[Lowfer] NAVAREA4 DX

[Garry Hess]

Tom, not bad, especially since I think the Q station you decoded was 
area 12, Long Beach, CA, not Nova Scotia. I haven't detected area 4, Q 
for some time but CA comes in most nights with messages clearly related 
to the US west coast. Surprised Puerto Rico, area 4, station R didn't 
show up last night - it's usually on, but perhaps station N QRMed it. N 
nearly always runs well past its 10 minute slot. Other area 12 stations 
that are pretty regular are C in San Francisco and W in Astoria, OR. Got 
C here last night but not W. When propagation to the west is good area 
12, stations D and H in BC decode and when they're really good stations 
O, J, and X decode (HI, AK, AK). To the south area 4, station H(2) in 
Curacao sometimes sneaks in there over the much stronger H(1) in 
Wiarton, ON. To decode Europe you need a very big antenna, to live along 
the Atlantic coast, or tune for 490 kHz Navtex. I haven't had much 
success except by doing the third choice. Stations there broadcast in 
the local languages (the 4 Canadian stations send messages in French), 
whereas 518 kHz broadcasts are supposed to be in English (area 15, 
station K in Chile sends Spanish instead for the few times I've copied it).

Jay, W1VD pointed out long ago that the best Navtex decoder was SeaTTY. 
However, since then perhaps Yand has improved. The former must be 
purchased while the latter is free.

-- 
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL