File Attachment 1: 7may2.jpg
WM Hifer Off Air
Due to our unpredictable weather, and being away for a few days, I am putting the beacons in safe mode. I'm unsure of the duration, but it should only be a few days. I will post when It's back on.
Mike.
Re: WM Hifer Off Air
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 02, 2016 at 12:49:53.
In reply to WM Hifer Off Air posted by Mike N8OOU on May 02, 2016
Thanks for the warning....I'm considering taking AA0RQ off the air...never get any reports...
Re: WM Hifer Off Air
Posted by Mike N8OOU on May 02, 2016 at 14:04:17.
In reply to Re: WM Hifer Off Air posted by Bill Hensel on May 02, 2016
Hi Bill,
Yes, I agree 2016 reports have been slow here too, My Hifer is fully solar powered, so it needs minimal attention, but over the years a lot of equipment has been lose here from lightning. I put the place in "safe" mode at any approaching storm.
Because of being away for a few days, I just take it down. I will put it back up when we return, you never know when Bob in ZL land will put an eye/ear on it.
Mike
Re: WM Hifer Off Air
Posted by John Davis on May 02, 2016 at 17:11:42.
In reply to Re: WM Hifer Off Air posted by Mike N8OOU on May 02, 2016
Mike N8OOU wrote:
...you never know when Bob in ZL land will put an eye/ear on it.
That's exactly right. Or even some newcomer who just happens across the band and discovers this peculiar hobby. We are at kind of a critical threshold in terms of the number of stations who are on versus the number of potential listeners. There's probably no more than two dozen of either at any given moment. It's a chicken-or-the-egg situation...operators like to receive reports to know they're accomplishing something, but would-be listeners need reassurance there'll be targets on the air to monitor.
Yet it's not enough just to have more beacon operators. Anybody with a little electronics background can put a LowFER or HiFER on the air, but not all will appreciate the importance of a good antenna, or maintaining a reasonably stable and accurately known frequency, or how crucial it is to have an identifier that will be recognizable in times of noise and/or poor band conditions. Lots of new beacons have gone on the air over the years, but after a few local reports, they lose interest and shut down before anyone has a chance to copy them as DX. They go into it with great enthusiasm, but with no real sense of the difficulty of the undertaking and the patience required, which is kind of the essence of the hobby.
We do what we do, as JFK put it, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.
To illustrate the point, I made a comparison in my LOWDOWN column for May between 22m HiFER activity and 20m ham activity in the late afternoon of April 23.
Now, as everyone knows from my reports here, the downslope of the solar cycle has meant that certain HiFER stations I could copy on a daily basis before the maximum are now rare, while more distant ones are still fairly common. The diameter of the first skip zone at 22m has also apparently expanded; where previously it took in Illinois on one side and Colorado on the other, it has now swollen to include Wisconsin, sometimes Tennessee, and maybe even Arizona. It takes a G3 magnetic storm to disrupt that limitation these days. Now, strong enough signals can be heard inside the first skip zone anyway via other modes such as troposcatter. But legal HiFERs just don't have enough oomph to overcome the loss of such propagation, even with CW or slower transmission methods.
As I told my print readers, after 5 PM on the 23rd, when even NC and EH were struggling to make it through and most everyone else on 22m was long gone for the day, I was able to copy both sides of a 20m phone QSO between Kingston, Jamaica, and Madison, WI, just fine...followed a few minutes later by one between Port au Prince, Haiti, and Phoenix, AZ. One or two hundred watts, even in SSB bandwidth, has advantages over a few milliwats of CW over a difficult path!
The remarkable thing about LowFERing and HiFERing is not that we can do it reliably, but that we can do it at all. Therefore, we have to be in it for the long haul. So, I hope Bill will persevere with AAØRQ (I treasure that beautiful QSL and still listen every day that I can be on the farm), and that other operators will continue and/or resume operation again, too.
For, as that other quotable source of popular wisdom (GEICO) might say, "If you're a LowFER or a HiFER, you transmit long hours in the near-futile hope someone will run across your signal at some unknown time. It's what you do."
John
Re: CQ LowFER Beacon Ops
Posted by John Hamer on May 02, 2016 at 18:41:27.
In reply to Re: CQ LowFER Beacon Ops posted by N1KGY on April 28, 2016
That sounds good. My last setup was only picked up by Dex around 80 miles away. It was only 30 feet tall and I did not have much of a ground system. I have plenty of room to make a good antenna and ground system this time, so I hope for much better results. I am still torn between a few designs at the moment. Should start gathering parts pretty soon.
Re: WM Hifer Off Air
Posted by Ed Holland on May 02, 2016 at 18:41:31.
In reply to Re: WM Hifer Off Air posted by John Davis on May 02, 2016
I like that the setup is relatively easy, and there is no licence requirement, despite the obvious compromise. This gives me the chance to experiment with radio that I always wanted as a lad growing up in the UK. It is hard... to find time to listen, to struggle to be heard.. to keep a station on the air for long periods without interruption. However, I enjoy the learning opportunity that this offers, and the chance to experiment. And it is amazing that it works, despite the odds. Hearing such distant signals from such small transmitters gives me hope that PVC can get out there too.
Cheers,
Ed
Lowfer SIW QRT
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on May 02, 2016 at 20:16:52.
Lowfer SIW went QRT a short while ago to allow Bob, NK9M to mow the grass around the antenna. Since summer isn't far off we decided to just keep it off the air until next fall. Plan to replace the slash code mode with WSPR-15 by then. The hifers near 13.5554 MHz and a MEPT beacon at 10.140 MHz continue to run 24/7, except for brief periods when I want to listen for others.
Appreciate J.B. keeping lowfer EAR on the air year-round so there's something to listen to. It's coming through on ground wave from 576 km as I write this.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: CQ LowFER Beacon Ops
Posted by N1KGY on May 02, 2016 at 22:19:31.
In reply to Re: CQ LowFER Beacon Ops posted by John Hamer on May 02, 2016
Understood. I examined the East/West EWE antenna over the weekend and found that it was a bit chewed up (pardon the pun) - darned deer around here are notorious for doing that during the winter - so I may put up fresh wire on that one at the same time I reverse the feed on the NE/SW one, and make them both electrically reversible from the shack - been thinking about doing that, anyway.
Re: WM Hifer Off Air
Posted by John Davis on May 03, 2016 at 05:26:19.
In reply to Re: WM Hifer Off Air posted by Ed Holland on May 02, 2016
Ed Holland wrote:
It is hard... to find time to listen, to struggle to be heard.. to keep a station on the air for long periods without interruption. However, I enjoy the learning opportunity that this offers, and the chance to experiment. And it is amazing that it works, despite the odds.
Well put. I think you have expressed the essence of what this Part 15 stuff is all about.
SPT
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 03, 2016 at 15:21:41.
Very nice copy on SPT begining at 1515- 1522 utc.... 2016 edition of the ENDBH & NANDBH
I was listening for PVC and heard a signal down the band a bit...
Posted by Michael on May 03, 2016 at 20:58:34.
Hi all,
A bit later than usual, but the 2016 edition of the ENDBH & NANDBH handbooks and CDs is finally available!
This year's ENDBH contains the data of more than 6900 NDBs on 150+ spiral-bound pages in A4 format and the NANDBH shows the data of more than 5800 NDBs on 130+ pages.
The Google Earth compatible NDB waypoint file on the CD has once again been updated with the latest NDB coordinates so that you can easily "visit" NDB locations around the globe.
The NDB picture collection has increased to a total of over 320 NDB pictures.
And the NDB sound clip section has grown as well. Latest additions include NDB audio from Southeast Asia - all in all over 320 NDB sound clips from around the world.
In case you're interested in ordering a handbook or CD for other parts of the world please don't hesitate to ask, I'm able to produce customized versions for your special needs.
Delivery of the CDs will be via download. If you want a physical copy of the CD please indicate this when ordering.
Prices have been adjusted to reflect the latest changes in postage rates and foreign currency exchange rates. When using PayPal for payment please add the indicated amount to cover PayPal fees. Please find all relevant details at the following URL:
ndblist.info/beacons/NDBpublications2016.pdf
Once again I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all DXers who have sent me comments and updates, suggested improvements, pointed out errors, or provided NDB pictures and sound clips etc. Your continued support is really appreciated :-)
--
vy 73 + gd DX,
Michael
ENDBH & NANDBH editor
http://ndbchangeblog.blogspot.com
Re: MTI report
Posted by Paul on May 04, 2016 at 04:55:16.
In reply to Re: MTI report posted by Ed Holland on April 21, 2016
Ed,
Regarding the Grundig YB400 sensitivity...
I have one of the first YB400's made. It still works great, but did experience problems with the built-in telescoping whip antenna making contact with the spring loaded contact inside. I bought a new back cover (with the contact molded in) and it fixed it for a couple more years. But, it started doing it again.
Since I only use it while camping, and always string a wire antenna with a plug for the side of the YB400, I have not fixed the whip antenna contact problem again.
