[Lowfer] The Good News and...

[JD]

The good news first--attached is 72 or 73 minutes of the Big Three tonight! 
Splendid signals all around, though some long-term QSB is evident.

As for the, er, other news, I tried again for EAR and had some preliminary 
success.  This was before going to 137.  The LWBC carrier on 189 was 
tremendously strong, however.  It was capturing my clipper and ARGO both, 
and I couldn't shift the IF enough to attenuate it without also attenuating 
EAR.  I didn't have my crude improvised notch filter with me, as the parts 
are already being recycled for another project, so that was no help either. 
(Plus, for good measure, the radio's internal notch filter doesn't work in 
CW mode.)  Finally it dawned on me to tune 188.0, use upper sideband mode, 
and brute-force switch to the narrow CW filter.  Same result as CW, except 
in SSB the receiver's own notch filter can be used!  Got a nice clean "A" 
that way and was waiting for the "R" to show up on screen.  And waited.  And 
waited.

Eventually I noticed that the LEDs were on steady, no longer just responding 
to static crashes.  The S-meter was showing a more or less steady level too. 
Dreading the worst, I switched the filter to normal SSB width, and sure 
enough--there was power line buzz!  My quiet rural location was suddenly 
trying to imitate QRM Central where I live downtown!

I was crestfallen.

(Which I suppose was inevitable.  Everything ELSE about me has fallen, 
drooped, sagged, or rusted over the past few years too.)

The buzz was steady from about 172 to 200 kHz.  After I made the captures on 
137, I came back to 1750 m about midnight.  The buzz was starting to become 
intermittent.  Eventually, there were long enough gaps to copy an entire ID, 
except EAR was very weak by then.  I would have taken a nap and let 
everything run, but the computer's battery was nearly dead because I kept 
the display on most of the evening.  So, it's re-charging here at home now, 
and if I can stay awake, I will head back out to the field in hopes of 
catching the 3 AM enhancement.

The QRN has been remarkably minimal tonight, so I'm also eager to complete 
the PLC survey I mentioned before.  Since I can run multiple Argo instances 
simultaneously, it may be possible to cut the time in half, to under 90 
minutes.  But of course, that's only if the power line buzz stays away.

John
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