Experimental 30 Meter Mobile Beacon

I think you could probably achieve about as much by adding a capacity hat to the Hustler, maybe use a 20 meter resonator with the capacity hat to bring it down to 30. Personally, I would be much too worried about snagging the front wheel of a motorcycle with that wire. True, there have been occasions recently when I wish I was dragging a logging chain behind me to discourage tailgaters, but an invisible wire? No... Biker gets too close, wire gets wrapped around his neck as he passes you, and the rest of your life looks like concrete walls and iron bars.

 

Does it work? In my experience, things like that cause people to tailgate even closer. (Don't ask me why!)

 

And when the wind whips it out to the side and it wraps around you as you're passing, then what? Or it snaps off, and you catch it full in the face?

There's dozens of possible scenarios I can visualize where this setup can harm someone, but the bottom line is that our roads and highways are dangerous enough already, without adding more things to worry about.

 

I can hear W0ERE's "beacon" just about any day I tune that part of the band... and towards late afternoon/evening when the propagation changes, I HAVE HEARD the beacon on top of weaker DX stations in other parts of the world... they don't hear him, he doesn't hear them, but I hear both. If he were CQing, I'd say all's fair in CQ DXing... but he's not; he is intentionally making ONE WAY transmissions without meaning to initiate a contact. And I've tried to break his signal before with no success... I have some doubts about how closely the control point is being monitored.

The real problem with your current 30m activity is it creates a 'popularity' about the idea trying 30m beacons... with folks who don't thoroughly understand the 'not automatically controlled' part! During the Amsterdam Is DXpedition (a kind of a once and a lifetime thing) there was a "beacon" going right on TOP of the weak DXpedition signal on the LOW END of 30 meters. Tried to break them several times to inform them and ask them to please stop. They never heard the attempts. Then when I e-mailed them to try and politely explain, they got very annoyed with me acting all incredulous that they could have possibly been doing any harm with their low power signal. Well they were! The 5 watt WSPR signals at the upper end of 30m can wipe out the passband of a receiver making it impossible to copy many stateside stations, much less some weaker DX signals.

While 30m beacons are not strictly against the rules unless automatically controlled, the question becomes one of courtesy. What is the need? How is this furthering the advancement of the radio art? We already have the JT modes with the RBN that do a superb job of observing the propagation conditions. Then redundantly we have the WSPR network, which I also question the validity of, given that they are often overpowered, transmit too frequently and are left unmonitored by the control op. Plus, we have the CW skimmers... so what need is there for propagation beacons on 30m? None. It's vanity.

So why decide to crowd up an already crowded small band with signals that serve no useful purpose? Granted YOU and others may think the band is not crowded because you don't hear many signals, but realize that your signals reach (quite loudly) to places and stations that DO hear a lot of signals... Some people may have better receiving antennas, be in locations with more favorable paths (either US coast) or lower noise levels that can hear stations that you can't hear. You don't realize that these so-called 'low power' 30m 'beacons' are preventing communications between other amateurs... and all for no purpose other than to satisfy vanity. So YES, someone else IS paying a price. I implore you to think about the consequences of your choices. - Please, stop promoting the construction of "beacons" on the already over crowded 30m band.

Posted with all gentlemanly intent,

Kevin N4UFO

 

It's always been a hobby.

Every slice of spectrum is a "service". Even Space Cadet walky-talkies.

 

30m is a "crowded band"? We must be both working different 10MHz bands.

 

Why do they even need a trailing antenna? I really don't get the part.

 

Thank you for making my point... not different bands, different locations & setups. Perhaps different times of the day as well. You can find numerous CW signals between the automated non-amateur signals in the lower and middle parts of the band and then the upper end is shared between WSPR, JT65, JT9, PSK31 and RTTY signals. Get a couple split pileups going and there is no empty spot on the band. When that lower part of the band is busy with CW QSOs and/or pileups, DX stations will often come up above the non amateur signals around mid band and call CQ but that is where the "beacon" stations in the US generally locate themselves. It's not that big of a problem most of the time, but conflicts do occur when the band gets busy. And again, this wouldn't be a problem if the beacons would cease operating when it happens; however, it is my experience that they don't. But when someone like I encountered during the Amsterdam Island DXpedition that is unfamiliar with the band's activity and propagation characteristics plops themselves down around 10.107 right on top of the pileup... that is done out of ignorance and a lack of education/understanding. The already ingrained idea of skirting the rules by 'being in the room' or 'being at home' and thinking that is sufficient to satisfy the 'not automatically controlled' clause tends to get blurred over into a desire to ignore any complaints of interference.

In other words, if you are going to run a beacon on 30m, you need to monitor the frequency with an adequate receiving setup to PREVENT interference to other stations. ALL THE TIME. This is no different than rules for control operators and automatic control of repeater stations on the V/UHF bands. If the station is not operating under automatic control then a control operator MUST BE at the CONTROL POINT to effect IMMEDIATE compliance with FCC regulations. This effectively means, you are monitoring the entire time and you are at arms length of the 'switch' to shut it down.

In the case of the 30m mobile "experiment", they will be at the control point. How well they will be able to monitor, I can't say. But I will say again, my objection is that this activity promotes uninformed attempts to duplicate 30m beacon activity that DOES become a problem. I get that some don't think it's a problem... but please understand that 30m is a 24 HOUR A DAY, WORLDWIDE BAND. Just because YOU don't hear stations on the other side of the planet at any hour of the day or night, does not mean that others don't. I live in a rural area (low noise), on a high spot with a monoband 30m vertical and 32 quarterwave radials. Thirty meters is easily my best operating band.

73, Kevin N4UFO

 

So you go into an off ramp at 40 -50 mph and there's a worker alongside the ramp, or a guy on a mower, and a wire traveling at 50 mph (plus whatever increase in speed you get because that wire is traveling in a circle, not floating behind) clips him just above the collarbone .......... oooo, ugly.
Ever hear about those guys on snowmobiles who encounter wires across the trails?

 

anyway you look at it, it is a violation of the Ohio vehicle code 4501:2-1-19 "No motor vehicle shall be equipped with or permitted to have protruding objects or broken sharp edges of body or vehicle parts, which would be dangerous to any person coming in contact with same. "

 

BINGO
why the blank use a dangerous hay wire antenna

just cut down a 40 meter ham stick
or use a screwdriver antenna
heck cut down any regular 40 meter mobile antenna

the trailing wire idea is simply not highway safe

 

You've got to admit over the years you have noticed old men like to do things that attract attention for them. You got to admit this worked. As to propagation from a trailing wire antenna, who gives a damn. I certainly don't.
W0DLR

 

I hope no one is hurt but one can see litigation a strong possibility and for what?

 

I can't imagine ANY law enforcement agency approving this....FQZ

 

For the attention it generates. From the practical point of view, it's kind of silly and pointless. But it calls attention to themselves. Nobody would notice them if they used a regular mobile antenna.


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