Re: MLS QRSS60
Posted by Mark on March 02, 2013 at 00:43:29.
In reply to Re: MLS QRSS60 posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 01, 2013
MLS QRSS60
Hi everyone! I'm going to switch over to QRSS60 for the weekend. The BEACON is MLS at 186.204 KHz. Also my updated Grid location is EN90GT. On Monday March 4th I'll switch back to QRSS30. If you receive my signal, please post a message. Thanks... Mark
Re: MLS QRSS60
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 01, 2013 at 22:53:30.
In reply to MLS QRSS60 posted by MARK on March 01, 2013
Mark, late daylight copy of your QRSS60 is fine here in NE IL. Path to the newly specified grid square is 591km, a bit more than the 575 km path to lowfer EAR. I've copied your signal in daylight often and usually report it in the lowfer archives at http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/lowfer/ since I can include a cropped screen capture there. There you'll see the frequency of MLS is slowly drifting up. As of 2253Z it's at 186204.35 Hz.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: MLS QRSS60
Posted by Mark on March 02, 2013 at 00:43:29.
In reply to Re: MLS QRSS60 posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 01, 2013
Thanks for the report! One of the plans this year is to install a controlled heater in the box. I'm hoping that will stop the frequency drift. I also want to add some programming to my keyer so it can operate at QRSS120. I have to get the drift problem solved before I try that speed tho. Has QRSS120 ever been used on the LOWFER band? Again, thanks for the report. *** Mark
Re: MLS QRSS60
Posted by Pat Bunn on March 02, 2013 at 16:12:51.
In reply to Re: MLS QRSS60 posted by Mark on March 02, 2013
Mark
Got several good IDs last night. I posted one on the LF forum.
Pat
N4LTA
WG2XCT
Re: MLS QRSS60
Posted by Mark on March 02, 2013 at 19:53:56.
In reply to Re: MLS QRSS60 posted by Pat Bunn on March 02, 2013
Thanks for the report! Makes me feel I'm back in my old Novice days. I'll let the beacon run on QRSS60 till Monday afternoon. Again, thanks..... Mark AC8CL
MF XPQ Alaska groundwave tests continue
Posted by Laurence KL 1X on March 02, 2013 at 21:47:46.
WE2XPQ testing 506.8819 appx CW 12 wpm station info and 30 second carrier for ground wave measurements. Appx 5W ERP at the moment.Daytime only. Start of run was appz 2100Z.Laurence KL 1X Wasilla Alaska Re: MLS QRSS60
32F sunny CAVU
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 03, 2013 at 15:34:18.
In reply to Re: MLS QRSS60 posted by Mark on March 02, 2013
Mark, I'll place some comments on QRSS120 operation at http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/lowfer/2013-March/date.html since I can include small images there.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
A reminder that our Community Forum...the yellow link at the upper left of the message listing page...remains available for those needing to send pictures for use with their posts here. In fact, that will soon become its only function, until (to paraphrase the Wizard of Oz) such time--if any--as I am able to replace it with something better. More on that below.
I originally set up an assortment of topic groups in the Forum for those who might be mainly interested in specific facets of longwave activity, as opposed to the all-in-one nature of this Message Board. Some of those categories have never been used at all, and for routine things like beacon frequency/schedule updates, the wider exposure of this board was probably more practical. A year ago last month, I asked for users' thoughts on whether the Forum area served a purpose any longer. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of keeping it! However, only one member has used it in the year since, for only a single post, and only one new member has even asked to register for it. Clearly, it's not useful for its original purpose, and I was considering discretely killing it off at the end of February in anticipation that no one would even notice.
But (to again paraphrase the Wizard of Oz) it has one thing this board doesn't: the ability to attach pictures. So by the power vested in me, ad hoc, ad astra per aspera, ad nauseum, e pluribus unum, nil desperandum, non carborundum illegitimati, et cetera et cetera, I do hereby declare the Community Forum re-purposed exclusively for the posting of screen captures, schematic diagrams, and similar illustrations. That change will take effect tonight.
File sizes do have limits, but they are significantly larger than any existing e-mail reflector group. The main restriction of the Forum software is that only one picture can be attached per message, but you can get a lot into one picture if you're careful.
Please note that you can and should still post the main text of your message here, in the Message Board, and include the URL of the picture in the message. (When you've posted the picture in the Forum, right-click on it, select Properties, and copy the URL from there. Then you can paste it into your text message. Later, one of us moderators will turn it into a live link. That's the same thing we do now when people use Dropbox or Photobucket and link to individual files in their galleries.)
This process will eventually be simplified further. Around this time next month, after the 136 kHz ham band comment and reply period is over, I will implement our new Authenticated Authors feature in the Board software that will let you make your own links "live." Later, if I ever become a sufficiently great and powerful Linux/Apache/Perl wizard, I hope to make the biggest conversion I've ever done to this Message Board software and enable it to accomodate file uploads directly via your Web browser...but that could be a little while yet.
In the interim, I hope re-purposing the Community Forum will help.
John
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Douglas Williams KB4OER on March 03, 2013 at 20:34:03.
In reply to Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Webmaster on March 03, 2013
Nice job John! Thank you for all your hard work.
Re: MLS QRSS60
Posted by Mark on March 03, 2013 at 21:48:38.
In reply to Re: MLS QRSS60 posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 03, 2013
Thanks for the information. I'm going to add the sub-routine on my keyer software for QRSS120 but I'll touch base with everyone next season to see if they would like to try and receive it. For the rest of this season, I'll switch back and forth between 30 and 60. My main concern now is to stablize the frequency and stop the drift. I'm going to install an oven on the crystal from an old Motorola base unit plus put a heating system in the transmitter housing and keep the whole assembly warm. Thanks again for the info...... Mark AC8CL
Re: MLS QRSS60
Posted by John Davis on March 03, 2013 at 23:17:39.
In reply to Re: MLS QRSS60 posted by Mark on March 03, 2013
Garry, I like your term "dropout jumble." Very apt.
As amazing as Argo and related programs are for pulling weak signals out of the background, there are conditions under which noise and signal become too alike to discriminate between them any more. Factors like timing of QSB, and the type and duration of both manmade and natural noise, will vary by band. Propagation at 22 meters makes it hard to get uninterrupted traces of dashes much longer than 9 seconds (QRSS3) when conditions are poor, for instance, but the slope of your slant-mode SIW signal is generally usable long after QRSS is too badly disrupted to read.
