Arctic DX

Polar Night

2011-12-20T06:39:00.001Z

Days are dark at almost 71 North. This picture from my mobile phone was taken last Sunday close to local noon. Usually, December days are a bit lighter because of the snow reflecting the modest light from the sky, but this autumn and winter has been 3-4 degrees Celsius warmer than normal, so there is very little snow at the coastal areas. It was -1C that day.

The picture faces south-southeast and is taken from the QDFA phaser/power box after I had installed a full-charged 18 Ah battery to the QDFA phaser. It will last for another 3 weeks before needing replacement. The mast to the right is the center of southernmost of the four QDFA deltas (or rather "houses" as they have been redesigned to).

Winradio G39DDC Excelsior

2011-12-16T06:44:00.002Z

If you want to tune from zero (almost) to eternity, this is it. With a 9 kHz to 3500 MHz tuning range, two independent 4 MHz channels (also available for recording and later playback), excellent specifications and a multitude of tools for signal analysis, this appears to be the heftiest SDR available today. Alas, the price tag will require dedication or easy cash flow, and I am rather sure that I don't want to spend USD 4000 for a receiver today. So don't expect to see a G39 review on this blog.

Image from Winradio.com

But Nils Schiffhauer got his priorities right, and submitted this video to the Winradio G3 reflector. Readers who know the G31 and G33 interface will note that the playback bar is different, resembling that of SpectraVue.

For the average MW DX-er though, such as I, the G39 doesn't do much that the G31 and G33 don't, so it's probably overkill. Would be übercool to have one though.

G33DDC Version 1.68 - An Important Software Update

2011-11-10T05:57:00.000Z

The first official software update since the introduction of the G33DDC has just been made available, with numerous small and a few very important changes.

In version 1.61, if one tuned around inside the DDC spectrum while recording (and who wants to be stuck on one frequency while recording), the spectrum itself would actually move, making it impossible to play back the recording properly. The demodulated frequency would change with the changing DDC spectrum. I first thought this was a bug but in fact it isn't; it's a feature but with an unwanted side effect. The feature is that one can move the DDC spectrum at will within the 0-30 (or 50) MHz range while recording.

The update makes it impossible to move the DDC spectrum while recording with the .ddc extension. So you are free to tune around inside the spectrum. For recordings with the .rxw extension, moving the DDC spectrum during recording requires the "Insert FDT" function to be disabled. So, if you record a DDC file, or an RXW file with FDT enabled, the spectrum will not move.

Another important change is how the playback bar works. Previously, it was cumbersome to move within playback of a DDC spectrum recording. The playback bar has been redesigned so that the handle or thumb is easier to "grab" with the mouse pointer, and the left and right arrows have been assigned to five-second steps. In addition, if you click on the bar, the recording will move back or forth with what I believe is 1/30 of the length of the file (or files, if they are linked into one larger recording). Of course if you move the handle you can maneuver at will within the recording.

Another thing that has been up lately (though unrelated to the software update) is that DDC files recorded in the .ddc format in one time zone (or during daylight savings time) will not show the correct time when played back in a different time zone (or during "normal" time). This is because the date and time information is not embedded in the file, but merely part of the file name.

This not a problem if recordings are made in the .rxw format, which is Winradio's proprietary format. However, .ddc is the default file extension, so you have to actively select rxw when you start a recording. Press "Browse" and select "RXW" from the file types dropdown. Or simply replace ".ddc" in the file path with ".rxw". The software will remember the file format for subsequent recordings, even if you shut down the program. For scheduled recordings it's a bit more cumbersome as you need to define the file format for each task you add.

The RF Space NetSDR

2011-11-05T07:29:00.002Z

After having played around with the RF Space NetSDR a few weeks, I thought it was time to share my impressions. A PDF-file is available in the Links section to the right, or you can view it as an html-page here.

Another DX Test - Another Blackout

2011-10-23T06:08:00.000Z

Although propagation hasn't been outstanding, it has at least opened up for trans-polar signals the past week or so. But it's a rather weird coincidence that most times a DX test is announced, the conditions will go rock bottom.

As they are today, during WGBW-1590's test going until 0700 UTC. Not even a faint trace of a signal. Even the near-24/7 companion KBRW-680 is gone.

The reason is that the proton flux began to rise yesterday, almost to the level of a proton event. Increased proton flux levels will always kill propagation in polar regions.

I hope they will set up a new test sometime, though.

KONG21 Antennas And Receivers - Some Reflections

2011-10-22T22:33:00.001Z

I had four SDRs with me to this DX-pedition: The Winradio G31DDC and G33DDC, the RF Space NetSDR and the Perseus. The Perseus has been with me for a few years but the G33 and the NetSDR were new this year. Actually, the G31 was never put to use. I've been just as busy testing and discussing software as DX-ing this time, actually a rewarding experience since I've had some fruitful discussions with Simon at SDR-Radio.com and Ian at Radixon (Winradio).

Most of the time, if not all, the Perseus has been connected to the 50-degrees beverage, the G33 to the 340 and the NetSDR to the 310. We also had the QDFA up, and another receiver (G31) available. But they were never put into use. The QDFA wasn't working properly, and the reason wasn't discovered until Saturday afternoon when the rest of the crew had left. A rodent had short-circuited the feedline.The cut was so small I didn't discover it the first time I checked the feedlines. And although conditions weren't outstanding, we never found time to investigate deeper. Until Saturday afternoon.

The QDFA feedline is now fixed, and will be available for remote DX for the four of us when conditions improve. Even today the effects were stunning compared to the 340 beverage (the QDFA is 350 but a wider front lobe) as semi-local Murmansk 657 was 27 dB weaker on the QDFA, while KBRW on 680 was a dB stronger. Similar effects on 1035 where China and Estonia were fighting for glory on the 50 degree, but the QDFA nulled Estonia almost into noise level.

Nighttime conditions were poor throughout the week so we probably wouldn't have heard a lot more anyway, but it's a bit embarrasing to know that we could have lost a lot of good DX because we failed to spot the faulty feedline.

The G33 has been a real workhorse. It's been 100 % stable, and by and large is an excellent receiver. The NetSDR was tested with both Spectravue and SDR-Radio software, the latter with beta versions. Most of the time operation has been smooth and trouble-free although I had trouble with scheduled recordings a while until a fix was made. A write-up on the NetSDR will be released soon.

Unfortunately, my impression is that the Loran C noise has been worse than ever this fall. Some frequencies are almost impossible to listen to. I hear rumours that the Loran C network will be closed in 2015. We'll see.

Finally a picture of the signature dish here in KONGsfjord, namely the King Crab, in Norwegian KONGekrabbe. The raw, frozen crab was supplied by Berle Fisk AS and Svein Olaf, and was immaculate. The best restaurants in Oslo aren't even close in matching this quality.

Date And Time Stamp On Winradio G31DDC Playback

2011-10-21T13:39:00.001Z

Are you among those who hoped that Winradio would equip their G31DDC recordings with date and time stamp? So that you could see the time and date on playback, and not having to guess? So that you could move the file to another hard drive or folder without the created time/date being lost? Well, you know that it never happened, and probably never will happen

The solution is surprisingly simple, although it involves a bit manual labour on the keyboard. The key is the G33 software, which can play back G31 recordings.

The G31 has a frequency stamp (Insert freq) which keeps track of the center frequency. The G33 on the other hand has a date, time and frequency stamp (Insert FDT). The frequency bit is identical on the two. What separates them is the date and time bit. So I thought: What if I inserted the date and time info manually to the G31 file, and played it back with G33 software?

Worth a try wasn't it, so I changed the original file which was Rec-0.657MHz.ddc to Rec-0.657MHz_11-10-08_16'23'00.ddc, opened the G33 software and pressed Play. Smooth as silk. I then tested two linked G31 files and changed the file names according to G33 syntax and played them back. Smooth as silk. (The time displayed in the playback bar is UTC, i.e. local time - 2 hours)

Of course: If you have a lot of files, it will take some time to change the file names. And linked files may take longer than separate files, because linked G31 files use the -$001.ddc syntax while G33 files use -^001.ddc syntax. But the linked files will have the same date and time stamp as the first file. If you have made a habit of writing down when a file starts, the time should be fairly accurate. And if you haven't made that habit, now is the time.

A word of caution: Always, always, always back up the files you want to change. G33DDC software is available here.

Kiribati Strongest Skywave Signal

2011-10-21T11:37:00.000Z

Would you believe that Radio Kiribati 1440 could be the strongest skywave station in Arctic Norway? Well today it is. A nice -90 dBm on the 50 degree beverage is only matched by KICY Nome AK 850. Even some of the Russian groundwave signals are weaker.

Strange conditions. Very strange indeed.

The Winradio G33DDC - Impressions

2011-10-19T05:45:00.001Z

As usual, I cannot resist the temptation to write about the receivers I have. Some initial impressions have been posted earlier in this blog. You will find a more detailed report in the Links section, or here. Comments are appreciated.

Tuesday Morning (well, sort of)

2011-10-18T13:02:00.000Z

Wow. What an uneventful night, followed by an uneventful morning. Now we're in the middle of an uneventful day. Only the usual dominants are heard, and not at very good signal levels either. Which is a bit strange, since there is no indication that the solar weather has turned worse, on the contrary. While we're waiting for things to improve, we check recordings from prior days and some nice stuff is found such as KPAY-1290 and KQEQ-1210.

My own October log is still here.

We are looking forward though, to Arnstein's special dish, Bue's Uruguayan tender loin beef tonight.

Monday Morning

2011-10-17T10:48:00.000Z

An uneventful night, but a bit better in the daylight hours. 910 produced KCJB first, later on KWDZ. Graveyard channels mostly dominated by Idaho, Oregon and Washington stations. KBLA Santa Monica CA had a wonderful signal on 1580 a while. We had hoped for similar Asia/Pacific conditions as yesterday, when Kiribati-1440 had a great signal prior to s/off 0930 UTC, but the band has been very, very quiet. Only now, around 10:30 do we hear the first Japanese stations. Luckily, the sun is still relatively quiet, and we can only hope for it to stay that way.

I have had the chance to play around with the new Winradio G33DDC with the latest software revision a few days, a "joint venture" between me and Radixon. We have indeed made some progress, and I hope it will continue.

A Brief Sunday Report

2011-10-16T11:51:00.001Z

Things are going as planned, with reasonably good conditions. Even New Zealand was heard today, and so was Kiribati 1440 - which is predicted to be a common guest in the morning before it closes at 0930 UTC. Cool and windy on Friday and partly Saturday; rather warm for the year today with around 10 Celsius, but increasing wind and rain is heading our way now.

Below a couple of pictures of last night's ordeal; a King Crab Carbonara main course and some selected cheeses with port for dessert.

OK conditions towards the western part of the US today, and some very low powered Japanese stations also showed up.

From left: OJ Sagdahl, Arnstein Bue, TJ Bråtveit

Bjarne's Updated KONG21 Log

2011-10-14T23:59:00.000Z

Some of the less common stations I hear will be listed in this update. Some explanations:

G33: Excalibur Pro G33DDC
G31: Excalibur G31DDC
Perseus: Microtelecom Perseus
NetSDR: RF Space NetSDR

50: 500 meter beverage at 50 degrees
310: 225 meter beverage at 310 degrees
340: 340 meter beverage at 340 degrees
QDFA: Quad Delta Phased Array at 350 degrees

Mostly, one antenna will be connected to one radio; the 310 antenna is connected to the G33 etc.

New Voice From The Pacific - Kiribati 1440

2011-10-14T16:03:00.001Z

Actually not new - Kiribati's 846 kHz outlet has been heard here on a number of occasions. However, in 2008 the transmitter broke down after havning had serveral technical problems. On March 28 2011 Radio Kiribati started broadcasting on 1440 kHz, replacing 846.

To my surprise, Radio Kiribati was heard with a nice signal from 0929 UTC today, until sign-off at 0950, although with occasional interference from Japan. Nice ID at 0936. The MW band was exceptionally quiet at the time with very few stations audible.

