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Re: TSN. In DN10tx
Posted by Bill Hensel on June 01, 2015 at 17:03:57.
In reply to TSN. In DN10tx posted by Brian. nb9e on May 25, 2015
TSN skipped in to Pine Grove, Co (DM79) today at 1540 utc with many IDs in a row over a period of 4-5 mins.....
New Antenna
Posted by Bill Hensel on June 02, 2015 at 02:17:37.
As of today June 1st RQ has a 1/4 wave vertical. We will see how it does.
Re: Hifer USC in ME
Posted by John Davis on June 02, 2015 at 18:52:24.
In reply to Re: Hifer USC in ME posted by John, W1TAG on May 30, 2015
Pat, is 13555.515+ to be the new regular frequency of USC?
HiFERs Monday
Posted by John Davis on June 02, 2015 at 20:06:01.
Here's what was coming into SE Kansas about this time yesterday afternoon. Propagation wasn't great, and CODAR was ever present. The prodigal USC had returned, though, and someone was sending a string of T's below EH. My first thought was that I was seeing the lower half of NC, but the timing didn't look right. Later in the day (below), after NC returned, I could confirm that assessment. Maybe MP? By later in the day, though, the signal then present on the same frequency was too broken up to tell for sure, although the tilt of the seeming QRSS version matches that of the MP HiFER.
Most of the afternoon, there was no trace of anyone else anywhere in the band. In mid-afternoon, there was one fairly consistent unmodulated carrier right on 13,565.000 for a good while. Late in the day, MTI was back, and PBJ started to fade in. In the capture below, that's the first sign of it. Five minutes before, there hadn't been anything. After this capture, I tuned around looking for aural copy with little result. I did detect what appeared to be CW at about 13,565.05, but only got a possible "K6" one time.
Never saw anyone from Illinois for sure yesterday. For a while, I thought I caught a glimpse of 9ZS, but on further examination it turned out to be an intermod product of EH and USC that developed when both got quite strong for a minute. Late in the day, the following showed up, which might (or might not) be a momentary glimpse of WM's FSK about 13,555.300.
More monitoring is in the works late this afternoon.
John
Re: Hifer USC in ME
Posted by Pat Bunn on June 02, 2015 at 20:50:59.
In reply to Re: Hifer USC in ME posted by John Davis on June 02, 2015
That is where the chip ended up. I can move it slightly if needed.
Re: Hifer USC in ME
Posted by John, W1TAG/1 on June 03, 2015 at 00:11:14.
In reply to Re: Hifer USC in ME posted by Pat Bunn on June 02, 2015
Pat, that's actually a good frequency here. NC is generally below that in the daytime. EH is regularly smacking into the slant SIW on 13555.44, but NC is the only thing in-between.
Conditions have been bizarre today, with a lot of "King of the Hill" changes in short periods.
John, W1TAG/1
Re: Hifer USC in ME
Posted by John Davis on June 03, 2015 at 02:39:13.
In reply to Re: Hifer USC in ME posted by John, W1TAG/1 on June 03, 2015
I agree with John A, .515 is a good frequency here too.
Also having fluctuations between the "band leaders" today, but over moderate to long periods. NC had a fairly consistent 3-minute cycle, EH was coming and going over a longer period, and USC was the steadiest of the bunch. After 6 PM CDT, I was also getting slight copy of SIW slant, and surprisisingly good copy of WM. As with yesterday, MTI and PBJ didn't show up well til early evening, both considerably broken up on Argo, and neither became consistently audible today.
No one else audible today. Thought I had RQ for a little while, but never could be sure. The unmodulated carrier on 13,565.0 didn't show up either.
Can hardly wait for CODAR to move to their new bands!!!
John D
Re: New Antenna
Posted by Bill Hensel on June 04, 2015 at 20:20:58.
In reply to New Antenna posted by Bill Hensel on June 02, 2015
Here is the link showing RQ sitting near the base of its 1/4 wave vertical....http://pinekenpokarate.com/hifer-beacon-rq-13-5635-mhz
Friday morning HiFERs in SE Kansas
Posted by John Davis on June 05, 2015 at 16:58:21.
The past three days, I've been going out to the building in the mornings--a litle earlier each day, as it appears that's the best time for HiFERing right now. Reception from the east is fairly good, and there's minimal CODAR compared to later in the day. This is a summary of what I encountered between 8:30 and 9:30 AM CDT today:
The watering hole...well, that'll be the subject of another post later. You need to see the pictures. I'll just say for now that EH, NC, USC, and both SIWs were there this morning. (MP hadn't shown up yet, but was present the past two mornings at various times, and comes in during the late evening hours as well.) WM hadn't shown up yet today, but was strong the past two mornings.
Both PBJ and MTI were visible and sometimes audible. PBJ was suffering from deeper fading than MTI. Right below them, at 13557.460, I encountered some seemingly random CW. It consisted of perfectly formed characters, but just one or two arbitrary letters at a time, with unpredictable intervals between them. Very odd.
Think I had SZX briefly. Just after I tuned to 13562.95, I encountered bits of code among the squeals and buzzes, then one very clear "X" before it dropped below the noise and stayed there.
Still trying to hear RQ for the first time. Over the past several days, there were times when I thought I could hear Morse keying as I tuned toward the correct spot, but never could pin it down because it was too faint and disappeared by the time I reached the nominal frequency. This morning, it was a bit stronger and the noise was a bit less than before, so I stopped tuning and spent some time listening to the unknown CW. It turned out to be GNK! Apparently, the CR-1a's digital CW filter has a spurious response that manifests almost a kilohertz below the tuned frequency. Hence, I have not been hearing RQ yet, after all.
The good news, I guess, is that GNK was nice and strong this morning.
John
Chinese Fire Drill
Posted by John Davis on June 05, 2015 at 18:47:15.
Translation: Help, I'm being held prisoner in honorable Watering Hole.
That's USC with both NC and EH piled on top, at the time when all three were closest in frequency yesterday. They're still uncomfortably close today, even with NC driven downward in frequency by the heat. EH is currently sitting ever so lightly above USC, following an apparent frequency shift Wednesday evening that may have moved it farther than intended. More details later.
John
Re: Chinese Fire Drill
Posted by John, W1TAG on June 05, 2015 at 18:50:43.
In reply to Chinese Fire Drill posted by John Davis on June 05, 2015
No sooner had we advised Pat that all was OK, the weather cooled down in NC, and Dex's daily pilgrimage down the screen was shortened.
JA
Re: Chinese Fire Drill
Posted by John Davis on June 05, 2015 at 23:38:44.
In reply to Re: Chinese Fire Drill posted by John, W1TAG on June 05, 2015
Considerable difference this evening. Things have warmed up again in NC-land, and EH reverted to its earlier spot right at the top side of SIW slant. MP also seems to be trying to find a spot in there, too.
beacon GNK 13546khz
Posted by Chuck Sayers on June 06, 2015 at 01:06:00.
