File Attachment 1: 7marc15.jpg
Feb 27/28 HiFERs
Hi Folks,
This past weekend proved to be extremely quiet on the 22m front. Daylight hours monitoring on Saturday and Sunday revealed long periods with absolutely no activity whatsoever. There is an odd QRM that switches in and out abruptly, raising the noise floor considerably.
The 27th in particular was very flat, although one capture did reveal a few seconds of NC fading in and out again
28th was still very much suppressed in the morning, but mid afternoon, ~15:00 PST, some very feint but readable traces of NC and EC, and others appeared. As dusk approached, the band went quiet again, save for the wideband QRM, and an appearance of the wavy line harmonics.
One notable exception defying the bad conditions was "T" from Colorado. Visible and audible at times during Sunday morning.
Re: Feb 27/28 HiFERs
Posted by Bill Hensel on March 01, 2021 at 18:50:03.
In reply to Feb 27/28 HiFERs posted by Ed Holland on March 01, 2021
Ed, Noon time SJ
Glad you heard T...
73
Posted by Rick KA2PBO on March 04, 2021 at 23:54:31.
My neighbor (133 miles away) SJ usually goes off air around 9:15am EST but today he was on until 12:30pm. Here is a screen shot:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4zup6x5tdlzkh42/noontime%20SJ%203%204%202021.jpg?dl=0
Rick
NorthCountry AM88 Transmitter
Posted by Gary on March 05, 2021 at 02:09:03.
Howdy folks, Rare Ship NDB : ZG 410 kHz
I have an AM88 Low Power transmitter to which I have LOST the manual for it. I need to know what the switch settings are for changing frequency and the pass filters. Does ANYONE have such a document ????
THANKS !!
Gary
Posted by William Hepburn on March 05, 2021 at 04:41:49.
ZG 410 kHz located on the CCGS Pierre Radisson is currently coming here in Grimsby, ON. According to marineais.com, it's current position is on the Saguenay River in Quebec. The Pierre Radisson is an icebreaker. These ship beacons are used by helicopters. Get it while you can!
Reminder: Lowfer net +/- 3927Khz Saturday morning 0800 California time
Posted by Jerry Parker on March 05, 2021 at 22:56:48.
Reminder: Lowfer net +/- 3927Khz Saturday morning 0800 California time
Or listen online at kfs:
http://69.27.184.62:8901/?tune=3927lsb
or
KPH Point Reyes:
http://198.40.45.23:8073/
or
Utah Web sdr:
http://www.sdrutah.org/websdr1.html
If you cannot get into the net on 80 meters you can listen on KFS and participate by sending net control your thoughts to wa6owr@gmail.com
73
Re: NorthCountry AM88 Transmitter
Jerry
Posted by Chris kc3gfz on March 06, 2021 at 19:08:53.
In reply to NorthCountry AM88 Transmitter posted by Gary on March 05, 2021
Hey Gary,
I think I found what you are looking for. I’ll send email to you.
Grabber Active 13 MHz
Posted by Vernon Matheson on March 07, 2021 at 14:04:23.
My grabber will be on all day for HIFER grabs..
https://swharden.com/qrss/plus/#VE1VDM-2
Re: Grabber Active 13 MHz
Posted by John Davis on March 07, 2021 at 16:50:51.
In reply to Grabber Active 13 MHz posted by Vernon Matheson on March 07, 2021
Thanks for that URL, Vernon. Readers will want to be aware the site does not work on Internet Explorer, but is fine with most newer browsers.
Have you considered a grabber page of your own, not in place of QRSS+ but in addition to it? It'd be great to have a link directly to your capture. While it's interesting to glance at all the activity on all the various bands, that one big mega-page takes so long to load that it almost feels like the bad old days of dialup Internet. ;)
Re: Rare Ship NDB : ZG 410 kHz
Posted by John Davis on March 07, 2021 at 17:07:27.
