What can I expect?
Posted by Jon Eck on August 01, 2002 at 08:49:48
I am probably going to install an old Blaupunkt Bremen radio in my 63' Beetle. What can I expect to find on LW radio?
Re: What can I expect?
Posted by John Davis on August 01, 2002 at 20:48:37
That depends. In what part of the world do you live, Jon?
John
Comments on Yacht Boy 400PE???
Posted by Mike Reid WE0H on August 01, 2002 at 21:55:16
I could get one of these for my birthday on the 24th. I am an amateur operator and avid Lowfer beacon listener and operator. I know the frequency coverage and other spec's. I would like to know if this is a decent portable receiver capable of listening to my LF beacon out a few miles and just tuning around and listening to AM band and a bit of SW. All I have ever listened to is my Kenwood 440 and a HP Selective Level Meter, so I don't know if these portable receivers are worth a darn or not. Does anyone have hands on experience with one of these and your comments of likes and dislikes.
Thanks,
Mike
Old Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) tapes?
Posted by J. Jason Wentworth on August 02, 2002 at 06:29:32
Hello All,
I am starting a Low-Power AM (LPAM) community radio station in Fairbanks, Alaska, and I will also add a Low-Power Long Wave service. I would like to get tapes of the old Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) tests. Do you know where I could purchase these?
I would like to use the EBS audio for alerting my listeners during local emergencies. We have had several floods recently, and a few weeks ago we had an hour-long power blackout in Fairbanks and the vicinity. -ALL- of the AM, FM, and TV stations were off the air for the first 25 - 30 minutes of the blackout. (The telephone system remained operational.)
With a battery back-up system, my LPAM and LPLW stations could remain on the air for hours without AC power if necessary, and the EBS audio would be a recognizable, attention-grabbing alert signal. I would follow up the EBS alert tone with news about an emergency acquired by telephone.
Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help. -- Jason
Re: Old Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) tapes?
Posted by John Andrews on August 02, 2002 at 07:29:43
Jason,
The EBS tones used starting in the mid-70s were not played from recordings, but were generated "live." They were a mix of 853 and 960 Hz, as I recall, and the frequencies had to be quite accurate. You could easily use a program like CoolEdit to generate the tones, and record them as a .wav file.
Actually, unless people in your area have alert receivers, any kind of tone ought to attract attention. 1000 Hz is pretty piercing. The old Conelrad and early EBS systems used that after a series of carrier cuts for alerting purposes.
John Andrews
Re: Old Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) tapes?
Posted by J. Jason Wentworth on August 02, 2002 at 07:53:32
-The EBS tones used starting in the mid-70s were not played from recordings, but were generated "live." They were a mix of 853 and 960 Hz, as I recall, and the frequencies had to be quite accurate. You could easily use a program like CoolEdit to generate the tones, and record them as a .wav file.-
John, I thank you very much for this information! CoolEdit is one of the programs I'm getting for the station. I want to use this mix of tones because most people remember what they meant. I will only broadcast them for actual emergencies, not tests (although the nostalgia of the old EBS tests isn't lost on this ^Cold War kid^). :-) -- Jason
Actually, unless people in your area have alert receivers, any kind of tone ought to attract attention. 1000 Hz is pretty piercing. The old Conelrad and early EBS systems used that after a series of carrier cuts for alerting purposes.
Monthly Message Report
Posted by Webmaster on August 02, 2002 at 11:20:28
All messages prior to August 1 are now in the Message Board Archives. See the "archive" link near the top of the main message list, or in the Message Center Lobby.
Although summer is a relatively slow time for LF radio activity, we did have 75 new posts and replies in July. Visitors came here slightly more than 1000 times during the month to read your messages.
Did you know that you can Search all present and past messages for subjects that interest you? A hint, though: do try to be as specific as possible in your choice of keywords. The search engine is quite thorough, but if you give it a word that appears too many times in the archives (like "LowFER" for instance) it may bog down and start producing unusual-looking output. So instead, give it one one two keywords that will narrow down the search as much as possible.
It's a handy feature. Access the search engine through the Message Board Lobby page at:
http://lwca.org/msglist1.htm
ZL6QH beacon on 137 kHz
Posted by Bob Vernall (Fwd by Webmaster) on August 02, 2002 at 12:49:30
Subj: LF: ZL6QH beacon on 137 kHz Date: 7/31/02 7:20:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: vernall@xtra.co.nz (Vernall)
Hi all,
Plans are for ZL6QH to run a 137 kHz beacon transmission overnight on 17 August. More details will be posted nearer to the time. A further beacon test is planned for 21 September.
73, Bob ZL2CA
Re: Comments on Yacht Boy 400PE???
Posted by Kriss Larson (Fwd) on August 03, 2002 at 10:49:26
My YP 400PE has better longwave sensitivity than the Sony in the same price range. Better AM broadcast rejection too. It does have a coverage break between 350-520 kHz. Covers the Lowfer band OK. The only active lowfer in the Los Angeles area of any significance is Dave Curry, and I can pick him up at 50 miles with the Grundig with no special antenna.
