[NLRS] FYI: Optical QSO

Tue Apr 15 14:12:16 EDT 2025

Thanks Mary,
Thats some great info.
Rob - K0XL

On Tue, Apr 15, 2025 at 1:05 PM Mary Brown <maryalanab at gmail.com> wrote:

> This is on county 91 going south from Russel, MN(on hwy 23 SW of
> Marshall)... would need to explore the gravel roads for best high spots but
> I know there are areas where you can see many many miles...
>
>
>
> https://www.google.com/maps/@44.2941576,-95.9579654,3a,75y,352.17h,89.95t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sN9ni2Nv1cdWhDRY-1GtTAg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0.048316662613927974%26panoid%3DN9ni2Nv1cdWhDRY-1GtTAg%26yaw%3D352.1720116027542!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
>
>
> This hwy 23 NE of Marshall, MN... that hazy line way out in the distance
> is Buffalo Ridge... there are better spots but no google earth views from a
> lot of the roads out here... would need to get out and drive it and explore
> to find the best spots... west of Marshall there are some good views...
> find the line of wind turbines like this view... that is a LONG drive out
> to the far view... find a hill out there to work back from...
>
>
>
> https://www.google.com/maps/@43.9789571,-96.0093187,3a,90y,85.17h,98.78t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smtFCiobxKVi_HmnvuDsR4w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-8.777722089388448%26panoid%3DmtFCiobxKVi_HmnvuDsR4w%26yaw%3D85.16528850348593!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
>
>
> That is some wide open country out there... farm groves would be the main
> obstacles!
>
>
> Mary
>
> W0AAT
>
>
> On 4/15/2025 12:12 PM, Rob Jahnke wrote:
>
> Thanks Mary.
> Is it possible to show some  of those possibilities on a Google Earth Map?
> The problem I have found is the elevations look good, but in real life
> there are "always" trees :-)
> Rob - K0XL
>
> On Tue, Apr 15, 2025 at 11:55 AM Mary Brown <maryalanab at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From Buffalo Ridge near Marshall looking NW to NE there are quite a few
>> 35+ mile paths... Would need to explore for good spots to work from but at
>> around 1900 feet elevation dropping to 1100 where I am you have a decent
>> height advantage
>>
>>
>> Mary
>>
>> W0AAT
>> On 4/15/2025 11:20 AM, Jon Platt via NLRS wrote:
>>
>> Regarding finding longer line-of-sight paths here in the plains of
>> Minnesota, a few ideas.
>>
>>
>>    - Kiester, EN33EN03.  Southwest of Albert Lea, so not too far away.
>>    Being in southern MN trees are less of a problem then corn.  The Kiester
>>    location is essentially tree free in almost all directions and has 12 to
>>    20+ mile horizons.
>>    - Monticello EN35CG, the Montiview Mountain Bike Course.  Not to far
>>    away from Mpls.  Views from west through north thru northeast in the 12 to
>>    15 miles range.  More trees up this way may make finding the other end more
>>    difficult.
>>    - Darwin, EN25tc.  Darwin Winter Park Area.  Bad news is that its
>>    about a 1/4 mile hike from the parking lot, but nice views in most
>>    directions.  Would need to lug all your stuff up the hill, but not bad.
>>     There are some 18 mile LOS.  Trees are fewer.  Be a fun spot to do a QRP
>>    Hilltop operation from.
>>    - EN25VJ72IG south of St. Augusta.  Some views to the east around 16
>>    miles
>>    - Summit, SD.  EN15lj.  Wilmont Welcome Center.  Some 25 to maybe 30+
>>    LOS paths.  Trees are less of a problem unless there a farmstead wind break.
>>
>>
>>
>> 73, Jon
>> W0ZQ
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 10:10:11 AM CDT, Rob Jahnke
>> <rcjahnke at gmail.com> <rcjahnke at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> It's great to see some interest in optical communications again.
>> Warren (WF0T) and I (Rob - K0XL) made a presentation about our Optical
>> experiments at Aurora 2019. Warren made the same presentation at CSVHFS in
>> July and at MUD in MUD in October of 2019..
>> The presentations are available at https://sites.google.com/view/k0xl .
>> Just scroll down past the more recent presentations.
>>
>> One thing that might be of interest is the modulator which runs on an
>> Arduino ATTiny85. It features an iambic keyer function for CW as well as an
>> audio modulator for voice/music. It also has a beacon mode where the power
>> is stepped down in -3dB steps for signal strength measurements. The
>> schematic and code is available in the appendix section.
>>
>> I think Warren has exceeded 10 miles (16km) for a QSO. The biggest
>> problem we have in MN/WI is finding long line of site paths. At the end of
>> the presentation, we outlined the possibility of testing a 50 km  (32mi)
>> path from Duluth to a Wisconsin Park along the south shore. We also had
>> some ideas about testing "Over the Horizon" paths considering the
>> refraction of light in the atmosphere.
>>
>> Maybe there will be enough interest to resume some of this activity :-)
>>
>> See you all at Aurora 2025 June 7th.
>> Rob - K0XL
>>  .
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 15, 2025 at 12:10 AM Glen Overby <gpoverby at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> They're using a receiver design by VE2UG, which is based on the one by
>> KA7OEI and K0XL.  Transmit is a PWM generator they bought on Amazon.
>>
>> I'm collecting parts for a system.
>>
>> 73,
>> Glen
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 14, 2025 at 11:14 AM Jon Platt via NLRS <nlrs at mailman.qth.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Some of us through the years have played with optical contacts.  Here is
>> a link to W1VLFs YouTube video discussing and showing his 940 Nm 14 mile
>> QSO.  The QSB and seeing the half power reduction testing is interesting.
>> https://youtu.be/OXYJw9PyHd8
>>
>> 73, Jon
>> W0ZQ
>>
>>
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