To set the stage... just before hitting the sack at around 2330 EDT, I tuned to 780 and got WBBM fairly well nulled. I also changed my usual recording sked (8 minute snippets starting at 1 minute before TOH and BOH) to get the full 0400-0500 period.
Checking my recordings today, there were plenty of surprises! R. Coro YVMN was noted before I went to bed, but at 0400, they were surprisingly loud and dominant. Here's a clip: http://topazdesigns.com/ambc/audio/yvmn-780-0400-29oct07.mp3 No sign of the DX test, however, but messages on the mailing lists indicated that the test probably ran an hour late, so I jumped ahead to the 0500 TOH recording, and sure enough, some Morse IDs appeared, starting about 20 seconds after TOH... but surprisingly weak, under Coro and some local crud, probably from my computer: http://topazdesigns.com/ambc/audio/wcxh-780-dxtest-0500-29oct07.mp3 Nothing much after that, until 0505, when I heard some sweeps: http://topazdesigns.com/ambc/audio/wcxh-780-dxtest-0505-29oct07.mp3 My BOH recording also revealed some more weak Morse IDs at 0535: http://topazdesigns.com/ambc/audio/wcxh-780-dxtest-0535-29oct07.mp3 If this was 5 kW ND, they sure don't seem to get out very well (I''m 389 miles east of WCXH). That would explain why I've had no success catching them before their sunset power-down... the channel at that time is always dominated by WTME and CFDR. It's also possible, though, that my phasing setup discriminated against signals to the east, since I had no sign of CFDR last night, and they are common here. It sure was working well to the south, though! Moving on to the 0600 TOH recording, what I initially though was Coro again turned out to be R. Nostalgia XEMF, with a nice clear ID: http://topazdesigns.com/ambc/audio/xemf-780-0600-29oct07.mp3 It gets better! Moving to the 0630 BOH recording, I found this: http://topazdesigns.com/ambc/audio/xeld-780-0630-29oct07.mp3 If I'm not mistaken, that is R. Costa XELD! I've never logged a Mexican on 780 before, and then bagged two in half an hour! Possibilities of further fun were nipped in the bud by the appearance of WABC's IBOC just past 0630, thoroughly hissing out 780. Still, I'm grateful to the good folks at Citadel for turning off nighttime IBOC - if it was still on, none of these three new catches would have been possible. So, to sum up last night: Three 780 newies, bringing my 780 total to 13. Maine logging #29 - I now have heard every AM station in the state, except for WLOB, which is blocked by my local 50 kW blowtorch on 1310. Two new Mexicans, bringing my Mexico total to 40. Ya gotta get lucky once in awhile! My commiserations to those who missed the test because of the timing problem, but hopefully they'll run another one soon. Thanks to those responsible for setting it up! Barry -- Barry McLarnon VE3JF Ottawa, ON _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
