Fw: Sandy mentioned in dispatches from the front...Fw: The ARRL Letter, Vol 20, No 6

[Randy Mays]

    >
> > ***************
> > The ARRL Letter
> > Vol. 20, No. 6
> > February 9, 2001
> > ***************
> >
> > ==>LF SIGNALS CROSSING THE POND, BUT NO QSO YET
> >
> > While efforts to complete a transatlantic LF QSO still have not been
> > successful, things have been looking up lately in the nether reaches of
> the
> > radio spectrum. Amateur Radio activity in the vicinity of 136 kHz has
> > resulted in several recent "sightings" of signals from the UK here in
> North
> > America. The first such signals were heard in the US in late January and
> > early February. A report that the AMRAD WA2XTF 136-kHz beacon in
Virginia
> > had been heard in the UK turned out to be in error, however.
> >
> > The most recent report came February 6 from Sandy Sanders, WB5MMB, in
> > Oakton, Virginia, who says he was able to copy Lawrence Mayhead, G3AQC,
> and
> > "dashes" from Jim Moritz, M0BMU, in the vicinity of 136 kHz. Sanders'
> > monitoring station is in a three-story office building.
> >
> > Such weak LF signals are not actually heard but seen. Reception of weak
LF
> > signals typically is done using spectrographic software. Signals are
> > transmitted using dual-frequency CW--or DFCW
> > (http://www.qsl.net/on7yd/136narro.htm )--or very slow-speed CW, also
> known
> > as "QRSS." LF enthusiast Dexter McIntire, W4DEX, says that in DFCW the
dot
> > and dash elements are sent with the same duration in time being
separated
> by
> > frequency, making it easier to identify a signal from weak-carrier QRM.
> >
> > >From his QTH in coastal North Carolina, McIntire also has copied G3AQC
on
> > 136 kHz, possibly marking the first time an amateur LF signal from the
UK
> > has been heard and verified in the US. He also received M0BMU's LF
> > transmissions for a possible distance record.
> >
> > "My best reception of M0BMU, Jim Moritz, occurred at 0100 UTC on the
31st
> of
> > January," McIntire said. For LF reception, he ties together both legs of
> his
> > 160-meter dipole and tuned the antenna for resonance with a small
> > ferrite-core inductor. Moritz estimated his effective radiated power at
1
> W.
> >
> >
> > McIntire's reception of M0MBU might have set a new distance record. He
> > calculated the distance at nearly 6394 km, and Moritz figured it at 6371
> > km--apparently edging out what's believed to be the record of 6311 km
set
> by
> > VA3LK and IK1ODO.
> >
> > Mayhead said he'd been receiving "excellent signals" from John Currie,
> > VE1ZJ, and Larry Kayser, VA3LK, so he decided to run his own series of
> > beacon tests with the idea of encouraging stations in North America to
> > listen.
> >
> > McIntire says that on January 27, he captured some of G3AQC's DFCW
> > transmission--including the letter "Q"--and sent him a screen shot,
which
> > Mayhead confirmed as his. On a subsequent evening, W4DEX copied G3AQC's
> > entire call sign.
> >
> > "I think that we can reasonably claim that these events constitute the
> first
> > sighting of a UK station in the US," Mayhead concluded. He estimated
that
> > his setup generates an ERP of about 350 mW.
> >
> > For a while, it had been thought that an Amateur Radio Research and
> > Development Corporation (AMRAD) WA2XTF experimental 136-kHz beacon in
> > Vienna, Virginia, had been spotted in the UK. John Sexton, G4CNN, had
> > reported copying the AMRAD experimental beacon on 136.750 kHz on
February
> 5
> > and 6, momentarily raising the excitement level at AMRAD. That turned
out
> > not to be the case. Sanders announced this week that it was determined
the
> > signal heard in the UK was about 5 Hz high and did not have a
> characteristic
> > "chirp" that distinguishes the WA2XTF beacon.
> >
> > Like several other countries in Europe, the UK has an amateur band at
136
> > kHz. Experimental amateur operations have been authorized in Canada; the
> > AMRAD beacon in the US is licensed under the FCC's Part 5 experimental
> > rules.
> >
> > In October 1998, the ARRL petitioned the FCC to create two amateur LF
> > allocations at 135.7-137.8 kHz and 160-190 kHz. The FCC has not yet
acted
> on
> > the request.
> >
> > McIntire is among those who'd like to see a new LF band become reality.
> "I'm
> > champing at the bit to transmit on 136 kHz!" he said.
> >