File Attachment 1: 2MayPBJ_samples.jpg
IRRS plans for longwave 207 kHz
Test broadcasts have already taken place a few weeks ago, but without satisfactory results, because the antenna used in the tests was too short.
These days the technicians are installing a 300 meter antenna and then may be the results will be better.
Christian Ghibaudo (Nice France).
Re: IRRS plans for longwave 207 kHz
Posted by Mike Terry on May 01, 2021 at 17:48:59.
In reply to IRRS plans for longwave 207 kHz posted by Mike Terry on May 01, 2021
https://www.nexus.org/member-services/radio-and-tv/schedules/
Re: IRRS plans for longwave 207 kHz
Posted by Mike Terry on May 01, 2021 at 17:52:54.
In reply to Re: IRRS plans for longwave 207 kHz posted by Mike Terry on May 01, 2021
"A tentative service on Long Wave (207 kHz) to Europe is planned to start in late 2021. A formal authorisation has been obtained, but we are waiting for final clearance from local authorities to start regular broadcasts. You may already hear occasional, unscheduled, antenna and transmitter tuning tests on this frequency."
Friday HiFERs
Posted by John Davis on May 01, 2021 at 18:55:20.
Not the greatest DX on the 30th, but a few noteworthy receptions. Starting somewhat after 1530 UTC (10:30 AM CDT), it was mainly NC just above 13555.505 and EH nervously jumping around the vicinity of 13555.455, with hints of RY and ROM and the occasional glimpse of MTI at the top of some minutes. By 1558 UTC, ROM had improved enough to give WSPR decodes (see bottom of this message), but RY did not reach comparable signal levels til mid-afternoon. There was no sign of WV or PLM, but KAH and WAS were both visible and sometimes audible.
Over the following hour, JB made a couple of appearances down around .270, but was not always within my "tuning window." On .493, I saw a string of broken characters that sometimes yielded an entire P or C or V before going into fades again.
The noon hour brought some changes and a couple of puzzles. First, I observed the start of hiferological summer (as opposed to astronomical or meteorological summer) when it finally warmed up enough in North Carolina for NC to migrate south of the 13555.500 Parallel for the first time this season. Then I started seeing a steady carrier at 13555.300 that I first hoped might be WM, but there was no apparent modulation. Same with another carrier at .500, although I didn't pay any attention to that one until after it no longer had NC on top of it. A plague of slow chirpers infested the watering hole for a while, too. MTI came in strong enough a few times to be audible.
Afternoon brought codar in abundance. By the time it started easing up after 2100, ROM was gone for the day, NC and EH were only fair, but RY was strong. By 2200, though, strong voice sidebands were nearly obliterating everyone. One final quick bandscan turned up (still) no WV, nor any beacons above mid-band, before I switched down to 1750 meters for an evening of LowFERs.
John
1558 -21 -0.5 13.555348 1 VA3ROM EN58 7 1638 -23 0.0 13.555350 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1648 -16 -0.7 13.555350 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1708 -24 -0.1 13.555350 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1738 -26 -0.3 13.555350 1 VA3ROM EN58 7 1758 -25 -0.5 13.555350 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1818 -23 -1.0 13.555350 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1838 -28 -0.3 13.555349 0 VA3ROM EN58 7(Memo to self: Best stick with Firefox when writing longer posts. This was my second try at writing this one. I'd made it more than halfway through before, when Internet Explorer decided there was something wrong and "refreshed" the message form back to its empty state. Gee thanks! First time it's ever complained about an LWCA page. My apologies if I've forgotten anything or anyone in this version.)
22 m band signals into Ottawa being received.
I've been running a remote grabber today.
Here's a taster of current signals seen...
https://qsl.net/g0ftd/other/temp/hifer1-ottawa.jpg
73 de Andy
Re: 22 m band signals into Ottawa being received.
Posted by John Davis on May 03, 2021 at 16:40:05.
In reply to 22 m band signals into Ottawa being received. posted by Andy G0FTD on May 02, 2021
Nice work, Andy. Those are most of the signals I was receiving in Kansas at the same time yesterday. From top to bottom you have: EH, SIW slant mode, SIW WSPPR+QRSS, ROM slow FSK+WSPR, and WM FSK+CW. (I was also picking up NC and RY.)
Propagation within the first skip zone must have been good from west to east for you to get ROM; just as it was from east to west, else I would not have gotten SIW and WM here. Additional report later today.
Re: IRRS plans for longwave 207 kHz
Posted by Mike Terry on May 04, 2021 at 08:13:52.
In reply to Re: IRRS plans for longwave 207 kHz posted by Mike Terry on May 01, 2021
Here some informations about IRRS on LW 207 kHz. Re: 22 m band signals into Ottawa being received.
The site is the same as 918 kHz. It’s in Italy, in Villa Estense near Padova.
The broadcaster is AM-Italia (ex. Radio Challenger) http://www.am-italia.it/
So future plans on 207 kHz with 300 meters antenna and possibly 1 kW.
Actually IRRS is on 918 kHz from 1700 to 2100 UTC.
Christian Ghibaudo (2021-05-03) via https://mediumwave.info/news/
Posted by Andy G0FTD on May 04, 2021 at 19:15:24.
