European LF DX

[Andre' Kesteloot]

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Dave G3YXM wrote:

> Andre'

[...]

>  I have been noting with interest the superb signals I get from the
> Italian stations late at night, 579 this week at 2230!
> The distance is about 900 miles, almost 100 percent land path. The Italians
> have also been copied well in Finland by OH1TN at a distance of 1260 miles,
> copy in the other direction wasn't so good, I think due to noise, but they
> made it eventually.
> Dave G3YXM.



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From: "Dave" <dave@picks.force9.co.uk>
To: "Andre' Kesteloot" <akestelo@bellatlantic.net>
Subject: Re: LF news?
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 12:39:03 +0100
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Andre'

>
>The start-up has been slower than I had hoped for. To start with, it was
>decided (by the AMRAD Board of Directors) to use a "First" transmitter for
the
>beacon. That was an interesting experience, as that piece of equipment
comes
>with a crystal soldered in place, and let me tell you that removing that
>crystal closely resembles serious brain surgery :-)   I was of course the
one
>stuck with performing said surgery.
>

I had a "First" TX on test here and noticed that unfortunate feature...
Quite a few people are using them and, due to being on the same frequency,
they can't come on at the same time!
>
>Now that the beacon is in operation 24 hours a day with a canned message,
we
>are starting to get reception reports. I think 47 miles is about as far as
we
>have been confirmed.
>
>We are still working on the coupling between the transmitter and the
antenna,
>which is less than perfect for the moment. (One of the problems is that the
>AMRAD beacon is located at the home of one of our AMRAD members, but those
of
>us who work on the transmitter and the antenna do not have access to his
>basement and garden all the time, so another week goes by before we have a
>chance of working on a new modification, etc.   One the one hand, it is
more
>fun to have this as a club project, but on the other hand, everything
becomes
>more complicated...)
>
The Ropex TX I was using would not work into my antenna system which is
tuned up for a pretty good 50 Ohm match, the 50 Ohm point being a few turns
up from earthy end of the coil. The protection shut down every time I went
to high power mode. I found that a 90 degree phase-shift network in the feed
line cured this (pi network using 12nF shunt, 55uH series, 12nF shunt) and
the TX would produce 170W at 13.8V without getting hot.

>> I have been noting with interest the superb signals I get from the
Italian
>> stations late at night, 579 this week at 2230!
>
>yes, that is indeed heart-warming. What kind of path was that? (water,
>distance etc.)
>
The distance is about 900 miles, almost 100 percent land path. The Italians
have also been copied well in Finland by OH1TN at a distance of 1260 miles,
copy in the other direction wasn't so good, I think due to noise, but they
made it eventually.

>
>well on this side of the Atlantic, we still have to learn to walk before we
>try to run. By that I mean that we need to try and reach the level of
>experience that you guys have (collectively) amassed over the last two
years.
>
>Best regards  (and see you in October at Windsor)
>

I'll be there.

Dave G3YXM.


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