[Lowfer] Daylight Lowfers

[JD]

After I watched 137 for a while at mid-day (MP doing fine), it dawned on me 
to take advantage of the low noise level prevailing right then to try the 
same thing at 185.  I dashed to town and e-mailed Mark Dittmar to ask if he 
could put MBD on this afternoon.  He did, just as I got back to the field, 
so I got to watch it settle in to its frequency.

Right about the middle of the first "B" was when the showers moving in from 
Oklahoma decided to develop electrical characteristics.  I monitored the 
relative number of static crashes on the low end of the AM broadcast band 
relative to the number showing up at LF, so I could judge the approximate 
distance...LF being less attenuated by distance than MF.  At first, fewer 
than 1 in 10 showed up on AM.  When the ratio became be about one out of 
every four or five on LF, I figured my session was just about over anyway. 
In the end, it was rain-induced powerline noise that ended up driving me 
from the field, though.  When the anticipated "D" never showed up on screen, 
there wasn't much point in continuing.

Not only was MBD coming in well up to that time, but on a different screen I 
was watching WMS, SIW, and CV, who also all did well until the buzz showed 
up.  Argo reported the relative dB levels (prior to the QRM) as:

WMS -47
SIW -44 to -47
CV -43
MBD -50
median background prior to lightning: -61.9 dB 
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