SCG 385 NDB

      Good evening everyone.  Tonight’s visit takes us to Northern Minnesota and the home of the Crane Lake NDB.

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

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