Re: [HCDX]: Unfair DX ???

["Don Moore" <MOORE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think one factor in this is that different people have different 
lives. Some people are retired and some have to work for a living. 
Some have flexible work schedules and some don't. Some have families, 
some don't. Those with other responsibilities may need to find other 
ways of DXing sometimes. 

For example, last month I wanted to DX Guatemalan airports on 5530 USB 
in January when the late sunrise makes them audible here between 1300 
- 1400 UTC. However, that's precisely the time I have to get my two 
kids ready for school (and there is little airport traffic on 
weekends). So, around 1300 I would turn-on and tune-in the radio and 
put in a 90 minute (45 minute per side) cassette to tape the 
frequency for 45 minutes. Then in the evening, I would listen to the 
tape to see what I had gotten. I logged seven new Guatemalan airports 
this way, even though I was sitting in the kitchen with my kids when 
the reception actually occurred.

One of the problems with recording is knowing the time something 
happens. Someone mentioned using a stereo tape-recorder with a time 
station in one track. My method is more simple. I use the same brand 
of 90 minute tapes which, according to the counter on my tape 
recorder, are always about the same length (630-645 on the counter). 
I made a "time sheet" by recording WWV on a tape. I then played back 
the tape, starting at zero on the counter, and noted the exact 
counter spot for each minute's time beep (e.g. 17 for one minute, 33 
for two, etc). Now, when I play back a tape I just have to start the 
counter at zero and with my time sheet I can know exactly when 
something on the tape happened from the tape counter. I've checked 
this for accuracy a few times, and it seems to be accurate within 
plus or minus fifteen seconds, which I think is close enough. Of 
course, when I begin the recording I have to note the exact time I 
turn on the tape recorder for a beginning reference point on playback.

I also use this method for recording during the day while I am at 
work and sometimes for in the middle of the night during the week. I 
use it almost exclusively for recording interesting utility 
frequencies, where the frequency can go a long time with only static 
until a station comes on with a short message. For this reason, 
recording also saves me time. My recorder has a "cue" feature 
allowing me to fast-forward with the volume still on. When I fast-
forward through an empty static-filled frequency, it is very easy to 
tell when a station comes on as it "pops up" above the static level. 
Then I just stop the tape, back up a little, and then play it at 
normal speed to hear the message. So, instead of spending maybe 
twenty minutes "live" in front of my receiver listening to the static 
between two messages, I just spend five minutes fast-forwarding 
through the same static. The result is, effectively, more time for 
DXing. 

I don't often remote-record broadcast station DX (although I always 
keep a tape going when I'm at the receiver), but when I do I find it 
is again a time saver as I can fast-forward through the songs and get 
right to the announcements which might contain useful IDs or other 
details. Anyway, to me, remote-recording has become just another tool 
allowing me to do more DXing than I would otherwise be able to do.

Don Moore   moore@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www1.mcrest.edu/~moore/patepluma.html
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