In reply to Rare Ship NDB : ZG 410 kHz posted by William Hepburn on March 05, 2021
Thanks for the heads-up, William. No copy thus far, but I'll keep trying.
Big Four at 1750 Meter Watering Hole
Posted by John Davis on March 08, 2021 at 08:01:35.
A little less solid on XXP and SJ tonight than two weeks ago, but still better than 19 days before that in late January. WM and SIW were in pre-sunset fade about 45 minutes early tonight, but were more consistent than usual throughout the rest of the evening. The attached was captured late in the midnight hour CST.
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 7marc15.jpg
Re: Grabber Active 13 MHz
Hi Vernon!
I'll be interested in seeing if you hear JB anywhere as well as I can hear you on 10m
Noon-ish HiFERs, 8 March
Posted by John Davis on March 08, 2021 at 19:35:34.
I've only listened one or two days every two or three weeks, and kind of got out of the habit of reporting. Sorry about that.
From 11 AM CST, the watering hole started out fairly busy, with NC up around 13555.550, 7P, EH, RY, JB, and a hint of ROM. No WV yet. By 12:45 PM, it was only NC, 7P, EH and a bit of JB. And, by then, WV was weak to fair.
Elsewhere on the band, TON was fantly visible for a while. PLM seemed to be present, but with deep enough fades to break up most of the letters. (By the way, I meant to report two weeks ago that PLM now sends run-on QRSS with no dash or space between IDs, which makes it harder to identify when the QSB is bad.) No sign of VAN or FRC today.
At 13.566, something was faintly visible at .040, nut I could not confirm it was KAH. WAS was weak to fairly audible at .245, and ODX was fair on .425. A keyed signal that may have been ABBY was not audible, but was visibly wandering between .550 and .560.
John
Re: Noon-ish HiFERs, 8 March
Posted by John B on March 08, 2021 at 22:47:23.
In reply to Noon-ish HiFERs, 8 March posted by John Davis on March 08, 2021
It's always good to hear your report John... thanks for the posts!
I need to figure out a place to stash my transmitter remotely so that I can post reception reports as well.
Reports beget transmitters which beget reports, which begets fun!
Re: Big Four at 1750 Meter Watering Hole
Posted by swlem3 on March 09, 2021 at 14:52:43.
In reply to Big Four at 1750 Meter Watering Hole posted by John Davis on March 08, 2021
That's a pretty good shot of the four John. Looks a lot better than my results overnight Mar 9, 2021 using a random vertical wire:
drive.google.com/file/d/1fcvScRZP_HHq4bjAZ4PHPXPTbds68bXX/view?usp=sharing
Ray
Re: Big Four at 1750 Meter Watering Hole
Posted by K3SIW, Garry on March 09, 2021 at 15:59:44.
In reply to Big Four at 1750 Meter Watering Hole posted by John Davis on March 08, 2021
Impressive capture JD. Nice to see a few signals at the lowfer watering hole. But today's activity still pales in comparison to activity of yesteryear (cfm John Andrew's capture at http://www.w1tag.com/files/185.3Dec11.jpg). Here lately I've only copied bits and pieces of WH2XXP but the others are coming in fine.
This morning in daylight the 3 VLF Alpha signals are coming in well. Usually look for them at night but at such low frequencies it might not much matter.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Noon-ish HiFERs, 8 March
Posted by John Davis on March 09, 2021 at 20:46:10.
In reply to Noon-ish HiFERs, 8 March posted by John Davis on March 08, 2021
Late afternoon follow-up: NC, 7P, EH and RY were all solid just before 5 PM CST and JB was still fair to good. Nothing but the faintest hints of ROM all afternoon...no clear ID at all. WV was barely there.
PLM was stronger in late afternoon with signal audible over half the time, but was accompanied by a wandering random "ditter" that would have made sursl copy of conventional Morse a bit awkward.
