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Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20030108150626.02478440@gemini.herts.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2003 15:47:05 +0000
To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
From: "James Moritz" <j.r.moritz@herts.ac.uk>
In-reply-to: <F69JLpyVtsJNocSGknP0001f35a@hotmail.com>
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Subject: Re: LF: 137Khz
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Dear Lawrence, LF Group,

At 11:45 30/12/2002 -0900, you wrote:

> From Laurence aka Flo AL1V (G4DMA) BP41xd 10Kms SW Anchorage Alaska.
>
>Hi Im now QRV on Rx on this band using Argo 131
>
>The 138.8Khz Eu beacon signal is audible to S9+ in the mornings before 
>2030Z and from 2300Z. (It is very variable on a minute to min basis)
>
>Long wave stations are even audible thru my winter dayliight hours with 
>France Inter on 162 and others on 153 sometimes HI quality. BBC R4 is 
>never strong and is very close to the local US NDB's
>
>If we take this as a good indicator of band conditions,Id be interested to 
>know how strong this beacon is being received on the Eastern states at the 
>time that Eu stations are audible...there may be a chance..we are about 
>6000Kms from the UK.


Nice to have another part of the world to aim at....
DCF39 on 138.83k has about 40kW ERP, so will be roughly 50dB up on most 
amateur signals of somewhat less than 1W ERP. So if DCF39 gives about 
20-30dB SNR in a few hundred Hz CW bandwidth, it should be possible to copy 
European signals using QRSS signals with small fractions of a Hz bandwidth. 
Of course, what that translates to on the S meter depends very much on that 
particular meter! W4DEX has received several European signals over a 
similar distance, but a somewhat different path, so I guess Alaska should 
be quite feasible

>The path to Europe tends to cross a large cross section of the Au Oval but 
>whether this is going to make a large difference to prop unless under 
>extreme proton events I dont know.

It would certainly be interesting to see what the difference is in 
propagation to Alaska compared to other parts of the USA - As well as that, 
I would expect you will get considerably less thunderstorm QRN than in the 
more southern states, which would certainly help reception.

Wishing you good luck on LF,

Cheers, Jim Moritz
73 de M0BMU