LOGS / NEWS - NOVEMBER 2012 A site mainly dedicated to Mediumwave Dxing |
| 940 | WMAC | MACON, GA |
30/10/12 0700 |
| 1070 | WCSZ | San Souci, SC |
05/11/12 0002 (see below for rec made in USA) |
| 1350 | KRNT | Des Moines, IA |
30/10/12 0630, 0700, 0705 |
= "Play Clip" button
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Isn't the MW band simply shocking at this time. Nothing there to keep me interested these days. I hope it is not going to continue all winter like this. On a brighter note, the hf band around 30mhz is alive again with tadx signals amongst others. Some real strong 10m and 11m signals as well.
There are a few news reports from the national newspapers and NPR etc about an announcement that NASA is soon to (finally?) make in early December about a discovery of "earthshattering" proportions, and "one for the history books". But they are remaining their usual quiet selves about it. In fact the CURIOSITY ROVER web pages are a particular mess, and all over the place. So are the news reports. Trying to find archived re runs of press releases and press conferences, is almost impossible. Some of the audio files they make public are of telephone quality, like something from the 1960's. Surely an organisation like NASA have the resources to make their output in the public domain a bit more user friendly, less silly pointless jumping graphics, and give us broadcast quality audio instead of something that 2LO wouldn't have used! Back bedroom audio web streams these days have high bitrate stereo , 24 / 7!! Anyway, I digress. On SOL 65, (SOL = a Martian day) a strange image appeared of "something" on the ground. It was suggested that it "may" be debris from the landing, or off the rover. Now just what is this item?? Is it a piece of tape / insulating material,
What is the object then?? Insulation?? A piece of vegitation of some kind?? Is it like those tubes that tube worms live in, or even a skin that has been shed by a beast?? I myself have a roll of DRAPER tape with a similar ribbed pattern on it. Surely a very expensive piece of kit like curiosity doesn't however have "bits falling off??" Below are samples of similar earthy items. A roll of DRAPER tape, and below, left to right. A piece of grassy vegitation, a leek, another piece of withered grassy vegitation, (probably the closest match to the above to look at), and a cylinder made from the draper tape.
==================== DIRECT LINK TO NASA IMAGE http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00065/mhli/0065MH0039001000E1_DXXX.jpg ============================
I am not sure if I have read any NASA comments about the photos that appeared in the raw images on SOL 93, 97, 98. (Or was it 96) It appears as though some kind of growth has started on part of the lander. If that is not some kind of vegitation, what is it? There are even small spores visible. Could it be simply ties of string, for want of a better word, with candle wax type stuff to stop the knot coming out?? (Suggested to me over a few beers one night by a friend) Is this the earth shattering news / discovery?? Surely the big news is not that they have found a microbe?? Or chemicals that prove life once existed. That is hardly going to be described as earth shattering. Yet as we type, there are other web pages reporting that NASA is playing down the news!! What are we to believe?? What are we to be told?? Anything worthwhile?? They even describe the trees on mars images as illusions, or dunes, or CO2 streaming upwards. Let's hope that they can at the very least admit to having found a growth!! Something. Why would they be scared to announce life on mars to the public??? Is there life on Mars?? Sure looks like it to me, with some of the images available on the NASA sites, but then do you have to have a masters degree to judge what a tree or vegitation looks like???
Check out a couple of full images reproduced here and levels adjusted to auto. Links to the original NASA pages are also listed. =============================== LINK TO RAW IMAGE INDEX PAGE, AND NAVIGATE TO SOL 65, 93, 97, 98 <http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=> ======================= DIRECT LINK TO ONE OF THE ABOVE IMAGES FROM SOL 98 http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=0098MH0138000000E1_DXXX&s=98 http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00098/mhli/0098MH0138000001E1_DXXX.jpg ========================== In the links pages, we link to the excellent Mars Anomaly site. This is not a conspiracy site as such, but rather a site that links every image back to the original NASA image. I am surprised there has been no mention of Curiosity as yet from Joseph, the web editor.
MARS ANOMALY RESEARCH "THE REAL MARS" MARS ANOMALY RESEARCH "DUNES OR LIFE" MARS ANOMALY RESEARCH "DUNES - TREES" MARS ANOMALY RESEARCH "STRANGE COLOSSIS"
Isn't the Perseus technology just great. I just love having a really good recording from a really good day, that I can play back off and on at my leisure.
940 WMAC - MACON / WARNER ROBINS - I have also heard another new one, WMAC GA 940 0700 30/10. 980 KKMS, Richfield / Minneapolis 0700 30/10 Best on AM - Not a pers 1st, but a rarity. After 0700, some classical music was creeping in on 950 as well as 1250. My first log of these this season. (Manitoba Canada stations). Other stns noted were 960 KMA, 1200 WOAI, 920 a cumulous station, with ABC News, poss KDHL. 0800 was poor, and files already gone, but I unfortuantely never recorded 0900, which was rather good it seems according to dx neighbour Paul C. Instead I was listening top the recordings!! There hasn't really been any good late openings yet at these lattitudes, with that exception.
DX LOGS: 1070
WCSZ Sans Souci, SC 0002 5/11 (SS DAYTIMER, tip from NJMWDX)
THE GOOD - WCSZ - SANS SOUCI, SC: I was rather pleased to find an ss id on 1070 from Sunday night / Monday morning, thanks to a hot tip from SNJMWDX. WCSZ in SC is a personal first I believe. Listen
to my clip Listen
to Stateside clip from SNJMWDX
THE BAD - WTKS - SAVANNAH, GA: But all is not pleasant on the personal first front. I was overly enthusiastic with the delete key, and wiped a few gigs of Perseus files the other day, while not being quite finished with them. I heard a rarer GA station, as did dx neighbout Paul C, on 1290 on 2/11 I think it was. 0400?? WTKS Savannah GA. Sadly I have now lost the file, and despite trying various undelete pieces of software, I was beaten. The drive has been written and rewritten to a few times so no doubt the file is well gone. (I once managed to undelete a file of a German station sign off forever, when I was too heavy on the delete button...) So one that should be added to the all time list, but won't be, but will be a thorn in my side till it pops it's head up again!!!
