File Attachment 1: 31augb121.jpg
Re: Denmark - Kalundborg 243 kHz
August 29, 2022 Medfer on 710?
Denmark - Kalundborg 243 kHz -Today at 0400 UTC the transmitter was still on reduced power, but at 0800 back on full power, it seems. The transmitter in Kalundborg was inaugurated on August 29th, 1927 and is still on air four times a day.
Ydun Ritz
[https://mediumwave.info/news/]
Posted by Mike Westfall N6KUY on September 02, 2022 at 00:36:49.
Does anyone know of a beacon on 710 kHz?
A station broadcasting a morse code "Y" (usually with a single pip 3 seconds before hand, but sometimes not) has been heard on numerous occasions here in central VA over the past few months and has also been heard in NOLA and NW AR.
None of the MW DXers seem to know what this is.
Thanks for any help
--- TSN and more, Aug 19-20, 31
Mike Westfall, N6KUY
Fluvanna County, VA (FM07su)
Posted by Dave Richards on September 03, 2022 at 16:19:31.
22M Beacons Log 8-19-2022
« on: August 20, 2022, 0006 UTC »
The following heard on the KFS SDR in Half Moon Bay, CA -
TSN (Tucson, AZ) 13555.96 0154z S5 on a band with S3 noise. However, although the signal was easily discerniable, the spacing between the letters made copying the callsign a bit challenging. There is virtually no delay before the callsign repeats, and the spacing between the letters is such that it sounds like SNT. If it weren't for the listing on LWCA, I wouldn't have realized I was listening to TSN. Increasing the delay before the callsign repeats, by a second or two, would solve this issue.
PCO (Pine, CO) 13563.48 0206z S3-S4 (just copyable above noise)
EDIT - I heard TSN again this morning (8-20-2022), and the delay has been increased. It is easy to copy now.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2022, 1622 UTC by Dave Richards »
___
August 31, 2022, 0001 UTC »
TSN heard on the KFS Omni SDR at 2355z on 8-30-2022 RST 539.
ABBY Again At Last (was: "BB" 13564.5)
Posted by John Davis on September 03, 2022 at 18:00:29.
In reply to Re: "BB" 13564.5 posted by Marcy on August 27, 2022
Gradually returning might be more accurate. Since mid-August, I've been seeing faint traces of keyed signal between 13564.700 and .720 on Argo when hearing "PIE/B FL" pretty much overwhelm any other signal in the TS-590's 500 Hz CW passband. Around 3:25 PM CDT Thursday afternoon, however, with a bit of additional post filtering, I was finally able to make out a Y, then a couple BYs, an A and later an AB. Fadinghas been on a fairly short cycle lately, No complete IDs yet as a result, but it's probably just a matter of time.
Instanbul, Not Constantinople (Re: 27 and 28 August HiFers)
Posted by John Davis on September 03, 2022 at 18:47:52.
In reply to Re: 27 and 28 August HiFers posted by Ed Holland on August 31, 2022
...and 7P not PVC, plus WV not AZ.
Sorry Ed, bad editing on my part--but don't stop reading.
PVC was supposed to be in the list I was trying to verify forensically. It was actually 7P I copied several times over the weekend, and I didn't see the possible PVC insstance until Monday morning, when I had a handful of P's on screen as part of an evident three letter call, the other two of which were consistently broken up and were sometimes being swamped in Codar.
As for my possible AZ reception, that didn't pan out either. It was where AZ used to be, in the 13554.100 to .200 range and it did exhibit frequency shift anomalies a little like AZ, but over a longer time frame...no ocean wave effect. As of Thursday the 31st, the trace on 13554.115 began growing slowly stronger around 1:24 PM CDT and eventually became audible for a whopping 29 seconds... four repeats of WV, then "/B" followed by six spaced dits and six dahs.
But by 7:56 that same evening, it was suddenly back at 13554.025.
Thursday evening turned out to be rather productive for PVC at 13555.463, however, as seen in the attachment of its final 11 minutes' reception of the night. I'll report further on other stations copied that same night. (Spoiler alert: all other HiFERs, even EH, eventually faded out too; but the codar endured until almost exactly local sunrise here, then abruptly quit.)
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 31augb121.jpg
ELK back on the air
Will still be intermittent when thunderstorms are present, I will be putting ELK back online 13555.375 from EM64oj south of Huntsville AL. It also transmits on 20m WSPR as well. WSPR, QRSS6, QRSS3 and CW
Re: Medfer on 710?
Posted by Dave Gasque on September 05, 2022 at 06:08:27.
