SAQ Heard 08:45 UTC RST 229 in South Carolina
First SAQ July 1 transmission was heard at 08:45 UTC RST 229 on Hilton Head Island, SC. Sending VVV de SAQ SAQ SAQ repeating. Copy ruff due to static peaks hitting S9+30-40 over at times. Using Icom R75 with dual 250Hz filters, Ratzlaff active whip up 35ft. + Hagan VLF converter. R75 noise blanker very effective in cutting off static peaks on VLF. Will try again for their 12:15-13:00UTC transmission. 73 Todd WD4NGG Re: SAQ Heard 08:45 UTC RST 229 in South Carolina
Posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 01, 2007 at 06:15:52.
In reply to SAQ Heard 08:45 UTC RST 229 in South Carolina posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 01, 2007
SAQ second transmission much better copy from 12:25-13:07UTC July 1. RST 349 static levels quieter at this time of day compared to overnight. Heard several long key-downs and slight drift of Alexanderson alternator RPMs.
73 Todd WD4NGG
SAQ HEARD IN LOS ANGELES
Posted by Jay Flynn on July 01, 2007 at 08:24:30.
SAQ was heard sending 5 second dashes in Los Angeles. Monitoring started at 0801Z and continued through 0915Z.
The dashes were nearly audible despite heavy power line interference. Subsequent DSP filtering of the WAV recording brought out the dashes clearly. The dashes started almost exactly at xx:xx:x0 UTC and lasted until xx:xx:x5 UTC. The cycle repeated every ten seconds.
Unfortunately, the signal faded soon after 0820 UTC and no more signals were heard through 0915Z. No ID was copied while the signal was readable.
The second transmission at 1300 UTC was not monitored.
Jay Re: SAQ HEARD IN LOS ANGELES
WB9AWX
Posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 01, 2007 at 10:51:09.
In reply to SAQ HEARD IN LOS ANGELES posted by Jay Flynn on July 01, 2007
Jay are you sure what you heard was SAQ? I was monitoring VLF at the time and noted U.S. VLF Navy Station in Hawaii on 21.4KHz was sending 5 second long on-off dashes for a number of minutes around the time of SAQ's transmission.
SAQ was not sending dashes but was sending a string of morse code V's and the message VVV de SAQ SAQ SAQ in morse code. SAQ was most likely inaudible in the Los Angeles area.
73 Todd WD4NGG
SAQ Transmissions
Posted by Clive S Carver on July 01, 2007 at 12:48:11.
Unfortunately I was out this morning and could not listen for SAQ's 09:00UTC transmission.
However, at around 11:00UTC - could have been earlier or later I was not really paying much interest to the time - I was getting a couple of receivers ready (an HF-225 with Palomar Converter and an ICOM PCR-1000) and whilst connecting up heard a station sending dashes 3 seconds or so long. At this time I was only using the HF-225 + converter, so the frequency readout is to 1KHz. It was there on 17Khz but better on around a displayed 16KHz, both in cw mode. So I presumed this was SAQ. Not a pure note but very acceptable. I returned again after 12:15UTC for the tuning up, as per their schedule and never heard anything. Between 13:00 and 13:30UTC swapping my aerial between receivers I again heard nothing.
The same set up was producing msk/fsk signals around 20KHz and both MSF from Anthorn and DCF77 time signals were fine, so my gear should have been ok for SAQ.
I live about 20 miles south of Liverpool UK, close to the airfield: Hawarden EGNR.
So, did SAQ make a transmission as per their scheduled time of 13:00UTC? If so how long did it last for?
For next year hope to have an RFSpace SDR-IQ, which will provide me with a record of the session.
Just in case anyone is wondering, UK is on UTC+1 which I had taken into account!
Re: SAQ HEARD IN LOS ANGELES
Posted by Jay Flynn on July 01, 2007 at 12:48:49.
In reply to Re: SAQ HEARD IN LOS ANGELES posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 01, 2007
Todd =
Interesting. Here's what I know:
1. The signal was definitely on 17.2 Khz +/- 3 Hz. I have a spectrographic display for the output of the FT-847. I calibrate the frequency by tuning to WWVB on 60 kHz.
2. The signal was already on at 0801 UTC when I started monitoring. I did not hear it after 0820 UTC.
3. I filtered the signal with a sin x/x function to pull out any morse on the signal and heard none.
4. I did not hear any ID on the signal.
It would be interesting if this was a spur. I will check my equipment. It is very easy to put a signal on 21.4 kHz and see what shows up on 17.2.