KONG21 DX-Pedition Starting Today

2011-10-14T07:38:00.000Z

Another year, another KONG DX-pedition. This year, it starts today and ends on Saturday, October 21. TJ Bråtveit and Arnstein Bue are scheduled to arrive at 1100 UTC while OJ Sagdahl takes a later plane and arrives at 2100. Conditions are ok, not exceptional but not discouraging either. A number of Perseus, Winradio G31s and G33, an RF Space NetSDR and a QS1R will help us get through the coming week. And if they can't help, we are well supplied with 10 kgs of King Crab, reindeer tender loins, fresh salmon loins, ox tender loin from Uruguay and carefully selected red and white wine, champagne and various other beverages.

Speaking of beverages, the antenna farm is the usual: a QDFA and three beverages directed at 310, 340 and 50 degrees.

Just below freezing today so the roads are icy and a bit slippery, but we're expecting close to 10 Celsius on Sunday.

Winradio G31DDC LF Sensitivity

2011-10-13T21:04:00.001Z

The following may be of interest for a very small percentage of my readers. However, there was a discussion on a Winradio refelctor on this issue, a debate coloured by many assumptions and few facts. I never did bother to measure the G31's LF sensitivity, but today I did. With the usual parameters (AM mode, 6 kHz bandwidth, a 400 Hz tone and 30 % modulation), I measured:

500 kHz: -104 dBm
400 kHz: -104 dBm
300 kHz: -102 dBm
200 kHz: -102 dBm
150 kHz: -102 dBm
100 kHz: -100 dBm

I'd say that's fairly good. The G31 doesn't have a built-in preamp, like many conventional receivers have, so a direct comparison may not be fair unless an external 10 dB Norton push-pull preamp is placed in front of it. If so, the G31 will play games with anyone.

Finally Some Transpolar DX

2011-10-09T11:04:00.002Z

The sun hasn't been kind to us lately. The contrast between now and a year ago is startling. But there's not much we can do about it except search for the few openings there are. Like this morning at 0400 when east coast stations were well audible.

A check of the overnight scheduled G33DDC recordings was not encouraging, but at 0400 things opened up a bit and I noted WFLR Dundee NY 1570 which is a rare guest, along with WBAE Portland ME 1490 (actually a new station for me at this location) and a few others. Some of the Ontario stations like 1580, 1380 and especially CJMR-1320 had excellent signals, but then they are not the ones we want to hear.

October 9 was the first day of the season with a thin white layer on the ground. It's expected to stay cool but above freezing the week to come.

G33DDC DDC Recordings

2011-10-02T09:39:00.000Z

OK. About time to explore the functionality I missed in the G31. First a few words on on-the-fly recordings: This function works well but one should take care in activating the "Insert FDT" button as well as the "Split" button - the former to ensure you have frequency, date and time associated with the file, and the latter to avoid monstrous DDC files.(For the record: No, a 2 GB DDC file is not monstrous).

You can activate a buffer to make the recording start up to 3 seconds earlier. While the idea is very good, the limited buffer size makes it less useable than if you could select up to say 10 seconds.

Scheduled DDC recordings is an important factor because it adds flexibility to the DX hobby. A well designed scheduler is the key factor. This is how the Scheduler window looks like:

The jpg should be self-explanatory. What I'd like to add is that "Start time" is always the PC's local time, not UTC. Take care in selecting the correct DDC bandwidth (default is 24 kHz), and find a suitable argument for the Stop recording function.

The file is automatically frequency, date and time stamped. There is support for multiple tasks, especially suitable if you want to record different frequency spectra and other bandwidths

A scheduled recording is played back as shown below. If recording has been set up to split, the Scheduler will automatically start a new file linked to the previous one, and on playback will do so seamlessly.

Note that although the timer and the file name refers to the PC's local time, the date and time line to the left of the playback bar will display UTC, if UTC has been selected to be the primary time display (Options -> Time).

Sadly, the playback bar is still difficult to manouver. Inspiration for improvement could come from as different sources as Perseus, SpectraVue, SDR-Radio and Winrad. They are all much better.

G33DDC files will be huge. This is because unlike just about every other SDR on the market, the G33 makes 32-bit recordings up to 3 MHz bandwidth. The widest spectra (3.2 and 4 MHz) are recorded in 16 bit due to limited USB 2.0 transfer rate. Thus, 2 minutes, 40 seconds at 1.25 MHz will take up 2.2 GB. In comparison, the Perseus is 24-bit for all bandwidths except 1600 kHz (16-bit), while the netSDR is 24-bit up to 1 MHz and 16-bit on 2 MHz.

A 32-bit file contains more information than a 16- or 24-bit file. The question is of course if the added information can be used to hear more stations, like a considerably higher dynamic range, sharper selectivity etc. It would be nice if that was the case. Until someone comes up with proof I find it hard to believe that a G33 file recorded in 32 bits would let me hear more DX stations than a Perseus file recorded in 24 bits.

A Brief G31DDC vs G33DDC Comparison

2011-10-01T18:38:00.003Z

After having tested the two Excalibur SDRs, the G31 and the G33 "Pro", it's time to draw some preliminary conclusions.

Those who have followed my blog, and postings to the Winradio G3 reflector, will know that I have found the G31DDC to be an excellent receiver, but with a serious drawback: The missing ability to date- and time stamp DDC recordings. In fact, the files do not contain any date and time information. This is of course a software issue and not a hardware one. Winradio decided to wait a year, until they released the G33DDC, to implement this crucial function.

So, if you want to use a function found in all other important SDRs (including the low-cost SDR-IQ), you need to "upgrade" to a "pro" version of the Excalibur. There was a heated debate on the topic on the Winradio G3 reflector a while ago, which ended with us "whiners" basically being told (in a more diplomatic language) to shut up or get lost. Mind you, this was not posted by a Winradio representative.

Anyway, I couldn't resist the temptation to buy the G33 (thus proving that Winradio's business philosophy works, unfortunately). A record-breaking shipping time of only seven days from Grove Enterprises allowed me to test the SDR this weekend.

As you can see from the display screendump above, the G31 and G33 GUI is basically the same. The only difference is the added functionality in the G33 hardware and software. The G33 software can play back G31 DDC recordings. More surprisingly, the G31 software can play back G33 recordings, although without date and time, and limited to the 2 MHz DDC bandwidth of the G31 software But why would you use G31 software for G33 playback.

The G33DDC is as sensitive as the G31, a uniform -106 dBm or 1 uV was measured which is very good for SDRs. The G33 even has a 10 dB preamp, which should allow for even better sensitivity. At first I found no audible or measureable effect and thought it could be a software bug in version 1.61. However after testing with the G33's built-in measuring tools, I found the preamp to increase sensitivity to around -110 dBm, making it with a good margin the most sensitive amateur-grade SDR in the market. For those (few?) who need it.

So then: How do the two Winradio SDRs compare? To find out (and to save myself from writing and my readers from reading a long and boring blogpost), I set up a matrix with functions I have found interesting for the DX-er in general and the MW DX-er in particular. The grading is subjective. I may have overlooked something. Please comment if you find other important differences between the G31 and the G33.

Value for money? Well, sort of. For me, the G31 was a disappointment in two important parameters, but others have different views. The G33DDC is USD 1,650 from Grove Enterprises. A UK quote is GBP 1,333 ex. VAT (comparably a lot more). A Perseus bought in the UK costs only GBP 583 ex. VAT (exactly the same as the G31DDC), leading me to the conclusion that in Europe, the Perseus is much better value for money. In the US the situation is somewhat different with the Perseus selling for USD 1,000.

The RF Space NetSDR is USD 1,450, but the netSDR is hardware expandable and basically a different receiver altogether (and under a continous software development).

In conclusion, the G33DDC is what the G31DDC should have been. But revenue is everything.

Winradio G33DDC Excalibur Pro

2011-10-01T08:57:00.000Z

Actually I had decided not to buy it. Then I discussed the matter with my good friend Takashi Kuroda who had bought one to replace his G31, and I decided to place an order at Grove Enterprises. The delivery time was a stunning seven (!) days.

I've just unpacked it and connected it to an aging dell laptop running a 2 GHz dual-core Intel T6400 CPU. Incidentally, the stated MSR is "2 GHz Dual Core"... I was pleasantly surprised to see that even at a 4 MHz sampling (and recording) rate, CPU load would not exceed 30 % (filter length set at 5000).

No antenna connected yet. I will go to Kongsfjord this afternoon. More as it happens.

QDFA vs. 310-degree Beverage - A Skywave Comparison

2011-09-17T21:24:00.000Z

The results I reported a few days ago regarding the QDFA's good F/B ratio vs. the 310-degree beverage was for groundwave reception. Now DX-ers are more interested in skywaves than groundwaves, so tonight I set up a test to find out. Although there were a couple of unexpected results (Pori, Finland 963 stronger on the QDFA than the beverage for instance), the general picture is that the QDFA has 5 to 10 dB weaker signals from the back than the beverage, while it has 9-12 dB stronger signals than the 310 beverage from the front. Admittedly though, only NRK Svalbard 1485 and the NDB "BV" 399 were on the "right end" so the results should be treated with some caution. Add to this picture that the netSDR which was running the QDFA is 2-3 dB less sensitive than the Perseus, which ran the 310 beverage. Switching antennas confirmed this. The QDFA had an extra 10 dB of gain in front of it, a Kiwa preamplifier.

Measuring Sensitivity Of Some Cool Receivers

2011-09-16T17:29:00.000Z

I've been fortunate enough to have a large variety of receivers coming (and going) at my Kongsfjord QTH. Some are/were mine, some were here on a temporary basis. Two of the latter category are the Icom IC-7800 transceiver, and the Icom R-9000 receiver. Both very high end, both in terms of performance and price. Lots of thanks go to Olav Skår, LA9VFA, who let me play with these superb radios.

Of course I never resist the temptation to measure the sensitivity of a receiver. The IC-7800 is stated (as all Icom receivers and transceivers are) to have reduced sensitivity below 1.8 MHz. As far as I know, all their radios produced in recent years are not desenstized on MW. This was confirmed for the IC-7800 as I measured a uniform -106 dBm to -108 dBm (around 1 uV) throughout most of its frequency range (600 to 20,000 kHz).

The R-9000 however is an older model, and it was indeed rather deaf on MW with figures around -92 dBm or 4 uV. On SW, it was marginally less sensitive than the IC-7800.

I finally got round to measure my new netSDR from RF Space too. A uniform -101 dBm or 2 uV was measured from 600 to 20,000 kHz. I had hoped to see it a few dB better, but it equals the SDR-IQ, a bit better than the QS1R and marginally weaker than the Perseus and the Winradio Excalibur (G31DDC). An external preamp would help.

Parameters: Measured with a signal generator while running AM mode with 6 kHz bandwidth, AGC off, and using 30 % modulation of a 400 Hz tone.

Update: OJ wanted pictures of the wonders, so here they are:

QDFA vs. Beverage - A Groundwave Comparison

2011-09-11T11:17:00.003Z

Further to the results we reported yesterday:

Today I did an A-B test on my NetSDR a bit prior to 1100 UTC, local noon. The difference between the 310 beverage and the QDFA is interesting. The Noise Floor of the QDFA was 3-4 dB lower than the beverage, when they were both powered by a 10 dB preamplifier/splitter. Interfering stations on the back of the QDFA, such as the Murmansk stations were attenuated by up to 40 dB (657 kHz). 1134 was reduced from -77 dBm to -115 dBm. On 1521 the attenuation was 13 dB.

On daytime we don't have any stations in the "desired direction" to compare, except the Berlevåg NDB "BV" on 399. It was 15 dB weaker on the QDFA than on the beverage. The illustrations below may speak for themselves. The Ingøy AM transmitter on 153 had equal strength on the QDFA and the beverage. It is located due west of here.

Groundwave spectrum 310 degrees beverage

Groundwave spectrum QDFA

What can we conclude from this?

