Labrador Archives - Peter's DX Corner

My first QSL for a Canadian beacon was YMH Mary’s Harbour. But the first NDB I received from Canada was NDB CA on 281 kHz for Cartwright Airport. With 4022 kilometers the distance is a little bit further than YMH at 4009 kilometers.

Jennifer from Navcanada was so kind to confirm my reception report. And we exchanged some ideas for the exchange of QSL cards from Navcanada (which would be great!).

QSL letter for NDB CA Cartwright on 281 kHz

Below an audioclip of the reception of NDB CA… for those not familiar with morse code… it is -.-. .- (dah-di-dah-di di-dah) that you will hear:

Cartwright Airport has only one gravel runway of 1200 meters. Twice a week there are flights to Goose Bay (the biggest airport of Labrador) and Black Tickle, an Inuit settlement on the Island of Ponds.

If you want to explore Cartwright Airport, you could use the webcam… but there is not a lot to see.

Green circle is Cartwright NDB on 281 kHz. The water aerdrome is marked with a cross, and Cartwright airport with the purple plane.

A very nice QSL letter from Jennifer Bath at NAV Canada for my reception of NDB YMH Mary’s Harbour on 250 kHz, 4012 kms away from my home location. It was not the first Canadian NDB that I received at my location (that was CA-281 Cartwright), but it is my first QSL. Thanks to Wolf, DE2WHG, for giving me the address tip.

To my surprise I wasn’t only able to receive this signal during summer, but also in pretty good quality as you can see on the picture below. I have to admit that with 1000 Watt the transmitter power is higher than most European beacons. And Roelof Bakker – and experienced NDB DX-er – told me that indeed this beacon is often stronger in summer than CA from Cartwright.

Mary’s Harbour Airport (YMH) is a small airport in Canada with domestic flights only, operated solely by Provincial Airlines (PAL Airlines). There are two non-stop destinations from Mary’s Harbour: Blanc-Sablon (YBX) and St. Lewis (YFX), each with around 9 flights per month.