Mount Evelyn DX Report

LUNCHTIME DX AT PHEASANT CREEK October 24, 2016 For the past two weeks, I've been away on the Central Coast of New South Wales, attending a reunion of some dear friends. And rather than make a mad dash back home to Mount Evelyn again, I took a few extra days to visit Canberra (our national capital) and part of the Australian Alpine region. Overall, a lovely time away while tallying up 2700 km in my car (the Orange Rocket!). During the trip, most of my time was focused on photography. However, yesterday, I spent lunchtime listening to the Tecsun PL-680 receiver in the Pheasant Creek Nature Conservation Reserve, near the little town of Tallangatta, northeastern Victoria. Driving through beautiful mountainous country was a real pleasure. Listening to Rádio Nacional Brasilia. The list below was quickly compiled between 0215 and 0330 UTC (1:15 and 2:30pm local time) 7260   VANUATU. R. Vanuatu - Port Vila, A whisper of a signal at 0220 f/in. Improved by 0330. ...

Melbourne weather: Wild wind storms leave 40,000 homes without power with rain, hail and thunder on the way (The Age Newspaper) CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT, THE RADIO GOES ON! Here's a very quick report........ The past week has been very busy at Mount Evelyn with many non-radio related distractions. And now I've started a short (by my standards!) road trip to Newcastle and Port Stephens, north of Sydney, which will see me absent from home for the next ten days. Unfortunately, I've got rather behind in my posting to MEDXR. On Sunday October 9, my state of Victoria was subjected to significant storms with rain and destructive winds. In my region of the state, an area known as the Yarra Ranges and Yarra Valley, many residents were without power for days, and some homes for nearly a week, as large trees fell across power lines and onto houses. Indeed, one death occurred about 20 minutes from Mount Evelyn when a huge tree crushed the house. For...

AN OLD ANTENNA COUPLER (....As Used By An Old Radio Operator!) Recently, I've had several questions about the antenna coupler you've seen in some of the VK3BVW radio shack pictures. It's a fabulous old unit and I use it every day. So this post and the YouTube video below take a closer look at the Tokyo Hy-Power Labs HC-500A. So, what's an antenna coupler? It is a impedance matching device, used between the antenna and the transceiver or receiver. It is often referred to as an antenna tuning unit (ATU) or simply an antenna tuner. But actually that title is really a bit of a misnomer! In fact, it has no influence on, or tuning of, the antenna itself. The insertion of an antenna coupler in the circuit allows for the maximum transfer of RF energy from a transmitter to the antenna, and for the optimum impedance matching (and hence energy transfer) between the antenna and a receiver.  The Tokyo Hy-Power Laboratory was founded in 1975 by Nobuki Wakabayashi, JA1DJ...

WEAK SIGNAL DX USING THE TECSUN PL680 Mini DXpedition - September 30, 2016 Here is a demonstration of the sensitivity of the Tecsun PL680 portable receiver on a visit to Mount Prospect, near Daylesford, Central Victoria during a time of high geomagnetic storm activity. The 680 proves to be remarkably sensitive in detecting weak signals. Click on the YouTube video below for more details.....but watch out for the WILD ANIMALS!! Here's the log book notes for the afternoon's activity: 5910 FRANCE. R. Japan - Issoudun. At 0340 in Japanese to CAm, fair to weak signal.  5985 USA. R. Japan - Okeechobee FL. Spanish to CAm at 0405, poor signal.  7330 ROMANIA. RRI - Galbeni. S/on 0359 in Romanian to SEu, fair signal.  7335 USA. R Marti - Greenville NC. Spanish with a weak signal, 0345.  7570 USA. Overcomer Ministry - Okeechobee FL. Very weak signal at f/in 0423.  9535 CUBA. R. Habana - Bejucal. Spanish to CAm 0430.  9550 ...