Re: [HCDX] Dxers Unlimited's script for 6-7 January 2007

["Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich" <coro@xxxxxxx>]

Radio Havana Cuba

Dxers Unlimited

Dxers Unlimited's weekend edition for January 6-7 -2006

By Arnie Coro

radio amateur CO2KK

Hi amigos radioaficionados... 2007 well underway and solar activity 
remains at low levels, but nevertheless the 10.7 centimeters solar flux, 
the internationally accepted yardstick to measure day to day solar 
activity has gone up to a bit past

the 90 units mark... And yes, you will notice the difference between 
what happens on the short wave bands after many days of solar flux 
levels between 70 and 80 units, and what happens when activity increases 
and the microwave radiometers measure figures above 90 units. In other 
words we will enjoy slightly better HF propagation during the weekend...

Item two: YES, Radio Havana Cuba provides listeners that ask for them 
with nice QSL cards, verifying reception reports, and for those of you 
that send your requests to my own arnie@xxxxxx e-mail account, I 
autograph the QSL cards that will form part of your collection of 
station verifications.

But sorrily many short wave broadcast stations have stopped from sending 
QSL cards, usually saying that cost reduction

measures require that their staff dedicated to opening up the mail, 
reading it and then answering the listeners requests be

cut off from the payroll... AND WHAT  A BIG MISTAKE ...

Yes amigos, what a big mistake it is for an international broadcaster to 
cut the vital feedback from listeners...

Of course that stopping the QSL service means more than saving part of 
the station's budget in the form of salaries

paid and the cost of printing QSL cards and letters with a nice

letterhead... In actual practice it means that the station looses

its one and only link with its listeners, so operating the station's

program department without this vital broadcaster to listener

relation operational is the equivalent of driving a car looking

backwards, or flying an airplane without windows or navigational 
instruments...

As any mass communications researcher knows, the mass media can not 
operate in an "open loop" environment, because the content that you are 
offering to your public must be

the one that the people accept and like... and with today's enormous 
number of mass media options available, the need for a personalized 
attention to listeners is , in my opinion, an essential part of running 
an international broadcast station...

More about QSL's and QSLing latter in this weekend edition of

Dxers Unlimited , the second one of the year 2007, that according to 
solar scientists its going to be " The Year of the Quiet Sun" when the 
present solar cycle will go trough its minimum...

Stay tuned for more radio hobby related information coming to you from 
Havana... I am Arnie Coro, back in a few seconds.

......

Si amigos, this is Radio Havana Cuba's English language program for 
North America and the Caribbean,but that may also be heard around the 
world by connecting to our website

www.radiohc.cu, from 05 to 07 hours UTC,and of course , also when HF 
propagation conditions make it possible , our programs can be heard well 
outside our main target areas... For example, I receive many reception 
reports from listeners in Europe that stay awake until very late in the 
evening for some reasons and are able to pick out 6060 kiloHertz 
frequency from 05 to 07 hours UTC. This is the Eastern North America 
beam antenna, but it does produce some radiation towards azimuth 
angles between 35 and 50 degrees North of Havana, making it possible, 
when propagation is good, and the local European short wave stations are 
not on the air, that listeners may pick up Radio Havana Cuba in Europe 
too... And in a similar way, listeners in as far away places as 
Australia and New Zealand are able to pick up our programs too, again, 
when HF propagation is good.

Now here is item three of today's program: It's the popular antenna 
topics section of Dxers Unlimited, combined today with LA NUMERO UNO, 
the number one most popular section of the show... ASK ARNIE... The 
question sent by Canadian listener Albert, or Al as he likes to be 
called, is related to the installation of indoor antennas... Al wants to 
know what type of short wave antenna will be the best one to install at 
his 11th floor apartment that has a nice balcony with a beautiful look 
towards a lake...

Well amigo Albert, my two choices are , number one a short

loaded vertical that you can put up when operating your station, and 
bring it down when you finish... The counterpoise or wire radials can be 
left in place, by carefully installing them along the lower part of the 
walls... In an installation I saw once when visiting Canada many years 
ago, the ground system for the antenna was placed inside plastic square 
conduit, of the type used for installing computer networks in older 
buildings,

and it both looked fine and worked very well.

The vertical antenna can protrude from the balcony at an angle

of between 20 and 45 degrees and work perfectly well. Of course that it 
will be more efficient on the higher short wave amateur bands, 
especially on 10, 12 and 15 meters, but with

a well built loading coil and if possible adding some top capacitance 
loading, this antenna will provide nice contacts on

20 meters also, especially if you use the PSK31 computer keyboard to 
keyboard communications mode that is extremely efficient due to very 
small bandwidth that it requires.