Front to back (F/B) attenuation increases with decreasing frequency.
Groundwave attenuation is stable and very effective.
Judging from last night's comparison, skywave F/B attenuation is less effective, but still significant.

Nothing of this is new knowledge. It is however extremely satisfactory to see that the QDFA works well. Actually, our preliminary conclusion is that the QDFA is more effective with regard to F/B than last year's QDFA was. Maybe there are subtle changes in the setup we were not aware of that did this. One less subtle change we should have done but so far haven't, is to replace the lamp cord feed line with Twinax. Judging from other lamp cord to Twinax replacements, this will only make the QDFA better.

ADXS2 Final Day - And All Antennas Are Up

2011-09-11T08:28:00.001Z

On Sunday, the 10 participants of ADXS2 had brunch with rye bread, foccacia and king crab leftovers. We soon entered an engaged discussion about the virtues of Bentonite! The Finnish delegation will leave after noon to catch the Finnair flight from Ivalo to Helsinki. I will leave for Vadsø a few hours later, while OJ Sagdahl and TJ Bråtveit will hold the fort until their departure on Monday.

The Saturday was used for erecting and preparing the QDFA antenna. The creator of the QDFA phaser, Dallas Lankford, has made a few modifications mainly to keep its transistors safe during weather-induced static. For a pre-sesason test, we were delighted that NRK Svalbard had a very good signal on 1485.

To show the Finns the virtue of the QDFA, we arranged a comparison between the QDFA and the 310-degree beverage (pointing towards Svalbard). Interestingly but not very surprisingly, the Svalbard station was the strongest in the band on the QDFA, and European stations were attenuated by 15 dB or more compared to the 310 beverage, while Svalbard was only a couple of dB weaker on the QDFA than on the 310. So the net effect of the QDFA vs. the 310 beverage is 10-15 dB front to back attenuation.

With four well-working antennas up, we are now ready to log new stations.

The 2nd Arctic DX Summit, Sept 9-11 2011

2011-09-10T05:41:00.000Z

Been a bit too busy to inform about this event, however here is a brief update.

From September 9 to 11 seven Finnish and three Norwegian DX-ers have met at Kongsfjord, Arctic Norway. The ADXS is a social much more than a DX-ing event, so the focus is on radio equipment, good food, good conversations, beverages (the long copper variant), beverages (the wet variant) and outdoor activities in exceptionally mild and calm weather. Below a photo of our Finnish guests. More as it happens.

From left: Antti Altonen, Mika Mäkeläinen, Hannu Tikkanen, Håkan Sundman, Jan-Erik Österholm, Hannu Niilekselä, Roland Sandberg.

The RFSpace netSDR

2011-09-08T22:49:00.000Z

A relatively new SDR on the market is the NetSDR which, contrary to most other SDRs, communicate with the PC over a 100 base-T port instead of USB. Another interesting aspect is that while you need remote control software like LogMeIn to control other SDRs over the internet, the netSDR actually transports its full 1.6 MHz waterfall and demodulated audio via a 10 kbps link. It uses straight TCO/IP and ethernet for all communications. In many ways it can be seen as a downscaled version of the SDR-IP.

The NetSDR arrived today, just in time for the Arctic DX Summit. Initial impressions using Spectravue and SDR-RADIO software are very positive. Its footprint is quite a bit bigger (almost double size) than the Perseus and Winradio Excalibur. It has room however for some very interesting hardware to be retrofitted.

More on this after I have explored the radio a bit further, including sensitivity measurements.

First DX Signals Of The New Season - And A Comparison

2011-08-28T07:12:00.001Z

I rarely hear any Trans-Atlantic DX here in August. My northerly location is of course to blame. Last night though, the ususal eastern North America stations were heard with ok signals, such as 1200-Ottawa, 1500-Detroit, 1510-Boston, 1520-Buffalo, 1540-Toronto and 1600-Boston together with quite a few others (including rather surprisingly Pulse 2 from Huddersfield on 1530). The first signal from Down Under was heard Friday evening with presumed 1620-Sydney with Arabic music.

Tonight's DX was somewhat noisy as there were frequent static crashes from thunderstorms somewhere. This gave me the opportunity to compare how the AGCs of the Excalibur software and SDR-Radio handled the noise. Generally there was a noticeable difference in favour of SDR-Radio. Nowadays with SDR software, AGC settings can be adjusted ad infinitum, but at least when it comes to out-of-the-box settings, SDR-Radio was the winner.

Antenna Preparations II

2011-08-27T10:17:00.000Z

340-degrees beverage daytime noise level. The peaks are semi-local Russian stations (and the very local "BV" NDB on 399 at extreme left)

The 340-degrees beverage (Western North America) was put up today. Unlike the other beverages it is lamp cord fed, not Twinax, and while the noise floor is at the same ultra-low level as the 50 and 310 degrees beverages, there are a few local noise peaks though not above -115 dBm. The jury is still out on the question should we replace the lamp cord with twinax.

This Is What I Call A Quiet Location

2011-08-20T17:46:00.000Z

Actually, I have never experienced a noise level as low as today. China Radio International 1323 is 90 % readable at a signal level of 0.37 uV in AM mode, and 100 % readable at 0.6 uV. It doesn't get much better than this. Beverage 500 meters at 50 degrees, Twinax feed line.

Antenna Preparations

2011-08-20T16:07:00.001Z

The 50-degrees Pacific beverage was set up last weekend, and erected to an average of 1.2 meters today. I also set up the 310 east North America beverage, but decided to keep the lamp cord feedline for now since the thought of rolling out 175 meters of thick and heavy Twinax was discouraging.

When I connected the 310 there was practically no signal at all. The observant reader will have guessed that the feed line was at fault. I didn't at first, so I spent a few hours in total confusion. This year rodents are exceptionally plentiful, and it appears that the seasick-green lamp cord was mistaken for food by the voles who thrive around the house. So I decided to roll out the Twinax anyway. The endless hours at the gym finally paid off. And the 310 is now in excellent shape, except I have to elevate it from the ground.

I think this calls for a Heineken on the balcony. Still a bit early in the season for any real DX.

Want To Join Google+ ?

2011-08-17T10:11:00.000Z

Not quite radio related, but anyway: Google+ is an up and coming internet society with excellent integration with Google's product suite, combining the best from Facebook and LinkedIn. I have a few invitations to spare. If you want to join Google+, follow this link.

Balanced Feed Line - Replacing Lamp Cord With Twinax

2011-08-14T08:53:00.001Z

Observant readers will know that last year, we replaced our old coax feed lines (mostly RG-213 and RG-58) with cheap "Lamp Cord". Using balanced feed lines instead of unbalanced proved to be an immediate success in terms of noise reduction and flexibility. The cost was the need to put a 100:50 ohm transformer into the feed line before entering the 50 ohm receiver antenna input. Though if you didn't, you wouldn't lose more than a few dB.

This summer, we purchased two 1000-ft rolls of "real" balanced feed lines, namely Twinax. It is not lightweight and flexible like the lamp cord - actually it's only a bit thinner than RG-213, but well screened and protected from precipitation, salinity, temperature changes and rodents.

A brief test run last evening with the 50-degree, 500-meter beverage proved that Twinax is indeed the best solution. Some unidentified local noise sources were greatly reduced, otherwise the noise picture in general was the same. I also noted that signals coming perpendicular to the 50-degree beverage were reduced substantially. Indicating that the lamp cord compromised the beverage's side nulls. There was a slight improvement in signal levels alongside the beverage lobes as well, but this could be attributed to the Twinax test being done five minutes later than the lamp cord test (with a declining sun).

Summary: The lamp cord is an excellent feed line for beverages (and other antennas as well). The Twinax is a superior feed line.

Lamp cord feed line

Twinax feed line. Murmansk stations on 657, 1134 and 1521 are attenuated compared to the lamp cord. Higher signal levels elsewhere.

Twinax

The Clifton Labs Z1501 Active Antenna - Pt 4 The 3 Meter Whip

2011-08-13T07:50:00.000Z

This morning I replaced the 1.5 meter whip with the 3 meter whip. On SW, the difference was significant, with my semi-local Radio Rossii 5930 increasing 10-15 dB in gain. On MW however, there was only minor gain improvements as Rossii-657 increased its strength by only 2 dB.

This concludes the test of the Clifton Laboratories Z1501 Active Antenna. I will most likely dismantle it from my Kongsfjord QTH and erect in in a tree outside my apartment in Vadsø. It will be interesting to see how much it will be affected by the usual noise a residential area will produce.

The Clifton Labs Z1501 Active Antenna - Pt 3 Properly Erected

2011-08-12T21:15:00.000Z

The next step was to find a better location for the antenna. I erected it on a pole around 30 meters away from the house, and prepared the necessary RG-58 coax. Still with the 1.5 meter whip, I mounted the enclosure at around 2 meters, so the total height of the antenna is 3.5 meters. Mounting it higher will increase its gain.

Both the noise level and signal levels improved considerably. As can be seen below, the antenna appears to have equal sensitivity all the way up to 30 MHz. I didn't compare with the Mini-Whip this time. At the time of writing, 90 minutes after sunset, it seems to work well on MW with a noise floor around -120 dBm.

Weather permitting, I will erect my 310-degree beverage tomorrow. It will be interesting to compare noise floors and signal levels. I will also replace the 1.5 meter whip with the 3 meter whip to see how much gain increases.

Already at this stage though, the Z1501 has proved to be an excellent all-round antenna, both with regards to coverage (since it is omni-directional) and frequency range.

The Clifton Labs Z1501 Active Antenna - Pt 2 Initial Tests

2011-08-12T18:39:00.001Z

I didn't have enough coax at hand, so for the first test run, the Z1501 was put up with the 1.5 m whip alongside the house wall. Not a favourable position with regards to RFI, but enough to see how (and if) it worked, and to make a brief A-B test with the Mini-Whip.

It has gain all right. I feared that the semi-local Loran C transmitter (250 kW on 100 kHz 14 km away) would make trouble when I connected the Z1501 to my Winradio Excalibur SDR. The Excalibur has no band pass filters or preselectors, so in principle it is wide open.

I was right. I got ADC clipping and needed to attenuate 12 dB to get rid of it. I assume though, that conventional receivers with band pass filters or tracking preselectors will not be affected. Anyway I am used to Loran C trouble, so I have a suite of 100 kHz notch filters, one of which was inserted between the DC Coupler and the Excalibur. Loran C gone.

To compare with the Mini-Whip, I mounted the latter at the same height as the Z1501 enclosure and ran a few tests.

Mini-Whip MW Response

Z1501 MW Response

The difference in this daytime test (almost no stations audible) is significant. The 1449 Radio Rossii signal is 15 dB higher on the Z1501. But keep in mind that the price tag is at least "15 dB" higher too. It's a bit like comparing a Ferrari to a Fiat 500.

And I still haven't put the 3 meter whip on...

The Clifton Labs Z1501 Active Antenna - Pt 1 The Hardware

2011-08-12T18:00:00.000Z

Conventional wisdom says that MW DX-ers use beverages whenever they can. And if they can't, they use loops of various sizes and properties. So what about whips? Noooo, serious MW DX-ers don't use whips. Whips are for FM or VHF. Only if nothing else works or is possible to erect (including a five cm ferrite bar), will a serious MW DX-er even remotely think about mounting a whip.

Time to think again. Whips with good performance have been around a while. Many NDB DX-ers have successfully used Roelof Bakker's "Mini-Whip", an excellent proof that size doesn't always matter. I've had the Mini-Whip myself a couple of years, and although it has never outperformed my beverages and QDFA, it is an excellent device.

For quite some time I have wondered about purchasing another whip. This summer I finally decided to go for it - not that I really needed it (and I don't think it will outperform my beverages and QDFA), but I was curious if it could perform even better than Roelof's mini antenna.

The Z1501 is sold with either a 1.5 m or a 3 m whip. I chose both, since it was only USD 16 extra.