I too feel that QRSS60 is about the limit at 1750 meters. Sometimes even that is too long an interval...not necessarily for individual dots and dashes, but even the relatively slower fading cycles at LF will hit in the middle of a QRSS60 ID if the letters involved require a lot of dashes. Short, simple calls are better, IMO, if a person wants to use QRSS60 regularly. That's why I changed my LowFER from SEK to KT...it takes five minutes fewer to send, and with the impairment of my lossy "stealth loading coil" my puny signal undoubtedly suffers worse from noise and fading effects over time than a stronger one would.
I look forward to seeing what your slant-mode signal might accomplish on 1750 meters next winter!
John
LFE blog page
Posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 04, 2013 at 03:44:54.
Has anybody checked out the new LF Engineering blog page?
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Lee on March 04, 2013 at 04:36:30.
In reply to Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Webmaster on March 03, 2013
In memory of a classic SNL bit. Domini, Domini, Domini. Play Ball. Base ball been beri beri good to me! Re: MF XPQ Alaska groundwave tests continue
Lee
Posted by laurence on March 04, 2013 at 15:56:27.
In reply to MF XPQ Alaska groundwave tests continue posted by Laurence KL 1X on March 02, 2013
Re: LFE blog page
Morning all - The coding has been change to mimic Opera OP8 - USB suppressed carrier freq (your dial) would be 505.34 (Carrier is 506.882 would look like a narrow blurred line at QRSS20/30 on Argo). Set your Opera software to "477". Ive run the tx for 24 hours now and will leave it on for today to conduct further ground wave profiling in Mountainous terrain here in Alaksa. Laurence
Posted by John Davis on March 04, 2013 at 17:34:04.
In reply to LFE blog page posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 04, 2013
Wasn't aware of it. What's the URL?
Re: LFE blog page
Posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 04, 2013 at 19:09:41.
In reply to Re: LFE blog page posted by John Davis on March 04, 2013
Hi John, Unknown HiFer
www.lfengineering.com and click the blog tab...
later....Sal
Posted by Bill KB9IV on March 05, 2013 at 23:03:47.
While checking HiFers this afternoon I received a unknown HiFer. The clear ID was "DX" about 4 Hz lower than "USC". I don't see this one on our list.
Best Dx
Bill KB9IV
Re: Unknown HiFer
Posted by John Davis on March 06, 2013 at 03:01:04.
In reply to Unknown HiFer posted by Bill KB9IV on March 05, 2013
Methinks someone needs to make their presence known to the world at large! Was it also in QRSS3?
If you get a chance to listen for it again tomorrow, Bill, please post here again. I'll look for it down here as well.
I'm still waiting for someone to identify themselves as being "CFV" that I heard beaconing in regular CW at 13556.95 kHz a few weeks back...
John Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 06, 2013 at 16:08:00.
In reply to Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Webmaster on March 03, 2013
John, apparently you've modified lwca on the web to allow posting substantial images. But it's not clear just how to do that. Clicking on "Community Forums" gives a page indicating all the old topics are now read-only and not available for new posts. Does one have to register to send/review posts there, and just where are they? I tried the forgot password route and it failed so apparently I never registered in the past for this purpose.
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by John Davis on March 06, 2013 at 19:37:15.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Douglas Williams KB4OER on March 03, 2013
Thanks, Doug. One tries.
Right now, neither the Message Board nor the Forum are entirely what I'd like them to be. Both have their advantages and their downsides, but we keep working on them because they are closer to my idea of what the Web should be about than any of the alternatives. I don't share the view of some that the Web should be anarchy, but I do think it should be about inclusiveness and openness to the maximum practical extent.
I do not like cliques, and I want no part of sites that promote exclusivity in the guise of "social networking." Nor do I believe that providing a venue for discussion should automatically give some megacorporation unlimited and exclusive rights to profit from anything useful I might disclose while there. No Twitbook for me, no MyFace. I want to interact with real people doing real things in the real world, not Internet zombies who obsess over "friend" and "like" numbers; and I don't want to yield my passport to the Googlygoo Gestapo just to see if a site has anything that interests me.
"Ehh, meester, you wanna check out Yabbo Group? First you prove you real Yabbo by sign up for Yabbo.Con account. Ees easy. Geeve us name and address of you seester, and hand over you first-born cheeldren to us, OK? Ehh, meester, come back...where you go?"
Won't you sign up your name?
We'd like to feel you're acceptable.
Respectable. Oh, presentable ...a vegetable.
-- Supertramp, "The Logical Song"
Ahem. Well, anyway. That's what I like best about this Message Board. Absolutely anyone in the known universe can read what we write here, and maybe discover they have an interest in the hobby. Almost anyone can join in the conversation immediately, ask questions, and perhaps get answers or at least some sense of where to find answers...all without having to get anyone's prior approval to participate, or having to sign away their privacy, intellectual property, and in some cases, even their personal likeness, to some giant corporation.
(I say "almost anyone" because we do have to take measures to prevent spammers from overwhelming the board. On average, there are 300 attempts to spam this Message Board every day, but generally only one or two a month get through. These protective measures work in the background, and seldom impact average users.)
I wish I could do the same with the Community Forum. Everyone is allowed to read messages there, but only registered users are allowed to post. It is possible to set permissions to let guests post there, too, but at a very high cost--no protection against spam. The Forum software works completely differently from the Message Board, and I cannot access the pre-compiled code that would be necessary to implement the same mostly-transparent safeguards which protect this Message Board. Confining posting to registered users is something I'd rather not do, but it's the only substantial safeguard the Forum software offers.
When it comes to a resource-intensive activity like posting images, there seems no alternative but to limit it to registered users. I would at least like to integrate that capability into the regular Message Board, though, so we wouldn't have to keep two systems going.
John
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Webmaster on March 06, 2013 at 19:43:08.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 06, 2013
Hi, Garry. Yes, a person does have to register to be able to post in the Community Forum area, but anyone can view any of the threads in any of the topics. Near the top of the Forums page is a link in red that says "register here," and basically all it does is tell the reader to send an e-mail to me with the user name and password you want to use. The password doesn't have to be anything fancy--just something you'll remember easily.
(Registration is strictly a manual process these days because the software for automatic sign-up was being abused by spammers. In addition, the necessary e-mail exchanges were not that reliable with our present hosting service, either.)