Kriss Larson
Hifer GA copied in Norway..again
Posted by Steinar Aanesland on August 05, 2002 at 17:40:33
You can see the screen dump on www.aanesland.com
Steinar
www.vlf.it update
Posted by Renato Romero on August 05, 2002 at 18:39:45
Vlf.it was updated last night with two new articles:
-XSP "X Signal Prędactor" Receiver Front-end, By G. Seleri.
-Frozen Lightnings, By C. Parmigiani.
73 de IK1QFK, renato
Re: www.vlf.it upgrade
Posted by Khalid Parvez on August 06, 2002 at 07:29:59
It is a wonderful site I have ever seen on VLF
Re: 136 kHz Ham Band, Comments to the FCC
Posted by Khalid Parvez on August 06, 2002 at 07:38:03
It was necessary to allocate frequency in VLF Band
for Amateur Experimentation.
PBJ back on the air again with newest antenna
Posted by Chris Waldrup on August 06, 2002 at 07:38:19
Due to feedline breakage, I have since rebuilt the antenna system for the PBJ hifer. The 1950's vintage open wire line kept getting spacers caught on tree limbs and breaking. New 300 ohm mini ladder line has been installed(1/2 wavelength piece) and the old 4:1 balun has been reconfigured for 1:1. Now the SWR is down to 1.5:1. Any reception reports would be great. Frequency is 13.55787 and mode is QRSS. This should fix all the antenna problems that I have been having this spring. At least until the next hurricane here in NC!
Unknown Receiver 1Khz to 6ooKhz
Posted by Khalid Parve on August 06, 2002 at 07:47:59
I have a receiver from 1Khz to 600 Khz.
Modes: USB, LSB, CW, AM
Selectivity 150 Hz to 4Khz in 4 steps
Made by CEI=Communications Elecronis Inc.
I want circuit diagram and its model no.
Re: Old Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) tapes?
Posted by Jim Smith on August 06, 2002 at 15:16:14
I wouldn't call the price this is listed for auction on eBay at exactly reasonable. But if you want a decoder for the old tones here it is:
eBay Item #1371665115
VERY RARE HEATHKIT MODEL CA-1 CONELRAD ALARM
THIS COLD WAR TREASURE IS READY FOR THE NUCLEAR THREATS OF THE MILLENIUM - IN GOOD CONDITION - A VERY RARE ACCESSORY FOR YOUR VINTAGE STATION Connecting between your amateur station and a broadcast receiver, the CA-1 CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation alarm will automatically turn your amateur equipment off at the approach of Soviet bombers. With 6 amp relay, red warning light and Thyratron tube, you'll be ready to relive those exciting days of air raid drills, bomb shelters, and geiger counters.
Comments on FCC 136 kHz Proposal
Posted by John Andrews on August 06, 2002 at 18:34:32
Almost by accident, I found a source for the comments filed regarding the FCC's NPRM on 136 kHz. Just go to:
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi
and enter "RM-9404" for the Proceeding. You will get a listing of all of the comments back to the start of the proceeding. They are organized by date, and the newest ones are at the top of the list.
John Andrews, W1TAG
Re: Comments on FCC 136 kHz Proposal
Posted by John Davis on August 06, 2002 at 18:53:50
Thanks for that great information, John. In the past, entering RM-9404 in the Proceedings box didn't always turn up very much, but it produces a list of 59 entries as of today.
I would just point out that it doesn't catch all of the comments filed in the latest round of the proceedings, though. A person might also want to enter 02-98 in the Proceedings box. That's the Office of Engineering and Technology proceeding number for this rulemaking (thanks to Robert Bicking for pointing that out), which turns up over 250 filed comments.
Although there is some overlap between the two methods, a person who wants the most complete record should plan to search both ways. For reasons known only to the FCC's staff, some comments fall under the RM number but not the ET number; some fall under the ET number but not the RM number; and some fall under both.
(Ironically, only one --as of last weekend-- falls under the highly apt FCC proceeding number that was on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 02-136. A search of that number produces mostly broadcast rule change comments.)
And let me remind everyone: replies to these comments are due by August 13! You can file them electronically at the FCC site:
http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html
Be sure to consult the Online Help area of that page for the ECFS User Manual or Email Filing Instructions before using the service. Take a few days to re-read and revise your filing, if at all possible, before submitting it. You'll be able to make it more effective that way.
73,
John Davis
lf receiver availability
Posted by rb on August 07, 2002 at 12:32:25
I'm sure this is a topic that has been discussed extensively in the past, but I'm new to the "LOWFER" concept and need some guidance. What are a couple of commercially available and, hopefully, inexpensive receivers (brand/model) which will get me down in the 10-150khz region? I have a Kenny TS-430S, but it only goes down to around 150khz. To get lower, I'll need something else.
A Norwegian HIFER Beacon
Posted by Steinar Aanesland on August 07, 2002 at 15:59:07
Hi all
My HIFER Beacon is almost ready. I will have a test transmission in QRSS3 mode on the air to night at 2300 UTC to 0600 UTC. The frequency will be around 13.555,340 MHz (+/- 5 Hz).
The callsign is S A A.
