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Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 16:30:20 -0500
From: Andre Kesteloot <andre.kesteloot@verizon.net>
To: Tacos <tacos@amrad.org>,  rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
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Subject: LF: ARRL 500 kHz EXPERIMENT KICKING INTO HIGH GEAR
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=3D=3D>ARRL 500 kHz EXPERIMENT KICKING INTO HIGH GEAR

The group of Amateur Radio operators researching the radio spectrum i=
n the
vicinity of 500 kHz already have recorded a few successes. The 500 KC
Experimental Group for Amateur Radio <http://www.500kc.com/> is opera=
ting
under Part 5 experimental license WD2XSH, which the FCC Office of
Engineering and Technology granted September 13 to the ARRL. Project =
manager
Fritz Raab, W1FR, says WD2XSH participants have been heard across bot=
h the
Atlantic and the Pacific as well as all around the US.

"Things took off much faster than I had ever imagined," Raab told ARR=
L early
this month. "Eleven station are on the air now." Others in the 21-sta=
tion
group included on the Experimental license continue efforts to cobble
together the transmitting and antenna systems necessary to put out a =
signal
on what group members call "the 600 meter band."

Raab says the 600-meter signal of well-known low-frequency enthusiast=
 "Dex"
McIntyre, W4DEX, in North Carolina -- operating as WD2XSH/10 -- was c=
opied
October 10 in Germany using very slow-speed CW (QRSS). Other stations=
 have
since duplicated that feat. Rudy Severns, N6LF, operating as WD2XSH/2=
0 from
Oregon, not only is heard regularly throughout the western half of th=
e US
but has been copied in Hawaii and, possibly, in New Zealand, Raab say=
s,
noting that the New Zealand reception was "not sufficiently clear" to=
 make a
claim.

While not a part of the experimental group, Ralph Wallio, W0RPK, has =
assumed
the role of official record keeper and has noted more than two dozen =
one-way
reception reports of more than 1000 miles. The list included "by ear"=
 CW
reception from Colorado to Massachusetts, nearly 1800 miles. The best
distance as of earlier this week: 4515 miles from Conard Murray, WS4S=
,
operating as WD2XSH/11 in Tennessee to Germany using QRSS (reception =
using
computer software).

Operating as WD2XSH/14 from Vermont, Raab says he's managed three QSO=
s with
his "meager 42-foot vertical" -- New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Nor=
th
Carolina -- plus reception in Ohio. He envisions at least a secondary
600-meter Amateur Radio allocation from 495 to 510 kHz that would sup=
port
Amateur Radio emergency communication via groundwave.

The two-year WD2XSH authorization permits experimentation and researc=
h
between 505 and 510 kHz using narrowband modes at power levels of up =
to 20 W
effective radiated power (ERP). The Midwest stations are limited to 5=
05 to
508 kHz for the time being, Raab notes. The first QSO took place Sept=
ember
21 between the stations in Tennessee and North Carolina =97 a distanc=
e of some
300 miles.

To get on the air, WD2XSH participants have repurposed some older gea=
r and
even some text equipment. Paul Signorelli, W0RW, operating as WD2XSH/=
21 from
Colorado, has modified a vintage Heath DX-100 transmitter for LF CW
operation. "I match the DX-100 output to a 5-turn link of #10 wire," =
he
reported in a detailed description of how he was able to get the old =
rig to
transmit just below the AM broadcast band. Getting "down there" point=
s up
the need to increase physical component size by several orders of mag=
nitude.

"The link is on a 13-inch diameter cardboard hoop," Signorelli contin=
ues.
"It slips up and down over the antenna loading coil and is adjusted f=
or
lowest SWR." That antenna loading coil itself is a foot in diameter, =
wound
with #10 solid, insulated wire. A 30-gallon trash can provides the
weatherproofing for the coil. The DX-100 generates 100 W of RF on 500=
 kHz.
Signorelli advises against using conventional-sized coax. "This trans=
mitter
will smoke your coax if you have high SWR," he said. He's using hardl=
ine
instead.

While Raab notes that while the current license cannot accommodate mo=
re
participants, he plans to re-evaluate the situation in a year. "At th=
at
time, we may request a revision to the license that makes substitutio=
ns for
stations that have not gotten on the air and possibly add some new
stations," he says on the group's Web site. "Substitutes and addition=
s will
be selected based upon their potential to contribute to the experimen=
t." He
cautions, "This is an experimental license, not just ham radio on a n=
ew
frequency!"

The experimental group does invite reception reports
<http://w5jgv.com/500kcreportform.htm> of transmissions made by group
members. You do not have to be a member of the experimental team to s=
end a
reception report.