The very top Forum you see should be titled Screen Captures, Station Photos, Documents, and it should contain three categories...two old ones named "Reception & Loggings," and "Photos of Members' Stations," plus a newly created one called "Misc Documents" for storage of schematic diagrams, short articles (non-copyrighted or public domain), and miscellany of that sort. If you don't see those categories, please let me know! We have had some permission issues with the forum software in the past; but because the administrator can see everything by default, I don't always know when other folks have problems viewing it.
It's not desirable to have so many of the old areas sitting around marked read-only, but that's only until I can figure out the best way to archive them. Archive compatibility is a feature I built into this Message Board over the years, but it's not easy with the Forum because those messages are merely database entries that have no existence as a Web page until someone clicks on them.
This interim merging of Community Forum and Message Board is not ideal. When it comes to a resource-intensive activity like posting images, though, there seems no alternative but to limit it to registered users. Something of a philosophical discussion on this can be found in message 3724.
John
Re: Unknown HiFer
Posted by Bill KB9IV on March 07, 2013 at 00:44:10.
In reply to Re: Unknown HiFer posted by John Davis on March 06, 2013
It was poor propagation,Woodpecker & Washing machine pulses made copy touch & go @ 13 Mhz....dang Russian's!!
Bizzare that the "DX" decode of yesterday was replaced with "XIL" 4 Hz lower than "USC" this time.......no "DX" seen just "XIL". Someone is playing around??
This reception I was using QRSS10 @ 10:30 AM CST 3/6/13 in UP of Mich.
Best Dx
Bill
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Lee on March 07, 2013 at 01:23:59.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Webmaster on March 06, 2013
...two old ones named "Reception & Loggings," and "Photos of Members' Stations," plus a newly created one called "Misc Documents" .... If you don't see those categories, please let me know!
Don't see those when I log on from work. Have not tried from home yet.
Also when I try to read the "read only" stuff from work I get this message
You are not allowed to access this section.
Re: Unknown HiFer
Posted by John Davis on March 07, 2013 at 02:04:34.
In reply to Re: Unknown HiFer posted by Bill KB9IV on March 07, 2013
Very odd indeed! Neither DX nor XIL were seen here today, alas.
Using Argo at QRSS3 Slow, from bottom to top, I did manage to see MP (including his CW ID ahead of every other "MP"), USC (the most powerful signal on the band again today, but at a little lower frequency than when I saw it Monday), the slant mode signal of SIW faintly (the three rising slopes in a row are the letter S, and the I starts at the far right), and EH. Jumping up a bit farther, there's the squarewave from NC...not sure why it got stronger so suddenly during the capture.
Some receiver drift took place during the afternoon, but the frequency scale is calibrated so that 800 corresponds to 13,555,400 Hz ±1 Hz at the end of the trace.
Incidentally, we probably can't blame the Russians for most of the pulses in this band. What we were blessed with today--and most days any more--is CODAR, also a type of over-the-horizon radar, but for research into ocean waves.
John
SJ off for the season
Posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 07, 2013 at 15:19:19.
SJ on 185.303 kHz will be off until next season. It looks like activity is winding down. I had a few low noise days but didn't copy much on the 1750 meter band. Unconfirmed but possibly bits and pieces of MLS and WI copied. so til next time CUL. I guess it's hifer time now and EH is going strong 24/7. Maybe later in this year we can all get on 630 meters and QSO on cw. Re: SJ off for the season
Later all, Sal, K1RGO........
Posted by John Davis on March 07, 2013 at 16:51:42.
In reply to SJ off for the season posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 07, 2013
Durn. We are finally supposed to have an evening above freezing tonight, with no storms anywhere near, so I was going to give SJ one more try this season.
John
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Webmaster on March 07, 2013 at 18:52:15.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Lee on March 07, 2013
Thanks, Lee. If you get a chance while still at work, please see if any of this has changed now.
John
Re: SJ off for the season
Posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 07, 2013 at 23:32:59.
In reply to Re: SJ off for the season posted by John Davis on March 07, 2013
Ok John, Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
I'll turn the rig back on for you tonight....I'm off unless requested otherwise.
later....
Posted by Lee on March 08, 2013 at 00:49:30.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Webmaster on March 07, 2013
"The very top Forum you see should be titled Screen Captures, Station Photos, Documents."
Not seeing that yet from work log on.
On the read only subject's I get the "you are not allowed" message only on two catagories now. Receive Antennas and Longwave Receivers Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Lee
Posted by Webmaster on March 08, 2013 at 04:20:59.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Lee on March 08, 2013
Thanks Lee, your observations are very helpful in trying to sort out the permissions problem.
That forum software is utterly peculiar with regard to permissions settings...there are negative options, affirmative options, and then some sort of bizarre double-negative, tic-tac switcheroo, phase-of-the-moon logic on top of that! It's harder to figure out than UNIX file permissions and ownerships.
It even began hiding the entire Screen Captures, Station Photos, Documents subforum from me this evening, so no wonder it isn't visible to the general public. 'Sposed to be, though.
Tonight there's just a chance I finally made some progress. If you can check again Friday afternoon, maybe we'll be fully back in business.
Thanks again.
John
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Lee on March 08, 2013 at 06:30:16.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Webmaster on March 08, 2013
Very Well
Re: SJ off for the season-tonight's results
Posted by John Davis on March 08, 2013 at 13:23:09.
In reply to Re: SJ off for the season posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 07, 2013
Thanks for leaving it on one more night, Sal!
It was noisier than I expected when I got back to the field about 11 o'clock, became a little worse just before midnight, and then stayed that way for a couple of hours before easing up to moderate again.
Even so, I saw parts of what was probably SJ at the expected frequency...specifically, repeating strings of three 60-second-long dashes at about the proper spacing to be from the J. Never could distinguish any dots with certainty, though. If that was indeed SJ, and if you had been sending in QRSS60 instead, I probably would have had verifiable copy.
Over the next few hours, I watched WMS and SIW fade in and out, and saw a few snippets of signal on the right frequency to be TAG, though it was far too broken up to tell. Later, I tried for WI for about half an hour with no sign at all. Tuned to MLS next, with promising hints at first...then after three incomplete ID cycles, it finally came up in level enough to see a complete and unambiguous ID. (Those early hints were mainly the dashes of the M and the one in the L, repeating at the right intervals, suggesting this was another case where QRSS60 could have made a difference.) Afterward, I went back and watched for WI again until the battery ran low in the computer, but with no luck.
