What seemed like a routine Asian morning turned upside down after 1400
here, with a Chinese wave hitting the low band in force. Unfortunately the
sudden surge occurred when it was too late to deploy to a local park to escape
RFI, so a tiny 5" Frequent Flyer FSL was used (because of its superior nulling
capability) to track down the Chinese amid S7 electrical noise from the
neighbor.
The results were pretty much a mixed bag, with the Chinese signals and the
noise fighting it out for about 15 minutes. The biggest surprise was a near S9
signal from 639-CNR1 around 1410, which was easily its strongest signal of the
season so far here (despite the 5" diameter antenna). The tiny FSL did its best
to null out the neighbor's noise, but couldn't quite get it all. 603-China was
clearly dominant over HLSA at 1404, and 657-China (Henan?) was at equal
strength with Pyongyang around the same time. The mid band CRI stations on 963,
1017 and 1044 were also stronger than usual (with S5 peaks), and I'm sure that
756, 918 and 936 would have been in audio except for the neighbor's irritating
RFI.
The 5" bar FSL (a.k.a. Frequent Flyer) was recently improved pretty
significantly by the replacement of its variable cap, following some
astonishing results after I did a repair for Craig Barnes' identical model. The
variable cap of Craig's FSL "went south" during the recent Rockwork cliff
DXpedition, and I needed to find a new source for its N50P variable cap. Steve
introduced me to a new source (Oren Elliott products) which has apparently made
major improvements in the component. The tuning sharpness, S/N ratio and
nulling capability were all significantly improved in Craig's model, which was
then clearly outperforming my own 5" FSL (which had run wild in the Cook
Islands). Of course, my own "Frequent Flyer" FSL immediately received the same
replacement. Thanks Steve and Craig-- this discovery had perfect timing (prior
to a Hawaii trip next week).
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
Stock XHDATA D-808 portable and 5" Frequent Flyer FSL antenna
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