[Lowfer] New to the list. A few questions re: Lowfers and longwave

[lowfer@mailman.qth.net]

Hi all,

I've just signed up to this list, and hope to get some good information on 
Lowfer frequencies. I am a ham radio operator, and I've suddenly become 
interested in the sub-shortwave bands, especially longwave. I have found a few 
good introductory websites over the past couple of days. However, I still have 
a few questions for some of you experts regarding practical operating on the 
low bands.

First, I know that Lowfer stations are limited to one watt of power; not 
knowing what type of transmitting equipment is commonly used on these 
frequencies, however, I'm not sure what the practical transmitting and 
listening range is- I've been listening for a few local Lowfers, but have yet 
to hear anything from them. Which leads me to my second question... 

Second, what type of transmissions are normally heard on the Lowfer frequencies 
and what form of modulation are you using? I have an Icom IC-718 radio which 
has SSB, CW, RTTY and AM modes only, and I don't even know if this radio will 
allow me to hear Lowfer transmissions. 

Third, what types of antennas do you use for transmitting? I am more interested 
in receiving for now, and if necessary, I can obtain another receiver and hook 
it up to a good Lowfer listening antenna, but I'm not sure what antenna would 
be best for reception of Lowfers. My Icom transceiver's hooked up to a four 
band vertical and a three band dipole antenna now, both of which transmit on 
shortwave bands only. Don't know if either of these will suffice for Lowfer 
reception, however.

Last, are Lowfer and longwave propagation affected by the season? On the 160 
meter ham band, performance usually goes south quickly once the weather warms 
up. I'm curious if this is also the case with Lowfer and longwave bands, or if 
they are not affected by season and atmospheric conditions as much as the 
higher ham bands? 

If you can lead me to any good books about Lowfer or longwave, I'd be most 
appreciative! Thanks and 73 always,

Jackie