I am still hearing stations. Not too much of interest, but still the dx is getting thru. Today, Friday 2nd. the so called X band was showing some signals from Florida, with the Avenue 1660 sounding good and loud at peaks. On 1700 I initially thought I was hearing a Radio Disney ID and W calls in the mush, which threw me, but it was a YL, IDing as Radio something, on WJCC, FL. Bloomberg 1680 KRJO Monroe, LA was also coming thru at various times during the night.
10 METRE ANTENNA: I have made and put up a new antenna this week, with invaluable assistance from Davie H. The antenna is more or less an Avanti Moonraker 4, with modifications to suit. This one is a Moonraker 3-KD (Ken & Davie..lol) Modifications are: 1. Only the horizontal section is made, with the full sized reflector. 2. The antenna is a 3 element, and not a 4 element like the original Avanti aerial.. Davie had some concern in the early stages, about the physical size of the elements, and was convinced that the elements carefully measured from a diagram I made from an aerial that was being put up locally, were short. A size was found on the web, and it was soon realised that the measurements that had been taken 20 or more years ago were wrong!! The measurements of the boom, element spacing, and reflector were fine, but the elements were short. Why?? The only possible explanation for not having the right dimensions, is that the final measurements must have been taken before the small thin wire rods, like tent pegs, had been added to the ends!!
But all was well that ended well, and the constructiuon is now up in the fresh air, able to be turned, all be it manually, and receiving exceptionally well. Even Australia has been received already, even though 10m is a little depressed compared to the last few weeks. The transatlantic stations boom in daily in the afternoons, and I am more than happy with the results!! It is good to have the high frequencies open like this, although as I say the higher end has been very depressed over the last days. The end of the elements were straightened with a long stick!! If they bend again, like in the photo above, we may drop the aerial and add strengtheners on the elements, where the extra length was added.
WHAT ABOUT WEB RADIO AND 4G?? I have been reading a little on the web boards recently about the launch of 4G in the UK, and what will it mean to radio. Is DAB going to finally take off or is it a dead duck?? Is the way forward web based radio?? Alot of people use their phones to listen to music. Will they listen to radio streams if the web bandwidth is there for free / no extra charge?? Only the future can determine what MIGHT happen. Maybe yet another platform will emerge that we haven't thought of yet?? So some broadcasters may operate on AM and FM (like Absolute / Virgin), freeview, satellite, web, and many now arrange mobile apps to listen on iphones. Thats a lot of platforms to cough up for up front, from the broadcasters point of view. I have to say that I personally have never had much interest in web streams as a form of entertainment. Maybe I should give it some attention?? Who knows. I do like to hear rf coming through the ether though. But these days I have to use a web stream just to hear the Caroline programmes. For me also, losing Caroline 0199 on satellite was a big miss. It means that the potential for listeners in almost every pub in the country is lost. Many receivers do not even pick up the satellite signal from Caroline now for some reason. An HD box requires a card to hear Caroline. I feel the station is being ripped off by whoever they are hiring airtime from. But would a renegotiation mean a new price? Is that the reason why it is left as is?? Who knows. If that is not the reason, then there is daylight robbery taking place somewhere!!!! So for listening in the pub, punters permitting, Absolute Classic Rock or Absolute 80's are both popular. (So long as the football or horses isn't on..lol). Planet Rock can be worth a check, but sometimes can be "radio obscurity". But to listen on a mobile phone in the pub via a web stream is virtually a no go situation. Unless one wants to be cut off from the bar with earplugs on. I have never I dont think met anyone outside radio circles, or gadget geeks that own web radios. Here in the country area of haggisland, we can struggle with normal phone reception at times, and web speed is particularly slow on these modern phones in many areas. It is remarkably fast when we go into town though. I really don't see radio listeners nowadays on my travels. There are more platforms for radio than ever before, yet folks I know generally seem to have their own CDs on in the car, or the ipod gagets and derivatives. Radio requires the public to take up new platforms. But who are these various Joe's in the public. City slickers with their fancy phones that go into work on the 8.22 every morning, with an earphone in. Or old Jessie the farmers widow that sits on the armchair and listens to the local BBC station, while doing her knitting. And everyone else in between. There is a very long way to go before you will introduce radio to the masses via internet. Who even uses their tv sets to listen to radio, and the ability has been there for 20 odd years since satellite tv was launched to the masses??? The TV itself has long taken over modern house holds, where radio once rulled the waves. Radio is so much less interesting and important to average households, when the tv can be blaring with all the clapping and screaming of the x factor type programmes, or dreaded daytime television shows. Different times I guess. But for this old radio fan, I do wish there was some choice on the airwaves, ie on the radio. As a footnote, some folks like to scoff at the mere mention of MW radio nowadays. Show me a clear channel then?? All the ILR and BBC stations must have some MW audience, surely. Would they survive otherwise? I am convinced that radio audiences in general are just not there, and figure manipulation is probably used to convince advertisers how wonderful station xxx really is. Even the BBC are switching MW transmitters back on, for some reason. It's as though they are determined to hang on to their frequencies, clutching them greedily incase anyone else should be given a chance!!.
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