In reply to Re: 22 m band signals into Ottawa being received. posted by John Davis on May 03, 2021
Thanks for the ID's John.
Always useful to have them confirmed.
73 de Andy Looking for low cost antenna analyzer
Posted by swlem3 on May 04, 2021 at 20:11:08.
I'm looking for an analyzer that will simply tell me when any given rx antenna is matched for 50 or 75 ohms. Analyzer will only need to work 100-500 khz. I'd like it simple as possible. I'd even build it if necessary. I don't wish to have to have it display a smith chart that I'd have to interpret.
It's getting "old" setting up resonant loop antennas, and then finding out that resonance has shifted when the coax to the shack is connected to it.
What's the "go to" solution for us "under 500 khz" enthusiasts?
Ray ... N Texas
Re: Friday HiFERs
Posted by Ed Holland on May 04, 2021 at 20:22:28.
In reply to Friday HiFERs posted by John Davis on May 01, 2021
Thanks John,
Saturday turned up with some reasonable signals Mid afternoon CA local time. EH and NC are the most common and best represented these days, but I suspect WM and ROM from two appropriately placed but tenuous traces.
One detail I have been wanting to mention is the presence of a very strong carrier here at PVC, practically centered on 13,560 kHz, and reading S9 on the random wire dipole. Fortunately, it doesn't cause any problem with HiFER reception, but I wonder the source. Perhaps a wander around with the Belka receiver would provide some insight, and entertainment for the neighbors.
The aforementioned signal is far less intrusive than the broadband mush which starts up and drops equally suddenly. I suspect the HV line along the driveway for some of this. Perhaps a call to PG&E would help.
Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer
Posted by Chris on May 04, 2021 at 21:25:22.
In reply to Looking for low cost antenna analyzer posted by swlem3 on May 04, 2021
Nanovna is good and about 50 dollars. It has th smith chart but it can read swr And ohm readings . I use it to adjust my hider antenna from time to time.
Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer
Posted by Ed Holland on May 05, 2021 at 01:24:40.
In reply to Looking for low cost antenna analyzer posted by swlem3 on May 04, 2021
A while back, when I started with HiFER setups, I acquired a dip oscillator and a noise bridge. Mostly, this was to satisfy long standing curiosity. However, both have been useful at HF. The dip oscillators often don't cover below 1.5 MHz or so - mine doesn't. The noise bridge would be most suited for your LF to MF work, and only requires a receiver covering the frequencies of interest.
Mine is the Palomar version, found on the popular auction site for a few $. Two dials are calibrated for resistive and reactive impedance characteristics. Tune for a null and read the dials. I found this pretty easy when analysing some experimental small receiving loops.
Just a thought.
Ed
Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer
Posted by swlem3 on May 05, 2021 at 02:20:03.
In reply to Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer posted by Chris on May 04, 2021
Hi Chris. I'm interested in this as one option, since you're saying it provides ohm readings besides the smith chart. Thanks.
Ray
Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer
Posted by swlem3 on May 05, 2021 at 02:25:48.
In reply to Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer posted by Ed Holland on May 05, 2021
Hi Ed. Chris has suggested the Nanovna, and that's an inexpensive tool if it'll do the job. I'm going to look into your suggestion of using a noise bridge. That sounds good too. Thanks.
Ray
Beacon "WV"
Posted by michael tyler on May 05, 2021 at 19:24:01.
I have not received any reports on WV lately so I checked and the home made L-C tuner suffered some water damage from ice causing a crack around the lid of the box. I made another tuner and hope it will work. I usually get the SWR down to 1:1 on the vertical but I am only able to get to 1:3 . At this power level I am not sure I can spare the loss of not having a 1:1 swr. Please listen and post if you hear WV. Thanks...mike
Re: Beacon "WV" (& Other AWOLs)
Posted by John Davis on May 06, 2021 at 06:09:11.
In reply to Beacon "WV" posted by michael tyler on May 05, 2021
Thanks very much for the update, Mike. WV was conspicuous by its absence when I listened this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'll check for the signal again possibly as soon as this afternoon.
Other missing signals I've been meaning to ask about included 7P, PLM, TON and ODX. They have all been regulars in recent months, but were also missing here all weekend.
John
Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer
Posted by Ed Holland on May 06, 2021 at 19:06:25.
In reply to Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer posted by swlem3 on May 05, 2021
Hi Ray,
Do please keep us up to date on what you decide. I ended up with the old gear mostly out of curiosity over things I had read about as a kid, and because it was available inexpensively. NanoVNA came on to the scene a year or so later, but does look like a really neat bit of kit.
Ed
Re: Beacon "WV"
Posted by John Davis on May 07, 2021 at 02:56:46.
In reply to Re: Beacon "WV" (& Other AWOLs) posted by John Davis on May 06, 2021
Sorry to report only minimal apparent reception of WV during this afternoon's session...not enough audibility to confirm that it was WV, but the Argo visible display showed the familiar keying pattern. Weather may prevent listening tomorrow, but I'll try again on Saturday.
One of the other missing signals (7P) was back today.
Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer
Posted by swlem3 on May 07, 2021 at 13:01:50.