I will also ask Lars if SAQ was tuning up with 5 sec dashes at this time.
I did see the VVV DE SAQ marker on the WWLN spectrogram displays, but this was ten minutes before they were to transmit at 0900 UTC and I was not hearing anything then.
Will let you know what I find out.
This would be the second time I have heard them here. Before, I heard the tune up, but then nothing after 0830 UTC. It would be an amazing coincidence if Hawaii was on air generating or causing a spur both times! Hi.
Jay
Re: SAQ Transmissions
Posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 01, 2007 at 17:47:35.
In reply to SAQ Transmissions posted by Clive S Carver on July 01, 2007
Hi Clive, Re: SAQ Transmissions
The second session of SAQ lasted from about 12:20UTC until 13:07UTC. From 12:20-13:00UTC they were sending mostly VVV VVV VVV de SAQ SAQ SAQ and once in a while a long key down for about 5-10 seconds. Their official transmission began almost exactly at 13:00UTC and lasted about 7 minutes until 13:07UTC then they shut down. So if you tuned in at 13:00UTC expecting to hear a long transmission they were already QRT by 13:07UTC. Good luck next year!
73 Todd WD4NGG
Posted by Joost ON3JT on July 02, 2007 at 07:02:27.
In reply to Re: SAQ Transmissions posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 01, 2007
I had the same problem, was listening from 12:45 till 13:30, but didn't really heard them. Used a laptop as the receiver with SAQ v0.5 software but noticed that the mic boost was turned on in Windows. Lots of garbled noise was the result.
Was that the cause that I missed them around 13:00 ?
Who knows.
Better next time...
73 Joost ON3JT Re: low pass filter question
Posted by Alan G3NYK on July 02, 2007 at 16:27:29.
In reply to Re: low pass filter question posted by John Andrews on June 28, 2007
Hi John , it is not only the filter which is not 50 ohm resistive everywhere, in general most antennas are not either ! It is quite instructive to run a simulation program and see the filter pasband with a 50ohm load. Then replace the load with a series LCR network representing a real antenna. Set L and C to give a Q between 5 and 10 and R to 50 ohms. The attenuation changes quite a lot. So a filter claiming 60 dB attenuation at say 56MHz doesn't give that if you load with a 28MHz dipole. Still the 28MHz dipole is not very efficient at 56MHz :-)).
Cheers de Alan G3NYK
HIFERS GA AND HI HEARD
Posted by PAUL DAULTON on July 02, 2007 at 21:00:54.
I COPIED HI AUDIBLY AND GA BY ARGO(QRSS) HERE IN ARKANSAS
TONIGHT 7/02/07 AT 11PM LOCAL TIME(0400 UTC) USING TS50 AND
TA33JR BEAM. FIRST COPY OF HIFERS THIS YEAR.
PAUL K5WMS SAQ NOT HEARD IN LOS ANGELES
Posted by Jay Flynn on July 03, 2007 at 08:28:42.
In reply to SAQ HEARD IN LOS ANGELES posted by Jay Flynn on July 01, 2007
This is a correction to my earlier post.
After contacting Lars at SAQ, and doing tests on my equipment here, it seems I did not hear SAQ but rather a 'birdie' of 5 second dashes sent by the US NAVY station testing on 21.4 kHz.
My receiving system generates a weak signal at precisely 17.2 kHz when a strong signal is input at 21.4 kHz. I do not know yet if this is an image, spurious mix or what. Needless to say, I will be working to eliminate it!
I know it would be rare indeed to hear SAQ in this part of the world, but I will keep listening.
Thanks again to Lars and the people at SAQ for providing this exciting event on VLF.
call signs
Posted by Bob H. on July 03, 2007 at 18:36:31.
Is there a resource that allows you to put in a call sign you hear on longwave and give you the location/source of the call sign?
Thank you! Re: call signs
Posted by John Andrews on July 03, 2007 at 18:49:25.
In reply to call signs posted by Bob H. on July 03, 2007
Bob,
For aeronautical beacons in North America, a good resource is http://www.classaxe.com/dx/ndb/rna/ .
For "Lowfer" stations in the 160-190 kHz range, and U.S. licensed experimental stations in the 137 kHz range, the beacon list on this LWCA site http://lwca.org/sitepage/part15/index-lf.htm should be useful.
If you have other stations in mind, be more specific, and we can make some suggestions.
John Andrews, W1TAG New Signal Heard on 17.2KHz July 4
Posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 04, 2007 at 04:57:26.
