New 30 Meter beacon

One of the most useful "beacons" is not a beacon but the station DDK9 that is a German Maritime Weather Service station operating on 10100.8 kHz +/- 225 Hz mark/space FSK. It is located near Hamburg, Germany, and appears to provide reports 24/7. Another German one is the propogation beacon, DK0WCY, at 10144 kHz, that is not as strong as DDK9.

 

I always thought the purpose of having a beacon on a band was to indicate to listeners that a band they believe to be mostly lacking in activity, now has the possibility of a contact into that area.

The 30 metres band is now well used in Europe, and it appears the same situation exists in the US. I can assure anybody outside Europe that if we in Europe hear even the faintest DX call from anywhere in the world, there will be dozens of people calling that station !

Mel G0GQK

 

Jerry,

Thank you for your reply. You are absolutely correct, WWV, Fort Collins and other locations for WWV are excellent sources for propagation from their specific locations.

Ref. beacon uses, one purpose among others is to determine the location of the propogated RF signal to the listening station. Another words, the path.
You comment is well taken. Happy New year to you and 73, Al, W0ERE

 

Well taken sir.
I will ck into WSPR. Thank you for your interest and reply.

Happy New Year and 73,
Al W0ERE

 

Absolutely right. Though there are so many ops on 30m WSPR right now that another probably isn't going to add to the available propagation information.

Now a permanent WSPR beacon on 10m - that would be very useful!

 

Very good Mel,
I am interested and very curious.
Have you worked any QRP staions in the USA.

I am an experimenter
Purely from a monitoring position, The advantage for a DX station would be a higher possibility of identifying a QRP DX station over a given period of time, instead of a time sensiltve shorter "CQ", in other words an oppertunity to seek out the signal because of constant repetitive transmission. Just a thought.
Thank you for your valued comments.
Happy New Year and 73,
Al W0ERE

 

Martin,

Thank you for your comments on 30 meters.

Basically the reason for the beacon is stated in my bio. on QRZ. It has been updated

If I cause any ill feeling to a fellow ham then I will by all means resolve a mutual understanding and do what it takes to be respectful and cordial.
I have learned so much about 30 meter characteristics since the beacon has been operational. Hope to communicated with you on 30 some day. You have a very nice station. I am impressed. Congradulations.

73,

Al
W0EREl

 

Howabout some WSPR QSOs?

I have to say that I don't understand why so many ops are using the stand-alone WSPR client - which does nothing more than enable a beacon - and I haven't been able to get more than a couple folks interested in the WSPR QSO mode included in the WSJT7 suite of software.

I've made a couple of WSPR QSOs on 30 meters, and also a couple using JT65A - and many more using a variety of other digital modes.

To the poster who asked about QRP capabilities on 30 - my WSPR signal has been copied and posted to the spots page by stations from western Europe to Japan. I was using a Yaesu FT-817ND and an end-fed longwire. There is great QRP potential on 30 meters.

Also, check out www.30mdg.net for information on the 30 Meter Digital Group. It's free, and I'm enjoying it very much.

73 to all,

Tim - N3TL
Athens, Georgia - EM84ha
30MDG Member No. 3028

 

Will listen for your beacon! 72 de XE1GXG/QRP

di dah dit

 

30 meters

Thirty meters opened for the American hams in October 1982. I recall that first evening. It sounded like Field Day. I have worked about 240 DXCC entities since then using 100 watts and a dipole or vertical.

I have usd WSPR mode sending a beacon on 30 meters. About two weeks ago I was able to receive immediate feedback on WSPR via the Internet. I was heard in about 40 countries in a 24 hour period on 30 meters. I was using 5 watts of power and a dipole up 40 feet.The WSPR mode gave me almost around the clock reports from Europe. It was about 23 hours out of 24 for Europe. Hams on every continent have given me reports on my 5 watt WSPR beacon.

You can check the block and immediately feed your receptions on WSPR to the Internet. Many people do that and you have instant reports within 2 minutes. We have compared our signal to other locals and our respective antennas too. You can change antennnas quickly and see what happens. Immediate reports will let you know if your vertical is better than your horizontal. WSPR is a very useful tool for antenna comparisons.

I am saddened to read so much carping here. I have been a ham for 57 years and it is certainly different times. Why not attempt to learn from each other ?

I applaud the new CW beacon. I encourage the owner to try WSPR and he will find that he can get almost immediate feedback to whatever changes he makes. Yes, we can still all learn if we choose to do so.

Jim W9VNE
Grid loc. EM 79tb