Although clunker conditions prevailed around sunrise this morning there were actually some very good Asian signals about three hours earlier in the predawn darkness, from 1100-1200 UTC. In addition to the usual big gun TP's there was a diverse collection of poor-to-fair Chinese signals on 918, 936, 1017, 1035, 1044, 1206 and 1323.
My early session started around 1100 in the cold back yard, with the more sensible DXers all still asleep. The band seemed in a strange situation, with only a few strong Japanese (on 774, 828 and 1287) but with a huge variety of weak Korean and Chinese stations. Audio had not been heard here on 918 or 936 for ages but both were there at a poor level around 1115, along with the more common CRI stations on 1017, 1044, 1206 and 1323. 603-HLSA, 657-Pyongyang, 738-BEL2 and 1593-CNR1 were also in and out of audio, and 1035-CNR1 was managing its best signal of the season (fair on peaks, with the usual echoes). None of the TP's except for 774-JOUB and 1566-HLAZ were very strong, but the diverse variety of weak signals was very unusual for this landlocked location. After reaching audio the weak Chinese stations would typically slide right back down into the noise, only to reappear again a few minutes later. This hide-and-seek pattern continued until around 1200, when the Asian propaga tion seemed to start a long slide downhill. First to bail were the obscure Chinese stations, followed by the second-tier regulars on 603, 657, 738 and 1593. By 1230 only the big guns on 774 and 1566 were still at decent strength, and it was pretty obvious that the sunrise conditions would be much worse than yesterday's. To verify this the band was checked at both 1430 and 1500, and of course the expected clunker conditions were in full force, with only the big guns on 774, 1053 and 1566 managing any audio. Yesterday's star station 1593-CNR1 was long gone, and the propagation pattern fit right in with the rest of a lackluster November. 73 and Good DX, Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA) 7.5" loopstick C.Crane Skywave Ultralight + 15" FSL antenna _______________________________________________ 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]