The Z1501 is an electric field responding “active” antenna, employing a high impedance field effect transistor input stage to efficiently couple electromagnetic field from a physically short antenna to a low impedance (50 ohms) load. The most effective frequency range is 20 kHz to 30 MHz. The size of the weatherproof enclosure is 114x63x25 mm mounted on a larger mounting flange. It has a female BNC connector for 50 ohm coax feedline.

In-house is a DC coupler which delivers 9-24 VDC to the antenna. It can also be used with other active antennas - I have used the Mini-Whip with it with good results.

Enclosure and mounting flange. BNC out to the left.

Telescoped whips, 1.5 and 3 meters

DC Coupler back panel

DC Coupler front panel with green LED

The Z1501 is bought as a kit or assembled. Knowing how soldering limitations, I opted for the assembled version.

So how does it perform? We will soon find out.

A New Gadget

2011-08-11T05:30:00.000Z

I recently received this item from the USA. I plan to test this gadget during the coming weekend, so late Friday or Saturday you will know what it is (many will have guessed already) and who made it (probably not that many).

Sorry about the poor photo quality.

StationList - A Killer App For the Perseus

2011-08-04T18:51:00.000Z

The Perseus SDR was the first "serious" European SDR manufacturer, and soon drew attention to people who wanted to develop their own applications to expand the Perseus software. For the serious MW and NDB DX-er, maybe the best of them all is Jürgen Bartels' Station List, now in version 2.1.1.1.

Why is it so?
Imagine you being on a DX-pedition (or your own home for that matter), and in the course of five days of intensive DX-ing and recording you are stuck with some 2 TB of data. Maybe you have recorded all the TOH and BOH over most of the five days, and some interesting DX in between. Well it was fun doing the DX session, but when on earth will you have time to get through the thousands of potential stations? Let's say there are 100 interesting frequencies, you conservatively record two minutes on the top, two minutes at around five past, and two-three minutes at the bottom of the hour. That's 700 minutes of listening, for checking one single hour!
Admit it, you're never going to get through all this.

Often, when we check RF recordings, we select one recording, and start listening at the top end, or the bottom end. Now....there was an interesting station on 1290, I must remember that one when I start the next recording. But I don't, do I, because I found an interesting station on 1150 instead and forgot all about that interesting station on 1290. Now, wouldn't it be better if you could stay on 1290 for as long as it took to find out what it was - just change into the next file with one mouse click while keeping the same frequency and at the exact same spot in the playback? To track 1290 throughout the night? Of course it would. And that's what Station List does.

Among many other things.

Actually, the function mentioned above may not even be the main purpose of Station List. Describing Station List is a bit difficult, because aside for monitoring recordings, it is a lot of things. It is a database which interacts with Perseus; you can use a database to tune the Perseus, or if you tune the Perseus, the database of choice follows it. And you can import databases, such as KOJE, FMLIST, MWLIST, LA MW-LIST, EIBI, TBL and Nagoya. It is a tool for scheduled RF recordings. It is a log program. It is a tuning program. It is a server program. It is a server monitoring program. It is indeed a lot of things. Actually it is so much, it's impossible for me to write a comprehensive review or description. But it makes checking your 2 TB of RF recordings a lot quicker and a lot more fun than the traditional way. The pictures below may hopefully serve as an illustration.

I will test the Scheduler later on.

Works on XP, Vista and Win7 systems.

SDR-RADIO - An Alternative to Spectravue

2011-08-03T09:06:00.000Z

As owners of RF Space SDRs will know, their native software Spectravue, now in version 3.21, offers a powerful yet rather convoluted graphical user interface. For some time, SDR-RADIO.com has offered an alternative GUI, now in version 1.3. I decided to test SDR-RADIO with some old SDR-IQ files on my system. Later on, I plan to test the GUI "live", with an SDR-IQ.

SDR-RADIO.com claims to be a Windows console for SDR receivers and transceivers. It is designed for the commercial, amateur radio and short wave listener communities to provide a powerful interface for all SDR users. Especially interesting for many DX-ers is that it provides an alternative to Spectravue for running RF Space SDRs. Not that Spectravue is a poor program. Its basic appearance is simplistic, with most if not all of its functions hidden in menus. SDR-RADIO.com moves most of these functions up front and adds quite a bit of user friendliness in the process. I will not go into detail about the software, since the possibilities are outlined at SDR-RADIO.com's home page.

SDR-RADIO.com has a resizeable window, or can be run in Full Screen mode. The illustrations below show how they appear (note that I have selected the Zoom function at playback). The Full Screen mode appears clean and uncluttered with the basic controls available, and with the all-important date and running time available.

However, for selecting a file or other input you need to use the resizeable window mode. With a lot more information available, space for the waterfall/scope is limited unless you have a very large display. Otherwise, SDR-RADIO.com offers a wealth of radio-related functions, such as the HFCC database, Solar data, a world map with the sun's position, and options enough to tailor-suite your GUI from here to eternity. One example: You can "design" your own bandwidths, and assign them to one or more modes.

Playing back SDR-IQ files worked well. The console has three "VFO"s which can be configured independently, and an MP3 recorder using 32 kbps, 8 kHz mono. Now, this is one function where I wanted some options, such as being able to record wav. Apparently, this is not possible.

And of course, you can record a chunk of the RF spectrum for later analysis - the holy grail of the MW DX-er.

Very important for RF recording, the console has an Outlook-type Calendar with extensive recording scheduling available. However, you need to configure each recording session within one day independently; you can't plan a batch of recordings within 24 hours since the shortest recurrence period is 1 day. That calls for time consuming editing if you plan to record every full hour and every half hour for a night. Hourly recurrence should have been available as an option.

While I haven't tested SDR-RADIO.com very extensively, it does indeed look like an interesting alternative to Spectravue. Remote control is said to be one major feature with SDR-RADIO.com that I haven't tested at all.

Instead Of Dismantling An Old Radio And TV-tower

2010-11-28T22:04:00.000Z

You can do this.

65 meters tall, this mini Eiffel-tower known in Berlevag as "Linken" ("the link") was erected in 1970 to house the NRK FM and TV repeaters. Nowadays it's used for mobile phone antennas and the owner Telenor had in fact thought of dismantling it. The municipality decided it could be put to better use, so they illuminated it with LED lamps. The link is a live cam, so you'll also get an impression of the weather in Berlevag (at the time of writing, a fresh breeze and snow showers).

A Weekend In Helsinki

2010-11-09T17:53:00.001Z

Together with 14 ex-colleagues from the Municipality of Berlevag, I visited Helsinki last weekend. Not to anyone's surprise, I also met with several Finnish DX-ers. Jim Solatie and I had a splendid sushi lunch/dinner at Norisushi on Friday, and on Saturday I spent the better part of a full day with Antti Aaltonen, Håkan Sundman, Hannu Tikkanen and Mika Mäkelainen. It ended in the Belgian restaurant Belge, downtown Helsinki. I also had the chance to meet Jan-Erik Österholm and Hannu Niilekselä on the Helsinki airport on Sunday. They and Håkan were on their way to Lemmenjoki that day to take part in their LEM hostess Kristiina's funeral. Here are a few photos. Yes, we did eat and drink a lot.

Håkan, Hannu, Mika and Antti

From left: Yours truly, Mika, Hannu, Håkan. Photo: Antti Aaltonen

Part of Helsinki's sea front

The sushi plate at Norisushi. And a Sapporo beer to match

Bjarne, Antti, Mika, Håkan. Photo: Hannu Tikkanen

Norway's Two Remaining MW Stations Will Close

2010-10-30T15:08:00.000Z

As per a press release from Norkring (in Norwegian only), the Vigra transmitter on 630 will close on June 30th, 2011, while the Røst transmitter on 675 will be left alive until December 31st, 2012 after only 13 years of service. This will leave Ingøy 153 as the only remaining AM transmitter on Norwegian mainland. Norkring's sole MW station left will be the 1 kW NRK relay at Longyearbyen, Svalbard (1485 kHz). I won't be surprised if its days are numbered too.

Thanks Svenn Martinsen for the info.

WGBW 1590 DX Test Summary

2010-10-23T08:50:00.002Z

From OJ:

Summary from the WGBW test:

"The test was heard in the US and Canada. Longest distance 960 miles away.

Some of the audio files were spectacular, considering 700 miles away and an indoor ferrite antenna...

One fellow, did 43 minutes of monitoring, and got it solid for entire time from 460 miles away...

Most of the receptions were from Midwest and some Western states, a few from east coast (Wash DC area, West Virginia, Ohio)

One report was from 25 miles from WAKR in Akron, 1590, which really was outstanding. he simply nulled the station, and we were there!"

Thank you to Mark Heller at WGBW!

73 de OJ

KONG1 to KONG20 - Highlights

2010-10-21T14:24:00.005Z

We've come a long way since the first KONG DX-pedition, in January 1997. KONG1 was a chilly affair. The house was in dire need of repairs, the toilet was outdoor with little protection from the wind, and the wind was strong. Temperatures were around -10 Celsius. Blowing snow with zero visibility forced my VW Golf out of the road three times (no damage done but the snowplough driver got tired of towing me back on the road again). The antennas (one? two?) had no feed lines, no terminations and no splitters. We had one radio and one cassette recorder each. We soon found out that January was not a good month for travelling and DX-ing in this part of the world, so we decided that the next KONG would be in October. And so it has been since.

We've come a long way since 1997. Here are some highlights:

First coax feed line: KONG2, October 1997. Last coax feed line: KONG19. The KONG20 DX-pedition uses only 100 ohm lamp cord (twin-lead) feed lines.

First antenna splitter: KONG2. We needed to get rid of the one-antenna-per-direction-per-person chaos, so we got splitters. Amplified 1:4 splitters and even one 1:8 splitter have been in use ever since.

First Mini Disc recorder: KONG3, 1998. MDs were far superior to cassette recorders both in terms of capacity and ease of use. Especially useful was the pre-recording buffer featured on the Sony MZ-R50. We never had to lose an unexpected ID after that.

First real multi-receiver setup: KONG7, 2002. 11 receivers. With splitters, we could operate more receivers. And with MiniDisc recorders, it was easy to record, so the potential of hearing more stations increased. And we did hear more stations.

First PC recording: KONG8, October 2003. We had finally brought PCs to the site, and TotalRecorder proved to be an excellent replacement to MiniDisc, although the latter continued to be used. KONG8 also was the first KONG with a PC-controlled receiver, with Rolf's Winradio G303i.

First Real Pacific: KONG8. While Hawaii and 4QD 1548 in Australia were common catches, we hadn't heard anything else from the Pacific, until we heard Samoa 540, Kiribati 846 and Tonga 1017 that year. Subsequent KONGs would bring several more Pacific countries.

First (and only) catastrophic KONG: KONG9, November 2003. Arnstein couldn't take part in KONG8, so he and Ole Forr joined forces for an extra KONG in November, hoping to hear more Pacific. On the plane to Berlevag they read about the outbreak of the worst solar storm of that solar cycle... A total of three North American stations, and Peru-1470, were logged.

First KING crab: Probably KONG11, 2004. Records are a bit sketchy on this.

First New Zealand: KONG12, 2005. October 11 was the date of the first NZ catch in Norway. Several more NZ were logged by KONG13 a couple of weeks later. The past years have brought the number of New Zealand logs to well over 50.

Highest number of conventional receivers present in one KONG: 21, at KONG15, 2006. Seven IC-R75, three NRD-525, three Etón E1, two IC-746Pro; one each of IC-703, IC-7000, EK-895, HF-1000A, WJ-8712P and AR7030. A logistic nightmare.

First SDR: KONG17, 2007. A total of 10 RF Space SDR-IQs were present, in addition to 15 conventional receivers. In later KONGs, SDRs like the SDR-IQ, Perseus, and Excalibur have been the receivers of choice. Only one conventional receiver, the R75, is operational during KONG20.