Wonder if that is the issue with yours as well..
73, PS Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops
Posted by Paul on May 04, 2016 at 04:59:12.
In reply to CQ HiFER Beacon Ops posted by John Davis on April 24, 2016
Nope. FRC will be doing the same as always.
BT
Hey John, do happen to know when FRC first appeared on your list? I cannot find the date, but I think this version of the beacon went on the air 10 years ago this month. The first version of the beacon was a drifting mess that was on the air for a few years off and on before I built the current version. Previous version used a different callsign also.
Thanks, OM. Re: WM Hifer Off Air
Posted by Paul on May 04, 2016 at 05:05:31.
In reply to Re: WM Hifer Off Air posted by John Davis on May 02, 2016
AMEN!!!
I just don't understand the beacon ops who shut down for the "season" or because DX is bad, or whatever. If the listeners are trying to hear a beacon, and it is QRT, then what is the point of doing it at all? Beacon listeners aren't going to keep up with your ON/OFF whims.
As for the OPs who go QRT whenever a storm is approaching, I have one word for you- Polyphaser!
My HiFer is on the peak of a very high hilltop, and other than one antenna failure, has been beaconing 24/7/365 for many years. The only thing lightning seems to be able to do is shred the Hamstick. The Polyphaser protects the beacon, which didn't even know the antenna has been hit except for a sudden increase in reflected power.
My broadcast career is beginning to show...
Re: 2016 edition of the ENDBH & NANDBH
Posted by Dave Childs on May 04, 2016 at 05:18:01.
In reply to 2016 edition of the ENDBH & NANDBH posted by Michael on May 03, 2016
What's the current price for a NANDBH in USD?
Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops
Posted by John Davis on May 04, 2016 at 05:34:59.
In reply to Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops posted by Paul on May 04, 2016
Appreciate the update, Paul. Even with current solar conditions, I can usually hear FRC for a little while each day, or at least see a trace of the keyed carrier on Argo...and always within -10 to -15 Hz of the listed frequency, which is mighty good for a non-ovenized HiFER.
I'll look back through whatever old files I can find and see if I can locate exactly when the current version first appeared in the list. At first glance, I've gone back to October 2008 and find that there were only 13 HiFERs in the list at that time, and six MedFERs remained. Our only two Californians then were SGCA, San Gabriel, which had been listed since November of 2006 with an 8-step sawtooth, and Ed Gelinas in Sunnyvale who was doing neighborhood AM programming as KHFB.
John
Re: 2016 edition of the ENDBH & NANDBH
Posted by John Davis on May 04, 2016 at 05:56:16.
In reply to Re: 2016 edition of the ENDBH & NANDBH posted by Dave Childs on May 04, 2016
From page 2 of the PDF:
CD via download €25/£20 US-$ 29 CD physical copy €30/£24 US-$ 35 Printed handbook €35/£28 US-$ 40 PayPal add €1/£1 add US-$2It's been a few years since I ordered one myself, because I don't monitor NDBs that often any more, but I might do it again this year.
John
PS-The annual announcement of the release of the Handbook is with webmaster approval, as it is a unique resource that is listed on our home page, and Michael is a longtime supporter of LWCA and contributes news to this site. We've recently clarified the wording of this policy a bit in the Posting Guidelines, but please remember that the general rule against advertising without prior approval remains in effect.
KH Beacon QRT
Posted by Ken Hude WB8ZYZ on May 04, 2016 at 18:41:47.
Moving antenna to another field. Improvements needed.
Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops
Posted by Paul on May 05, 2016 at 05:47:09.
In reply to Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops posted by John Davis on May 04, 2016
Thank you, John.
I know FRC was on the air in 2008, I guess I was a lot slower to the punch than previously thought.
My first HiFer just sent "TTT" or "O" depending on how you looked at it. I was not yet aware of the LWCA when it was on the air, so I never thought to contact you and add it to your list. One: I was curious if the dash-dash HiFer was ever on the list. Two: I was more curious as to when FRC (as we know it) made it to the list.
That homebrew Epson clock transmitter has been on the air for 8 years straight, on one of the most inhospitable hilltops imaginable. The keyer is a Byonics Piccon built from an old kit.
73,
Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops
Posted by John Davis on May 05, 2016 at 07:28:03.
In reply to Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops posted by Paul on May 05, 2016
Further searching on the computer turned up no listing in December of 2008, after which there is a gap of several months in the files. The next one I've unearthed (thus far) is the list prepared at the end of May, 2009, for the June issue, and FRC is in that one! I'll see if I can find physical copies of the missing months and pin the date down a little closer, perhaps.
John
Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 05, 2016 at 13:49:21.
In reply to Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops posted by Paul on May 04, 2016
The hifer beacon RQ has its ID changed to AA0RQ other then that it is solar powered and runs 24/7 into a ground mounted vertical with 30 radials.
PVC operational experimentsq
Posted by Ed Holland on May 05, 2016 at 16:59:59.
Still not happy with the rooftop vertical for PVC, I am planning some changes. Fortunately, wire aerials are cheap and easy to setup.
For the remainder of the week, PVC is loaded up against my receiving dipole as an experiment. This weekend, I hope to contrive a rooftop inverted V in place of the vertical, and switch to this for an extended trial. Of course the season, and sunspot cycle is against us, but that doesn't preclude tinkering.
Cheers
Ed
HiFERs Today (Cinco de Mayo)
Posted by John Davis on May 05, 2016 at 19:06:07.
First chance to set up the listening post in nearly two weeks. At 1 PM CDT, RY, EH, USC and NC were taking turns varying from weak to fair signals. WV was not audible, but the good news is that MTI was pretty consistent for the first time in several weeks. There was also a broken carrier a couple Hz higher that might have been PBJ, but the fading on that one resulted in random timings such that I can't tell for sure. (A couple of the dashes looked suspiciously long, however, so I've got my doubts. We'll check again later.) No sign of anyone above 13558, but that will probably change by late afternoon.
John
Re: PVC operational experiments
Posted by John Davis on May 05, 2016 at 19:36:58.
In reply to PVC operational experimentsq posted by Ed Holland on May 05, 2016
One suggestion to keep in mind when experimenting with transmit antennas in this band is, there's no benefit to directionality, only drawbacks of one degree or another. Remember, the radiated signal limit on this band is stated in peak field intensity. Gain due to directionality is not your friend. To achieve a maximum response in one direction, that's the lobe to which the limit applies--and so, strength in every other direction will, of necessity, be reduced because power has to be throttled back to keep the maximum direction at the limit. This is a problem for two reasons:
1. There go some of your potential listeners. Licensed hams running "normal" power levels have contacts all the time off the main lobes of their dipoles and sundry other directional antennas, but that's because they've got signal to spare; for the most part, HiFers don't. The importance of coverage off the sides is something the operator has to decide for himself.
2. It's just barely plausible to estimate the impedance and gain of a vertical or a dipole in real-world environments with enough accuracy to ensure compliance with the limits. For other antenna types, the textbook values and real-world values as constructed can often be far apart...especially if you're not really measuring transmitter power into a known, measured impedance at the antenna terminals, but are largely guessing at both. That's not to say a person shouldn't experiment with different antennas if they want to, but in my view, the less "standard" the antenna is, the much more important it is to have some way of measuring actual field strngth at 30 meters from the antenna!
John
Re: PVC operational experiments
Posted by Ed Holland on May 05, 2016 at 20:48:52.
In reply to Re: PVC operational experiments posted by John Davis on May 05, 2016
Hi John,
Very good points - I am taking note. Certainly I was not striving for directionality. Indeed, I am given to understand from some sources that certain geometries of inverted V have some omnidirectional behaviour. Your comment about the limit being field strength, not power, is important - it precludes gain - the intention is to limit the risk of interference of course.
The vertical concerns me, since the radial system is not terribly symmetrical, consisting of wires laid on the roof on one side and a solar array, approximately 20x20ft on the other. The solar array tilts upward as one moves out from the vertical element, to a height of 6ft relative to the base of the mast. As for tuning, I'm struggling to make this system a pure resistance, and have 75+j15 or so ohms as gauged by the noise bridge. Using the antenna current indicator, it is clear that I don't get the full drive that is indicated when connected to a 75ohm dummy load, which seems to be in agreement. At 1/2 "allowable" current - a reasonable estimate from measurement - radiated power is of course 1/4 of the target.
I may try and troubleshoot the impedance first, just to understand the setup and add to learning, but still wonder about losses, particularly in the haphazard ground-plain system. If I do experiment with alternatives, nothing is permanent, and the vertical could be restored, modified, removed, restored with little effort. More important is to give each revision a fair chance to be heard.
Enjoyable discussion, thank you!
Regards,
Ed
Re: HiFERs Today (Cinco de Mayo)
Posted by John Davis on May 06, 2016 at 05:53:51.