Steinar
Re: A Norwegian HIFER Beacon
Posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on August 08, 2002 at 07:20:04
Steinar's SAA was copied in Central Massachusetts this morning around 0300 UTC. A screen shot can be seen at:
http://webpages.charter.net/w1tag/files/saa.jpg
The signal was visible starting around 0100, but was too choppy to identify.
John Andrews, W1TAG
A Norwegian HIFER Beacon
Posted by Steinar Aanesland on August 08, 2002 at 17:38:26
Hi John
Thank you for the report. This was great!
I can confirm that you are the first one to received signals from my HIFER beacon here in Aas ( 59'',40',23.9 N 10'',48'25,9 E) near Oslo. Because of this positive result, I will have a transmission in QRSS3 to night at 2300 UTC to 0600 UTC as well, and keep transmitting this time limited transmission every night in till Monday morning. Then I will take the system of the air for a few day for a minor modification.
This is what my beacon transmitter looks like:
http://home.c2i.net/saa/Images/saa.jpg
Best regards from a very happy Steinar in Norway
Re: lf receiver availability
Posted by Mike Reid WE0H on August 08, 2002 at 22:49:35
I bought last winter, a Hewlett Packard 3586C selective level meter which goes from 50hz to 32Mhz and it works absolutely perfect. It is extremely sensitive everywhere. It has 20hz, 400hz and 3100hz filters. There is no AGC, it uses BNC jack 50-ohm and 75-ohm inputs as well as 2 bananna jacks for 600-ohm inputs. It has a 0dbm (1mw) output signal that tracks teh receive frequency. I use it as an exciter for a final amp. This will be my transceiver for 136kc when we get it. It has resolution of .1hz and various programmable steps for the VFO. It does have direct frequency entry as well as a temperature controlled oscillator option. It is very stable without that option though. I paid $350.00 on Ebay. They sell anywhere from $300 to $3000 used. Mine is in mint condition, so I wouldn't pay over 300 or 400 for one. You could get the 3586B model as it is darn near the same thing. Many Lowfers use these HP's. A more affordable solutionwould be to use a converter to convert a 500khz slot of an HF band to 0-500khz receive. You could use a converter with your 430 and most likely not have those birdies that you should have now when you tune around on the 430. If you need a schematic of a good converter, email me direct and I will send it your way. Don't forget a good antenna for listening, it makes a world of a difference. An active whip of which you could build yourself and put up where there is no overhead trees, would do the trick. Loops whether tuned or not work good as well. Don't forget a good preamp, unless you are using one of the many selective level meters which don't need it, as this will help keep the birdies down and dig the signals out of the noise. Watch out for audio ground loops if you are using a computer to view signals. Use an isolation transformer which you can get at Radio Shack to eliminate the ground loops between the computer and the receiver. It is a tiny 1:1 transformer that costs a couple of bucks. I recently built the Natural Radio receiver that was in the back of the July Lowdown issue and it works excellent.
Good luck es 73's,
Mike>WE0H
Re: Unknown Receiver 1Khz to 6ooKhz
Posted by Keith Ballinger VA3QF on August 09, 2002 at 10:51:19
Does this receiver have a "Nixie-tube" frequency display, even though it is all solid-state circuits? Is the frequency display read-out selectable, and flashes when you select the decimal shift read-out? If so, it may be a Type 357 (also known as a Watkins-Johnson 357). I have a photo-copy of the manual and circuit, but it is many, many pages and I don't have a way to scan and e-mail it to you. I can get a cost for making another photo-copy if you are interested.
Regards,
Keith VA3QF Ottawa - CANADA
Hifer JJ
Posted by lloyd chastant on August 09, 2002 at 11:09:24
Wow!! one big signal from JJ this morning and was hearing the cw ID ..Was on NC frequency --13555.50....RY and GA were there also but being pounded down by JJ;;;HI!!!
de Lloyd W3NF
TAG in Jason on 185.402
Posted by John Andrews on August 09, 2002 at 21:22:58
TAG will be in Jason mode on 185.402 kHz (note new frequency) through 18 August at least. Those in New England who can hear the little thing may play with Jason's new receiving options to their heart's content.
John Andrews, W1TAG TAG/RY Status: http://webpages.charter.net/w1tag/
An Excel sheet to play with toroids
Posted by Alberto di Bene, I2PHD on August 10, 2002 at 16:37:19
Today I found in my archived files an Excel sheet that computes the number of turns for a given inductance on a given core, and viceversa, made by WA1ION.
In my opinion it contained an error, as it used the same formula involving AL, both with ferrite toroids and iron-powder toroids. Amidon gives two different formulas for the two cases. I corrected it, and added a couple of other, maybe useful, functions.
If you want to check it, you can download it from here :
http://www.weaksignals.com/bin/tcas.xls
Please report any errors, thanks
73 Alberto I2PHD
HIFER SAA
Posted by Steinar Aanesland on August 10, 2002 at 19:07:53
HIFER SAA will be on the air to night at 13.555,340 MHz (+/- 5 Hz).
