{"id":26636,"date":"2017-06-22T08:28:32","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T12:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=26636"},"modified":"2017-06-22T08:28:32","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T12:28:32","slug":"catch-the-2017-bbc-antarctic-midwinter-broadcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/catch-the-2017-bbc-antarctic-midwinter-broadcast\/","title":{"rendered":"Catch the 2017 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Listening to the 2017 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast from the back of my vehicle in Saint-Anne-de-Beaupr\u00e9, Qu\u00e9bec, Canada.<\/p><\/div>\n

Yesterday afternoon, I packed up the\u00a0Sony ICF-SW100<\/a>, Audiomax SRW-710S<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and <\/span>Elecraft KX2<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0portables in\u00a0search of a quite spot to listen to\u00a0<\/span>the BBC World Service\u00a0Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast<\/a>. I also packed my <\/span>PK Loop<\/strong><\/a> and <\/span>NASA PA 30<\/strong> antennas.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m traveling in Canada again and staying in an RFI-dense condo. There was no way I\u2019d hear the broadcast through the noise, so I searched for a field location.<\/p>\n

I discovered a quiet spot to park on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupr\u00e9, Qu\u00e9bec, Canada.<\/p>\n

The location was almost ideal: it was RFI quiet compared to other spots I checked and I had access to a tree where I could hang the NASA PA 30 wire antenna.<\/p>\n

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View of the Saint Lawrence River from my back-of-the-minivan listening post.<\/p><\/div>\n

Once I arrived, with little time to spare, I deployed the NASA PA 30 and connected it to my Elecraft KX2 transceiver.\u00a0I then connected the Sony ICF-SW100 to the PK Loop antenna.<\/p>\n

Since the KX2 is the most sensitive receiver in my travel arsenal–and even has built-in noise blanking, variable DSP noise reduction, and variable filter width–I used it as the source for my recording.<\/p>\n

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I checked audio levels by tuning the KX2 to the Voice of Greece on 9420–VOG was blowtorch strength.<\/p><\/div>\n

None of the frequencies used for the Midwinter broadcast were ideal for my location and time of day (after all, these broadcasts target Antarctica!) but last year I did successfully receive the 41 meter band broadcast.<\/p>\n

My fingers were crossed as the broadcast time approached (17:30 local\/21:30 UTC).<\/p>\n

A few seconds before the half hour, I heard the AM carrier light up on 7,360 kHz (ASCENSION). Very good sign! The broadcast audio followed a few seconds later and was weak, but intelligible. I would give the signal an overall SINPO of 35343.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t receive a thing on the\u00a06035 kHz (DHABAYYA) and only an extremely faint signal on 5985 kHz (WOOFFERTON).<\/p>\n

The Elecraft KX2\/NASA PA 30 combo did prove to be the most effective receiver\/antenna pair.<\/p>\n

I forgot to do two things in advance, however: to turn off the KX2’s key beeps (which would have been audible in the recording had I adjusted receiver settings) and to set my Zoom H2N to record in WAV format. Oh well…<\/p>\n

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I was very pleased with the results, all things considered.<\/p>\n

The Sony ICF-SW100\/PK Loop combo was also quite effective. The signal was a little<\/em> weaker and less stable than the KX2, but I was still very pleased overall. Here’s a short video–note that I have the sync lock engaged:<\/p>\n