In reply to HiFERs Today (Cinco de Mayo) posted by John Davis on May 05, 2016
At 3:30 in the afternoon, the four signals at the watering hole were stronger, but so was codar. MTI and the maybe-PBJ were both gone. I couldn't yet hear FRC, but there was a slight surplus of broken RF where the signal should have been on Argo.
Between 7:30 and 8:00 PM, just before sunset, all four of the Watering Hole Regulars were in their prime, and FRC was readily copied by ear.
After sunset, the watering hole crew started fading out and back in at times, gone for up to a minute and then returning. Just before 9:09 PM, both USC and EH vanished within a matter of seconds. Less than a minute later, EH came back but USC never did. At 9:15, NC faded out over the course of two square waves, never to return.
EH and RY continued on, both becoming quite bright at times (and EH becoming noisy as it did so). At 10:20 PM CDT, EH abruptly got very weak, and vanished entirely a minute later. That left RY and some intense codar, apparently from multiple sources. At 10:35, RY suddenly weakened and was gone just over a minute later.
Multiple codar sites continued to leave strong interacting traces (with a couple machine-gun oulsers for good measure) over the next hour. Then suddenly, at 11:38 PM, most of the codar also weakened rapidly. Absolutely no HiFERs could be heard or seen by then, and even the ISM racket right in the middle of the band was dwindling.
If I'm not too lazy tomorrow, I'll try to put together one of my long, stitched, scrollable montages showing how the watering hole residents appeared to switch off one by one.
John
HiFER Opening from Illinois!
Posted by John Davis on May 06, 2016 at 19:37:21.
Wasn't in any big hurry to get to the field today, as there were no indications of any conditions of interest. But as I was setting up the computer, batteries, etc., I could hear a fairly strong carrier slowly shifting in frequency. Suddenly it stopped, and then came the nice clear ID "WM" in Morse! Well, that got my attention, so I got everything plugged in and started up real quick.
My Argo copy began at 1:18 PM CDT, just a few seconds before solar noon. There was WM all right, and SIW slant, and then SIW WSPR...both of them, including the 1 mW dipole version. Although it was visibly weaker, it decoded fine also. Meanwhile, RY was visible but broken up by fading and not really copyable unless you knew that's who it was. NC was very faint, and USC and EH were only a little better.
Nobody was showing bifurcation or other signs of Doppler shift, so I'm not really sure what deserves credit for this opening. WM didn't remain present for long. The SIWs lingered until 1:41 PM, however. After that, RY faded away entirely but EH began picking up, and so did NC and USC after a little while.
I then looked above the watering hole and could see but not quite hear WV. MTI was faintly audible, and maybe-PBJ was visible right above it, but indistinctly. Had interesting artifacts where SPT and PVC should be, but the one at 558.0 faded away after only a minute, never becoming loud enough to tell what it was. The one at 558.4 turned out to be the "Christmas tinsel" drifty short chirps. At RQ's spot, I could see what might have been a keyed carrier, and pretty much had myself convinced I heard a couple of A's at one point, but it too went away without further reception. Nothing from FRC this time.
John
Re: HiFER Opening from Illinois!
Posted by Mike N8OOU on May 06, 2016 at 20:37:05.
In reply to HiFER Opening from Illinois! posted by John Davis on May 06, 2016
John, I am currently working on the WM Hifer beacon antenna. Some corrosion had crept in, and it was not it's normal self. The transmitter has been off and on for the past couple days but I still have a couple issues to resolve before I call it fit for service.
You seem to have a knack at catching me when I am piddling with the beacon. Around 1 pm my antenna analyzer was still showing a 3+:1 SWR. I was likely taking some RF readings at that time.
Mike.
Re: HiFER Opening from Illinois!
Posted by John Davis on May 06, 2016 at 21:27:08.
In reply to Re: HiFER Opening from Illinois! posted by Mike N8OOU on May 06, 2016
Wow, that was a near-miraculous catch, then. I'd looked at the NOAA SWPC data just before leaving for the farm, and they were still predicting quiet conditions for today...but apparently 1 o'clock was when that changed, 'cause we had a little G1 magnetic storm right about then. Usually, those aren't enough to trigger an opening, but maybe the combination of that arriving so near solar noon was what we needed. High SWR or no, it was a beautiful signal for a little while!
John
Re: HiFER Opening from Illinois!
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on May 07, 2016 at 00:05:21.
In reply to HiFER Opening from Illinois! posted by John Davis on May 06, 2016
John, glad the path to Illinois finally opened. I've been away in Australia for several weeks and was glad to find everything running normally when I returned.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Lowfer TAG off for season
Posted by John, W1TAG on May 07, 2016 at 00:38:27.
Lowfer TAG, 185.300 kHz, Raymond, ME is off until late October. The antenna is used for other pursuits while we are here in the warmer months. Thanks to all for the reports from the last season.
John Andrews, W1TAG
Hifer RY off for the season
Posted by John, W1TAG on May 07, 2016 at 00:40:18.
Hifer RY, 13555.415 kHz, Raymond, ME is now off until late October. Thanks to all for the nice reports this season.
John, W1TAG
Re: HiFER Opening from Illinois!
Posted by John Davis on May 07, 2016 at 03:50:14.
In reply to Re: HiFER Opening from Illinois! posted by John Davis on May 06, 2016
What a peculiar day! It may be a while before I have results digested and pictures ready to post.
When I came back to town to report early this afternoon, I then got tied up with my part-time work. Wasn't expecting anything further to happen, propagationally, so I went ahead and had supper before returning to the field. Guess what--there'd been another nice opening from Elgin, IL, at mid-afternoon that lasted into the time I was eating supper. Fortunately, WSPR was on screen. But UNfortunately, I'd left it in idle mode before I went to town! So, I had Argo captures full of nice WSPR signals and SIW slant, but no decodes. (No WM this time.)
It was about 6 PM when I discovered all this. By then, NC and USC were doing well and EH was downright loud (no more RY, of course), so I figured the day's main events were over and I'd just let things run a while and see who else vanished before I called it quits for the evening. Well, in about an hour, here came SIW again! (The two on the vertical antenna, anyway.) Faded in and out, but should have been strong enough for decodes most of the time. Alas, Codar was also a lot stronger by then, and I think it precluded any further WSPR decodes. By 9:09, SIW went away for the last time and the others were getting a bit shaky. WV was present, ranging from barely visible to moderately audible. Same with MTI, and sometimes a glimpse of the possible PBJ signal. (The dot lengths looked right tonight, but still some uncertainty about dashes.) No FRC, but GNK was good for several IDs at a time before fading away again.
I packed everything up and brought it back home before 10 PM in order to get a halfway decent night's sleep. I hope to be able to rise, get to the farm, unload and set up early enough in the morning to see in what order the various beacons return. After that, I'll start working on captures and stuff.
John
Remarkable morning!
Posted by John Davis on May 07, 2016 at 14:30:37.
Managed to get to the field earlier today than I have done in a long time. At this time of year, so did the sun. However, at least I was early enough to get set up before anyone made an appearance. But it didn't take long!
There were ghostly traces of RF at 13554.500 and .510 as early as 6:30 AM CDT, but then at 6:46 someone switched on the ionosphere between here and New Jersey, and EH popped into view at .455. After watching for a couple of minutes, I did a quick band scan and caught MTI wafting in and out of audibility, and GNK just at the threshold (no WV or FRC, though).
Returning to the watering hole, EH was now solid. But several seconds before 6:56, a trace appeared just a smidgen above .430, gradually growing stronger, as EH's level took a nose dive. Right at 6:56--WSPR at .400! Yup, SIW showed up before 7 AM today! That hasn't happened in nearly two years.
Argo indicated that the WSPR header was missing from that time slot, but I quickly cranked up the WSPR decoder, thinking I might get a decode of the 0700 transmission. A few seconds after the top of the hour, I saw that signal was indeed coming in, so I went out to the truck to check on the generator's fuel supply and bring in the spare battery charger. When I got back, there were no WSPR decodes on screen...just the "Windows is Starting Up" message!!!
No longer a happy camper, I was puzzling over what might have forced that untimely event, but set about restarting my Argo sessions and WSPR 2.1. Couldn't do that right away because the desktop wasn't "live" yet, but the time setting utility was ready to work, so on the spur of the moment I checked the clock against WWV. It was no longer 0.5 second slow, it was now 4 seconds slow. OK, we'll reset the time, and then resume reinitializing the software.
A little after 7:06 I finally had a working desktop again and could see that the ghost at .500 had materialized into USC. In addition, EH and sometimes SIW slant were visible, Codar had cranked up, and a momentary retune 100 Hz up showed that NC was coming in too...all during that six minutes I was computer-impaired. Then, a little message popped up to announce that Windows had restarted in order to install one of the updates I'd downloaded yesterday morning. Why it waited until this morning to install (I did reboot yesterday after the download), why it did it on its own say-so, and why it thought three running Argo instances and one of WSPR constituted "idle time," are all beyond me.
At any rate, I finally had decodes before 7:30, so I'm still pretty happy overall. See the attached file (USC was in a fade at the time of that capture).