In reply to Medfer on 710? posted by Mike Westfall N6KUY on September 02, 2022
I'm the guy in NW AR the OP'er is referring to. Comes in quite strong at times on the W6LVP loop, oriented E/W.
Re: Medfer on 710?
Posted by John Davis on September 05, 2022 at 19:34:38.
In reply to Re: Medfer on 710? posted by Dave Gasque on September 05, 2022
Doesn't seem likely to be a Part 15 MedFER. That low in the band, antenna efficiency would be terrible and the residual BC band noise would preclude copy over such a broad swath of the country.
Haven't detected it here in SE Kansas so far, but will keep checking. Dave or Mike, can you give us more information on the signal's properties? Presumably it's not precisely on 710, but to one side or the other. If so, which side and how far? Or does it seem to be modulated CW? What time frame seems best?
I briefly suspected a second or third harmonic from an NDB down on LF, but can't find any listed that look like plausible candidates.
John
Re: Instanbul, Not Constantinople (Re: 27 and 28 August HiFers)
Posted by Ed Holland on September 06, 2022 at 20:09:06.
In reply to Instanbul, Not Constantinople (Re: 27 and 28 August HiFers) posted by John Davis on September 03, 2022
Thank you John. Very good to see PVC making it out.
No beacon listening this weekend, as we were very busy and out of town. I tried a little general SWL activity on the Belka receiver at our (far) Northern California QTH, but conditions seemed very unfavourable at every attempt. Checking on WWV at 5, 10 and 15 MHz confirmed this.
I also need to arrange better antenna facilities up there. A tuned loop for 22m might be a worthwhile experiment, given the space available.
Ed
Re: ELK back on the air
Posted by swlem3 on September 07, 2022 at 19:44:49.
In reply to ELK back on the air posted by Bill WB8ELK on September 04, 2022
Yep, good to see you again on hifer wspr2, Bill. I noticed your spots being decoded here this morning.
Ray ... N. Central Texas
22 ft. wire vertical w/ Elad FDM-S2 sdr
Re: Medfer on 710?
Posted by swlem3 on September 07, 2022 at 19:51:21.
In reply to Medfer on 710? posted by Mike Westfall N6KUY on September 02, 2022
I'd give a listen for it in N. Texas if I could have just a bit more info like John is mentioning.
Ray
630 m propagation
Posted by swlem3 on September 07, 2022 at 21:44:03.
Normally, if the T-storms aren't too intense, I set up my rx in the evening to decode wspr2 and FST4 on the 630m band. Looks like the band is just starting to pick up after the summer doldrums. I'm refering to the slow shifting from "Summer Mode" to the Fall/Winter type propagation. Last night seemed to be a "turning point" in propagation, meaning I noticed that the West coast stations were coming in again. Copied were: VE7BDQ, N6LF, W7IUV with numerous decodes.
Just fyi...
Ray
Re: 630 m propagation
Posted by Ed Holland on September 07, 2022 at 22:54:36.
In reply to 630 m propagation posted by swlem3 on September 07, 2022
Hi Ray,
Thanks for the prompt. I tuned up about two weeks ago, anticipating a degree of seasonal change but nothing was received. Your note is encouraging, so 630 m will get some more attention in the next few days.
Ed
Re: 630 m propagation
Posted by swlem3 on September 08, 2022 at 01:09:27.
In reply to Re: 630 m propagation posted by Ed Holland on September 07, 2022
You're welcome Ed. It's always nice to see the propagation start to promote more distance as the season starts to shift towards Autumn. Both modes I mentioned had more activity going last night than previously, so ops are noticing the change.
Ray
Re: Medfer on 710?
Posted by Dave Gasque on September 08, 2022 at 02:55:59.
In reply to Re: Medfer on 710? posted by John Davis on September 05, 2022
As far as the tech aspects, I'll have to leave that to Mike. I've got several good .mp4 files I can supply...
No Net this morning?
Posted by Randy Seden on September 10, 2022 at 15:19:45.
I listened on 3.929 MHZ at 8am and did not hear the net. I hope it will be on next week as there is so much good information there.
Re: No Net this morning?
Posted by John Davis on September 10, 2022 at 16:23:30.
In reply to No Net this morning? posted by Randy Seden on September 10, 2022
Hi, Randy. The LowFER net was on this week, but band conditions might have been poor locally. I copied it OK through the KFS WebSDR. Jerry and Clint both came through fine, but Dave was not present, so it only lasted a little over a quarter hour here. This is the recording of it:
lwca.net/miscdocs/websdr_2022-09-10_3929kHz.mp3
Depending on your Internet connection, it may be best to right-click the link and download to your computer first before playing.