The inclined vertical can be installed in a couple of minutes

and taken down fast too, so it is an ideal "stealth antenna" for the HF 
bands and if it protrudes from the building walls not too much... It 
main remain unnoticed if you put it up only during the evening hours, 
but then, this short antenna will not work very well on the lower 
frequency bands likely to be open at night ... Anyway, many radio 
amateurs around the world, and short wave listeners too, have benefitted 
from this type of antenna, that in the most flexible designs use a 
loading coil that can be changed easily, or in some cases a 
sophisticated mechanically complex coil system that can be tuned by 
remote control is used, in a very similar way as the systems used for 
mobile operation.

As a matter of fact amigo Al, so called "screwdriver " antennas that 
have a tap in the coil that is moved by means of an electric motor are 
ideal for this application, because you can tune them

from the operating  position, and use them not only for amateur radio 
but also for peaking on the international short wave broadcast bands 
within the antenna's tuning range, typically from 7 to 30 megaHertz...

But don't forget that those vertical or quasi vertical, inclined

antennas installed at balcony or terrace locations do need

a counterpoise ground system to work properly. Not using a counterpoise 
is simply out of the question, as the antenna will never match to your 
coaxial cable if you don't install the best possible ground...

The efficiency of such an antenna system is tied to the efficiency of 
the counterpoise ... in other words, without a well installed ground the 
antenna's performance will be from

poor to very poor...

In one location where I helped the radio amateur to build and

install his balcony antenna system, we were able to achieve

reasonable performance on even the 40 meters band, although

the actual length of radiator element was only 3 meters or

about 10 feet... On the 30 and 20 meters band results were

very good, with 20 meters performance comparable to a full

size quarter wave vertical antenna... And, as expected on the higher 
bands from eighteen megazHertz up, the balcony antenna worked very well 
on both DX and groundwave signals as the vertical take off angle was 
very low indeed.

Never be discouraged when your opportunities to install an

external short wave antennas seem to be very low... There is always a 
solution to put you on the air and at the same time provide a much 
better listening of short wave broadcasts...

Are you in a similar situation as my Canadian listener and my Cuban 
friend ? If so, send me an e-mail to arnie@xxxxxx

again arnie@xxxxxx, and you can even send photos of your

location, so that I can provide from here the advise and we can work 
together in order for you to have a nice HF antenna system at your home !!!

....

QSL, QSL, QSL... those three letters are part of the Q code used by old 
timers that communicated only using Morse Code

radiotelegraphy... originally it simply meant, do you acknowledge 
reception of my signals, a traffic that was sent

with the three letters QSL followed by a question mark sign.

If the other station was copying OK, it came came back with

the same three letters, QSL, but without the question mark

and that completed an exchange between the two stations...

But QSL also became, by extension, the name of the postcards

sent by radio amateurs to others with whom they communicated confirming 
the two way contacts, and also it became the abbreviation used by 
international broadcast stations to tell listeners that the signal 
reports sent agreed with their program content, frequency of operation 
and time...

An international short wave station must not send a QSL card,

or letter, veryfying reception without been sure that the report

received from the listener is correct...

But let me say now, that regretfully many world international broadcast 
stations are no longer veryfying reception reports,

that is they are not QSLing; something that I personally consider as a 
very serious mistake, and also an indication that those managing the 
stations are not very capable persons as

mass media managers... because listeners feedback is essential to the 
proper operation of an international broadcaster...

Local AM and FM stations are another completely different

story as related to QSLs and QSLing, because station managers

do have a constant flow of listeners feedback that even includes

independent sophisticated audience research procedures... So for local 
stations, receiving a request from a distant , casual, listener asking 
for a QSL is of little meaning ... and that's why many local AM and FM 
stations, as well as Tropical Band stations that aim at a regional 
audience have a very little incentive to QSL, especially if one takes 
into consideration the cost of AIR MAIL postage in many nations around 
the world !!!

And now amigos, as always at the end of the show here is

your friend Arnie Coro's Dxers Unlimited HF and low band VHF

propagation update and forecast...

Solar flux near 90 units , and is expected to remain around

that level for the next two days. The effective sunspot number is around 
35, and Saturday morning local time in Havana the A index was at a nice 
and low zero seven units. So, expect a little better HF propagation 
today , tomorrow and day after tomorrow, that will include short 
openings of the 15 meters amateur band for really nice long distance DX. 
No VHF openings via sporadic E are expected in the northern hemisphere. 
AND, don't forget to take a little time to send your signal reports and 
comments about the program to arnie@xxxxxx or VIA AIR MAIL  to Arnie 
Coro, Radio Havana Cuba, Havana, Cuba

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