Am on my way back to check on everything now, in hopes that Windows hasn't decided it needed to format the hard drive and reinstall itself from scratch....
John
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 7may2.jpg
Re: HiFER Opening from Illinois!
It certainly was good, John.
I was able to listen, at about 19:45 PST (DST) last night. I started listening in the high portion of the band and caught a very strong and audible GNK, though no AA7RQ. Codar was obliterating everything at first, but shut down to my good fortune. An occasional ssb voice possibly in Spanish also popped in and out.
I then moved low to look at the watering hole, which has been quiet during most of my morning sessions. Audibke and visibke signals -I will cross check the frequuencies later. It then occurred to me to try the QRSS mode in Spectrum Lab, which I had not done before. It took a minute to get things tuned into the narrow window, but then four or five traces became evident, some obviously in FSK mode.
It takes a while to adapt to these new modes of listening, but I shall definitely be giving this another go!
cheers,
Ed
Re: Remarkable morning!
Posted by John Davis on May 07, 2016 at 17:36:40.
In reply to Remarkable morning! posted by John Davis on May 07, 2016
Windows behaved OK in my absence this time, and SIW was present for much of the morning. Still only minor Doppler effects showing up on the slant mode trace, but there was difficulty decoding many of the WSPR transmissions because of Codar. Those spectral lines fall at 2 Hz spacing, which is inconvenient for the WSPR decoder. Some slots were in the clear, while others required a lot greater time and effort to decode, as you can gauge from the high values in the next to last column.
160507 1224 12 -20 -1.2 13.555403 K3SIW EN52 7 0 1 0 160507 1236 7 -24 -1.5 13.555401 K3SIW EN52 7 0 74 0 160507 1240 8 -24 -1.7 13.555401 K3SIW EN52 7 0 8309 28 160507 1344 11 -20 -1.5 13.555401 K3SIW EN52 7 0 2 0 160507 1346 4 -24 5.7 13.555332 29N/H30CVW 30 3 4534 -18 160507 1348 7 -23 -1.6 13.555401 K3SIW EN52 7 0 62 0 160507 1404 12 -19 -1.4 13.555401 K3SIW EN52 7 0 1 0 160507 1424 13 -17 -1.6 13.555401 K3SIW EN52 7 0 2 0 160507 1444 12 -19 -1.6 13.555401 K3SIW EN52 7 0 1 0 160507 1500 8 -23 -1.8 13.555401 K3SIW EN52 7 0 2 0 160507 1520 7 -26 -1.7 13.555402 K3SIW EN52 7 0 1231 0 160507 1540 3 -27 -1.9 13.555404 K3SIW EN52 7 0 6549 -22The first attached file shows the watering hole during one of the cleaner QRSS3 captures, while the second shows the slant mode signal at QRSS30 nestled among Codar lines (or maybe more correctly, waves). The only SIW WSPR that decoded this morning was the one from the vertical on 13555.400. The one at .375 did show up faintly a couple of times, but tended to be engulfed in Codar interference a lot when it did appear.
By late morning, SIW wasn't doing as well, but then WM began coming in. The third attached file shows a couple of its ID cycles. On the first one, the ID was spledidly audible.
More observations are underway now. I'm concentrating on this project today because (a) conditions are so much like the "good old days," and (b) we're supposed to have a fairly stormy week ahead, beginning tomorrow. There's no telling when the opportunity may return.
John
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: wm7may.jpg
File Attachment 2: watho7may.jpg
File Attachment 3: slant7may.jpg
Re: Remarkable morning!
You'll need to disregard what I said about first, second, and third file attachments. The upload routine appaprently had its own ideas about what order to put them in! However, it should be fairly evident from the names which one is which.
John
Re: HiFER Opening from Illinois!
Posted by John Davis on May 07, 2016 at 17:45:21.
In reply to Re: HiFER Opening from Illinois! posted by John Davis on May 07, 2016
Here are the WSPR decodes from Friday's openings, limited as they are by the fact I accidentally left the software in "idle" mode most of the afternoon:
160506 0244 2 -26 4.3 13.555477 M47GVB OQ57 13 -3 8939 -55 160506 1820 3 -28 -1.9 13.555376 K3SIW EN52 0 0 6067 37 160506 1820 10 -22 -1.9 13.555405 K3SIW EN52 7 0 2 0 160506 1828 8 -25 -2.0 13.555376 K3SIW EN52 0 0 2837 0 160506 1832 6 -25 -1.8 13.555376 K3SIW EN52 0 0 1 0 160506 1832 13 -15 -2.3 13.555405 K3SIW EN52 7 0 1 0 160506 1836 5 -27 -1.8 13.555376 K3SIW EN52 0 0 40 0 160506 1836 13 -16 -2.2 13.555407 K3SIW EN52 7 0 1 0Not much point in putting up the visuals from yesterday now, though, as they are nearly identical to the ones from today. "Only the date and times have been changed to protect the innocent," etc.
John
Re: PVC operational experimentsq
Posted by Ed Holland on May 08, 2016 at 04:57:24.
In reply to PVC operational experimentsq posted by Ed Holland on May 05, 2016
An aerial rigging session this afternoon sees the PVC mast now providing a centre support for an inverted V at about 18.5 feet (I telescoped the tubes out as far as I dared). May is a bit late for pruning, but the system eventually was made resonant, and loads up nicely with good RF current. Hopefully this will result in some late blossoming reports.
Cheers,
Ed
Re: PVC operational experimentsq
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 08, 2016 at 16:02:50.
In reply to Re: PVC operational experimentsq posted by Ed Holland on May 08, 2016
I'll be listening..keep up the good work...it will pay off over time. Re: PVC operational experimentsq
I decided to keep my beacon running for another year....
Posted by Ed Holland on May 08, 2016 at 16:39:22.
In reply to Re: PVC operational experimentsq posted by Bill Hensel on May 08, 2016
Good news Bill. I will keep listening. Additional transmission mode for WM Hifer
Posted by Mike N8OOU on May 08, 2016 at 20:07:29.
I have added a JT9-1 transmission to the WM Hifer beacon. That transmission precedes the FSKCW and straight CW modes. The JT9 message will start on the next even minute mark after the last transmission. I am running a test using this mode with a remote receiver.
Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops
Posted by Paul on May 09, 2016 at 01:26:26.
In reply to Re: CQ HiFER Beacon Ops posted by John Davis on May 05, 2016
Thank you, John!
Re: PVC operational experiments
Posted by Paul on May 09, 2016 at 01:30:43.
In reply to Re: PVC operational experiments posted by Ed Holland on May 05, 2016
15 ohms of inductive reactance isn't the end of the world. If 75 ohms resistance was your goal, and you have that match, I'd call it good.
I have an AM station that HAS to have about 8-10 ohms of inductive reactance just to get the DA's rotation correct for IBOC. That's how it runs 24/7.
Re: Additional transmission mode for WM Hifer
Posted by John Davis on May 09, 2016 at 06:40:13.
In reply to Additional transmission mode for WM Hifer posted by Mike N8OOU on May 08, 2016
That should be interesting, Mike. Will look for it this week as soon as the weather cooperates...provided the ionosphere is still cooperative, too, of coure.
Didn't get a chance to go to the field today; too much atmospheric electricity at random times, and Monday will be even worse.
It's been such an odd day, in fact, that I didn't get around to reporting Saturday afternoon and evening's HiFER results yet, but I will. There was more from Illinois, including another appearance of WM, plus some oddities worth noting. More Monday.
John
Re: Additional transmission mode for WM Hifer
Posted by Ed on May 09, 2016 at 16:10:17.
In reply to Additional transmission mode for WM Hifer posted by Mike N8OOU on May 08, 2016
I copied WM yesterday, and saw the JT9-1 sequence a few times. WM was quite audible for a while here in California yesterday evening ~20:00hrs (PST+DST)
Re: Additional transmission mode for WM Hifer
Posted by Mike N8OOU on May 10, 2016 at 02:20:42.
In reply to Re: Additional transmission mode for WM Hifer posted by Ed on May 09, 2016
Thanks for the report Ed, It's nice that propagation conditions were in our favor to allow WM to land on your coast.
Mike
Re: Additional transmission mode for WM Hifer
Posted by John Davis on May 10, 2016 at 02:37:21.
In reply to Re: Additional transmission mode for WM Hifer posted by Mike N8OOU on May 10, 2016
We had enough dry and non-electrically-threatening hours this afternoon for me to return to the field, but today the ionosphere was apparently all worn out from yesterday's G3 magnetic event. At mid-afternoon, only EH, NC, and USC were present, inascending order of frequency. Absolutely no one else was visible or audible. That continued until 5 PM CDT, when I had to pack up and return to town, and by then USC had been almost completely invisible for quite a while and NC wasn't doing so great, either.
Will keep looking for WM whenever the thunderstorms are far enough away.
John
Remarkable afternoon!
Posted by John Davis on May 10, 2016 at 22:39:06.
