Radio Habana Cuba: Dxers Unlimited mid-week edition for November 21, 2000
By Arnie Coro, radio amateur CO2KK
Hi, amigos! This is the mid-week edition of Dxers Unlimited coming to you from Havana, I am Arnie Coro, radio amateur CO2KK, the host of this twice weekly show devoted to the promotion of our wonderful hobby ... radio, in all of its more than 50 different ways that you and I can enjoy it -- from doing backyard solar radio astronomy to playing with simple homebrew receivers, from listening to international shortwave broadcasts to polishing your foreign language skills to enjoying TV signals from far away stations! Yes, there are more than 50 different ways radio can make your life happier, amigos!!!
Now here is item one: Short wave propagation conditions are really EXCELLENT, yes, absolutely -- we are enjoying a period of really nice conditions for Dxing or just listening to your favorite stations, or maybe having a nice two way QSO or amateur radio contact with a friend on the 10 meter band for an hour or more, just as I had yesterday with an enthusiastic ham in Manzanillo, Colima Mexico... More about that nice QSO later in today's mid-week edition of Dxers Unlimited, coming to you with the solar flux now reaching almost 180 units and the smoothed sunspot number holding at a very good 131.
Item two: Solar radio astronomy in your backyard ??? Sure, why not? As a matter of fact, many radio hobbyists are turning retired satellite dishes into solar radio telescopes. And let me tell you, it is not that difficult to accomplish...
Item three: The ASD, assymetric sloping dipole, is also a star performer on the ever-popular DX band. So, at the request of several listeners, I will provide today the measurements for making an ASD for the 14 megaHertz or 20 meter amateur band, which will also work very well for the 19 meters international short wave broadcast band. Ao remember that the ASD is a directional antenna system, that will boost your reception and transmission in the direction that it is sloping down into the ground. ALL this and maybe more, if I can get an extra couple of minutes from our anchor Isabel Garcia. I am sure she will allow me to add some extra time to the show today. Stay tuned... Margarita Delgado my sound engineer and producer, and yours truly, Arnie Coro, will be back with you in a few seconds...
This is Radio Havana Cuba, the name of the show is Dxers Unlimited, our twice-weekly radio hobby show with the most up-to-date propagation update and forecasts!
Here is item two: Ismael is a Mexican radio amateur; he operates his own ham station with the callsign XE1AVM from Manzanillo, Colima, just next to the Pacific Coast. Ismael is an avid six meter band enthusiast, and he has worked some nice DX during the past few days. Monday we had a very nice chat on the 10 meter band; as a matter of fact we both spent more than an hour talking about our stations, antenna systems, and exchanging very interesting DX and propagation information. This kind of two-way contact is possible when the 10 meter amateur band is wide open, because on 10 meters, ionospheric absorption of radio waves is at a minimum. In other words, your signals go through the lower D layer of the ionosphere without losing too much energy, so even with a very low power station, wonderful two-way contacts are possible. Ismael XE1AVM is an excellent example of how radio amateurs learn a lot about electronics and radio wave propagation by working on the 50 megaHertz or 6 meter band.
Now we both are looking forward to a possible contact on 6 meters between XE1AVM and CO2KK as soon as conditions open up between our two locations, and we will keep in touch on 10 meters to exchange data and compare notes... This is how the amateur radio hobby promotes friendship and cooperation, and gives hams a sense of participation that makes this hobby so special. amigos.
Now here is item three: The ASD, assymetric sloping dipole antenna for the 20 meter band. This is in response to a request by several listeners who asked for the data. Well, here are the numbers to start playing with. Remember, the short leg of the ASD, the one that is tied to the high mast, is a quarter of a wavelength at the operating frequency, so for the center of the 20 meter or 14 megaHertz band set for 14.175 kiloHertz, the short leg of the ASD will be approximately 10 meters or 33 feet long. Now, the long leg of the antenna, for the shortest possible ASD, will be three times that length or 30 meters; that is approximately 98 and a half feet.
