Past Longwave Messages - Jan. 2000

Subj: Are QSOs possible?
Date: 00-01-31 18:03:35 EST
From: hhurst delawareinfi (Harry Hurst)
I've been looking into VLF for a bit. It seems there are a lot of beacons, but I don't hear anything about folks working each other. Is this possible? or is the activity so thin that only beacons are possible? If cw qsos are possible, I wonder what kind of distances are covered. Thanks.
Reply 1: Yes, QSOs are indeed possible. Beacon operation is the most actively pursued, as the combination of propagation, QRN, and QRM makes one-way communication tricky enough. Although QSOs are less common, they still do happen. We generally have several reports during the winter in The LOWDOWN of QSOs over significant distances; meaning, two or three states apart, sometimes more. Many of these are between the more serious LWCA members, and tend to be reported by regular mail. However, you'll find mention of one in a January 3 message (below) from Robert Hoffswell. There are also some which go unreported because of their regularity; these tend to be in states with fairly strong numbers of LowFER stations. Some of the guys in Minnesota get together fairly regularly on LF, as do several in California and a few in Pennsylvania. Distances in these cases tend to be 20 - 60 miles or thereabouts. (In Southern California, Saturday morning is traditionally a time for SSB QSOs.) -JHD

Subj: New, Need Help
Date: 00-01-29 23:17:19 EST
From: FCeagle hotmail (Fabian C)
Hello,
I'm relatively new to Longwave. I am currently a CBer and ham. I was wondering if inyone could give me some tips on a transmitter. I was also thinking, could FM be used on the 1750m band? I know AM is impractical, and SSB COULD be used, but why not FM?
Thanks & 73's,
Fabian C.
KFC78415
Reply 1: It can be done, but in a rather limited way. Baby monitors and similar communication devices often use FM in the longwave spectrum; however, sending a frequency modulated carrier over power lines is a different matter from trying to transmit it through an antenna. At 1750m, antennas tend to be extremely narrowband. It's difficult enough to transmit SSB efficiently in this band, let alone an FM signal that will need at least twice the bandwidth. This same bandwith limitation, which causes high frequency rolloff on AM signals, results in distortion when using FM. (It is possible, of course, to broaden the antenna response, but at the expense of efficiency. The result ic coverage not appreciably greater than with AM...which is pretty poor at these frequencies.) -JHD

Subj: VK longwave pages
Date: 00-01-29 18:08:11 EST
From: lionelc bigpond (Lionel K Curling)
Hello
My name is Lionel from Melbourne Australia and always been interested in VLF etc and planning to put up a longwave page sometime I was wondering if anyone know of any Australian Longwave web pages I have been looking around for a while.
Cheers
Lionel VK3NM
Reply 1: Our own LF Ham Page contains links to some VK and ZL sites that may be of interest. If anyone else knows of some more, please send a message to this board. Thanks. -JHD

Subj: YB back on
Date: 00-01-24 16:39:21 EST
From: bhkoehler mmm (Bruce H Koehler)
Last night I brought the old transmitter home that was being used for RH before I built the latest transmitter for YB. That old transmitter built by Lyle Koehler has been around... once used for LEK, TO, BK, RH and now YB and possibly others. It is in a box and seems to be clean as far as generating harmonics goes. I checked with my ham neighbor last night and he said it is not bothering him. YB is operating on 187.46 KHz in CW mode, and I will run it that way until I can get the new transmitter properly shielded in a box.
73, Bruce W0BK, BK, YB

Subj: Canadian NDB Search Utility
Date: 1/22/00 9:36:05 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: magnum ionsys (Alex Wiecek)
Hi all!
I just wanted to inform everyone that I have uploaded a searchable database software for Canadian NDBs. You can use this utility to search for Canadian LW facilities by inputting their callsigns. This is just a beta version and I'd appreciate hearing any comments or bug reports. All it takes is a visit to my site at
http://web.ionsys.com/~magnum/longwave/longwave.htm
thanks!
73 Alex

Subj: YB off for harmonic suppression work
Date: 1/21/00 5:51:26 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: bhkoehler mmm (Bruce H Koehler)
LowFER YB has been off the air this week until I can solve the problem of harmonics which were bothering a ham that lives about 300 feet from the YB antenna. The transmitter board is equipped with a low pass filter, but is not enclosed in a box yet, and I'm hoping that putting it in a box and filtering all wires coming out of the box will solve the harmonic problem. If you don't live close to the Minneapolis/St. Paul MN area, you're probably better off listening for LEK, BK and RM if you're trying for LowFERs in the north central states before trying for YB. If you can hear them, you might be able to hear YB when it's on, but YB is considerably weaker. Bill Bowers did hear RH from Oklahoma before I changed the ID back to YB, so it is possible to hear it. LEK, RM, BRO and BK can hear YB fairly well in the daytime (when it's on).
73, Bruce W0BK/BK/YB

