60m band ham radio beacons

60 meters beacons

DARC beacon project

The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) sponsors two beacons which transmit from Scheggerott, near Kiel (54.6875⁰N - 9.79167⁰E, JO44VQ). ^[8] These beacons are DRA5 on 5195 kHz and DK0WCY on 10144 kHz. In addition to identification and location, every 10 minutes these beacons transmit solar, geomagnetic and ionospheric bulletins. Transmissions are in Morse code (CW) for aural reception, RTTY (45 baud 170 Hz at HH+10) and PSK31 (at HH+50). ^[9] DK0WCY operates also a limited service beacon on 3579 kHz at 0720-0900 and 1600-1900 local time.

RSGB 5 MHz beacon project

The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) operates three radio propagation beacons on 5290 kHz, which transmit in sequence, for one minute each, every 15 minutes. The project includes GB3RAL near Didcot (51.5625⁰N - 1.29167⁰W, IO91IN), GB3WES in Cumbria (54.5625⁰N - 2.625⁰W, IO84QN) and GB3ORK in the Orkney Islands (59.0208⁰N - 3.20833⁰W, IO89JA).

Beacon GB3RAL, which is located at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, also transmits continuously on 28215 kHz and on a number of low VHF frequencies (40050, 50053, 60053 and 70053 kHz).^[10]

ITU sponsored beacons

As part of an International Telecommunications Union-funded project, radio propagation beacons were installed by national authorities at Sveio, Norway (callsign LN2A, 59.6042⁰N - 5.29167⁰E) and at Darwin, Australia (callsign VL8IPS, 12.6042⁰S - 131.2920⁰E). The beacons operated on frequencies 5471.5 kHz, 7871.5 kHz, 10408.5 kHz, 14396.5 kHz, and 20948.5 kHz.^[6] Since 2002, there have been no reception reports for these beacons and the relevant ITU web pages have been removed. ^[7]

HF Field-Strength measurement campaign

For a number of years, ITU-R Study Group 3 has been promoting a world-wide HF field-strength measurement campaign, the impetus for which arose from WARC HFBC-87 and the request for improved accuracy in HF propagation prediction. At that time, the Study Group recognised that significant improvements in HF propagation prediction methods needed a substantial body of new measurement data and to that end, administrations and organisations were invited to participate in the measurement campaign, either by installing suitable transmitters or by collecting long-term data from appropriate receiving systems. The campaign is specified in Recommendation ITU-R P.845 'HF field-strength measurement' and comprises a world-wide network of transmitters and receivers using coded transmissions on pre-determined frequencies.

The reasons for the campaign and the continuing need for participation in it, are underlined in Resolution ITU-R 27 (HF field-strength measurement campaign). So far, regular transmissions are being provided by the Administrations of Australia and Norway. Details of the transmitter in Norway, operated by the Norwegian Telecommunications Authority and Telenor Broadcasting, are given below:

Radio Beacon LN2A

• Identification signal (Morse code): LN2A
• Location: Sveio, Norway 59 deg 37 min N, 5 deg 19 min E
• Hours of transmission: 24 hours per day
• Assigned frequencies: 5471.225 kHz, 7871.225 kHz, 10408.225 kHz, 14396.225 kHz and 20946.225 kHz
• Reference frequencies, corresponding to suppressed carrier frequencies when using suppressed carrier SSB techniques: 5470 kHz, 7870 kHz, 10407 kHz, 14395 kHz and 20945 kHz
• Transmitter: ICOM IC 725 transceiver, IC-4KL PA
• Transmitted power: approximately 1 kW on all frequencies
• Antenna: 5 band trap vertical monopole
• Mode: Suppressed carrier SSB, with the reference frequencies (suppressed carrier frequencies) 1225 Hz below the assigned frequencies, with the FSK "mark" 800 Hz above the reference frequency, and the FSK "space" 1650 Hz above the reference frequency.
• Signal duration and format: as specified in Recommendation ITU-R P.845; 4 min for each frequency, 20 min for all five frequencies according to the following schedule:

Reference frequency (kHz)	Minutes after each hour
14395	00 - 20 - 40
20945	04 - 24 - 44
5470	08 - 28 - 48
7870	12 - 32 - 52
10407	16 - 36 - 56

Administrations and organizations participating in the work of ITU-R are invited to consider the possibility of participating in the campaign, either through the provision of transmissions or by the collection of field strength measurement data, both in accordance with the specifications given in Recommendation ITU-R P.845. For further details on the campaign, including the availability of a suitable receiving system, please contact the ITU-R Counsellor for Study Group 3 (Dr. Kevin A. Hughes) at ITU Headquarters, in Geneva.

The Norwegian Telecommunications Authority and Telenor Broadcasting would be pleased to acknowledge reception reports of LN2A with a QSL card.

