Hi all: I'm up in Kenai, Alaska on business, and after a couple mornings where the wind, rain and cold made it impossible to venture out of my RF-infested hotel room, the weather relented so it was "only" really cold this morning. I found a covered picnic shelter to set up my Sony 7600GR spotting receiver and stock Eton e100, along with a Terk Loop and Quantum Q-Stick. I began abot 2 hours before local sunrise here.
To my delight, I quickly realized that a spotting receiver was not necessary! On about a third of the 9 khz I got good audio on the stock Eton e100, and 774-JOUB was coming in like local at times; with the Terk loop, it was causing QRM on 783! I'm about 3,000 miles fromn Tokyo here (as opposed to 4,500 from the Seattle area), which is still a fair hike, but the dearth of 10-khz domestic pests and salt water propagation over the sound makes Asian DXing from here quite enjoyable. IBOC on 650 and a couple other channels made a few freqs unavailable. Having never received a TP on an UlraLight, having my choice between so many was an eye-opener! English lessons on NHK were available on many channels (693, 747, 774, 828, etc.), and very strong JJ or KK statons were to be found on 558, 567, 594, 729, 792, 837, 954, 963, 972, 1170, 1188, 1206, 1305, 1350 - I started to lose count as the barefoot e100 cycled through the band. On many channels, with the Terk augment, there were two or three stations, and I realized that my inability to tell the difference between Japanese, Korean, Chinese and who knows what else is a liability in trying to figure out who else is there. I was quite impressed with the difference the Terk loop made with the Eton e100, and it was dramatically more effective than the Q-Stick with either radio. With the Terk, I got audio on essentially every 9-khz channel, and briefly heard 774-ABC out of Melbourne discussing Commonwealth issues underneath the deafening JOUB. That was my first-ever MW Aussie, which was a treat; unfortunately, it was too weak for barefoot reception on the e100. It was so cold that I was driven in mid-way through the session to take a hot shower and recover, trudging back out for local sunrise. At around sunrise, the ambient noise and static was suddenly minimal, and the big Japanese were still booming in. 1575-VOA, which had been rather shy up to that point, boomed in on the barefoot e100, while HLAZ-1566 actually lost steam just before LSR. Thanks to John Bryant for putting a standard loopstick into my e100, making the lower part of the band come in well. I wonder how the stock e100/Terk combination compares with the slider-coil e100 a few guys are using??? I would like to challenge y'all to a sensitivity contest at some point... Hope the weather holds up for tomorrow and Thursday, although with conditions like these I will build myself an igloo if I have to.... Kevin S Kenai, Alaska _______________________________________________ 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]
