Tuesday 20 September 2016

Hunting For NDBs In CLE211

'OO'- - 391 kHz Oshawa, ON




This coming weekend will see another CLE challenge, this time in the 15 kHz slice from 385.0 - 399.9 kHz.





A 'CLE' is a 'Co-ordinated Listening Event', as NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of the NDB spectrum.

A nice challenge in this one is to hear the Oshawa, Ontario NDB, 'OO' on 391 kHz. This one runs at just 7 1/2 watts output and gets out amazingly well having been logged here last year. It has even been heard in Europe!

From CLE organizer Brian Keyte, G3SIA, comes the usual 'heads-up':

Hi all,

Our 211th Listening Event is only a few days away.
The Northern Hemisphere summertime storms have subsided, the equinox
will have passed when the CLE starts and we can all hope for some good
reception conditions.
Whether you are a keen propagation watcher or just a take-what-comes
listener (like me), please join in.

Days: Friday 23 September - Monday 26 September
Times: Start and end at midday LOCAL TIME
Range: 385.0 - 399.9 kHz

Please log all the NDBs you can identify that are listed in the range
(it includes 385 kHz but not 400 kHz) plus any UNIDs that you find there.
We last used this frequency range for CLE194 in May 2014.

Please send your CLE log to the List in a plain text email if possible
(not in an attachment) with 'CLE211' at the start of its title.
Show on each log line:

# The date (e.g. 2016-09-24, etc., or just 24) and UTC.
(the date changes at 00:00 UTC)
# kHz (the nominal published frequency, if known)
# The Call Ident.

Show those main items FIRST - other optional details such as Location
and Distance go LATER in the same line.

As always, tell us your own location and brief details of the equipment
that you were using during the weekend.

Good listening - enjoy the CLE
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE co-ordinator)
----------------------------------------------------------

(If you wish you could use any one remote receiver for your loggings,
stating the location and owner - with their permission if required.
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, local or remote,
to make further loggings for the same CLE).
  
73 

Brian


These listening events serve several purposes. They:
  • determine, worldwide, which beacons are actually in service and on-the-air so the 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. If you are a member of the ndblist Group, results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB DXing' or to meet other listeners 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.

If you are contemplating getting started on 630m, listening for NDBs  is an excellent way to test out your receive capabilities as there are several NDBs located near this part of the spectrum.

You need not be an ndblist member to participate in the CLEs and all reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers. 'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!

Reports may be sent to the ndblist or e-mailed to either myself or CLE co-ordinator, Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above.

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.

Good hunting!

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