KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 29th SEPTEMBER 2011

DATES EVERYWHERE:

I have just noticed that many of my dates on this page were all over the place. This is despite the fact that I use the little freebie, tclock, that displays day, date and time on the PC where normally only is a clock!! Not to mention the clock on the Perseus software itself!! But hey Ho. I think it's all corrected now.

 

DX LOGS FOR TODAY:

North American antenna in today, and notice that there was virtually nothing heard except a booming CBC on 1400. I think the band favoured Latin. The last two days signals were so weak, I have already deleted the files, and today's will not be much different. Davie up the street and myself are both hearing signals on 1540.5ish. This seems to the the station heard earlier in the year, Turbomix, from Peru. I have not heard any ids yet due to weak signals. Music heard today but yesterday only signal seen. Davie had some music yesterday as well, but ided the station today.

 

END OF THE MONTH TOTAL:

We are coming to the end of the month, and I have a whole lot more personal firsts to find than those listed at the top. With the Latins, it takes much more of an effort to an ee speaker like myself. I should catch up though, over the next days.

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - WEDNESDAY 28th SEPTEMBER 2011

PC TIPS - INCREASE WEB TEXT SIZE QUICKLY:

I really should create a page for only tips for PC's. But one is worthy of a quick mention here.

If you find the text on web pages too small.. Hold Ctrl and press the + button. This normally works fast enough, but alternatively hold Ctrl and turn the mouse wheel. This is even faster.

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - MONDAY 26th SEPTEMBER 2011

BAD QRN FOR DX NEIGHBOUR:

I sympathise today with a loud QRN problem which Davie up the road has just had switch on. All Davie's electrical muck in his own house is unplugged, and yet still a new source of QRN has come on. It could be anything. Neighbour's new TV, router, etc.?? Bad electrical noise is the scourge of all dxers in these days of unregulated electrical garbage being imported.

 

MONTAGE OF MW DX STATIONS OVER THE WEEKEND:

I have given a montage of signals received here in Scotland mainly from Saturday, but a couple of other files from Sunday and today. These are all common stations, but they don't always boom in like this. KXEL is not usually as dominant. I still find this kind of dxing amazing, and the distance these transmissions travel on MW, and no two mornings are the same. Times on the recording is usually around 0600, the peak dx time at these lattitudes at this time.

Today's file includes the following stations. Click to play

950 CKNB, NB
1560 WQEW NY Radio Disney
1580 CKDO
1520 WWKB, Buffalo, NY
1510 WWZN Boston
1200 WXKS Newton / Boston
1180 WHAM, Rochester, NY
1170 WWVA, Wheeling, WV
1540 KXEL
590 VOCM
660 WFAN NY
830 WCRN Worchester / Boston
820 WBAP Fort Worth
800 VOWR
1010 WINS NY
760 WJR
770 WABC NY
880 WCBS NY
1130 WBBR NY
680 CFTR Toronto
1100 WTAM Cleveland



DX LOGS FOR TODAY:

North American antenna again last night, and some strong signals coming though this end, though not as powerful as on Saturday. DX neighbour Paul C heard his first daytimer of the season the other week on 1470, WBTX Broadway, VA. I have them going to night time power at 2330 last night. And a personal first for me.

1290 WHIO 0600
1470 WBTX Broadway, VA. 2330 last night

DAYTIMERS:

Remember this is the time of year where you may be lucky enough to hear a station knocking down power from daytime power to night time power. The end of the month is best, because the times are changed on a per month basis, so the end of September, October and November are traditionally in theory the best opportunities. At the other side of the year, the beginning of the month is best. eg beginning of Feb and March.

There are different types of daytimers.

Some may sign off altogether at local dusk.

Some reduce power significantly at dusk, and may even drop from as much as 50kw to a few hundred watts, or even less.

Some may have different antenna patterns for day and night

Many stations reduce signals, not quite as significantly as some. Maybe dropping from 5kw to 1kw for example.

