 10752 km
1570 0337 PRU OCU4J Radio Bethel, Lima (lim) ID 10732 km

All Logs of 26-6-2018 by MW-LIST

Summer is the time to check or repair the station and antennas. The Beverage Antenna matching Set from lowbandsystems has been in a waterproof plastic box for over a year. Fortunately, no rust has formed, although - after opening - the waterproofness must be questioned. A new grounding rod was inserted and connected with thick copper wire. All openings for the pipes were re-sealed. Next check is in a year.

The 60 m long wire antenna, mounted in the direction of NW, works perfectly. The noise floor is about -120 dBm. It apparently has no pronounced directivity and can also be used very well as a South American antenna. However, signals from NE / SE are correspondingly quiet.

After nature began to grow in the spring, the formerly good reception passed away on the WiFi antenna. Now I could find a reasonably good new point at which arrive about 43% signal (formerly 67%, at 370 m distance and clear view). The small DX expedition through the garden showed surprisingly that 8m high masts and a clear view are not always the best choice. This access point is only 3.50 m high. The aluminum reflector could still tickle out 1% more signal. At times, there are longer-lasting connection problems that are dependent on the time of day. But it seems to be the only place in the garden where reception is possible in the summer.

In this category are some of my historical recordings of short and medium wave broadcasts, which I have preserved over the years. I will post a new recording every month.

The station presented in May was: ORTF Radio Tahiti. Probably 15170 kc, recording time must have been around 05 z.

The station of the month broadcast in the 80-meter amateur radio band in the 70's.

June_puzzle.mp3

The solution of the puzzle will be next time. Good luck solving!

It should be more correct, the system was not running anymore, so it was changed.

The disaster with the Trekstor tablet since November has now come to an end. Even after the second inspection of the device - shortly after it came back from the 1st - at Trekstor no error could be found. My subsequent in-house inspection revealed that the battery is no longer providing enough power to power the SDR and WiFi adapters. Unfortunately, the battery is excluded from the warranty, permanently installed and obviously not available as a spare part. Even an external current hub is no longer useful.

The device is still functional and useful for other purposes, but unsuitable for the remote station. The dream of a functioning station based on low power consumption has to be redesigned. The solar-powered 12 V DX system needs a new heart.

About the progress of my efforts to build a small but nice station in the garden, I will continue to report when I have found and tested appropriate devices.

Maybe I'll get new ideas and suggestions at Ham Radio.

Until then, the break screen remains here.

I wish all of you reading this a great time - and maybe you'll see each other in Friedrichshafen!

73, Willi

A new solar panel creates more energy, and a thankful discovery. During the installation of the 50 Wp panel, I discovered an unclean line connection at the 1st 100 Wp solar panel. It was the reason for more than a year accepted but insufficient charging situation. With the 2nd panel and the now clean wire, the current strength of about 0.7 A could be increased to an adequate 3.0+ A. In full sunshine this is a quadruple of the energy supply. The charging time of the batteries will be shortened by a few days. In addition, a large 4.7 Ah notebook can be operated almost lossless during the day.

The new panel in the middle of the picture, on the left a 15 Wp panel for a pond pump. Both panels are connected in parallel.

Also new is a 47 Ah car battery, which can serve as a reserve for the two 100 Ah liquid / gel batteries.