[Lowfer] LW AM Stations Heard in N.A.

[Steve Ratzlaff]

In Oregon I heard the Europeans and Africa LWBC in the evening just 
after sunset to a couple of hours later. Of course there all reception 
was "over the pole" which isn't the case here in AZ. But I listen at the 
same times as before. When conditions are poor sometimes only the 
carriers are heard just after sunset then fade away. For good conditions 
signals can peak an hour or so after sunset; for really good conditions 
they can last for 4 hours. I have not seen any decent conditions so far 
this season, unfortunately. I use a variety of radios--old Icom R75; 
Perseus SDR, etc. They all work well. For SSB one uses USB or LSB 
depending on the frequency--198 BBC and 189 Iceland would use LSB; 171 
Morocco and 252 Algeria would use USB. 162 France of course has no audio 
but continues to run the low pitched data signal for the "atomic 
clocks". One uses CW mode with a lower bandwidth and when the signal is 
halfway decent you can easily hear the low pitched warble. I use 100 Hz 
bandwidth. Sometimes conditions will favor one direction such as only 
171 and 252 for awhile, then an hour later 162 or 198 will be heard. 
Sometimes 151 and 252 are absent and only 162 or 198 are heard. 
Sometimes only 162 is heard and I've had it at good level at times, and 
is the only thing being heard. My location of course is very different 
from yours, but these are general guidelines that should work any where 
in North America.

Good luck!

Steve

On 3/8/2023 9:57 AM, Gedas wrote:
> Hi Steve and thank you very much for that excellent summary. I think 
> your long wires have a lot to do with it !  I saw a YT video of a SWL 
> in the Midwest that used a huge beverage (I think about 1/2 mile) and 
> was switching around to several LW AM frequencies......it was really, 
> really  impressive !  But this was some years ago when many stations 
> were around and prop was quite different.
>
> I have several followup questions based on your reply, I hope you (and 
> the group) do not mind.
>
> When you said you lived in the PNW were you able to pickup the 
> European LW stations from there or were these Asian LW stations?
>
> For Morocco, what (local time for you) did you usually find signals 
> the best for Europe? I seem to see the strongest carriers starting 
> about 3 hrs before my SR up until about an hour before SR.
>
> I also do not understand why, with carriers peaking 20 dB out of the 
> NF I am not able to detect any modulation. Even if I did have a local 
> birdy on that frequency I should be seeing some signs of the 
> modulation in the waterfall but I am not. I usually listen using 2-3 
> kHz AM (usually SAM) and 2-3 kHz USB or LSB. In either case it's a 
> no-go.  I will concentrate on Morocco although it is probably too late 
> in the season.
>
> What do you use for a receiver?
>
> TU again, most helpful. 73
>
> Gedas, W8BYA EN70JT
>
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> Light travels faster than sound....
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>
>