I tuned around briefly to see what else was going on. DCF77 had already departed for the night, as had all the LW broadcasters except for someone on 153 kHz buried under a lot of PLCs and other local noise in that vicinity.
By that time, it was almost 4:45 AM. My last effort of the night was to hear the CW ID of JJY on 40 kHz, which came through beautifully despite the static levels being worse at that low frequency.
If my nose and hands ever warm back up, I will deem it a productive night.
John
Re: SJ off for the season-tonight's results
Posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 08, 2013 at 16:06:53.
In reply to Re: SJ off for the season-tonight's results posted by John Davis on March 08, 2013
Hi John, Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
I see you are really into it, I used to do the same back a decade or 2 ago. I'm probably just getting old...hi..
The snow (we got 6" of heavy wet snow and still coming down) was coating the antenna and possibly gave me big time losses, but I'm happy to hear you got a partial copy anyway.
later.....Sal
Posted by Paul on March 08, 2013 at 16:52:57.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by John Davis on March 06, 2013
"That's what I like best about this Message Board. Absolutely anyone in the known universe can read what we write here, and maybe discover they have an interest in the hobby. Almost anyone can join in the conversation immediately, ask questions, and perhaps get answers or at least some sense of where to find answers...all without having to get anyone's prior approval to participate, or having to sign away their privacy, intellectual property, and in some cases, even their personal likeness, to some giant corporation."
That's exactly what I like about it also. So, THANK YOU for not allowing this to become one of the typical web forum Cluster Foxtrots.
My far-right side might be showing a bit here, but the whole Goog and Yah philosophy of mining every personal detail just rubs me wrong. Revelations is proving true to the masses, but in a sneaky sort of way that most of them cannot recognise. Re: Unknown HiFer (Solved)
Posted by Bill KB9IV on March 08, 2013 at 17:31:09.
In reply to Unknown HiFer posted by Bill KB9IV on March 05, 2013
Hi Group My error on the HiFer "XIL". When I switched to QRSS 3 from QRSS 10 on this signal it became apparent that the UNID beacon is the negative mirror of the USC beacon.
I'll have crow to eat for supper ;>)
Bill KB9IV
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 08, 2013 at 14:37:18.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Lee on March 08, 2013
John, the new community forum seems to display correctly for me once I log on. However, in terms of posting a picture, I see "You can not start new topics in this board." at the bottom. Do I need to do something else or isn't the forum fully baked yet?
73, Garry
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by John Davis on March 08, 2013 at 17:34:04.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 08, 2013
Do I need to do something else or isn't the forum fully baked yet?
Opposite problem, I fear. After two and a half years in service, it seems to be over-cooked!
It should have displayed everything without your having to log on, but once you did, you're supposed to be able to start new topics, post replies, or anything else in the three topmost categories: "Reception & Loggings," and "Photos of Members' Stations," and "Misc Documents."
The "You can not start new topics in this board" message is only supposed to appear in the old categories that are now marked read-only.
- - - - -
11:45 AM Update: Your observation of that error message may have been the clue I needed, Garry. As administrator, I'm not able to see certain error messages directly on this machine, even if I don't log in. Courtesy of the bizarre Double Reverse Whammy Old Switcheroo logic used in the group settings tool, the three intended-to-be-working categories somehow inherited the restricted new-thread and reply permissions of the read-only boards. I hope they are fixed now. (The only thing registered users are not allowed to do in those three areas is create polls. Everything else is supposed to be available when you are logged in...posting, attaching files, and replying.) Give 'em another try and let us know, please.
John
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Lee on March 09, 2013 at 00:21:21.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Webmaster on March 08, 2013
Seems to be working ok fine now. I can see the top three topics and open them and all of the other subjects open without scolding me. Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Lee
Posted by Webmaster on March 09, 2013 at 03:30:21.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Lee on March 09, 2013
Phew! Thank goodness!
I'd been out of practice having to maintain the Forum, and the setting of permissions (and how they get inherited) is totally non-intuitive. Plus, as I say, they tend to hide problems from the administrator in a way that's most unhelpful.
Really appreciate your feedback, Lee, and Garry's too. If anyone experiences other problems, please let me know.
John
MLS QRSS60
Posted by Mark on March 09, 2013 at 00:53:01.
Hi everyone... I've noticed on the various postings that the season seems to be slowing down. I had planned on leaving my beacon (MLS) on till the end of March and weather permitting, I still plan on doing so. Starting tomorrow March 9th I'll switch over to QRSS60 and run that mode till the end of the month. If Ohio starts getting early spring thunder storms etc, I'll have to switch it off. I'll keep you informed. Till then, I'll hang in there till March 31st. The temps here are mostly staying in the mid 30's during the day now and not dropping down all that much at night. Thanks for all the postings! I have in my log, 11 states and one station in Canada! I guess that's not to bad for a newbee !! .... 73 Mark AC8CL
Re: MLS QRSS60
Posted by John Davis on March 09, 2013 at 03:25:15.
In reply to MLS QRSS60 posted by Mark on March 09, 2013
I have in my log, 11 states and one station in Canada! I guess that's not to bad for a newbee !!
Hey, Mark, that's not a bad season for anyone! Glad you've had such success, and hope to have a chance to continue looking for you throughout the month. I think QRSS60 will make a worthwhile difference as Spring approaches.
In fact, you might want to consider a "second season" in the early summer, once the spring storms die down a bit. There's usually a spell in June when remaining thunderstorms die down around midnight and don't crank up again until the next afternoon. Sometimes there's pretty good DX in the early mornings that way.
John
Re: MLS QRSS60
Posted by Mark on March 09, 2013 at 18:22:23.
In reply to Re: MLS QRSS60 posted by John Davis on March 09, 2013
Thanks..... I'll try and get everything back on line for the June time frame and I'll send out a post. I've got the various boxes and heater unit ready to install to improve the temp control and I'll be working on that in April and May. I'm also working on my 630 meter ant getting ready for the "new band". *** Mark
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 09, 2013 at 17:37:27.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Webmaster on March 09, 2013
John, I've posted a couple of images of lowfer SIW (assuming it actually worked!). I put the composite image in as an attachment and it seems to display at http://lwca.org/community/YaBB.pl?num=1362850459/0#0.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Webmaster on March 09, 2013 at 19:35:25.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 09, 2013
Fantastic, Garry. It worked great!
Neat picture, too, although alarmingly arctic looking. :-)
Having achieved a post attachment, you can now link to it in your messages here, either with a link to the entire Forum message (as you just did), or with a link directly to the picture itself. There might be times when you want to draw attention to the whole Forum message, and other times when you just want people to view the image.