Early July 4 I happened to turn on the receiver setup here that I used July 1 to listen for SAQ. I was very surprised to hear an MSK RTTY signal on SAQ's frequency of 17.2KHz at 11:30 UTC July 4. It is about the same strength as SAQ was on July 1. I checked the WWLLN remote receiver in Sheffield, UK and the signal is plainly visible on their spectrogram, also visible on Finland and Tel Aviv remote receivers so I would guess the signal is coming from Grimeton. I took a snapshot of the Sheffield, UK remote receiver so I have a record of the transmission. No mention of anything on the Grimeton website. My guess is they are testing something new on their antenna and same frequency 17.2KHz as SAQ. Does Anyone Know What Happened To UK 19.6KHz?
Posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 04, 2007 at 05:30:38.
I have noticed the UK MSK RTTY station on 19.6KHz has been silent or missing for about the past two weeks now. I was wondering if anyone in the UK might know what happened to it? Could it be down for maintenance/upgrades or possibly decommissioned? I know stations can change frequency and operations quite frequently on VLF as well as testing new equipment. I see France has resumed operations on 18.3KHz this year after a long absence there and has seemed to discontinue operations on 21.75KHz. Also notice US Navy flagship station NWC 19.8KHz in Northwest Cape, Australia has been silent for the past two weeks. hi beacon(hifer)
73 Todd WD4NGG
Posted by paul daulton on July 04, 2007 at 18:34:55.
Anyone have an email address for hi beacon? I would like to send him
a screen capture.
Paul k5wms Re: hi beacon(hifer)
Posted by John Andrews on July 05, 2007 at 03:54:22.
In reply to hi beacon(hifer) posted by paul daulton on July 04, 2007
Paul,
Ronnie does not believe in email, and may not even own a computer. His snail mail address is the only way to reach him -- perhaps you could print out the screen shot. You'll probably get back a handwritten letter describing his setup, which uses a number of tubes. From there, you can do the math.
John Andrews, W1TAG Re: New Signal Heard on 17.2KHz July 4
Posted by Trond Jacobsen on July 05, 2007 at 03:57:39.
In reply to New Signal Heard on 17.2KHz July 4 posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 04, 2007
Hi.
It is Swedish Navy, testing their new 100kW VLF transmitter at Grimeton. It will make use of SAQ's antenna. Re: hi beacon(hifer)
Posted by Sal DeFrancesco on July 05, 2007 at 14:29:27.
In reply to hi beacon(hifer) posted by paul daulton on July 04, 2007
Paul Re: Does Anyone Know What Happened To UK 19.6KHz?
H I , Ronnie Graham has no computer, he recently took out his phone too. His address is : 45 Cottage Street, Monroe,CT 06048, just recheck the Zip, I'm not sure if that is correct. I send him info by snail mail quite frequently and he also runs H I on 510.33 Khz medfer. I run E H on 511.97 Khz and will be going on 13.56 hifer soon.
73s Sal... K1RGO
Posted by Alan G3NYK on July 05, 2007 at 16:21:06.
In reply to Does Anyone Know What Happened To UK 19.6KHz? posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 04, 2007
Hi Todd, yes you are right things have changed a bit since I last looked down there. I suppose this might be a good time for VT Comms to be doing maintenance on 19.6 as they will be very busy from the end of this month. It could be of course that have started aerial rigging for the arrival of the Loran-C transmitter.
The Loran-C transmitter that has been running at Rugby for the last two years is due to close at the end of this month and to be moved up to Anthorn and put on the air there by the end of October. They cannot start transmitter installation before the Rugby close down but they could start aerial rigging. That would probably involve taking the 19.6 off the air for the period. I am not sure which TX operates from which site as Anthorn is remotely controlled from Skelton and I thought the big mast (1200 foot ?) that was used for 19.6 was a Skelton (that took over the old GBR traffic). Its possible there may be some information on the VT Comms web site.
Sorry I cant be more helpfull
Cheers de Alan G3NYK
Re: New Signal Heard on 17.2KHz July 4
Posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 05, 2007 at 17:43:47.
In reply to Re: New Signal Heard on 17.2KHz July 4 posted by Trond Jacobsen on July 05, 2007
Thanks Trond for the info on the Swedish Navy testing a new 100KW VLF transmitter on SAQ's antenna system and frequency of 17.2KHz. I also received a note back from Lars Kalland confirming they are testing a new transmitter at SAQ. Re: Does Anyone Know What Happened To UK 19.6KHz?
I was thinking this would be a great opportunity for anyone trying to hear SAQ to test their receiving equipment on this new signal. It is running nearly the same power and signal strength as SAQ on same frequency 17.2KHz. I am not sure how long it will be running but I have heard it every morning I have listened since July 4 and this is like having a constant test signal from Grimeton for anyone to use.
