[Lowfer] NAVAREA4 DX

[n8tl]

Garry:

Thanks a bunch for you inputs.  I have only the e-probe  to rely on here 
at the condo.  I plan to give 490 Khz a run tonight to see if any 
decodes show up.   I take it then that if I have navarea4 selected, then
it interprets Q as Nova Scotia rather than Long Beach.  Maybe I should 
select area 12 and see what I can decode hi hi.  Tonight, I will do 490 
and see if anything shows  up.  Then, I'll look at area 12.

Thanks for you inputs.....Tom N8TL

On 02/09/2015 10:47 AM, Garry Hess wrote:
> 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.
>