 

AMERICAN FEEDS ON 26MHZ:

25910 approx WBAP 820 feed 1245
25990 approx K?? Arlington, TX 1245

 

REMEMBERING TANDY:

In the UK most of the Tandy stores in the High Streets closed years ago. I am not sure to be honest if any still trade?? Anyway, the point being, they were a regular haunt for techy / geeky electronic buffs, and a great place to walk in off the street and take home little gadgets and components that were not available elsewhere, bar mail order. I used to love a rummage around, looking at projects and items much too expensive for me at the time.

The point is, when I was rooting around the old musty boxes here recently, I discovered an old Tandy 1986 catalogue. Take a look at the prices on the kit of the day. I have scanned only random pages, not the whole book. Take a look at the computer gear at the end!! £2800 for something of the spec offered is laughable by todays standards. I wonder if we will laugh at dual and quad core proccessors, and 2TB hard drives in 2036!!! Hell, will I still be to the fore in 2036??? Who knows...

Click here for selected pages from a 1986 Tandy catalogue.

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FOR TODAY:

North American antenna last night.

610 WIOD Miami Inc Fox Nx 0600
800 VOWR VG 0600
1650 CINA 0601

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - SATURDAY 24th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FOR TODAY:

North American signals today were awesome, see above for montage.

800 VOWR VG 0600
1160 WYLL Booming 0600
1230 Wildwood. WMID relay from 1340 0600

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 22nd SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FOR TODAY:

North American antenna in today, though Davie H reports good Latin reception. I note another FM // freq for the FM freq listing. 107.9 for 1200 WXKS, Boston.

610 RCN Columbia. Quite good 0601 for ID. Seems to cut carrier 0602ish good signal 0600
630 WUNO PR Good ID 0602
800 VOWR Booming through 0600
820 Trinity, St Kitts Booming 0600, yet on 800 VOWR booming (As opposed to TWR)
950 CKNB Booming 0558
1290 WRNI Providence 102.7 ann as well 0600
1300 Talk 1300 ALBANY, NY 0605 (WGDJ) Their web site is very anon. ie no idea of station first glance.
1310 Radio Nac Venezuela 0559
1310 WLOB 0530

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - WEDNESDAY 21st SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FOR TODAY:

I find a shift towards North America this morning at 0600, with many channels that have given SS in recent days, have become the common North Americans, although down in signal. Maybe because I was using a Westerly beverage, rather than North West. I have not really found anything worthy of note.

NB: Recordings from Monday and Tuesday were written off as very very poor.

I have a number of audio clips to take from the files from the last week or so. On a bit of a go slow here again.

 

AMAZING AMSTRAD SRD 400 FOUND:

I was amazed yesterday when I went into a "wee wumman's hoose" to do a job, and there sitting below the big old 4:3 TV, was an old Amstrad SRD 400. This has been sitting in standby for years, but still comes on!!! Imagine... How many years is it since Sky left analogue?? In fairness the ex man was a motor sports fan, and therefore may have been Eurosport 19 degrees only he was watching, and the German channels. But even he has not been living in the house for years, so the thing has been sitting ticking over all these years!! Amazing.

 

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - SUNDAY 18th SEPTEMBER 2011

PERSONAL FIRSTS:

I have still to add my personal firsts to this month, and amongst the Latins, it isn't too easy. Hence, I have a bit of listening to do.

 

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

Used LA antenna again, due to disturbed condx. I hear quite a lot around 0530, and tnx to Stu and Paul we came up with an id on the 1350 stn. It is quite obvious when you hear it.... There was some other stuff around, but I seemed to be a bit slack this morning making notes. Rebelde good on 710 today, and also heard on the other channels below, but not on 1000 today.

 

560 Rebelde, Cuba 0600
600 Rebelde, Cuba 0600
610 Rebelde, Cuba 0600
670 Rebelde, Cuba 0600
710 Rebelde, Cuba 0600
770 Rebelde, Cuba 0600
1060 Radio 26 Cuba 0600
1180 Rebelde, Cuba 0600
1350 Eclipse FM 90.1 El Tigre. 0530. Snds like good ID. Ann // 90.1 FM??? Personal First
1620 Rebelde, Cuba 0600

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - SATURDAY 17th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

Used West antenna, a shorter 170m approx beverage than the main 500m aerial which points north west. Was also listening to last Sunday's 0530 rec, and find that I have a good rec of WAPA PR on 680!! Only the second time I have heard the station. A few other logs added to Sunday 11th.