In reply to Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer posted by Ed Holland on May 06, 2021
Ed, I remember looking at the palomar bridge years ago, and wishing to purchase it. It's nice to see the old gear still available, and now priced inexpensively. At this time, I'm leaning towards the NanoVNA. I really like the portability of it... self-contained and providing measurements right at the antenna. I'm amazed at all it can do within such a small package.
Reminder: Lowfer net +/- 3927 kHz Saturday morning 0800 California time
Posted by Jerry Parker on May 07, 2021 at 15:00:53.
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: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer
Jerry
Posted by Ed Holland on May 07, 2021 at 17:58:38.
In reply to Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer posted by swlem3 on May 07, 2021
No doubt things have moved on, and instruments we could not have dreamed of at one time or other are now within easy reach. The NanoVNA seems to be extremely capable, from what I have gleaned from reviews.
Re: Beacon "WV"
Posted by John Davis on May 08, 2021 at 00:53:50.
In reply to Re: Beacon "WV" posted by John Davis on May 07, 2021
No WV again today, up to when I had to discontinue monitoring at noon.
Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer
Posted by swlem3 on May 08, 2021 at 02:16:14.
In reply to Re: Looking for low cost antenna analyzer posted by Ed Holland on May 07, 2021
So true Ed. For example, the two sdr's I have are so much better than any "box" receiver I've ever owned over the years. Even a $20 rtl-sdr does some very good work above 30 mhz with all the software"plug-ins" available. Now, I'm amazed at what an instrument such as the low cost NanoVNA can do. You're right, we couldn't have imagined any of this hardware (and software) being available in our younger days.
Saturday (May 1) HiFERs
Posted by John Davis on May 08, 2021 at 18:01:30.
In reply to Friday HiFERs posted by John Davis on May 01, 2021
This one's late, but provides context for the upcoming Sunday report.
Started listening at 9:35 AM CDT, when only EH, RY, and ROM were intermittently visible at the watering hole. Neither WV nor PLM were present then, or later in the day either. ABBY was visible and very faintly audible on 13564.750 kHz. K6FRC ranged from good to nil. No sign of KAH, WAS, or ODX at that time.
NC became audible by the end of the hour, but didn't drift down far enough to fit my Argo windows til after 10:30. MTI started showing up intermittently shortly thereafter. A band scan at 1:30 PM showed ABBY faintly visible, but no one else. Just before 2100 UTC, after an unremarkable afternoon, I gave up on 22 m for the day and switched to 630 meters for the night.
Sunday (May 2) Miracle: PBJ, MN, WM, SIW
Posted by John Davis on May 08, 2021 at 23:28:45.
In reply to Saturday (May 1) HiFERs posted by John Davis on May 08, 2021
Solar conditions were not unusual, but First Skip Zone was! The usual exclusion zone shrank enough for both SIW signals (slant mode at 13555.433 and QRSS/WSPR at .400) and WM at .300 to show up. WM was strong as early as 11:00 AM CDT, with even the CW ID audible at times. Elsewhere at the watering hole, only EH and brief snippets of ROM were visible. Around 15-20 minutes later, the SIWs began showing up, too. Eventually, RY joined the group, ROM became more consistent, and MTI began marking the top of most minutes.
As strong as WM was, I had hopes that NDB2 might be present down at 13554, but it never showed up during several band scans throughout the day. Also, no AZ, PLM, TON, VAN, WAS or ODX at any of the band scans all day. However, there was a distinct "J" from PBJ around 11:29 AM, and later a recognizable "P" and "B," although I was never able to see a complete ID due to all the fading. (See attached screen capture below. Others may follow in later posts.)
No sign of FRC yet at that point, but ABBY (13564.725) and KAH (13566.065) were visible and very faintly audible under SWBC sideband splatter.
Returning to the watering hole for roughly an hour, NC had joined the fun. I found conditions enough better to be able to decode both K3SIW and VA3ROM WSPR.
Between 12:47 and 1:00 PM, I did another scan, during which I managed another "J" from PBJ, saw and was faintly able to hear ABBY again, and had decent copy of KAH.By then, RY had bowed out and remained absent for a few hours while most of the other residents remained as they were. I took another break from the watering hole at 3:35 CDT and saw (but could not hear) a weak signal that might have been WV at 13555.008 ...or might not. No PBJ that time.
The 5:15-5:30 PM scan netted only weak PBJ and MN, plus fair KAH; nobody else outside the watering hole.
At 6:42 PM, band conditions changed noticably. The SIW signals took a dip, while RY made a fairly swift return to view. NC was already doing fair but with a variable signal. EH was gone for several minutes at a time, seemingly alternating with MTI. WM remained solid until just after 7:00 PM/2400 UTC, then began breaking up rapidly. NC was gone by 7:45. ROM was breaking up by 8:00 PM, but both EH and RY remained bright until I gave up about 8:45 PM CDT, over half an hour past sunset.
Away from the hole, the 7:10-7:15 scan yielded some faintly audible KAH only. Around 8:30 PM, KAH was barely visible and fading away, while K6FRC was gradually becoming visible.