KONG main crew:
Bjarne Mjelde (host, 19 KONGs), Arnstein Bue (15), Rolf Torvik (9), OJ Sagdahl (9).
KONG almost main crew: TJ Bråtveit (6)
KONG guests: Ole Forr (4), Tore B. Vik (3), Jan Alvestad (2), Tore Nilsen (2), Torgeir Woxen (1)
Other guests in Kongsfjord (from 1974 to date): Arvid Frøsland, Per Ingebretsen, Kai M. Mauseth, Dag Leraand, Geir Stokkeland, Torgeir Nyen, Antti Altonen, Håkan Sundman, Hannu Tikkanen, Jim Solatie.

KONG20 - Pictures

2010-10-19T09:15:00.002Z

50-degrees beverage lamp cord feed line

50-degree beverage, view to the east

Power bay

Veines - The house

TJ (left) and Arnstein

Morning sun over the 340-beverage

50-degree beverage starting point with transformer

Bjarne's shack

Veines - The Sebulon bay

KONG20 - Midweek

2010-10-19T08:04:00.000Z

Sorry for not having had the capacity to update the blog more often - I trust most of you will know about the excellent weblog found at Kongsfjord.no. Anyway, here are some observations.

Antennas - feed lines:
A few will have noticed that the beverage antennas have been replaced - and partly relocated - this year. See a post or two below for a bird's eye view. I have had all sorts of problems maintaining dry and noise-free coax feed lines. Even the sturdy RG-213 suffered wet and corroded braids.

So why not go for the simplest solution? The QDFA feed line was a simple lamp cord (100 ohm), and it worked very well. So I tested the new 310-degree beverage with the same feed line, and it worked excellently. Then both the 50- and the 340-degree beverages were equipped with surplus (probably because it is seasick green) lamp cord. From what we have experienced so far, lamp cord is an excellent coax replacement. Since it is 100 ohm, it will need a different transformer than the coax. They are of course easy to make, but I asked Wellbrook Communications to make me a few, which are weather-proof. I have used binding posts for the connections.

Antennas - wires:
The kingdom of the insulated copper wire has been toppled. The new king on the hill is insulated, steel-clad wire with a thin copper core and a tensile strength of 4000 Newton. This wire will not break. We are fairly certain that the wires have improved reception because of no poor joints (repairing the old copper wire led to more joints), actually no joints at all since they were more or less custom produced.

Antennas - QDFA:
This excellent performer was downed again on Friday. Most likely, the transistors got damaged from the sleet and hail storm on Thursday and Friday, probably from excessive static. A useful reminder to us that the QDFA phaser is still under development. Dallas Lankford will see if it is possible to add more protection to the circuitry. However, the Max-Gain fiberglass masts perform admirably. It will take a perfect storm to take them down.

Receivers:
We have Perseus, Excaliburs and SDR-IQs running here. They are all doing a splendid job, and there is no way of telling one from the other in terms of performance. Actually, what DX-ers should pay more attention to is the sound card. An SDR connected to a PC with a good sound card will in fact hear "more" than an SDR connected to a PC with a poor (such as an in-board solution) sound card. Identifying very weak and QRM'ed stations requires a good quality sound card.

Interestingly enough, TJ has an Icom R-75 standing in front of him. I have an Icom IC-703 standing in front of me, and Arnstein has a few Icom/NRDs packed away on the 1st floor. None of them have been in much use.

Weather:
After a warm start with up to 13 Celsius, October temperatures have become quite normal, which is from -1 to +5 Celsius, though mostly on the red side of the zero mark. A mix of rain and dry, sometimes even sunny. Quite windy at times. All in all a normal October week.

Communications:
It's only a few years ago the mobile phone coverage was limited to a poor signal at a single spot in one of the windows. We've come a long way since then, with full (albeit not 3G) mobile phone coverage from two networks, and reasonably fast internet access via a 450 MHz link. All receivers can be operated via remote if we so wish.

Food & drink:
As many will have noticed, a vital part of the KONG DX-peditions. Details found at OJ's weblog. However, our philosophy is to use a mix of high quality local ingredients together with the best that the rest of the world has to offer.

Pictures:
Oops, forgot. Coming up.

KONG20 - First Day

2010-10-15T05:20:00.001Z

The KONG crew will land at 12:57 and will face +2 Celsius, 15-20 m/s (35-45 mph) northerly winds, rain and sleet showers. Luckily no antenna work seems to be necessary in the poor weather, as a steady stream of nice Pacific and North American stations have been logged via remote the last few weeks. Some highlights: 882 Southern Star, NZ; 567 RNZ; 909 Radio Live, NZ; 1224 AFN Kwajalein; 1240 XERO; 1230 KWIX; 1260 WSKO, KWEI. Let's hope the sun stays quiet the coming days.

More as it happens! Off to collect some king crab...

WGBW Two Rivers WI 1590 DX Test

2010-10-07T17:23:00.000Z

From OJ Sagdahl, member of the KONG crew:

I heard WGBW Two Rivers WI 1590 in Kongsfjord one night in September 2009 while they were transmitting with full daytime power (1 kW) during some work on their equipment. President and General Manager Mark Heller responded with a kind confirmation and offered to try full power at nighttime again at an agreed time. This will now take place 16 October 2010 @ 12:00 am to 1:00 am CDT.

Mr. Heller will be putting together a program of music segments, which will attract attention. It will be one minute clips of Mickey Mouse Club March, Soupy Sales theme song (high frequency piano theme) and maybe some Les Paul too. There will be station identifications and announcements between the music segments. This will repeat for the entire hour. It will stand out!

Reception reports (email with MP3-file) can be sent to Mr. Mark Heller for verification:

wgbw [at] lsol [dot] net

The Kongsfjord Antennas

2010-10-01T19:13:00.000Z

Some may want to know which antennas are in use in Kongsfjord. The short version: Three beverages of various lengths, and one QDFA.

The longer version is that the 310 (225 meters) and 340 (330 meters) beverages (the latter won't be up until next weekend) are the two "North America" beverages. The 310 also pulls in signals from northern South America and Central America while the 340 is quite effective for Alaska and Hawaii as well. The 50 (500 meters) will pick up far east Asians and western Pacific.

The QDFA with its broad front lobe will pick up any of the above except South America, albeit with less gain, but it has a better f/b ratio than the others so it can hear stations the other antennas can't due to European interference.

The QDFA, 310 and 50 all have 100 ohm, "lamp cord" feed lines while the 340 is fed by an RG-213 coax.

September DX In Kongsfjord

2010-10-01T05:21:00.000Z

September is when the season really starts, although rare stations before mid-September are - rare. The sun has behaved quite nicely with mostly low activity. The 20, 21, and 29 were good dates for North/Central America, Australia has been heard most days, and New Zealand is coming fast.
I am particularly pleased with the new, re-located 310 beverage. The low-MW logs from North America are all from the 310.
The regular stations are not listed as the list would be far too long. New logs in bold.

The Americas:

Freq Station Location
550 KBOW Butte, MT
560 KPQ Wenatchee, WA
570 CKGL Kitchener, ON
580 WTCM Traverse City, MI
600 WYEL Mayaguez, PR
600 WMT Cedar Rapids, IA
610 WIOD Miami, FL
610 CKTB St. Catharines, ON
620 KMNS Sioux City, IA
630 CFCO Chatham, ON
710 WDSM Superior, WI
920 KWAD Wadena, MN
930 KSEI Pocatello, ID
940 KYNO Fresno, CA
970 KQAQ Austin, MN
1020 KJJK Fergus, MN
1230 KTRF Thief River Falls, MN
1240 WJMC Rice Lake, WI
1400 WATW Ashland, WI
1410 KRWB Fosston, MN
1430 WBEV Beaver Dam, WI
1460 WHIC Rochester, NY

Asia/Pacific:
Sept 10 brought a few nice ones from Japan, such as 549 JOAP Naha, 684 JOAG Nagasaki and 1368 JOLG Tottori. The day after saw 630 KUAM Agana Guam (and heard a few times since). Many ABC stations, especially on low MW heard, 630 becoming something of a regular. The QDFA was the antenna in use. And on the 30, New Zealand finally formally logged with several Radio New Zealand and Newstalk ZB stations heard on the new, re-located 500-metre, 50-degree beverage.

Receivers used: The Microtelecom Perseus SDR and the Winradio G31DDC Excalibur SDR.

Excalibur Recording from Arctic Norway

2010-09-26T20:54:00.005Z

A 1250 kHz, 150 second file was recorded at 0400Z this morning, roughly at sunrise. The spectrum covers the Mediumwave, and was recorded with an Excalibur SDR connected to a 250 meter long beverage at 310 degrees bearing. You will hear a mix of eastern and midwest stations from North America, with the odd northerly South America thrown in. The Europeans are mostly of modest strength, but UK, French and Spanish stations are quite strong (and the semi-local Russians).

You will also be able to "enjoy" my local Loran C station, situated 14 km away in the front lobe of the beverage.

The zipped file is 572 MB and can be downloaded here. Do not rename the file. Those who do not own an Excalibur can download the software from this site.

UPDATE! In case some were denied access to the file, here is the reason:

Looks like I need to find someone else to store my files.

The Perseus And Scheduled Recordings

2010-09-26T09:57:00.000Z

After I found that Splinterware's System Scheduler worked flawlessly with the Excalibur SDR, I became increasingly dissatisfied with the way scheduled (and unattended) RF recordings worked with the Perseus SDR. So I began to experiment with the System Scheduler to see if it could run the Perseus as well.

The TOTH is a small gem of a scheduler, however too often it will fail to start a recording, or it will record only some of the scheduled recordings. Apparently, development was stopped before it had developed into a reliable software. Then there is the Perseus Record Scheduler (PRS) which I have tested briefly, but it is not ideal for recurring multiple recordings for many days (not to say weeks).

The Perseus and the Excalibur differ in two important aspects: Firstly, the Excalibur features keyboard shortcuts for just about any function. If you want to program the Perseus, you need to use mouse clicks to a specific part of the display (buttons, dialog boxes). So you can't move the GUI around on the display - if you do the mouse clicks won't work. Secondly, the Perseus prompts you for a file name prior to recording, while the Excalibur starts recording on the fly.

So, for the System Scheduler to work with the Perseus, you will have to program mouse clicks, and you will need to enter a file name in the dialog box. Fortunately, System Scheduler is powerful enough to let you define dates and/or times as file names, much the same way TOTH does.

A test this morning confirmed that the Perseus can indeed be scheduled by System Scheduler. So at the moment I have my PC recording top of the hours from both the Excalibur and the Perseus, using two events on the software.

The free version of System Scheduler is adequate for the task. The pro version gives you added versatility for USD 30. I haven't yet tested the pro version. By the way, the Help function is comprehensive, and most valuable for those (including me) who know nothing about programming.

There may be an abundance of software out there that do the same, and perhaps even better. I am however quite satisfied with what I got, so I feel no need to look further.

The Excalibur And Scheduled Recordings

2010-09-13T22:14:00.003Z

As is known for those who've read about the Winradio Excalibur, the software lacks the ability to do scheduled DDC recordings. Which is puzzling, since their audio recording scheduler appears to be excellent.

Now, as many are aware of (myself not included), there is an abundance of programs offering scheduling of Windows software. John Smith, G8BUP, in a recent posting to a Winradio reflector pointed towards Splinterware's System Scheduler. I downloaded the free version of the program, and after a bit of investigation found it to be a very good companion to the Excalibur.

What it does, is to open the software, use the keyboard shortcuts for Start DDC Recording and Stop DDC Recording as part of the sendkey line and, if the user so wishes, closes Excalibur. These shortcuts are "Ctrl ¨" and "¨" respectively, and I didn't get them to work on the sendkey line. Luckily, you can define any of the 98 keyboard shortcuts to your own liking, so I chose "O" to start, and "V" to stop. The first "Wait"-command gives the Excalibur software time to "settle". I don't know if it is necessary or not, but better safe than sorry. 5000 is milliseconds, so this pause is 5 seconds.

