[Lowfer] SIW (WM) in CT

[N8OOU]

Jay,

Thanks for the capture showing the WM beacon. I am personally happy to 
see that you were able to acquire enough to bits to make an ID.

I am not taking your comments as throwing stones. For that past couple 
years I have seen that WM can not compete with the signal strength of 
others in the band. I know there are several contributing factors in 
that equation. My current configuration is running about 75 mA of 
antenna current, and I can light only three bulbs of an NE-2 tree.

I will be the first to admit my lack of LF technical expertise, and test 
equipment to put a first rate station on the air.  Also contributing is 
the amount of funding for this hobby.

A third factor is the physical location of the beacon. A look at the FCC 
ground conductivity map shows the beacon is located in a grade 8 portion 
of the state, compared to other areas of IL which are 15.  Two thirds of 
my farm is river bottom ground where the Wabash river run long ago, the 
rest is a 30+ foot higher sandbar created by the river which is where 
the transmitter/antenna are located.

I have been trying different configurations of antennas over the past 2 
years to improve the signal including using an Ashlock Loop with his 
hardware. I am currently working to construct the next antenna revision. 
There is a possibility that no matter what I construct, or how much 
money I spend, I will never have a strong signal compared to my peers 
because of my location.

Thanks for listening.

73   de   N8OOU - Mike Meek

On 01/13/2017 06:35 AM, jrusgrove at comcast.net wrote:
> Nice quiet morning with SIW peaking 20 dB out of the noise. Full capture at
> http://www.w1vd.com/grabber.html .
>
> Note the difference in signal level between SIW and WM ... WM not visible for
> the most part. SIW is 787 miles at a heading of 276 degrees ... WM is 798 miles
> at a heading of 260 degrees ... an inconsequential difference. This leads me to
> believe
> there's a problem at WM. Perhaps the transmitter is not developing full power, the antenna isn't
> really at resonance,
> there's a problem with the antenna coupling system or the ground system resistance is extraordinarily high. I've
> received all of the midwest beacons that have been on the air over the past 16
> years ... most with similar signal levels to that of SIW.
>
> Not throwing stones here ... just trying to point out a potential problem at
> WM. I'm looking forward to seeing a more robust WM one of these days!
>
> Jay W1VD  WD2XNS  WE2XGR/2
>
>
>
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