John
Re: 630 m propagation
Posted by ed holland on September 11, 2022 at 01:32:26.
In reply to Re: 630 m propagation posted by swlem3 on September 08, 2022
Monitoring 630m last night resulted in a long string of decodes between 0500 and 1300 (UTC).
In the mix were three stations: W7IUV, N6LF, VE7JKZ. Ranges 688 to 1243 km.
My problem now, is when to switch between 22m and 630 m this evening?
Cheers
Ed
Re: Roumoules 216 kHz
Posted by Mike Terry on September 12, 2022 at 08:49:51.
In reply to Re: Roumoules 216 kHz posted by Bruce WA1HGJ on August 30, 2022
Not seen any more reports of the tests (presumed) since August.
Will make enquiries.
Mike
Re: 630 m propagation
Posted by swlem3 on September 12, 2022 at 12:32:04.
In reply to Re: 630 m propagation posted by ed holland on September 11, 2022
Good on decoding those stations to the North of you. Soon you'll be decoding those in the central US... most likely KB5NJD will be the first one.
I generally switch from 22-630m about an hour after local sunset.
Ray
Catching Up: NHVT in Mid-August
Posted by John Davis on September 13, 2022 at 06:10:29.
By the night of Aug 12-13 9t had been 11 months since I heard a peep or had seen any reports on NHVT, but a couple of hours after dark, there it suddenly was as a slowly strengthening trace on Argo, along with lots of QRM carriers. (See attached capture.)
The keying was audible, but badly broken up by rapid, deep fades that often obscured individual elements within letters. The attached MP3 clip is typical of that evening...lots of dits and dahs at seemingly random times, one instance with parts of two identifier cycles ("VT NH"), and then finally at 59 seconds into the clip, one complete ID.
In the month since then, I've copied the signal several times with less severe QSB, but also not nearly as loud signal maxima. Frequency varies slightly from day to day, but thus far has remained within the range of 13559.0 kHz -10/+20 Hz.
---------------------------------------------------------------
File Attachment 1: 12augb.jpg
File Attachment 2: nhvt12aug.mp3
West and East coast hifers
At 2213 utc copied FL and FRC. I think thats the first time I have heard the West and East coast at the same time.
Re: West and East coast hifers
Posted by John Davis on September 15, 2022 at 21:21:56.
In reply to West and East coast hifers posted by Bill Hensel on September 14, 2022
I think this may be a time of year when propagation can work equally well in either direction simultaneously, Bill. Last weekend I saw NC and SHO together at the watering hole, plus EH and 7P (sometimes PVC) together in the evening...basically, all four corners of the country at once.
My CW bandwidth is 500 Hz these days, wider than I used to use but still too narrow for me to get get both PIE/B FL and FRC in the same passband together without one or the other being attenuated a bit down the filter skirt. Even so, I managed audible copy of both FRC and PIE briefly just after sunset Sunday while tuned to ABBY. I was not able to distinguish the latter's keying audibly, however, obtaining only a faint but recognizable visual trace at that time.
AZ beacons this evening
Posted by Bill Hensel on September 17, 2022 at 02:48:48.
TON was Q5 from 0052utc - 0100 utc I got the dinner call so did not listen beyond that amount of time. AZ faded up a few times at 0236utc. I haven't heard AZ in a long time.
Re: AZ beacons this evening
Posted by Bill Hensel on September 17, 2022 at 03:00:27.
In reply to AZ beacons this evening posted by Bill Hensel on September 17, 2022
I meant to type AN for the beacon ID not AZ.
WV
Posted by Bill Hensel on September 17, 2022 at 13:15:55.
WV was copied from 0314 utc - 0320 utc. A number of good fade ups. Re: WV
This is a first catch for me here in Colorado
Posted by michael tyler WV on September 17, 2022 at 21:58:47.
In reply to WV posted by Bill Hensel on September 17, 2022
Thanks Bill for the report. I was not getting any reports so I took the vertical down and tightened the joints where they go together . Also removed the home made tuner I have been using for sometime and adjusted the antenna to full 1/4 wave so that i could cut down on the tuner losses....thanks again. mike wa8ywo (WV)
Re: WV
Posted by John Davis on September 17, 2022 at 23:38:58.
In reply to Re: WV posted by Michael Tyler on September 17, 2022
Was this work possibly underway on Aug 31, Mike? See this post for the reason for my question: Re: WV
Instanbul, Not Constantinople
Posted by Bill Hensel on September 18, 2022 at 02:02:49.
In reply to Re: WV posted by michael tyler WV on September 17, 2022
Mike, Re: WV
Was a pleasure hearing WV...it is getting out.
