Mount Evelyn DX Report

The Angostura Bridge featured in the Radio Bolívar station logo OPENING THE LOGBOOK - APRIL 1972 Each month, I open the old records to see what I (and others) heard decades ago.  It has been fun looking back at old issues of the Australian DX News (ADXN - the newsletter of the Australian Radio DX Club), bringing back lots of memories. Here are some memories from  April 1972—54 years ago!  All frequencies in kHz; all times are UTC (or GMT, as we used to say in those days!). Shortwave News There were some fine catches noted by ARDXC members during April 1972, including the following: 6160   CKZN - St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. David Foster captured this extremely rare low-powered (300 watts) signal at 2205 UTC with news and a station ID as "CBC Radio Network", eventually fading out around 2230. What's remarkable about this reception, aside from its low power, is that the signal would have travelled via the long path, an almost all-darkness path (see the red do...

Realistic DX-160   BUYING USED SHORTWAVE RECEIVERS: Practical Advice for DXers A Mount Evelyn DX Report Retro Receiver Reviews Companion Guide Over the past decade, the Mount Evelyn DX Report has published numerous Retro Receiver Reviews, examining classic shortwave and communications receivers from earlier decades. Most of these have been written by long-time friend Craig Seager VK2HBT, with a few extra from myself (Rob VK3BVW).  Radios such as the Sony ICF-2010, Yaesu FRG-7, Drake R8 series, and other well-known designs still appear regularly on the second-hand market and continue to attract interest from DXers and radio enthusiasts.  These receivers are no longer manufactured, yet they remain capable performers. Buying one second-hand can be an excellent way to experience classic radio engineering while expanding a listening station at relatively modest cost. However, vintage electronics require careful evaluation. Age, wear, storage conditions, and previous modificati...

  Strong Signals, No Decodes:  Auroral Flutter and the Bouvet–Australia FT8 Puzzle When the 3Y0K DXpedition to Bouvet Island went on the air, many amateur radio operators across eastern Australia eagerly sought a contact. Bouvet is one of the rarest DX entities on Earth, and any activation naturally sparks strong interest on the HF bands. Yet something unusual happened. Some Australian operators reported seeing Bouvet signals clearly on their FT8 waterfalls. In some cases, the signals appeared reasonably strong. However, despite this, decodes were rare or nonexistent. That was the case at my QTH. This isn't a beams-and-high-power setup. My modest operation involves 50 W into an 80m long horizontal skyloop or a 30m vertical delta loop. I saw the 3Y0K signal numerous times, but there was only one decode. Talk about frustrating! This was quite baffling. After all, FT8 is known for its ability to decode signals well below the noise floor. If the signal was visible, why wasn't it d...