 

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - FRIDAY 16th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

Used west antenna today, hoping for some Latins. Cuba hammering in on 1180 at 0600 with the interval signal / bird thing just before the top of the hour.

730 Cadena Melodea de Columbia, Radio ???, ex Radio Lider 0558
800 0601 YL ann Radio Trans ??? Is this TWR Bonaire??
960 Radio Venezuala poss 0601 Sounds like an ID, but may also be referring to Mexico. Odd hash noise on LF side, going on and off only on this freq.
1000 Rebelde 0558. Thought hrd Rebelde ID in mud, but 0558 bird was audable. New qrg for me
1180 Rebelde Cuba 0600 Hammering in with bird at 0558ish.

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 15th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

Nothing particularly exciting here this am so far. Files still held, so may get a chance to have another look. Conditions looked as though they were gonna be a little quiet, which usually favours North America, but on checking files, many Latins were audable as well. Possibly an error of judgement using the North American aerial then.

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - WEDNESDAY 14th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

No DX logs today here. Either I forgot to set recordings on way out the door last night or PC took a reboot due to a power glitch. The latter is suspected due to stormy weather here. And into the bargain, my PC has no keyboard or mouse sockets, at least no PS2 skts, so I use a USB lead with a keyboard and mouse skt on the end of it. Sometimes at boot up the keyboard has to be removed and reconnected. That was the case when I came into the shack this am, keyboard not working. Thus I suspect weather and power glitch.

NO LOG BOOK ENTRIES:

I have NO log book entries this season so far. All my little scribbles of UNIDs are listed here as I am listening. It seems to be working for me, ie keeping up to speed with daily logs. Please don't e mail me and complain that xxx is not worthy of a log. It is merely notes for my own use, so I can go back and look up the date and time and make audio clips etc, or listen again. I just choose to share the lot on line.

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - TUESDAY 13th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

At first glance of the files from today I was almost going to delete them. But once you get used to the fact that the common power house North Americans are not there, and realise that it is other channels where the stronger stuff is being heard, there are gems to be had. There are a couple of the reputed Cuban warblers around today again. 740, and 820. These kind of days, ie when there are lots of unids coming in, it takes me days to get the audio clips together and on line. Bear with me.

670 Radio Rumbos 0500
700 Radio Cordoba Argentina. Good ID Poss pers 1st .
740 Warbler from reputedly Cuba
820 Amazing warbler 0532 Sounds like Rolf Harris and his wobble board
1280 Noti Uno, PR. Jolly song around 0531about Noti Uno. Various odd sounding ids.
1350 Radio Buenos Aires 0530 ID om and YL
1360 Unid PP with khz and full web address. Not making sense just yet.

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - MONDAY 12th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

Decided at the last minute to record using the North American aerial tonight, but conditions towards LA. Recordings not yet deleted, but will have one final check.

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - SUNDAY 11th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

550 SS 0530 poss ids
670 Radio Rumbos 0529 1st log in years
680 WAPA PR 0534
700 SS IDs around 0529. Need more listening to determine.
730 Melodia AM 0527
950 ss ID 0527. like good id.
1070 Radio Santa Fe exc id 0530
1130 ss poss id 0528
1190 Radio Cordillera, Columbia 0531 pers 1st
1270 unid ss 0500 easy listening. ?? Punto Radio???..
1280 PR. Like call WUNO??? 0532
1380 Ondas Del Mar 0532
1470 Radio Vibration, Good ID 0527
1520 PR 0504 Good calls

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - SATURDAY 10th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

Where have all the good times gone!!! There's the reason why!!

610 SS poss ID lively presenter, and phone in at 0532
740 Warbler at 0534 sounding like Rolf Harris!!! Reputed to be Cuba!
780 Radio Coro 0531
800 unid ss thru 0530 but ss tk 0600. poss id in here
1060 Radio 26 Cuba 0529 good id
1070 unid ss mx and yl tk 0529
1140 Unid SS like ann and freq 0530. om yl tk 0527 0530 lots of punto tk.

A lot more to find hopefully. I will surely be using the Latin antenna tonight, that's for sure!!

