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Subj: Re: Unid RO
Date: 12/26/99 12:44:47 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Kdtomasko aol
Steve,
Your Unid RO is RO:394-Birmingham, AL coordinates:33 36.3N; 86 40.4W.
Dave Tomasko
Subj: Unid RO
Date: 12/25/99 3:30:18 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: scd zebra (steve)
Have been hearing RO on 394 I am located about 30 miles east of Birmingham, AL.
Can some one help id this station?
Subj: Lowfer report
Date: 12/24/99 9:37:40 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: jrwright netcommander (John R Wright)
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY Y2K!!
I might even do some experimenting during this break!
Rick Wright, Durant, OK (R-beacon, etc.)
Subj: Re: Texas Hears LEK !
Date: 12/24/99 4:51:04 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: lyle mlecmn (Lyle Koehler)
Thanks, Bill, for the early Christmas present! Until now, the best DX
report for LEK was from Bill de Carle at about 921 miles -- looks like
you beat that by 35 miles. And from a portable receiving setup in a van,
at that. Your receiver and de Carle's software really had to dig for
that one!
73 from Lyle, K0LR
Subj: Re: [Lowfer] Texas Hears LEK !
Date: 12/24/99 4:20:37 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: cbuttsch slonet (Cliff Buttschardt)
All right! Congratulations on this. Lyle seems to be in the middle of
any of these long distance attempts. Nice going.
The best of Christmas Greetings to all. 73 Cliff Buttschardt
K7RR/W6HDO
Subj: Texas Hears LEK !
Date: 12/24/99 2:55:09 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Bill_Cantrell-QA0057 emailmot (Cantrell Bill-QA0057)
Hooray! After three years of trying, I was able to copy LEK using BPSK and
GRAB 5:29 on 186.800 kHz. My set-up is a Burhans whip on the van, parked
out in the middle of the yard, away from power lines and the house.
Distance is 956 miles.
COHERENT log opened: Thu Dec 23 1999 at 05:50AM CDT:
05:50:27 LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK[01]i:cIie
...
05:54:36 K dEK dEK dEK dmh(*bmh(*bmh(*bmh( LEx LEx LEx LEK EEK
...
05:57:50 JyKJ JyKe JyK [0D]TToAe (LTF (LEF LEK L[0D]K LEK LEK LEK
05:59:21 LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK
06:01:02 LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK pEK LEK LEK rEK i
Regards,
Bill
"TEXAS" & WD5CVG
Subj: Unid AEA
Date: 12/24/99 2:17:10 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Kdtomasko aol
Have been hearing Unid AEA on 373 Khz from Chicago, IL area at 0200 UTC. Seems to lie in a north-south direction. Does anyone know who this is??
Dave Tomasko
Subj: LowFER beacon updates
Date: 12/24/99 10:38:46 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: lyle mlecmn (Lyle Koehler)
The frequency of my LEK beacon has been changed from 186.750 to 186.800
to avoid an interfering carrier at Bill Cantrell's location.
eacons A3O and YHO are not exactly on the frequencies published in the
LOWDOWN. I've been hearing A3O on 182.90 for quite a while. Last night,
however, A3O was at 182.97. YHO has been slightly above 188.30; I wasn't
able to hear him last night to get a more precise reading.
BRO (182.250 kHz) had been operating in continuous BPSK mode until a
couple of days ago, but is presently sending a special holiday greeting
in CW.
Happy holidays to all from Lyle, K0LR
http://www.computerpro.com/~lyle
Subj: Thanks
Date: 12/23/99 1:39:29 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: reromero tinit (Renato Romero)
Cumiana (ITALY), 23/12/1999
Best wishes for the holday seasons and thanks for your visits and
contacts.
Merry Christmas and Happy new Year from
Renato ROMERO (IK1QFK).
http://space.tin.it/scienza/rromero
(RADIO WAVES below 22 kHz)
Subj: SY beacon on 212 kHz
Date: 12/23/99 10:10:52 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: magnum ionsys (Alex Wiecek)
Hi Gray. As Shaun has explained the SY beacon is probably a BY from
Beechy, Saskatchewan
which has changed its frequency from 266 to 212 kHz. This was an
intentional change not
a problem with the unit. The reason that this is a miskey is the fact
that the pause between
the long dash and the first character is too big and that's where the
dash for the first character
is missing ("-" plus "..." is B). Also, the pause between the last
character and the long dash is 1200 ms, which indicates a standby unit.
