Longwave Messages June 1997

• Subject: DECCA sounds
  From:
  Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997
  
  Good morning John:
  Now that we know that the CONSOL signal sound is gone the same way as the sound of the old LF A/N aeronautical range, did you ever think of having a directory somewhere on the Web page where unusual LF sounds could be picked up.
  In the last few weeks I was able to obtain a recording of the signal of the master station of The British Decca chain on 85 kHz. These signals could be hard at one time on the East Coast of Canada as there was at least 3 chains for marine navigation and now I believe that they are only heard in the UK and/or Western Europe.
  I would like your feedback on this.
  - Jacques d'Avignon
  Radio Propagation Forecasting & HF Monitoring Services
  Kingston, ON CANADA
  • Reply 1: Sounds like a very good idea to me. It could help newcomers identify what they're hearing, and serve as an archive of signals currently being phased out of service. What do you think, readers? - JHD

• Subject: equipment and Jupiter
  Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 01:05:24 -0700
  From:
  This page seems like a nice idea. I was interested in longwave. When I was in Europe I bought a cheap radio just to listen to the broadcast stations there.
  Mostly "Atlantic 252" came in best, which I and cousins there listened to most. I own a Yacht Boy 400, and would be interested in recieving such signals where I am, in Sacramento. I would also like to listen to Natural radio and other VLF/ELF radio too, near electric power. Any sugestions on equipment? LFE makes antenas and coverters, I've considered buying from LFE. In particular I was interested in LFE-111, a combination antenna(active) and converter for shortwave radios. How is this, INSPIRE's unit, or any other reciver or converter?
  Also, while this may not be related, how can I recieve signals from Jupiter? I've read about it in Popular Communications, July 1997 issue.. Can you recieve Jupiter with just the telescoping antenna from the radio? That would be neat. If you can recommend any particular antennas or amplifiers for Jupiter reception, or longwave reception, that would be terrific, especially indoor or short outdoor ones.
  My radio does cover longwave, but only from 144 to 350 or so. I have heard some things that sound like morse or other types of code, but that is it. I would be interested in a good decoder for those signals (I've found a lot more on shortwave), or any voice/music transmissions in broadcast or SSB mode. I have read of a longwave West Coast U.S pirate in Popular Communications-any pirates or legal unlicensed broadcasters with voice or music? Buying any equipment for longwave reception will somewhat pointless if I can read or hear clear signals that make sense, or if what I heard was not interesting.
  Finally, except for one TIS on 1610 and local 530 TIS, I haven't heard any TIS, even from Dallas. Any advice?
  Thank you for your time.

• Subj: DGPS
  Date: 97-06-18
  From: (David M. Jones)
  hello John, I noticed that Millers Ferry comes in nicely in my car. 320 kHz. I should not bad mouth the antenna.
  Noticed your fm off today. Lightning problems?
  David

  • Reply 1: Thanks for the report, David. That is pretty good coverage, then. (P.S.--Yes, WJSP has been off due to power outages, three times out of the last five days, all caused by really nasty lightning. But that's the way it usually goes during column preparation week! -JHD

• Subject: The LF Notebook
  Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997
  From: Dr. Reinhard Klein-Arendt
  ...just read the comments about the Norwegian CONSOL "LEC". The CONSOL service has been decommissioned one year ago or so. Right now I can hear LEC still being on 319, but as an ordinary beacon (id only). Just another remark: Bushmills was MWN on 266 and Ploneis (spelt Plo-ne-is, which was in fact in the Bretagne, France) was FRQ on 257 kHz. A few years ago the longwave bands were full of those CONSOLS. A very intersting chain was on 332.5 with LEX Andoya (No. Norway), LJS Bear Island and LMC Jan Mayen, which could be heard often even during the day in wintertime. These were all decommissioned in February 1984-- no, I mean February 1985. Other stations like Rybackij in Russia were closed at the beginning of the nineties.
  Reinhard Klein-Arendt
  Cologne Germany

