Stephen - Welcome to my world. Almost everything is identical, right down to trying to recall if I have to work or not! Like Todd, I keep a small LED flashlight on the nightstand, and a small pad and pen. I DX much the same way. If I can't sleep, I DX. I do note that *man made* noise is lower at odd hours (4 AM) and that to me makes the band much quieter and easier to DX.
73, Dave in Indy ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 13:37:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Stephen Ponder <[email protected]> To: Mail Group UltralightDX <[email protected]> Subject: [IRCA] I've Got to Find A Better Method! Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I must have really been stressed out this week! I woke up this morning (Saturday, Nov 6th, 2010) at 4:00 AM, thinking it was a work day with a 6:00 AM teleconference!! I was halfway down the hallway, headed toward the shower, when I had that Homer Simpson "Doh!" moment and realized that it was Saturday. Wow! Anyway, when I got back to bed, I was having trouble getting back to sleep, so I picked up my DT-400W and earbuds off of the nightstand by my side of the bed and started tuning around. I was amazed at the difference in the sound of the band at 4:30 AM CDT (0930 GMT) as compared to when I usually DX, which is around 11:30 PM CDT (0430 GMT)! Mexican stations which are just barely audible under the jumble at the later time were booming in, some sounding like they were locals! Of course, with my wife asleep next to me, I really couldn't turn on a light and jot down station details, so I thought I'd be "cool" and just remember stations, frequencies, and times so that when I got up later on, I could write them all down in my logbook. NOT COOL! I must have been sleepier than I thought I was. All of those exotic XE and Cuban stations that I heard and tried to remember have now faded into a conglomeration of "La Buenas," "Noticias," "Equis Eh Something," and what-not. I seem to remember listening to Cuba's "Radio Rebelde" on 720 kHz, dominating over Chicago's "WGN" around the 6:00 AM CDT (1100 GMT) TOH timeframe. I also remember hearing Cuba's "Radio Enciclopedia" on 530 kHz with a very good signal around 5:30 AM CDT (1030 GMT). I've got to find a better method for nighttime (i.e., "bedside") DX'ing!! A very "sleepy" 73, Stephen H. Ponder, N5WBI "Many great deeds are performed in the small struggles of life." - Victor Hugo, Les Miserables Houston, Texas, USA - EL29kn E-Mail: [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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]