Almost didn't go to the field today...too muddy this morning after last night's severe weather, and this afternoon I didn't expect the ionosphere would have recovered yet from yesterday's doldrums in the wake of the geomagnetic storm. But when I finally went this afternoon,there was a nice opening to IL already in progress!
Got numerous decodes of the two SIW WSPRs before Elgin faded, but WM has continued up until I left to do this report. Attached is the first WSPR decode of the afternoon, which almost didn't happen because WM's CW ID was so strong it nearly obliterated SIW's signals (and caused an overload at +30 dB on WSPR 2.1).
I later did a band scan that yielded WV barely visible but not audible; MTI barely visible and not audible the first time, but later visible and slightly audible, and possible bits of PBJ; GNK visible snd mostly audible; FRC ranging from just visible to briefly nice and loud; and AAØRQ visible for a little while, and a Q and an A audible. Pictures of those traces later this evening.
Will be returning to the field now to see what's going on next.
John
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 10may1.jpg
Re: Remarkable afternoon!
Here are the WSPR decodes from yesterday afternoon.
2048 -30 -1.5 13.555377 0 K3SIW EN52 0SIW continued to be faintly visible, off and on, until I had to shut down at 8:30 PM CDT. There were several unusual Doppler effects on the slant mode signal during the afternoon and evening, too, indicating more magnetic activity than suggested by the WWV report. I'm attaching a file with its last appearance of the day.
2048 -24 -1.9 13.555407 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2052 -26 -1.4 13.555377 0 K3SIW EN52 0
2052 -20 -1.7 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2056 -26 -1.3 13.555377 0 K3SIW EN52 0
2056 -17 -1.5 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2100 -25 -1.4 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2104 -27 -2.2 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2108 -22 -1.7 13.555407 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2112 -21 -1.4 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2116 -29 -1.4 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2120 -33 -1.2 13.555377 0 K3SIW EN52 0
2120 -23 -2.3 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2124 -30 -1.7 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2212 -27 -1.4 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2256 -27 -1.4 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2336 -25 -1.8 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2340 -28 -1.4 13.555375 0 K3SIW EN52 0
2340 -23 -1.8 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2344 -24 -1.8 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7
2348 -26 -1.4 13.555407 0 K3SIW EN52 7
0100 -27 -2.0 13.555404 0 K3SIW EN52 7
0112 -19 -1.9 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7
0116 -27 -1.9 13.555404 0 K3SIW EN52 7
USC began a long, slow disappearance around 8 o'clock. NC began fading shortly after, and was mostly gone by 8:15, leaving only EH at the watering hole, quite strong. Up the band, only GNK showed up, and it too was unusually strong, but accompanied by increasing amounts of QRN.
I'll do a separate post later showing the Argo traces of RQ, GNK, and FRC in their earlier appearances during the afternoon. (And eventually I'll get done with Saturday's pictures as well, over in that thread.)
John
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 10may12.jpg
Re: Remarkable afternoon!
FB John. Since Mark is now including JT9-1 in the WM hifer sequence I wonder if you can run WSJTX alongside your WSPR program? In fact, two instances of the former can decode JT9-1 and WSPR-2 by themselves with appropriate MODE choices.
73, Garry, K3SIW,EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Toilet Seat listening and MTI
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 11, 2016 at 23:18:19.
Encase "Toilet Seat Listening " is not understood, it means you listen for a very weak signal 10-20 feet or more away from a speaker for a weak signal. generally it is used
for beacons, simple cw signals.
Today I decided to listen for PVC 13558.4 khz on my Icom 735 with no cw filter. Perhaps your say this guy is nuts. But the wide band width allows a number of signals in the little 22 meter band to fad up out of the noise, you simply need to be a good distance away from the speaker and your be surprised what you hear.
MTI has been fading up very clear since I first decided to listen for PVC starting at 2245utc it is now 2216 utc and it is still coming in clear...if condx are reciprocal you would think AA0RQ would be making it to the East Coast also...
better turn AA0RQ back on.
Re: Remarkable afternoon!
Posted by John Davis on May 12, 2016 at 04:37:47.
In reply to Re: Remarkable afternoon! posted by Garry, K3SIW on May 11, 2016
Garry wrote:
Since Mark is now including JT9-1 in the WM hifer sequence I wonder if you can run WSJTX alongside your WSPR program?
That's a good question. I downloaded it yesterday with the idea of finding out, but haven't had time to install it yet. For one thing, I've been trying to find out if my Windows 7 Acer notebook has the required minimum 1.5 GHz processor or not. I thought I found the rating at one time, and it may only have been 1 GHz, but I can't seem to locate the number again to be sure.
Also, I kind of wanted to ask you about a couple of things I noticed from the manual.
Since it appears to be a more formal Windows installation than earlier versions of Joe's software (it registers itself with Windows, requires more than just uncompressing it into its own directory, and requires uninstallation rather than deletion), I wasn't sure if it would be possible to run two instances in different modes at the same time. Fortunately, if I'm reading your post correctly, that shouldn't be a problem.
The other question concerns where the program stores the files it writes. The manual indicates it defaults those files to an APPDATA folder in a specific location, which may not be that convenient to access...but I wondered, can the user specify another location during installation?
Thanks for any light you can shed.
John
Re: Remarkable afternoon!
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on May 12, 2016 at 12:23:35.
In reply to Re: Remarkable afternoon! posted by John Davis on May 12, 2016
John, I tried running 2 instances of WSJT-X, one set for mode JT9 and the other set for mode WSPR. But when I launched the second instance I got a "rig control error" even though I specified "none" for CAT control. Apparently there is no receive-only condition so a PTT conflict occurs.
I don't recall just what freedom the installation gives you but the manual states that logs and writable data are "normally" found at C:\Users\\AppData\Local\WSJT-X. That implies the location can be changed.
What does work for me is running WSPR2.0 or WSPR-X0.8 and then launching WSJT-X set for mode JT9.
73, Garry, K3SIW
Re: Remarkable afternoon!
Posted by John Davis on May 12, 2016 at 14:52:39.
In reply to Re: Remarkable afternoon! posted by Garry, K3SIW on May 12, 2016
Garry wrote:
What does work for me is running WSPR2.0 or WSPR-X0.8 and then launching WSJT-X set for mode JT9.
Thanks for that clarification, Garry. When I realized that WJST-X depends on the Windows registry, I feared that conflicts between multiple instances of the same executable could arise. It doesn't automatically have to be true, but it places a huge burden on the developer to allow for the possibility of different settings for additional instances; plus, I perceive WSJT-X is sufficiently resource-intensive that multiple instances would strain a lot of computers anyway. What you do sounds like the ideal workaround.
I hate that Microsoft keeps making new versions of Windows more "user friendly." Version 7 is so chummy that you have to carry on a dialogue with it to do the simplest things, and the dumbed-down terminology in a page full of links in the form of complete sentences that you have to scan and interpret is a lot more time-consuming to wade through than simple menus with the correct technical keywords (ie, "Do you want to change what the power buttons do and when the computer sleeps?" versus Power Management | Hibernate).
Consequently, I still haven't found out whether the durn machine is fast enough to run WSJT at all! I may have to do it the hard way and just try installing it, but I hate risking changes to the registry if it may need to be uninstalled.
John
PVC is a live and well
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 12, 2016 at 18:04:35.
Beginning 1758 utc for two straight minutes solid copy on PVC...it has a slight chirp and that made me aware it was in there so perked up my ears and it had a very strong fad up....
Great work Dave...keep it up...changing the speed up to 10 wpm really makes it easy to head copy...
Re: PVC is a live and well
Posted by Ed Holland on May 12, 2016 at 18:31:54.
In reply to PVC is a live and well posted by Bill Hensel on May 12, 2016
Hi Bill
That is great news - thank you so much for the report.
Cheers
Ed
Re: Remarkable afternoon!
Posted by Mike N8OOU on May 12, 2016 at 18:51:53.
In reply to Re: Remarkable afternoon! posted by John Davis on May 12, 2016
John,
This is not an "apple to apple" comparison, but I am running Linux Mint along with the Linux version of WSJT-X v1.6 without any problems on an older Acer Aspire One notebook. That machine has a single core atom processor running 1.6 Ghz.
The machine overall runs noticeable slower than any of my old desktop machines, but all features and functions of WSJT work as advertised. I can also run multiple copies of Argo under "Wine" on that machine while WSJT or WSPR programs are running.
Mike.
Re: PVC is a live and well
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 12, 2016 at 20:00:46.
In reply to Re: PVC is a live and well posted by Ed Holland on May 12, 2016
Ed, thanks for improving the antenna and adjusting the speed up to 10 wpm... WSPR Hifer SIW2 QRT
sure made it into Pine, Colorado nicely.
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on May 13, 2016 at 01:46:11.
