by Steve
10. September 2009 12:43
Not being a huge TADXer I recently had the opportunity to have a few late nights (or is that early mornings) which gave me the time and the band conditions to try some TADX. Going back in time I used to spend many late nights armed with my Kenwood R2000 and shortwave magazine looking for these elusive TA stations which “popped” up for everybody all the time it seemed! From the logs I could see that WINS on 1010 kHz and CJYQ on 930 kHz should be simple catches with my “DX” setup! Back then I knew that you needed an outside aerial and an ATU … That was it! TADX only happened at night and that it needed to be the depth of winter before you would hear anything. Fast forward and with the improvement in receivers, aerials and knowledge the TADX season seems longer and a lot more can be heard – if you spend enough time in headphones replaying that toth identification over and over.
It’s pretty easy with the Internet to get an idea of how well flags, pennants and beverages work for TADX and I must admit I am in awe of some of the logs and recordings I hear from people in QRM/QRN quieter parts of the UK and EU. Ken and David (Ken a big Perseus lover) I salute your logs! A true inspiration; to anyone who wants to try out TADX. And that is me included!
So what have I done then? Armed with my trusty 1.1 meter Wellbrook loop and Perseus I hit the medium wave band in the early hours. A quick scan of the 10 kHz channels in waterfall mode allows you to see the TADX carrier’s in-between the UKs 9 kHz spaced stations. A wondrous sight as they are pretty much inaudible but very visible on the waterfall. A godsend; no doubt to serious TADXers.
I’ve uploaded a few stations which I know to true TADXers are regarded as “easys” but for my 1.1 meter loop I am pretty impressed!
My logs for the night include:
880 WCBS New York
920 CKNX Wingham
1010 WINS New York (very deep fades over the 1/2hr I was listening)
1010 CFRB Toronto
1030 WBZ Boston
1050 WEPN New York
1200 CFGO Ottowa
1320 CJMR Mississauga
1390 WEGP Talk Radio (could have been a local at one point)
1430 WENE Endicott
1430 CHKT Toronto
1470 WLAM Lewiston
1500 WFED Washington
1510 WWZN Boston
1520 WWKB Buffalo
1700 KVNS Brownsville
Have a listen to the mp3’s below and see what you think. Not bad for such a modest setup would you not agree?
1520kHz wwkb.mp3
1010kHz cfrb.mp3
1030kHz wbz.mp3
880kHz wcbs.mp3
1390kHz wegp.mp3
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