WSPR decodes fizzled out after the 0008 time slot. The rest of those, with a few obvious errors omitted, appear below:
1818 -20 0.2 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1820 -23 -1.3 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 1830 -26 -1.4 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 1838 -22 0.3 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1840 -27 -1.4 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 1850 -26 -1.4 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 1858 -21 0.5 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1900 -18 -1.4 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 1910 -21 -1.4 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 1918 -21 0.1 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1920 -27 -1.4 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 1928 -22 -0.2 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1930 -28 -1.3 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 1938 -24 0.4 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1948 -23 0.3 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 1950 -28 -1.5 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2008 -21 0.0 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 2018 -21 -0.1 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 2040 -33 -1.6 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2048 -17 0.4 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 2050 -32 -1.6 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2100 -20 -0.4 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2040 -33 -1.6 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2048 -17 0.4 13.555346 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 2050 -32 -1.6 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2100 -20 -0.4 13.555405 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2210 -26 -0.6 13.555403 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2220 -28 -0.5 13.555403 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2228 -21 -0.2 13.555344 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 2230 -25 -0.7 13.555403 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2248 -22 0.3 13.555344 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 2258 -22 -0.1 13.555344 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 2300 -28 -0.5 13.555403 0 K3SIW EN52 7 2318 -21 0.6 13.555345 0 VA3ROM EN58 7 2340 -28 -0.5 13.555403 0 K3SIW EN52 7 0008 -23 -0.4 13.555345 0 VA3ROM EN58 7
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 2MayPBJ_samples.jpg
22 m WSPR Report
UTC dB dT Freq dF Call Grid km dBm
1618 -20 0.7 13.555447 0 VA3ROM EN58 2880 7 (5.0 mW)
1628 -17 0.7 13.555447 0 VA3ROM EN58 2880 7 (5.0 mW)
1640 -24 -0.5 13.555497 0 K3SIW EN52 2703 7 (5.0 mW)
Conditions: Heavy QRM minor QSB
Re: 22 m WSPR Report
Receiver KiwiSDR
Ant: 80m dipole at 15m
location: DM12
Posted by Robert, VA3ROM on May 10, 2021 at 20:30:10.
In reply to 22 m WSPR Report posted by Zeak on May 09, 2021
Thanks for the WSPR spot report. Have switched over to a low-to-the-ground 22 m inverted-V dipole. Amazed that with heavy QRM WSPR decoding was possible with fairly decent SNR reports. Am assuming that you are in the San Diego area or thereabouts because about 40% of DM12 is Pacific Ocean and San Diego looks like the largest metro area (or Tijuana just across the border in Mexico.
73, Lowfer TAG Off Air
Robert
Posted by John, W1TAG on May 12, 2021 at 00:04:41.
Lowfer TAG in Raymond, ME, will be off the air until the fall. There will be some antenna tinkering over the summer.
John, W1TAG
Hifer RY Off Air
Posted by John, W1TAG on May 12, 2021 at 00:10:06.
Hifer RY in Raymond, ME, will be off the air until the fall. I apologize for the loss of John Davis’ frequency-checking security blanket.
John, W1TAG
Re: 22 m WSPR (and other) Report
Posted by John Davis on May 12, 2021 at 20:34:27.
In reply to Re: 22 m WSPR Report posted by Robert, VA3ROM on May 10, 2021
Congratulations to Zeak on an effective receive setup!
I wonder if the inverted-V transmit aerial may be the reason why I seemed to experience more fading on ROM this past weekend than usual. (By weekend, in this case, I mean Thu.-Sat., the 6th through the 8th. Sunday was a wash-out due to weather.)
Typically, when the path is open between us, I lose maybe 5 minutes out of every two 10-minute cycles due to fading, ranging up to 15 out of every 40 minutes. Averaged across a full hour, I generally get two full 10-minute cycles, another one or two where the FSK message is readable but not enough WSPR to decode, and another one or two where the WSPR decodes but only part of the FSK shows up. This weekend, however, I could not find one entire 10-minute cycle that wasn't interrupted by fading.
Thursday afternoon was a short session starting in mid-afternoon, which is not usually my best time for ROM anyway. NC was fair, 7P was poor, EH was strong but jumping all over the place, RY was fair to good, and ROM was visible but weak. Elsewhere on the band, there was faint keying around WV's spot that may or may not have been it, FRC was faintly audible, KAH was visible, and WAS was visible and faintly audible. Around 4:30, KAH became fairly audible, ABBY was visible and faintly audible, and MTI was reaching audibility in the watering hole. Codar was not bad that day, but there was a loud, raspy signal periodically descending through the band. I discontinued 22 meters early to monitor WSPR overnight on 630 meters.
I returned to 22 m late on Friday morning, but had to shut down in early afternoon due to approaching storms...apparently minutes before the M-class solar flare that reportedly caused quite a static burst as well as an R-1 level radio blackout. Too bad I missed that, 'cause as it turned out, our local storms didn't materialize until later. The first results at 11:10 AM CDT showed a bright trace of EH and a nice, solid ROM, and a marginal RY. ROM dwindled away to marginal visibility in just two minutes, although JB, NC, and MTI began putting in appearances. SIW slant and traces of 7P then turned up too, giving me one complete SIW ID before I closed up shop at 1645 UTC.