I picked up the SIW lowfer this afternoon and have it running fine on the bench to a dummy load. Next step is to replace the 185.185 kHz slash code with a QRP-Labs Ultimate3S running WSPR-15. To that end I've terminated hifer WSPR-2 transmissions with that hardware to a dipole antenna. WSPR-2 transmissions to a quarter-wave vertical antenna continue, as do very slow slash-code transmissions summed in to the same antenna.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Remarkable afternoon!
Posted by John Davis on May 13, 2016 at 05:04:02.
In reply to Re: Remarkable afternoon! posted by Mike N8OOU on May 12, 2016
>>> I still haven't found out whether the durn machine is fast enough to run WSJT at all!
Well, now I've found out...and it's not. Dual processors, but only 1 GHz.
That's why even WSPR 2.1 bogs down sometimes, which it did this afternoon while I had to be outside working for a couple of hours. Came back to find I'd missed several potentially good decodes of the two SIW WSPRs. (Did manage to get some afterward, though; see my upcoming reply to Garry's thread about SIW2 going QRT.)
Looks like I've got to go notebook computer shopping once again. I needed another one to be able to monitor two receivers anyhow, I suppose, but I really hate shopping. The hour-long drive alone wears me out, right up front, so I'm not at peak alertness by the time I've reviewed my choices and have to make my decisions.
John
Re: WSPR Hifer SIW2 QRT
Posted by John Davis on May 13, 2016 at 05:34:33.
In reply to WSPR Hifer SIW2 QRT posted by Garry, K3SIW on May 13, 2016
Sure glad I made it to the field today, then.
2044 -25 -1.7 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2052 -30 -1.2 13.555376 0 K3SIW EN52 0 2052 -20 -1.4 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2056 -27 -1.4 13.555376 0 K3SIW EN52 0 2104 -21 -1.6 13.555404 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2108 -26 -1.2 13.555375 0 K3SIW EN52 0 2108 -19 -1.5 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2112 -23 -1.4 13.555404 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2124 -28 -1.5 13.555404 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2128 -28 -1.3 13.555374 0 K3SIW EN52 0 2128 -16 -1.4 13.555404 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2136 -29 -1.4 13.555375 0 K3SIW EN52 0 2136 -18 -1.9 13.555404 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2140 -25 -1.7 13.555404 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2144 -29 -1.5 13.555404 0 K3SIW EN52 7Started watching about 11 AM CDT, when not much was going on at the watering hole...just EH, NC and USC (in ascending order), all not a lot stronger than the noise. When I got around to doing a band scan half an hour or so later, I could see faint traces of WV but no aural copy; faint to moderate traces of MTI with a little aural copy; a moderately clear visual trace of the RQ carrier, but just barely perceptible keying before it faded out completely for the rest of the afternoon (if only I'd tuned in a couple of minutes sooner!); and GNK was nice and clear.
WM started coming in fine right after noon, visually and aurally, but SIW didn't show up until later in the hour. When it did, I still didn't get any decodes. Troubleshooting, I found that the Internet time server setting of the clock was four seconds off! I had thought I'd skip the WWV step today because I'd been networked for quite a while before going to the field, but I ended up having to do it anyway.
That's when I had to take a couple of hours to do other work, and when I returned to the machine I found lots of great Argo captures of both SIW WSPRs--but still no decodes, because WSPR 2.1 had crashed. Got it running again just in time for a swarm of Codar to descend, but eventually decodes did start happening, sometimes on both frequencies.
SIW was gone for the last time by 5 PM, and so was WM. None of those bizarre looking Doppler effects today like yesterday's infinity symbol in the SIW slant signal, for instance.
EH, NC, and USC were still doing great about 90 minutes before sunset. When I did another band scan, WV was fair to good, chirps were in abundance where PVC should be (but couldn't hear enough to tell whether it was Ed's HiFER or one of the chirpy random ditters that plague the band), GNK was barely visible, but FRC was starting to become audible. Still plenty of Codar...the East Coasters weren't entirely gone, the West was starting to show up, and apparently the Gulf was being represented strongly here as well.
John
Re: PVC is a live and well
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 13, 2016 at 22:07:44.
In reply to PVC is a live and well posted by Bill Hensel on May 12, 2016
PVC faded up at around 2108 utc for 3-4 Ids the little chirp sure helped it to stand out. It was pretty weak this time around.
Re: PVC is a live and well
Posted by Ed Holland on May 13, 2016 at 23:49:37.
In reply to Re: PVC is a live and well posted by Bill Hensel on May 13, 2016
Thank you Bill.
It is great to know the first report wasn't just a freak. I will find time to monitor the band for AA0RQ and friends this weekend. Unfortuntately, this does require a break in PVC's operation.
Ed
West Coast Hifers into Colorado
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 15, 2016 at 00:21:16.
Beginning at 0001 Utc - 0015 Utc: SPT, PVC, FRC all three coming into Pine, Co... a special note: SPT was the weakest and at times chirpy PVC beat FRC out but not by much. All listening done with my wet processor, you know the human brain, does anyone do that any longer......LOL
Re: West Coast Hifers into Colorado
Posted by Ed Holland on May 15, 2016 at 17:20:40.
In reply to West Coast Hifers into Colorado posted by Bill Hensel on May 15, 2016
Thank you Bill. Great catches!
Sunday Evening Hifers in CA
Posted by Ed Holland on May 16, 2016 at 02:11:48.
A quick report, whilst listening from 01:30 to 02:00 Hrs UTC here in California.
There was the usual noise here around 13561khz, and nothing was visible (or audible) in the band above this frequency. However, I was able to see a lot around the watering hole with Spectrum Lab set up for QRSS3. I'm pretty certain of positive IDs of the following:
7P
USC
Also a very strong signal where FL should be, but just a square wave FSK - I couldn't discern timing differences as I could with USC
Possibles reception of (detected traces, but no readable code): EH
Regards,
Ed
Re: Sunday Evening Hifers in CA
Posted by John Davis on May 16, 2016 at 07:28:09.
In reply to Sunday Evening Hifers in CA posted by Ed Holland on May 16, 2016
Good work, Ed. Sure wish we could see snippets of your screen captures. Since you're an Authenticated Author and can log in as such when you start your message...all that's needed is to save the screen to a file, open it in any image editor (including MS Paint), crop the area of interest, save it to a file of its own in JPG, GIF, or PNG format of <250 KB size, and then attach it immediately after you've posted your message.
As for the square wave, did it match the one in the file I attached last weekend (watho7may.jpg)? If so, you've captured USC's near-neighbor, NC. The NC signal has the greatest drift with temperature of any in the watering hole vicinity. In mid-morning it's usually above USC, but by late afternoon can be found as low as where EH is in my capture.
And as for 7P, if Ward is still checking in from time to time, maybe he can confirm that it's indeed on and can update us on TON?
John
Re: Sunday Evening Hifers in CA
Posted by Ed Holland on May 16, 2016 at 17:05:14.
In reply to Re: Sunday Evening Hifers in CA posted by John Davis on May 16, 2016
Hello John,
Thank you for the prompt - I will endeavour to share captures in the future.
Thanks also for the help with ID's. Looking at your screen capture, the square wave I saw looks very much like the recording of NC depicted therein. At first I had a little difficulty with identification for two reasons - 1) I am still acclimatising to working in such a narrow bandwidth and 2) There was about a 10Hz error between my receiver readout and the spectrum display.
There are a number of ways around (2)... a quick check of WWV (tuned in USB and LSB and halve the indicated difference in the heterodynes) revealed about 5Hz discrepancy in the receiver at 10MHz. Need to look at the stability and scaling of that offset, and perhaps tweak the radio. Ideally, I would find the stabilised oscillator module, but I'm sure those are rare and pricey these days. More practically, I can calibrate on WWV and just offset the "VFO" setting in Spectrum Lab.
Best regards,
Ed
Re: PVC is a live and well
Posted by Ed Holland on May 18, 2016 at 16:47:53.
In reply to Re: PVC is a live and well posted by Bill Hensel on May 13, 2016
Hopefully, this message will have a picture of PVC's inverted V dipole attached...
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 20160508_093601_resized_1.jpg
Wednesday Evening Hifers
Hi Folks,
Not quite so lively this evening, but some of the slow mode signals in the 13.555XXX neighbourhood were evident nonetheless. Circa 0300 UTC.
Also I heard AZ very clearly for the first time, getting lucky with a brief opening with a rather strong signal that then faded level with the noise again, but still discernible.
Hopefully a Spectrum lab screen capture will attach to this posting.
Good evening,
Ed
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: capt03.jpg
Re: PVC is a live and well
Hello Ed. What is the orientation of the inverted vee antenna. Hopefully for me N-S. It looks to be at least 30ft(10m) high. How did you get up so straight--guyed and stayed? I have not been able to hear it during long listening periods from 1300 UT to about 0300 UT. MTI is audible at times about 1KHz lower. Thanks Ed WSlidell, LA EM50cg
NDB updates
Posted by Michael on May 22, 2016 at 10:19:46.
