AND7: Radio Monte Cristi 580 kHz

Although it is not an unusual station in northern Europe, Radio Monte Cristi on 580 kHz had a very nice signal one morning on AND7. They were the frequency dominant station with Radio Rebelde and WKAQ surfacing occasionally. Listen to this nice recording.

AND3 final log

It’s been a couple of years since the last draft of the AND3 log was published. Although it is still remotely possible that some of us could find the time to take another look at the recordings from the autumn of 2008, it is time to publish what we think will be the final log. Several interesting additions have been made since the last draft, all of the new stations have been marked according to the symbols and coloring mentioned at the top of the document.

AND7: CW41 Radio 41

While conditions to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and central southern Brazil were never outstanding during AND7, we did get a few pretty decent openings towards that part of the world. The new 255 degrees antenna did an excellent job at making those signals readable. Some of the unusual stations identified so far are 1320 Area 1 AM (Caseros, BA), 1460 Radio Contacto (San Antonio de Padua, BA), 1490 Rádio Vila (Vila Rica, MT) and 1300 Radio Fe y Alegria (Asunción – excellent peaks). CW41 Radio 41 (San José) isn’t that unusual, however, their signal was truly excellent on one occasion. Just listen!

AND6 log

The first draft of the AND6 log is now ready. The log is far from complete, for instance we’ve not spent much time listening below 650 and above 1600 kHz. While we are still discovering quite a few new stations every week, most of the listening time over the next months will likely be devoted to AND7 recordings. Expect to see updates to previous AND logs the next few weeks, there should be some interesting stations there as well.

AND7: October 21-22

Stations from Brasil were audible just after 20 UTC. An hour later North American stations became dominant and conditions were above average with good signals and quite a few stations on several frequencies. The best NA signals were noted from sunrise and well into the morning hours. We haven’t had the time to listen extensively to the recordings but there could easily be some interesting catches.

Looking back at the first night we note that 1360 Nueva Q FM was audible until 07 UTC when WMOB and WDRC became too strong competitors.

AND7: October 20-21

An average day with the first trans-atlantics heard as late as after 21h UTC. Some stations from Puerto Rico and Venezuela heard early on, then gradually stations from the Great Lakes became dominant and by 01 UTC the Latin Americans were gone. Mostly dominants heard throughout the night and until noon UTC.

With the weather improving significantly we were treated to a nice aurora display in the evening.

AND7: October 19-20

It was another interesting AND day. LA stations were back with 1320 yielding Rádio Regional de Sobral shortly after 20 UTC, then Rádio Tropical (Curitiba). Radio Perú reached near audio level as early as 21:50 UTC. After 22:00 stations from the Great Lakes took command for a while. Later on strong, widespread signals from North America were heard, mainly on the most northerly antenna. Like the day before stations were heard into the UTC afternoon, although not with as many interesting stations.

One of those stations were 1550 WRHC Coral Gables FL. Here’s a short audio clip where they are heard with an ID for their sister station 670 WWFE.

AND7 – Tuesday Oct.18

The last antenna project was a beverage at 282 degrees intended for northern South America, Central America, the Caribbean and US east coast stations. The total length is 850 meters. The antenna got off to a great start with another strong evening opening to the northeastern US. WEGP was noted at 19:51 UTC and conditions were truly astonishing for the next 17 hours. Although we thought we had an idea what really good NA conditions would be like, we were unprepared for the signal levels and the incredible number of stations surfacing. At 11 UTC on Oct.19 there was hardly a channel with signals less than S9, and that with a noise floor at -135 dBm (NetSDR, -150 dBm as measured by Perseus) meant that many stations were received with local like quality. For instance a quick check of some channels had XECL way on top of CBW on 990 while KIHH 1400 buried the competition with a loud signal.

AND7 – Monday Oct.17

The “Chicago” antenna was our next project, a beverage extending to 800 meters at 300 degrees. We didn’t expect much from its first night in use, however, it is nice when you are pleasantly surprised. Daytime signals from the US east coast were heard just before 20h UTC and one hour later there were several daytimers on most NA channels. Certainly one of the best, if not the best, evening opening to North America in AND history. And the strong signals from NA continued throughout the night and into Tuesday morning. We could pack our bags now and go back home with enough listening material for at least a year.  Needless to say we are very happy with the performance of our antennas and all other equipment used. This year the receivers include several Persei and one NetSDR. A lot of effort has gone into improving the power supply situation. All laptops and receivers use very quiet, linear regulated power supplies resulting in a remarkable decrease in noise compared to our previous efforts.

AND7 – Sunday Oct.16

We arrived safely on Andøya after an exhausting 22-hour nonstop car trip from Oslo Airport. The “La Paz” antenna was completed, 900 meters  at 255 degrees, and our first attempt at an antenna that in theory should cover most of South America. We expect that a complete analysis of the recordings from the first night easily could take 6 months as there is a large number of stations on many frequencies. The antenna appears to have been even more successful than we hoped for. The first stations from Brazil were heard at 19:40 UTC and later on we were treated to “everything” from South America.