The second "Wait"-command sets the length of the recording. In the illustration below it is set for 60 seconds. The third "Wait"-command gives the program 2 seconds to save the file until the Alt-F4 command is given for closing the Excalibur.

If you are doing more than one recording, closing the program is necessary, because otherwise the next scheduled recording will open another instance of Excalibur. I don't think 24 instances of the software will run very smoothly...

The scheduler itself has a large variety of options. The illustration below describes how I would use the scheduler for unattended full-hour and half-hour recordings.

As I mentioned, you can't choose the length of the recording in the scheduler, you need to do that in the sendkey line. The times refer to the PC clock, so they are local.

And of course, you need to prepare the Excalibur with the correct DDC bandwidth and the correct centre frequency. The DDC bandwidth can be changed with sendkeys, but I don't think the centre frequency can.

Update Sep 21: I have now made scheduled recordings over several nights, without any problems. This is indeed something you can use with the Excalibur. Thanks John for bringing this to my attention.

Pacific Stations Are Early This Year...

2010-09-11T17:03:00.001Z

I was rather taken aback by noticing KUAM "Isla 63" Agana, Guam 630 totally alone on the frequency and a very nice signal at 1645 this afternoon. Usually, these islands will not show until October. Well, it's ok with me...

A Modest Evening Opening

2010-09-10T20:48:00.003Z

At 2000 UTC, the QDFA antenna caught some NHK1 stations during their local ID slot, in addition to most of the common commercial Japan stations, and many Koreans. The listing below are those with a definite ID (updated 14 SEP):

Frequency	Station
549	NHK1 JOAP Naha
594	NHK1 JOAK Tokyo
612	NHK1 JOLK Fukuoka
666	NHK1 JOBK Osaka
684	NHK1 JOAG Nagasaki
729	NHK1 JOCK Nagoya
738	JORR RBC, Naha
1071	NHK1 JOFK Hiroshima
1224	NHK1 JOJK Kanazawa
1233	JOUR Nagasaki Hoso call letter id!
1368	NHK1 JOLG Tottori
1467	HLKN KBS Mogpo

And numerous of the more common stations from Korea and Japan not listed here.

At 1800, several low-band Australians were heard according to OJ Sagdahl, but I wasn't listening at the time. Anyone eager to hear lots of Chinese, Japanese and Korean stations on MW can download the 1600 kHz Perseus file from this site. It is 415 MB in zipped mode. It will be available for a limited time only.

Arctic DX Summit 2010 Report

2010-09-04T17:33:00.004Z

The ADXS 2010 has been a most pleasant experience, with friendly guests, good food, acceptable weather conditions but not much to listen to (except online from Smøla). Here are some photos from Friday and Saturday in random order. Please notice Jim Solatie's ice-cold swim in the Barents Sea (next land fall: Alaska). Photos: Mostly Jim and Bjarne

QDFA Version 3 - Initial Impressions

2010-09-03T07:35:00.001Z

OJ Sagdahl and I finished the new "monster" QDFA yesterday. It didn't become quite as monstrous as we hoped, since weather considerations made us reduce the height somewhat, from a theoretical 21.5 ft to around 20. The loops are set up in a "house" pattern rather than a delta or flag, with two 12-ft masts on the loop's ends. The bottom vertical element is roughly 1 meter above ground.

The increased height and shape has provided us with a 5-6 dB extra gain, compared to versions 1 and 2. And most important: The Max-Gain masts are much more sturdy than the angling rods we used last year. But also a lot heavier, so they require good support and guys.

One interesting observation of version 3 is that the sensitivity appears to be identical throughout the MW band, while version 1 and 2 were noticeably less sensitive below 1000 kHz.

Arctic DX Summit 2010 - One Day Left!

2010-09-02T09:15:00.000Z

Preparing for the upcoming Arctic DX Summit in Kongsfjord this weekend. 10 kg's of king crab is purchased, together with reindeer tenderloin, blueberry syrup, dandelion syrup, extra virgin olive oil with chili, and locally produced wild chives oil. Not to mention the wine, and the beer especially labelled for the occasion. The weather forecast is rather typical for early September.

On Sunday evening, OJ and I will attend the Opera Ball in Berlevåg, featuring some of the best singers and musicians in the kingdom.

Excalibur and DRM

2010-07-25T12:28:00.000Z

DRM is part of the MF and HF bands today, albeit with a most uncertain future. Actually I bought a DRM license from Winradio back in 2007, to test with the SDR-IQ and later the Perseus. My trials were disappointing - I needed almost 20 dB SNR to decode, and another 5 dB to get stable reception. Not to mention the sound card problems. With the Excalibur I got decoding at around 15 dB SNR, and stable reception at around 18-19 dB. DRM with the Excalibur is very much plug and play, if you chose to install the DRM player when you installed the software and driver.

So, if you enjoy DRM, and you have a DRM license (or are willing to pay USD 50 to buy one), the Exalibr provides an excellent platfom. The illustration is from 13810 kHz at 1200 UTC.

Updated G31DDC Excalibur Review

2010-07-24T09:11:00.000Z

I needed to do some cosmetic changes, but also some regarding content. Errors are corrected, and a further discussion regarding the Excalibur's DDC recording capability has been added. The download link is the same.

Excalibur DDC Recording Anomaly

2010-07-23T13:06:00.003Z

I thought it was I who had done something wrong, some time ago when I didn't get a DDC recording to play back properly. I kept tuning up and down, but was still listening to the same signal.
Well, I hadn't. The thing is that there is - for no obvious reason - no reference or connection between the frequency range of the DDC recording and its playback. If you don't choose the "Insert freq" option when you record, you will not be able to play back the file with the correct frequency. And should you remember where you were during recording, you can "tune" only by clicking in the DDC or Demod spectrum - something that at best will be most inaccurate.

So, if you want to make a DDC recording, and play it back the way you play back a Perseus, SpectraVue or Winrad recording, you MUST choose "Insert freq". Now, I agree that in any case, it would be wise to put the center frequency of the DDC recording in the file name. But, when other vendors manage to get this connection right automatically, why can't Winradio? Who wants to make DDC recordings without being able to track the signals properly on playback? It is sort of ok when you're aware of it, but it does increase the risk of making a useless recording.

Excalibur: What Is Really Its Minimum Resolution Bandwidth?

2010-07-23T10:17:00.000Z

There has been a discussion regarding the Excalibur's ability to accurately measure a station's excact frequency, down to the hertz. Well it can, provided it is correctly calibrated, but not on every DDC spectrum! In fact, for nine of the 21 available DDC spectra the minimum resolution bandwidth of the Demodulation panel is 2 Hz, not 1 Hz. The best demodulation resolution is available for these DDC spectra: 20, 24, 32, 64, 125, 160, 320, 640, 800, 1250 and 1500 kHz.

When you record a DDC spectrum, it doesn't matter which RBW the Demodulation panel is set at. If it is set at, say 160 Hz during recording, you will still be able to see 1 Hz during playback.

A totally different subject: On July 23 we are experiencing a weather with a ferocity that is rare even during the stormy autumn months: Severe gale winds, heavy rainfalls and temperatures around 3 Celsius. A few days ago we enjoyed 23 Celsius...

Preliminary Review: The Winradio G31DDC Excalibur

2010-07-22T05:35:00.002Z

I have uploaded a pdf with my initial impressions of the Excalibur SDR. It hasn't yet been tested in real DX situations, so it's bit early to be conclusive. However, it is indeed an interesting receiver and should be a good choice if you want to buy an SDR. Or if you want to buy another SDR...

Download from here.

Excalibur's Readout Accuracy

2010-07-20T02:24:00.005Z

Many DX-ers (MW DX-ers in particular) are concerned about the Excalibur's ability to show the exact frequency down to the hertz. While most SWLs will be indifferent about this, quite a few are monitoring a station's offset from it nominal frequency, and it is also helpful for tentatively ID-ing stations (assuming their offset is reasonably constant).

By zooming in the demodulator panel and by using 1 Hz RBW, monitoring offsets is indeed possible, as illustrated above. Two stations are visible (and audible) on this screen dump from 999 kHz, a Russian-speaking station on 999.008, and a presumed Arabian station on 998.992 kHz. Prior to monitoring, I calibrated the Excalibur using a tone from the signal generator on 1000 kHz. Of course, in order to monitor offsets in the range of 1-5 Hz, the readout must be exact.

Excalibur Sensitivity Measurements

2010-07-18T14:56:00.006Z

When the Perseus and the Excalibur are monitored side by side, the Excalibur's S-meter consistently reads 6-8 dB lower than the Perseus. One might be tempted to believe that the sensitivity is lower. Well that is not the case. More on that later.

I found these sensitivity measurements using a signal generator with 400 Hz tone and 30 % modulation:

200 kHz: -103 dBm

300 kHz: -102 dBm

600 kHz: -106 dBm

1000 kHz: -107 dBm

1500 kHz: -107 dBm

5000 kHz: -107 dBm

10000 kHz: -107 dBm

20000 kHz: -106 dBm

In terms of sheer numbers, the Excalibur is the most sensitive SDR I have measured, with a good 1uV sensitivity throughout most of the MW and SW spectrum.

So why does the S-meter read much lower than the Perseus? It is apparently not calibrated. When I fed a -107 dBm signal from the signal generator to the Excalibur, the S-meter read -115 dBm. This is roughly consistent with the difference between the Perseus and Excalibur S-meters.

Update July 20: Martin Kent at Winradio suggested that there might be a bug in version 1.06 that caused the erroneous signal level readout, and asked me to check the signal level with version 1.10. Indeed, the difference between the signal generator at Excalibur was reduced to 3 dB. My signal generator may not be 100 % calibrated, so I have no way of saying if the signal generator or the Excalibur was correct. Or any of them.

Now, for those who want to compare Perseus and Excalibur recordings, I have uploaded two 1 MHz recordings with 6120 kHz as center frequency. The recordings contain a lot of static due to nearby thundershowers, giving their AGCs something to work on. The signal levels aren't too high, with the exception of semi-local Murmansk 5930. This should be a good opportunity to compare selectivity.

(Update Aug 6: The download files are deleted due to server limitations. If you want to check out an Excalibur MW file, please download from here)

Excalibur Has Arrived

2010-07-11T06:27:00.002Z

Got it on Wednesday evening, July 7th. I ordered it with Waters & Stanton on June 20nd, and received confirmation on same-day despatch. However they didn't send it until I made an inquiry nine days later. The question why it took so long remained unanswered. Anyway, I was lucky enough to be able to buy from the first batch of receivers sent to Europe. Thanks Tracey Gardner for alerting me.

The Excalibur came with a 12VDC linear power supply, a proprietary USB cable and an SMA-to-BNC adapter, rather fragile in appearance in fact. Surely, nobody uses SMA connectors for their HF receivers??? A comprehensive (107 pages in fact) user's guide, based on the Excalibur software help function was also enclosed.

The hardware is more or less identical to the other Winradio receivers. The footprint roughly equals that of the Perseus SDR, but slightly taller.

As I learn more about the receiver I will post some theme-based impressions on the blog. More as it happens.

Playing With The Excalibur Demo Software

2010-06-23T17:09:00.003Z

The Excalibur software is downloadable from Winradio's download pages, working in a demo mode as long as the receiver has not been installed. It has a test signal on 15 MHz, as you can see from the screendump.

The initial impression of the GUI is quite good, although they try to put a lot of information into limited space. A good thing is that the program window is resizeable and that several "skins" are available.

The RF recording feature suffers from the same problem as the Perseus: No scheduled recordings. Third party software solved the problem for the Perseus, and I hope that a Winradio plugin, or a software update, will solve the problem for the Excalibur too. There is in fact a very able scheduler in the program, but it only handles audio recordings.

There are some really nice features once you dig a bit deeper into the software. I hope to see the receiver some time next week.

Excalibur Ships!

