DECEMBER 1975 Hank Holbrook, 7211 Chestnut St., Chevy Chase, MD 20015 QSLed, GMT 7-27: 1600, N223LH 122.8 Cambridge,MD(Crescent Seafood, Inc.; Aero Commander 500B;2-e,7-s; 2500 feet) 8-20: 1640, N3000 121.1 vic Phila.(Swiftlite Aircraft Corp.; North Am. Saberliner;2-e,6-s; 10,000'; 25 watts) 21: 0021, N578 134.0 ov Millville,NJ(Piedmont 53;B-737;28k';25w) 2005, N9515T 133.95 (TWA 151;Boeing 727-31C; rte La Guardia- Columbus; 35,000 feet; 25 watts) 2348, N8100H 134.0 ov Fire Is.,NY (State Street Corp.; Beech King Air 100; 2-engine,11-seat; 25 watts) 22: 2050, N2043Q 128.15 15 mi se Wilmington, DE (Coble Funeral Ser- vice,Inc.;Cessna 177RG;1-e,4-s; 8000 feet) 2348, HK-724 134.0 ov Phila.(Avianca 050; 25 watts) 23: 2251, N77772 134.35 (National 98; MIA-JFK rte; 50 watts) 24: 1547, N6205Y 134.0 nr Fair Haven,MD(Mulford K. Fisher, Jr.; Piper Aztec;1-e,4-s; 9000 feet) 2139, N8732 134.0 (TWA 832;Boeing 7070331B;Dul.-JFK;17k';25w) 2210, N9SG 134.0 ov Salisbury,MD(Wings North;Piper PA-31 Nav- ajo;2-engine, 6-seat; 9000 feet) 9-14: 1717, N252AA 119.7 25 mi se Bal.(John E. Everett,MD; Beech Debonair 35A33;1-e,4-s; 4500 feet) Michael D. Schoenfuss, KWI9AT, PO Box 401, Abbotsford, WI 54405 has just recently started at this hobby and would like to have some suggestions for inexpensive but effective antenna systems; GMT, QSLed 5-30: 2052, KRS 672 152.03 Wausau, WI (Presto Call; 38 miles) 6-9: 0010, KSB 362 159.21 " (Marathon County Police) 10: 1932, KSB 915 47.54 Colby, WI (Medford-Colby Veter.Clinic;1 mi) 11: 0014, KTH 688 155.175 Marshfield, WI (Marshfield Clinic; 19 mi) 23: 1658, KFK 710 161.73 Abbotsford, WI (WIGM AM/FM remote pickup) 10-10: 2030, KSH 719 35.06 " (Abbotsford Oil Company) 21: 0030, KVX 683 155.34 Marshfield, WI (St. Joseph's Hospital) Bob Cooper, Jr., Rt 5 - Box 782, Guthrie, OK 73044 has recently become very interested in the NOAA stations on 162.40/.55; superior correlation has been found with the Wichita (the closest on at this time) signal and VHF-UHF conditions; Kansas City (162.55) gives excellent warning of UHF into Iowa; some 60 new stations are planned for next year (and also a 162.45 channel will be added in 1976-77). The stations run 200-1,000 watts into omni-antennas with ERP's up to 6 kw (the local weather info they provide can also be useful in plotting favorable trop conditions). Bob would like to hear from others using these for trop or Es beacons. Solar flux/A-Index for Oct 1975 - 1: 76/6; 2: 78/3; 3: 78/7; 4: 76/6; 5: 76/5; 6: 75/20; 7: 74/25; 8: 74/29 9: 76/28; 10: 75/21; 11: 74/6; 12: 74/13; 13: 79/7; 14: 80/12; 15: 81/5; 16: 79/6; 17: 79/6; 18: 80/6; 19: 79/2; 20: 78/4; 21: 76/7; 22: 75/5; 23: 75/6; 24: 74/4; 25: 73/3; 26: 73/4; 27: 73/4; 28: 73/4; 29: 72/12; 30: 73/9; 31: 71/14 avg: 75.8 Nov 1975 - 1: 72/6; 2: 73/25; 3: 74/40; 4: 77/32; 5: 80/15; 6: 82/12; 7: 82/8; 8: 83/5; 9: 80/18; 10: 80/10; 11: 80/12; 12: 81/9; 13: 81/4; 14: 85/2; 15: 86/2; 16: 90/6 - the highest solar flux since early Sep and the most active magnetic field since a March storm
