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

[Lyle Koehler]

Jackie, the IC-718 should be fine for receiving LowFER signals, although
they are typically a lot weaker than NDBs and you will probably need a
preamp. To pick up the very slow CW, you will need to download one of the
spectrogram programs. Most of us use Argo, from www.weaksignals.com.
Fortunately the IC-718 tunes in 1 Hz steps and I believe it also has a
digital setting for the BFO pitch, which are important features for copying
today's extremely narrowband LowFER modes. To receive Mike's signal, you
should be able to set the receiver to 185.300 kHz in CW mode (actually CW-R
would be better, because that will make the frequencies come out right side
up on the Argo display). Then, if you set the BFO pitch to some convenient
value like 600 Hz, set Argo for the 30 second dot mode and center the Argo
screen on 600 Hz, theoretically Mike's signal at 185.3026 kHz would show up
at about 602.6 Hz. The receiver and sound card may need some calibration,
but if you're lucky you will be able to see Mike's CW identifier scroll
*very* slowly across the screen. You may or not be able to hear Mike's
normal-speed CW messages every few minutes. Possibly an active whip antenna
or loop with a preamp will be necessary to get enough signal for that.

My "LEK" beacon is presently on 182.2005 kHz, just above BRO from Duluth. It
should be possible to see both of us on the spectrogram screen, but again,
it may require the help of a preamp. LEK is cycling through several modes
and should provide an interesting Argo display. Conditions at night will be
very noisy most of the time until next Winter. Fortunately, all of the
Minnesota LowFERs are within ground-wave distance of your location, and
should be readable during the daytime when it is usually much quieter.

As others have indicated, most LowFER activity now consists of one-way
beacon transmissions. However, a few years ago some of us made fairly
frequent two-way CW contacts, sometimes at distances greater than 700 miles.

The FCC Part 15 rules require "equipment authorization" for manufactured
devices AND kits, meaning that they must be certified to meet the
requirements of Part 15. This is a costly process, and the LowFER market is
very small, so there are no "legal" commercial LowFER transmitters or kits.
But the rules make an exception for home-built devices, and a LowFER
transmitter can be extremely simple and easy to build. Cheap, too! Designs
are available on my web site at www.computerpro.com/~lyle and many other
places on the internet.

73

Lyle, K0LR