73 Todd WD4NGG
Posted by Todd WD4NGG on July 05, 2007 at 17:56:00.
In reply to Re: Does Anyone Know What Happened To UK 19.6KHz? posted by Alan G3NYK on July 05, 2007
Thanks Alan for your best guess on what happened to UK 19.6KHz confirming it is off the air and that it may be down for a long period of time for antenna rigging of a new Loran C transmitter at the site. Things do change around sometimes often on VLF! New HiFer beacon E H on the air
73 Todd WD4NGG
Posted by Sal DeFrancesco on July 06, 2007 at 14:24:39.
I am running E H at 10 wpm on 13.5599 MHz as of today.I will be on 24/7 except for testing and receiving. I am using a dipole driven by a flea power xtal osc. and buffer. The E H IDer is simultaneously keying both rigs, the Medfer 511.97 KHz and the HiFer 13.5599 MHz rigs. I'll check the message board and/or email for reception reports. Sal, K1RGO Re: call signs
Posted by Bob H. on July 12, 2007 at 07:01:03.
In reply to Re: call signs posted by John Andrews on July 03, 2007
Perfect! Thank you! 142-145 kHz
Posted by Shawn Axelrod on July 12, 2007 at 17:26:48.
I had a question asked of me and I have no answer. I was hoping someone here could help. The question was:
I have noticed for a number of years now that on LW there is a cyclical radio transmission of a rythmic frequency somewhere between 142khz and 145khz - do you have any idea where it originates from and what its purpose is?
Ok does anyone know what this might be? Local interference or?????
Thanks
Shawn
Re: 142-145 kHz
Posted by John Andrews on July 12, 2007 at 18:44:01.
In reply to 142-145 kHz posted by Shawn Axelrod on July 12, 2007
Shawn,
I believe you're in Manitoba. Was the question from someone in your area? There are some possibilities in Europe, but if the observation is local to you, I'd first suspect some nearby electronic gear.
John Andrews, W1TAG HiFers GA, SH and HI heard
Posted by Sal DeFrancesco on July 13, 2007 at 06:42:22.
On 7/8 I copied HI at 14:15 Z 529....also on 7/12 good copy of GA and SH QRss at 23:08 Z...This is my first HiFer copy using a H B converter HiFer to 80 meters and my Yaesu FT 101 with a n H 900 active antenna and HiFer dipole for rx. Re: 142-145 kHz
Posted by Shawn Axelrod on July 13, 2007 at 16:19:26.
In reply to Re: 142-145 kHz posted by John Andrews on July 12, 2007
Yes I am in Manitoba but the question was posed from a DX'er in the UK. He just wrote back saying:
yes the signal has been there for at least 15 years. It's
not a problem, I was just curious.
Shawn Re: 142-145 kHz
Posted by John Andrews on July 13, 2007 at 17:26:17.
In reply to Re: 142-145 kHz posted by Shawn Axelrod on July 13, 2007
Shawn,
Ahhh, that's what I suspected. Have him do some searching on the "Datatrak" positioning service. I believe they use that frequency range in the U.K. and on the continent for vehicle tracking.
John Andrews, W1TAG Re: 142-145 kHz
Posted by Shawn Axelrod on July 14, 2007 at 04:29:59.
In reply to Re: 142-145 kHz posted by John Andrews on July 13, 2007
Thanks very much I will pass this on
Shawn Q about Argo
Posted by John AE5X on July 19, 2007 at 12:56:35.
I downloaded Argo today and am wondering why the Setup>Calibration option is grayed out (ie, not selectable)? It was initially available but then I ran the program and copied an NDB a few miles away. When I went back to the Calibration option, I could no longer select it.
Thanks,
John AE5X
http://www.ae5x.com
Re: Q about Argo
Posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on July 19, 2007 at 13:19:02.
In reply to Q about Argo posted by John AE5X on July 19, 2007
John,
Just select a mode other than NDB -- 3 Sec, for example. The gray will go away!
John Andrews, W1TAG Re: Q about Argo
Posted by Alan G3NYK on July 20, 2007 at 16:52:16.
In reply to Re: Q about Argo posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on July 19, 2007
Hi John, the calibrations are stored for each separate mode but in NBD the processor is working very hard and there is not much that you are allowed to change, because it will impact on the FFT speed. Frequency calibration is usually only necessary at the higher resolutions. One problem is that the RX "resettability" affects these as well. I only do frequency calibrations on a receiver that has a locked (by the software)dial. The offset is quite useful for putting a "real" frequency in. Then you need to save the setting to a recognisable file name.
