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VHF NFD Results

3 October 2013 | by Alex G7KSE | Leave a Comment (0)

It seems a long time ago that we sat on top of Corney Fell with the sun shining and the winds blowing to set up the clubs NFD contest site. July seems like an age away. I only managed a very short time at the ‘operating table’ and with my current hiatus its taken me a while to catch up with all the results. Andrew, G4VFL popped a comment on the clubs website (http://mx0wrc.org) to say that we’d done a little better than expected. Overall 3rd in section but…

We came 1st in section for 70MHz

We came 2nd in section for 50MHz

& We came 2nd in section for 144MHz

I think we should be chuffed with those results and all credit to Andrew for doing all the donkey work in getting the bits and pieces together.

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

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At 522,000,000 miles per watt, Voyager 1 might be the ultimate in QRP.

2 October 2013 | by Owen KF5CZO | Leave a Comment (1)

At 522,000,000 miles per watt, Voyager could be the ultimate in QRP … if you have the right antenna.

For most HAMs the experience of seeing sub-one watt WSPR signals decoded from across the globe is enough of a thrill. However, the fine folks at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory have taken this a little further and used the Very Long Baseline Array radio telescope to precisely pinpoint the position of the Voyager 1 space probe.

While the layperson might see detecting the glimmer of 22 watts across the vastness of space miraculous, the amateur radio community can see this feat as the natural evolution and refinement of the technology and medium we know and love.

From nrao.edu:

Earlier this year, the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array telescope turned its gaze to NASA’s famed Voyager 1 and captured an image of this iconic spacecraft’s faint radio signal. The Green Bank Telescope also detected Voyager’s signal, picking it out from the background radio noise in less than one second.

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and Green Bank Telescope (GBT) spotted the faint radio glow from NASA’s famed Voyager 1 spacecraft — the most distant man-made object.

According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the VLBA imaged the signal from Voyager 1’s main transmitter after the spacecraft had already passed beyond the edge of the heliosphere, the bubble of charged particles from the Sun that surrounds our Solar System.

Using NASA’s Deep Space Network, JPL continually tracks Voyager and calculates its position on the sky, which is known as the ephemeris. Since the VLBA has the highest resolution, or ability to see fine detail, of any full-time astronomical instrument, NRAO astronomers believed they could locate Voyager’s ephemeris position with unprecedented precision. This is unrelated to Voyager’s distance from the Sun or position relative to the heliosphere.

The initial observations, which were made on February 21, placed Voyager very near, but not precisely at its predicted location. The difference was a few tenths of an arcsecond. An arcsecond is the apparent size of a penny as seen from 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) away. The second observations on June 1 produced similar results.

“It is possible that these observations are at the milliarcsecond [one-thousandth of an arcsecond] level, or better,” said NRAO scientist Walter Brisken, who led the observations with the VLBA. At 11.5 billion miles — Voyager’s approximate distance at the time of the initial observations — one milliarcsecond would be roughly 50 miles across.

Voyager’s main transmitter shines at a feeble 22 watts, which is comparable to a car-mounted police radio or — in visible light — a refrigerator light bulb. Though incredibly weak by the standards of modern wireless communications, Voyager’s signal is astoundingly bright when compared to most natural objects studied by radio telescopes.

“The ability to pinpoint the location of Voyager and other spacecraft is critical as we explore the inner Solar System and beyond,” said Brisken. “The NRAO’s VLBA has the capability to do this vital task with unprecedented precision.”

Voyager 1, which was launched in 1977, is now headed away from the Sun at a speed of about 38,000 miles per hour.

In a remarkably sensitive complementary observation, the NRAO’s Green Bank Telescope (GBT), which is the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope, easily detected Voyager’s signal, picking it out from the background radio noise in less than one second.

“Voyager is the first man-made object to penetrate the interstellar medium, and we really want to be able to receive the data from this new frontier,” said NRAO scientist Toney Minter, who oversaw the Green Bank observations. “This information will provide many clues about how the interstellar medium behaves and how the Sun interacts with it.”

“NRAO’s instruments have the capability to provide the most accurate position information of distant spacecraft like Voyager,” said NRAO Director Tony Beasley. “The remarkable sensitivity of GBT and VLBA’s sharp vision are essential for discovery but also have unique capabilities that have enabled us to make this contact with one of humanity’s most ambitious missions of exploration.”

The VLBA is a system of radio antennas located across the United States from Hawaii to St. Croix. The antennas work together as a single telescope nearly 5,000 miles across, giving the VLBA its ability to see fine details. Only seven of the VLBA’s full complement of 10 antennas were used to make these observations.

The 100-meter GBT is located in the National Radio Quiet Zone and the West Virginia Radio Astronomy Zone, which protect the incredibly sensitive telescope from unwanted radio interference. The GBT observations were made by NRAO scientists Toney Minter and Frank Ghigo, and Green Bank Director Karen O’Neil.