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - FRIDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

Stations like WEAV 960 and 970 WZAN were really in the mud, mixing with who knows what at 0500 today. 960 snds like slow religious music??? Update: WHYL is now NICE 9-60!!

680 WRKO completely dominant 0500
870 Again today another stn mix WWL at 0500 no ids so far.
900 W Radio Mex 0500
960 unid slow mx mix with the Zone WEAV. Initially thought poss religious, but poss easy listening 0500, 0530
960 UPDATE WHYL, Carlisle, PA. 0536 "Re-inventing the good times, NICE 9-60 WHYL".
1060 mix with KYW and SS stn with web address can't make out 0500
1070 Bloomberg Radio (seems regular now) 0500
1200 WXKS 0500 / mix CKGO
1290 WNBF Binghampton, NY 0534
1300 Praise 1300 AM Cleveland 0527
1310 WLOB 0500 Fox Nx
1310 CIWW 1310 NEWS 0530
1320 WMOB AB again id 0529
1520 WWKB inc ad for OK City!! Not KOKC!! 0500

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 8th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

Different again today. Some big signals, and some average mushy signals.

NB. I must stress that at this time of year I have a big signal on most tadx channels, but the channels with many stations can be simply s9 of rumble. If that is translated into English, what I am really saying is that I don't tend to chase carriers with the big main screen. It was discussed on the Skype chat yesterday, to see the different habits of different dxers. My own eye is constantly on the secondary window!! The results of the big carriers can be seen on my Perseus screenshot page.

Anyway, to a few logs from today. Nothing startling so far, but as I keep saying, it's good to have big signals again, after a long time of poultry pickings. UPDATE: New station heard, KXYZ Houston on 1320

555 ZIZ St Kitts. Local programmes and id 0500
1320 KXYZ Houston, TX 0500 Mixing with Toronto. China Radio Progs. Personal First
1320 WFNN Erie Fox Sports Radio 0500 inc WPHT (1210) Philadelphia ID during commentery!!!
1660 KRZI WAKO TX 0300

QUALITY OF DX LOGS PUBLISHED:

I have been watching some dubious logs recently of some other dxers. I must stress that on these pages, stations are always ided when listed. If they are pres or unid, then it is said so beside the log.

I am often told the obvious, that it is possible to ID stations other than TOTH. Yes, of course it is, but it is all dependent on how much time one wants to spend at the receivers. Often I don't even get around to checking the hour +3 / +5 when there is often weather and ids after the news.

The main reason that I record top of the hours is for the ID. If I was to record all night, across the whole band, it would take me weeks to check it out. That may be fine on an exceptional night, and may even be worth the 50 quid for a new hard drive to keep the whole night for future dxing fun. But normally I have no time to spend trawling through every channel for a full night.

I can still remember staying up all night on an exceptional night till dawn, and having to sleep most of the day. That was fine if it was a Saturday night. That was also fine if there were no plans for a Sunday daytime. But the Perseus has made such a difference to the lifestyle of the mw dxer. At least to the writer.

I even chased a friend away one boxing day evening when there was a rock night on, because I was on holiday and one of the few nights I was able to stay up all night and dx with single channel receivers!! I now can easily set the timer and run!!! Now I listen at a time that suits me!!! But I diversify as usual...

A log came up of "sports on 1440, tk on MA". So what. Any sports programme will mention countless locations. If I hear a station mention Libya, do I assume it comes from Tripoli?? No, of course not. It doesn't make sense.

I have written a complete article on the accuracy of MW dxers. Click here to view, or access via the main menu.

 

QUALITY OF DX LOGS PUBLISHED:

I saw a collection of 25 vintage wireless cigarette cards for sale recently. Very nice, but they were £65 for this collection!! But I do wonder of they had a description / story on the back?? Most of these do, but maybe someone has stuck them to a card. Who knows.

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - WEDNESDAY 7th SEPTEMBER 2011

MONTAGE FROM TODAY:

I think it was last year I had an e mail from someone, suggesting I make the montages with weaker stations. It is a fair idea, but I can't help think, wah, when a really really booming signal gomes in. In fact I may get up at dawn before too long and try the HD set again. Still not had HD from across the Atlantic on MW. Only the HD light, and a couple of times the set has stuttered as though it was nearly there!!! Anyway, here are some of the boomers this morning.