The contact address is:

Norwegian Telecommunications Authority (Att. AYO/TF)
P O Box 447 Sentrum
N-0104 Oslo
Norway

In addition to the DARC and RSBG beacon projects on 5195 and 5290 kHz (see below), Eddie Bellerby of UDXF discovered in March 2011 a new CW beacon on 5206 kHz, sending LX0HF, presumably from Luxembourg.^[13] Further intelligence indicates that the beacon is operated by Philippe LX2A/LX7I of the Luxembourg Amateur Radio Society.^[14] Two more european beacons are listed on 5 MHz, OV1BCN on 5290 kHz, operated by OZ1FJB and more or less experimental operation then real beacon by OK1IF on 5258.5 kHz from the Czech Republic on random basis.

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Notes and references

1. Andy Talbot, G4JNT: "Amateur Beacons", Radio User, ISSN 1748-8117, 3(5), pp.56-58 (May 2008). The article includes the following definition for beacons licensed in the Amateur Radio service: A station in the Amateur Service or Amateur Satellite Service that autonomously transmits in a fixed format, which may include repeated data or information, for the study of propagation, determination of frequency or bearing, or for other experimental purposes.
2. Andy Talbot, G4JNT: "Amateur Beacons", Radio User, ISSN 1748-8117, 3(8), pp. 30-33 (August =2008)
3. New IARU Region 2 bandplan introduced in January 2008
4. Amateur Radio UK VHF Bandplan, Great Yarmouth Radio Club
5. International Beacon Project by the Northern California DX Foundation (2008)
6. HF 0-20 MHz beacons
7. ITU Resolution ITU-R 27/1993: HF Field-strength measurement campaign (PDF)
8. Aurora beacon DKØWCY by Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club e.V.(DARC), 2004.
9. Pat Hawker, G3VA: "The DK0WCY/DRA5 Propagation Beacons", Technical Topics Scrapbook - All 50 years, Radio Society of Great Britain, ISBN 9781-9050-8639-9, pp. 98 (2008)
10. Mike Willis, G0MJW: "The GB3RAL VHF Beacon cluster", RadCom, 84(04), Radio Society of Great Britain, pp. 65-59, April 2008
11. The Four meters website: 70 MHz beacon list
12. The Four meters website: RSGB 4m bandplan
13. Southgate Amateur Radio Club: Luxembourg 60m beacon LX0HF
14. Luxembourg: Une balise sur 60m LX0HF Radioamateurs-Online, March 11, 2011.

Callsign	Frequency	Locator	Details
DRA5	5195.0 kHz	JO44VQ	DARC
LX0HF	5205.3 kHz
OK1IF	5258.5 kHz	JO40HG	Recording: [1]
GB3RAL	5290.0 kHz	IO91IN	RSGB
GB3WES	5290.0 kHz	IO84QN	RSGB
GB3ORK	5290.0 kHz	IO89JA	RSGB
OV1BCN	5290.0 kHz	JO55SI	Op OZ1FJB [2]

OX - DXCC #16 on 60m

Hi,

another new one on Tropical band reached > Greenland, OX3XR.

Peter, OX3XR had unfortunatelly broken the LF antennas so we had to postpone the sked for month or so. Due to very cold weather Peter was not able to come to his country QTH so it was impossible to repair all of them. We tried to make QSO from his fixed QTH but due to noisy band we did not managed QSO.

I was worried if I will hear the sigs comming from Peter so I turned my rx antenna to OX direction to be ready for our sked. After month or so I got an email that Peter repaired his antennas and he will go to the country QTH for the weekend. Unfortunatelly the weather turned again and Peter decided to not go there. So one week after Peter successfully arrived to the country QTH. After cleaning away tons of snow around the cabin and making the fire he turned ON the radio. I heard his calling CQ and although band was rather noisy we managed very nice QSO 2-way CW on 5261kHz.

Thanks to Peter, OX3XR and his willingness to spend time with repairing antennas in the hard cold weather etc. I was able to work my DXCC #16 on the Tropical band !!!

Thank You Peter and CUL on the band quite often.

73 - Petr, OK1RP

Sunset-watchers on 5MHz by Peter, G3PLX

Hi,

I notice several groups of 5MHz operators working each other around sunset, waiting for the skip to fade. Stations close to each other fade out first followed by those further apart. The more northerly paths will fade-out earlier that the southerly paths. It's fascinating to experience this, especially if you haven't studied it closely before. It's also quite surprising how quickly signals on a particular path can vanish.


However, I note that some people keep a close eye on the local sunset times and have grey-line maps available, and seem to be expecting that there is something 'magic' about the precise time at which the sun sets. This is all wrong.

The propagation mode in use on 5MHz around the UK at sunset is almost certainly via the F layer, which is at a height of approximately 300km. For a particular path, the relevant part of the F-layer is that which is above the midpoint of the path. If sunset has ANY significance at all in this matter, then it's going to be sunset at this point on the F-layer, not sunset on the ground.

If the sun is just setting on the ground, it will still be shining at a height of 300km, and a few quick calculations shows that the terminator (the grey-line) will be some 1800km displaced from the ground-level terminator. F-layer sunset will be more than an hour later than it is on the ground. If we were really concerned about precise sunset times, we should calculate it for the height of the ionosphere, not at sea level.