Hi all,
Some NDB changes, but unfortunately only deletions or planned deletions:
CZB-359 Casey IL last log rww 2015-03-05
EQZ-308 Seymour/Captain IN last log rww 2013-03-04
EGT-414 Wellington KS last log rww 2015-04-26
ID-329 Independence/Jeffe KS last log rww 2008-10-17
IKY-429 Springfield KY last log rww 2010-12-27
MS-338 New Orleans/Kinte LA last log rww 2015-02-01
LDM-341 Ludington MI last log rww 2015-02-08
EZZ-394 Cameron MO last log rww 2013-03-19
FD-278 Poplar Bluff/Earli MO last log rww 2014-01-08
PRI-367 Farmington/Perrine MO last log rww 2014-03-18
LAH-276 Lebanon/Hanover NH last log rww 2010-09-25
OGY-414 New York/Bridge NY last log rww 2014-12-27
CHC-272 Columbus/Grens/Grandview OH last log rww 2013-02-24
DLZ-215 Delaware OH last log rww 2014-12-27
FZI-379 Fostoria OH last log rww 2013-10-15
OXD-282 Oxford OH last log rww 2015-10-13
AEE-391 Antlers OK last log rww 2015-01-14
DW-375 Tulsa/Owaso OK last log rww 2015-11-06
AGH-405 Laredo/Ardyth TX last log rww 2014-11-11
AKL-407 Haskell TX last log rww 2014-10-24
LLN-266 Levelland TX last log rww 2015-02-21
LSA-338 Lamesa TX last log rww 2014-10-25
OIP-410 Eastland/Old Rip TX last log rww 2010-04-10
SYW-428 Greenville/Cash/Majors TX last log rww 2015-08-23
vy 73 + gd DX,
Michael
ENDBH & NANDBH editor
http://ndbchangeblog.blogspot.com
Re: NDB updates
Posted by John Davis on May 22, 2016 at 17:26:25.
In reply to NDB updates posted by Michael on May 22, 2016
Thanks, Michael. Sorry to see so many continuing to shut down. I logged several of those over the years, and some of them (ID and DW, for example) used to be regulars at my location.
John
FL has better antenna
Posted by Dave N4EF on May 22, 2016 at 19:32:13.
FL has a higher antenna now. It's a dipole in my attic that's essentially broadside to W7 callsign district. I hope this will improve copy for what has been a "no copy" signal. The "FL" is transmitted in FSKCW 8 and transmits for 2 minutes, then the transmit frequency changes to 14000.810 Khz and transmits N4EF in FSKCW 8 for about 1 minute 45 seconds. There are few, if any, 20 meter QRSS beacons at the low end of 20 m.
The 22 m frequency is about 13555.450 KHz which puts it deeper into the watering hole. I hope this frequency change will not result in collision with other signals. I'll shift the frequency if neessary a bit depending on reports.
Dave in Florida Broadband LF MW Preamplifier
Posted by Alfred Rugel on May 22, 2016 at 21:46:45.
Would anyone have a broadband LF/MW preamplifier for sale which I might use with an outdoor untuned loop for LF/MW? Please Email me at the address above ... thank you! Alfred W6JHO
Re: PVC is a live and well
Posted by Ed Holland on May 23, 2016 at 16:53:30.
In reply to Re: PVC is a live and well posted by EdRSlidell,LA on May 21, 2016
Hi Ed,
The antenna is oriented with the legs approximately to North and South, so it is a compromise for some points of the compass.
It is straight in the photo, but I need to add some E-W guy lines, as recent windy weather has exposed a susceptibility to leaning... This would be straightforward enough, but for the Solar panels also on the roof interfering with the available anchor points. The system was raised, with over-length wires that were tied off using an excess of line, so that adjustment of a knot was all that was required once each round of trimming was completed (using the dip oscillator). About 3 iterations were required, using a bit of maths to estimate the amount of wire to remove. Finally, each guy line was adjusted to even up the lengths and set a gentle tension.
The mast is 18.5ft above the roof level, which was all the extension I was willing to risk between the two sections of PVC pipe. This, of course, places it well above ground level, especially given the position of the house on a steep hillside. As a receive antenna, it is nice and lively, but of course suffers from noise generated in the house. My receive antenna out in the garden is less sensitive, but with its lower noise levels, seems to make beacon reception more reliable.
Cheers,
Ed
Re: FL has better antenna
Posted by Dave on May 24, 2016 at 22:51:40.
In reply to FL has better antenna posted by Dave N4EF on May 22, 2016
Correction: FL sends in FSK CW 3 mode, not FSK CW 8 mode.
Re: FL has better antenna
Posted by John Davis on May 24, 2016 at 23:17:12.
In reply to Re: FL has better antenna posted by Dave on May 24, 2016
That's a relief. Three-second mode will be significantly less susceptible to QSB disruption. Unfortunately, the printed version of the list has gone to press with the wrong number, but I'll correct it right away in the online list.
Will tune in the next morning we don't have storms threatening, whenever that may be. If our county's one-man crime wave (who lives 4 miles from the farm and has--for legal reasons, "allegedly"--been a repeat visitor) ever begins serving his burglary sentences, I'll then proceed to finish my dual 2λ phased Beverage antenna that's aimed at Florida, and see if that improves the odds of seeing FL.
John
HiFER WM this morning
Posted by John Hamer on May 26, 2016 at 22:28:19.
I was testing out my new ICOM R71a I bought from eBay this morning and picked up WM. My antenna was just a dipole made from speaker wire with a 1:1 balun attached to some trees in my yard. Pretty good capture. This is the first time I have received a positive confirmation from a lowfer/hifer beacon other than my own. I am located in Conway SC. I am pretty sure I saw NC also, but not clear enough to confirm. Very excited about my purchase!
John Hamer Re: HiFER WM this morning
Posted by N8OOU on May 27, 2016 at 04:08:30.
In reply to HiFER WM this morning posted by John Hamer (fwd) on May 26, 2016
John,
Thanks for the WM report and capture. Your new receive setup would appear to be working well.
I have been experimenting with the transmitter output bias setting today. I have a remote receiver capturing my beacon, if you would give me the time window of hearing my beacon, Maybe I can match it back to my capture here.
Thanks again for taking the time to listen.
73 de N8OOU - Mike Meek Re: HiFER WM this morning
Posted by John Hamer on May 27, 2016 at 04:10:39.
In reply to Re: HiFER WM this morning posted by N8OOU (fwd) on May 27, 2016
I have the screenshots with the times at http://www.jwhamer.me/grabber/5_26_2016/
I have also received EH and USC. USC is close, but I have the antenna pointed North South and USC is West. I may have a copy if SIW also, but I do not have software to decode wspr at the moment.
John Hamer Re: HiFER WM this morning
Posted by Garry K3SIW on May 27, 2016 at 04:11:45.
In reply to Re: HiFER WM this morning posted by John Hamer (fwd) on May 27, 2016
John, I was confused by your captures until I realized they were inverted. You must have used LSB or a CW mode that inverted the audio frequencies. That said, I do confirm that your SIW? capture shows both the WSPR-2 hifer and the small-shift slash-code hifer sending SIW.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL Re: HiFER WM this morning
Posted by John Hamer on May 27, 2016 at 04:12:52.
In reply to Re: HiFER WM this morning posted by Garry K3SIW (fwd) on May 27, 2016
Yes, it was in cw mode and inverted. Took me a while to figure out that cw is lsb today. Still figuring it all out. What is the small shift slash code? Is that the line? How do you read it? Do I have to slow it down? Re: HiFER WM this morning
Posted by John Davis on May 27, 2016 at 04:19:03.
In reply to Re: HiFER WM this morning posted by John Hamer (fwd) on May 27, 2016
>>> What is the small shift slash code? Is that the line? How do you read it? Do I have to slow it down?
Settings suitable for QRSS30 do a good job with it. Increasing-frequency ramp is dot, dereasing-frequency ramp is dash.
I'm not familiar with your particular reeiver, but I know ICOM defaults to "upside down" CW. If yours has a CW Reverse option, that would flip your demodulated audio around to make the frequency display "normal."
John
----------------------- P.S. ------------------
I've been forwarding this thread from the qth.net "lowfer list" reflector, as a lot of HiFER types would miss out on seeing it there, and I think some of this information would be especially beneficial to newcomers.
This Week's HiFERs
Posted by John Davis on May 28, 2016 at 18:45:16.
I would have called the thread this WEEKEND's HiFERs, except I didwant to start with the only day this week that it wasn't either storming and/or too soggy from the previous storms to get to the antenna...Thursday afternoon.
It was one of those "almost" days; no dramatic openings, and several signals that could almost be copied. When I started watching just after noon, USC was very faint, but I could hear beat notes between two signals that at first looked like NC overlaid on a time delayed copy of itelf. I'd like to show you the capture of that peculiar sight, but it didn't "take" for some reason. After several more minutes, NC continued its afternoon downward thermal drift enough to see that it was EH that it collided with. A capture of that from later in the session is attached, after USC had come up a bit in level too.
