[Lowfer] TA A-OK in KS

[JD]

>>>...what antenna gave you FI at that level.....S9 +15 dB....Wow!!! I  like 
>>>to listen to France Inter 162 but never hear it that well....

Hi John.  That was my 40 foot vertical with modest top hat that will 
(presumably) be my LowFER antenna some day, with a homebrew Hi-Z to 50 ohm 
buffer amp at the base, driving coaxial cable to my nearby automotive 
listening post, all battery powered.

Most nights aren't quite that good for any of the transatlantic LF 
broadcasters here, but even so, I've generally been hearing FI around S9 for 
a while in the early evening this season, and the others usually a little 
weaker.  Conditions normally begin to deteriorate a couple of hours after 
sunset, but that didn't happen until after 2 AM local last night.

Last night's delightful 136 kHz TA reception might have been much cleaner 
and the LWBC reception more enjoyable were it nor for all the distant 
lightning static (presumably from the Caribbean, Central America, and/or 
South Atlantic).  Between naps in the car overnight, I got to thinking how I 
might be able to improvise a large single-turn loop antenna today, mostly 
from materials on hand.

This morning, I was able to confirm the Great Circle path would let me use a 
50-230 degree alignment (give or take about 5 degrees) to include eastern 
Canada, Europe, New England, and the mid-Atlantic (and/or the southwestern 
US) in one beam that would nicely null the Caribbean...and, as it turns out, 
another loop in quadrature with that one would just happen to be exactly the 
right alignment for western Canada and Japan!  I could call the first one 
Euroloop and the second one Canloop (redolent of Kamloops, which would 
indeed be in line).  But when I went to get the few additional items I'd 
need to throw together a trial run of the first loop, I found our local 
hardware store (a) had very few of the items I still needed, and (b) was 
about to close early for the holiday.

Well, I already wasn't eager to travel out of town on New Year's Eve.  And 
then the wind came up...you remember SEK winds, no doubt...30 MPH sustained, 
gusts to above 50 this afternoon.  So, discretion being the better part of 
valor, I decided there are enough targets I can pursue this afternoon and 
tonight, and I'll start on the receive loops next week.  There may be just 
enough time to get them both in operation before serious winter weather sets 
in.

73
John