Click here to play

660 WFAN
680 6-80 News
740 AM 7-40
760 WJR
880 WCBS (terrible no smoking ad..hi)
1580 CKDO
960 The Zone
1010 WINS (WWFS HD)
1130 WBBR
1370 WDEA
1520 WWKB

There are a couple of others from this am that were worth noting, see logs below and look for the play button. WBCN was booming on 1660 just on 0500. I did heard them before with some good signals when it was the sports station. WMOB 1360 is in again, and ided at 0527. They were boasting about the wonderful return of Jesus Christ!! Thought he was supposed to have been crusified years ago?? Imagine if he did show up!! Man these chaps that are rejoycing now, would have a lot of explaining to do, making MEGA money off HIS back for all these years...LOL.

 

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

Big signals at 0500 here on 960, 660, 680, 760, etc. 950 gave us WWJ just before the hour before powerhouse CKNB came back in.

610 WIOD Still there at 0600 today
800 CKLW 0500
820 CHAM 0501
940 WINZ FL, being clobbered by Mex het
950 WWJ 0459
950 CKNB Powering in by 0500
960 WEAV Very gd at 0500
990 CKGM / CBC 0500
1010 WINS booming 0500
1190 WOWO 0500
1210 VOAR 0500
1360 WMOB 0527 Waiting for the return of Jesus Christ. Long wait???.
1420 AVR id on Canadian country stn 0504
1470 Unid with talk show rather than WLAM's oldies. TV Sound?? Thru the hour at 0500.
1660 WBCN Charlotte booming 0500. QRO tonight?? WKQC HD call (one for list)

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - TUESDAY 6th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

I am not sure I have anything particularly startling to report today, maybe the odd decent signal from common stations. Some stations are listed below, one or two heard for the first time this season.

610 WIOD FL 0502
570 WMCA NY 0300
580 CFRA 0505

 

RECORDING OF 95 - CKNB:

I have uploaded a fairly longish recording of CKNB on 950, to show the signal here the other day. It is certainly the best I have ever picked up the station, and it was very strong and loud on AM mode on the Perseus. Please do have a listen. The link is below.

 

OTHER RECORDINGS FROM LAST FEW DAYS:

I have included a few unid stations with the weakest clips imaginable, just to see if anyone can hear something I am not. There are two on 980. One seems to announce Classic Sports, and the other has ABC News after possible call, that I can't seem to match up to anything. There is also an accented OM on 1190. Not sure if that is anything other than WLIB, though an FM freq is ann.

110905_0500_900_wmop_wggg_1230_call_espn.mp3

110904_0500_950_cknb_real_strong_clip_shorter.mp3

110904_0530_1050_wepn.mp3

110905_0503_1060_radio_education.mp3

110904_0530_1240_tent_wcem_cambridge_md_delmarva's_espn_radio_am_12_40.mp3

110905_0400_1320_wils_cjmr.mp3

110905_0200_1360_wrdc_fairly_good_eg_of_multi_call.mp3

110905_0500_1400_wond.mp3

 

UNID:

110827_0500_980_unid_classic_sports_like_wgyq.mp3

110905_0400_980_unid_like_wyot_hartwell_hartburn_poss.mp3

110905_0400_1020_unid_yl_ss_ann_poss_id.mp3

110905_0400_1190_unid_accented_om_poss_just_wlib.mp3

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - MONDAY 5th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

900 WMOP, OCALA FL in mess at 0500. ESPN stn and a // WGGG 1230 call.
980 unid ads and call and ABC nx 0400. snds like WYOT or similar
1020 UNID SS 0400 yl poss ID as per tip from DH.
1060 KYW again hrd around 0500, and gd around 0502. many ids.
1060 News from Radio France Int in SS, prob Education? 0504
1070 Bloomberg Radio = old EVE 10-70 station, WTWK, Plattsburgh, NY 0500 (Also hrd yesterday)
1190 unid 0400 accented om in ee. Mention 104.5 wbmx?? gbintergalactic.com or similar. WLIB ???
1230 ID of 1340 WMID which is WCMC Wildwood, NJ. They recently became // the 1340 stn. 0505
1320 WILS 0500 CJMR louder
1360 Alabama pres booming thru the hour at 0500 with music. No ID
1430 CHKT Fairchild Radio all too rare id 0400
1650 WHKT VG 0000

 

Strong signals from some of the common stations around 0500, such as 77-WABC, 1520, 1130 etc.