Steinar
Re: IC-706MII Short Term Frequency Stability
Posted by Paul, PA0OCD on August 11, 2002 at 04:15:31
Hello Roger,
I have here an 706 mk2 with the optional TCXO fitted.
The drift due to the temperature change/airflow with the fan swicthing on and off is about 30 Hz on 144 MHz.
If you isolate the TCXO with an piece of foam, the max drift will go down to about 15 Hz on 144 MHz.
Best thing would be to leave the fan running, because in QSO with an station on 144 MHz, who had an 706 (old model) with the fan running all the time, it was clear that his drift was an lot less then mwith my 706mk2. I was (and still I am) running my homebuild HF/VHF Transciever with extern OCXO, which is fb in stability.
I did not find time yet to put the TCXO outside the
706 mk2, but sure that I will try that one of these days.
By the way, I noticed that other commercial Rigs are also drifting up and down the band due to these fans switching on and off.
Cheerio now es 73
de Paul, pa0ocd
Manual for HP3586C needed...
Posted by Mike Reid WE0H on August 11, 2002 at 11:30:05
Does anyone know where I can buy one for a reasonable price??? I have figured out most of the buttons, but there is still more to learn and the manual would be nice to have.
Thanks,
Mike
Hifer AZ back to CW
Posted by Jim Mandaville on August 11, 2002 at 12:13:41
Hifer AZ (Tucson, AZ, 13554.45, 24/7) goes back to CW today. If anyone wants me to continue QRSS6 (at any time), just let me know. 73, Jim
Marcus, PY3CRX/PY2PLL (GG66rf ) captured SAA
Posted by Steinar Aanesland on August 11, 2002 at 15:36:38
Marcus, PY3CRX/PY2PLL (GG66rf ) captured SAA 11. august 2002 at around 6:00 UTC. The picture is very noisy because of the weak signal, but the identification is positive because I can see my particular spacing between the dits and dahs. http://home.c2i.net/saa/Images/captured/Capt00141.jpg
This is crazy because I am transmitting with only 2mW into this antenna! http://home.c2i.net/saa/Images/ant.jpg
Steinar
[Hifer] SAA in QRSS10 mode
Posted by Steinar on August 11, 2002 at 16:03:45
On 13.555,340 (+/- a few Hz)
Steinar
KPH To Operate Aug. 17 and 18
Posted by Richard Dillman on August 12, 2002 at 01:22:59
Here's further information on the planned operation of KPH and communications with the SS Lane Victory/KECW next weekend.
For the benefit of those who have joined our group since my original announcement, I've been asked to join the crew of the SS Lane Victory, a restored and operational WWII Victory ship, as radio operator during their weekend cruise on the weekend of 17/18 August. For information on the SS Lane Victory see their Web site at:
http://www.lanevictoryship.com/
The Lane is equipped with the original Radiomarine 4U radio console for operation on both HF and MF. As it happens, we (the Maritime Radio Historical Society) restored a 4U console to operational status for the San Francisco Maritime museum so I am actually experienced in the operation of this equipment. For more information about the 4U console we restored see our Web site at:
http://www.radiomarine.org
My plan is to establish contact with my colleagues at KPH on HF and MF during the cruise and also at dock side.
The updated information about next weekend's operation is as follows:
o Date - Saturday, 17 August for KPH/KECW operations. The crew at KPH will be unavailable for operations on Sunday the 18th but I may be on the air using the 4U console on amateur frequencies on the 18th.
o Time - I'm unable to advise an exact schedule since radio operations will depend on several things including interference with the ship's PA system and my duties as a guide for visitors to the radio room. However the ship is scheduled to depart San Pedro at 0800 PDT on Saturday and the KPH crew will be available beginning then. The cruise ends at 1600 PDT each day but I hope to continue MF operations into the evening from dock side.
o Frequencies - On MF KPH will transmit on 500kc and 426kc. 426kc will be the KPH working frequency. KECW will probably transmit on 480kc. On HF KPH will transmit on 6477.5kc and KECW will transmit on 6271.5kc. For amateur work I will use 7010kc (crystal controlled) under the call W6AWO/MM.
o Station Specifications - KPH will use about 4kW on HF and MF. The MF antenna is a Marconi T and the HF antenna is a double extended Zepp. KECW will use about 200W and the antenna is a 300ft. wire.
o What You May Hear - I plan to exchange formal messages with KPH including a QTO upon departure, etc. At times when we are not exchanging messages KPH will transmit ARA Free Press and Pacific Weather on both HF and MF (426kc) so there will be something on the air to listen to most of the time. Since we don't expect that KPH will be able to hear KECW during the day I may listen to KPH on MF and reply on HF for testing purposes.
o Reception Reports - If you would like a written verification of your reception report please send it by mail to:
Ms. DA Stoops P.O. Box 381 Bolinas CA 94924-0381 USA
Electronic reception reports may be sent to radiomarine@yahoogroups.com.
Thanks to all who have responded to our request for help in monitoring the KPH MF signals. We hope to arrange future MF events later in the year when MF conditions will be better.