At 4:48 PM, I had faint downward curves on 13563.195 that might have been VAN, but not enough of them in a row to confirm the timing. FRC was faintly visible, not audible. At 13566, KAH and WAS were fair at .050 and .240 respectively, and ODX ranged from fair to good on .475 (all rounded to the nearest 5 Hz). No ABBY.
After the very unpromising start to the day, better copy in late afternoon suggests that band conditions are making a seasonal change and may be getting better in the evenings once again. I had an LF listening project scheduled for last night, so I couldn't linger on 22 m, but will spend more time there tonight before going to 1750 m.
John
HiFERs Tuesday 9 March
Posted by John Davis on March 09, 2021 at 22:13:37.
PLM's op and keyer are both flexible--today the dash between IDs is back, and does help.
I got started about 1 PM CST. NC is down to 13555.530, suggesting it must be warmer at Dex's QTH. 7P, EH and ROM were fair to good today, while RY was absent and there were only possible hints of JB. WV ranged from fair to good with moderate QSB.
No sign of TON, VAN, or FRC so far. At 13566, KAH at .060 and WAS at .235 were both visible and faintly audible, while ODX had good strength and was steady at .475. The Dow was up 200 in moderate trading, and the S&P index... Oops, sorry, wrong report.
I'm continuing to capture even as I prepare this post. While I hope to do another LowFER session tonight, it won't have to start as early as yesterday's, so I can stick with 22 meters longer if things look interesting around sunset.
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 9marPLM.jpg
Re: HiFERs Tuesday 9 March
My Tuesday late afternoon plan met with some success. RY was back by mid-afternoon, although ROM and NC faded out shortly thereafter. JB came in well several times, and only fair at others. Between 2 and 3 PM, there were times when ROM boomed in with what should have been nice solid WSPR too, except for my decoder refusing to work(!), and a few of those instances were accompanied by appearances of WM for a couple of minutes at a time.
At 2220 UTC, I snagged one perfectly formed "V" on 13555.495, preceded by random bits and pieces, but it went away before getting a complete ID.
By 2400, only 7P, EH, RY and sometimes JB remained, but they were fairly strong. Beginning to take the sunset conditions for granted, it was another 45 minutes before I thought to do an aural bandscan, unfortunately. By then, there was no WV and PLM was gone too, but TON was aural copy several times at 0058 UTC/6:58 PM CST. At 7:03 PM I noticed three faint hooks at 13563.200 that matched VAN's pattern, then...nothing further.
Little did I know (though I soon suspected) that somebody finally switched the ionosphere off right then! Thereafter, there was nobody else at all audible or visible above mid-band, and only a faint 7P below, with a light touch of Codar. That's when I changed over to 1750 meters for the night.
Re: HiFERs Tuesday 9 March
Posted by Ed Holland on March 11, 2021 at 20:55:20.
In reply to Re: HiFERs Tuesday 9 March posted by John Davis on March 10, 2021
Great Tuesday reports John.
Last weekend showed somewhat better conditions here in the SF Bay Area. NC and EH popped in to visit, and on Sunday 7P boomed in mid afternoon for a short while, before disappearing.
Here in the SF Bay Area, with most HiFERs to our East, As dusk precedes the local sunset, it is quite common for the band to shut down quite abruptly by 4-5pm local time.
lf handbook pdf
Posted by swlem3 on March 12, 2021 at 01:50:10.
Stumbled upon this pdf of an LF handbook from the year 2000. Perhaps you may find this info interesting and helpful if you don't already have this.
smarthamradio.com/wp-content/uploads/RSGB-Low-Frequency-Experimenters-Handbook.pdf
Ray... swlem3
Re: LF Handbookpdf
Posted by Mike - N2COD on March 12, 2021 at 10:50:35.
In reply to lf handbook pdf posted by swlem3 on March 12, 2021
Good find, interesting stuff, thanks for posting Ray.
SJ off
Posted by Sal, K1RGO on March 12, 2021 at 16:46:46.
