QSL: CBY Corner Brook NL 990

This CBC station is "always" heard, but I wanted to have a local broadcast to report (and indeed the CBC v/s requires it). I got a nice recording of the Corner Brook Morning Show with audio from Bernice Hiller on January 18, and a friendly conformation today.

The Airspy HF+: A Very Competent SDR

Almost four weeks into my ownership of the Airspy HF+, I think it's time to give my impressions from a MW DX-er's point of view. More here.

Airspy HF+: Testing, testing, testing...

There was a thread in the Airspy groups.io reflector in early January concerning sensitivity in the LF (and especially VLF) part of the spectrum. There were also intermodulation products on the LF band. I didn't really pay much attention to it. It turned out however that the solutions (a firmware update and a hardware modification) had significant impact on the receiver's performance in general.

I had noted that sensitivity appeared to roll off much higher up than in the LF band, and Roelof Bakker kindly measured the 1000 kHz sensitivity and found -95 dBm (AM, 6 kHz, 30% modulation, 400 Hz tone). Which is good, but not outstanding. Roelof also confirmed that sensitivity was rolling off.

The solution to the LF problem was a simple "bypass operation" as illustrated below. It not only solved LF sensitivity, but sensitivity in general. Roelof noted an improvement to -110 dBm, which is truly outstanding in the SDR world. Together with a firmware update this seems to not have compromised performance in any way, probably the contrary as it seems that the intermod problems are gone.

I did the firmware update and R3 bypass on Saturday in less than half an hour. The improved sensitivity is indeed notable in my setup when noise levels and signal levels are low.

I'm mostly using HDSDR with the HF+ now, because it's easy on remote connections and to set up recordings. Works well with SDR Console V3 and SDR# too. More to come.

Original photo: Nils Schiffhauer

Airspy HF+: HDSDR Support

HDSDR is a favourite SDR software for me when I use other SDRs than Perseus. It's light on system resources, and has a huge selection of keyboard shortcuts which makes it very quick and efficient. Andrea Montefusco, IW0HDV has made an ExtIO for the Airspy HF+, the latest version came yesterday. Below is how the Airspy HF+ works via remote connection on a morning with fair conditions towards North America.

QSL: CKGA Gander NL 650

CKGA with its VOCM programming is common at our Smøla island location, but to get a QSL, one must report! I had hoped to hear their local programs which start at 6.00 am NST or 0930 UTC, but the Greenland station is totally dominant at that time. A video report, required because otherwise I couldn't authenticate which VOCM station I was listening to, was confirmed today. Newfoundland #15.

QSL: WWBC Cocoa FL 1510

"Daytime conditions", i.e. skywave propagation from stations still in North America's sunlit zones, have been fair the past several days. One of the stations heard by many DX-ers in this region is WWBC, and with the Boston station silent it's been even easier to hear. My reception on Jan 12 was 45 minutes before their sunset.

The owner John Harper was known to me before, because another of his stations, then-WMEL 1300 was heard and confirmed a few years ago. Another email overnight confirmed WWBC.

Somewhat confusing perhaps that his network is profiled as "The Talk To Me Station WMEL", because the WMEL call letter no longer exists on MW.

QSL: KUFO Portland OR 970

I heard KUFO almost a year ago but have had little luck with the QSL part. Until today, when one of their engineers sent me a full-data QSL letter in a Word file!

QSL: YVQX Radio Nueva Esparta, Porlamar 920

I rarely chase Latin American stations, my total QSL count is embarrasingly low. When tuning around late on the 17 I caught a nice ID from Radio Nueva Esparta, and sent off a Facebook report. I received a friendly response within minutes. We exchanged a few messages after that.

QSL: WCCM Methuen MA 1570

Smøla island is an excellent spot for logging eastern North American stations, and for a few days signals propagated into the EST daytime zones, both in the afternoon and the morning. Excellent signal from WCCM one evening, and a quick response to my report. The new, 700-metre beverage at 290 degrees performs admirably.

The RSP1A - Some Conclusions

After a few weeks of use in Kongsfjord and Smøla island, here are my impressions of this inexpensive, but quite able SDR.