To do the latter, merely open your new post, hold the mouse pointer over the picture, right-click, and select Properties. Highlight the URL of the picture itself and press Ctrl+C to copy the link. (I'm sure you already know all this, but I'm mentioning it for the benefit of newcomers to this sort of posting.)
When you paste the URL of the picture in your message, it will look something like this on first reading:
http://lwca.org/community/Attachments/Lowfer_SIW_Composite_crop.jpg
After one of us moderators comes along, we may convert it to a live link:
http://lwca.org/community/Attachments/Lowfer_SIW_Composite_crop.jpg
...or in some cases, maybe a simplified version like this:
Lowfer_SIW_Composite_crop.jpg
And if it's a picture that calls out to be viewed simultaneously with the text you've posted here in the Message Board, we might even embed the image.
In about a month, our new "authenticated authors" program will enable you to create your own live links and maybe embed pictures yourself. At that point, the Forum's file attachment feature will work something like a minimalist Dropbox or Photobucket gallery for this Message Board.
John
PBO -- Shutting down
Posted by Rick KA2PBO on March 09, 2013 at 20:51:05.
Well the sap in the trees has started to flow here in the Poconos and it has started to steal what little antenna current I had. I have no complaints though. I was copied from almost 500 miles away this season . Although my vertical was buried in the trees,I had better results than the loop I was using in the past. Next year I hope to slide down into the watering hole to increase my odds a little bit.
Thanks to all who monitored my frequency ; whether successfully or not!
See you all in the fall!
73 Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Rick KA2PBO
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 09, 2013 at 21:35:59.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Webmaster on March 09, 2013
John, that's not how my Windows XP SP2 behaves. When I right-click over the picture I can choose "Copy Image Location", then paste it into this message as:
http://lwca.org/community/Attachments/Lowfer_SIW_Composite_crop.jpg. Hopefully that's what you intended. It does work as a URL placed into a new tab in Firefox 18.0.2.
The ability to post larger pictures than http://mailman.qth.net allows is much appreciated since I don't currently have my own web page and don't want to mess with dropbox, etc.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum
Posted by Webmaster on March 10, 2013 at 00:38:11.
In reply to Re: Remember the Alamo--er, the Community Forum posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 09, 2013
When I right-click over the picture I can choose "Copy Image Location", then paste it...."
Good point. Different operating systems, and different browsers in the same OS, do handle that function differently. The way yours works is much more straightforward than Internet Explorer running in XP.
The ability to post larger pictures than http://mailman.qth.net allows is much appreciated since I don't currently have my own web page and don't want to mess with dropbox, etc.
Most welcome. I figured, or at least hoped, there was such a niche out there to be filled, so that the Forum would continue to serve some purpose along with the Message Board.
John
3/11/13 activity on 137 kHz
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 11, 2013 at 14:47:20.
Just posted a screen capture at http://lwca.org/community/Attachments/screen_capture1.jpg showing signals from 4 stations. XGJ was on earlier and NA appeared later so overall 6 stations were active over night. The message with attachment is in
LWCA Longwave Community › Screen Captures, Station Photos, Documents › Reception & Loggings.
73, Garry, K3SIW
JH Lowfer Off
Posted by John Hamer on March 12, 2013 at 16:51:44.
Hey Guys, I'm going to shut JH down tonight. I have a few projects around the house and then I will get it going again. I am going to put an inductor on the mast near the top, add ten feet to the height, and add some more top loading radials. I am also going to work on the ground system. Hopefully I will get some better results. I will let you know when I have it back up.
I did not go to the full height because I was a little worried about how it would hold up but it did very well. I am thinking about building a hifer transmitter for the summer. Hopefully it will do better with my location.
Hifer SIW slant code hardware
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on March 12, 2013 at 17:04:12.
The image is at http://lwca.org/community/Attachments/slash_composite_crop.jpg.
This image shows the analog hardware used to generate "SIW" in slant code (upward ramp = dot, downward ramp = dash). On the top right is 555 timer circuitry to establish the period (tunable and currently about 60 seconds). In the top middle are multiplexer ICs to choose ramp up or ramp down per the "SIW" code. On the top left are op amps to create the ramps and relays to select which is applied in time (tried FET switches but they were too leaky).
The bottom image shows a Spectrum Laboratory QRSS3 waterfall, embedded with an Argo QRSS30 waterfall. The lower signal on the former waterfall is the SIW QRSS6 signal. Unfortunately the image is low resolution so magnifying it to see the fine print won't work.
Of course the best way to generate slant code is with a uP. But none was at hand when the urge hit so a junk box design was pursued instead. Re: JH Lowfer Off
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Posted by Douglas Williams KB4OER on March 12, 2013 at 22:46:40.
In reply to JH Lowfer Off posted by John Hamer on March 12, 2013
Thanks for the heads up John.
IMO, smart money is on improving your ground radials and/or increasing the height of your antenna and/or trying to clear all trees and other power sucking structures within at least 50' of your transmitting antenna and/or increasing the size of your "capacity hat" (all within part 15 rules, of course).
I think adding inductance near the top of your antenna is not worth the effort, compared to the gains you can realize with the other things I mentioned.
Hope to RX you later this year.
73, Doug KB4OER
Re: JH Lowfer Off
Posted by John Davis on March 13, 2013 at 00:05:40.
In reply to Re: JH Lowfer Off posted by Douglas Williams KB4OER on March 12, 2013
I agree with Doug's suggestions. Good grounding, clearance from obstructions, plus maximum height and top hat consistent with the rules, have consistently been the most productive route to vertical antenna efficiency.
Personally, I like the concept of an elevated inductor in a LowFER antenna, but only in the lower half. An inductor near the top of an antenna that is so electrically tiny to begin with is of minimal benefit, and introduces possibilities for mechanical weakness and additional RF resistance that a person would be better off without. The technique is better left for situations where an antenna is a few percent of a wavelength, IMO, not one that is less than one percent.
Please keep us posted on your progress. I hope to copy your signal here in Kansas one of these days!
John JAM 187.015khz off till next year
Posted by Lee on March 13, 2013 at 02:00:48.
JAM 187.015khz off till next year. Honey doo's and old trucks are calling. Good year. By request anytime. Thanks. Re: PBO -- Shutting down
Lee
Posted by Douglas Williams on March 13, 2013 at 22:23:13.