I resumed at 2 PM CDT Saturday afternoon, a bit over 24 hours after the flare. The band didn't look too interesting for quite a while. There were no signals outside the watering hole at all here, and within it, only fair EH plus weak RY and ROM. A little later there was a minute of WM and early traces of SIW slant.
As evening approached, things finally got interesting! I'll do a separate report on that later, but here's a preview in the form of a couple of file attachments showing ROM. The first shows what's left of the watering hole about an hour and a quarter after sunset, when most signals had already peaked and were fading away gradually. But ROM reached its maximum level of the day then, and diminished abruptly thereafter.
The other file shows ROM getting the last word of the night, though, about 8 minutes before 1 AM local time...literally the only signal source detectable on the entire band at the time. Even the mid-band perma-QRM was gone by then.
My reason for wondering about the different fading pattern from before is that an inverted-V is less tightly directional than a plain dipole due to high angle vertically polarized radiation in the plane of the antenna. Some fading happens with a singly polarized antenna anyway, of course; but depending on the orientation of an inverted-V with respect to the listener, it may be the signal could be arriving from a mix of the two polarizations, magnifying the usual ionospheric polarity rotation effects. Any thoughts on that possibility?
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 8may52.jpg
File Attachment 2: 8may76.jpg
Re: 22 m WSPR (and other) Report
With regard to the fading of signals v.s. antenna orientation for an inverted V, I can understand your hypothesis. PVC is a similar setup with the plane of the V oriented NW-SE. Perhaps this could be helpful in supporting the observations.
Note - PVC is frequently off at weekends, to enable 22m band monitoring.
This weekend, I put the Belka DX in charge, and it provided excellent service. EH, though variable in frequency, continues to come in with strength, particularly in the afternoon hours. NC also. 7P has been present, but in nothing like the strength seen during late winter and early spring. Others were present at the Watering Hole, including possible WM, I will have to check the screenshot records again to confirm. Sunday was by far the day with greatest activity.
Ed
2200 m loopstick
Posted by swlem3 on May 13, 2021 at 00:47:06.
In my never ending quest for lf noise relief, I temporarily set aside my noise cancelling project and took another avenue. For years, I've collected a number of loopsticks from defunct am radios as well as purchased same from discount electronic supply houses. I decided to make a "super loopstick" out of all those sticks. What I came up with was a pretty decent rx antenna for 2200m. I overlapped a number of sticks at one half their length and had enough to make a rod assembly nearly one meter in length. The individual rods were super glued together, one at a time, and then hot-glued along their lengths. After the assembly was complete, I wide-spaced wound 18 guage speaker wire in a spiral over the rod. The speaker wires are connected bi-filar, and produce approx. 440 uh in that configuration. In parallel with that winding is a combination of capacitors that total roughly 2.7 nf. Wound over the center of that rod is a pickup coil that produces roughly 100 uh of inductance. You can see the results of my efforts in the photo. Btw, the white spiral around the rod is not wire, but is waxed string. Both windings are covered with electrical tape.
www.dropbox.com/s/ljagv1ye4xwijoq/loopstick.jpg?dl=0
You can see the finished product in it's temporary rx location on the lawn. Note that it is probably less than 2 feet off the ground. In that position, it out performs my low noise 30 ft. vertical as well as my L400B probe at 15 ft. off the ground.
Now, I need to make some sort of mount to suspend it higher off the ground, as well as orientate it for best null of noise. I'm happy with the results so far. Too bad the qrn level has been horrendous lately. It seems to be doing well, in the decodes of XND on 2200m. Looking forward to the next late fall/winter season to see what the rod can do with dx.
Re: 22 m WSPR (and other) Report
Posted by Zeak on May 13, 2021 at 20:07:07.
In reply to Re: 22 m WSPR (and other) Report posted by Ed Holland on May 12, 2021
A few comments on your WSPR signal Robert. Over the past several weeks I have copied your WSPR signal much stronger than it has been over the last two weeks if that’s any help? If you are making transmitter and antenna changes that may be one contributor, but the elephant in the room is always the affects of conditions and propagation on such low radiated power levels.
Copy on your signal and that of K3SIW are always best at this location (DM12) between 2200 and 2300Z.
I apologize for the lack of hard information at this point in time, but over the past several weeks my interest has been limited to just collecting details on 13 MHz WSPR activity rather than any real quantifiable technical details. In future I’ll be more observant and leave the receiver more on now that I know at least you and possibly others are looking for feedback.
Zeak, Re: 2200 m loopstick
Posted by Lee on May 14, 2021 at 01:39:17.
In reply to 2200 m loopstick posted by swlem3 on May 13, 2021
Very interesting. I started a variable ferrite loop about this time last year. It’s about halfway done. I got some 7.5 inch long type 77 bars. Found an online website about building your own loop stick antennas. Bought some litz wire and started fabricating. So the web site allows you to plug in the frequency’s you want and gives the values you need to fab. So looking at my notes I am a little confused. I will figure it out. The numbers I see in my notes say a coil at 4.1 mh and a standard 365 pf variable cap. With a 47.05 micro henry pick up coil. Maybe I will make that 100 micro henry pick up. Looks like we are on the same page for some major noise reduction.