2010-06-20T19:43:00.003Z

While there have been no updates on winradio.com regarding the Excalibur (as of June 20 at 1945 UTC), Waters and Stanton announced that the radio arrived there on June 18 and they are taking orders. They have taken mine. Thanks Tracey Gardner for alerting me.

QDFA Project Version 3

2010-06-18T19:31:00.004Z

Those who followed this blog last season know that we were very satisfied with the performance of the QDFA. There were however some problems:

1. The amplifier transistors blew due to static discharge. Proper surge arrestors were fitted by Dallas Lankford, and the QDFA v. 2 was up late November.

2. Another problem, probably related to static build-up, caused the transistors not to blow but produce excessive noise. The only explanation we can find is that replacing the battery in cold, dry weather caused the problem. Another fix was needed, and the coming season we will supply power to the QDFA box from within the house. Hopefully, the extra cable will not compromise the nulling properties of the QDFA.

3. The cheap angling rods, while surprisingly weatherproof, did not survive the winter entirely intact. One of them failed in January, and another in April. So we decided we need proper supports, and found them at Max-Gain Systems Inc. These are extremely sturdy fiberglass rods, fastened not by friction but with clamps. We got four 21-ft center supports, and eight 12-ft end supports. This allows us to double the area of each loop, giving us another 6 dB of gain. The visual appearance of the loops will be a "house" instead of the common "delta".

The QDFA v. 3 will be up and running as the Arctic DX Summit starts, early September.

Arctic DX Summit 2010

2010-05-23T10:23:00.002Z

From Sep 3 to Sep 5, Kongsfjord will be the venue for the Arctic DX Summit. Over the last few years, the Kongsfjord (KONG) and Lemmenjoki (LEM) crews have established a closer collaboration with regards to condx alerts, DX openings, loggings, equipment and QSLs. So it's about time we meet!

OJ Sagdahl and Bjarne Mjelde (host) will meet with Finnish DX-ers Jim Solatie, Håkan Sundman, Hannu Tikkanen and Antti Aaltonen. We will test the novel QDFA antenna design, the new Winradio Excalibur SDR, discuss various facets of the DX hobby, eat Norwegian seafood (and surely more than that) and drink good wines (and surely more than that).

Our intention is that the Arctic DX Summit will evolve into an annual event.

EAC R-390A Spring Test

2010-05-17T12:40:00.003Z

My EAC s/n 204 R-390A isn't used for DX anymore, but I fire it up now and then to make sure that it works properly. And it always does. This time, I connected a pair of Logitech active speakers to the audio and line out connections.

Using the Lankford-designed manual AM sync I can enjoy distortion-free reception with the R-390A. It is enabled by switching the BFO switch on. Tune the Pitch control to obtain zero beat. At the time I took the photo, I was tuned to Radio Romania's German service. The radio on top is a 1950's Radionette. Works perfectly too, except there's no light in the magic eye.

Micronesia Air Checks

2010-05-05T20:03:00.002Z

the Federated States of Micronesia is an elusive country for MW enthusiasts in Europe, to my knowledge the only confirmed European reception is V6AJ 1503 kHz in Kongsfjord in 2007. Paul Walker is an announcer at Monster Radio 1150 WGGH Marion IL, and he has taken a special interest in the Micronesia radio scene. A result of this is a collection of air checks from V6AI 1494 kHz, relaying 88.1 FM using a "KUTE" moniker. Paul generously offered me to share these air checks with other DX-ers. They are around 45 minutes each and in MP3 format.

Enjoy!

WOC Davenport IA 1420 Photos

2010-04-12T19:04:00.003Z

WOC is a very common guest, especially in northern Scandinavia, but they've been heard in large parts of Europe this season. It's many years since I received a verification from the station. Yesterday, veteran engineer Jon Book at WOC emailed me some photos from the station, including one KMXG-FM tower photo. Breathtaking! All pictures are (c) Jon Book.

Jon also contributes to Captain Ernie's Showboat, a treasure vault of radio history from the Quad Cities.

Winradio Excalibur Soon Out?

2010-04-09T03:56:00.005Z

According to the latest info I've received from Winradio, production has now started and they are awaiting CE certification.

Interestingly enough, the preliminary spec sheet has been revised. Minimum selectivity is now 10 Hz instead of 50, the resolution bandwidth within a DDC spectrum is now 1 Hz and not 15, and most important for me, sensitivity figures have been upgraded from a mediocre -94 dBm to a more acceptable -101 dBm (AM, 30 % modulation).

"It will be on sale shortly", Winradio claims.

Its GUI has been slightly changed too, as can be seen on the pictures above. Above is the January version of the GUI, below is the current one. Not bad at all. The displays are fully zoomable and the DDC can be displayed in a separate window.

Another QDFA Antenna Success

2010-01-03T18:18:00.002Z

Those of you who are still not convinced that the QDFA is a superior antenna for MW should read Walt Salmaniw's report from Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada.

So what are you waiting for?

Mid Winter Greetings

2009-12-24T00:00:00.004Z

With Winter Solstice passed, days in the Arctic will gradually get lighter, in more than one way for many, until we see the sun again early February. Our noon right now is in fact darker than the photo suggests.

It's been another good year for the MW enthusiasts, and another lousy year for the HF amateurs. While I wish nothing bad for the HF amateurs, I'd still prefer to have another year with extremely low solar activity.

And who knows what 2010 will bring? New receivers? New antenna designs? New DRM and Iboc noise towers on MW...?

A happy midwinter celebration to all my readers and everyone else around, and happy new year as well!

More On The Winradio Excalibur

2009-12-21T14:51:00.006Z

As per info received today from Winradio, the Excalibur will be available in March 2010. The "MW Filter" I was concerned about in my previous post is user selectable.

And the really, really good news: As I hoped, RF recording (or IF recording as Winradio puts it) can be chosen from any of the 21 bandwidths within the DDC spectrum (20 kHz to 2 MHz). I didn't ask specifically which bandwidths are selected, but I'm confident that there will be one which matches the MW spectrum nicely. The output files are WAV files.

The Excalibur will be cheaper than the USD 1,200 WR-G313e. So perhaps in the USD 1,000 - 1,100 range. Winradio expects the Excalibur to be at least as sensitive as the Perseus.

(Picture from Winradio)

Recent Verifications

2009-12-16T18:54:00.002Z

1090 KXMA Aurora CO was heard rather frequently this autumn and probably received a flood of reports. Eventually I received a brief email .

1270 WWWI Baxter MN sneaked around the dominant WXYT one full hour on Oct 10. Friendly response today. Minnesota no 35.

Just When You Thought You Had Enough SDRs

2009-12-15T05:45:00.004Z

You suddenly discover that you don't. I was prompted by Alf Årdal to check out the new Winradio SDR - actually I had heard people talk about an ad in the upcoming WRTH but a few days ago there was no info on their website of any new product.

When I checked yesterday, that had changed. The Winradio WR-GR31DDC Advance Information page shows a very interesting product, with the magic words: "Audio and IF recording and playback".

At last! In fact, the "Excalibur", which is a lot easier name to remember than WR-GR31DDC, promises to record a 2 MHz DDC spectrum to hard drive. If I understand the preliminary info correctly one will have 21 different bandwidths to choose from when making an RF recording, making it the most versatile RF-recording SDR so far.

And if that didn't make you drool, three different "radios" can run simultaneously within the DDC passband, with audio recording.

The program window looks a little cramped with three displays; a 30/50 MHz wide general coverage spectrum at the bottom, the DDC spectrum above left, and the current "radio" above right. I assume the spectrums are resizeable.

With a stated 500 Hz MDS at -130dBm, I expected the AM sensitivity to be higher than the stated -98 dBm. This is a disappointing figure. About on par with the QS1R SDR, and 5-7 dB worse than the Perseus. It will need an external preamp.

According to the Excalibur specifications, it has a"MW Filter" which appears to be highpass filter with a cut-off frequency of 1.8 MHz, attenuating 60 dB on 500 kHz. I assume that it is switchable... if it isn't the radio will be useless for MW DX.

Stated IP3 is +31 dBm, but no info on IP2. Frequency range is 9 kHz to 50 MHz and it uses 12VDC, 500 mA power.

No info yet on availability or price. Could we hope for 1st quarter of 2010? Their HF receivers are priced from 500 to 1200 USD, and I'll be surprised if the Excalibur is more expensive than their current top of the line WR-G313e.

Recent Veries

2009-12-09T23:37:00.002Z

Well only one actually, 1290 KOUU Pocatello ID after a few tries. KOUU was heard with their day time power 30 kW prior to local sunset on October 24/25. Their night time power is only 24 watts. Wanted for many years.

Recent Verifications

2009-12-01T21:44:00.002Z

Nothing much to report, conditions aren't out of this world. That said, I did hear 1450 KVCK Wolf Point MT with a good signal on Nov 27. Friendly response tonight stating mine was the best recording they've had.

1350 WARF Akron OH has received a number of requests from me the past few years. A nice October recording prompted a friendly response even from WARF.

The Kongsfjord QDFA v. 2 Operational, Veries

2009-11-26T03:03:00.003Z

One cold, windy morning in the end of October, the Kongsfjord QDFA amplifier ceased working. The reason is most likely static discharge, from which the amp was not protected. Blowing snow creates a lot of static if there's enough snow and enough wind, up to the level when most or all signals are covered in noise, and the Perseus goes into clipping.

So I removed the amplifier from the phaser enclosure, and mailed it to Dallas, who replaced the faulty transistors and retro fitted gas discharge surge arrestors to the input and output of the amp. In addition, Dallas increased the amplification from 10.3 dB to 14 dB.

The amp was reconnected yesterday, and the QDFA was put into action again. I am amazed that the cheap angling rods are still up. Anyway, I think the changes made to the amplifier justifies a "Version 2" label. For those who want to build their own QDFA, fitting gas discharge surge arrestors is probably a very good idea.

Two veries lately:

920 KVEL Vernan UT was a 2008 log; they talked about my reception in a recent morning show.

1340 KBNW Bend OR heard on Nov 23 (with the 310 beverage) when Oregon stations in general had good signal levels.

Recent Verifications

2009-11-13T10:35:00.005Z

Received the past few days:

1460 WBNS Columbus OH. New log.

1450 KHIT Reno NV heard on Oct 25 at a time when conditions in general were rather on the dull side. Nice signal. New log.

540 CBGA New Carlisle QC after a few attempts.

1020 KWIQ Moses Lake WA heard to and from this autumn.

590 KQNT Spokane WA was a 2008 log.

1350 WPDR Portage WI a new log this season, but has become very common this autumn.

930 WKY Oklahoma City OK finally in! A new log although heard several times this autumn but it took a while before I got their TOH ID with good audio quality. Most friendly response - thanks OJ for v/s info.

Recent Verifications

2009-11-02T20:03:00.003Z

A few nice ones the past few days:

1460 WBRN Big Rapids MI was heard 0100 at Oct 19. Usually, ESPN-announcements on 1460 are KXNO in 99 of 100 instances. This was the one. New log.

1431 Radio Kidnappers, Hastings-Napier NZL was a surprise log on the excellent Kiwi afternoon on October 24. Barely audible but what would you expect from 2.5 kW over 14,000 km.

1370 KGNO Dodge City KS was an October 3 log. A very brief email was the response.

580 KUBC Montrose CO was heard in October 2008.

1210 KOKK Huron SD had an excellent signal on October 24 at 0000Z. Brief email, most welcome. It's been on my wish list for some time.

980 KVLV Fallon NV never made it to my wish list, since I wasn't aware that it existed...I mostly use the KOJE lists for reference and being a true daytimer, never heard before in Europe, it wasn't listed. Lynn Pearce, Chief Operator and co-owner says this is a true family business. They are a 5 kW Country Music station founded in 1957 by Lynn's parents.

KVLV was reportedly heard in Finland at the same time. Maybe elsewhere too. Nevertheless, one of the KONG19 DX-pedition's real highlights. Heard 0000Z on October 25.

