Now off to West Union, Iowa and home to the XWY beacon.

XWY 278

       I would consider the XWY/b one of my locals, of which has been off for some time now.  The beacon location is EN42cw and is somewhat easy to locate.  Funny, as I cursed it when she was running, now I long for her return.

West Union, Iowa

     Thank you again for visiting, and until next time.

Jeffrey

Little Sioux NDB

      The Little Sioux NDB is located in EN23kd and runs 25 watts with an offset of about 1,020 hertz on both sidebands.    

Late model NDB

       Spencer is actually home for two (2) NDB’s, a rare treat for this day and age.

LTU 326

           Some of you may have already stated: “get a load of that hat”.     What a beautiful design to deliver such capacitance.

Until our next visit.

Jeffrey

PUF 345 near Estherville, Iowa

     This particular ndb was found in a remote locale.   There were no fences and no power lines.  The beacon actually lies within a public state hunting ground.

PUF NDB

     The location is roughly EN23pi in Northwest Iowa.  It appears obvious that this beacon has been here for some time now.

345 kcs AM exciter

Kim and I have been back several times to this beautiful, quiet location.  It would seem to present an ideal spot in early fall for that picnic lunch in the tall grass.   I can almost imagine it now:  sitting on the blanket whilst eating a ham sandwich with a glass of wine and watching that beautiful beacon pose in the sunset.  Splendid.

The author at PUF NDB

       Jeffrey

Two Harbors, Minnesota.

    TWM 243 is located in EN47db and runs about 25 watts.  Both sidebands can be copied at about 1,040 hz with ease.

TWM 243 ndb

     Since the beacon is still qrv, we all have time for one last listen.  We all need to enjoy this fine beacon while we still can.  Before too long it will be too late.   Years from now we will all be saying: “remember that old TWM beacon?”.   

One last look

      So:  before you have your last coffee, your last cigarette, or when you let the dog out for the last time before bedtime, please remember good old TWM.

Enough said.

Jeffrey

SCG Crane Lake, Minnesota

      I have had great difficulty hearing this beacon for some time, even from the locales in VE4 and VE3.  The area is surrounded by hills and is located in roughly EN38sg.   Low-and-behold, I actually heard an odd AWOS broadcast this morning about 1215 utc.  The wx broadcast was so strong I didn’t even realize what I was listening to.  Imagine my surprise.  Thus, I had to post the photos.

AWOS instruments

        This ndb has standard offsets of about 1,020 hz. The duration is also long (about 35 seconds) so ident is often difficult. The beacon is also hard to reach, as there is basically one way in, other than water. There was also an inside joke about this ndb back in the mid 1980’s.   It seemed whenever the wx service stated its transmitted forecast (ie: 162 mhz), SCG was always last, with the man always reading the same line:  “Crane Lake…….. (long pause)   Missing”.   The center was the same way.  Every morning on the chalkboard:  “Crane Lake………Missing”.

South end of three pole dipole

      So much for the trip down memory lane.   Thanks again, and until next time.

Jeffrey

please pardon my delay as I have been out of town.    Does anyone here recall the old Silver Bay, MN. maritime  light (ndb) that sat on the edge of the breakwater?   Today the beacon is gone, but the BFW aerodrome ndb is still working.

BFW 350 Silver Bay, Minnesota

     The ndb is located roughly EN47 hotel gulf and can be viewed from the airport without difficulty.   Silver Bay is one of the few remaining ndb’s with encoded TWEB.   Actually, one should keep up with the times and state AWOS rather than the outdated TWEB.   There is a subtle irony to TWEB’s broadcast on NDBs that goes back some for time.   Back in the early 1990’s, many small, mid western airports began broadcasting their local wx via TWEB over the ndb’s AM frequency.  The practice blossomed, but soon seemed to fall apart.  By 2010 only a handful remain.   For myself, BFW 350 is hard to hear.  One can only imagine how much time is left for such a dying breed.

One of the last

     Until next time.

Jeffrey

Audubon, Iowa NDB

Audubon is located in Southwest Iowa, or roughly EN21nq.  

ADU 266

      One can only hope the owner of the home does not enjoy the art of NDB dx.  It would appear the house came before the NDB?

Times gone by

Will the likes of this scene be around in twenty more years?   Enjoy them while you can folks, they are falling rapidly.  

Keeper of the NDB

   Until next time.

Jeffrey

a thousand pardons for my long delay, as I have been out of town.   Tonight’s NDB takes us down the road to Marshalltown, Iowa.  

MIW 239 Marshalltown, Iowa

Sadly, MIW has been qrt for some time now.  The last known reception was around May of 2006.  MIW is quite the odd place.  There seems to be plenty of parking for those wishing to depart, yet few takers.   For those seeking interest, MIW was located in EN32mc and ran about 25 watts. 

MIW 239 exciter housing

Until next time.

Jeffrey

Old "hotel" 276

     Back in the mid ’90’s we did extensive listening out of the Split Lake (EO16) area.  I recall slow periods when I would tune the NDB band and hear “Hotel” very clear.  Today the names have changed.  The old hotel is now lodged as “Headframe” and coded as ZTH. 

Headframe 276

         ZTH was found in EO15ct by my good friend Shawn, VE4SA.  Kim and myself tried several times to locate it, only to retreat after searching in circles.  Shawn and his son were able to take an off road ATV directly into the area and capture the scene.  Thank you again Shawn.

EO15ct remote

      ZTH is still much harder to hear than her sister (TH) down on 244kcs with 1,000 watts.  Both units run roughly a 400hz offset with nearly the same time duration and DAID.  ZTH may be a little easier to copy on USB minus about 375 hertz.   However, with names like “Hotel”, Nickelbelt” and “Headframe” the search is worth the wait.

Happy Days.

EBS 323 Webster City, Iowa

     The Webster City NDB is located near EN32bk and quite easy to locate.  One can only imagine the glory years when the towers were gleaming with fresh paint.   EBS has standard US offsets and 25 watts. 

Webster City, Iowa NDB

      Some may ask when this site will return to normal operation?    After all, what do NDB’s and vhf radio aurora have in common?   I shall await the response.    Lest we forget, the numbers for today are as follows:   SF 82.9, A6, K2 (B and P).