Subj: 136kHz transatlantic
Date: 1/20/00 4:44:47 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: rikstrobbe fyskuleuvenacbe (Rik Strobbe)
For those who want to check the perforamnce of their receiving station on the 135.7-137.8kHz European LF-band : there is a commercial transmitter (DCF39) on nominal 139kHz running a output power of about 25kW (44dB stronger than our 1W ERP level). Specifications of DCF39 are :

Frequency Mark  : 138.830 kHz 
          Space : 139.170 kHz 
          Shift : 340 Hz 
Baudrate        : 200 baud ASCII (8E1) FSK 
Location        : Burg near Magdeburg (Germany)
                  52:17:21 N   11:54:29 E  (locator JO52WG)

Subj: LEK frequency change
Date: 1/17/00 12:30:41 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: lyle mlecmn (Lyle Koehler)
LEK is now transmitting on 186.700 kHz rather than 186.800. I had to turn off the beacon every time I monitored a popular local 75 meter SSB net (on 3925 kHz) because the 21st harmonic of 186.8 produced a very irritating beat note. Sometimes it's the next day before I remember to turn LEK back on -- not too good for people trying to hear the beacon :-) If 186.7 is a bad frequency, please let me know.
--
Lyle, K0LR
http://www.computerpro.com/~lyle

Subj: New Beacon
Date: 1/17/00 11:06:41 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: tpauly twcnyrr (Tim Pauly)
I have successfully built and put beacon "MV" on the air as of January 16th at 5:30pm E.T.
The beacon operates 24/7 on 187.600 kHz, and is located in Little Falls, NY.
Beacon uses a homebrew transmitter using a 6.0032 mHz crystal oscillator and 74HCT4020 chip to divide the osc freq by 32 to obtain 187.600 kHz. Amplifier is based on Lyle Koehler's fantastic push-pull design. Identifier is generated by a junk 286 laptop currently running Lyle's BCN software. Antenna is a 45 foot sloped vertical with top loading, and a hand-wound loading coil. Antenna was tuned using a scope and home-made RF current probe. Plans are to experiment with a crossed-field antenna - hopefully next year.
Beacon MV sends its ID "MV" at 10 WPM 15 times, then pauses to send the beacon's web address.
It's been many years since I have played with VLF. Glad that there is so many others out there still experimenting!
73,
Tim
N2GFT

Subj: cross the atlantic on 136kHz
Date: 1/17/00 4:24:59 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: rikstrobbe fyskuleuvenacbe (Rik Strobbe)
During the past 2 years European amateurs have been making QSO's all over Europe on the 136kHz band (135.7-137.8kHz). The current distance record is at over 2200km (Finland-Italy). One of the next chalenges would be to cross the Atlantic Ocean and several Europeans stations are interested to do some transmitting tests that way.
I would like to get an idea how many American 'lowfers' are interested in participating in these tests and are equipped to receive weak signals on 136kHz.
Best chances would be between north-west Europe and east Canada / north-east USA but of course anyone is most welcome to participate.
In case you are interested in these tests please send me a e-mail, I will keep you informed.
73, Rik ON7YD
Scroll up or click to see Rik's next message on the subject.

Subj: Another good NDB harvest
Date: 1/17/00 8:45:09 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: pthomson bruderhof (Pierre Thomson)
Friday night I was out with the E-field antenna and AD712 preamp in the car again. It turned out to be an excellent night for Canadian NDBs despite the fact that my receiver has developed some birdies that block out 3-5 KHz chunks of the band.
New catches for me included Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay) and Lake Harbour, NWT, and a new distance record, Cambridge Bay, NWT at 2189 miles. That scores me one of my goals for the season: an NDB north of the Arctic Circle. Now I have to work on the other one: a Greenland NDB!
Sub-zero temps here this morning... the season is really upon us!
Happy hunting
Pierre Thomson KA2QPG / RI
Rifton, NY FN21

Subj: LF Broadcast
Date: 1/16/00 12:09:08 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: RJM hatdaw (Richard McAlister)
I do not see anything about reception or other data on Region I LF broadcast activities/facilities, etc. Do the users of this data exchange have interest in this area?
B. Dawson
ben-dawson hatdaw.com

