[CW] A report for those who are considering 475 kHz
Radio K0HB via CW
cw at mailman.qth.net
Sun Oct 12 18:00:34 EDT 2014
Not sure why the 600-meter vicinity is suddenly thought to be "experimental". Mariners like myself and Dave Ring used it for normal communications for decades, and other Sailors before us back to the dawn of the radio age.
Just sayin’
73, de Hans, K0HB
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From: Steve WD8DAS via CW
Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2014 9:33 PM
To: vk2acl at gmail.com ; wa1tjb at yahoo.com ; cw at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [CW] A report for those who are considering 475 kHz
Gary, there are quite a few websites where the experimental stations describe their setups. Try a search for "630m experimental" or "600m experimental" to turn them up.
The WSPR mode is described at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSPR_%28amateur_radio_software%29
http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wspr.html
http://wsprnet.org/drupal/
The WSPR software is a free download, and the website where the reports are organized and displayed is free to use. No cost at all. It is used on all bands, not just 630 meters.
Matt, sorry for my USA-centric posting - you are correct that lots of countries have authorized 630 meters as a ham band. It puzzles me why the goverment here hasn't done so yet.
I received an email asking about my receive antenna... My best choices are my 75-meter inverted vee dipole (with the transceiver preamp turned on), or my ground mounted 8' whip with a preamp at the base (preamp off in the receiver). I've been very dilligent about keeping noise sources in my house to a minimum, but neighbors and powerlines do cause noises at times. I made a 10-foot shielded loop active antenna out of coax inside PVC pipe but it is stored in the garage right now - too unwieldy and has to be turned to peak signals or null noise.
I also had a question about the ground system for my inverted-L antenna. The ground side of the antenna is just my regular station ground. The central ground point is along a section of wall where the all the utility service entrances are located. This central ground is a few feet of 1/2" copper pipe with 1" copper straps connecting to the power entrance ground, an 8' rod driven right outside the house, the iron and copper water pipes (before and after water meter), and the metal HVAC ductwork in my house. To this ground system I have connected to this (with more 1" copper strap) the operating desk star ground, my two Gates BC-1T transmitters, the 630m transmitters, and the shields of all my various antenna feedlines.
I made no special ground for the 630 meter antenna system - just made sure its ground side was well-attached to my existing station ground. The outside of the various coaxial cable shields form accidental counterpoises and radials I'm sure.
Steve WD8DAS
sbjohnston at aol.com
http://www.wd8das.net/
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-----Original Message-----
From: Matt VK2ACL <vk2acl at gmail.com>
To: Gary Smith <wa1tjb at yahoo.com>; CW Reflector <cw at mailman.qth.net>
Cc: sbjohnston <sbjohnston at aol.com>
Sent: Sun, Oct 12, 2014 2:06 pm
Subject: Re: [CW] A report for those who are considering 475 kHz
There is a yahoo group on this topic, which includes a lot of activity in VK and ZL (where 630m is already a ham band):
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/600m/info
73,
Matt VK2ACL
On 13 Oct 2014, at 5:55 am, Gary Smith via CW <cw at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
Hi Steve,
Do you have some websites where we can learn more, and any other data relative to equipment to build/modify and antennas to use?
Sounds fascinating!!
Gary
WA1TJB
On Sunday, October 12, 2014 1:29 PM, Steve WD8DAS via CW <cw at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
Here's a report for those who are considering getting active on 475 kHz. 630m isn't a ham band yet but there is already ham-style activity...
Last night I had a lot of fun on 630 meters. Quite a few experimental-licensed stations were transmitting in the WSPR mode, and even more non-licensed stations were receiving and reporting.
Here's a map showing everyone my station heard, or was heard by, on the WSPR mode...
http://www.wd8das.net/WSPR-WH2XHY.jpg
Here's a map showing everyone that was active on 630m WSPR last night...
http://www.wd8das.net/WSPRactivity.jpg
Notice the reports from Europe, Alaska, and Hawaii. Very cool!
WSPR's S/N reporting is useful to know when propagation is good enough to support normal contacts. When the S/N ratios are higher then it is time to go to CW... where I made two CW contacts with Pennsylvania and Texas experimental stations. Conditions seem to be getting better as we move into winter.
Details on my 630m station...
http://www.wd8das.net/630m.html
Steve WD8DAS / WH2XHY
sbjohnston at aol.com
http://www.wd8das.net/
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