It's that time of year, I'll be running SJ on 185.303kHz to Sunday 13 morning (9AM) and will be off until Oct or Nov. Re: SJ off
later...............Sal, K1RGO
Posted by John Davis on March 12, 2021 at 20:32:25.
In reply to SJ off posted by Sal, K1RGO on March 12, 2021
Thanks for updating, Sal, but sorry to see you go for the season. SJ has been a faithful companion in SE Kansas this winter on the nights when I've been able to get to the field. I regret that I won't be sitting under the 15 meter antenna tonight in the thunderstorms, unfortunately, and probably not tomorrow either for the same reason.
Re: lf handbook pdf
Posted by Lee on March 12, 2021 at 20:40:46.
In reply to lf handbook pdf posted by swlem3 on March 12, 2021
Great find. I bought a similar book in 1993 but thought it was written by an american author. WM Beacons Temp QRT
Am I having a brain glitch. I printed it anyway. You can’t have to much info about LF RF.
Posted by Mike N8OoU on March 12, 2021 at 22:05:17.
WM Beacons have just been powered off and secured for our currently passing spring thunder storm. Back on after the front moves through. Re: lf handbook pdf
--
73 de N8OOU - Mike Meek
Posted by Lee on March 13, 2021 at 02:15:20.
In reply to lf handbook pdf posted by swlem3 on March 12, 2021
Hey folks. I did a search and found the book I was thinking about. Low and Medium Frequency Radio Scrapbook. Written by Ken Cornell. This British book is a perfect compliment to Cornell’s book. Re: SJ off
Download before it gets removed.
Posted by Sal,K1RGO on March 13, 2021 at 02:16:55.
In reply to Re: SJ off posted by John Davis on March 12, 2021
Ok John, happy to hear SJ has been a companion, I will probably soon be inactive on 630 m. the band has been poor lately and is seasonl for me also.
Re: LF Handbookpdf
Posted by swlem3 on March 14, 2021 at 04:46:00.
In reply to Re: LF Handbookpdf posted by Mike - N2COD on March 12, 2021
You're welcome Mike. It is a good resource, even if it's a bit "dated". 73 ... Ray
noise canceller schematic question
Posted by swlem3 on March 14, 2021 at 14:59:17.
I recently came across this noise canceller schematic. It seems simple to build and possibly worth giving it a try to get rid of noise/qrm that ruins reception on 2200m at this qth. My question is that I'm concerned about the authors choice of the core material chosen for transformer T1. He has chosen a core mix of 43, and I'm wondering if a better choice might be a 75 or 77... maybe even a BN-73-202 considering that the canceller is made for 2200m? Anyone care to comment?
drive.google.com/file/d/11ZwI8weS9UZla_-eRrwAZ-JzRMbcoiiY/view?usp=sharing
Ray ...swlem3
Re: noise canceller schematic question
Posted by Lee on March 14, 2021 at 17:25:34.
In reply to noise canceller schematic question posted by swlem3 on March 14, 2021
Yes. I recently made an antenna match transformer for 2200 meters with type 77.
Re: noise canceller schematic question
Posted by swlem3 on March 14, 2021 at 17:59:02.
In reply to Re: noise canceller schematic question posted by Lee on March 14, 2021
Very good Lee. The 77 mix would seem more appropriate at 2200m, but then if I substituted, I'm sure the turns count would have to be readjusted. I'm not sure if I should lessen the number of turns to keep the same inductance as the original or go with a new value.
Re: noise canceller schematic question
Posted by Lee on March 14, 2021 at 20:13:57.
In reply to Re: noise canceller schematic question posted by swlem3 on March 14, 2021
It’s a receive type ckt so I don’t think it’s very critical. I would build the transformer as shown but add taps so you could adjust it. It will couple more signal so maybe using a tap with fewer turns would do the job. Let us other experimenters now how it works out.
Re: noise canceller schematic question
Posted by swlem3 on March 14, 2021 at 20:29:40.