Posted by michaeltylerwv@yahoo.com on September 18, 2022 at 05:53:56.
In reply to Re: WV posted by michael tyler WV on September 17, 2022
Hi John. i discovered that the thermistor that I attached to the sg-8002 was over heating and caused the internals to be to do some strange stuff. I removed the thermistor and I am hoping all is well now. mike wa8ywo
2200 m activity
Posted by swlem3 on September 20, 2022 at 03:44:14.
Second night in a row, K9KFR firing up on 2200m wspr and decoding here in Texas. Nice to see the lowest frequency ham band being utilized again after a long summer dry spell. For an antenna, I'm using my nearly 3 ft. long ferrite loopstick for an antenna. Surprisingly, I'm not using any preamplification for decent copy. The noise level in the receiver barely increases with the antenna connected. It's only about 4 ft. above ground level but it seems to do slightly better than my low-noise vertical.
I'm hoping for JA copy this winter season on 2200m. I decoded them a couple years ago and would like to repeat. Not sure if a 2 year change in the sunspot cycle will make things better or worse at 2200m.
Ray
Re: 2200 m activity
Posted by John Bruce McCreath on September 22, 2022 at 13:59:43.
In reply to 2200 m activity posted by swlem3 on September 20, 2022
I've been watching for activity on 2200M in the WSJT-X modes from across the pond, but it seems that they can't make up their minds on what speed to run! I really wish they would pick a certain speed and stay with it for at least a few nights. I don't want to run multiple sessions to cover all speeds concurrently as the poor PC already has quite a load of programs running!
73, J.B., VE3EAR Re: 2200 m activity
Posted by swlem3 on September 23, 2022 at 03:24:38.
In reply to Re: 2200 m activity posted by John Bruce McCreath on September 22, 2022
Since I posted this about 2200m, the US activity dropped off. Guess we'll have to wait 'till we're more into the latter part of the year when a few more ops fire up. On this band, I'd like to see them standardize on FST4W-1800 if they're trying to cross the oceans.
I hear 'ya about not wanting to run multiple instances of wsjt-x. Both my pc's for radio are older generation also, so the processors take a beating if I have to run multiples.
Ray
2200 m Trans-Pacific
Posted by swlem3 on September 23, 2022 at 14:00:28.
Apparently, overnight, propagation allowed trans-pacific decoding of FST4W-1800 signals on the 2200m band from Japan to CONUS. I was quite surprised to see this so early in the Fall/Winter season of this year.
2022-09-23 11:00 JA1RWI 0.137520 -42 0 PM95tm 0.5 SWLEM3 EM03rf 10267 45 30 2022-09-23 11:00 JH1OFX 0.137583 -43 0 PM95ql 1 SWLEM3 EM03rf 10286 45 30
For the decodes, the somewhat less than 3 ft. loopstick was used at this station. No preamp, working into the Elad FDM-S2 sdr. I am considering an antenna mounted preamp fed with the DC bias method.
Here's a couple images of the antenna setup:
www.dropbox.com/s/8eemhcmd79d018s/20220923_075613.jpg?dl=0
www.dropbox.com/s/lm48d02ttee7tqn/20220923_075638.jpg?dl=0
In the wide shot, mounted on a white pvc pole on the gate, you can see an L400B antenna. That antenna was not in use for this overnight session.
Ray ... N. Central Texas
Re: 2200 m Trans-Pacific
Posted by Ed Holland on September 23, 2022 at 22:28:09.
In reply to 2200 m Trans-Pacific posted by swlem3 on September 23, 2022
That looks like it should be a quiet installation, Ray. 2200m listening here is vulnerable to a lot of nearby QRM sources.
Ed
Re: 2200 m Trans-Pacific
Posted by swlem3 on September 23, 2022 at 22:45:25.
In reply to Re: 2200 m Trans-Pacific posted by Ed Holland on September 23, 2022
It should be a very quiet location. You would think so looking at the pic Ed, but actually it's not. There's a noise riding the powerlines here that unfortunately lands on approximately 136-140khz. It adds about 10db to the ambient noise level. If the band was just 3 khz or so lower in freq, I'd have much better reception, but that's just the way it goes. My vertical is more subject to the noise so I made the loopstick, and it seems to give an improvement on the snr.
Most locations are noisy at 2200m. You're not alone. Lots of DC switcher power supplies and other various consumer noisemakers abound in the average neighborhood to ruin LF reception.
Re: West and East coast hifers
Posted by Bill Hensel on September 24, 2022 at 14:54:23.
In reply to West and East coast hifers posted by Bill Hensel on September 14, 2022
Last night Dialing around the 22 mtr band I ran into FL once again with three fade ups at 0240 utc no other beacons heard at that time.