Best Regards,
Richard
Richard Dillman, W6AWO
Member of the Maritime Radio Historical Society
http://www.radiomarine.org
Collector of Heavy Metal:
Harleys, Willys and Radios over 100lbs.
radio fregueney indentification
Posted by kb5dlq on August 13, 2002 at 11:53:41
hi all have any of you pick up carry on 125 to 150khz from person id on people or from wal-mart store?
JJY-40kHz rec'd in the US
Posted by Gene on August 13, 2002 at 19:16:37
Hello!
Thought this might be of interest. Most here should be familiar with radio controlled watches such as the Casio waveceptor models. In the US, such models use the WWVB 60 kHz signal.
I have bought a few waveceptors that use the Japanese LF station, JJY 40 kHz in Fukushima prefecture, which is 5000 miles from my home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
To my surprise, the signal from Fukushima is strong enough to set these watches. The optimal time is from 0300-0600 Pacific Daylight Savings Time. This is roughly from sunset in Japan to sunrise at my location. This is not just once on a while, but every single morning. That's an interesting dx catch, especially for a wristwatch ^_^
I'm not much up on propagation, so maybe someone can explain it.
Gene--
[HIFER] SAA is back on QRSS3
Posted by Steinar on August 14, 2002 at 15:03:21
Frequency: 13.555,340 (+/- a few Hz)
Steinar
Re: Manual for HP3586C needed...
Posted by Peter on August 14, 2002 at 16:42:10
found this source http://www.manualsplus.com/mpstore/find.asp?
they list:
Manufacturer: AGILENT(HP) Model: 3586A/3586B/3586B/3336A/3336B/3336C Description: USERS Part Number: 5952-8821 Condition: Good Price: $25.00
Hifer NC copy in Texas
Posted by Tony Levstik on August 14, 2002 at 18:31:21
Got a good copy of NC 13.5555Mhz. Sawtooth.
here in Sherman Texas.
screen capture can be seen at
http://home.att.net/~levstik1/hifer.jpg
Tony Levstik
LF: ZL6QH beacon tests 17 August
Posted by (Fwd) Bob Vernall on August 14, 2002 at 21:12:53
ZL6QH 137.7888 kHz BEACON TEST ON 17 AUGUST
ZL6QH will be carrying out beacon tests on Saturday 17 August, starting before ZL6QH sunset and going till after ZL6QH sunrise. Hours of local darkness for ZL6QH are from nominally 0536 UTC (sunset) to 1912 UTC (sunrise).
Dual frequency keying will be used, with 0.4 Hz frequency shift. The coding is for an ID character of Q, sent as hi, hi, lo, hi, key up.
hi = 137.7890 kHz
lo = 137.7886 kHz Each element is 120 seconds (dot length) so sending each Q takes 10 minutes.
Each Q will start on the hour, and each following Q will keep close to a 10 minute cycle within the hour, which could be useful for analysing results during a brief propagation lift.
Listening out with a receiver carefully set to 137.7888 kHz centre frequency and using Argo software to process demodulated audio fed to a PC sound card is the recommended way to try for DX reception.
Reception reports can be emailed to vernall@xtra.co.nz or posted here.
Good luck to all listeners.
73, Bob ZL2CA
Re: Hifer NC copy in Texas
Posted by Dexter on August 14, 2002 at 22:00:19
That's a nice strong signal Tony! Maybe I should try regular CW next.
Dex
Re: Hifer NC copy in Texas
Posted by Mike Reid WE0H on August 14, 2002 at 22:33:39
Gee Dex, you could run FM at that signal level.
Re: Hifer NC copy in Texas
Posted by Tony Levstik on August 15, 2002 at 09:17:31
Your signal was also quite audible. So normal CW would have been easy to copy.
Do you have a way to automatically switch between SAW and CW on your beacon?
It would be interesting to see if both could be copied and saved in a WAV file.
Tony
Re: JJY-40kHz rec'd in the US
Posted by Dexter on August 16, 2002 at 17:56:54
Gene,
I'm impressed! There should be an award for best watch DX. Now where can I get one so I can try that from the east coast?
Re: JJY-40kHz rec'd in the US
Posted by Gene on August 16, 2002 at 18:36:30
Does your LF rig catch anything on 40 kHz? You might want to be certain of that or the watch would be a waste of money. You would want to try a good hour before sunrise.
I'll be soon making a trip to the east coast sometime in Sept. and I'll post if I can do this.
Also can you hear the Frankfurt time signal on 77.5 kHz?
Re: LF: ZL6QH beacon tests 17 August
Posted by lloyd chastant on August 17, 2002 at 09:52:43
Nothing here in Maryland on the overnite captures--
de Lloyd W3NF FM19MH
Re: LF: ZL6QH beacon tests 17 August
Posted by Bob Vernall (Fwd) on August 18, 2002 at 01:22:39
Subj: LF: ZL6QH tests completed Date: 8/17/02 6:48:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: vernall@xtra.co.nz (Vernall)
To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
Hi all,
I can confirm that the ZL6QH beacon was on all night, without breaks, close to declared frequencies, and close to starting each Q on the hour. The keying sequence advanced a few seconds an hour from about 1400 to 1810 UTC, but was close to ideal at other times.
As yet no reports have been received from outside New Zealand.