>From this we can conclude that the keyer for the standby beacon is
busted. I've been working with Canadian beacons for almost 9 years now
and kinda developed an ear for it. hi Unfortunately neither the beacon
monitoring circuitry nor the beacon monitoring receiver at a nearby FSS
facility is able to detect a problem since the correctness of the ident
is not even monitored. So this will remain this way until someone
notices the problem and reports it to a duty manager resposible for this
region (possibly in Winnipeg) or a pilot files a complaint.
Hope this sheds some light on the situation.
73 Alex VE3GOP
http://web.ionsys.com/~magnum/longwave/longwave.htm
Subj: reception report
Date: 12/23/99 8:45:29 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: k0mvj duluth (roger magnuson)
I finally copied RB this morning at 1245UT. Signal was plainly readable for a while and then faded out by around 1300. Congrats Bob, I've been listening for you for quite a while and was very happy to hear "RB" coming through this morning.
Happy Holidays to all, Roger Magnuson (beacon "RM")
Subj: UNID SY 212 kHz
Date: 12/22/99 5:56:26 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: smerriga compusmartabca (Shaun P Merrigan)
Gray,
This is beacon "BY" (Beechy, SK) which recently moved from 266.
I have been in email contact with Alex Wiecek (an engineer for
Nav Canada) and he suggested that "SY" should, in fact, be
"BY". He also said that the beacon is probably operating on
its backup transmitter (I emailed a .wav to him) and that
the keyer for this transmitter has a problem.
["-..." minus "-" equals "..."]
So the mystery is solved. You might want to check
out Alex's LW webpage:
http://web.ionsys.com/~magnum/longwave/longwave.htm
73's
Shaun P. Merrigan
Edmonton, AB, Canada
53.55 N 113.47 W
Subj: New AMRAD 136 kHz beacon on the air
Date: 99-12-18 13:21:41 EST
From: tbrannon att (Tim Brannon)
This was in the latest ARRL Letter, Vol. 18, No. 49; Dec. 17, 1999:
NEW AMRAD LF BEACON ACTIVATED
A second experimental low-frequency beacon is on the air from Northern
Virginia. The WA2XTF/12 beacon on 136.745 kHz is a part of the Amateur Radio
Research and Development Corporation's experiments to gain LF experience in
anticipation that the FCC may allocate an amateur band at 136 kHz. (See ARRL petition
RM-9404)
The new beacon at the QTH of Ted Seely, AA4GM, near Front Royal,
Virginia--one of 12 WA2XTF sites--features a 175 W transmitter feeding a
1600-foot horizontal antenna. It transmits a continuous CW message at 5 WPM.
The AMRAD project's first beacon WA2XTF/6, on 136.75 kHz, was shut down
temporarily to eliminate the potential for interference.
Project participant Andre' Kesteloot, N4ICK, says the WA2XTF/12 beacon setup
employs an "Earth bipole" style antenna that's grounded at both ends. The
shorter leg consists of 100 feet of wire grounded to a 250-foot deep well
casing. The longer leg is some 1500 feet of wire stretched horizontally
about 20 feet above the ground, "strung from one tree to another, like a
telegraph wire," Kesteloot says. The far end of the longer leg is connected
to a rod inserted into a pond. He said two large coils were inserted in
series with the longer wire--one at the transmitter end, the other near the
pond end--to bring the antenna into resonance at 136.750 kHz.
As AMRAD President (and ARRL Technical Relations Manager) Paul Rinaldo,
W4RI, tells it, installation of the huge antenna earlier this fall was one
of the more challenging aspects of the project. "When we got to the end of
the run, we were greeted by more than 20 cows," he said. "At first, we were
open to the thought that they were interested in Amateur Radio antenna
experimentation. But the more likely story was that they thought it was
feeding time."
Kesteloot reports the WA2XTF/12 transmitter was fired up on November 14.
AMRAD is seeking additional reports. Reception reports may be sent via
e-mail to Andr' Kesteloot, N4ICK, n4ick amrad.org. Further information
concerning the LF experiments is available at www.amrad.org.
Subj: TX(space) Schedule...