However, this isn't the whole story. At ground level we are familiar with the fact that it gets dark suddenly as the sun drops below the horizon and this visual phenomenon would still apply at the height of the F-layer. However the ionisation level doesn't drop suddenly when sunlight vanishes. Free electrons hang around for hours at this height and there's a slow decay in the critical frequency, not a sudden drop. Study of the FXi figures on the Chilton or Fairford ionosonde websites will confirm this. Indeed the critical frequency starts to drop several hours BEFORE sunset. This is simply because of the shallower angle - a given amount of solar radiation is spread over a larger area of the ionosphere as the sun moves further away from the zenith.

All of which brings me to the point of this posting. It's true to say that the sun sets later in summer and it's also true to say that 5MHz stays open later in summer, so it does make sense to run tests like this progressively later as the months go by but there is no significance in the precise timing of ground-level sunset.

73
Peter, G3PLX

Texas on tropical band - US State #8

Hi all,

Unbelieving conditions - excellent score tonite.

I worked Frank, K9HMB with 58 peaking 59+ over here. His signal was so strong that I did not believed it's not hijacked callsign! Frank was for me US State #7 from Illinois. Then after I was called by Les, K4DY from NC with his nice 57! Also very strong and clear signal and we managed very nice QSO.

After I set another trial with Charles, K5SUL from TX. After almost 30mins of trials and several QSYs from QRMed channels to another one we managed correct QSO with 449 report for me and 34 report for him. Very hard job on both sides.

Interesting conditions tonite. After several calls Charles sigs fall down and I was not confident as Charles reported the same with my signal on his side in TX. We tried it again and 5mins after his sigs jumped out from the noise for very short period. Luckily at that time I hrd crystal's clean report for me. After his sigs went down under noise. As Charles reported in his email after he has to wait for the same situation in TX. My sigs were down and nil cpy. But 5-6mins after my sigs came up and Charles cpied his report correctly! In min or two my sigs again fall down to noise. It sounds like sine wave oscillating of the propagation between Czech and Texas been there with 5mins periods.


It was real challenge and big excitement for us both I gues as we tried to make QSO for more than 5 weeks nite by nite!!! Few times we almost finished it successfully but one of us did not received correct report so QSO failed... We tried SS in Texas then also SS in Czech...nil. Then - several weeks after we managed finally QSO... tonite! I gave to Charles his new one #57 and for me it was new and rare US State for WAS60. Also it is new distance record which is breaking QSO with San, K5YY from AR to my QTH I guess. (Sri San, I have to check who is winner on the web calculator...)

Really excited after hard job and I would like to thanks to Charles, K5SUL for his patience and effort to spend so much time to make just one QSO!

73 - Petr, OK1RP

TF - DXCC #15 on 60m

Hello,

I am happy to say DXCC #15 is reached.

On 5/2/11 I worked Tor, TF3GW on 5260kHz using CW. If You are wondered what is unique on the TF on Tropical band then be awared that it is on CW... Lot of stations from TF is active on the 60m band but no CW ops unfortunatelly. Even the cross mode QSO was the problem so I really long time looked for some op who will be so nice to make QSO over there on CW.

Tor, TF3GW has setup on country QTH so it was no easy for him to go there because of lot of snow everywhere... finally he was able to come to country QTH and arrange the setup on 60m. The conditions were nice and we made QSO including some short chat.

Thank You very much Tor for Your willingness and very nice QSO. It gave me new one #15 on 60m!

73 - Petr, OK1RP

Solar flux/Sunspot index vs. QSOs logged

Hello,

as I got some emails regarding the relationship between the Solar flux, Sunspots, A-index and QSOs on LB there I am posting quick analyze from last few weeks...

All green line markers in the chart represents more than 2 QSOs on 60m band and 160m band outside EU in my log. In most cases I worked 5-6 QSOs on the low bands using 100W and my small antennas (base coil loaded half sloper for 160m w/apex 11m and inverted Z dipole w/apex 9m).

All of the good nites corresponding to a bit higher A-index and low Solar flux/Sunspot numbers in the chart.

Any comments from LB DXers are highly welcomed.

73 - Petr, OK1RP

Terrific propagation on 60m this weekend (w03)

Hello,

so I have to say unfortunatelly that after several trials during last 4 days I still did not worked Texas on Tropical band...

We arranged several skeds with Charles, K5SUL but without success. I realized that the Solar flux and Sunspot numbers were very high compare to last week so I did not expected anything special.



What was interesting this weekend on the 60m band was so directional conditions. After my calling on 5261/FA channel QSX upper channel for USA on Sat nite I got the call from Garry, K4AVC with very nice signal comes from NC. I was delighted to work him and I was a bit confident to make some another one from USA.

I spent 2 hrs on band but I did not worked anybody (few skeds failed) and even I did not received anybody on band. Also on ch5 there was no traffic.

Does anybody met this directional conditions on Tropical band also during high levels of Solar flux and Sunspot indexes?

73 - Petr, OK1RP