RE: [Elecraft] OT: Propagation
The NCDSF/IARU beacons have been doing just that for years on 20 through 10 meters with transmission from up to 18 countries on a single time-shared frequency in each band. Absolutely agree - wonderful resource and one that I have been using for many years. WSPR however extends the propagation research toolbox further in not only covering bands from 2m to 160 and below but also gives the individual station instant feedback (in the database or world map plot) of where the signal is being heard using very weak signal detection techniques. As of today there are nearly 1.5 million spots in the database, 6000 of which were in the last 24hrs. 73 to all Trevor G0KTN ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] OT: Propagation
Julian, G4ILO wrote on Friday, September 26, 2008 11:28 PM Whatever happened to just turning the radio on and listening. :) Agreed, but also trying a few CQs on a dead band! If everybody just listened a band would sound to be dead :-) The IARU beacons imho are very useful indicators but are not always heard even if a band is open because of very selective skip, seemingly a characteristic of chordal propagation. To cite an example 15m has frequently been open to PY and CE from here in our late afternoons during the past couple of years, with strong signals both ways, while the CS3, LU and OA beacons which are located roughly in the same direction are not heard. 73, Geoff GM4ESD ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] OT: Propagation
The best real time system I know of that shows actual conditions is the Northern California DX Foundation/IARU beacon system: http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html Ron AC7AC -Original Message- Hi All, The bands are opening for the Fall, and I'd like to know what paths are open at any given moment, using a web based resource. If I checked right now I might find that 15 meters is open between Africa and North America, and that 20m is open between Hawaii (or Japan) and the West Coast of USA. I have the W6EL program that makes a pretty good MUF frequency map. But that is just a projection based on solar flux. www.eham.net has some DX spotting too, wondering what may be better. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance - Don. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] OT: Propagation
Don Rasmussen wrote: Hi All, The bands are opening for the Fall, and I'd like to know what paths are open at any given moment, using a web based resource. If I checked right now I might find that 15 meters is open between Africa and North America, and that 20m is open between Hawaii (or Japan) and the West Coast of USA. I have the W6EL program that makes a pretty good MUF frequency map. But that is just a projection based on solar flux. www.eham.net has some DX spotting too, wondering what may be better. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance - Don. Whatever happened to just turning the radio on and listening. :) Having been foolish enough to write and make freely available a program (VOAProp) that displays graphical maps of predicted propagation based on VOACAP, I have become aware that a lot of hams think you can predict propagation as accurately as the weather given a couple of solar indices. It just ain't that easy. If you happened to subscribe to RadCom, then in this month's issue you would have found an excellent article describing exotic propagation modes that even the best propagation models cannot predict. So there is really no substitute to turning the radio on and listening. If you really can't be bothered to do that, then looking at what is being spotted on the DX Cluster by spotters near your location may give you an idea of who is actually working what at any given time. An interesting variation on that is the Reverse Beacon Project http://skimmer.dxwatch.com/ which plots stations heard by people using the CW Skimmer software, however there are far too few users (and Skimmer is prone to mis-copy calls) for it to be very useful at the moment. - Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222. http://www.g4ilo.com/ G4ILO's Shack http://www.ham-directory.com/ Ham Directoryhttp://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html KComm for Elecraft K2 and K3 -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/OT%3A-Propagation-tp1121893p1122063.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] OT: Propagation
Speaking of beacons, does anyone know anything about what seem to be beacons that appeared in the CW portions of 40m, 30m, 20m, and 15m last week? Well, I first heard them last week, don't know when they might have first appeared. Maybe they've been there forever and I just never noticed. They were like slow cw dashes, 1 second on and one second off, there was never any ID. I copied them Sept. 14 around 1900Z on 7037.84 10121.67 14029.90 21021.90 I don't think it was local as there was QSB and they faded out in the evening, 15m first through 40m last. I don't hear them now, although there is something on 14029.9 that sounds like someone repeatedly tuning up with varying power. Just curious. 73 -- Joe KB8AP On Sep 26, 2008, at 3:28 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote: The best real time system I know of that shows actual conditions is the Northern California DX Foundation/IARU beacon system: http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html Ron AC7AC -Original Message- Hi All, The bands are opening for the Fall, and I'd like to know what paths are open at any given moment, using a web based resource. [snip] Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance - Don. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] OT: Propagation
Perhaps setting up a WSPR beacon might be of interest. Have a look at http://wsprnet.org/drupal/ Headline: The Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Network is a group of amateur radio operators using K1JT's MEPT_JT digital mode to probe radio frequency propagation conditions using very low power (QRP/QRPp) transmissions. The software is open source, and the data collected are available to the public through this site 73 to all Trevor G0KTN ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] OT: Propagation
Julian G4ILO wrote: So there is really no substitute to turning the radio on and listening. --- I agree 100%. I've never put much store in prediction programs. (Too often the sun is shining outside my window on the days heavy rain is forecast.) I listen too. And if I'm curious and not hearing much, that's when I use the NCDXF/IARU beacons I mentioned before on the major DX bands (20 through 10 meters). In a minute or so I can listen for signals from all around the world and hear for myself how strong they are. Works FB when I'm too lazy to twist the tuning knob G. But nothing beats tuning around, or the thrill of hearing (or being called by DX) on an otherwise dead band. Ron AC7AC ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] OT: Propagation
Trevor, is 100 milliwatts (0.1 watt) QRP enough? The NCDSF/IARU beacons have been doing just that for years on 20 through 10 meters with transmission from up to 18 countries on a single time-shared frequency in each band. Each beacon transmits its call followed by four dashes. The first at 100 watts, then 10 watts, 1 watt and 0.1 watt. Ron AC7AC -Original Message- Perhaps setting up a WSPR beacon might be of interest. Have a look at http://wsprnet.org/drupal/ Headline: The Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Network is a group of amateur radio operators using K1JT's MEPT_JT digital mode to probe radio frequency propagation conditions using very low power (QRP/QRPp) transmissions. The software is open source, and the data collected are available to the public through this site 73 to all Trevor G0KTN ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
