Topband: ET3AA

[Ken Claerbout]

Greetings Topbanders - earlier this week I returned from a trip to
Ethiopia and some time at ET3AA.  There are a couple of things I
wanted to pass along.

The RBN is working again and is now monitoring Topband.  The antenna
is a DX Engineering Receive Short Element Active Vertical Antennas
DXE-RSEAV-1.  We're not hearing a lot on any of the bands, but I
believe that is due to the lack of normal CW activity and being a good
distance from major population centers.  We placed a signal generator
on the antenna and confirmed that it is working properly.

The Kiwi SDR is also back on line.  You can reach it at
http://21114.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073/
 It's using a DX Engineering RF-PRO-1B Active Magnetic Loop.  The loop
pattern is bi-directional, pointed at Europe/North America and VK/ZL.

The biggest news is that it appears the noise source that came on from
dusk to dawn, completely wiping out the entire HF spectrum, is gone!
That is the reason there have been no nighttime operations for the
last couple of years.

I am curious to see how much is heard on Topband on both the RBN and
Kiwi SDR, especially during CW activity nights and the CQ WW 160
contest in January.  I would welcome reports from others too.

73
Ken K4ZW