In reply to PBO -- Shutting down posted by Rick KA2PBO on March 09, 2013
Rick,
Your signal was copied here at my QTH EM86ui, and I have the screenshot.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/33457409/PBO.jpg)
That's 493 miles, by QTH.net.
Your part 15 signal is a success, IMO.
BTW, did anyone beat my distance this season?
73, Doug KB4OER
Monday Daytime 2200 Meters
Posted by John Davis on March 14, 2013 at 00:27:05.
I've been remiss in posting LF captures on this board lately, but here's one I thought you might like to see from Monday afternoon. It's no big deal for me to see MP from London, ON, here in southeast Kansas in the daytime. Tests early last month showed the whole northeast and mid-Atlantic are in range on this band when there's not a lot of QRN. It's just that there's not usually anyone else on in the daytime except MP.
Fortunately, XKO was also on Monday afternoon, although only at 25 watts TPO for most of the day. Dex switched the transmitter to 400 watts about 6 PM EDT/5 PM CDT, with the result you see in the image above. Now, I've often said that MP's signal is good enough to capture at QRSS3...and I'm not speaking figuratively. I've actually done it before, and did it again Monday just for fun, also catching the "KO" from XKO at the boosted power level. There it is below, if I've done everything correctly, scrollable left/right to see the whole thing.
John
Re: Monday Daytime 2200 Meters
Hi John Interesting post. If I may ask what is your main receiver and antenna(s)? Local radio conditions?
Best Dx
Bill NW. Mich
Re: Monday Daytime 2200 Meters
Posted by John Davis on March 14, 2013 at 20:53:12.
In reply to Re: Monday Daytime 2200 Meters posted by Bill KB9IV on March 14, 2013
> "If I may ask what is your main receiver and antenna(s)? Local radio conditions?"
Certainly, Bill. Receiver here is a Kenwood R-5000. I currently have two that I plan to trade receiving duties between...one that I bought new many years ago, and one that I bought used this winter. I've equipped both with Kenwood's 270 Hz bandwidth CW filter, the premium AM filter, and the narrow SSB filter as well. I've mainly been using the newer acquisition over the past couple of months to test it thoroughly. It seems to be just as sensitive and selective as my original R-5000, but the master oscillator is a smidgen less stable with both temperature and battery voltage variations, giving me a bit more drift on my captures than the ones I posted last year.
The antenna is a 40 foot vertical with a bit of top loading--actually, my LowFER transmitting antenna, though it seldom gets used for that. It's in my farm field, a quarter mile from the nearest neighbors but only 150 feet from a rural power line. Unless it's wet and/or windy, though, the power line usually isn't too noisy. Shouldn't go into the field when it's wet anyway, of course, or I may end up staying there until I can get a tow the next day.
Between the antenna and the radio is the key to the whole operation when using such a short antenna at LF and VLF: a little buffer amplifier that transforms the high impedance of the antenna at LF down to 50 ohms. The mismatch between a 5000 ohm capacitive reactance and a 50 ohm receiver input is horrendous, but it's no problem with the buffer. Think of it as an active whip based at ground level. A 40 foot pole on an insulator, or a 3-meter active whip elevated 30 feet, intercept almost exactly the same signal. The amplifier circuitry merely provides buffering and current gain for the sake of matching the load impedance.
I set the buffer and a battery right at the base of the antenna, then run 50 feet of coax to the car, where the radio, notebook computer and I are usually located. The full open-terminal voltage of the antenna appears at the input of the radio, which is an excellent performer down to 30 kHz if given a properly matched input. Unlike some general coverage receivers, the Kenwood has no attenuators in line below 500 kHz unless you switch them in. Like most, it does have some spurious signals as you tune lower, but spurs are not a problem if they are swamped by normal atmospheric noise from the antenna. That's always been the case thus far with the buffer in line.
(Regarding the coax run: The plan was to have a radio room set up by now in my portable building at the edge of the field, making it practical to listen even when the field is a bit muddy, and for longer stretches of time than is advisable in the car seat! Burglars set me back many months on that project, though, by stealing all my power tools and trashing the place. It'll be summer now before that's back on track, thoroughly secured, etc. Then the coax run will be around 150 feet altogether. I built out the impedance of the buffer to a true 50 ohms, give or take a few, in order to let the coax work as a proper transmission line, and not merely appear as an inconveniently large capacitor across the ouput. That's important for maintaining good RF intermod performance and amplifier stability. The tradeoff was either 6 dB of loss, or a slight increase in distortion to restore gain to unity, but neither of those was a deal breaker. In this location, I can tolerate either one reasonably well.)
After the receiver but ahead of the computer sound card is a simple audio clipper--a kind of Dicke Fix at the 800 Hz "final IF," if you will--to keep static crashes, OTH radar, and other noise bursts from driving the sound card crazy. It improves QRSS intelligibility quite a bit in the presence of impulse noise, with the occasional side effect of introducing audio intermodulation when there are multiple strong signals in the passband. You saw an example of that in my post, where the two SIW signals were so strong for a time that they interacted with each other rather prominently.
I hope that's helpful information.
John
Re: Monday Daytime 2200 Meters
Posted by Neil on March 14, 2013 at 22:33:13.
In reply to Re: Monday Daytime 2200 Meters posted by John Davis on March 14, 2013
John, do you have a schematic of that audio clipper ahead of the sound card?
Also ur buffer amp at the base of ur vertical?
I'd like to try it.
Nighttime 2200m
Posted by John VE7BDQ on March 15, 2013 at 05:05:13.
Posting in case a LF enthusiast is looking for a target on the 2200m band -- Here I am running a cw carrier with off-on keying on 137.550 kHz.. shows in ARGO QRSS10 as short and long dashes. The mode is OP-era 32 (dial 136.000 upper sideband)and been having decodes from Laurence/KL1X during the overnight hours from 0500z until 1600z.
I wonder if anyone in western Canada reads this...
73 John / VE7BDQ cn89la
Re: PBO -- Shutting down
Posted by Rick KA2PBO on March 16, 2013 at 01:39:13.
In reply to Re: PBO -- Shutting down posted by Douglas Williams on March 13, 2013
Hey Doug,
No; you have the record!Im very happy with that! I was getting 60 to 70 ma of antenna current at best all season.But; I will never do much better unless I take out the chainsaw and start cutting in a 100ft circle. The xyl will never let that happen.So I will live by what I read in Mike Midekes 1750 Antenna papers which said something like "put up the best antenna and ground system you can and feel good knowing its the best you could do " or something like that.I feel my first year with a vertical;even as inefficient as it is ,was a success. Much better than the loop.Your receive setup works well. I hope to improve mine someday . This season I didnt shut down to do any listening because I didnt want to miss the chance that someone was looking for me.