Subj: Burhans bibliography
Date: 1/15/00 11:26:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: evogel flash (Eric Vogel)
Can anyone send me or point me to a bibliography of the articles by Ralph Burhans - esp. the series published in (I think) Radio Electronics on VLF reception, loop antennas, etc. ?
Thanks
Eric Vogel
http://www.flash.net/~evogel/

Subj: NDB Beacon "MS"
Date: 1/15/00 11:19:09 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: kballinger idirect (Keith Ballinger)
Can anyone advise where the NDB beacon "MS" on 279/280kHz is located? I heard it at quite good strength this evening (15 Jan) and am positive about the identifier, but there isn't a match with the frequency and call-sign in either of the navaid search engines (US or Canada)
Regards,
Keith Ballinger VA3QF
NEPEAN, Ontario, CANADA

Subj: Reception Report
Date: 1/15/00 10:38:34 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: w5yy cybertron (Michael R Moody, Sr)
JDH copied at 08:30 pm CST CW at about 7WPM weak but Q5 with interfering carrier down frequency about 300hz. rec at W5YY located in Navarre, FL (20nm East of Pensacola, FL)
--
Michael R. Moody, Sr.

Subj: Beacon RB off temporarily
Date: 00-01-14 13:57:22 EST
From: bicking mwci (Robert Bicking)
RB, 186.92 kHz, will be off until Feb. 7.
73,
Robert Bicking

Subj: YB
Date: 00-01-11 20:56:20 EST
From: bkoehler spacestar (Bruce Koehler)
Beacon YB is now operating on 187.4KHz from Maplewood, MN. I had been using its suspended T-top antenna on 187.46KHz with the identifier RB. Now that I have my second LEK synthesized BPSK/CW transmitter built, I can use the ID YB and set the operating frequency anywhere in the LowFER band in 100Hz increments. I chose 187.4 because it's close to where RH was so I didn't need to change the tuning much, and BK is on 184.7 so you just transpose the 4 and 7 to get YB's frequency.
I finally heard A3O RST 549 and possibly JDH RST 339 at about 0:30 central time on Sunday morning. JDH seemed to be sending a few ID's and then something else. A3O was easy copy. So far this season I have heard LEK, BK, RM, SAM, RH, BRO, YB, RB, TEXAS, OK, A3O and JDH. I still consider it to be a bad year, at least at the times I've been listening. Usually I can hear TH, KRY, QYV, and others. Hopefully we will get some good LF listening before the season ends.
73, Bruce W0BK BK YB

Subj: Central NY ZWI back on
Date: 1/10/00 6:51:42 AM EST
From: reynoldf rlafmil (Frank Reynolds)
Friday night Mort announced that ZWI was back on. I was able to get solid copy on "v v v de ZWI" both saturday & sunday. Listed at 178.6, my uncalibrated R8A puts it about 177.96. This is about 45 miles west of me.
My first Lowfer!
Frank Reynolds
KC2FDW
LWCA
Rome, NY

Subj: Beacon BRO
Date: 1/9/00 3:38:09 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: ki0le cpduluthmnus (Bryce Ofstie)
Just a note to say that I now have the BRO beacon alternating between CW and BPSK (still on 182.250 kHz ). It runs CW in the first half hour and BPSK (message BRO(space) for a run length of 4, MS100 and ET1) in the second half hour. I haven't had much luck being able to listen during good conditions so far this season, so far I have only heard RM, LEK, BK, RH, and SAM. I heard YB (old RH) on Friday in CW and was able to copy it Saturday morning in BPSK.
73,
Bryce, KI0LE
http://cp.duluth.mn.us/~ki0le

Subj: DCH Q5 at VA
Date: 00-01-08 11:38:43 EST
From: n4zv roanokeinfi (Bart Prater)
My noise increased over the summer due to construction in the area. The only lowfer I'd been able to copy this season was Dex's "East Coast Light House Beacon", NC.
This morning I found that by using my tuned 4 foot loop as a "noise" antenna, coupled out of phase with my trusty WD4NGG active "sense" antenna, DCH is once again daytime copy in central Virginia. Interestingly, it doesn't work as well the other way around.
I guess that's why we call it experimental radio.
My lowfer VA is still 24/7, and I've actually gotten TWO reception reports this season!!!! A new record for me.
Good DX,
Bart/VA/N4ZV

Subj: Beacon LP
Date: 00-01-07 22:54:15 EST
From: larryp dataserv (Larry Putman)
Hello All,
It's time for me to admit that I will not get my beacon "LP" 189.100Khz on the air this winter.
I have instead concentrated my efforts on improving my listening capabilities. I have logged VA, NC, TH, A3O, DCH, and both AMRAD beacons in Front Royal VA. and Vienna VA.