73, Bob ZL2CA
Re: LF: ZL6QH beacon tests 17 August
Posted by Bruce Osborne on August 18, 2002 at 02:08:35
A continuous signal was visible in Melbourne Australia, using Argo when I looked from about 1200 to 1230 UTC. But detecting any FSK to make a positive identification, was well beyond my Rx capability.
73, VK3AAW
Re: JJY-40kHz rec'd in the US
Posted by Dexter on August 18, 2002 at 12:00:12
I will look for JJY-40 KHz this winter. I have received 77.5 with Spectran. Thanks for the tip Gene.
Dexter
NC HiFER 13,555.500 KHz now 6 WPM CW
Posted by Dexter McIntyre, W4DEX on August 18, 2002 at 12:06:49
I just put the beacon in CW mode. Let's see if anyone can tell me what it's sending.
Dexter
Re: NC HiFER 13,555.500 KHz now 6 WPM CW
Posted by Tony Levstik on August 18, 2002 at 18:05:41
Dexter
From what I was able to hear it sounded like GT NC EM95
I tried making a .WAV file but it was 3meg and I was unable to upload to my home page.
I actually seen the signal on ARGO before I could hear any CW. but the code speed was too fast to seperate the dot's/dashes. due to noise.
Tony Levstik Sherman Texas levstik1@worldnet.att.net
Re: NC HiFER 13,555.500 KHz now 6 WPM CW
Posted by Tony Levstik on August 18, 2002 at 18:19:30
Dexter
My last followup is said GT should have said TG NC EM95
I tried making a .WAV file but it was 3meg and I was unable to upload to my home page.
I actually seen the signal on ARGO before I could hear any CW. but the code speed was too
fast to seperate the dot's/dashes. due to noise.
Tony Levstik
Sherman Texas
levstik1@worldnet.att.net
Re: JJY-40kHz rec'd in the US
Posted by Gene on August 18, 2002 at 20:27:14
My three Casio watches are sync'ing to this signal every morning, and since that requires 4 minutes of uninterrupted reception, it's pretty solid here approx 0400-0600 PDT.
Hopefully you can get it there also.
Gene--
WE running CW for a few days...
Posted by Mike Reid WE0H on August 18, 2002 at 21:06:28
I am sending special CW messages daily until I get my loop current up to par with Bill's and then will send QRSS at 1w. Currently it is transmitting at 1/2w. Lyle got the first message perfect today. I made a new one up tonight and made it longer and more challenging. The beacon gets around Minnesota pretty well at this power level. It is sending at 15wpm. Happy listening de Mike.
Frequency change
Posted by Steinar Aanesland on August 19, 2002 at 13:39:17
The SAA Hifer beacon has been relocated to 13,555.467 MHz (+/- a few Hz) and will be in permanent operation on this frequency.
Re: LF: ZL6QH beacon tests 17 August
Posted by Bob Vernall (fwd) on August 20, 2002 at 00:26:47
Subj: LF: ZL6QH information Date: 8/19/02 4:48:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: vernall@xtra.co.nz (Vernall)
To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
Hi all,
Thanks to all who had a listen out for ZL6QH signals.
Best DX from the 17 August test was by Steve VE7SL. This is the first time that Steve has had confirmed reception on 137 kHz, but he managed to receive earlier 184 kHz beacon signals from ZL6QH.
The next beacon test from ZL6QH is planned for 21 September. There is interest from Australia to carry out daytime propagation tests, so we are considering starting earlier in our day and with a schedule for QSY between 137, 165 and 184 kHz, with short dot format, but before our dusk to then settle in to long dot format on 137 kHz for long haul propagation testing purposes.
73, Bob ZL2CA
Re: NC HiFER 13,555.500 KHz now 6 WPM CW
Posted by Dexter on August 21, 2002 at 08:35:41
You got it Tony! Thanks for the reprot. I now have a longer message running at about 10 wpm.
Dex
[hifer]GA back in Norway
Posted by Steinar Aanesland on August 23, 2002 at 17:22:35
My best picture of GA up to now: http://home.c2i.net/saa/Images/23_8/Spectran_23.8.2002.jpg
(SAA on 13,555.465 was down for a while. That's why the signal is not visible in the picture.
The beacon is now back on the air)
Steinar
Re: [hifer]GA back in Norway
Posted by Dexter on August 23, 2002 at 18:44:01
Looks like you have a trace of NC just below 500. NC is presently sending a CWmessage at about 10 WPM.
Dexter
NC and GA in Norway
Posted by Steinar on August 24, 2002 at 16:45:42
I think this is a better picture of NC: http://home.c2i.net/saa/Images/23_8/23.8.NC_GA.jpg , but it is difficult to give a positive identification when NC is in 10 WPM option. When are you going back to the sawtooth mode?
Steinar
VLF tunable receiver with frequency divider??
Posted by Jonathan Smick W2MXW on August 25, 2002 at 22:04:14
I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this idea, but nonetheless, it seems like it might be a good way to allow audible copy of CW VLF signals without needing to have a tunable osc. stage+mixer to heterodyne the incoming sigs down to audibility, and might do away with a highpass audio filter stage for hum elimination too. Any thoughts and/or experiences with this arrangement would be most appreciated.