In reply to Re: noise canceller schematic question posted by Lee on March 14, 2021
yes, you'd think that with a larger AL core value, less turns would be needed. Taps would work as far as seeing which number of turns provided the best phase adjustments. I'll post results when it's all completed. Thanks Lee for your advice.
Re: T
Posted by Bill Hensel on March 14, 2021 at 22:24:05.
In reply to Re: T posted by Bill Hensel on February 23, 2021
Another great signal today March 14 on KFS at 2218 utc peaking near S3... Sunday Hifers 14-March-21
Some days I hear it there almost all day long. Freq: 13563.45 Khz.
Posted by Ed Holland on March 15, 2021 at 01:17:50.
Hi Folks,
Today saw perhaps the best conditions this Spring, with quite a bit of activity around the "Watering Hola". EH and NC made very good visual and occasional audio copy here in the early evening circa 6 pm (PST+DST). 7P, and a hook shaped repeating signal that I was not able to identify, dancing around 13,555.300 kHz.A couple of screenshots are attached.
73
Ed
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 14-Mar-21x46.jpg
File Attachment 2: 14-Mar-21x15.jpg
File Attachment 3: 14-Mar-21x19.jpg
Re: Sunday Hifers 14-March-21
Update.
This latest shot showsNC, EH, ROM and some burst from what I believe to be the Australian over the horizon RADAR at Jindalee. The latter are quite sporadic but often occurr in groups with slightly different repetition rates and tonal character when heard in USB mode.
/Ed
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 14-Mar-21x48.jpg
Re: noise canceller schematic question
After considering the circuit for a while, I recommend against tapped windings. The role of that inductor is only as a transformer. It needs to have a single center-tap secondary with both of its phases well balanced to ground to achieve maximum cancellation. The precise inductance of the windings is irrelevant to the phase cancellation so long as it (a) is sufficient to not introduce losses at the lowest frequency of interest, (b) is not so large as to introduce roll-off or self resonance around the highest frequency of interest (a legitimate reason to slightly reduce the number of turns for a higher AL), and (c) the balance between halves of the secondary winding is scrupulously well maintained.
That last part is the reason for the trifilar winding in the first place, and is hard to accomplish if one attempts to tap the windings.
There are a couple of other thoughts I would offer while you're in the planning stage.
1. Assuming the transmission line from the wire antenna is properly grounded outside the shack, I would make it a point to not let it connect to the noise canceller ground the way it is shown in the diagram. Use an isolated connector to prevent ground-loop conduction of noise between the receiver ground and the antenna ground...unless you are already using an isolated matching transformer per the Low Noise Vertical technique, with no coax ground connection at the antenna end.
2. A second transformer, but bifilar-wound, would allow you to similarly isolate the loop antenna transmission line, so it also would have no direct connection to the canceller and receiver ground.
The less ground loop noise (or "common mode" if you prefer, though IMO that term may be less accurate) you have to deal with, the more effective your cancellation of directionally dependent sources is likely to be.
John Re: noise canceller schematic question
Posted by Lee on March 15, 2021 at 22:23:43.
In reply to Re: noise canceller schematic question posted by John Davis on March 15, 2021
Thanks John
Re: noise canceller schematic question
Posted by swlem3 on March 16, 2021 at 01:47:20.
In reply to Re: noise canceller schematic question posted by John Davis on March 15, 2021
I'll incorporate the changes to the schematic that you've recommended John. I'll take some extra care in winding the txfmr to maintain balance to ground for best cancellation. Thanks for taking time to look the schematic over and offer your recommendations.
Ray
PVC Operator Error
Posted by Ed Holland on March 16, 2021 at 15:18:28.
Hi Folks,
Checking PVC output after monitoring at the weekend, I realised there was an issue. In fact, I had pushed the wrong button, and switched the transmitter from the VFO input to the internal crystal. PVC had been transmitting, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 13558.4 kHz. It is now restored to the 13555.5x frequency.