As for the "almost" signals on Thursday, the WV carrier was just visible about half the time, and keying could be perceived a few times, but not well enough to decode an entire ID aurally. MTI was strong enough to decode partial IDs several times,and an entire ID twice. I've indicated on the attached capture when those times were. Possible-PBJ was present, but with propagation breaking up some of the character elements and stray Codar lines filling in some of the possible spaces, I can't be sure.
Elsewhere on the band Thursday, it appeared AAØRQ might be trying to come through, but the seemingly broken carrier at that spot turned out to be interference between two close-spaced random carriers when viewed at slower speed and finer resolution. I had sustained near-audible traces on both GNK and FRC for several minutes at a time, but never enough signal to really hear either. Things might have been better near nightfall, but the sky was too threatening again by then.
With HF so dead, I took about half an hour to check for XND WSPR on 2200 meters and the WSPR slot on 630 meters. The lightning roar was a steady S9+30 on the lower frequency and only a few dB better at 630 m. That was too much for XND, and the "locals" in Oklahoma and Texas that might have stood a chance against that much noise on 630 didn't seem to be on.
HiFERs TODAY: So far, USC, NC, and EH were fairly good at times this morning. Codar has ranged from totally quiet to moderately horrendous. I did a Tier 2.5 scan before noon (sitting on the frequency of everyone on the list except TSN for several minutes). MTI and maybe-PBJ were present at times, with perhaps-PBJ on the upper side this time, but absolutely no sign of anyone else thus far!
I've taken gone so long readying this report that it's entirely possible our occasional solar noon opening to IL is in progress, so I'm on my way back out to see. Will report later if anything shows up.
John
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 26may01.jpg
File Attachment 2: 26may02.jpg
Re: This Week's HiFERs - Saturday
This afternoon, there was no solar noon opening. Just before 2:15 PM CDT, something bumped the ionosphere and woke it up for about 15 seconds, letting me capture a blip of SIW slant and WM. It dozed off again, though, until something gave it quite a smack just before 2:52 PM (1952 UTC). When I saw the SIW slant line reappear on Argo, I had just enough time to switch WSPR 2.12 out of idle mode. Got a nice decode, although it's something of a miracle...Doppler distortion was very severe near the end of the time slot, spreading the SIW WSPR signal to almost 10 Hz wide for the last several seconds.
Not having a second receiver with me, after the first decode, I took advantage of the opening to scan for other signals. MTI was present, but undergoing frequency shifts of 1 - 2 Hz during each ident. There were hints of WV,and GNK was fair to good. Returning to the watering hole, I was in time for the last decode of the afternoon thus far in the 2016 UTC time slot. After that, SIW slant weakened and went away, and WM was already gone.
I took a break for an iced tea run about 4:30, and when I returned WM had snuck back into view with a nice signal ond only moderate QSB, but with no sign of SIW. At 5o'clock CDT, WV was fair to good, MTI was fair, and nobody else other than WM and the Watering Hole Three (USC, NC, EH) were present. The latter had stabilized in level from earlier in the afternoon and Codar was considerably diminished, so the signals look pretty clean now.
John
How many years
Posted by Bill Hensel on May 28, 2016 at 22:41:55.
John how many years have you been writing the Hifer section to the Low Down? HIFERS, or lack of . . .
I think I have only been a member perhaps three times since the early 90s.
Posted by Ward K7PO on May 29, 2016 at 00:03:42.
All,
Finishing up my annual Dayton roadtrip. Will set out across Texas on I-10 tomorrow on the way back to AZ. Unfortunately, this trip is a new low for my mobile HIFER monitoring. I haven't logged a single one yet. Maybe somewhere in the 900 miles or so of Texas. . .
-73-
Ward K7PO/WH2XXP
Mod for my Part 5 Grant
Posted by Ward K7PO on May 29, 2016 at 00:11:40.
All,
Just thought I'd post this for general info. This morning I got a little present from the FCC. My grant modification was approved. It can be viewed on the FCC OET page, but the important bits are increased ERP on 630m, expanded frequencies on 2200m (130 - 140 khz), and 68-76 khz with 10W ERP. The new 30m vertical is about 50% finished, so I'm hoping to be operational by the end of June. Might even get the HIFER beacon back on, now that I'll have the tower space again.
Ward K7PO/WH2XXP
Re: This Week's HiFERs - Saturday
Posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016 at 06:34:36.
In reply to Re: This Week's HiFERs - Saturday posted by John Davis on May 28, 2016
The ionosphere got a little more cooperative in late afternoon, at least for a while. Here's the total WSPR decodes of the day, taking into account that the frequency reads about 6 Hz high because of the 100° heat in the building all afternoon:
1952 -27 -2.2 13.555407 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2016 -29 -1.7 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2224 -26 -1.7 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2232 -25 -2.2 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2236 -26 -2.1 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2240 -20 -2.0 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2252 -22 -2.1 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2256 -23 -2.0 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2300 -20 -2.0 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2304 -25 -1.9 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2312 -21 -2.1 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2316 -27 -2.0 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2320 -21 -2.2 13.555406 0 K3SIW EN52 7
John
Re: How many years
Posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016 at 06:49:35.
In reply to How many years posted by Bill Hensel on May 28, 2016
Bill Hensel wrote:
John how many years have you been writing the Hifer section to the Low Down?
Gosh, I guess basically as long as there has been such a section. I started as a columnist in 1993, but back then there was only LowFER and MedFER activity on a regular basis. I did some early HiFER experiments in Georgia around that time, but those were with a military surplus signal generator that was manually keyed at first, and later keyed with a Radio Shack Color Computer. It was a flop. Great local signal, but nobody outside the county ever reported hearing it.
Just a few years later, though, the first successful 22m Part 15 QSO took place between some of the guys in the Northeast. I'd have to look up the details, but perhaps John W1TAG can fill us in better than I can off-hand. At any rate, somewhere after that, HiFER stuff became a regular feature in The LOWDOWN, since so many of the operators (all of the first ones, really) came from the LowFER ranks originally.
John
Re: HIFERS, or lack of . . .
Posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016 at 06:54:05.
In reply to HIFERS, or lack of . . . posted by Ward K7PO on May 29, 2016
Thanks for the report, Ward. I'd been wondering about the trip this year. Sorry to hear the big radio mirror in the sky hasn't been very clear this year, but maybe there'll be better results before all is said and done.
John
Re: This Week's HiFERs - Sunday
Posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016 at 14:42:44.
In reply to Re: This Week's HiFERs - Saturday posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016
Thought I'd get to the field early today and observe the sequence in which HiFERs begin to populate the band in the morning nowadays. I didn't quite manage to get there before sunrise, but it turned out to be an hour afterward before anyone showed up, anyway!
MTI was the first to make an appearance, around 7:35 AM CDT. I continued my band scan but with no further results. On the upper half, SW broadcast sidebands obliterated any possibility of hearing anyone. By the time I returned to the watering hole about 7:45, NC was in collision with USC, and as I watched, EH faded in for its first appearance. Codar also began showing up about that time.
More later.
John
Re: This Week's HiFERs - Saturday
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on May 29, 2016 at 16:44:04.
In reply to Re: This Week's HiFERs - Saturday posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016
John, thanks for the report. Glad the path to Illinois is still opening up on occasion. Looking forward to sending wspr-15 via lowfer next fall. Hope that does as well. Re: This Week's HiFERs - Sunday
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016 at 17:29:39.
In reply to Re: This Week's HiFERs - Sunday posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016
NC was in full collision with USC by 11:30 this morning, EH was still fair to good, and...SIW had made an appearance in my absence, but was in the process of fading out when I returned to the field a little after 11. No WM this time.
I had no decodes from the WSPR-2 signal because I didn't have the software running. I'd intended to be back to the field shortly after 10:00, which is right when the WSPR signal showed best on Argo, but I wasn't expecting anything that early. It took over an hour to _get_ breakfast at our local cafe this morning, plus the time to eat it. The owner had all her grandkids there...it was chaos. Bottom line: Due to the delay, I missed several potentially good decodes; but this opening did not seem to be geomagnetically induced, so perhaps it will repeat in mid-afternoon like the better of yesterday's two openings.
The one thing that potentially may interfere is pop-up storms. It's very warm and very moist out there.
John
Re: This Week's HiFERs - Sunday
Posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016 at 23:46:57.
In reply to Re: This Week's HiFERs - Sunday posted by John Davis on May 29, 2016
No repeats of the Illinois opening this afternoon. I continued monitoring for another six hours, to no avail. But if I hadn't tried, there still would have been nothing to show for it, so I guess it's OK.
WV showed up visually rather often, and audibly several times. Same with MTI, but no PBJ today, and only vague hints of carrier where GNK and FRC should be.
It will probably be a while before I get to the field again. Any rain we get over the next 72-80 hours is predicted to be heavy, so it's anybody's guess when Lake Inferior will be dry enough to get the truck out there.
John
potrzebie