Thanks again Doug!
73
Rick
MLS in SE Kansas
Posted by John Davis on March 16, 2013 at 10:59:26.
Seeing no one but MP at the 137 kHz watering hole last night, I moved up to 185 kHz and watched a couple of ID cycles of the "locals," WMS (185.3015) and SIW (185.185). On Thursday night, the static was averaging S5 with peaks to at least S7, so detection was poor that night. Friday night was almost two S-units quieter, so I got fairly clean captures most of the evening.
That inspired me to look for MLS, which immediately yielded a nice clear "S" so I stayed tuned for the next three hours or so, watching it slip into the noise and then rise back out again. Below is what I caught in the final two hours before the computer battery ran down. The kink in frequency during the "L" of the best (next to last) ID is because, unfortunately, I had to run the car for a while at that point. The signal itself was a little steadier than that.
John
Re: MLS in SE Kansas
Posted by Mark on March 16, 2013 at 18:20:41.
In reply to MLS in SE Kansas posted by John Davis on March 16, 2013
Thanks for the report! I'll leave the beacon on till the end of March. The temp. here is still staying in the mid 30's. So far, no early Spring thunder storms. I had some battery connection problems the other day that resulted in the keyer resetting itself mid transmission. I got it resolved, and I think the "tape" will hold for a few days. I'll keep everyone posted. **** Mark AC8CL
Re: Monday Daytime 2200 Meters
Posted by John Davis on March 16, 2013 at 18:53:29.
In reply to Re: Monday Daytime 2200 Meters posted by Neil on March 14, 2013
"John, do you have a schematic of that audio clipper ahead of the sound card?"
Ask for a slice of bread and you shall receive the bakery. :-) Here's a two-part article Todd Roberts and I did for The LOWDOWN on the subject of limiting as a tool to enhance detection by ARGO:
http://lwca.org/library/articles/receiving/limits-doc.pdf
"Also ur buffer amp at the base of ur vertical?"
Here's a PDF file containing the article I did in late 2011 on the buffer, the followup piece the next month, plus a preview of an upcoming article. It is presently about 2 megabytes in size:
http://lwca.org/library/lowdown/samples/buffer2_9.pdf
Hope that helps.
John
LowFER WI
Posted by Fwd from W4DEX on March 17, 2013 at 01:59:10.
Just heard from Walt that he has WI on until morning. 187.507 I believe is where we had WI a few weeks ago
Dex Contrasted NDB's
Posted by Bill KB9IV on March 17, 2013 at 17:36:41.
Hi Group Despite minor storm influences last night I was able to log 2 NDB's with wide longitude difference's with a seperation of 61 degree's. Both are on 350 Khz. Enderby BC "NY" and Deer Lake Newfoundland "DF". Both were 5x2 and were land propagation path's. The Loop was @ 90 degrees....E-W.
The Pro-1B loop, IC 765, PMSDR and AMRAD converter are holding their own. The furthest N/S logged was the very north shore of Hudson Bay and to the SE was the Cayman Isl. No sign of the YT,NWT or Alaska.
Despite my set-up I have a noise/ant? issue below 225 Khz so no 185 Khz loggings yet.
Good DX
Bill KB9IV
Re: LowFER WI (Tues. PM)
Posted by Fwd from W4DEX on March 20, 2013 at 01:30:55.
In reply to LowFER WI posted by Fwd from W4DEX on March 17, 2013
Walt reports WI on for the night. I'm seeing 187.506 with a bit of
slant on Argo QRSS30.
Dex Raspberry Pi as beacon transmitter, WSPR
Posted by jimvm on March 21, 2013 at 17:49:42.
I have been experimenting with a Raspberry Pi Linux computer, using it as a
transmitter. The spectral purity is not very good, but it does work as WSPR
on a lot of frequencies. The power out is about 10 milliwatts, give or take.
Use of a band pass filter might clean up the output.
Does anyone use WSPR on 13.56 MHz?
http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2013/03/wow-raspberry-pi-as-rf-transmitter.html
73 jimvm wb6qzl Loran
Posted by Steve on March 21, 2013 at 21:41:21.
Hi Folks..
been hearing what sounds like the clatter of the Loran signals
here in NW Indiana....doesn't appear to be close , judging by its level; wondering if anyone else has heard it ?
Thanks...Steve
KQ7E
Re: Loran
Posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 22, 2013 at 00:48:59.
In reply to Loran posted by Steve on March 21, 2013
Steve Re: Loran
LORAN testing here in CT is very strong. I really can't say where its coming from but possibly from this area East of me as my loop/ DF setup says.
later.....
Posted by John Davis on March 22, 2013 at 00:53:15.
In reply to Loran posted by Steve on March 21, 2013
Can't get into my field to listen today, but I do hear it off and on. Sometimes at night, I can copy LORAN pulses from Europe, but most of the time lately it has apparently been the URSA Nav experimental operation out of New Jersey.
John
Re: Loran
Posted by Steve on March 22, 2013 at 03:45:16.
In reply to Re: Loran posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 22, 2013
Hi..QSL Mr Sal ...appreciate your update!
Wonder what they're up to....They must have some definite purpose in mind ...been monitoring it several times, this year, already.
73
Re: Loran
Posted by Steve on March 22, 2013 at 03:57:31.
In reply to Re: Loran posted by John Davis on March 22, 2013
Hi John...Tnx much for your comments...a bit more info for the , apparent, puzzle. What kind of pulses are they xmtg ?
The pulses,sound rather rough...almost similar to OTH. I can copy them best in the AM mode at my widest BW of approx 12 kHz.
With the BFO on, there seems to be no indication of a normal carrier; perhaps digital pulses ?
Take care..hope you can get out to your field..regret hearing that you seem to have experienced some vandalism not too long ago. No respect for people's property now-a-days.
73...Steve
Re: Raspberry Pi as beacon transmitter, WSPR
Posted by Lee on March 22, 2013 at 06:02:07.
