[PPRAANet] HF Propagation Checks

[W0rw at aol.com]

HF Propagation checks can be easily made by tuning in to the International 
Beacon Network on 14.100, 18.110, 21.150, 24.930 or 28.200 MHz. 

If you have a good Atomic Clock (WWVB) or accurate clock you can identify the 

beacons without even knowing the morse code.
You can check the propagation on a band in 3 minutes.

The beacons are all over the world and transmit in a 3 minute cycle.

Each beacon has a 10 second slot, They send their call sign (CW at 22 WPM) 
followed by 1 Dash at 100w, then 3 dashes at10W, then 1W then 0.1W. If you can 
hear all the dashes, the band is really open.

On 18MHz (YV5B in Venezuela) the cycle starts at 00 at the beginning of the 
hour and repeats the cycle every 3 minutes: 03, 06, 09, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 
30, 33, 36, 39, 42, 45, 48, 51, 54, 57..minutes past the hour. 
The start time is different for each frequency band, see below:


Call        Location    14.100  18.110   21.150  24.930 28.200 

4U1UN     U.N. NYC      00:00   00:10      00:20   00:30   00:40   

VE8AT     No.Canada   00:10   00:20     00:30   00:40   00:50   

W6WX      CA, SF        00:20   00:30     00:40    00:50   01:00   

KH6WO    Hawaii        00:30   OFF        00:50    OFF      01:10   

ZL6B       NewZealand 00:40   00:50     01:00   01:10   01:20   

VK6RBP  Australia     00:50   01:00     01:10   01:20   01:30   

JA2IGY   Japan           01:00   01:10     01:20   01:30   01:40   

RR9O      Russia         01:10   01:20     01:30   01:40   01:50   

VR2B      Hong Kong   01:20   01:30     01:40   01:50   02:00   

4S7B      Sri Lanka    01:30   01:40     01:50   02:00   02:10   

ZS6DN    S. Africa     01:40   01:50     02:00   02:10   02:20   

5Z4B      Kenya           01:50   02:00     02:10   02:20   02:30   

4X6TU   Israel           02:00    02:10     02:20   02:30   02:40   

OH2B     Finland         02:10   02:20     02:30    02:40   02:50   

CS3B     Madeira        02:20   02:30     02:40    02:50   00:00   

LU4AA   Argentina     02:30   02:40     02:50    00:00   00:10   

OA4B     Peru             02:40   02:50     00:00    00:10   00:20         

YV5B    Venezuela      02:50   00:00     00:10    00:20   00:30


For complete information go to the NCDXF web site:

 http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html

Paul  w0rw