Recent Verifications

2009-10-29T21:11:00.003Z

A few new veries in:

1110 KBND Bend OR, most likely running on their daytime power at the time of listening. Briefly heard before but not reported. Super signal.

1590 KBWG Boone IA long sought for, finally logged.

1060 KBGN Caldwell ID one of the big surprises on Oct 25's "Midnight Special" excellent western daytime opening. According to the verie, I was listening to the last few seconds of their 10 kW day power before switching to their somewhat more modest 58 watts. A most friendly, informative and informed response, including a hi-res photo of their transmitter mast (yes, that's the one above). Great signal.

1490 WLFN La Crosse WI promoted a Polka Show when I heard them. Otherwise they do Adult Standards.

Recent Verifications

2009-10-27T21:06:00.003Z

Several reports out, few QSLs in. But I did receive proper QSLs from Radio New Zealand's Domestic Service today; 1116 Nelson and 1458 Westport. A MW QSL from New Zealand is always most welcome.

Three NAs have responded as well, 980 KDSJ Deadwood SD, 1450 KIOV Notus ID and 870 KFLD Pasco WA. To cite from the latter: "we're the kind of radio station Obama loves to hate...haha!"

October 25 Update - Departure Day - Wow Day

2009-10-25T09:17:00.002Z

We rarely use words like "the best night ever", "the best (name goes here) DX-pedition ever", or similar phrases at KONG. But it was a night to remember. Not only the fabulous Italian dinner at Kongsfjord Guesthouse, but even more what happened afterwards.

The daytimers. The signal levels. The everything. What a night we had.

Currently checking the recordings; we have to drive to the airport in an hour. We should start packing soon.

October 24 Update - Stirred, Not Shaken

2009-10-24T10:54:00.004Z

Apparently, the relatively strong disturbance we got late on the 21 did little harm but a lot of good - maybe a good stir in the ionosphere was what was needed to get rid of the dominants.

The first two hours on the 22 were quite good, but little of interest happened during the morning hours and throughout the day. The pattern repeated on the 23 with excellent signal strengths (and weak Europeans) allowing stations like 880 KRVN Lexington NE and 970 KQAQ Austin MN. Amazingly, west coast stations were audible at 0030 and so was the 970 Alaskan - long before their sunset. 870 KFLD Pasco WA, 1280 KRVM Eugene OR, 1280 KIT Yakima WA and 1480 KYOS Merced CA were among the logged. But again, after 0200Z little of interest except a few short openings towards the west.

The evening of the 23 revealed that things were about the happen, although we had to wait until 2300 for some proper DX, like 1460 WBNS Columbus OH. The coming two full hours were rather spectacular. Some of the stations heard: 760 KKZN Thornton CO, 930 WKY Oklahoma City OK, 1090 KMXA Aurora CO, 1210 KOKK Huron SD, 1350 WPDR Portage WI, 1550 KMRI West Valley City UT and 1580 KMBA Tempe AZ.

Good signal levels throughout the night but a little less intense than the first two hours. At the time of writing, 1120Z, North American signal levels are still good, and we are enjoying 1017 Tonga, 1098 Marshall Islands and New Zealand as well.

Tomorrow is departure day. We will celebrate the DX-ped with an Italian evening at Kongsfjord Guesthouse - five meals with 10 different recipies and (of course) Italian wine. The coming night could turn out just as busy as the one before.

UPDATE 1450Z: Quite good conditions towards New Zealand. Some new stations logged, among them 1431 Radio Kidnappers, Hastings-Napier. Huge signal from 1458 Radio New Zealand, Westport (heard before of course).

October 22 Update - Morning

2009-10-22T03:17:00.002Z

This night's look at the northern sky revealed a sight different from that of last night: Aurora. Although very far to the north, it confirmed what we heard around Midnight UTC: A disturbance had set in. We did have a nice opening at 0000Z though, with stations like 1350 KCAR Clarksville TX and 1070 KATQ Plentywood MT, plus some very interesting prospects.

Prior to that, OJ and I had a most interesting email exchange with the CE of 1590 WVNA Tuscumbia AL. Not only did he confirm our reception with great joy, he also turned out to be an ex-DXer, having used an R-390A in his time. My own R-390A is standing only a meter away from my listening post, and although I don't use it for DX-ing anymore it is in excellent condition. We sent a couple of pictures to our new friend in Alabama.

Another QSL that evening came from 1650 CINA Mississauga ON.

A Rare October Night

2009-10-21T03:25:00.003Z

Calm, mild (+3C) and clear skies when I got up just before 03Z/05 local. Exceptionally clear air, the only light outside were the stars and the Milky Way - and not even the faintest sign of an Aurora. Amazing how light even a moonless night can be. Urban dwellers, whose night sky is polluted by their own artificial light, should experience this.

In the living room I find voices from hundreds of towns, small cities, large cities and political and economical centers only a microsecond away. At one moment, I share CFRW's music from the 70's with a 51 year old man driving home to his Winnipeg suburb - at the next, I listen to WSM as Merle Haggard accompanies a Nashville mother making dinner for her kids. And then I switch to KFOX and imagine that in California, a newly arrived, nervous but excited Korean finds comfort in hearing his own language on the radio.

From a tiny, remote spot on top of the world I can hear everywhere. What a unique hobby we have.

Oh, and by the way I got a most welcome verie from 1320 KHRT Minot ND. Heard on the great opening we had on October 3. The station's been on my wish list for years.

October 20 Update - Evening

2009-10-20T18:20:00.003Z

My previous post was a bit premature in deciding that conditions weren't good - we hadn't checked all the files...

The full hours at 0000 and partly at 0100 revealed some very nice loggings, such as 930 KOGA Ogallala NE, 960 WTCH Shawano WI, 1020 KJJK Fergus Falls MN and a few hours later 610 KNML Albuquerque NM. The rest of the night and morning was not very eventful though.

Some veries: 930 KOGA, 960 WTCH, 980 KBBO Selah WA, 1020 KJJK, 1400 KIHH Eureka CA and 1430 KMBQ Wasilla AK.

Waiting for OJ to do a marinated salmon dish.

October 20 Update

2009-10-20T05:57:00.002Z

Exceptionally quiet. Lots of stations on all frequencies. Superb signal levels. But everything's been heard before! Signals are spread from coast to coast so it is extremely difficult to find new stations. Cool to hear my favourite band Steely Dan on CKDO 1580 though. But the day is not over!

Yesterday's good pre-noon opening towards the west coast brought 550 KMVI Wailuku HI, 680 KNBR San Francisco CA, 980 KBBO Selah-Yakima WA and 1590 KUNX Ventura CA in addition to those mentioned in yesterday's blog. KBBO is new for me. KNBR is very rare due to KBRW's monster signal. Other than Hawaii, nothing interesting from the Pacific, and China dominated the afternoon's Asia reception.

Quite windy but mostly dry and relatively mild with 2-3 degrees Celsius.

Check out the KONG19 Weblog for further details.

October 19 Noon Update

2009-10-19T09:33:00.002Z

Yesterday was less than inspiring - very broad conditions and little if any of interest. Better from 2300 and onwards with several nice logs, like 920 KWAD Wadena MN, 1020 KJJK Fergus Falls MN, 1370 WLJW Cadillac MI, 1460 WBRN Big Rapids MI, 1470 KMNQ Brooklyn Park MN and probably quite a few others still hiding in the hard drives.

As of writing, 0940Z, very strong signal levels from the west coast on the 340 beverage, like 610 KRTA Medford OR totally owning the frequency. Still a little early for the Asian and Pacific stations.

Weather has been mild, yesterday allowed a nice jog to the Veines lighthouse in 7 Celsius. Cooler, and a lot more wind today.

October17 Update - After Dinner

2009-10-17T20:43:00.002Z

Things did turn out quite well after we had checked the recordings. 980 KDSJ Deadwood SD, 1130 KWKH Shreweport LA, 1590 KWBG Boone IA and especially 1590 WVNA Tuscumbia AL were tonight's highlights - all except KWKH were new logs for me.

Other than that, we enjoyed a magnificent king crab dinner with cloudberries for dessert. We drank Calles Riesling white wine with the crab, and Poli grappa with the cloudberries. We're ready to hunt US daytime stations!

October 17 Update - KONG19 Day 2

2009-10-17T09:24:00.002Z

Good signal levels from North America from yesterday evening, allowing for US Daytime stations to be heard. We followed the sunset path over North America but nothing much of interest was heard. Overnight and into the morning the signals were again very good but wide-spread so it was difficult to find new stations.

As of writing at 0928Z the west coast dominates, some GY stations like 1490-KCID, 1450-KONP and 1230-KKEE have huge signals. Tahiti noted on 738 just after 0800. The QDFA is still performing admirably. If it wasn't for its somewhat reduced sensitivity on the lower part of the MW band, we wouldn't need the beverages at all.

We're hoping for good signals from the Pacific the next few hours.

Cloudy with sunny spells, dry, a light breeze and 3 degrees Celsius.

October 16 Update - Afternoon

2009-10-16T14:18:00.001Z

Nice signals from many Hawaii stations. A new Alaska log for us: 1430 KMBQ Wasilla nice signal at 1400Z with their TOH ID. Only minutes before KBRC Mount Vernon WA dominated.

October 16 Update - KONG19 Countdown Completed

2009-10-16T13:28:00.003Z

The KONG crew arrived as scheduled 1148Z today. As we unpacked, we enjoyed signals from 1500 KUMU Honolulu HI and 1035 Newstalk ZB. The first day starts up in a light manner radiowise, as we will attend the biweekly Pub Quiz at Neptun Pub at 1900.

Conditions last night was a bit up and down due to the disturbance, short flashes with good west coast conditions. At the time of writing (1330Z) lots of Hawaiian stations with good signal strengths.

October 15 Update - KONG19 Minus 1 Day

2009-10-15T11:28:00.004Z

Not much to report since I haven't checked much. OJ heard 1240 KNRY Monterey CA at 0900Z yesterday. This morning, conditions appeared to be quite good but westerly oriented with 1230-KKEE, 1240-KTIX and 1490-KEYG at 0700Z. At 0800 the band was empty! It turned out it was not a faulty antenna but a sudden disturbance. At 1130 the band is slowly returning to normal. Right now I'm listening to 1500 KUMU Honolulu HI with fair strength, and Japan is getting stronger too.

Less than 24 hours until the rest of the KONG crew lands on ENBV.

October 13 Update - KONG19 Minus 3 Days

2009-10-13T18:43:00.002Z

Been away a couple of days, so I don't know much about what's heard, but OJS reports that Tonga-1017 and Marshall Islands-1098 were well audible today. The internet connection with Kongsfjord was lost at 1223Z today. I don't know if it's the modem or the line. We'll see by Thursday.

Two veries: 1210 KTBK Auburn WA and 1350 WWWL New Orleans LA. Entercom-owned, like its big brother on 870, WWL. Their nighttime pattern isn't exactly favourable.

And now only three days until Odd-Jørgen Sagdahl, Arnstein Bue and Tore Johnny Bråtveit arrives! I'm in heavy shopping mode.

October 10 Update

2009-10-10T10:25:00.005Z

Some New Zealand stations were heard on October 9 from 1215, unfortunately what seemed to become a great opening fizzled out and at 1300 only Newstalk ZB 1035 was left. Around 1220 the following Kiwis were noted: 1008, 1035, 1080, 1107, 1116, 1143, 1242, 1296, 1332, 1341 and 1386. Possible NZ also on 954, 972, 981 and 1359.

The 58 beverage proved superior to the QDFA this time.

Not too exciting conditions toward North America on the 9th and 10th, but I did hear 1270 WWWI Baxter MN for the first time on the 9th. Also an unidentified on 1240, starting their full-hour ann. with "Since 1939..." The audio is here, first with, then without the Perseus noise reduction. Suggestions?

EDIT: Solved. WJMC Rice Lake WI.

One QSL: KZZJ Rugby ND 1450.

Weather: Sun, wind, rain, sleet, snow; everything within 10 minutes or so. 3 Celsius right now