I plead for some clemency for this mistake - The TX is built around a Vectronics kit, which was supplied with poor quality paper labels as a substitute for panel graphics, which in the past were printed on vinyl or PVC self adhesive. Worse still, the legends for the power switch and crystal selector are the wrong way round.
Cheers and 73
Ed
WSPR and Win 7
Posted by Lee on March 17, 2021 at 19:33:44.
Anyone noted this problem. I use an 8 year old notebook Win 7 and note constant hard drive space loss. I have removed programs, storage items, defragged, disk cleanup, stopped backups, etc. The only thing running overnight is WSPR. Is WSPR sucking up 8 meg of memory per day. Any suggestions welcome.
Re: WSPR and Win 7
Posted by swlem3 on March 17, 2021 at 23:38:50.
In reply to WSPR and Win 7 posted by Lee on March 17, 2021
Lee, in the wspr program, do you have "save all" checked? ... located under the Save tab?
Ray
Re: WSPR and Win 7
Posted by Lee on March 18, 2021 at 00:46:36.
In reply to Re: WSPR and Win 7 posted by swlem3 on March 17, 2021
Holy kreikies could it be that simple! Yes it was checked. I have now checked none. Thanks Ray.
Re: WSPR and Win 7
Posted by John Davis on March 18, 2021 at 06:54:58.
In reply to Re: WSPR and Win 7 posted by Lee on March 18, 2021
A couple more things you can do to recover much of the disk space already used, Lee:
First, go to the File menu and click "Delete all .wav and .c2 files in Save Directory" then confirm when it asks if you really want to do that. Depending on when (or whether) you've ever done that in the past, those files may add up to many gigabytes! Just don't be in a hurry to shut down WSPR afterward, though, because the process takes a little time.
Then, go back to the File menu and click "Erase ALL_WSPR.TXT" if you haven't done so recently. This option won't prompt you for confirmation, it merely goes ahead and deletes the log file. It, too, can grow quite large over time, although not nearly like a directory full of WAV files.
My personal preference is to let the program go ahead and save the .wav and .c2 files for, say, a week or two at a time so that I can go back and re-process a particular time slot that I suspect may not have decoded properly on the first attempt. (Sometimes the decoder runs too long working on an earlier time slot and fails to process the next one.) Then I delete them.
As for ALL_WSPR.TXT, since I have to do manual uploads to WSPRnet because of no network connection in the field, I usually transfer it to my backup drive regularly, and start a fresh one before the next day's session. That way it almost never gets very large.
John
Re: WSPR and Win 7
Posted by Lee on March 18, 2021 at 21:43:44.
In reply to Re: WSPR and Win 7 posted by John Davis on March 18, 2021
Thanks John. Very helpful. I freed up 51.4 Gig! Been fighting this for 2 months. It all started when I got the error message “dangerously low hard drive space” . Well on the bright side fixed a lot of problems on the note book. Thanxs again.
Geomagnetic Disturbances
Posted by John Davis on March 20, 2021 at 16:57:45.
G2 storm last night, activity near G1 today. Around the equinox, solar wind often enters through cracks in the earth's magnetic field. Brilliant auroras occurred over the northern US last night (see spaceweather.com) and solar x-ray flux is a bit elevated as well.
The extra activity may produce interesting effects on 22 m, notably an improvement in short-hop paths with possibly some deterioration of longer paths. This is usually my best chance to copy the guys from Illinois until mid-summer, but it may be too soggy for me to get to the field today. If any of you have a chance to listen, though, periods of G1 activity are possible into tomorrow evening.
Re: Geomagnetic Disturbances
Posted by Bill Hensel on March 20, 2021 at 21:13:02.
In reply to Geomagnetic Disturbances posted by John Davis on March 20, 2021
Another good day...T s1-s2 during the day beginning at 1944 utc the day on KFS omni antenna T -13563.45 as I type this at 211 utc T is peaking s2 with a slow qsb
Re: Geomagnetic Disturbances
Posted by Ed Holland on March 21, 2021 at 01:52:14.
