[VE7SL] Hunting For NDBs in CLE282

[VE7SL via rec.radio.amateur.moderated Admin]

VE7SL - Steve - Amateur Radio Blog

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Hunting For NDBs in CLE282

Posted: 20 Jul 2022 11:37 AM PDT
http://ve7sl.blogspot.com/2022/07/hunting-for-ndbs-in-cle282.html


YLD-335 Chapleau, ON (ve3gop.com)
It's CLE time once again. This is a challenge for all newcomers to NDB
listening and the ultimate test of your medium frequency receiving
capabilities. Can you meet the challenge?'CLE's are 'Co-ordinated
Listening Events, and NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time
on one small slice of the NDB spectrum. It's back to a normal activity
with a frequency span of 335.0 - 349.9 kHz.
A good target for all NA listeners is YLD on 335 kHz in Ontario. Listen for
its upper sideband CW identifier on 335.405 kHz. I believe it is slated for
decommissioning shortly ... hopefully I'm not too late for this one.
When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the
NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB
identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published
transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone
approximately.

For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmitted on 365 kHz and its upper
sideband CW identifier was tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW
ident could be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone was actually 1025 Hz
while its LSB tone was 1054 Hz.

Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't
hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.

Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz.
They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.

All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated
daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database.
Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.

From CLE organizers comes the following CLE info:Hello all

Here are the full details for this weekend's co-ordinated listening event.
It is open to everyone including CLE new-comers:

Days: Friday 22 July - Monday 25 July Times: Start and end
at midday, your LOCAL time Range: 335.0 - 349.9 kHz
Wherever you are, please join us and log the NDBs that you can positively
identify that are listed in this busy frequency range (it includes 335.0
kHz but not 350 kHz) plus any UNIDs that you come across there.Very short
and very long logs are welcome (in-between ones are good too!)

Send your CLE log to the List, preferably as a plain text email (not in an
attachment) with ‘CLE282 FINAL’ in its subject line.

Please show on EVERY LINE of your log:
# The date (e.g. '2022-07-23' or just the day no. '23') and UTC
(the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz (The beacon's nominal published frequency) If you don’t know
it, please visit: https://rxx.classaxe.com where you will find all the
details. # The Call Ident.

Show those main items FIRST on each line, before other optional details
such as Location, Distance, etc. If you send any interim logs during the
event, please also send your 'FINAL', complete one.Always make your log
interesting to everyone by giving details of the listening location and
brief details of the receiver, aerial(s), etc., that you were using.
We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 19:00 UTC on Tuesday
so that you can check that your log has been found OK.
Do make sure that your log has arrived on the List at the very latest by
08:00 UTC on Wednesday 27 July. We will then hope to complete making the
combined results within a day or two.
You can check on all CLE-related information from the CLE Page
http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm
It includes a link to seeklists for the Event from the Rxx Database.

Good listening Brian and Joachim (CLE
Coordinators)-------------------------------------------------------------------From:
Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.comLocation: Surrey, SE
England (CLE
coordinator)-------------------------------------------------------------------
(Reminder: If you wish you can use a remote receiver for your loggings,
stating its location and owner - with their permission if required.A
remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, whether local or
remote, to obtain further loggings for the same CLE)These listening events
serve several purposes. They• determine, worldwide, which beacons are
actually in service and on-the-air so the newly-re-vamped Rxx online
database can be kept up-to-date

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are out-of-service or have gone
silent since the last CLE covering this range

• will indicate the state of propagation conditions at the various
participant locations

• will give you an indication of how well your LF/MF receiving system is
working

• give participants a fun yet challenging activity to keep their listening
skills honed

Final details can be found at the NDB List website, and worldwide results,
for every participant, will be posted there a few days after the event.


The NDB List Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB
DXing' or to meet other DXers in your region. There is a lot of good
information available there and new members are always very welcome. As
well, you can follow the results of other CLE participants from night to
night as propagation is always an active topic of discussion.

You need not be an NDB List member to participate in the CLEs and all
reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers.

Remember - 'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!

Reports may be sent to the NDB List Group or e-mailed to CLE co-ordinator,
Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above. If you are a member of
the group, all final results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

Please ... give the CLE a try ... then let us know what NDB's can be heard
from your location! Your report can then be added to the worldwide database
to help keep it up-to-date.

Have fun and good hunting!