Date: 99-12-17 17:54:16 EST
From: Bill_Cantrell-QA0057 emailmot
Since Lyle has 'blessed' the next two weeks for good propagation (below), I will be
running TEXAS in the BPSK-only mode for a while. The shortened message will
consist of "TX(space)" for a run length of 3. I will run MS100, ET1 on
189.900 kHz, continuous BPSK. No CW. I am also adding some extremely long
copper straps to the chicken-wire ground-plane.
Regards,
Bill Cantrell
Subj: LowFERs heard
Date: 99-12-17 15:29:48 EST
From: lyle mlecmn (Lyle Koehler)
To: LWCANews, lowfer qth.net (LowFER reflector), jdhatti hom.net
So far this season I've copied LowFERs OK, BK, TEXAS and BRO using both
COHERENT BPSK and CW. CW-only stations heard include RM, X, SAM, YHO,
RH, RB, BA, BK, JDH, A3O and NC. The most distant beacon, JDH, first
showed up at about 0430 UTC last night. The next two weeks typically
provide the best LF DXing of the year, so it's time to get those
headphones on!
--
Lyle, K0LR
Subj: Reception report
Date: 12/15/99 7:01:02 AM EST
From: k0mvj duluth (roger magnuson)
Good condx this morning. I copied Texas Aggies on 189.7 at about 6 db out of the noise and A3O on 182.9 about 8 db above the noise. Both of these I have looked for before but on wrong freqs. I need to update my beacon list. Roger Magnuson (Beacon RM)
Subj: TEXAS reception
Date: 99-12-13 11:54:21 EST
From: bhkoehler mmm (Bruce H Koehler)
At 1:45 CST Saturday morning I copied the CW identifier TEXAS AGGIES
from my location at Shell Lake, WI. This is the first time I've copied
TEXAS in CW mode. I would rate the copy as RST 449. After copying
TEXAS in CW, I turned on the computer and tried for OK in BPSK but was
unable to copy. Maybe Bill was listening at the time. I switched to BRO
to see if I had things set properly, and copied BRO in BPSK. By then,
it was after 2AM, so I tried for TEXAS in BPSK mode. After hitting SYNC
in the COHERENT software, within a couple of characters TEXAS AGGIE
started printing almost flawlessly on the screen. Occasionally a
character would get missed when there was a loud static crash.
I also tried for A3O which I
had heard clearly last season, but still haven't copied him this
season. Sunday morning during a 75meter QSO with Lyle (LEK, K0LR) and
Roger (RM, K0MVJ) Lyle told us A3O was on 182.9KHz, not 182.66KHz (as previosuly).
73, Bruce BK, W0BK
Subj: NC is Q5 in MD
Date: 99-12-10 13:24:18 EST
From: fxfarmer erols (Bill Farmer)
Good to hear the W4DEX beacon "NC" on its new frequency of 177.777
khz. It's only my second beacon, "TH" up in NJ being the other. Using
an Attic Loop and Ten-Tec RX-320 with the K0BRA LF modification. Both
are described at http://www.amrad.org
73, Bill
Subj: UNID SY 212 kHz
Date: 99-12-10 02:43:23 EST
From: gfh haertig (Gray Frierson Haertig)
Heard NDB SY again tonight on 212 kHz. Quite clear copy. 400 Hz offset
and Canadian ID pattern. This is definitely not SJ as was suggested.
Any body have any ideas or ID's?
Gray
Subj: LF receiver for sale
Date: 99-12-08 20:01:32 EST
From: dconsul cgocable (Doug Consul)
Hello all,
I have a Raycom 6050 Selective Level meter, tunes from 0 to 7000KHz.
This is a high quality receiver with autorange input, autocalibrate, AM,
LSB, USB and digital read out frequency and input level.
Input selectable, with bridge 50 to 600 ohms and terminate 50 to 600 ohms.
Unit has a sealed lead acid battery, that supports 6 hours of stand alone
service. This unit's battery is dead.
Serial number is 120.
Price is $US 400.00 plus shipping from Niagara Falls, NY...unit is 40 lbs.
Regards
Doug/VE3LFL
Subj: Ground screens!