Subj: YB
Date: 00-01-07 09:28:54 EST
From: lyle mlecmn (Lyle Koehler)
LowFER RH from Maplewood, MN is now using the identifier YB. Its frequency this morning was 187.48 kHz; we'll wait to hear from Bruce as to whether or not that frequency is "permanent" (as permanent as experimental beacons get, that is).
As of 1100 UTC today, YHO was back up to about 188.36 kHz.
--
Lyle, K0LR
http://www.computerpro.com/~lyle

Subj: TH and ARK heard
Date: 00-01-06 23:55:36 EST
From: lyle mlecmn (Lyle Koehler)
Between 1130 and 1200 UTC today (January 6th) I was able to hear ARK and TH for the first time this season. Also heard were RM, YHO, RH, BA, BK, JDH, A3O, BRO and NC. NC was sending a special New Year's greeting. For the benefit of people with *very* narrow receivers, here are some frequencies I noted in the log:

   A3O  182.96
   TH   189.34
   ARK  189.31
   YHO  188.17

Subj: CW/BPSK Schedule for TEXAS
Date: 00-01-06 12:37:50 EST
From: Bill_Cantrell-QA0057 emailmot (Bill Cantrell)
Hello All,
TEXAS is returning to alternating CW / BPSK mode on 189.700 kHz. The BPSK message is "TX(space)" for a run length of 3, MS100, ET1, for the first 30 minutes of the hour. The CW message is TEXAS AGGIES at 6 wpm for the last 30 minutes of the hour. I have also added some extremely long copper straps to the chicken-wire ground-plane. Weather is dry and the antenna current looks good...
--
Regards,
Bill Cantrell

Subj: Christmas messages from BOB and JDH
Date: 00-01-04 10:18:57 EST
From: lyle mlecmn (Lyle Koehler)
Over the Christmas weekend, I managed to catch a portion of the special Christmas messages from BOB and JDH. In both cases, band conditions were not quite good enough to catch the entire message even after several passes. Like Bob, I miss some of the old "regulars" who perhaps are no longer on the air. It seems that conditions are not as good as in past seasons. For example, I haven't heard TH so far, and Carl's signal used to be quite consistent here. On the plus side, I just received a tape from Bill Bowers with recordings of LEK and RM made on Christmas Eve. Maybe it's just that you have to be listening in the right place in the right time, which is what makes LowFER DXing such a challenge.
A brief WAV file and the text of the January 2nd SAQ transmission on 17.2 kHz are available at http://www.computerpro.com/~lyle/saq/saq.htm
--
Lyle, K0LR

Subj: BOB and SAQ
Date: 00-01-03 18:46:27 EST
From: harvey prairienet (Robert A Hoffswell)
BOB is still chugging away into the new year, and Brice (BA) and I had our usual SKN QSO on LF at 9am here.
Signals here have been pretty good, but I miss hearing KRY, QYV, GIR, and a few others. I did catch ARK last night, and NC and JDH on 16Dec99. LEK appeared that same night, with a hint of TH later. The regulars here are BA, RB, YHO, and A3O, all with at least S4 signals most days.
SAQ came through the static on the 02Jan transmission. No solid copy, but a good ID and a few words.
73 es dx de BOB
ps
Here's a note I sent to SAQ concerning their broadcast (excerpted):

Happy New Year!
The SAQ broadcast of 02Jan2000 at 0600UTC was partially received here near Mahomet, IL, (EN50), USA. At the start of the transmission, the signal was about 139, with noise levels at the receiver being S7 to S9 (primarily, constant static). By 0620 UTC, both signal strength and readability seemed to improve to about 249. I could get the "vvv SAQ..." easily enough, but could only get occasional words, numbers, etc. At 0646 UTC, I heard the final SK. I do believe I could have had near solid copy, if the QRN had not been so bad that morning. (I tried to hear SAQ for the 01Jan transmission at 1200 UTC, but was not at all successful, although the noise level was less.) Dispite the poor conditions, it was a thrill to hear the old Alexanderson alternator on the air!
Thank you for keeping the "old guy" going, and for the opportunity to hear SAQ once again.
Very truly yours,
Robert A. Hoffswell, AA9DH

Subj: NEED VLF FRONTEND INFO
Date: 00-01-03 13:59:31 EST
From: hogue isni (Anthony Hogue)
Looking for a schematic for tunable vlf front end that will work into an audio amp.
Would like to tune from about 0 to 500 kHz/
Can you suggest something? I would like to build this myself.
Thanks
AHogue