Hi all, I was looking for RQ but no sign tonight, GNK is blasting in here at the moment (0100z) in fact that's the only beacon I see or hear tonight.Will keep listening till the storms hit. good evening all
Unexpected V1RGO?
Posted by John Davis on June 06, 2015 at 04:23:07.
One of the stops I always make on my scans for aural beacons is 13562.02, where I used to be able to hear "NDB" on rare occasions. It's been a while since I've heard it, but I continue to check the vicinity just in case it or Sal's new HiFER should show up. I didn't really expect to ever hear V1RGO, since its dipole is not oriented favorably for this direction, and 13562 is right in a secondary noise band from all the ISM equipment these days.
After camping out at 13562.02 for a while this evening, I started to tune upward to look for RQ and/or GNK but soon stopped when I encountered CW with a number "1" in it! Subsequent repetitions yielded a few more ones, some followed by an R. Other times I got an "O" with nothing else...once a probable "G"...but never a definite "V." So, I can't claim a positive ID, but it seems promising. (I clearly need to get Old Drifty on the job, with its nice, sharp 250 Hz filter to cut back some of the extraneous noise!) Frequency at 8:29 PM CDT was 13562.097 kHz, ±1 Hz.
John
Hifer WM off air
Posted by Mike - N8OOU on June 06, 2015 at 11:55:39.
Due to vacation travel I have taken WM off the air and grounded the antenna. It will be back on by June 20. Thanks for listening.
Unmistakable V1RGO/B !
Posted by John Davis on June 06, 2015 at 14:17:33.
In reply to Unexpected V1RGO? posted by John Davis on June 06, 2015
Got up unusually early this morning in hopes of finding even better conditions on HF right about sunrise. Mixed results--I could only see NC and EH at first, with hints of MP at times and MTI barely audible. The ISM noise was lower than yesterday evening, though, so I gave V1RGO another try. Success!
Time shown is CDT. To the ear, the signal was perfect copy, cycle after cycle, for three or four minutes.
That's quite the opposite of last night, when QSB was so rapid that parts of the longer characters like 1 and / and B went missing, leaving some ambiguity about what I was hearing. No ambiguity today!
Soon, though, CODAR started picking up, making a royal hash of the watering hole. At the higher end of the band, sidebands from SWBC were awfully strong. Continuing to monitor the watering hole, however, just in case....
John
Re: Friday morning HiFERs in SE Kansas
Posted by Frank Cathell on June 07, 2015 at 01:03:59.
In reply to Friday morning HiFERs in SE Kansas posted by John Davis on June 05, 2015
John - I see you have a CommRadio CR-1a. Also have one here. I would like to hear your opinion of this radio. You can E-mail me to avoid clogging up the message board here.
Frank
(K3YAZ)
V1rgo/b
Posted by Bill Hensel on June 09, 2015 at 00:33:53.
Gnk was moving the meter 2 S unites so I dialed down to 13562.000 and even with RQ making racket I heard the characters V1R...then I ran outside and shut RQ off and came back in and copied V1RGO/B the complete call...this was at 0021 UTC...for about another 5 mins there were many fad ups with complete call copied...
V1RGQ/B you are doing FB work...thanks
There is something to be said for simple CW, it gets out and very well.
Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz
Posted by Dave on June 13, 2015 at 19:35:34.
I've got a few milliwatt signal on 135548 kHz which shows on a spectrum display as a sawtooth wave, 16 Hz frequency shift, and it completes one sawtooth cycle each 10 seconds. The signal is fed into an attic dipole up 15 feet. This hifer gridsquare is EL98hp. I'd appreciate reception reports as I'd like to know about the integrity of the signal on your spectrum displays.
Re: Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz
Posted by John, W1TAG/1 on June 14, 2015 at 16:13:10.
In reply to Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz posted by Dave on June 13, 2015
Dave,
Nothing seen in Maine on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.
John, W1TAG/1
Saturday HiFERs in SE Kansas
Posted by John Davis on June 14, 2015 at 17:17:27.
Only saw USC, NC, and EH with certainty late yesterday afternoon. It was probably MP that I saw right in the middle of where EH had drifted, but can't confirm. Up from there, MTI was visible and faintly audible, but no sign of PBJ...or anyone else farther up.
My try for the new sawtooth on 13554.8 may have been sabotaged by the CR-1a's tendency to NOT come up with the same settings it allegedly saves at shutdown. I am accustomed to it not saving the mode and having to reset same. Today, though, it came up in the same band but on a different frequency from where I powered it down. It might have done that without my noticing yesterday when I tried for Dave's signal, so I would have been listening in the wrong spot.
Will try again today, now that the threatening weather seems to have moved a safe distance away for a few hours.
John
Re: Saturday HiFERs in SE Kansas--Sunday Update
Posted by John Davis on June 14, 2015 at 21:09:28.
In reply to Saturday HiFERs in SE Kansas posted by John Davis on June 14, 2015
Thunder muttering on three sides persuaded me to abandon the farm after only about three hours, but there was no sign of Dave's sawtooth during that time. A quick check of the rest of the band before I fled turned up NC (must be very hot there this afternoon...frequency was down below where slant SIW would have been if it were visible today), EH, USC, traces of MTI, nothing from PBJ, and a brief spell of unusually good GNK.
Re: Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz
Posted by John Davis on June 14, 2015 at 23:02:08.
In reply to Re: Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz posted by John, W1TAG/1 on June 14, 2015
Still no luck here today, either. However, there might be a couple of things you could do to improve your odds of being seen, Dave.
First and probably easiest would be to reduce your shift to no more than 5 Hz. Second, but perhaps more difficult, would be to stretch the timing to 30 seconds or even 60 seconds per repetition. Those two measures together would give you a greater than 10 dB improvement and might make it possible to copy you on a QRSS3 Argo or SpecLab screen.
Please excuse me if I go on a bit about stuff with which you're already familiar, but the power of slow graphical modes on spectrum analyzer software comes from their being able to integrate signal energy in very narrow bandwidths (FFT "bins") over a substantial length of time. Random noise takes longer to build up an energy footprint in a bin than a weak but steady signal does. If both the sending and receiving end are constant enough in frequency, you can slow down the software for longer and longer integration times with great effect. Of course, that also means it takes longer to send a message or even recognize the signal.
The problem with a moving signal, either intentionally shifting frequency or undergoing drift, is that it doesn't remain within the bandwidth of any one software detection bin for as long a time as a steady signal...even if you slow down the transmission speed and the reception display, which is the usual method of coping with greater distance and/or noise with spectrum analysis modes. Counterintuitively, faster modes are sometimes a little better for seeing variable frequency signals...but at a price.
