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Weather on Long Wave
'Legacy-Week' in the Editor's Shack
Long Wave - With and Without Dedicated Receivers
The German Weather Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD, DDH 47) broadcasts weather data and forecasts on 147.3kHz long wave, day-in, day-out, and has done so for many years. Reception of these is possible for at least 300-500 nm from Pinneberg near Hamburg (53.673056/9.809722) and it is very reliable in the UK. Last weekend, I set up my hardware short wave radio (AOR AR7030) on 145.4kHz (USB) (or 147.3kHz CW) and gave it a try, with predictable results.
The only software I have that has a dedicated setting for 147.3kHz reception is Zorns-Lemma 11.42, but I am sure that there are many other pieces of software (but not, on this occasion, SeaTTY).
The weather was not so inevitable, but DDH 47 information came in steadily. If you have an SDR covering this frequency band (as most do), put this to good use and learn about what is still there, on long wave. I would also like to try the NASA Target 147 dedicated weather receiver for this, perhaps coupled with an H Vector-antenna, a dedicated long wave aerial (e.g. BAZ LFM/50-300) or my Wellbrook loop (ALA 1530).
Just operating the NASA Target 147 and my Moerer Infobox WIB2D cuts out the necessity to switch on a computer, something I sometimes do not want to do because I like to be out and about and travel when I can.
I enjoy watching the lines of text coming in and building up, with these wonderful older receivers.
Legacy-weather in the shack. Does that make me a legacy monitor?
More on that story later this week...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1FIuduqNKA (video)
https://tinyurl.com/epv2nwyb (LW ferrite bar aerial)
https://www.wellbrook.uk.com/loopantennas/ALA1530LN (Wellbrook)