Basically, the topology would be like this: a tuned antenna (perhaps a loop, or a large ferrite rod antenna) followed by a broadband preamp stage, a 74HC/HCT40xx freq. divider set up to divide incoming signals by a factor of 8, and finally an audio power amp. The tuned circuit would be to give good sensitivity and selectivity so one doesn't get "everything at once".
Divide-by-8 would allow signals in the range of 40-ish down to roughly 3.5 kHz to be reduced to the more-audible range (audible period, for the high end!) of about 5 kHz to 440 Hz. The only limit actually would be how high and low you could go and still hear the resulting notes clearly, and this is up to individual preferences. Of course, one could go higher, but at some point the divided tone would still be too high using this division to clearly hear, depending on your ears. Same goes for the low end, when the tone gets too low at some point it would be difficult to copy. This could be solved by use of a selector switch to provide another division, say factor 16 which would then allow reception up to roughly 80 kHz or thereabouts (if you find a 5 kHz tone usable) and for the lower end of the range, if desired, one could use a divide-by-4 setting too. The divider IC would simply need to be one having these choices available if this arrangement were desired.
The only drawback I can see with this scheme is that it doesn't allow a choice of CW note, whatever the input divided by the division factor is, is what you hear - unlike a heterodyne or DC rig with osc/mixer where you can always get a 1 kHz tone or whatever, but at lest you can separate stations "by ear'. They would have a clearly-audible note, and there's the added fillip that you could connect an audio frequency counter (even a musical instrument tuner) to the output and multiply the resulting reading by the division factor to get the actual carrier freq. of the station in question.
A major "fringe benefit" touched on before, would be that pesky hum would be a thing of the past because it too would be divided down, into the sub-audible range (although this could possibly result in a "pulsation" effect??)
Finally, this idea could certainly be extended to use with soundcards for digital reception schemes, for instance to allow use of 22(44) kHz cards with frequencies outside their range. Of course one could get frequency readout with this scheme too.
Has anyone tried this idea, and if so, what were your results?
Jon
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Re: NC and GA in Norway / NO MORE NC JAWS :(
Posted by Dexter on August 25, 2002 at 23:27:01
Steinar,
Thanks for what is probably the last reprot of HiFer NC for a while. Today my towers were hit by lightning. Amoung the casualties was the SPM-19 receiver/synthesizer. I really doubt that I am capable of repairing this fine instrument. Thanks for all the reports.
Dex
Re: VLF tunable receiver with frequency divider??
Posted by John Andrews, W1TAG on August 26, 2002 at 07:41:39
Jonathan,
A flip-flop or more complex divide by "n" chip doesn't magically divide everything fed into it by n. The flip-flops change state when their input voltage goes above and below certain voltages. For an HCT series, the input voltage must be above 3.5 to trigger it on, and below about 2 volts to trigger it off (this is off the top of my bald head, guys). So, you'd need a lot of amplification before the divider.
So, WHICH of the 18 gazillion signals do you want to trigger the divider? And how do you keep noise bursts from doing it?
If you narrow the bandwidth of your receiver, blank as much of the noise as you can, and then run the signal through a limiter, you might be able to trigger a divider fairly reliably. That's a lot of work for something that will sound like a kazoo band on crack!
John Andrews
No more NC jaws i Norway
Posted by Steinar on August 26, 2002 at 15:21:45
Hi Dexter
This was sad. For me NC is something special. It was the zigzag signal from this beacon that made me aware of the hifer transmitters on the 22meter band. I hope you will be back on air some times.
Steinar
Re: NC and GA in Norway / NO MORE NC JAWS :(
Posted by Mike Reid WE0H on August 27, 2002 at 22:50:12
That stinks. Is the tower still standing??? That signal was a classic. I hope the repair turns out to be something simple and cheep.
73's Mike>WE0H
Re: VLF tunable receiver with frequency divider??
Posted by Jonathan Smick on August 28, 2002 at 01:38:18
Jonathan,
A flip-flop or more complex divide by "n" chip doesn't magically divide everything fed into it by n. The flip-flops change state when their input voltage goes above and below certain voltages. For an HCT series, the input voltage must be above 3.5 to trigger it on, and below about 2 volts to trigger it off (this is off the top of my bald head, guys). So, you'd need a lot of amplification before the divider.
So, WHICH of the 18 gazillion signals do you want to trigger the divider? And how do you keep noise bursts from doing it?
What I didn't consider was this 'threshold' effect, I guess I have to get my 'analog' mind into the 'digital' world. Perhaps taking advantage of this effect to make a noise blanker could be an avenue to explore...
If you narrow the bandwidth of your receiver, blank as much of the noise as you can, and then run the signal through a limiter, you might be able to trigger a divider fairly reliably. That's a lot of work for something that will sound like a kazoo band on crack!