Owen Morgan, KF5CZO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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Geomagnetic storm

2 October 2013 | by Paul PC4T | Leave a Comment (2)

There is a geomagnetic storm going on. The noise floor is 12 dB less at the moment. I could work HB3ØOK and 9A282TN on 40m CW. I did hear ZL2AGY (!) but could not work him. Despite of a geomagnetic storm, I could hear the other end of the world.

Paul Stam, PC4T, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from the Netherlands. Contact him at [email protected].

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38,750 Miles per Watt Contact

1 October 2013 | by Burke NØHYD | Leave a Comment (0)

Yesterday I posted that I had worked AK4JA and that I thought he said he was running VERY low power, but my CW skills couldn’t be sure.

Well I just noticed he logged the contact on QRZ…

He was running 20 MILLIWATTS from a homebrew transmitter! He made note in the comments that this was a 38,750 mile per watt contact.

Wow! What fun to be on the other end of Bob who was running such low power. Keep having fun Bob!

Burke Jones, NØHYD, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Kansas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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Good news

1 October 2013 | by Alex G7KSE | Leave a Comment (0)

On two fronts really. The project at work that has taken up most of my energy is coming to its crescendo and that means in a months time it’ll back down to normal levels…..which means…more time for radio.

The other good news is that my planning application for a 12m mast and antenna has been approved! I haven’t had the official letter but the info is that it doesn’t come with any additional stipulations so that’s great news

Only the building of the other part of the planning application will get in the way of my new gear. Just an extension.

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

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DX on 40 Meters with an Indoor Isotron Antenna

1 October 2013 | by John N8ZYA | Leave a Comment (3)

Due to a busy personal schedule, I’ve sparsely been on the air for a few days; but I still continue to work a few DX stations. Early this morning, I found this VERY satisfying QSO with a station near Munich Germany.

I’ve been hearing a few nightly DX stations, on the lower end of the General class portion of the 40 meter band, but never thought I could work one. I was very surprised when I called DJ6ZM on 7026 MHz with 5 watts from my indoor mounted Isotron antenna – and he answered with a “question mark“. (IMI)

After re-directing his beam, and me repeating my call sign a few times, he could hear me clearly, and responded with a 449 report! He lives about 15 KM from the headquarters of BMW motor company.

Wikipedia image

I’ve worked Germany 41 times now. Fifteen of them have been this year, but this is my first German contact on 40 meters. As most of my readers know, I live in a restricted antenna area near the state capitol in Charleston and use stealth antennas.

My 40 meter antenna has often been called “the bird house” because…let’s face it, I’ve seen bird houses about this size. Hihi

My 40 meter Isotron antenna is the one with the “small coil” on the left side of the painters pole.

This morning, on 30 meters, I also worked EA3NT for the “third” time and he responded with “nice to hear you again”. This makes my 37th contact into Spain.

I’m also very proud of a nice contact, on the 29th of September, with UX1AA in the Ukraine ! This was a great signal on the 17 meter band. In addition to a nice card displayed on QRZ.com

He sent me this one via E-QSL:

The Ukraine log book now has ten contacts listed on it’s pages.

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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Cool 12m SOTA contact

1 October 2013 | by Mike AD5A | Leave a Comment (0)

As we all know the high bands have been less than stellar during this solar cycle peak. I was reminded how busy 10m used to be during "real" solar cycle peaks of the past by a recent article on AE5X's blog. As I remember it you could hardly find a place to call CQ on the novice segment of the band. However, even at lesser solar flux values, the high bands can still produce a lot of fun.

The past Saturday I had a rare weekend with not much on the schedule so I was chasing SOTA summits among other things. It was a fun day on the radio and I worked several Europeans on 12m. Currently the SOTA program has a 12m challenge in place which encourages activity on this band and when open, provides some fairly long haul DX for these QRP summit operations. I wasn't operating QRP, I was using my FT5000 and my Log Periodic Antenna up about 50 ft, however there are always several summit to summit QSO's among the activators that are QRP both ways across the pond. However this wasn't the most fun of the day.

Around 0130z on Saturday evening a SOTA spot came up for VK3ZPF, Peter, on a Mt. St. Phillack in Victoria, Australia on 12m SSB. I swung the beam around, not expecting to hear a peep. I wouldn't be writing the article if that is how it ended;-) I could hear the CQ faintly, but there was deep QSB. Finally on the peak I called and he came right back. We exchanged reports I had him in the log. A few minutes later, Glenn, VK3YY, who was with Peter was calling and I worked him as well. Glenn sent me an email saying that he was using a 40m EFHW antenna through an Elecraft T1 tuner and an FT817. Pretty cool and on SSB as well.

This radio stuff is fun.

Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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