Re: 2200 m loopstick
Posted by swlem3 on May 14, 2021 at 02:02:27.
In reply to Re: 2200 m loopstick posted by Lee on May 14, 2021
Ok on your start with the rod antenna Lee. What's the length of the antenna going to be when finished? I assume the rods will be "staggered" like mine instead of end to end. The litz will be good. My speaker wire was stranded, so I just went with it. Is your antenna going to be "in-shack" or remotely located? I have some comments on your choice of C/Inductance values when you tell me the location of indoor/outdoor. Could you pass along a link to the site you're getting the info from? Yep, noise reduction ... improving snr, is what we're going for.
Ray
NDB-2 Received!
Posted by Jack Roblin on May 14, 2021 at 02:11:51.
Nice copy of NDB-2 here in Victorville, CA - Southern California.
Time: 1840 Zulu
Report: 539 at times, clear solid ID, heavy QSB.
My first report of NDB-2. I am listening again, so stay tuned for more possible receptions and Youtube HiFer videos. I'll keep my camera battery charged up for next time!
73, Jack WA6KYO
Re: "NDB2" Received - No Dash in there!
Posted by Jack Roblin on May 14, 2021 at 02:24:18.
In reply to NDB-2 Received! posted by Jack Roblin on May 14, 2021
Whoops!! Ignore the dash I added. I copied "NDB2" tonight.
I am a creature of habit, adding dashes in model numbers.
I heard it on both my IC-718 and RX-340.
Anyway, look for more reports. I'll be listening. 73, Jack
Re: 2200 m loopstick
Posted by Lee on May 14, 2021 at 18:03:42.
In reply to Re: 2200 m loopstick posted by swlem3 on May 14, 2021
Length will be two 7.5 inch type 77 rods for 15 inch total length. The location will be in shack. My notes say 4.1 milli henry so I’m thinking 2.1 milli henry per rod. I need to measure the one rod I already wound to verify that. I will need to check my browser history to get the web site name. It was AM radio hobby site not a LF site so you needed to go deeper into the site to find winding calculations. I already had tuned loop stick antenna I built for 1750 meters. I used old AM radio loop sticks like you did. To make it work at 2200 meters I add a 300pf cap . It worked but I wasn’t happy with the performance. That’s why I got the type 77 bars. Will check browser history and get back to you about the site.
Re: 2200 m loopstick
Posted by swlem3 on May 14, 2021 at 20:57:25.
In reply to Re: 2200 m loopstick posted by Lee on May 14, 2021
Lee, you are avoiding a couple problems with loopsticks by having it "in-shack", but then potentially adding problems. I'll explain shortly. I can't have mine indoors because this home has a metal roof and siding. All antennas must be outdoors. I hope your 15" stick has enough "aperture" for 2200m. I guess you'll find out when you complete it. No doubt you'll need amplification. I never had any luck with short rod antennas. Hopefully, yours will be fine. If it doesn't do 2200m, maybe it would do well on 630m. Something to think about. So far, I think I've got away from the need of pre-amplification with mine.
Since your loopstick is indoors... you have no need to weather-proof. You can run it at hi-Q. By that, I mean that you can have a high ratio of inductance to capacitance, which is what your figures have told me you'll be doing. Very sharp tuning. I have to run a low-Q outdoors... why? Because my stick was very sensitive to temperature change. With Hi-Q, the sticks resonance would "walk" right out of the 2200m bandpass when the temp changed outdoors. Even with low-Q, (less inductance-higher capacitance), I still have to "tweak" resonance with a trimmer cap every couple days. Another trick I've used to help stabilize the resonance point was to "over compensate" on the pickup coil. If you'll recall, my coupling coil is around 100 uh. More than usual. That tends to load the stick more, thus reducing the Q. So now I have a broader response on either side of 137-8 khz. If I have a little temperature shift, I only lose a db or so instead of the complete loss of response I had with Hi-Q. If I wanted to add more complication to the project, I could add varactor diodes at the antenna and tweak the capacitance from indoors... dc bias-T on the coax cable. I just don't want to go that way though.
Your down-side with the indoor stick is that you may find all your in-house noise sources getting into the rx. That's always the problem with indoor antennas.
I wish I had as many 77 rods as I do these bcb rods. I'm pretty sure that these are the usual 61 mix sticks. Doesn't seem right for 2200m, but it does work.
Reminder: Lowfer net +/- 3927 kHz Saturday morning 0800 California time
Posted by Jerry Parker on May 14, 2021 at 21:03:37.
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: 2200 m loopstick
Jerry
Posted by Lee on May 14, 2021 at 22:01:15.
In reply to Re: 2200 m loopstick posted by swlem3 on May 14, 2021
Found the WEB site. Here it is.
https://www.petervis.com/Radios/ferrite-rod-antenna-coil/ferrite-rod-antenna-coil.html
I understand the tuning High Q versus Low Q aspects. The indoor antenna will be a few feet from the Xmit power module and AC power breaker box. And I also want to use it outdoors in a portable configuration. I've got a couple of portables receivers I can use. A selective level meter, Grundig Satt 300 and a Icom R75. Re: 2200 m loopstick
So when the first page comes up on the WEB site scroll down to almost the bottom of the page. You will see pointers to different Calculators. "LW Radio Coil" is the one I chose. And I do have a LF preamp already if needed. Also that device I mentioned that allows use of a second receive antenna when not transmitting has a pre-amp card option. Down side is the price. Around 260 bones. Yikes
Posted by swlem3 on May 14, 2021 at 22:50:33.