Doesn't VLF *always* sound that way? :-)
After doing some research, I found answers to to my own question - it *has* been done, by, of all things, bat researchers! Here is some of what I found:
"Frequency Division - This type of signal conversion uses a zero-crossing circuit to latch onto the fundamental component of the signal. The zero-crossing meter produces a square-wave output with the same frequency as the fundamental of the input signal. This square-wave output is then decimated by a predetermined amount to lower the frequency i.e. the output signal will only trigger once 10 input pulses have passed to give a divide-by-ten ratio. This method preserves the full apparent bandwidth of the signal, meaning it detects all frequencies, so you don't have to tune the detector, it can also be used for limited spectroscopic analysis after recording the calls. The disadvantages are that the wide bandwidth of the amplifier results in a poor signal/noise ratio, and at high amplifier gains the zero-crossing meter can even trigger from the microphone noise. Harmonic information is lost from the signal, and the square-wave output can produce spurious signal compliments when analysed spectroscopically. More advanced systems of frequency division scale retain the relative amplitude of the input, and also smooth the square wave output to approximate a sine-wave." This excerpt came from:
http://www.biology.leeds.ac.uk/staff/dawa/bats/Detector.htm There's more F/D stuff to be found here:
Simple bat detector: http://pw1.netcom.com/~t-rex/BatDetector.html and here:
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~bertrik/bat/convert.htm and here:
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~bertrik/bat/advdiv.htm and here:
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~bertrik/bat/divideas.htm among other pages. So perhaps it's not such a harebrained (batbrained?) scheme after all! :-)
BTW these pages and those linked therefrom contain other ultrasonic receiver designs including 'classic' heterodyne circuits. These could be used as VLF receivers by replacing the microphones or transducers with antennas.
Jon
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News for Long- and Mediumwave listeners in Europe
Posted by Udo Maier on August 28, 2002 at 09:23:04
News for long- and mediumwave listeners in Europe (especially Germany) can be found on http://www.bsotw.de/ws001.html in German language.
Re: VLF tunable receiver with frequency divider??
Posted by John Andrews on August 28, 2002 at 22:06:04
Jonathan,
By setting an amplitude threshold, you are throwing away everything below it, which is probably the wrong approach for weak signal work.
The bat monitoring project sounded interesting. I always thought they used frequency shifting or fractional playback speed techniques for that. This sounds more like a PLL approach, which must produce some interesting sounds. Might be appealing to The Riddler or The Joker, though.
Anyway, I'll stick with the frequency shift approach for stuff above the range of hearing. Darn... I remember when I could hear NAA up around 18 kHz on audio amplifiers. Of course, I had hair then, too.
John A.
Would SETI in the ELF range be sensitive?
Posted by Udo Maier on August 29, 2002 at 07:19:16
Would it make sense to search for signals coming from intelligence life of other planets in the ELF range?
Because frequencies below 1 kHz can travel through ionosphere to ground, because height of ionosphere is not small to the wavelength for these frequencies, they are detectable also on ground.
But how high is the noise level in bands below 1 kHz in space?
Would frequencies below 0.1 Hertz allow interstellar communication?
Hifer AZ down for 6 days
Posted by Jim Mandaville on August 29, 2002 at 21:20:28
Hifer AZ (13.5545 MHz) will be off the air 30 Aug through 5 Sep.
Re: VLF tunable receiver with frequency divider??
Posted by Jonathan Smick on August 29, 2002 at 22:31:45
John,
Before they were decommissioned, I used to be able to hear the lower-frequency Omega stations (10.2 to about 16 kHz) by ear on a guitar amp connected to a longwire antenna, but it was tough with such a high pitch, hence my desire to make listening to VLF sigs. more comfortable. I 'tested' my hearing with a sig. gen. many years ago and found I could hear up to about 18.5 kHz, just barely. As the years go by, the high end gets lower and lower... :-) I can still hear flyback whine from a TV set in the same or perhaps an adjacent room but when I was a teenager could hear it through closed doors and windows of a house 50 or more feet away, and thus knew the occupants were watching TV even though I couldn't see the glare of the screen.
You're probably right about the threshold idea not being good for weak-signal work; but for that, we don't need to 'hear' things anyway, we 'see' them, so a simple audio amp (with or without a tuned antenna) connected to the computer is fine, no effort need be made to make the signal more clearly audible. I just threw in the suggestion in case anyone might think it had merit to pursue further. I am thinking along lines of making a receiver for portable/mobile use for when I get my VLF transmitter up and running, hence my emphasis on audibility (8.7 kHz is still kind of high for comfort and I want to listen to stuff above that anyway). If you follow some of the links from the bat monitoring pages you'll see that the other methods you mention are indeed used as well.
73 de Jon
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TAG in DFCW Mode
Posted by John Andrews on August 30, 2002 at 18:41:20
TAG is back on the air for the next week on 185.302 kHz in DFCW60 mode. Dots and dashes are the same length (60 seconds). Dots are 0.2 Hz higher than dashes. Very distinctive, and can be viewed on an Argo 30 or 60 sec/dot screen. A screen shot is visible at:
http://webpages.charter.net/w1tag/files/dfcw.jpg
John Andrews, W1TAG TAG/RY Status: http://webpages.charter.net/w1tag/
www.lwca.org
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