ad: Radclub22-1

Grimeton Radio Trasmission July 4th

Discussion in 'Contests, DXpeditions, QSO Parties, Special Events' started by NE2Q, Jul 3, 2010.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
ad: L-HROutlet
ad: l-rl
ad: Left-2
ad: Radclub22-2
ad: L-MFJ
ad: Left-3
ad: abrind-2
  1. NE2Q

    NE2Q Ham Member QRZ Page

    Grimeton Radio in So. Sweden is the only remaining LF transmitting station from the 1920s era. It will transmit on 17.2 khz on July 4th only. This is a Swedish national monument and is kept in operation by local hams in the area.

    They will be using their original antenna consisting of six 380 ft towers spaced over 1000 feet apart and spanning around 1 mile in a line towards the USA.

    They are looking for reception reports.

    See the website for full details.

    http://www.alexander.n.se/

    .....NE2Q
     
  2. K2XT

    K2XT Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Any idea what kind of antenna it takes in, say, New Jersey to hear the transmissions?
    Oops, never mind, my FT1000MP only goes down to 100 KHz.
    Ok, let me rephrase, what kind of antenna would I need the next time they run tests on 17KHz?
    Would my 500 ft Beverage produce enough signal?
     
  3. KC2UGV

    KC2UGV Ham Member QRZ Page

    For those who would like to attempt to receive the transmissions:

    http://web.telia.com/~u33233109/saqrx/saqrx.html

    You can even do it with Spectrum Lab. All you need is a sound card, a big antenna connected to your LEFT channel, and this little piece of software :) Enjoy everyone!
     
  4. KC2UGV

    KC2UGV Ham Member QRZ Page

    You need the longest wire you can get, and is practical. You'll pretty much never be able to build a 1/2 wave antenna for it (Looking at I think 10,000 meters long or so).

    A loop works pretty well. I just use magnet wire (Spool of 500ft for 3 bucks) and it's looped around my house a few times. Wife hates it.
     
  5. NE2Q

    NE2Q Ham Member QRZ Page

    Grimeton Transmissions

    I believe their original receiving antenna back in 1924 was a beverage type over 9 miles long!

    On June 17th I visited the site and met with one of the hams involved with the operation of this fantastic station. His call is SM6CN, Lars.

    If you ever visit Sweden, this place is a must see. About 1 hour drive South of Gothenberg.

    NE2Q
     
  6. G4LNA

    G4LNA Ham Member QRZ Page

    I used to hear them very well indeed on my little 100 foot loop, unfortunately I've got rid of my old HB rig that used to go down to that frequency.
     
  7. NA4IT

    NA4IT Ham Member QRZ Page

    Did some chiphering.... a 1/4 wave on 17.2KHz is 13,604.5 feet or 2.57 miles.

    Hey, I think Tractor Supply sells electric fence wire that length!

    de NA4IT
     
  8. WA7PRC

    WA7PRC Ham Member QRZ Page

    Googling "VLF Loop" produced 328K hits. The first few look do-able... tuned loop + low noise preamp. I've built similar antennas (sans preamp) for DX-ing on MF. They worked surprisingly well.

    73,
    Bryan WA7PRC
     
  9. N5XMV

    N5XMV Ham Member QRZ Page

    You'll have to do some trimming, I think it comes in either 1/2 mile, or 4 mile spools.... :) Oh, and most is either stainless, or galvanized, so soldering is gonna be tricky at best. But, for a one time use, I guess you could just wrap it together, and make sure it is dry.
    Actually, this would have been a good project if I had known earlier, but Texas may be a bit too much DX for it.
    73, and Good Hunting
    Paul N5XMV
     
  10. KC2UGV

    KC2UGV Ham Member QRZ Page

    These signals penetrate water down to about 60ft or so :) Texas is a "short hop" for it :)
     
  11. KA5S

    KA5S Ham Member QRZ Page

    Trying an AOR AR-5000 (goes to 5 KHz) and a Stoddard EMC loop set on the 14-24 KHz range and away from the house (all switchers and CFL's unplugged or OFF as well).

    I live in a semi-rural area but there is still background noise. USN data transmissions are audible up frequency, and WWVB is well above noise, so maybe I'll be able to hear SAQ...

    Recording (I hope) with MultiPSK.

    They should be tuning up any minute now.

    Cortland
    KA5S
     
  12. AA1VX

    AA1VX Ham Member QRZ Page

    Anybody in USA hear them?

    Has anybody in the US heard them in the past?

    Thanks for any info.

    Dave AA1VX
     
  13. GM3ZMA

    GM3ZMA Ham Member QRZ Page

    I was able to receive the 13:00 UTC transmission from SAQ, it was not as strong a signal as I would have hoped for here in north east Scotland, my best estimate is that it was 20-25dB above the noise floor, it was certainly nowhere near as strong as the rock crushing signal on 18.3khz, which I believe comes from somewhere in France.

    To receive it I was using and Elecraft K2 with a home brew VLF converter, the antenna was a 30 foot vertical.

    The converter is based on an SBL1 mixer, the input circuit is 5pole low pass filter with a cut-off of 500khz, the local oscillator runs at 10Mhz and the output of the mixer goes out via a capacitor to the antenna connector of the K2.

    Jim GM3ZMA
     
  14. KA5S

    KA5S Ham Member QRZ Page

    ZGN -- Not Heard!

    I was listening during the 0900 transmission but heard only unreadable beat notes in and under the noise. MultiPSK called it -30 dB SNR.

    Next time I'll see if I can null the local EMI fog with phased loops. USN data modes are heard here well above noise but they are also closer and do not suffer from trans-polar propagation.

    Cortland
    KA5S
     
  15. KA5S

    KA5S Ham Member QRZ Page

    From theLF News Archive 2001

    Here's one, anyway. But look what it TOOK:
    URL

    Cortland
    KA5S
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

ad: chuckmartin