Lui, Gough / VK2FGYL
Apologies for the lateness of this report - I had underestimated the time required to decode the mountain of SSTV images successfully recorded today. My report is as follows:
Today's program at 0800UTC was sent at a very opportune time for me, as propagation appeared to favour the Pacific which was mostly in darkness or was approaching darkness. As I had previously received the program from the USA/Canada, this would be an opportunity to receive the program from a distance as well - adding the influence of shortwave propagation to the mix. Additionally, your choice of just four distinct frequencies made reception much easier as I parked one receiver on 2820kHz while I moved the other to catch the other frequencies in use (3150/3350/8000kHz).
It was fortuitous that the timing of the program was very early in the morning for those residing in the USA, as my preferred Canadian KiwiSDR (VA6DX) was essentially unoccupied. This permitted me to receive all portions of the program from VA6DX (Alberta, Canada) with a signal strength of S7 with minimal interference:
I consider this my best result to date, as I have now been able to receive the full transmission. Interestingly, on my receptions in the Pacific region, towards the end of the 8000kHz SSTV images, there are some fishery vessels transmitting voice just underneath the broadcast, which didn't seem to affect the images but was unexpected.
[Unfortunately, my e-mail client will not let me attach in-line all SSTV images as there are 97 of them, so I have attached a ZIP file containing all the images - file names should be self-explanatory.]
The decoded images from VA6DX were also good to very-good in quality:
I would feel guilty attempting to claim a QSL solely based on the performance of other people's receivers - today's program provided the only opportunity to attempt reception from Sydney. Reception equipment entailed my trusty Icom IC-R75 and a Wellbrook ALA-1530L magnetic loop. Unfortunately, the high noise floor, small antenna and proximity to sunset worked against reception of the lower frequencies, with the 8000kHz SSTV images received in a very noisy/ghosty way due to a mass of QRM:
Those living with a lower noise-floor in the area would have easily received your program.
Reception was also attempted via SDRBris (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) which is north of my location, but also affected by QRM:
Across the pond in New Zealand, I had better luck with ZMH292 Northland Radio (Bay of Islands, New Zealand) although with sporadic network connectivity issues corrupting the SSTV images:
Further south, I tried a receiver in Marahau, New Zealand which suffered more connectivity problems - really does have an artistic "ghosty" feel with the synchronisation losses:
Further in the Pacific, I used AI6VN in Maui, Hawaii which received an excellent signal on 8000kHz and a good signal otherwise, affected by a locally high noise-floor resulting in none of the 2820kHz SSTV images being receivable:
The usually dependable KPH Maritime Station (California, USA) LF receiver unfortunately seemed to suffer a lot from intermodulation from other local AM broadcasters, resulting in poor images. The HF receiver seemed to have some
difficulties as well in receiving the signal:
It is a great result to see signals from HAARP being received half-way across the world today (even if it was a bit of a challenge - for my brain, LTE quota and computer). Apologies, for I had missed the frequency variation to 2820kHz yesterday, hence did not receive the signal on that frequency. Perhaps receiving the transmission in SSB mode may be helpful to reduce the impact of AM side-band distortion at the cost of altered dynamics and increased susceptibility to fading.
Reception Reports
Expand a row below for details.
Date | Movement | Media | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Expand | I. Prelude / II. Introductions to the Ghost / III. Methodologies in Music and Morse |
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Time
08:00:00
– 08:11:00
Frequency (MHZ)
2.82
Antenna
Wellbrook ALA - 1530L magnetic loop antenna
Receiver
KiwiSDR, and Icom IC-R75
Note
Audio attachments: VA6DX 2820kHz Recording (Whole Program) |
|
Expand | IV. Saxophonal Stochastic Ghost Resonances | Audio |
Time
08:11:30
– 08:16:30
Frequency (MHZ)
3.35
Antenna
Wellbrook ALA - 1530L magnetic loop antenna
Receiver
KiwiSDR, and Icom IC-R75
Note
Attached audio: ZMH292 3350kHz (Movement 4 & 6 - separated by a short segment of noise) |
|
Expand | V. Wolves Chasing the Ghost |
Time
08:17:00
– 08:22
Frequency (MHZ)
2.82
Antenna
Wellbrook ALA - 1530L magnetic loop antenna
Receiver
KiwiSDR, and Icom IC-R75
|
||
Expand | VI. The Mind and the MRI |
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Time
08:22:30
– 08:32:30
Frequency (MHZ)
3.35, 2.82
Antenna
Wellbrook ALA - 1530L magnetic loop antenna
Receiver
KiwiSDR, and Icom IC-R75
Note
Attached audio: ZMH292 3350kHz (Movement 4 & 6 - separated by a short segment of noise) |
|
Expand | VII. Letters and Numbers | Audio |
Time
08:33:00
– 08:39:00
Frequency (MHZ)
2.82, 3.15
Antenna
Wellbrook ALA - 1530L magnetic loop antenna
Receiver
KiwiSDR, and Icom IC-R75
Note
Attached audio: ZMH292 3150kHz (Movement 7 & 8) |
|
Expand | VIII. Pictures and Words |
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Time
08:39:30
– 08:45:30
Frequency (MHZ)
2.82, 3.15
Antenna
Wellbrook ALA - 1530L magnetic loop antenna
Receiver
KiwiSDR, and Icom IC-R75
Note
Attached audio: ZMH292 3150kHz (Movement 7 & 8) |
|
Expand | IX. Spy Cameras from the Sky and a Mystery Box in the Woods |
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Time
08:46:00
– 08:56
Frequency (MHZ)
8.00, 6.90
Antenna
Wellbrook ALA - 1530L magnetic loop antenna
Receiver
KiwiSDR, and Icom IC-R75
Note
Interestingly, on my receptions in the Pacific region, towards the end of the 8000kHz SSTV images, there are some fishery vessels transmitting voice just underneath the broadcast, which didn't seem to affect the images but was unexpected. Unfortunately, the high noise floor, small antenna and proximity to sunset worked against reception of the lower frequencies, with the 8000kHz SSTV images received in a very noisy/ghosty way due to a mass of QRM. Attached audio: ZMH292 8000kHz (Movement 9) |
|
Expand | X. Not with a Bang but with a WSPR |
Time
08:56:30
– 08:59:30
Frequency (MHZ)
2.82
Antenna
Wellbrook ALA - 1530L magnetic loop antenna
Receiver
KiwiSDR, and Icom IC-R75
|