For a shift of 16 Hz and period T = 10 s, your δf = 1.6 Hz/s. For Argo in QRSS10 mode, each FFT bin is 91.55 mHz wide (that's millihertz). That means each bin is illuminated by your signal for only about 57.2 ms. Random noise continues to fill the bin for the remainder of each sampling window. For any given noise level, you'd often stand a better chance of copying 12 wpm Morse by ear...which can be done halfway across the continent on 22 m under Part 15 Rules, but it's relatively rare, and becoming increasingly so as more CODAR transmitters go on the air.
In addition to the narrowness of each bin at QRSS10, the frequency axis for a 16 Hz shift takes up the better part of the window height on Argo 10-second mode. The time scale (horizontal) is scrunched as well, so six very tall sawtooths would be scrunched together between each minute marker.
Now, at QRSS3 Slow mode, the bins are a whopping 366.21 mHz wide (0.366 Hz). A drifting signal will be within that band a greater percentage of the time, but so will the noise. However, with the vertical (frequency) scale compressed relative to 10-sec Slow mode, the eye also has a chance to perform a little optical integration on adjacent pixels, aiding in recognition of the sloped line.
I've observed this effect on SIW slant mode quite a lot. I generally get best results with SIW at Argo's QRSS3 Slow setting, even though Garry's slope is only about 5 Hz per minute! The unique visual signature of the slope means that it is only necessary to recognize part of each character element to decide it is a "dot" or "dash." Though 10 times slower than QRSS6 Morse--the mode Garry transmitted for a long time just below SIW slant--the slant mode was more often decipherable here when received at QRSS3 settings. But when I would go to QRSS10, my next available choice, the situation would be at least partially reversed. The QRSS6 signal would look more consistently solid to the eye, albeit a bit crowded together; but the slope of the slant mode, being stretched vertically, tended to appear more broken.
(FWIW, whenever the SIW duo are present nowadays, both the slant mode and the DFCW9 appear to be almost equally readable at QRSS3 Slow. They are well matched visually at their current speeds, and emanating from the same antenna means they undergo virtually identical propagation effects, so I feel more confident making comparisons of their readability. I suspect that if Garry were to reduce the shift of the slant mode further, I could probably copy it significantly better at QRSS10, maybe even QRSS20 or 30, without any change in the element rate.)
John
a very interesting piece of radio history linked to music history
Posted by Robert on June 15, 2015 at 01:21:38.
i realize no body here is interested in attempting to broadcast under part 15 rules, but i know a lot of us here are radio engineers in our day jobs. i thought this piece of radio history that is linked to a key figure in musical history might pique the interest of some here and i thought that i would pass this along for your enjoyment.
Read the article and note that the person that ran this little station is none other that Les Paul...
from the description it appears to be a early attempt at extremely low power near field broadcasting using an early form of leaky cable. i am scratching my head at what kind of two wire cable system would be built into the building during that era and the only thing that comes to mind is maybe some kind of balanced twisted pair to an early intercom system or abandoned phone wiring. given the era and the relatively small size of that transmitter and the low efficiency of about 30% that transmitters back then had I'm taking a guess it probably transmitted with a T.P.O. in the area of 2 or 3 watts. my experience with indoor setups using the same arrangement didn't achieve a radiated signal very far (didn't even achieve 50ft) beyond the outside walls of the building and i had proper couplers and all, so i am taking another guess that his signal was likely confined to the building for the most part. i find this story highly interesting and i am glad to know i am in some very good company with my low power part 15 broadcasting endeavors. i only wish their were some more technical details about his setup in the article. he had a very impressive setup for the era.
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/tenants-run-apartment-network
Re: Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz
Posted by Dave on June 15, 2015 at 01:22:36.
In reply to Re: Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz posted by John Davis on June 14, 2015
Thanks so much for listening for this little oscillator John. I'm grateful. I'm also thankful for the terrific suggestions: I've made some adjustments to the signal that might help a little, but I'll be changing some parts this week to agree with your recommendations. Thanks again.
Passed my Broadcast engineering course from CIE
Posted by Robert on June 15, 2015 at 01:28:54.
I took a course from Cleavland institute of electronics for broadcast engineering. it was a two year course and i completed it in 8 months (1739hrs) with a 90.55% grade B, so i will be getting my CBT from SBE in addition to joining SBE, i have also been told companies treat the Extra class ham license like the old 1st class radio telephone so i will be going in the near future and taking the test for the general and then the extra.
thought i would share the good news. there may be another broadcast engineer in the ranks soon if i can get a job in the field.
feel free to send any leads my way. i'm in the denver metro area, looking to get my start.
Re: Passed my Broadcast engineering course from CIE
Posted by John Davis on June 15, 2015 at 04:49:58.
In reply to Passed my Broadcast engineering course from CIE posted by Robert on June 15, 2015
Congratulations, Robert! That's great news.
As for the ham ticket, some companies do regard the higher classes favorably, the way they did in the very early days of broadcasting--but many others are very distrustful of all hams, for reasons I've never understood. My advice would be to tread cautiously around prospective employers until you know their take on the subject...maybe sound out current and former technical people within their organization first before emphasizing it in your resume.
(I rarely mention my own call sign in posts here, partly because it is not relevant to Part 15 activity, but also because for the first 25 years I worked in Georgia it was a subject best left unmentioned in the workplace. Several of us were licensed, but it was as if we were members of a clandestine organization that was so secret, we weren't allowed to know other members existed. There was a big turnaround when my last boss came on board, though! He was an enthusiastic ham himself, who encouraged all the technical staff to try for amateur licenses, join professional organizations, etc., as ways to improve our skills and enhance our value to the organization. When I put out that word to my people, more hams came out of the woodwork than even I had suspected! It was a paradigm shift, but the old uneasiness still lingers with me sometimes.)
The broadcaster's attitude toward amateur radio can be a good clue as to which company may be better to work for.
John
Re: a very interesting piece of radio history linked to music history
Posted by John Davis on June 15, 2015 at 07:59:37.
In reply to a very interesting piece of radio history linked to music history posted by Robert on June 15, 2015
That's a fascinating find, Robert. Much appreciated! It would undoubtedly have been very cool to live in the same apartment building as Les Paul in any case, radio station or not, but this is an excellent example of his technical versatility.
(Too bad that among the comments and re-blogs, some folks only seemed interested in the subject with the words "pirate" or "bootleg" attached. Like college carrier current installations, it was clearly neither.)
I expect you're right about the cable being part of an intercom or phone system, or maybe even some intended building-wide alarm of some sort. Although that might not always distribute RF as uniformly throughout an entire building as a well coupled power line system usually does, such lines can be useful if you don't have access to the distribution panel containing all the AC phases.
