[NLRS] Status of 2m beacons?

Wed Jun 16 11:02:18 EDT 2010

 We had a 1296 beacon here in EN50uc for a while. It was provided by Garry
K3SIW. It blew a final module and he took it back.

Ever since then I've been thinking about putting another 1296 beacon up
somewhere. Probably aimed north. I haven't found a good location for it yet,
though.

73, Zack W9SZ

On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 9:55 AM, Todd Sprinkmann <sprinkies at excel.net>wrote:

>
>
>
>    You should definitely go forward with the beacon.   Guys
> don't talk about them much, but when they are not on the air,
> they are sorely missed.   I've gotten all sorts of email from guys
> way SW and S of here who relied heavily on the 144.297
> WD9BGA/B, near Blue Mounds, just WSW of Madison.
> That beacon really got out, *AND* it definitely drew
> RF toward our part of the world.    With your QTH, your
> beacon would be a very effective one.   If I had tech skills,
> I'd personally come over and fast track this project for
> completion in time for good summer/early fall propagation.
> I can't believe it's that time consuming to finish, assuming
> you have all the necessary components.
>
>    Hardly anyone will care that your beacon goes off for
> contests.   Many others do that with their beacons, too.
> 99-98% up-time would be excellent.
>
>    I would be checking your proposed beacons every time I
> go out to the shed.   I enjoy comparing signal strengths over
> time.   A 432 beacon would be great, too.   I am not sure if
> N0EDV's 432 beacon up on Timm's Hill (?) was temporary
> or permanent.   I do know the only "local" 432 beacon for
> me is on 432.300 out of Grand Haven, far W MI.
>
>    I hope others here and/or on the BC list (or the LSE/Winona
> lists) will help you make this happen.
>
>    I'll also be curious to see what the recommended power
> levels are.   My sense would be to make it a respectable
> figure (5-10w) so it can be a true DX beacon.
>
>    73,
>    Todd  KC9BQA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Palm" <thepalmhq at gmail.com>
> To: "NLRS Reflector" <nlrs at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 9:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [NLRS] Status of 2m beacons?
>
>
> >
> >
> > I'm glad this issue of beacons came up.
> >
> > I'll preface this by saying that I have a lot more ambition than I
> > have
> > time.  So too often my ideas don't see the light of day.  That being
> > said, I
> > have a really nice QTH for VHF-UHF beacons here in EN43.  Our farm
> > sits at
> > about 1250 ft asl and I have a silo on the property with the dome at
> > 70 ft.
> > above ground.  It's a commanding view from up there.  I intend
> > eventually to
> > plant an antenna farm up there and it seems like a pretty great place
> > for
> > beacons.  If I knew that it would serve a real purpose, that they
> > would
> > really be used, I would have additional motivation to get something
> > done.
> >
> > I've had it in mind to place at least 144 and 432 transverters up
> > there just
> > under the dome and run IF cables back to the house (have the hardline
> > already.)  If those transverters were used, say, 99% of the time as
> > beacons
> > and the other 1% of the time to operate in nets, contests, etc. is
> > that
> > acceptable to most?  Is 99% of a loaf better than none?  Or is it too
> > frustrating not to be able to count on a beacon 24-7?
> >
> > I'm wondering in general how many people on this list actually utilize
> > beacons on a regular basis?  What would you like to see band-wise,
> > power-wise, etc.?  And if a guy was going to do this on a budget, what
> > would
> > be the recommended equipment set-up?
> >
> > As always, I've learned a lot by the expertise on this group.
> >
> > Thanks and 73,
> >
> > David  W9HQ
> >
> >
> >
> > On 6/15/10, Bill Davis Jr <cqbilld at msn.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>   Does anyone know anything about the current status of the EN43 and
> >> the
> >> EN53 beacons? Bruce was asking me at Aurora and I didn't know
> >> anything about
> >> them. I know after Jerry HCZ passed away that his son was going to
> >> continue
> >> with the EN43 beacon. I in the past heard both of these beacons in
> >> the
> >> summer reliably. Not strong all the time, but I would hear them if I
> >> set on
> >> the freq for a few min. Often the EN53 beacon was heard as well as
> >> the EN43
> >> beacon. Now for many months I have heard very little from either of
> >> them.
> >> With "summer" close at hand, I would think prop would be "back".
> >>
> >> I think it was W9GM that said that he thought the EN53 beacon had
> >> been on
> >> and off quite a bit recently. Anyone know anything more?
> >>
> >> As near as I can tell, things are "ok" here, but we all know slow
> >> changes
> >> in equipment performance is difficult to detect. The rotator loop has
> >> been
> >> on the tower MANY years.
> >>
> >> TNX and 73  Bill  K0AWU  EN37ed
> >>
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