VHF UTILITY DX DECEMBER 1975 Now, my own loggings. Allied A-2586, Hallicrafters SX-62; Hammarlund SP-600-JX-10 (with ICM BAX-1 tuned preamp); 30' long-wires at 12', run ne-sw and nw-se; peak F2 MUF noted, bs-backscatter; hi-band with Wards 62-1 with 18-inch whip; GMT used; tr-tropo 10-13: 1720, 35.28 24: 1600, 32.000 2: 2018, KFL 936 bs 14: 2100, 36.90 25: 1650, 32.000 2025, KKI 445 bs 15: 2017, 37.000 26: 1728, 32.000 2031, KMA 829 bs 16: 2031, 37.000 2254, KKI 445 bs 2040, 40.000 17: 1543, KIF 651 (Es) 27: 1810, 35.28 3: 1510, KHB 41 tr 1634, KIE 953 (Es) 28: 1540, 32.000 1900, 40.000 2057, 37.62 2350, 35.58 bs 4: 1735, 35.28 18: 2130, 32.96 29: 1655, 35.28 5: 1935, 37.000 19: 2215, 35.28 1700, 35.62 bs 6: 1615, 32.02 20: 2023, 37.000 1738, KKJ 460 bs 7: 2135, 35.28 21: 2130, 35.28 30: 1630, 35.28 8: 1545, 32.000 2210, 35.62 bs 31: 2120, 35.22 1945, 35.58 bs 22: 1915, 35.28 11-1: 0512, KME 438 (Es) 9: 2055, 38.85 23: 1730, 35.28 1705, 32.000 10: 2130, 37.15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ KFL 936 35.58 (west) KKI 445 35.58 Houston, TX KHB 41 162.55 Cor. Christi, TX-w KKJ 460 35.22 Ft. Worth, TX KIE 953 35.58 Atlanta, GA KMA 829 35.58 San Diego, CA KIF 651 35.58 Ft. Lauderdale, FL KME 438 35.22 Orange, CA. w-weather; rest are A2 (tone) paging stations ------------------------------------------------------------------------ With the lack of solar flux, this fall might turn out to be the poorest for transcontinental F2 MUF's since 1964. In the past few days there has been signs of Canada on 30.02 and 30.42. Since these are probably around 1800-2000 miles, the maximum one-hop of about 2400 miles should be open a few MHz higher than that. It is for that reason that reports from the east and west coasts concern- ing the F2 MUF are earnestly desired. Exact station identifications are not required, just the states would do (e.g., the east coast hearing 33-MHz fire departments from California etc.). The low end of 30-MHz is for government use, and activity (compared to 30.5-32.0) is very sparse. However, this is the spot in which to look for some of those 15-MHz second harmonics (like WYFR on 30.22 here) from the VOA, AFRTS, etc. Often, the MUF will not go beyond 30.5 to bring in the pile of business stations. If the MUF does climb to 32.0 there is another MHz of government allocation before the medical paging stations on the low end of 33 MHz are reached. Then, with luck, it may spread to the fire departments. Then, still another 1-MHz chunk for government, until the business and paging 35-MHz segment is met. Since starting 30-50 MHz monitoring in 1967, there hasn't yet been a fall when KCC 482 in NH wasn't in at least once on F2. This may well be the year it wont. So, for those with the scanner receivers, getting a crystal or two for 33.04, 33.70, etc. would provide a very easy way to catch what limited F2 there will be this fall (and perhaps even next). F2 MUF's can be incredibly sharp (unlike the often "fuzzy" Es MUF) with just a few 100 kHz being the dividing line, so the MUF might be stagnating just under the spot you're tuned to. 73, WA5IYX