A bit of related history of my own, although somewhat lengthy: In my college freshman year, circumstances had me living in a commercially operated dormitory that was not tied in with the university's student-run carrier current network. As LOWDOWN readers may remember from our observance of the 60th anniversary of Popular Electronics last October, I first read about the concept in the January 1962 Carl & Jerry story, and had been looking forward to being within coverage of such a system in my own college days. The school's wired wireless network was not a priority for the new dorm's management, however, nor were they interested in working with the residents to set up one of our own...hence, no access to the distribution panels. Injecting RF into the wiring in any one room left the other two phases of the building pretty much dead, while intermod hum (such as from rectifiers in radios plugged into AC sockets) could be pretty strong in places where the signal was otherwise adequate. There was some reason, now forgotten, why the intercom network wasn't satisfactory, either. But it turned out that every room in the building had been wired for direct-dial telephone service, and the coupling from line to line within the big trunk cable was pretty decent. (That was before fiber optics, so the cable was all copper all the way to the telco central office. It was buried under the highway between the dorm and campus, so you couldn't hear a peep right outside the building--but then it ran overhead through a residential area to downtown. That discovery led to a lot of nervous signal strength checking for a while.)
The first hastily improvised transmitter was a technical nightmare and a fire hazard, but it sounded surprisingly good on the air as long as it didn't drift off channel and produce a beat note with some other station...a single tube RF stage with an L/C combined oscillator/tank circuit, a stiff cardboard box for a chassis, and a little Lafayette two tube audio amplifier acting as a modulator and power supply. As a proof of concept, it was wildly effective! No prior announcement--just switched in on, and within minutes we had people knocking on the door to place requests or offer the use of their record libraries. After a few unbelievably late nights, things settled down a bit. I ordered a crystal, and when it arrived a few weeks later (over the Christmas break) I built a proper transmitter on a chassis scavenged from an old radio.
The second transmitter also employed the little audio amplifier kit for a modulator, but had its own power supply and was much more sophisticated and safer all around. It contained two dual section tubes: a 6SN7 twin triode, and a 6CX8 or comparable 9-pin triode-pentode tube of the sort used in CB transmitters at the time.
What was unique about the transmitter was that it had four amplifier stages, only two of which were tuned (the oscillator, and the PA tank), and despite three triodes in the RF path, none of the stages were neutralized! One half of the 6SN7 was the oscillator, which could be--and was at different times--configured as either a Pierce or Colpitts circuit. The second half of the 6SN7 was a cathode follower buffer, cathode coupled to the triode of the 6CX8, which operated as a grounded grid gain stage that drove the pentode section. All very simple, clean, and stable. TPO was roughly 3 watts, which did the job nicely at the dorm, and later proved useful as a temporary auxiliary transmitter at a commercial AM station--at least, in the absence of too much QRN--meeting Part 73 spectral purity and frequency stability requirements quite nicely. With a bit of reworking, it also became my first LowFER transmitter in 1971-72...but a total lack of reports at that time (no Internet and no LWCA yet to spread the word) caused me to lose interest in the band for the next two decades.
I'm no Les Paul, for sure, but that's my own little bit of carrier current history.
John
Re: Passed my Broadcast engineering course from CIE
Posted by Bill Hensel on June 15, 2015 at 13:14:27.
In reply to Passed my Broadcast engineering course from CIE posted by Robert on June 15, 2015
Robert,
Congrats of the highest order. If you ever get the itch to get up into the mountains, we could have launch or breakfast at the Cutthroat cafe in Bailey, Co.
Keep care,
Bill
Re: MTI today
Posted by Bill Hensel on June 15, 2015 at 14:16:48.
In reply to
Re: Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on June 15, 2015 at 17:58:28.
In reply to Re: Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz posted by John Davis on June 14, 2015
John, I've reduced the frequency shift of my slash code hifer by half. It's now about +/- 2Hz and centered around 13555440 Hz. Let me know if that's useful with slower speed QRSS.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz
Posted by John Davis on June 15, 2015 at 18:26:12.
In reply to Re: Florida gator sawtooth hifer 13554.8 kHz posted by Garry, K3SIW on June 15, 2015
Thanks for the heads-up, Garry. We're back in persistent rain here right now, but I hope it may let up enough to go to the farm again late this afternoon.
Receiver selections
Posted by N6KB on June 15, 2015 at 21:49:42.
I do not like digital PLL based receivers that mute their audio every time you tune to the next frequency. I prefer a tuning knob, and no muting as I am tuning it. I am willing to sacrifice all of the stability and precision advantages of a digital PLL receiver in order to be able to just turn the knob and hear all of the signals as I tune. There seem to be very few options for that kind of tuning these days. I'd like to find something portable and battery powered to use while camping or picnicking. I'd like LW, MW, SW. I don't really care if it has FM, VHF, WX or not. A BFO would be nice, but I'm pretty sure that is asking too much. Any recommendations?
Off to a Good Start (13554.70)
Posted by John Davis on June 16, 2015 at 04:11:36.
Was shutting down hastily due to an approaching shelf cloud when I realized this had appeared...not on the screen I had been watching, but another Argo instance at lower frequency that I still had running from an earlier look at the watering hole. Slowing down the repetition rate has helped, I believe. If the shift can also be reduced, I'll be able to also use a slower setting of Argo and gain a little more signal recovery. (I actually had a QRSS10 instance running at the same time, but it was centered up around 13,554.8 kHz where I was anticipating to possibly find the signal.)
Time is Central Daylight. About half an hour before this, I'd been watching the watering hole for a while, with only USC, EH, and NC visible. The Ionosphere Imps or Propagation Pixies, whichever are in charge of the Illinois to Kansas path, were being very stubborn today so I never saw either SIW this time. Higher up, MTI and PBJ were present, but with both long and short-term QSB cycles at work. Nobody else was heard or seen today.
I'll be up and hoping to take an early morning look if the weather cooperates, but I have to concede that's somewhat in doubt at present.
John
Re: Receiver selections
Posted by John Davis on June 16, 2015 at 04:26:28.
In reply to Receiver selections posted by N6KB on June 15, 2015
What sort of price range are you willing to consider?
Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70)
Posted by John, W1TAG on June 16, 2015 at 19:06:17.
In reply to Off to a Good Start (13554.70) posted by John Davis on June 16, 2015
Copied this morning in Raymond, ME (FN43sv).
http://www.w1tag.com/files/Saw1.gif
Times are UTC. The signal isn't as strong as some in the "watering hole," but it's copyable.
John, W1TAG/1
Re: Receiver selections
Posted by N6KB on June 16, 2015 at 19:53:02.
In reply to Re: Receiver selections posted by John Davis on June 16, 2015
I've been looking at older stuff on ebay and trying to keep under $100. If there was something new that fits my requirements I'd go higher. Maybe $200 If it gets too expensive I start thinking I may as well buy another transceiver with multiple IF filter selections. I have general coverage receivers or transceivers already. My application is camping and picnicking. Something I can keep in the car and bring to the beach or campground. Use with a built-in telescoping antenna or a wire over a tree branch. Something I can carry with one hand. I'd like a BFO, but I understand a non PLL based radio has it's frequency instability demonstrated more blatantly when it has a BFO. I'm willing to build a simple 455 kHz BFO myself and just live with the instability. Seems like all the portables that have BFOs are also digital PLL, non-continuous tuning. ie: the tuning steps are 5 or 10 kHz and the radio mutes every time you change the frequency. That is what I do not want.
Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70)
Posted by Dave on June 16, 2015 at 23:43:26.
In reply to Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70) posted by John, W1TAG on June 16, 2015
Holy smoke!
Are these screenshots of my puny sawtooth? If so, I am so very stoked. I hope to have narrowed the sawtooth frequency shift and slowing it to down a bit by the weekend.
The circuit is on a breadboard in an unairconditioned location, so some variations in the frequency is guaranteed. It was 96º F/36º C today.
Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70)
Posted by John, W1TAG/1 on June 17, 2015 at 00:35:41.
In reply to Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70) posted by Dave on June 16, 2015
Dave,
Stoke away! That's you, right where John Davis said you would be.
John Andrews, W1TAG/1
Re: Receiver selections
Posted by Frank Cathell on June 17, 2015 at 02:16:15.
In reply to Re: Receiver selections posted by N6KB on June 16, 2015
I have found the Kaito KA-1103 does very well as a portable for 13 MHz beacon reception among other things. Has a real BFO which is tunable and will work well just on its whip antenna. You should be able to find one for under $100.
Frank (TSN)
K3YAZ
Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70)
Posted by John Davis on June 17, 2015 at 05:08:09.
In reply to Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70) posted by John, W1TAG/1 on June 17, 2015
Looks like John A was soaking up most of the signal today there in Maine, but a few minutes' worth made it to SE Kansas during the noon hour: fla2saw.jpg
Might've been more later, but thunderstorms chased me out of the field a little after 1 PM CDT, and the upcoming heavy rains will now keep me out until some time this weekend. With both the QRSS3 window and QRSS10 instance running simultaneously, the short sample was enough to show the signal enhancing effect of being able to slow down the detection speed of Argo. The exact same time frame is depicted in both captures. The current repetition rate looks good at QRSS10 and might also be OK at QRSS20, and a lesser frequency shift would further improve detection by decreasing the bins/second sweep rate.
In fact, it looks as if a 2 Hz peak to peak shift would work OK in the 10 second receive mode, and be almost optimal in the QRSS20 mode. ( If you could also fit the ±1 Hz FSK right between the CODAR spectral lines at a carefully chosen odd multiple of 0.5 Hz, that would be ideal.... :)
That hypothesis about shift seems to be further corroborated by some observations I made of SIW when it showed up for a little while just before 1 PM. Garry now appears to be running a shift of ±2.5 Hz. I'll post those pictures another time, but I managed to be running three Argo instances by then (QRSS3, 10, and 30). The slant signal was recognizable but missing substantial chunks out of the trace at 3-sec slow. At 10-sec slow, the trace was more solid and the 60 second long ramps had a pleasing visual appearance. On the 30-sec screen, the ramps showed considerable vertical stretch and the fades produced wider gaps as a result, making me think ±1 Hz shift might look more solid at that speed.
FWIW, overall, 22 m wasn't very good here today. I started with a look for Dave's signal before breakfast, then switched to capturing the watering hole, where USC, NC and EH were all fair to poor, with hints of MP. By late morning, only NC was visible. That's when I tuned over to 13554.7 and managed to catch this glimpse. Late in the noon hour is when SIW showed up, but it too didn't last very many minutes.
John
Re: Receiver selections
Posted by N6KB on June 17, 2015 at 21:35:03.
In reply to Re: Receiver selections posted by Frank Cathell on June 17, 2015
The Kaito KA-1103 appears to have a tuning knob, which I like, and it also appears to be "digital" which I am suspicious of. I have a Realistic multiband radio, which does have a knob for tuning, but when you turn it the audio mutes while the PLL system is relocking at the next frequency. So I cannot smoothly tune across a band and hear the various signals as they move through the IF bandpass. This is no concern if you know before hand what frequency you want to listen to, but I find it very annoying when searching a band for new signals. How is the KA-1103 in this respect?
Re: Receiver selections
Posted by Bill Hensel on June 18, 2015 at 02:16:13.
In reply to Receiver selections posted by N6KB on June 15, 2015
Tonight I caught MTI on my KA1102 while hiking , time was 0145utc....4or 5 Ids in a row....it fits in a fly fishing shirt pocket....
Re: Receiver selections
Posted by N6KB on June 18, 2015 at 21:04:55.
In reply to Re: Receiver selections posted by Bill Hensel on June 18, 2015
Does it mute between frequency steps as you turn the tuning knob?
Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70) - What Do We Call It?
Posted by John Davis on June 19, 2015 at 05:45:56.
In reply to Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70) posted by John Davis on June 17, 2015
Dave, I've been wondering how we should designate your beacon in the call letter column of the beacon list?
Even though you're not transmitting a mode in which a call sign would be recognizable, it would be handy for shorthand purposes to have something to call it in print...something like "NC" for Dexter McIntire's squarewave beacon from North Carolina. Kind of awkward to always be calling it "Dave's sawtooth on 13554.7" or such. :)
73
John
Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70) - What Do We Call It?
Posted by Dave on June 19, 2015 at 11:08:18.
In reply to Re: Off to a Good Start (13554.70) - What Do We Call It? posted by John Davis on June 19, 2015
Wow! I'm thrilled that my little sawtooth signal is a candidate to be listed alongside notable hifers. Thank you!
Until I get a unique identifier installed in the circuit, perhaps "(sawth)", "(no ID)", "/\/\/\", or similar might provide enough information for a listener to corroborate a logging. The parentheses suggest a description rather than an actual identifier.
Dave
Hifers on Saturday in ME
Posted by John, W1TAG on June 20, 2015 at 18:10:19.
Seen and or heard between 1755 and 1810Z this afternoon: USC, NC, both SIW's, WM (welcome back), PBJ, MTI and GNK. The daytime Hifer prop seems better today than recently.
John, W1TAG/1
Raymond, ME
13554.7 KHz Florida Sawtooth changes
Posted by Dave on June 20, 2015 at 20:10:27.
I have the sawtooth frequency shift to 4.34 Hz and it completes one sawtooth cycle about each 4 minutes.
Dave
Sunday HiFERs in Kansas
Posted by John Davis on June 21, 2015 at 20:12:26.
This morning, USC, NC,and EH (the latter two in collision) were good at the watering hole, with almost no CODAR. About 11:25 AM CDT, slant SIW showed up briefly while USC simultaneously went into a fade, but that didn't last more than a minute and a half. WM was definitely coming in strong the whole time with hardly an level fluctuations, but an occasional spreading of the trace that may have had to do with selective fading of some sort.