In reply to Raspberry Pi as beacon transmitter, WSPR posted by jimvm on March 21, 2013
Very interesting. I saw a story about Ras Pi's on Al Jazir english. Don't laugh. If you want to get the real international news, Al Jazir will deliver. Don't watch if you can't handle seeing dead bodies. I'm thinking that a Ras Pi could be used for the new 630 meter band. Thanks for the tip. Re: Loran
Lee
Posted by John, W1TAG on March 22, 2013 at 15:54:30.
In reply to Re: Loran posted by Steve on March 22, 2013
Steve,
It's a Loran-C type signal, with a GRI of 8970 (the old Great Lakes GRI). The QTH is in NJ. When I looked a week ago, there was a master and a slave pulse. It actually sounds like the old single-rate Loran-C I remember from the '60s and '70s.
John, W1TAG
Re: Loran
Posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 22, 2013 at 22:26:14.
In reply to Re: Loran posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 22, 2013
My error, phase was out ~ 180 on loop set up so more like southwest-ish.
Re: Loran
Posted by Bill KB9IV on March 22, 2013 at 23:34:55.
In reply to Loran posted by Steve on March 21, 2013
May I ask what frequency???
73 Bill
Re: Loran
Posted by John, W1TAG on March 23, 2013 at 00:33:17.
In reply to Re: Loran posted by Bill KB9IV on March 22, 2013
Bill,
100 kHz.
John, W1TAG
Re: Loran
Posted by Steve on March 23, 2013 at 01:15:33.
In reply to Re: Loran posted by John, W1TAG on March 22, 2013
Tnx, again to both you, John and Sal for comments ! Call for Beacon Updates
Tnx for the tech info, John. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the science and technologies pertaining to Loran-C;
just remember hearing the , at times, strong signals several years ago prior to shut-down. Once they shut down I kind of missed hearing the 100 kHz clatter. Monitored its signal
between approx 92 & 111kHz in AM mode @ 12 khz BW; found what appeared to be a peak signal at approx., 98+ kHz Fri 13:35 UT. My 20 m inverted V provided the best signal level compared to an 300 ft random wire.
73...Steve
Posted by John Davis on March 23, 2013 at 17:43:26.
It's nearing deadline for The LOWDOWN, so I'm asking anyone who has plans to make a change to their 1750 Meter, MedFER, or HiFER beacon operation in the coming month to let us know this weekend...preferably by Sunday afternoon.
Anybody who doesn't necessaruly plan to change anything, but who hasn't confirmed in the last year or so that they're still on the air, is encouraged to update as well.
Last month a lot of folks decided to make a change right after I'd sent the material to the printer. The online list is current with all the changes that were posted here on the LW Message Board or the lowfer@qth.net reflector, as far as I can determine, but consider that only a little over half of potential monitors of our Part 15 activities use these or any other online sources. To maximize the number of potential listeners, it behooves us to keep everyone as well updated as possible.
Thanks.
John Davis
Re: Call for Beacon Updates
Posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 24, 2013 at 00:45:06.
In reply to Call for Beacon Updates posted by John Davis on March 23, 2013
Hi John
SJ lowfer is off til next season nr tnxgvg +/-
EH medfer is off and may stay off TBD, otherwise same time on as SJ
EH fsk hifer going right through the year 24/7
I hope we get 630 meters soon, my rig is finished ready to QSO Re: Call for Beacon Updates
later...Sal
Posted by Paul on March 24, 2013 at 19:59:10.
In reply to Call for Beacon Updates posted by John Davis on March 23, 2013
FRC is same as always. The ID chip will be changed out soon so that it ID's "FRC" at 5 WPM for a full minute before giving the full callsign just once a minute.
WSPR on Hifer testing
Posted by jimvm on March 24, 2013 at 20:35:39.
Having success on 20 meters with WSPR, I am going to try it on Hifer.
Transmitting WSPR on about 13.554 MHz with 5 dBm power to inverted vee antenna.
On at 1:30 PDT, off tonight around 8 PM, March 24, 2013.
Using Raspberry Pi Linux computer as transmitter.
73 jim vm
Bonus: name the ID
Beacon update
Posted by Ralph KD8GBK on March 25, 2013 at 00:34:40.
Hi gang, my 22A beacon is operational 24/7 on 185.1 kHz pounding out 5wpm CW, had to move the transmitter, variometer, and loading coils indoors for the winter but still radiating a signal.. I'll keep the gang updated of any changes.. 73
Re: Contrasted NDB's
Posted by Gregg on March 27, 2013 at 11:11:06.
In reply to Contrasted NDB's posted by Bill KB9IV on March 17, 2013
Nice catches!
NY gets out really good, despite it being in a sucky QTH.
When NY rolls in, check for XX on 344.
Cheers!
Re: Contrasted NDB's
Posted by Steve on March 27, 2013 at 13:36:49.
In reply to Re: Contrasted NDB's posted by Gregg on March 27, 2013
Hi..Tnx for info...looks to me like you're having better luck receiving NDB's than I am here in NW IN. Canadians were very Re: Contrasted NDB's
few to none last week; just picked up a bit this week, finally; most signals very weak, though...guessing that my reception radius approx 500 mi.What's a good source for ID'ing NDB's , please .
73...Steve
Posted by John, W1TAG on March 27, 2013 at 19:34:15.
In reply to Re: Contrasted NDB's posted by Steve on March 27, 2013
Steve,
Here's a good source:
http://www.classaxe.com/dx/ndb/rna/
John, W1TAG
Re: Contrasted NDB's
Posted by Steve on March 27, 2013 at 22:08:07.
In reply to Re: Contrasted NDB's posted by John, W1TAG on March 27, 2013
Hi, John...Thanks much !!
73
Re: Contrasted NDB's
Posted by Gregg on March 28, 2013 at 08:22:30.
In reply to Re: Contrasted NDB's posted by Steve on March 27, 2013
Here's the one I use: Re: Contrasted NDB's
http://www.dxinfocentre.com/ndb.htm
Posted by Steve on March 28, 2013 at 16:21:59.
In reply to Re: Contrasted NDB's posted by Gregg on March 28, 2013
Re: Contrasted NDB's
Thanks much...hopefully, between John's and your site I'll
be able to get the NDB 's ID'd
Posted by John Davis on March 28, 2013 at 16:43:14.
In reply to Re: Contrasted NDB's posted by Steve on March 28, 2013
It's good to have both tools available, Steve. The one John mentioned is basically a database of listener reports, while the one Gregg mentioned is based on official lists. Most of the time, either one alone can help, but sometimes one will have useful information that the other doesn't contain yet.
John
potrzebie