Received: from post.thorcom.com (post.thorcom.com [195.171.43.25]) by mtain-mc02.r1000.mx.aol.com (Internet Inbound) with ESMTP id 7A6F73800035C; Thu, 30 Jun 2011 05:17:57 -0400 (EDT) Received: from majordom by post.thorcom.com with local (Exim 4.14) id 1QcDMC-0008Dr-VM for rs_out_1@blacksheep.org; Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:16:20 +0100 Received: from [195.171.43.32] (helo=relay1.thorcom.net) by post.thorcom.com with esmtp (Exim 4.14) id 1QcDMB-0008Di-P7 for rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org; Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:16:19 +0100 Received: from out1.ip03ir2.opaltelecom.net ([62.24.128.239]) by relay1.thorcom.net with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1QcDM9-0007IE-6p for rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org; Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:16:19 +0100 X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Filtered: true X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Result: AvkAAAU+DE5Ok8E8/2dsb2JhbABSlASEII8vd4h6v1GGMQSCSpR4ixw X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="4.65,449,1304290800"; d="scan'208,217";a="351996843" Received: from unknown (HELO xphd97xgq27nyf) ([78.147.193.60]) by out1.ip03ir2.opaltelecom.net with SMTP; 30 Jun 2011 10:16:10 +0100 Message-ID: <002301cc3706$51067190$0401a8c0@xphd97xgq27nyf> From: "mal hamilton" To: References: <16BC8B3CA8672445BC2A29B4C14A26D4379ED2AAB4@exlnmb01.eur.nsroot.net> <4DF9EFD1.5010208@iup.uni-heidelberg.de> <4DFB7D4F.5020707@iup.uni-heidelberg.de> <4DFD1479.7070107@dsl.pipex.com> <4DFDEE00.4010803@iup.uni-heidelberg.de> Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:15:54 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 X-Spam-Score: 0.0 (/) X-Spam-Report: autolearn=disabled,HTML_MESSAGE=0.001 Subject: Re: VLF: DK7FC's 11th VLF kite experiment Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0020_01CC370E.B2778970" X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.63 (2004-01-11) on post.thorcom.com X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.5 required=5.0 tests=HTML_MESSAGE,HTML_TITLE_EMPTY autolearn=no version=2.63 X-SA-Exim-Scanned: Yes Sender: owner-rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org X-Listname: rsgb_lf_group X-SA-Exim-Rcpt-To: rs_out_1@blacksheep.org X-SA-Exim-Scanned: No; SAEximRunCond expanded to false x-aol-global-disposition: G X-AOL-SCOLL-SCORE: 0:2:513350208:93952408 X-AOL-SCOLL-URL_COUNT: 0 x-aol-sid: 3039ac1d604a4e0c3f456bfc X-AOL-IP: 195.171.43.25 X-AOL-SPF: domain : blacksheep.org SPF : none This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0020_01CC370E.B2778970 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Stefan I was also able to copy your Trace at QRS30. I tried a range of speeds = and below QRS30 your trace was not visible. I have just returned from GI3KEV/TYRONE DXPEDITION, CW MODE all HF = bands, no LF/MF, not enough CW acty to justify the effort. 73 es GL de Mal/G3KEV ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Stefan Sch=E4fer=20 To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org ; Renato Romero ; Paul ; Bernd Grupe=20 Cc: Matthias Kirschenstein=20 Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2011 1:39 PM Subject: Re: VLF: DK7FC's 11th VLF kite experiment Dear VLF group and further observers and interests, After another very succesful 11th VLF kite experiment i want to give a = final report and summarise the observations. First, a big thank you to Markus/DF6NM and Marco/DD7PC who have been = in phone contact to me, keping the contact to the LF reflector and gave = me feedback about the receivers side. Thanks and congratulations to the RX stations in this experiment! = Activity has been relatively poor, relatively. This may be caused by the = holiday season and expected lower chances for a successful reception due = to the high summer QRN? ;-) The best DX seems to be 2404 km, to Halldor's / TF3HZ VLF grabber in = Iceland, with amazing SNR despite the summer season and its significant = higher QRN. The first time my signal was received in Romania (Bucharest, = KN34AL) by YO/4X1RF (grabber). An overview of the successful RX stations = (including grabbers) can be found here: = http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19882028/VLF/11th_VLF_exp_RXstations.png Further overview will come soon. Also thanks to those who tried without success: 4X1RF, RN3AUS, DL4RAJ, = VE2IQ ... as far as i know. Don't give up, i'm sure it is worth to try = in the next experiment! I definitely will improve things the next time. = Furthermore it have been less than optimal conditions in this = experiment, see in my report below.