Farther up the dial, PBJ was back, nicely visible and sometimes audible. MTI was barely even visible for a long time, then became a little more visible but only occasionally audible.
Had a number of stray carriers where V1RGO and RQ would be expected, making it impossible to determine if I was hearing anything. GNK was fairly consistent, though. When I tried for FRC, the mystery carrier dead on 13565.000 was back.
I then watched 13544.7 for a long time, but no sign of anything there thus far. Have temporarily shut down to recharge batteries (an unfortunate necessity when the ground is still too wet to get the generator to the building), but will continue watching into this evening.
John
Re: Receiver selections
Posted by Geek on June 22, 2015 at 08:25:48.
In reply to Receiver selections posted by N6KB on June 15, 2015
I have an Eton E5, which can be had for ~$100 now used. It doesn't silence.
Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas
Posted by John Davis on June 22, 2015 at 14:50:44.
In reply to Sunday HiFERs in Kansas posted by John Davis on June 21, 2015
Sorry for the late follow-up. I went back to the farm after writing the previous message and set up to monitor 13554.7 after a quick check of the watering hole. At that time, around 4 PM CDT, CODAR was fierce. I could barely see USC and NC (which must have been mighty hot yesterday, having drifted down to around 13555.420), but gave it a try anyway.
I returned to the farm a little after 7:30 and checked the captures, but found no sign of Dave. Did tune to the watering hole and saw much cleaner signals from USC, EH, and NC than earlier, plus a good strong WM again. I was running additional Argo instances set for QRSS10 and 20, centered on .440, but there was no sign of SIW at first. Eventually, hints of the slant signal began to appear. Then suddenly, at 7:57:57 PM, I noticed the beginning of a bright trace right on .400 while watching the WM screen. Switching back to the main watering hole display, I saw that both SIW signals had suddenly jumped in strength, as if someone had thoughtfully switched on the ionosphere for me. (USC dipped in level slightly about the same time.) The slant mode was in the middle of the W at the time, and it remained solid until about the start of the next W, when it began a long and slow fade. The DFCW signal tracked in level.
It's worth noting that QRSS10 did the best job with the current shift and timing of SIW slant. QRSS3 was fainter and had gaps from the relatively short integration times, as did the steeper slope on QRSS20 trace. The 10-sec slow mode seemed to be the best compromise.
I then checked for Florida again, but still no trace. PBJ and MTI were soming in nicely, though...not quite as strong as some times, but at pretty consistent levels without much fading or interference. By then it was dark, so I packed up the gear, and retrieved the buffer amp from the base of the tower, where giant killer vampire mosquitos were trying to carry it away.
When I got back to town, I found the whole city was without electricity, and was going to be dark for a few more hours! So, I turned in early and didn't get to report last night.
John
Interesting Hifer Propagation
Posted by John, W1TAG on June 22, 2015 at 22:34:58.
We had a double solar whammy this afternoon. An expected CME arrived around 1800Z, and pushed the solar wind speed over 700 km/sec, leading to a >Kp=5 event (now Kp=8 as I write this). As this was starting up, sunspot region AR2371 produced an M6.5 flare, which led to an HF radio blackout.
Unaware of this, I started monitoring the Hifer "watering hole" at 1858Z, and saw no signals. I let the captures run while I checked the various web sites to see what was going on. Signals gradually began to show up in the 1900Z hour.
But there was an interesting "bell-ringing" sort of event that started at 2020Z. See this clip of USC:
http://www.w1tag.com/files/USC.jpg
The next capture shows the ringing effect on the rest of the visible signals.
http://www.w1tag.com/files/All.jpg
The copy of WM on the bottom of the screen is almost unrecognizable. The last of the unusual effects ended by 2050Z.
John, W1TAG
Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas
Posted by Garry, k3siw on June 22, 2015 at 22:53:31.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas posted by John Davis on June 22, 2015
Thanks to both Johns for hifer SIW reception. John D., if you'd like I can cut the slash code frequency shift even further, to +/- 1 Hz.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Interesting Hifer Propagation
Posted by John Davis on June 23, 2015 at 03:32:48.
In reply to Interesting Hifer Propagation posted by John, W1TAG on June 22, 2015
John, those are absolutely fascinating!
I wasn't really sure whether the effect you saw on USC a couple weeks back was a propagation anomaly or not, because the multiple extra traces were symmetrical about both sides of the original signal and were spaced at constant multiples of 2 Hz. That's somewhat like intermod I've noticed on HiFER traces when CODAR is at just the right (wrong) levels. But there is no doubt in my mind that these are signs of some really wild propagation!
There's bifurcation, multifurcation (?!), and I don't know what all! Especially intriguing, to me, is the right hand side of the NC square wave. In that one, it's the strongest reflection that's undergoing quasi-sinusoidal frequency shifts...and mostly on the upper shift frequency, but at least once on the lower. The weaker trace a Hz or so below the bright one is flat on both the high and low state.
I wish we had some way to visualize what was going on up there at the time. I sort of picture a plasma equivalent of mammatus clouds being pushed around, but who can tell? I wonder if anything showed up on the satellite that monitors airglow.
John
Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas
Posted by John Davis on June 23, 2015 at 03:34:41.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas posted by Garry, k3siw on June 22, 2015
I think that would be worth a try, Garry.
John
Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas
Posted by Dave on June 23, 2015 at 10:38:30.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas posted by John Davis on June 23, 2015
John, thanks for reporting on my sawtooth signal (and the sbsence of it). It's still transmitting, but the frequency may have shifted a bit from my tinkering and the ambient temperature fluctuations at the oscillator site.
I'm soon going to rebuild it into a smaller enclosure, improve some circuit connections, and insulate it against the Florida heat, but I am still hopeful to get one report that the 4-5 Hz frequency shift and ~ 4.5 minute period is clear on a spectrum display.
Dave
Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas
Posted by gARRY, k3siw on June 23, 2015 at 12:25:40.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas posted by John Davis on June 23, 2015
John, the slash code frequency shift is now reduced to about +/- 1 Hz. Idle frequency is a bit lower too, around 13555438 Hz.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas
Posted by John Davis on June 23, 2015 at 15:47:10.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas posted by gARRY, k3siw on June 23, 2015
Thanks, Garry. Will try to take a look late this afternoon.
John
Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas
Posted by John Davis on June 23, 2015 at 22:39:13.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas posted by John Davis on June 23, 2015
Not having much luck this afternoon with anyone except those in the Ol' South...USC, NC, PBJ and MTI...and even they are rather broken up. I'll keep watching into this evening, though.
Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas
Posted by John Davis on June 24, 2015 at 13:12:41.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas posted by John Davis on June 23, 2015
OK, on Tuesday evening EH was back, and there were faint traces of SIW. They were so faint, however, that I couldn't get meaningful comparisons between different detection speeds. The only thing I can say for sure is that QRSS10 and 20 both gave better indications of the slant signal than QRSS3 did. Still no indication of Dave's sawtooth.