• Subject: TEXAS Beacon Update - New Freq.
  Date: 16 Jun 1997
  From: Bill Cantrell
  I recently made some repairs to the TEXAS Beacon Transmitter that has affected its operating frequency. I had to rebuild the crystal divider circuit and now the parasitics are a little different than they used to be.
  THE NEW CARRIER FREQUENCY IS: 184.480 kHz (it used to be 184.514)
  Also, I conducted some signal strength experiments with Bill Bowers yesterday. Expect an article in the Lowdown soon.
  With all of the ground-plane-chicken-wire rolled up for the summer, you should expect to see a 6.0 dB drop in signal strength compared to whatever you have been measuring. I will roll it out again after the summer mowing season is over, or on special request. TEXAS remains on the air 24 hours, as always . . .
  Regards,
  Bill Cantrell WD5CVG

• Subj: Miller's Ferry DGPS beacon
  Date: 97-06-15 08:30:51 EDT
  From:
  To:David & John
  The transmitter at Miller's Ferry is a Starlink 1KW transmitter. I have not visited the site and seen the antenna. Your comment about the antenna may explain what I consider poor signal coverage from the site. I had previously thought it was due to poor ground conductivity, because we helped install the transmitter in Sallisaw OK at 299KHz, and we can receive it in Austin Texas in the day time at about 50uv/M. Austin is 390 miles from Sallisaw. We have reports of the Appleton, WA. at 300KHz site being received in Montana. I would like some reports about how far the converted GWEN with its fantastic antenna is being received.
  Walt

• Subj: Millers Ferry DGPS
  Date: 97-06-11 02:55:30 EDT
  From: d.jones160
  I drove to Miller's Ferry, Alabama, Tuesday the tenth, to look at the differential GPS transmitter. Freq is 320kHz. The transmitting antenna is a T sloping from the top of a microwave tower. No lowfer would be proud of the arrangement. Supposedly it will work out to 150 miles. I will give it a try soon. Miller's Ferry is near Camdem in a big bend of the Alabama River. Also there are two sets of two GPS antennas. Good backup. Nautel made the coupler, the only part with a readable label on it. I expected something more elaborate.
  David

• Subj: radio shack weather radio
  Date: 97-06-11 02:55:30 EDT
  From: d.jones160
  Radio Shack will sell a 120-0249 NOAA weather radio that selectively warns depending on your location. I know my parents, who lost five trees to a tornado, disconnected their alert radio because it cried wolf too much in the middle of the night. I several times talked to Blair and Silva at the now defunct Columbus weather service office. Unfortunately the warning for the nearby counties alerted the radio unnecessarily.

• Subj: AOL Service
  Date: 97-06-08
  From: Tim Brannon
  John,
  I refer to it as "America Out'a Lines" to the uninitiated complaining about busy signals when trying to connect!
  Tim Brannon, KF5CQ
  Dallas
  • Reply 1: Apt remark. They're getting better at providing connections now, but they haven't beefed up the rest of the system enough to handle the load. With more members finally able to get logged on, you still can't do anything. Hmmm. - John

• Subject: Any Activity in Michigan?
  Date: Fri, 06 Jun 1997
  From:
  I've been a ham radio operator for twenty years and am looking for something new. I ran across Curry Communications web page by accident and found out about the 1750 meter band.
  Is there anyone active in Michigan that you know of that I could talk to about getting on this band? I live in western Michigan around Grand Rapids.
  Thank you!
  Jim Dolson WB8ZBD

• Subj: Lowfer Ideas
  Date: 97-06-05 02:52:21 EDT
  From: daveaa1a (Dave Riley)
  
  Although Lowfer has gone away for this summer here, there is work with BPSK Coherent and on laser too.. You may read through this message I sent on the laser reflector and see some possible good uses for LOWFER Band..

• Subj: DGPS BEACONS
  Date: 97-06-04
  From: wfowler (Walt Fowler)
  The data format for the MSK modulation on DGPS beacons includes messages which identify the beacon as well as the Lat-Lon of the transmitter. As I pointed out before the MSK modulation can be detected with a narrow-band discriminator similar to FM demodulation. Well the data format is complicated and was defined by the Radio Technical Commission (RTC). The only source of income for the RTC which is a non-profit origination is the publishing of standards and protocols. The RTC is composed of representatives from government and industry which set down in meeting and hash out standards. I don't think they have a web page, however the information about protocols can be bought from NAVTECH for US $70. Navtech has a web page at "www.navtechgps.com". You would need Item 1351 titled "1994 RTCM SC-104 recommended standards for differential navstar GPS service". This document would have a lot of extraneous information, but the format for decoding the information is in it.
  The status and ID number of the DGPS beacons can be found on the US Coast Guard web pages.
  Good luck
  Walt

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