=20 Now a report what happend on the TX side: I arrived on the hill about 5:30 UTC (7:30 local). Since the sky was = overcast i called Marco/DD7PC to inform me if there are lightnings = detected in DL. I waited some time with a decision if i should start = building up or aborting the experiment. Then it started to rain and i = had to wait about 1 hour. But then i remembered that i have to be = optimistic, since it is the Dreamers Band! So i started to build up the = station, while the rain stopped. Unfortunately the coil dropped on the bottom and got a strong scratch = on the upper part of the winding. Some turns may cause a short cut now = :-( I will have to replace 100m wire or so :-( Anyway, the upper turns = are needed for transmissions on 5170 Hz but not for 6470 Hz and 8970 Hz = and so i was able to start anyway.=20 I started to come on air at about 9 UTC on 8970 Hz. Since its summer = here, the fields are coverd by corn so things were a bit more difficult = and lossy. But it was raining just before and so i seemed to have a low = earth resistance and got up to 1 A antenna current (900 mA average) on = 8970 Hz. Again i used 2 massive earth rods (about 0.5 m into the soil) = pus the copper plate and got earth losses of about 100 Ohm and coil = losses of about 185 Ohm on 8970 Hz. The cheep generator just gave about 250 W TX power. This is very = annoying. I will definitely use another generator the next time which = will give a stable 900 W or even 4 kW. Unfortunately the wind was unstable with strong blasts. So i had to = use the "small" kite (3.6 m^2). Often, the kite line and so the wire was = sagging much and so the resonance and thus the antenna current often = changed. Thus, the average ERP must have been significantly lower, maybe = about 10 dB. But the peak ERP must have been in the range of 50 mW which = sounds good for just 250 W TX power! But despite the summer time (QRN) and suboptimal wind conds there was = good reception in Iceland, and UK, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, = Austria, Czech Republic and Poland! Since there was no copy in Israel/4X = i decided to transmit a longer carrier, maybe to appear in the DFCW-2400 = grabber window of 4X1RF. I got the feedback that some stations receive = me in DFCW-60, e.g. G3ZJO, DF6NM, OK2BVG, G3KEV. Thus i sent "73 DK7FC" = in DFCW-60 after that. Thanks for the screenshots! A new old notebook was used for this experiment, completely new WinXP = installed and nothing except SL V2.76_b18. The soundcard samplerate = drift was compensated within SpecLab, that did an essential job again = (TNX Wolf/DL4YHF). The reference was the 10 kHz signal of my GPS = receiver. No phase glitches seem to have occured. Partly there was a = somewhat broader signal appearing on the grabbers. This may be caused by = the kite movement, causing some kind of AM of the signal. Paul Nicholson = determined my TX frequency to be: "Frequency: 8969.999945Hz =B1 1uHz ".=20 After that i changed to 6470 Hz which was done i a minute or so. I = achieved about 750 mA average antenna current (850 mA peak) at 250 W TX = power, about 21 mW ERP peak but average ERP maybe 10 dB lower too. In the afternoon the clouds and wind blasts became stronger again. So = i transmitted about 1 hour, a stable "carrier" on 6470Hz (Paul says: = "Frequency: double peak 6469.999706Hz =B1 1uHz 6470.000086Hz =B1 = 1uHz6470.000086Hz =B1 1uHz "). Then some rain drops started to fall down = and i decided to stop transmitting.=20 As usual it took about a hour to bring down the kite and all the stuff = in my car. During that time another radio amateur arrived there and = build up his 2m/70cm equipment to participate in a local VHF/UHF contest = ;-) _______________________ So, that was the 11th experiment. I'll start again in September or so, = depending on the interest, new stations and antennas on ideas. Maybe we = can go lower in frequency if i have repaired my coil and got a visit of = DF6NM who brings his coil on the hill to switch it in series to come = down to 4 or 3 kHz... I'm definitely looking forward to a experiment/project in cooperation = with EA1PX and RN3AUS and others!! There was no detection of an amateur = generated VLF signal in Spain or Russia at all (far field) so far i = think!? Tnx agn to all those who do and did the effort to try to receive such = a weak signal, especially to the grabber runners who make their = receptions available in the web for all! Thanks to Roger/G3XBM for = keeping his sub9kHz webpage up to date! Best 73, Stefan/DK7FC ------=_NextPart_000_0020_01CC370E.B2778970 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Stefan
I was also able to copy your Trace at = QRS30. I tried=20 a range of speeds and below QRS30 your trace was not = visible.
I have just returned from GI3KEV/TYRONE = DXPEDITION, CW=20 MODE all HF bands, no LF/MF, not enough CW acty to justify the=20 effort.
 