Enjoy it, it is a marvellous tool as well as a very useful piece of test equipment.
Cheers de Alan G3NYK
Re: VLF receiver search
Posted by Andy on July 20, 2007 at 21:45:01.
In reply to Re: VLF receiver search posted by Warren K2ORS/WD2XGJ/WD2XSH/23/WE2XEB/2 on June 08, 2007
Thanks a million guys! Re: TNX for the help
Posted by John AE5X on July 21, 2007 at 17:49:17.
In reply to Q about Argo posted by John AE5X on July 19, 2007
Thanks guys - I'm on my way learning the rest of how all this works now. I sure picked a bad time of the year to get interested in VLF..... ;-)
Re: TNX for the help
Posted by John Davis on July 21, 2007 at 19:34:47.
In reply to Re: TNX for the help posted by John AE5X on July 21, 2007
"I sure picked a bad time of the year to get interested in VLF..... ;-)"
Oh, I don't know. Probably best to get the learning curve out of the way early, so you won't be distracted by having to learn the software while the better listening opportunities are knocking on your door. Best of luck!
John
[Hifer] EH, HI, NC in ME
Posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on July 22, 2007 at 09:01:54.
Had good reception of EH (13559.8 kHz), HI (13557.9 kHz) and NC (13555.46 kHz) this morning from 1450 to 1455 UTC. QTH was Raymond, ME (FN43sv). The EH reception was difficult due to the many carriers from RFID equipment on 13560 kHz. That's a tough area for almost a kHz either side.
John Andrews, W1TAG Re: [Hifer] EH, HI, NC in ME
Posted by Sal DeFrancesco on July 25, 2007 at 05:06:32.
In reply to [Hifer] EH, HI, NC in ME posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on July 22, 2007
Hi John, I'm wondering if the 13.560 RFID will be a problem everywhere. Are you near live stock or a warehouse where HF RFIDs are used? I could raise up the xtal to 13.562ish, I am as low as I can go now, originally I was at about 13.563 or so but I thought that would be a plagued frequency. I may have to get another xtal worse case.
Sal , K1RGO
Re: [Hifer] EH, HI, NC in ME
Posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on July 25, 2007 at 08:25:57.
In reply to Re: [Hifer] EH, HI, NC in ME posted by Sal DeFrancesco on July 25, 2007
Sal,
I've found 13560 +/- a few hundred Hz to be the big graveyard for RFID and industrial stuff. This is true both at home (just north of Worcester, MA - residential neighborhood), and in Maine at a camp well away from any business. By the fading I see on an Argo or Spectrum Lab screen, the signals are probably a mixture of local and skywave.
Most of the sources are crystal-controlled, which suggests the interesting idea that maybe they could be DX-ed, DF-ed, and identified. Do you suppose that Wal-Mart would send QSL cards for receptions of their front-door security scanners?
John Andrews, W1TAG Re: [Hifer] EH, HI, NC in ME
Posted by Sal DeFrancesco on July 25, 2007 at 11:25:05.
In reply to Re: [Hifer] EH, HI, NC in ME posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on July 25, 2007
Thanx John, Hifer EH frquency change,now 13.5615
I think I'll try for 13.5615MHz that should make like easier for HiFer receiving..
Sal K1RGO EH
Posted by Sal DeFrancesco,K1RGO on July 26, 2007 at 05:27:41.
I have tweeked my xtal up from 13.5599MHz to 13.5615MHz, based on the RFID plagued frequencies of 13.56+/-~1KHz upon recent data. So lets give this a try.
This should make life easier tuning in EH for Hifer listeners.
Sal K1RGO EH
Re: Would this make a VLF/LF Receiver? (and HF for that matter)
Posted by B. Dieser on July 28, 2007 at 13:03:00.
In reply to Would this make a VLF/LF Receiver? (and HF for that matter) posted by Clive S Carver on May 12, 2007
I have one of these, and I am very happy with it. I do not have it in an enclosure right now. I am really waiting to get some time available to explore all the possibilities of this receiver. Hifer RY heard
Posted by Sal DeFrancesco, K1RGO on July 29, 2007 at 06:36:42.
On 7/27 at 19:45Z to 20:00Z, good copy of RY on ~13.555MHz in spite of static crashes here in CT. Rx on HB hifer to 80 meter converter/ old yaesu ft101 and hifer dipole.
Sal, K1RGO, EH
potrzebie