[Lowfer] "XR" is trying a little RF

[Andy - KU4XR]

Good day all:

Thank you Jay, and Garry for at least looking for the signal.
I turned the carrier off this morning at 7:05am EDST when I 
left for work. I think I was having a calibration issue last
night at first. When I went to bed, the frequency was around
185,298.72 KHz according to SPECTRAN. I heard the transmitter
" burp " thru the speaker, and suddenly the frequency moved 
back to where it was supposed to be. I guess I was just blowing
the cob webs out of everything last night.

First night observations in transmit mode: It appears that the
elevated loading coil " DOES " help the antenna stay a bit more
RF stable during changing ground conditions. The fluctuating
RF current that I put up with in the previous vertical, was not
evident in this one... Yet, anyway... and I hope that this will
really be a characteristic of the new vertical. When it started
raining last night, the current began to drop as usual, but it
finally settled on 115 MilliAmps. The previous vertical would 
usually fluctuate from 150 mA to 160 mA when the ground was wet.
When I got up this morning, the RF current was still smack on
115 mA, and no change in PA voltage and current, and overnight,
it rained, drizzled, and heavy " dripping " fog this morning. So
thru different elemental changes, the antenna seems to be a lot
more stable....That !!! I am very happy about.

I had to add about 120 mHenries of extra Inductance to the inside
coil, and a bit more Shunt Capacitance to bring the system to a
match. In one way, I expected this, but I didn't expect having to 
" ADD " Inductance to the Variometer to be able to peak the RF.

As with anything new, there will be lots to learn about this
antenna configuration, and how to optimize it. Again, thank you guys 
for looking. I feel that the antenna is radiating, and not just a
40 foot tall dummy load.  If all goes well; I'll put the beacon in
QRSS-60 tonite with the usual " XR " callsign. That will make it
definite for sure on reception.

73 to all:


Andy - KU4XR - EM75xr - Friendsville, TN. USA
LOWfer Beacon " XR " @ 185.29875 KHz ( QRSS-60 )

*** Temporarily TESTING the new antenna ***

Coordinates:  N:  35º 43' 54" - W:  84º 3' 16"
http://www.myspace.com/beaconxr

*** The 5 most important words ever spoken ***

http://ku4xr.webs.com/5mostimportantwords.htm


--- On Wed, 10/13/10, jrusgrove at comcast.net <jrusgrove at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: jrusgrove at comcast.net <jrusgrove at comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: [Lowfer] "XR" is trying a little RF
> To: k3siw at sbcglobal.net, "Discussion of the Lowfer (US, European, & UK) and MedFer bands" <lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
> Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2010, 8:31 AM
> Garry
> 
> Tnx for the info. If Andy verifies that his transmitter was
> on the air I'd say it's highly likely 
> that was XR ... since the 185.300 region is normally free
> of phantom signals at this location. The 
> carrier did drift off into the sunrise indicating it was
> arriving from some distance.
> 
> Not much seen from SIW last night but condx are currently
> depressed and the the static was, 
> unfortunately, at mid summer levels.
> 
> Jay
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Garry Hess" <k3siw at sbcglobal.net>
> To: <lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 8:17 AM
> Subject: Re: [Lowfer] "XR" is trying a little RF
> 
> 
> > Jay, it's likely what you noticed at 185.2984 kHz is
> Andy. I saw a
> > carrier at 185.2987 kHz much of the night using ARGO
> at QRSS60, slow,
> > but haven't calibrated for a while. If that's Andy,
> his frequency is
> > nicely below SIW. QRN here was bad in the late evening
> but abated by the
> > middle of the night (last screen capture was about
> 0930Z).
> >
> > 73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
> >