Subj: NEW BEACON
Date: 00-01-02 14:33:28 EST
From: root dreams (AppleUni Author)
New beacon set up at 160KHz. The beacon name is "HTTP", and repeatedly puts out a URL for QSL's. Simply go to the URL transmitted in Morse code, couldn't get any simpler than that. The beacon will operate 24/7 till further notice. Current lowfer exciter *DOES* drift a little, but that will be fixed soon as replacement parts arrive. I'm not sure of my "grid location" but I can state that the beacon is located at the following earth coordinates:
    lat=42.8597069
    lon=-78.4147949
Good hunting. :-)
Yours,
Andrew Kroll

  http://dr.ea.ms     http://dyndr.ea.ms     http://startrek.off.net
  http://CPM.doa.org    ag784 freenet.buffalo.edu

Subject: SAQ on Jan 1 and 2
From: ashlockw hotmail (Bill Ashlock)
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 17:04:58 EST
Copied SAQ both on Jan 1 and Jan 2 in Andover, MA (20 mi north of Boston). Had some problems on Jan 1 with local power line buzz and with local AM broadcast station but resolved these by the Jan 2 broadcast . The copy last night (early morning) was strong and consistent with a +3db to +6db S/N over the period lasting from 0550z to 0718z. The standard transmissions at 0600z, 0630z, and 0700z lasted for ~18 min but there was an attention code broadcast continuously before the standard transmissions.
The receiving equipment was my homebrewed Lowfer band selective voltmeter/receiver, an up-converter, and my Lowfer band loop tuned down to 17.2.
The signal strength of SAQ when corrections for antenna factor and converter gain were applied was approximately 20 uv/m. This level varied only a small percentage during the Jan 2 broadcast. The lowest atmospheric noise plus some power line buzz during the time of reception was approximately 10 uv/m. This level was measured when the loop was moved to a distance of 60 ft from the house. The band was unusually free from static discharge noise.
Bill, WA

Subj: SAQ -- finally?
Date: 00-01-02 01:55:19 EST
From: lyle mlecmn (Lyle Koehler)
Excellent conditions tonight here in central MN. About 90 per cent copy on the first SAQ transmission at 0600Z, with the rest filled in during the second pass at 0630Z. Except for the e-mail addresses, that is; I'm rusty at copying anything but clear text and call signs. Will have to play back my tapes to recover the addresses.
Sounds like they are gearing up for another transmission at 0700Z but I'm gonna start the recorder and head for bed..
--
Lyle, K0LR

Subj: SAQ copied in North Carolina
Date: 00-01-02 02:34:45 EST
From: dmcintyre att (Dexter McIntyre W4DEX)
SAQ was first heard at 0530 sending Vs and brief carriers. CQ was heard just before the top of the hour followed by the message. Copy was about Q3 here. I have one hour on tape and I believe I can fill in for Q5 copy by playing it back a few times. I could receive equally well with the 17 kc loop and my 177 kc transmit antenna. The loop provided about 20 db more signal but no better signal to noise ratio. It's a good feeling to hear my first Alexanderson alternator RF signal. My thanks to the ops at Grimeton for their efforts.
73,
Dex W4DEX
LF Beacon "NC" 177.777 KHz

Subj: OK copied on BPSK in Dallas
Date: 00-01-02 12:02:02 EST
From: tbrannon att (Tim Brannon)
I've been able to copy Bill Bower's OK beacon several times this holiday weekend on BPSK. This is about 190 miles north of my home in Dallas. I haven't been able to hear it on CW at all, strange since I used to hear the CW ID regularly. Initially I had some trouble getting precisely on frequency, which turned out to be a problem with the RIT control. Evidently the RIT display in the ICOM 738 is not precise when set to 1 Hz resolution, with as much as an 8 Hz error for a 35 Hz offset. Turning off RIT and just using the main display set to 1 Hz resolution did the trick. This was my initial trace using no GRAB:

  COHERENT log opened: Thu Dec 30 1999  at 16:36 
  16:36:10 3hB= sK KgcK$O[0A] OK OK OKHOb -K OK Oc OK OK Ii<OK Og-OK [K OE
  16:37:46  O[0A]VOc TKdOK OK O3 O) OK OKdOK OE OK OK  KpHJ Oc ia sK Og 9K
  16:39:22 [11]OK OK-OK OK OK OK OK[10]SK[14]e B[0B]M O. OKyO= OM OK OK OJ