Worldwide Radio Beacon question.
 

I have a wire dipole antenna mounted between two maple trees in my
yard.

This allows me to pick up The BBC World Service on 5975 VERY loud,
along with the Atomic Clock on 10000, and 5000.

However I can't seem to pick up any of the NCDXF/IARU Beacons.

http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html

I don't know if it is my antenna, interference, the atmosphere, or a
combination that is giving me trouble.

Can anybody else pick these up?

Thanks.

Thanks for the link, never heard of the project 'till now.

I used MedFER's and HiFER's for propagation beacons.

--
Gregg
*Perhaps it's useful, even if it can't be SPICE'd*
Visit the GeeK Zone - http://geek.scorpiorising.ca

Walter -- Here in So Cal -- I hear 14.100 just fine -- also 18.110, but
nothing on the higher bands.

Since the SFI and A and k index are pretty bad --- SFI: 126 A-index: 16
K-Index: 4
not surprising

"Walter" wrote in message
om...
I have a wire dipole antenna mounted between two maple trees in my
yard.

This allows me to pick up The BBC World Service on 5975 VERY loud,
along with the Atomic Clock on 10000, and 5000.

However I can't seem to pick up any of the NCDXF/IARU Beacons.

http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html

I don't know if it is my antenna, interference, the atmosphere, or a
combination that is giving me trouble.

Can anybody else pick these up?

Thanks.

Any SW Receiver with SSB detection --- will receive CW (morse code) by
setting the mode to USB or LSB

The Beacons transmit in fast Morse code -- 22 words per minute

So an aid to figuring out where they are coming from is Beacon See -- URL:
http://sapp.telepac.pt/coaa/

But ur computer clock must be accurate to within a second

Here are some handy programs to set your computer clock automatically when
you turn on your computer
http://ac6v.com/opaids.htm#CLOCK

The NCDXF/IARU Beacon System is a great way to determine propagation to
various parts of the world --- see URL:
http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html

A transmission consists of the callsign of the beacon sent at 22 words per
minute followed by four one-second dashes. The callsign and the first dash
are sent at 100 watts. The remaining dashes are sent at 10 watts, 1 watt and
100 milliwatts.

Beacon See will decipher all of this if you don't copy morse. Just be sure
your computer clock is accurate.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Burr" wrote in message
...
Question, stupid!

Should I be able to tune to these freq.'s on my Sat800?

Signal In The Noise wrote:
Walter -- Here in So Cal -- I hear 14.100 just fine -- also 18.110, but
nothing on the higher bands.

I'm using a Radio shack Dx-394 and it has AM, LSB, USB, CW1, and CW2.
I've been using AM.

What should I be using?

thanks.

(Walter) wrote in message . com...
I have a wire dipole antenna mounted between two maple trees in my
yard.

This allows me to pick up The BBC World Service on 5975 VERY loud,
along with the Atomic Clock on 10000, and 5000.

However I can't seem to pick up any of the NCDXF/IARU Beacons.

http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html

I don't know if it is my antenna, interference, the atmosphere, or a
combination that is giving me trouble.

Can anybody else pick these up?

Thanks.

The beacons ID's are sent in morse code. The entire format is:
The beacons transmit every three minutes, day and night. This table gives
the minute and second of the start of the first transmission within the hour
for each beacon on each frequency. A transmission consists of the callsign
of the beacon sent at 22 words per minute followed by four one-second
dashes. The callsign and the first dash are sent at 100 watts. The remaining
dashes are sent at 10 watts, 1 watt and 100 milliwatts.

See URL:
http://www.ncdxf.org/Beacon/BeaconSchedule.html

Tune to 14.100 MHz use CW mode

If you can't copy 22 wpm, use BeaconSee Program
http://sapp.telepac.pt/coaa/

And make sure your computer clock is accurate to within a second or less

Programs for setting ur computer clock
http://ac6v.com/opaids.htm#CLOCK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Walter" wrote in message
om...
I'm using a Radio shack Dx-394 and it has AM, LSB, USB, CW1, and CW2.
I've been using AM.

What should I be using?

thanks.

(Walter) wrote in message
. com...
I have a wire dipole antenna mounted between two maple trees in my
yard.

This allows me to pick up The BBC World Service on 5975 VERY loud,
along with the Atomic Clock on 10000, and 5000.

However I can't seem to pick up any of the NCDXF/IARU Beacons.

http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html

I don't know if it is my antenna, interference, the atmosphere, or a
combination that is giving me trouble.

Can anybody else pick these up?

Thanks.

PocketBeacon at URL:

http://www.searat.com/pocketbeacon/



"Eric Ferguson" wrote in message
m...
And if anyone is interested, there is a program for Palm/Clie's called
PocketBeacon in which you put your Latitude and Longitude plus time zone,
and it'll tell you distance (in Km) and heading plus Call of the beacon.
It
also covers all 5 frequencies as well. It's a freebie, but I don't know
where I downloaded mine (maybe a Google search?). Still haven't heard a
beacon yet, but then I haven't really tried that had (yet). Eric KA6USJ

Thanks AAA for posting the URL. That's the version (1.03) that I have on
both my Palm and Clie. Site explains it better than I can.....Eric

It's conditions. I haven't been able to pick them up for some time. BTW,
this is good software for identifying beacons :
http://www.w6nek.com/hfbt804_001.htm
"Walter" wrote in message
om...
I have a wire dipole antenna mounted between two maple trees in my
yard.

This allows me to pick up The BBC World Service on 5975 VERY loud,
along with the Atomic Clock on 10000, and 5000.

However I can't seem to pick up any of the NCDXF/IARU Beacons.

http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html

I don't know if it is my antenna, interference, the atmosphere, or a
combination that is giving me trouble.

Can anybody else pick these up?

Thanks.

Either of the CW settings, whichever covers that frequency range.
"Walter" wrote in message
om...
I'm using a Radio shack Dx-394 and it has AM, LSB, USB, CW1, and CW2.
I've been using AM.

What should I be using?

thanks.

(Walter) wrote in message
. com...
I have a wire dipole antenna mounted between two maple trees in my
yard.

This allows me to pick up The BBC World Service on 5975 VERY loud,
along with the Atomic Clock on 10000, and 5000.

However I can't seem to pick up any of the NCDXF/IARU Beacons.

http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html

I don't know if it is my antenna, interference, the atmosphere, or a
combination that is giving me trouble.

Can anybody else pick these up?

Thanks.