Date: 99-12-07 16:16:42 EST
From: pthomson bruderhof (Pierre Thomson)
My new Lowfer beacon antenna had been getting out, but not as well as
I had hoped. My only reception report in the first weeks was from Paul
Cianciolo, just 50 miles away in groundwave, and he was just barely
hearing my signal. We did some QRS tests on Thanksgiving weekend
which showed a great improvement in copy quality as the CW speed was
reduced from 6 wpm to 0.75 wpm. But I thought it should be possible
to get easy ear copy at 50 miles.
Remembering Bill Cantrell's good results with chicken wire, I found some
offcuts of welded wire fence material with 2"x4" openings. There were
three pieces which added up to about 100 square feet. When I bonded
these around the tower in a square-ish pattern and tuned up again, I got
a 40% increase in antenna current! Later I added another 240 sq. ft. of
mesh and got another 20% current increase. Now Paul reports that he
copies me regularly by ear!
Bottom line: wire screen grounds, even small ones, are effective!
73,
Pierre Thomson KA2QPG
Rifton, NY FN21
"RI" beacon 184.320 KHz 24/7 CW
Subj: LOWFER Biz Picking Up
Date: 99-12-06 17:48:43 EST
From: bicking mwci (Robert Bicking)
Heard BA for the first time on 12/2 and this am (12/6) I heard BOB
1212Z, LEK 1213Z and BK (New One) 1219Z; all about 339. LEK picked up a
bit of strength about 1222Z.
Subj: Re: The Urban Challenge
Date: 12/5/99 11:22:38 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: tbrannon att (Tim Brannon)
Al,
I live on a city lot in Dallas, with a high-tension line only 2 blocks away.
The first thing I learned here: I simply had to accept that sometimes serious longwave listening was not possible. The worst times for me are evenings before midnight, when light dimmers, televisions, etc. are being used the most. The best times with respect to noise here are weekend mornings before 7AM, but I'm usually not too enthusiastic about getting up this early on weekends, even for good DX! The best practical times are actually weekday mornings after 8AM when most people in the neighborhood have left for work.
I use an ICOM 738 ham transceiver with a converter to 4 MHz for longwave, and a 250 Hz CW filter for most listening, along with a Timewave DSP-59+ audio filter. I agree with many authors in the LOWDOWN that the audio filter is more helpful than the IF filter. DSP filters from MFJ or W9GR should work as well. Several designs for analog filters have been published which should also work well for homebrewers.
Active antennas are pretty much useless here due to IMD from all the broadcasters. I tried the MFJ box but the signal-to-noise ratio is awful. A design using a tuned circuit would probably work well.
My favorite antenna is a 4 foot open frame loop (26 turns of 24G wire spaced 1/4") tuned with a 1000 pF variable capacitor. It is coupled to the receiver with just a single turn of wire directly to RG-58. There is no preamp, and the loop "floats" with no DC connection to the coax, so it has the excellent balance necessary for good deep nulls. You can point this null at your loudest noise source to knock it down. On one local NDB that is S9+10dB will drop to S1 in the null of the loop.
Take a look at James Hagan's paper in the Library: http://www.lwca.org/library/rcvg-lib.htm
This is the classic article on noise reduction.
Tim KF5CQ
Subject: First Lowfer!
Date: 04 Dec 1999
From: Larry Putman
I have finally heard or should say seen a LOWFER!
It was the AMRAD beacon in Front Royal VA. About 91miles from me.
Using an Icom R71A, a Dressler AR 60 on a 40' mast, a Timewave DSP599zx
and the Spectram Beta 2 DSP software I have monitored the beacon for a
week now and see it
day and night! What a thrill to finally catch a lowfer signal!!
73
Larry Putman WB3ANQ
Subj: The Urban Challenge
Date: 12/1/99 7:42:48 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: wa2vez rochesterrr (Al Scanandoah)
Hi
I'd like to hear from those of you who have had success with LW
reception from within the confines of a city lot. What type of antenna
do you use and what other tricks do you use to get rid of all (or at
least some) of the noise.
Thanks - Al
Subj: First LOWFERs Heard in Freeport This Season
Date: 12/1/99 5:38:58 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: bicking mwci (Robert Bicking)
Reception of NDB's has been pretty good the last few days so I checked the
LOWFER band this am and heard BOB 1139Z, RST 339 and later heard A3O (new
one) 1144Z, 449. About 1200Z, BOB picked up an S unit. Saw Lyle Koehler's
report of hearing RB.
73,
Robert Bicking, W9RB
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