In reply to Re: 2200 m loopstick posted by Lee on May 14, 2021
Fine Lee. When I was talking about the "Q", I was just relating it to the situation of changing temperature on the outdoor installation. I thought it was worth mentioning, so as to save you some frustration/aggravation and re-doing coils when/if the same thing happened to you. Thanks for passing along the link. I'll check it out.
Sounds like you're well set up for a nice portable operation!
Like you, I'm not sure about a $260 buck option... :-o
Ray
Re: 2200 m loopstick
Posted by Lee on May 15, 2021 at 00:52:49.
In reply to Re: 2200 m loopstick posted by swlem3 on May 14, 2021
Speaking of a metal roof and metal siding my next door neighbor just installed a full metal jacket solar roof by Tesla. I haven’t noticed any adverse noise or xmit tuning issues yet. But I am scheduled for a new composite roof with 11 solar panels and a Tesla battery module. My in home noise might be poised to go through the roof so to speak. And how will that effect my transmit tuning. Stand by for more updates.
Re: 2200 m loopstick
Posted by swlem3 on May 15, 2021 at 02:14:09.
In reply to Re: 2200 m loopstick posted by Lee on May 15, 2021
I've heard that the inverter noise has caused grief for some, and the metal will detune antennas if close. I hope the newer tech solar has good noise suppression. We'll standby for updates Lee.
Ray
Re: 2200 m loopstick
Posted by John Bruce McCreath on May 15, 2021 at 13:22:14.
In reply to Re: 2200 m loopstick posted by swlem3 on May 15, 2021
My entire ham shack has been powered by solar panels and an inverter for many years. In the beginning, the solar controller was a basic set-point type and the inverter was a modified square wave. Over the years the system has grown and the various components upgraded. I'm now using two systems, one for backup which has a MPPT solar controller with 900 watts of PV, along with a 2500 watt pure sine-wave inverter. My second system is a grid tie, which is completely separate from the backup system. It has 1200 watts of PV and a pair of grid tie inverters located at the array.
I have never experienced any problems with system generated noise effecting my ham radio gear. I've logged plenty of DX on 2200 and 630 meters, along with some exceptional loggings in my Navtex DXing persuits, both on LF and MF.
73, J.B., VE3EAR Reception Factor
Posted by Brian K6STI on May 15, 2021 at 14:08:17.
I've added a feature to my coil inductance and Q calculator that can help you evaluate a coil as a multiturn loop antenna. The program calculates reception factor, a figure proportional to the signal voltage a coil produces when resonated with a capacitor. You can experiment with coil dimensions to see the effect on receive signal level. The program can model circular, octagonal, hexagonal, or square solenoids that use solid or Litz wire.
It's easy to design a suitable receive loop by hand. Bigger is better, but maximum diameter is limited by practical considerations. Wire size is often determined by what's on hand or what's economical. That leaves coil length and number of turns. You can vary each with the mouse wheel and watch reception factor change.
Recently I greatly improved program accuracy for very short coils. I also updated the skin and proximity effect calculations so they are good down to DC. These changes increase accuracy for coils used as low-frequency loop antennas, especially on the 2200m band.
Windows program:
http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/coil.zip
Reception factor reference:
https://rudys.typepad.com/files/coil-antennas-1919.pdf
Brian
Re: 2200 m loopstick
Posted by swlem3 on May 15, 2021 at 14:27:44.
In reply to Re: 2200 m loopstick posted by John Bruce McCreath on May 15, 2021
Good to hear about the the "quietness" of your PV systems, J.B. Hopefully, Lee will have no issues also.
Ray
WSPR question
Posted by Lee on May 15, 2021 at 23:08:31.
So I have been poking around WSPR for a while. My specific question is are there people using bogus call signs using WSPR. My example is I was looking at the LF map. I saw myself and people who were hearing me in southern CA. I noticed a call sign in the Hawaii area. It looked like they had a path to Europe. When I looked up the call sign in Hawaii the result was call sign not found. Call sign not found is becoming my new catch phrase. Any input on this would be helpful. Lee KE6PCT
Re: WSPR question
Posted by swlem3 on May 16, 2021 at 01:09:57.
In reply to WSPR question posted by Lee on May 15, 2021
There are some fake callsigns, also guys that don't set the freqs correctly in wspr, for instance, reporting 160m, 40m spots on LF. Happens all the time.
Re: Beacon "WV"
Posted by Steve VA3SC Burlington Ontario on May 17, 2021 at 13:51:28.
In reply to Re: Beacon "WV" posted by John Davis on May 08, 2021
Just heard WV pop up this morning (May 17..13:40 UTC) ID with . . . . after. Came up quite well then into the mud. Slow fading this morning
Re: Beacon "WV"
Posted by Michael tyler on May 18, 2021 at 07:48:53.