Re: WV
Posted by Ed Holland on September 26, 2022 at 02:45:03.
In reply to WV posted by Bill Hensel on September 17, 2022
Listening in today, there were a series of strong signals from all ranges, so I tuned down from the WSPR vfo setting to see if WV could be heard. While a full, clear call was not forthcoming, I did get partial ID, and am certain that the frequency was correct.
Ed
Iceland 207 kHz
Posted by Mike Terry on September 26, 2022 at 07:24:37.
September 25, 2022
Iceland 207kHz observed back on air after 1700 utc.
Iceland observed silent on 207kHz on 25/9 at 1500utc. 189kHz seems normal.
This could be the reason
https://www.ruv.is/frett/2022/09/24/red-weather-warning-for-sunday
The Eidar transmitter is in the affected area.
Eastern Iceland is without electricity this afternoon.
Steve Whitt to mwcircle iog
Re: WV
Posted by John, W1TAG on September 26, 2022 at 13:03:22.
In reply to Re: WV posted by michaeltylerwv@yahoo.com on September 18, 2022
Mike,
Good copy by ear this morning at 1300Z in southern Maine.
John, W1TAG
Re: WV
Posted by michael tyler on September 26, 2022 at 14:49:30.
In reply to Re: WV posted by John, W1TAG on September 26, 2022
Thanks John......Glad to hear the mods to the antenna are working...1/4 wave vertical ground mounted.....thanks again
630 m beacon
Posted by joe vo1na on September 27, 2022 at 00:28:00.
Hello all,
A CW beacon is running on 477.7 kHz, 90 watts to a 100m wire at 20m average height until further notice. It is located in GN37, eastern Canada. Reception reports to this message board will be gratefully received.
Thanks and 73, RF
Joe
Posted by John, W1TAG on September 27, 2022 at 02:31:13.
RF was a good 569 in southern Maine around 1730Z this afternoon.
John, W1TAG
Re: 630 m beacon
Posted by swlem3 on September 27, 2022 at 20:31:34.
In reply to 630 m beacon posted by joe vo1na on September 27, 2022
Hi Joe. I was going to set up Argo overnight to look for your beacon... say from my local 10pm to 6am. While looking to set up Argo for the captures, I noticed that at CW speeds there would be 3 screenshots per minute. Doing the math, that meant 1440 screenshots would be taken in the timeslot mentioned. :-0 That'd take a whole lot of time to wade through looking for copy in the morning.
I'll have to pass on that. I don't look for CW hifers for the same reason. I'd probably give it a try if a slower mode was used.
Perhaps someone else on the forum will give it a try. Thanks for posting and giving us a "heads up".
73,
Ray ... Texas
Re: RF
Posted by Bill, KA1QYP on September 28, 2022 at 19:06:21.
In reply to RF posted by John, W1TAG on September 27, 2022
579 here in central Massachusetts at 1846Z
Re: 630 m beacon
Posted by Bruce WA1HGJ on September 29, 2022 at 00:09:29.
In reply to 630 m beacon posted by joe vo1na on September 27, 2022
Hi Joe, just tried for your beacon (9/29/2022 0003 UTC) from FN42 about 40 km N of Boston. Could not copy it but will try again perhaps very early mornings local time. Just headphones and ears here, no computer capture programs. I can almost always hear SJ NDB in Nova Scotia which is halfway to you so am hopeful. Will report back if I hear it. GL and 73, Bruce
WH2XIL 185.31 CW & QRSS
Posted by Warren K2ORS on September 29, 2022 at 07:07:47.
I'm giving another try on 1750 meters. My last attempt aborted due to antenna issues.I'm transmitting regular CW and 0.1 WPM QRSS on 185.31 from Wayland, MA with about 70W d.c. input (about 50 out).
I have verified reception on VE3HOA's online Kiwi SDR in Ottawa. Reports welcome!
73 Warren
Longwave Now and Then updated, BDXC UK
Posted by Mike Terry on September 29, 2022 at 15:42:31.
An interesting guide:
https://aer.org.es/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/11-LONGWAVE.pdf
Re: WH2XIL 185.31 CW & QRSS
Posted by John Davis on September 30, 2022 at 01:18:26.
In reply to WH2XIL 185.31 CW & QRSS posted by Warren K2ORS (fwd) on September 29, 2022
(Forwarded:)
Copyable by ear in Holden, Warren. Sounds about like the last run. I have TAG on 185.302 for a few days, in QRSS60. You’re much stronger. Will measure later.
John, W1TAG
potrzebie