As you may realize, the ASD for the 20 meter bands is no small backyard antenna. You will need no less than 140 feet of open space to install one, so this is an antenna that can only be installed if you do have a nice piece of real estate for your antenna farm!!! Again, just in case we had QSB or fading during the moments when I was giving the numbers, the ASD for the 20 meter ham band that will also work very well on the 19 meter broadcast band: the short leg 10 meters or 33 feet, the long leg 30 meters or 98 and a half feet. The antenna is fed with 50 or 75 ohm coaxial cable, and you will want to include an 8 turn coaxial cable choke right at the feedpoint. I have used this antenna at one of our contest stations with excellent results. Do remember to make it slope at an angle of between 20 degrees and 45 degrees in the direction you want to work!!!
Get in contact with Dxers Unlimited! Send me an e-mail signal report, add some comments about the show, and if you have any radio hobby related questions, add them too. Send mail to arnie@radiohc.org and if you are not yet in cyberspace, just send an AIRMAIL postcard to Arnie Coro, Radio Havana Cuba, Havana, Cuba. By the way, I still have at hand printed copies of the HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN BROOMSTICK ANTENNA FOR SHORTWAVE, which I can also send to you as an e-mail attachment. The BROOMSTICK is an easy-to-build, low-cost, compact antenna that will improve your shortwave reception significantly when compared with your receiver's telescopic whip. All it takes is an actual broomstick or a length of PVC plumber's pipe, wire, an aluminium disk or heavy wire for the top loading and a wooden base. The step-by-step instructions will show you how to homebrew the BROOMSTICK, you will be pleasently surprised how easy it is to build, and of course, how well it works!!!
I keep a BROOMSTICK always at hand to demonstrate at my shack. One of my favorite demos is to connect the broomstick to the ham radio transceiver and call CQ on either 20 or 10 meters, depending on the time of day and propagation conditions. You should see the faces of my visitors when they witness a ham two-way contact started with the BROOMSTICK sitting right next to the rig! YES -- indoors! And of course, it works much better out in the open.... But even when used indoors ARNIE CORO'S BROOMSTICK will boost your reception significantly as compared with what you can pick up with your radio's telescopic whip. AND, if you add the easy to build, low cost PI NETWORK antenna tuner, reception will improve even more!!!
You can find the information on how to build the BROOMSTICK and the PI NETWORK TUNER in easy-to-download form at Dxers Unlimited's website or if you wish, I can send it to you via e-mail, just send your request to arnie@radiohc.org and I'll send the files as an attachment, including both the PI NETWORK TUNER and the BROOMSTICK antenna, with both text and graphics!!!
And now, amigos, as always at the end of the show, here is Arnie Coro's CO2KK exclusive but not copywrighted, in the public domain, freeware, HF plus 6 meters propagation update and forecast: Solar activity will continue to move slowly up, to reach a peak on this solar rotation about a week from today... The latest sunspot numbers are hovering between 171 and 168 for the last three days, but five days ago the number of sunspots counted was much less, just 144. Short wave propagation conditions are excellent, and will continue to be very nice for the next 48 to 72 hours, BUT we may see solar flares erupting from either solar active region 9231 or 9235 or even both. And of course, if solar flares do erupt, then HF propagation will deteriorate, especially due to the fact that solar active region 9231 is now in a very geoeffective position.
For SIX METER BAND enthusiasts there is GOOD NEWS: We may see periods of very high F2 layer maximum useable frequencies during the next 10 days, making worldwide 50 megaHertz band DX possible. For Medium wave band AM dxers, the good news is that despite the high solar flux, the A index has been very low, so the AM broadcast band has offered some nice DX very late in the evening and just before sunrise local time. THE best band for daytime ham radio activities will continue to be 10 meters, which may even be open after sunset, as it happened here in Havana early evening Monday, when FO5FS from Tahiti, French Polynesia was booming here with an S9 signal at almost three hours after my local sunset!!!
See you all at the weekend edition of the show amigos!!! Don't forget to send your e-mail reports and comments to arnie@radiohc.org, and via AIR MAIL to Arnie Coro, Radio Havana Cuba, Havana, Cuba... I'll be on 28.5 megaHertz on 10 meters when at home, so give me a call there, or return one of my CQ's for a nice two-way QSO!!!
prepared 21-Nov-2000; transmitted 25-Nov-2000
Arnie Coro CO2KK
Havana, Cuba
November 21, 2000Postal address:
Arnie Coro, "Dxers Unlimited"
Radio Havana Cuba, Havana, CUBA
e-mail: arnie@radiohc.org
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