In reply to Re: Beacon "WV" posted by Steve VA3SC Burlington Ontario on May 17, 2021
Thanks very much for the report.
Re: WSPR question
Posted by Robert, VA3ROM on May 18, 2021 at 14:51:50.
In reply to WSPR question posted by Lee on May 15, 2021
Some guys/gals mistype their calls and/or grid squares. It could also be a corrupted packed that managed to sneak into the WPSRnet system.
You didn't send the suspect call for analysis so we're shotgunning possible answers.
Daytime NDBs
Posted by K3SIW, Garry on May 19, 2021 at 21:39:00.
LF DX night time propagation has toned down substantially from winter based on maps at https://wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/map and https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html. Nonetheless, daytime signals from rather far NDBs are still doing well here. For example, QN on 233 kHz at 917 km has been in all day. The modest power NDB AZN at 596 km has been in all day as well. Numerous other frequencies with NDBs in excess of 500 km have also been doing well in daylight.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
CFH frequency glitch?
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on May 21, 2021 at 13:28:44.
Noticed an FSK signal this morning around 1230Z on 74.6 kHz. A bit later a 73.6 kHz transmission from CFH in Halifax, NS, Canada was present instead. Seems likely the former was CFH also, perhaps an error in the synthesizer setting the frequency?
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Reminder: Lowfer net +/- 3927 kHz Saturday morning 0800 California time
Posted by Jerry Parker on May 21, 2021 at 15:13:16.
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
Ireland - 252 LW RTE Radio 1 to be off the air for mast maintenance
Jerry
Posted by Mike Terry on May 23, 2021 at 12:14:22.
RTE's only LW/MW transmitter, the 252 LW RTE Radio 1 is scheduled to be off the air for almost 2 months this summer for mast "essential maintenance".
According to RTE TV Teletext Page 169 (engineering info) the shutdown is from 15th June to 12th August 2021.
https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/comment/98962205#Comment_98962205
(Digital Spy Forum, May 23 2021)
Re: Beacon "WV"
Posted by Steve VA3SC Burlington Ontario on May 26, 2021 at 01:12:40.
In reply to Re: Beacon "WV" posted by Michael tyler on May 18, 2021
Its 01:00 UTC and I'm hearing WV beacon on or about 13.555.40 MHz with a decent signal as I type this. May 26th UTC time.
Re: Beacon "WV" (and more)
Posted by John Davis on May 27, 2021 at 17:03:17.
In reply to Re: Beacon "WV" posted by Steve VA3SC Burlington Ontario on May 26, 2021
Found WV nested comfortably at 13554.990 at 2200 and 2330 UTC checks on the 26th. Only had recognizable copy for 30 to 75 seconds at a time, followed by gaps of several minutes, but this was also typical of most other signals I was getting around the same times: ROM, ABBY, KAH, and possible WAS. Only EH and NC were more consistent, and MTI was intermittently present too.
(I say "possible WAS" because even though it was at 13566.210, close to where I usually pick up WAS, the visual presentation on Argo had narrower keying sidebands than usual, and the timing sounded different to the ear...but I couldn't hear it well enough through the codar and sferics for a positive ID one way or another.)
There was a feeble short-hop opening for about 20 minutes that yielded SIW slant, and even a couple faint snippets of SIW WSPR, though not enough to decode.
While that opening was sorta-active, I also tried for new beacon MCKS that's supposed to be on 13565.2± but had no luck. It's roughly 70 air miles distant...way, way too far for groundwave, also too far for troposcatter at only 5 mW, and way too close for skywave in this band.
Just before sunset, SIW was long gone, but 7P and K6FRC were putting in occasional appearances.
And there you have the results of my first field trip in 18 days. If weather permits, there may be more this weekend. Meantime, we've got storms today and continued flooding ahead on Friday.
John
Reminder: Lowfer net +/- 3927 kHz Saturday morning 0800 California time
Posted by Jerry Parker on May 28, 2021 at 15:23:49.
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
Lowfer JH
Jerry
Posted by John Hamer on May 28, 2021 at 16:27:26.
I usually pull my antenna ground radials up and shut the transmitter down about now, but I bought a new battery powered weedeater and used my antenna site to test the battery life. So, for now it is still on and tuned up.
Re: Lowfer JH
Posted by John Davis on May 28, 2021 at 23:39:32.
In reply to Lowfer JH posted by John Hamer on May 28, 2021
That's good to know, John. I'll include JH in my next listening effort, whenever the weather cooperates a little here,
Re: Sunday (May 2) Miracle: PBJ, MN, WM, SIW
Posted by KMONAS on May 29, 2021 at 01:06:26.
In reply to Sunday (May 2) Miracle: PBJ, MN, WM, SIW posted by John Davis on May 08, 2021
Great through report. Glad to hear someone is still hearing MN. Conditions have not been favorable.
K6FRC
Posted by Jack Roblin on May 29, 2021 at 01:36:59.
A brief but good copy of K6FRC at 0120 UTC here in Victorville, CA (Southern California). Solid ID, S5 strength at times, with QSB until it completely vanished. A great catch! 73, Jack WA6KYO
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