I resumed at sunrise this morning. Despite plenty of SWBC signals on the high side of the band, I'm back to seeing and hearing no one but the southerners: USC, NC, MTI, PBJ. And CODAR, of course, which is fairly strong this morning already.
That being the case, I'm again hoping the path to Florida may be open part of the time and am monitoring accordingly. Unfortunately, without knowing the current correct frequency, it's something of a shot in the dark. QRSS3 gives you a screen 160 Hz high, and I had to run two instances of it simultaneously to find the signal the first time. Slower traces and longer detection times mean a much narrower margin for error, though. QRSS10 only gives you about 40 Hz width, and QRSS20 is only about 20 Hz.
John
Re: Sunday HiFERs in KS-Further Wed. Update
Posted by John Davis on June 24, 2015 at 17:44:29.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in Kansas posted by John Davis on June 24, 2015
No sign of Dave this morning. Reviewing the captures, I'd get all excited to see a piece of a ramp here or there, but always drifting downward, never up, and they never repeated on the saame frequency. Just stray drifting carriers all over the place, for some unknown reason.
A little before 11 AM CDT, I checked the watering hole again just in time to see SIW fading in, so I captured there for a while. This time I got enough to see that QRSS20 seems to do the best job with the current settings. I can't readily access the captures yet, but some time this week I'll try to put together and post views of the previous ramp parameters and the current ones for comparison.
BTW, by that point, WM was also becoming visible for the first time today.
John
Re: Sunday HiFERs in KS-Further Wed. Update
Posted by John Davis on June 25, 2015 at 03:36:34.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in KS-Further Wed. Update posted by John Davis on June 24, 2015
Got a chance to seeSIW once again today just before sunset. Not too strong, but it would have been pretty good copy except for one thing: the slower QRSS viewing speeds (20 and 30 seconds) really exagerrated the residual ionospheric Doppler disturbances and spread the signal out by about half a hertz. No biggie at QRSS3, not terible at QRSS10, but that amounts to several bins at the slower speeds, reducing detection efficiency. Wasn't expecting that, but I guess it makes sense.
Will take one more look in the morning, then the farm will be QRT, non-QFS, QNO, or other appropriate signal, for several days.
Oh--almost forgot. Despite the spreading of SIW, things were a little better tonight in some ways. EH is back to more nearly its usual strength, so I tried for V1RGO/B with some success; just one letter at a time, mostly just bits and pieces, but definitely there. GNK came in once in a while, and got bits and pieces of FRC too. On the other hand, there was no sign of either MTI or PBJ, and still nothing that looked like Dave.
John
Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-First Thur. Update
Posted by John Davis on June 25, 2015 at 17:45:56.
In reply to Re: Sunday HiFERs in KS-Further Wed. Update posted by John Davis on June 25, 2015
By late morning, we were starting to get just the conditions I wanted: SIW, not very strong, but without all the Doppler spreading of yesterday evening. Started seeing a thin but reasonably bright upward slope at QRSS20 before anything showed up on 10 or 3. It faded below visibility, but started coming back later. Before lunch time I was able to confirm that 20 second slow is about optimum for the current repetition rate and shift.
One very peculiar thing, though...up until I retreated to town, all I got were the up slopes and some of the flat portions! Only once did I see part of the down slope, but the fact that I did see it and the timing of the missing portions would indicate they are actually getting sent and I'm just not receiving them. (It would be kind of weird if the ionosphere has preferences in sweep directions, so I'm not going to advocate that theory at this time. :)
BTW, it's great that the idle frequency happens to fall right between two CODAR lines, and the narrow shift does keep the slant mode signal right between them.
Also, the success with QRSS20 today suggests that parameters which yield a slope on screen of not more than 45 degrees at the desired detection speed are to be preferred. It's right about 45 degrees on QRSS20 which is excellent in terms of visual recognition, though earlier tests make me think 30° might even be better in terms of integration times. In this case, I don't know if I would recommend any narrower frequency shift just yet, but maybe a slower symbol rate.
John
Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-First Thur. Update
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on June 26, 2015 at 01:11:39.
In reply to Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-First Thur. Update posted by John Davis on June 25, 2015
John, I did some more retuning of the slash code hifer this afternoon. It's now running with a period of approximately 2 minutes, double the previous length, but still at +/- 1 Hz shift.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-Second Thur. Update
Posted by John Davis on June 26, 2015 at 02:00:26.
In reply to Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-Firt Thur. Update posted by Garry, K3SIW on June 26, 2015
Good deal, Garry. Had terrible conditions here late this afternoon, so I didn't see anything of SIW after the change. (Thank goodness I did get some captures at lunch time.) If the weather comes on through and moves out like they're now talking, I'll try to get another chance to look tomorrow and/or Saturday.
John
Medium wave experiments in US
Posted by Mike Terry on June 26, 2015 at 06:53:13.
RSGB
June 19, 2015
A group of US medium wave experimental licensees will transmit greetings on 630m during the ARRL Field Day weekend on 27 and 28 June. While the 472 to 479 kHz band is not yet available for amateur radio use in the US, these greetings messages are allowed. See ARRL news article http://www.arrl.org/news/medium-wave-experimenters-to-transmit-field-day-greetings for details of callsigns and frequency of those planning to pass greetings messages.
http://rsgb.org/main/news/gb2rs/
Re: Medium wave experiments in US
Posted by Webmaster on June 26, 2015 at 14:19:16.
In reply to Medium wave experiments in US posted by Mike Terry on June 26, 2015
Thanks for reminding us of that, Mike. Actually, the ARRL list of participants may be a bit outdated. One can get the latest version directly from the website of the LF/MF event's organizer, John Langridge:
http://njdtechnologies.net/mf-and-lf-demonstration-opportunity-for-arrl-field-day-2015-the-field-day-greetings/
SAQ Transmission This Sunday
Posted by Webmaster on June 26, 2015 at 15:00:32.
The historic VLF station will be on 17.2 kHz twice in the early hours of Sunday for the annual Alexanderson Day commemoration. Details are on our home page at www.lwca.org.
I have a request if you happen to hear them and send a report: Please let them know you heard about it from the LWCA site! They kind of seem to have forgotten that we exist, though our members and additional readers are responsible for about half the reports they get from this side of the Atlantic. Maybe reminding them that we're still here will encourage them to let us know about these events so we can inform you a little farther ahead.
Thanks.
John
Re: 13554.7 KHz Florida Sawtooth changes
Posted by John, W1TAG on June 26, 2015 at 18:37:56.
