Let me start with saying that receiving stations from Canada is always special for me. I lived 4 years in Edmonton, Alberta with my family. My (then 8 year old) son learned to play hockey in those years and is still playing hockey (I always have to say “ice hockey” back in Europe 😉) and my wife became a hockey-mum and is still watching NHL plays of the Edmonton Oilers at night. #97 Connor McDavid is our hero! So I really liked listening to CBI with the CBC One program from Sydney on 1140 kHz.
Better enjoy it while it lasts as they are planning to move to “FM only”. Fortuntaely, as FM coverage is a concern they are still in the air on 1140 kHz. Good for us DX-ers! I have to admit that when we lived in Canada we relied heavily on satellite radio services like Sirius XM given the distances we traveled through sparsely populated areas.
As CBI is one of the trans-Atlantic stations that are easier to receive I was surprised to find out that I did not have a QSL in my possession from my early days as a DX-er. So I was very pleased that Meredith Dellandrea replied to my email to confirm my reception report.
As I like to listen to MW and LW this is a part of the radiohobby I really need to dig in now that I live in a better location for DX stations.
What antenna you prefer for MW DXing ?
73, Patrick
Hi Patrick,
My dream antenna would be a beverage… but the only place where I can put 300 meters of wire is on a coil in the cupboard 😉
Other DX-ers have very good experiences with a Wellbrook ALA 1530, and I was looking to buy one. But the manufacturer did not ship to NL anymore, and this year they went out of business. So I am working with a Megaloop FX active antenna. It cost slightly less than 500 Euros. I fitted it with a 1.2 m diameter ring (which is actually a macrame ring I bought online at a hobby shop). I’ve mounted it on a Yaesu G-450C rotor which is perfect for lightweight antenna’s. The antenna has a good direction sensitivity on LW and MW, which is an advantage if you want block unwanted stations. I have picture of the set-up on my “shack” page, but copied it below for convenience.
I also have a MLA30+ … for about 50 Euros. Note: sometimes I see the previous version “MLA30” for sale for half the price. Not sure I would recommend that one, I’ve no experience with it. The MLA 30+ is connected to the 5 mtr stainless steel wire in diamond shape that came with the Megaloop FX. I modified it so it has a BNC connector now. I used this antenna successfully on the campsite, where I was not comfortable leaving the more expensive Megaloop FX unsupervised. I can only say that I made very nice logs with it. I have it in use as my second antenna split for my RSPdx (usually on DSC watch) and my JRC535 (these days on SSTV watch). See below the set-up on the campsite: tape and pvc piping, that’s all! On top you see my Boniwhip antenna, but that one needs more testing (I got the impression it worked well when the soil was wet, so I had a good ground plane, but less so when the weather became drier).
Thank you very much for this detailed description of your “antenna farm” 🙂
At the moment I am only using an indoor passive loop, named Youloop, you probably heard of it and it works really well in combination with the AirspyHF+ Discovery.
I also have a PA0RDT miniwhip laying around somewhere, but never used it as it picked up too much noise and needs a very good ground. But I do have the parts for building an active loop, and if I only could find a perfect aluminium tube loop. 😉
That macramé ring is a good idea, I’ll look for that !
Good DX !