 
73 es GL de Mal/G3KEV
 
----- Original Message -----
From:=20 Stefan Sch=E4fer =
To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org= ;=20 Renato = Romero ; Paul ; Bernd=20 Grupe
Cc: Matthias = Kirschenstein=20
Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2011 = 1:39 PM
Subject: Re: VLF: DK7FC's 11th = VLF kite=20 experiment

Dear VLF group and further observers and=20 interests,

After another very succesful 11th VLF kite = experiment i want=20 to give a final report and summarise the observations.

First, a = big=20 thank you to Markus/DF6NM and Marco/DD7PC who have been in phone = contact to=20 me, keping the contact to the LF reflector and gave me feedback about = the=20 receivers side.

Thanks and congratulations to the RX stations = in this=20 experiment! Activity has been relatively poor, relatively. This may be = caused=20 by the holiday season and expected lower chances for a successful = reception=20 due to the high summer QRN? ;-)

The best DX seems to be 2404 = km, to=20 Halldor's / TF3HZ VLF grabber in Iceland, with amazing SNR despite the = summer=20 season and its significant higher QRN. The first time my signal was = received=20 in Romania (Bucharest, KN34AL) by YO/4X1RF (grabber). An overview of = the=20 successful RX stations (including grabbers) can be found here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19882028/VLF/11th_VLF_exp_RXstations.png
= Further=20 overview will come soon.

Also thanks to those who tried without = success: 4X1RF, RN3AUS, DL4RAJ, VE2IQ ... as far as i know. Don't give = up, i'm=20 sure it is worth to try in the next experiment! I definitely will = improve=20 things the next time. Furthermore it have been less than optimal = conditions in=20 this experiment, see in my report below.

Now a report what = happend=20 on the TX side:
I arrived on the hill about 5:30 UTC (7:30 = local).=20 Since the sky was overcast i called Marco/DD7PC to inform me if there = are=20 lightnings detected in DL. I waited some time with a decision if i = should=20 start building up or aborting the experiment. Then it started to rain = and i=20 had to wait about 1 hour. But then i remembered that i have to be = optimistic,=20 since it is the Dreamers Band! So i started to build up the station, = while the=20 rain stopped.
Unfortunately the coil dropped on the bottom = and got a=20 strong scratch on the upper part of the winding. Some turns may cause = a short=20 cut now :-( I will have to replace 100m wire or so :-( Anyway, the = upper turns=20 are needed for transmissions on 5170 Hz but not for 6470 Hz and 8970 = Hz and so=20 i was able to start anyway.
I started to come on air at about 9 = UTC on=20 8970 Hz. Since its summer here, the fields are coverd by corn so = things=20 were a bit more difficult and lossy. But it was raining just before = and so i=20 seemed to have a low earth resistance and got up to 1 A antenna = current=20 (900 mA average) on 8970 Hz. Again i used 2 massive earth rods = (about 0.5=20 m into the soil) pus the copper plate and got earth losses of about = 100 Ohm=20 and coil losses of about 185 Ohm on 8970 Hz.
The cheep generator = just=20 gave about 250 W TX power. This is very annoying. I will = definitely use=20 another generator the next time which will give a stable 900 W or even = 4=20 kW.

