NDB DX'ING BLOG

Les NDB algériennes sont parfois difficiles à capter pour celles qui se situent dans le sud du pays c'est à dire à la frontière avec le Niger, le Mali et la Mauritanie. La balise aérienne MOK sur 304 KHz pour l'aéroport de la ville de Bordj Mokhtar, fait partie de ces NDB difficiles. Elle est à environ 2780 kms de ma station de réception et à la mi Février le signal est arrivé dans d'assez bonnes conditions. Voici le clip audio:






73 de Vincent

La station NAVTEX de Portsmouth en Virginie émet sur 518 KHz aux heures GMT suivantes : 0130, 0530, 0930, 1330, 1730 et 2130 pour la transmission des bulletins à destination des marins. Elle peut aussi transmettre en dehors de ces créneaux horaires s'il y a un message important voire une alerte. Cette station est régulièrement reçue depuis l'Europe et voici quelques extraits des messages captés ces derniers jours:

<05:48:33> ZCZC NA92
<05:48:36> CAPE CANAVERAL, FL//J//
<05:48:41> START AT TIME//031300Z MAR 09
<05:48:47> BNM 170-09
<05:48:50> BROADCAST PARA 1 THRU 3 AT N
<05:48:56> 1. THE GPS NAVIGATION SIG MAY BE UNRELIABLE DUE TO GPS
<05:49:06> TESTING ON GPS FREQUENCIES USED BY SHIPBOARD NAVIGATION AND
<05:49:17> HANDHELD SYSTEMS. SYSTEMS THAT RELY ON GPS, SUCH AS E-911,
<05:49:28> AIS AND DSC, MAY BE AFFECTED WITHIN A 35NM RADIUS OF PSN
<05:49:39> 38-15N 076-26W.
<05:49:43> 2. GPS TESTING WILL BE CONDUCTED ON THE FOLLOWING DATES
<05:49:54> AND TIME: 02 MAR 09 THRU 06 MAR 09 1300-2100Z (0800-1600 EST
<05:50:06>
<05:50:08> MON-FRIDAY ONLY)
<05:50:12> 3. MORE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT THE COAST GUARD NAVIGATION
<05:50:23>
<05:50:25> CENTER WEB SITE WWW.NAVCEN.USCG.GOV AND THE MIRROR SITE
<05:50:36> WWW.NAVCENTER.ORG. DURING THIS PERIOD GPS USERS ARE ENCOURAGED
<05:50:48> TO
<05:50:49> REPORT ANY GPS SERVICE OUTAGES THAT THEY MAY EXPERIENCE TO THE
<05:51:00>
<05:51:02> NAVIGATION INFORMATION SERVICE (NIS) BY CALLING (703)313-5900
<05:51:13> OR
<05:51:15> BY USING THE NAVCEN WEB SITE TO SUBMIT A GPS PROBLEM REPORT.
<05:51:26>
<05:51:27> 4. REQUEST DISTRICT FIVE DISTRIBUTE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED
<05:51:38> IN
<05:51:40> PARA 1 THRU 3 TO POTENTIAL MARITIME USERS AND BROADCAST PARA
<05:51:51> 1
<05:51:53> THRU 3 AT REGULARLY SCHEDULED TIMES.
<05:52:01> 5. CEASE BUZZER PROCEDURES CONTAINED IN COMDTINST 16575.1 DTD
<05:52:13> 24
<05:52:15> AUG 99 (PROCESSING OF GPS INTERFERENCE TEST
<05:52:24> REQUESTS ARE IN EFFECT). POC FOR USCG IS THE NAVCEN ALEXANDRIA
<05:52:35>
<05:52:36> OPS CENTER AT (703) 313-5900. CG UNITS WITH SAFET_ OF LIFE
<05:52:47> MISSIONS THAT ARE ADVERS_L_ IMPACTED DUE TO LOSS OF GPS DURING
<05:52:58>
<05:53:00> ABOVE TEST P_RIODS DESCRIBE_ IN PARA 1 AND 2 SHOULDCONTACT NAVCEN
<05:53:12>
<05:53:13> VIA D5 OPCEN_BY_CALLING (757) 398-6231 TO REQUEST A STOPAGE OF
<05:53:25> THE
<05:53:27> GPS INTERFERENC_ T_STING_M_
<05:53:32> 6. CANCEL AT TIME //062100Z MAR 09//.
<05:53:40>
<05:53:42> NNNN


__ZCZC NA25
<05:46:49> BCST UNTIL CANCELLED
<05:46:53> SEC NC BNM 134-09
<05:46:57> NC - MYRTLE GROVE SOUND TO LITTLE RIVER (CHART 11534) - CAPE
<05:47:09> FEAR
<05:47:11> RIVER
<05:47:13> CAPE FEAR RIVER CHAN LIGHT_D BOUY 30 (LLNR 30665/39910) EXT.
<05:47:25>
<05:47:27>
<05:47:28> NNNN

On peut voir que le niveau de réception est bon car il n'y a pas trop d'erreur dans le message.

73 de Vincent

After Bermuda radio, I have received this Dx on Navtex frequency:

<05:11:35> ZCZC HA24
<05:11:36> THIS IS COAST GUARD NETHERLANDS ANTILLES AND ARUBA
<05:11:45> TO ALL VESSELS USING EPIRB (EMERGENCY POSITION INDICATOR BEACON) AND PLB (PERSONAL LOCATER BEACON) AS OF 1 FEBRUARY 2009 THE PRO_ESSING OF THE OLDER EPIRB AND PLB FREQUENCY 121,5/243 ___)) _E_M
<05:12:19> AS A RESULT NO MORE 121,5 BUOYS CAN BE USED AS A SATELITE SEARCH AND RESCUE BEACON.
<05:12:33> ONLY BUOYS (EPIRB AND PLB) OPERATING ON THE 406 MHZ FREQUENCY ARE TO B_ USED FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE.
<05:12:50> ALL VESSELS ARE REQUESTED TO CHECK THEIR EPI_B AND PLB'SNNNN


Curacao station is at approx 7450 km from my house. Conditions were quit good to Carribean.

73 de Vincent

I have received by mail the confirmation from the Duty Officer. Thanks to him to spend a little time to confirm my reception.

"Hello Mr. Lecler,



That was indeed our message. It’s good to see our transmission is being received although it is not quite intended to go that far. In addition to Bermuda Radio transmitting with 500 watts, propagation must have been good yesterday evening. Thank you for the response.



Regards,



Duty Officer



Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre"


73 de Vincent