In reply to Re: Geomagnetic Disturbances posted by Bill Hensel on March 20, 2021
T reached PVC's QTH in fine form around 2100 UTC. Clearly audible without difficulty on the Icom R72 fed from the random wire dipole.
Plenty of other activity around the watering hole, EH and NC producing good traces and nearer to home, 7P arriving loud and clear at times.
Nice to see some lively activity on the band.
Later this afternoon, circa 0100 UTC, the band was invaded in the vicinity of 13,555 kHz by a strong data mode transmission with a bandwidth around 200 Hz.
Re: Geomagnetic Disturbances
Posted by Bill Hensel on March 21, 2021 at 14:50:12.
In reply to Re: Geomagnetic Disturbances posted by Ed Holland on March 21, 2021
Dave, Re: Geomagnetic Disturbances
Thanks for the report on "T"..good to hear you heard it...
Posted by Bill Hensel on March 22, 2021 at 21:11:03.
In reply to Re: Geomagnetic Disturbances posted by Bill Hensel on March 21, 2021
T 13563.45 is peaking at S3 on the KFS omini antenna time is 2100 utc.. JB repaired
Everyday I check KFS 2-4 times and as of recent T is generally into South Moon Bay Q4-Q5
often.
Posted by john k5mo on March 23, 2021 at 15:29:14.
I went back in the woods and cleaned up connections and reset the micro that's keying JB. All seems back to normal (I hope) for a few more weeks until the trees bud out and the solar charge goes away.
As always, any sightings appreciated
John
Re: WSPR and Win 7
Posted by Robert, VA3ROM on March 23, 2021 at 15:35:37.
In reply to WSPR and Win 7 posted by Lee on March 17, 2021
This is a well-known issue with the WSJT-X software. Even if you have Save > None enabled the program still will save everything and will slowly eat up hard drive space. Those of us with terabyte drives won't notice it as much. The only solution is to manually go in now and then and manually use File > Delete all *.wave and *.c2 files in SaveDir.
Another was is to write a simple batch (*.bat) file and make it a periodic Windows task so it executes monthly.
I think that the problem is with using a hidden (invisible) Windows directory to save data instead of a public (visible) Windows directory and putting in in the C: root.
The main problem is caused because Windows allows an unlimited number of file storage to be written and stored in directories and sub-directories (except XP, I believe and perhaps ME). So I routinely do a lot of manual housekeeping getting ride of my captured SSTV, WSPR, QRSS files on a regular basis.
73.
Overnight Hifers
Posted by Ed Holland on March 23, 2021 at 20:17:08.
Further to My report of T, I had chance to review the captures from this weekend. Circumstances conspired to my leaving the station in monitoring mode from Saturday right through to Monday morning, This afforded a general picture of 2+ days, nights and the subsiding effects of the geomagnetic activity seen toward the end of last week.
The general daily pattern (viewing 13,555.200 - 13,555.600) Seems to begin a little after local sunrise (currently 0700 PST+DST) but is generally weak until after midday. In the afternoon there seemed to be an increase in the strength and number of signals, particularly those on a shorter path e.g. 7P suddenly booming in. As evening approached on both days, the band seemed to shut down around 1700 hours local time.
However on Sunday night, 7P made a readable reappearance between 2230 and 2345 in an otherwise very quiet band. T may well have appeared also, had the facility existed to monitor more bandwidth. No such occurrence was noted for the previous night, so it is uncertain how common such events are, or what caused the lift. Worth exploring further, methinks.
73
Ed
Re: WSPR and Win 7
Posted by Lee on March 24, 2021 at 18:06:44.
In reply to Re: WSPR and Win 7 posted by Robert, VA3ROM on March 23, 2021
Thanks Robert. Great insight.
Lowfer SIW QRT
Posted by K3SIW, Garry on March 24, 2021 at 21:49:03.
