Hello from Clark AA8SH. Beginning this weekend, I will call CQ 474.0 khz every Saturday and Sunday 1330z to test local daytime groundwave on 630m. I will be transmitting with 100W to a 160m doublet fed as a Marconi for a couple of watts ERP from Huntington, WV. If you have a vertical or can configure a dipole as Marconi, please give a listen. If you can transmit, please join. I don't know my groundwave range and wish to try daytime activity to learn about it. Any signal reports or feedback will be appreciated.
Good luck on your tests! So are you doing with an Experimenter's License or is one needed at all in this area of the spectrum?
An Experimenter's license is not needed. Please see the info below. Clark https://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-opens...nds-stations-must-notify-utc-before-operating
Set it up and TX on WSPR and then use wsprnet.org to see where you are being spotted. And welcome to 630m. 73, Phil (NY4Q)
Phil, Thank you for your reply and suggestion. So far I have been content with CW on 630m. That may change, though digital modes in general have never been interesting to me. The past two weekends I have called mid-morning, 09:30 local but have so far not made a contact nor received a report. An amateur with a good 630m station in Cincinnati has listened for my daytime morning calls and has called back but we can not copy one another. This is a work in progress, goal being promote local 630m activity.
This morning, I called CQ 474.0 01:30-02:00Z (9:30AM local time) per the weekend sked. I did not hear any replies, but was copied by Ralph K8RYU, who was kind enough to call my cell with a signal report. He could barely copy my calls in Marietta OH, 99 mi northeast, up the Ohio river. Over the winter I had heard Ralph calling a couple of times in the evenings, but could not contact him because at that time I only had a 7W TX. His evening signal was very stable, so I thought I might be hearing him groundwave. I now have 100W TX so I guess that made the difference over the path to Ralph. I had recently sent Ralph a reception report on a QSL card, asking him to listen weekends and to call my cell with a report if he hears me. Ralph's 630m transmitter is off at present. The aim of this is the fostering of local 630m morning activity as a workaround to summer evening noise.
I can receive CW activity in Winter, but I haven't listened to 630m in a while. The static and lightning crashes are pretty fierce in Summer. Digital is fun and still challenging on this band with the QSB and noise. There is a slack channel ( #khz ) dedicated to 630m if you want to look into that.
Thank you for replying. I agree static crashes are tough in the summer. That's why I'm interested in fostering mid-morning 630m ground wave activity. My 160/80m experience has been that summertime band noise is bad at night, good mid-morning. I've read that 630m is a better band for ground wave than 160 or 80, even with a limit of 5w EIRP. So I guess I'm trying to establish, first my local ground wave range, and second if there is enough interest to build and maintain a group of local morning operators sufficient to make regular morning contacts. Establishing my ground wave range is just a matter of making Q's. It will take some time. Building up a group of local operators is going to be more challenging, but may be possible. Then comes this, but for 630m: https://nparc.ca/gwen/index.html Clark
Yesterday I tried the Sunday morning ground wave test 09:30AM local, 01:30z, but was unable to transmit at full power because of a loose connection to the diplexer resistor. At 11:30 AM I fixed it and transmitted some test signals and ID. This morning I opened an email from Charlie N8RR, 40 miles away. Charlie copied both the 09:30 signals and the 11:30 repair testing signals and ID "in the clear at S1" on his 160m inverted L. I was transmitting at 7w from the Ubitx into the loading coil (low EIRP). I asked Charlie to give a listen next Sat and Sun when I will try again at 100W from the amp (estimated EIRP of 4.6W or less).
I listened for you this morning but didn't hear anything. I was just using a Icom 7600 with an 40 meter dipole. My 160 and 80 meter antennas are down at the moment. I do receive other stations during the winter months on 630 meters. Thanks, Greg W8NGA
Greg could you please post this result again to the thread linked below? It would be very helpful for everyone involved to know you were listening today. 73 Clark AA8SH https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/630-meters-ground-wave-evaluation-network-630m-gwen.813627/
