N1LF
05-27-2010, 12:16 PM
The advent of standardized "voices" for the text to speech translators used by NWS Radio has obviously made it much more difficult to DX these channels. In years past, when announcements were recorded "live" by NWS employees, it was easy to tell when the band was open and you were hearing new stations.
Over time, I learned to recognize employee voices in several nearby states. Ah, the good ole days.
But all is not lost, if you're willing to put some effort into things. Locally, I've noticed several minor but distinct differences between the various NWS stations in my area. For example, NWS offices in Mississippi use the "female" voice almost exclusively. So, it's easy to tell when troposcatter is enhanced in that direction.
Stations in North Alabama (served from Huntsville) run a mixture of both the male and female voice, and the speed of the text to speech conversion is just a touch faster than that used by my local "Birmingham" transmitters.
Birmingham area stations use the male voice only, and have a slower speaking rate.
City names, and airport locations are also very helpful.
Since moving to Birmingham, I've logged a total of about 60 NWS stations. Great fun and a good indicator for enhanced propagation.
73,
Les N1LF
Over time, I learned to recognize employee voices in several nearby states. Ah, the good ole days.
But all is not lost, if you're willing to put some effort into things. Locally, I've noticed several minor but distinct differences between the various NWS stations in my area. For example, NWS offices in Mississippi use the "female" voice almost exclusively. So, it's easy to tell when troposcatter is enhanced in that direction.
Stations in North Alabama (served from Huntsville) run a mixture of both the male and female voice, and the speed of the text to speech conversion is just a touch faster than that used by my local "Birmingham" transmitters.
Birmingham area stations use the male voice only, and have a slower speaking rate.
City names, and airport locations are also very helpful.
Since moving to Birmingham, I've logged a total of about 60 NWS stations. Great fun and a good indicator for enhanced propagation.
73,
Les N1LF