Lowfer SIW was running fine through last night but when I looked this morning there was no sign of it. I called Bob, NK9M to check (it's on his property) hoping that it just lost power. Unfortunately that wasn't the issue. He's bringing it in for troubleshooting. Since the good LF season is over I doubt I'll have it back on the air until next fall but if I do I'll report it here.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: JB repaired
Posted by John Davis on March 25, 2021 at 08:18:56.
In reply to JB repaired posted by john k5mo on March 23, 2021
Haven't looked since the repair, but saw JB and others shortly before, on Sunday afternoon the 21st. See attachment. In addition to the watering hole signals shown here, NC was present up around 13555.570 but had made it down to .530 earlier. A tad later in the afternoon, SIW's QRSS6 appeared for just a couple of minutes. Earlier, an "I" from SIW's slant mode had appeared, and ROM had come in well visually in WSPR2 one time, but declined to decode.
Still earlier in the day, WV was fair; PLM was visible; FRC and KAH were faintly audible; and by ~1820 UTC ODX waa fair copy at times, but was dominated at other times by ABBY, which drifted over ODX a bit.
John
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 21mar-PLM.jpg
File Attachment 2: 21mar-wh.jpg
File Attachment 3: 21mar-ODX-ABBY.jpg
Re: JB repaired
Thanks John for the report on Abby. I may have to do some tuning this weekend . I don’t like the idea of stomping over another beacon.
Re: Lowfer SIW QRT
Posted by K3SIW, Garry on March 27, 2021 at 22:59:45.
In reply to Lowfer SIW QRT posted by K3SIW, Garry on March 24, 2021
Fired the beacon up on the work bench today and it works fine. So apparently the cable passing DC power out to it has failed. Perhaps due to critters chewing on it although it has been elevated to reduce the probability of that. I used to power the beacon with a solar panel and deep discharge batteries but that just couldn't survive the inevitable week-long cloudy periods. If there is a reasonably priced, small (50W) wind turbine I'd like to know. The solar panel plus a wind generator would probably be able to ride through such periods.
Since good LF reception is now past us I won't fire up the beacon again until next fall. Hope that by then I can implement FST4W at 1800 seconds on the 185.185 kHz frequency.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Lowfer SIW QRT
Posted by Mike N8OOU on March 28, 2021 at 02:58:47.
In reply to Re: Lowfer SIW QRT posted by K3SIW, Garry on March 27, 2021
Garry,
I have tried a 400W wind turbine here and had little success. This device requires at least 6-10 mph wind to even start spinning. To produce the full 400W it requires continuous 20-25 mph. Any kind of continuous wind speed just does not happen often here.
I know 50W would have different wind requirements but I suggest you get real wind data for your turbine location before spending any money on a machine.
Mike - good luck! 73
27th/28th March HiFERs
Posted by Ed Holland on March 29, 2021 at 19:03:39.
Very little to report this week, from the weekend monitoring here at PVC. Saturday provided very little, save extremely faint traces where NC should be, and possibly some indication of EH.
Sunday was similar, until late afternoon. Occasional fade-up conditions offered 1-2 minute glimpses of NC, EH and others at the watering hole. Alas, a Windows Update concluded monitoring just as things were starting to liven up.
In other news, a new receiver is on its way to PVC. I was sufficiently intrigued by reviews to invest in the Belka DX. SDR devices have intrigued me for a while, but the need to be tied to a PC, or alternatively the cost of stand-alone receivers prevented taking the idea further. The Belka dropped right in the sweet spot with price and stand-alone functionality, plus it's tiny size offering "go anywhere" portability. The one limitation that is worthy of particular mention here at LWCA is that frequency coverage is 1.5 to 30 MHz, so no provision of LF and MF. (a converter would fix this of course). Aside from this, it offers all modes, tuning to 10 Hz resolution and what appears to be a very flexible array of filter settings.
If there is interest, I would be happy to tell more about the new radio, and perhaps write up a review.
73
Ed
potrzebie