Unfortunately the wind was unstable with strong blasts. So = i had to=20 use the "small" kite (3.6 m^2). Often, the kite line and so the wire = was=20 sagging much and so the resonance and thus the antenna current often = changed.=20 Thus, the average ERP must have been significantly lower, maybe about = 10 dB.=20 But the peak ERP must have been in the range of 50 mW which = sounds good=20 for just 250 W TX power!

But despite the summer time (QRN) and=20 suboptimal wind conds there was good reception in Iceland, and UK, = Germany,=20 France, Italy, Romania, Austria, Czech Republic and Poland! Since = there was no=20 copy in Israel/4X i decided to transmit a longer carrier, maybe to = appear in=20 the DFCW-2400 grabber window of 4X1RF. I got the feedback that some = stations=20 receive me in DFCW-60, e.g. G3ZJO, DF6NM, OK2BVG, G3KEV. Thus i sent = "73=20 DK7FC" in DFCW-60 after that. Thanks for the screenshots!
A new old = notebook was used for this experiment, completely new WinXP installed = and=20 nothing except SL V2.76_b18. The soundcard samplerate drift was = compensated=20 within SpecLab, that did an essential job again (TNX Wolf/DL4YHF). The = reference was the 10 kHz signal of my GPS receiver. No phase glitches = seem to=20 have occured. Partly there was a somewhat broader signal appearing on = the=20 grabbers. This may be caused by the kite movement, causing some kind = of AM of=20 the signal. Paul Nicholson determined my TX frequency to be: = "Frequency:=20 8969.999945Hz =B1 1uHz ".

After that i changed to 6470 = Hz=20 which was done i a minute or so. I achieved about 750 mA average = antenna=20 current (850 mA peak) at 250 W TX power, about 21 mW ERP peak = but=20 average ERP maybe 10 dB lower too.

In the afternoon the = clouds and=20 wind blasts became stronger again. So i transmitted about 1 hour, a = stable=20 "carrier" on 6470Hz (Paul says: "Frequency: double peak  =20 6469.999706Hz =B1 1uHz  6470.000086Hz =B1 1uHz6470.000086Hz =B1 = 1uHz "). Then=20 some rain drops started to fall down and i decided to stop = transmitting.=20

As usual it took about a hour to bring down the kite and all = the stuff=20 in my car. During that time another radio amateur arrived there and = build up=20 his 2m/70cm equipment to participate in a local VHF/UHF contest=20 ;-)

_______________________

So, that was the 11th = experiment.=20 I'll start again in September or so, depending on the interest, new = stations=20 and antennas on ideas. Maybe we can go lower in frequency if i have = repaired=20 my coil and got a visit of DF6NM who brings his coil on the hill to = switch it=20 in series to come down to 4 or 3 kHz...

I'm definitely looking = forward=20 to a experiment/project in cooperation with EA1PX and RN3AUS and = others!!=20 There was no detection of an amateur generated VLF signal in Spain or = Russia=20 at all (far field) so far i think!?

Tnx agn to all those who do = and did=20 the effort to try to receive such a weak signal, especially to the = grabber=20 runners who make their receptions available in the web for all! Thanks = to=20 Roger/G3XBM for keeping his sub9kHz webpage up to date!

Best = 73,=20 Stefan/DK7FC



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