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - SUNDAY 4th SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

950 CKNB Absolutely beautiful am signal from this once watery sounding station.0500
1050 WEPN NY 0530 Local ids
1060 Radio Education, good ids 0501
1070 Bloomberg Radio = old EVE 10-70 station, WTWK, Plattsburgh, NY 0500
1240 ESPN Radio AM 12-40. Tent WCEM Cambridge, MD. Delmarva's ESPN am 1240. 0530
1270 CJCB 0501 Jingle id

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - SATURDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER 2011

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

900 CHML With Canadian nx 0500
1320 WDER Pretty good clear ID here today. Paul C been reporting this one for a few days 0500

 

UNID 1280 LAST SUNDAY:

I forgot to include in last weeks logs, a strange rave music station on Sunday 28th August at 0500. The music played through the hour and beyond, and signals were strong and clear. My first suspect would be CFMB Montreal, the Italian Canadian that sometimes forgets to change antenna patterns to their night time towers.

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - FRIDAY 2nd SEPTEMBER 2011

 

TCR BACK ON 1512, FROM POOR 927:

Just noticed TCR back on 1512, from the lousy 927 signal they were putting out.

UPDATE:

An update was made to the "Perseus 5 in 1" pdf file uploaded earlier today. An update was also made to the "Perseus Overnight Recording" zip file added today. So if you downloaded them earlier, maybe you will want the updated version. The update includes simple drive letter changing within windows XP.

 

KEN'S DX ANNUAL 2010 / 2011 NOW AVAILABLE:

These ramblings are once again available as a yearbook in pdf format by clicking the link below. As can be seen the peak year for dxing was certainly 2009 winter, as the 2010 winter pdf is considerably shorter that the previous year. These annual downloads are indexed in the LOGS INDEX, under ALL DX LOGS. It surprised me the many many hundreds of downloads last year's pdf had. Never knew so many people were interested in mw dxing!!

Click here to download the 3.8 mb pdf file

 

NO RECORDINGS TODAY:

Again no recordings today, this time due my own bungling..lol. I have been cleaning registry entries etc on the PC, and gave the Perseus entries a good clean out, ie deleted the Microtelecom entry. This restores so called "factory default" settings. But I did forget that nowadays from start up, Perseus has a silly time out pop up screen the first time you use it. Therefore that silly initial screen messed up my timer recordings for this morning!!

PERSEUS FIVE IN ONE PDF AVAILABLE:

I have included five of my most recent Perseus articles in a "FIVE IN ONE" pdf file. These are as follows:

1. WINDOWS 7 INSTALLATION GUIDE IN ENGLISH

2. PERSEUS - CLIENT SERVER TIPS

3. PERSEUS - OVERNIGHT RECORDING FOR VERSION 4.0x

4. PERSEUS - A LIFE CHANGING RECEIVER

5. PERSEUS - TIPS AND TRICKS

Click here for approx 5mb pdf download

 

PERSUEUS AUTO HOTKEY SCRIPS FOR 4.0B:

It has been some time now since the release of BETA 3.0 and the associated change of size of the record file location window. I have still been using version 2.1i to record overnight, because I don't think there has been any development in the wideband recording side of things since then. I have for sometime thus thought about creating a new hotkeys scripts for version 4.0x.

That task is now completed, and now includes a few extras.

1. A click on the 10dB att, necessary here due to use of a pre amp in line.

2. A click on AM mode, keeping the mode the same, even after the software has been used manually.

3. An extra 2 second break between pressing stop, and closing the software down, giving the software a chance to stop and save.

I have also included a sample .ahk file (auto hotkeys file, edited using notepad) without the 10dB att incase anyone wishes to use the same script files.

Also included is an SAQ file, which is the Swedish 17.2kHz transmission that is usually on air at 0800 on 24th December. The hotkeys script centred to 810kHz, giving recording from 10kHz to 1590kHz, and a little more if the secondary window is used to drag the filter a little over the limits. It runs from 0746 to 0816!! I always seem to forget about this annual transmission, so if there is a text file ready prepared, I may well remember it!!

