[Lowfer] Bedtime lowFER report 12-7-20

[John Andrews]

On 12/7/2020 11:34 PM, Andy - KU4XR via Lowfer wrote:
> GE All:
> Nice to see a good run of TAG decodes already
> 02:58:38 f:-0.107 pm:58.14 jm:379 q: -1.8 -5.7 TAG RAYMOND ME  -

Andy,

Thanks for the report. As the weather has gotten colder here, the 
daytime TAG signal is much better at 130 miles. Still get deep fades in 
the mid-morning and mid-afternoon. The beacon continues to perform its 
other function of letting me know if the power is on at the Maine 
cottage. My wife is deeply addicted to the outside camera that looks out 
over the lake up there. The video has gone out a couple of times (and 
come back), but TAG has shown no big interruption.

Which gives an opportunity to point out another "feature" of these 
build-up-copy modes: If the signal goes away, the WOLF decoder will keep 
right on reporting copy, though the SNR will gradually get worse. 
Depending on signal strength, you might wait 15 minutes or more before 
the noise wins the battle, and the infinite number of monkeys start 
banging on their typewriters. I remember this being reported in daytime 
mobile tests of Lowfer BPSK signals around 20 years ago.

So, my use of TAG to watch for power outages does have its limitations.

John, W1TAG