[Lowfer] Sunday Report

[JD]

It was just barely possible to get out into the field Sunday afternoon, so 
despite S9+ QRN (which is to say, 9 S-units greater in a 270 Hz bandwidth 
than any LF signal has yet been on this receiver, Kenwood R-5000 #3) I none 
the less gave LF a try.  Only MP was visible at 2200 meters, and even it was 
only readable if I used QRSS60 Slow mode.  Static was high, but not entirely 
continuous.  Past experience suggested I should perhaps depart from the 
usual practice of fast AGC, which apparently modulates signal levels at an 
adverse rate under this particular type of noise, so I switched to slow AGC 
and used harder clipping.  That's what brought the second half of the "M" 
and all of the "P" up more solidly than what I was seeing earlier.

At the 1750 meter watering hole, SIW did pretty well at QRSS60, although I'm 
not entirely sure I was seeing WMS at its usual spot.  QRN was about two 
S-units lower on average at 185.3 kHz.  Frequencies in the captures have 
been adjusted to be accurate as of the end of capture...there was some 
thermal drift up to that point.

Earlier in the afternoon I also watched and listened for HiFERs.  At the 
watering hole, MP, EH, and NC were visible, with some patches of SIW slant 
mode.  No trace of USC.  In fact, EH and MP were sometimes each very loud, 
often alternating and sometimes simultaneously, but that tended not to last 
too long at any given instance.  Conditions were perturbed yesterday 
afternoon.  I did manage to copy MTI and AJO by ear a few times each, 
however.

This afternoon, OH is reportedly back on 13556.6, so I may give a listen.

John 
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