In reply to 13554.7 KHz Florida Sawtooth changes posted by Dave on June 20, 2015
Dave,
I finally found it, on 13,555.11 kHz at 1640Z today. That's quite a jump from the earlier frequency, and required a lot of receiver retuning and captures to stumble across it. See:
http://www.w1tag.com/files/1355511.jpg
Note that the "400" on the dial to the right is actually 13,555.100 kHz.
John, W1TAG/1
Raymond, ME
Re: 13554.7 KHz Florida Sawtooth changes
Posted by John Davis on June 26, 2015 at 19:20:46.
In reply to Re: 13554.7 KHz Florida Sawtooth changes posted by John, W1TAG on June 26, 2015
Thanks, John. That's definitely outside the range where I'd been looking. I hope I'll be able to start watching for it again this weekend.
John
Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-Fri. Update
Posted by John Davis on June 27, 2015 at 04:15:19.
In reply to Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-Second Thur. Update posted by John Davis on June 26, 2015
Miraculously, I got an opportunity to look again this afternoon and early evening, but conditions were not good. At first, only EH was visible at the watering hole. Tried for Florida for a few hours, but even looking on the right frequency didn't produce any traces. Before sunset, USC and NC had joined in at the watering hole, but just barely. Still no sign of SIW, PBJ or MTI. Managed to hear GNK in bits and pieces, and surprisingly, I was copying three and four characters at a time from FRC, sometimes quite clearly before it would drop into deep fades again.
Will try again over the weekend, but it might be Sunday before I get the chance.
John
Re: SAQ Transmission This Sunday
Posted by John Davis on June 28, 2015 at 14:37:40.
In reply to SAQ Transmission This Sunday posted by Webmaster on June 26, 2015
No go in SE Kansas. For the first time in some years, I managed to be up for both transmissions, but S9+10 dB static was aooarently just too much. Got my hopes up for a little while when Argo showed a slowly wandering carrier that appeared about the time the second tune-up should start, a few Hz above 17.200 kHz. Unfortunately, it continued long after SAQ finished, so that wasn't them.
John
Re: SAQ Transmission This Sunday
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on June 28, 2015 at 15:03:56.
In reply to Re: SAQ Transmission This Sunday posted by John Davis on June 28, 2015
John, it was surprisingly quiet here but that didn't matter. Propagation was so poor even powerhouse DHO38 on 23.4 kHz from Rhauderfehn, Germany didn't stand out on my waterfall. ARGO at neither QRSS3 nor QRSS10 showed any signal on 17.2 kHz.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-Fri. Update
Posted by Garry, K3SIW on June 28, 2015 at 16:54:54.
In reply to Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-Fri. Update posted by John Davis on June 27, 2015
John,
My hifers are currently about 34 Hz apart (max-to-min). ARGO build 134 at QRSS20 rate only spans about 13 Hz, the bootleg extended version spans about 23 Hz, and the newer build 143 spans about 21 Hz. If you'd like I can move the slash code down in frequency closer to the DFCW so both can fit in the same waterfall.
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN%2ta, Elgin, IL
TSN off due to Monsoon T-storms
Posted by Frank Cathell on June 28, 2015 at 17:58:37.
TSN is off the air until October due to the summer monsoon T-storms.
Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-Fri. Update
Posted by John Davis on June 28, 2015 at 23:03:42.
In reply to Re: Sun. HiFERs in KS-Fri. Update posted by Garry, K3SIW on June 28, 2015
Hi, Garry. I think the frequency is probably fine where it is. I always run a QRSS3 instance anyway, as that's about the slowest mode where I get good results with the DFCW9. (If I had a QRSS6 setting, it might be a different matter, but 10 squeezes the elements together too badly to read most of the time.) The QRSS3 view serves much the same purpose as a "master shot" in filmmaking; it encompasses the entire scene and can be used as a reference for the "close ups."
Multiple Argo 143 instances seem to be no strain on the computer I use in the field--even a few Argo screens and WSPR work together OK. I just have to remember not to give any two Argo instances the same capture filename prefix. If I'm careful to start them all in the same minute, the time ticks make it pretty easy to synchronize multiple screens nowadays.
Had interesting results with the different speeds this afternoon, and would have continued into this evening except for some very ominous clouds building up outside right now. At least I've got a LOT of captures from the past few days to retrieve and try to make some sense of.
John
Off The Beaten Path
Posted by Geek on June 29, 2015 at 00:01:31.
Got a two-tone beacon typical of a HiFER coming in on the Blerp SDR at 13511.41 CW-N.
Screencap: http://geek.scorpiorising.ca/contrib/Geek/misc/Blerp_HiFER.png
Re: Off The Beaten Path
Posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on June 29, 2015 at 19:03:05.
In reply to Off The Beaten Path posted by Geek on June 29, 2015
It would be unlikely to be one of the regular Hifer crowd. FCC rule 15.225 has a radiated field limit 33 dB lower in that range than in 13,553 - 13,567 kHz. Anyone trying to do this weak signal stuff legally would hate to pay that penalty.
John, W1TAG
Re: Off The Beaten Path
Posted by Geek on June 30, 2015 at 02:28:09.
In reply to Re: Off The Beaten Path posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on June 29, 2015
Unless it doesn't originate in the US?
Re: Off The Beaten Path
Posted by Geek on June 30, 2015 at 02:34:48.
In reply to Re: Off The Beaten Path posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on June 29, 2015
You're right, not a HiFER!
Beacon is unknown, as I found it again today down on 10615.77
Have a clue????
Posted by Bill Hensel on June 30, 2015 at 18:58:16.
Does anyone know if NDB and SZX are still on the air?
SZX e mail bounces and nothing from NDB ...I wanted to put some time into DXING these two beacons, it would be nice to know if they are on the air.
Re: Have a clue????
Posted by John Davis on June 30, 2015 at 19:38:54.
In reply to Have a clue???? posted by Bill Hensel on June 30, 2015
Hard to say if either are on right now, but I did copy a partial ID of SZX earlier this month. Haven't heard NDB in quite a while, however.
Mark's email reports "unavailable" for me as well, although that's an ambiguous message at best. Does it mean his box is full, the account is closed, or it's just "unavailable to you because our spam algortihm doesn't trust you"?
John
Re: Have a clue????
Posted by Bill Hensel on June 30, 2015 at 22:15:54.
In reply to Re: Have a clue???? posted by John Davis on June 30, 2015
Have you heard TON? John you might be right...
Re: Have a clue????
Posted by John Davis on June 30, 2015 at 23:53:18.
In reply to Re: Have a clue???? posted by Bill Hensel on June 30, 2015
Nope, still no TON here thus far. Its predecessor, AJO, was also difficult here, with sometimes only the dash after ID visible to hint at its presence...but there's been no sign of TON at all here yet, even though I check every time I'm in the field.
Didn't have any luck here with TSN before the shutdown, either, though I know you copied him fairly regularly. (BTW, many thanks to Frank for letting us know about the change. That really helps the listeners.)
John
potrzebie