I have been asked by a couple of dxers why I don't use any of the other sched applications. The answer is simple. Auto hotkeys was the first automated sched app I was aware of, being introduced to the Perseus group by Dr Matthisas Zwoch in 2008, translated to English by Guido Schotmans. It also doesn't require the massive add on 239 meg from the dot net framework.

Once set up to your own sched requirements, it is extremely simple to use. For example, at the present time I may with to record 02, 03, 04, 05. I may think that 02 and 03 and 04 are hardly worth looking at, but I think I may as well record. I have 24 top of the hour text files, one for every hour, running from xx58 - xx01 (3 minutes). I also have another set of 24, running from xx56 to xx06. (10 minutes). So normally at this time, secondary hours are just recorded with the 3 minute top of the hour file, and the peak which is currently at 0500, is recorded using the 10 minute script.

So all I have to click on 4 text files to set my timer, and switch monitors off at the mains, and go to bed!! It's that simple. Four clicks. How can that be described as difficult??

I also make longer script / text files as required. At the time of writing, I have a long one for 0345 - 0515 or something so that, so that I can record the full hour around the peak time. I will alter this, and make new files as desired, as the winter creeps in. I also have created a certain amount of half hour scripts, although not for every hour during the daylight hours. If they are needed at any time, a few seconds typing creates a new file.

Bar when undesirable size modifications are made to the Perseus pop up windows, the scripts / text files never have to be touched. There is a new set however made up for the changes made after version 3.0. Thus for the current version of 4.0b, the script will work just fine. See the two links below.

I have made a separate page dedicated to these overnight recording notes, including how to change drive letters within windows, to the letter "F", if you want to try my ready made "hotkeys" files.

PERSEUS OVERNIGHT RECORDINGS PAGE

DOWNLOAD "PERSEUS OVERNIGHT RECORDING ESSENSIALS" file (approx 5Mb ZIP FILE)

 

KEN'S DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 1st SEPTEMBER 2011

ANOTHER MONTH, ANOTHER SUMMER GONE:

The summer seems to have just simply faded into obscurity, and there is a chill in the air these evenings. So much for the high hopes of long warm summer nights and barbeque and weekends away. I guess the DX season is open again. I should have used the westerly aerial this last couple of nights. Seems there is a Latin / Caribbean feel to the peak around 0500. Let's hope for something different then on the common frequencies. I have managed to continue to note logs on these pages as I listen, so the old log book has no entries for the time being.

I must also draw attention to the fact that there are some new logs added for the end of August which were not uploaded yesterday, so remember to go back to the August page.

 

KEN'S ANNUAL YEARBOOK:

My new Yearbook in PDF format will be available shortly. Be patient. I usually run the pdf from July to July, which will take in a whole season of MW DX. I was overwhelmed by the number of downloads of the last couple of annual ramblings. These incidentally are only a collection of the log pages, which serves as a kind of a Blog / Gossip page as well, all compacted into one easy to use pdf file. Links to audio clips and higher res images available on the on monthly html version are not included within the pdf. Maybe in the future?? File size would be much bigger of course.

 

GOLD 1450:

The GOLD log below is thanks to Paul and Davie, though the ID here is a very poor one. I am not sure how comfortable I am with the log in fact. This has been heard here before, with equally as poor an ID.

 

DX LOGS FROM TODAY:

560 Rebelde
600 Rebelde
610 Rebelde
620 Rebelde
980 RCN, Columbia 0500. Way down on yesterday
1450 Gold, Bermuda. "We have your favourites day and night, 14-50 AM, Gold" 0502
1540 Radio Bahamas good id 0504, inc ads and yl presenter

 

A FEW AUDIO CLIPS FROM TODAY AND YESTERDAY:

110831_0500_980_rcn_columbia.mp3

110831_0500_1440_wwcl_port_myres_fl.mp3

110901_0502_1450_unid_ann_poss_gold_bermuda.mp3

110901_0504_1540_radio_bahamas_gd_sig_and_id_short_vs.mp3

110831_0500_1660_the_avenue_fl.mp3