Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 21:40:07 +0200
From: Steinar Aanesland <saanes@broadpark.no>
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Subject: Re: LF: A test of cmsk on "the dreamers band"
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Hi Stefan,

First, I apologize for not answering before.

My knowledge of VLF communication is very limited, but I hope to lear=
n ,
and yes, I know about G3XBM's grate web page. I have read almost ever=
y
thing on it . I find his experiments very interesting.
=20
I have been using SpecLab a long time on 10.140MHz playing with qrss3=
. I
have tested many waterfall programs, but  SpecLab is my absolute favo=
rite.

I have been on qrz.com and looked at your systems. I have no ambition=
s
to come up to the same level with the first. I am concentrating now o=
n
local communications. My latest experiment is with an Earth dipole. I=
'm
using a 1-meter copper pipe in the ground as one end of the dipole. T=
he
other is connected to water pipes in my house. The distance between t=
hem
is about 20m. As a PA I am now using a 150W power amplifier from HH
Electronic (V150-L). This has a 100volts line output (100W RMS at 1 k=
Hz
into 100ohm). I have tested different modes; MSK01 with SpecLab, WOLF=
,
THROBX and PSKAM10 in Multipsk. ZL2AFP's CMSK8, and various versions =
of
qrss. Right now, I am sending in the qrss120 on 8970 and hoping that =
an
amateur friend of my about 10 km away, will receive me.

My antenna receiving systems on VLF is not the best. I use my 10X10m
loop in the garden. With this I can receive the Alphas pretty well, b=
ut
now I am building an active antenna (after your drawing). It will be
exciting to see how it will work in my neighborhood. I hope it does n=
ot
pick up too much noise.

Best regards and 73

Steinar LA5VNA
LOC: JO59JQ






On 04.10.2011 21:20, Stefan Sch=E4fer wrote:
> Hello Steinar and welcome to the group!
>
> Good to hear there is interest on VLF by norwegian radio amateurs.
There is not much coming from LA in the last time, unfortunately. So =
i'm
happy to read of your interest and experiments.
>
> Well, much has been done on VLF in the last year(s). I expect you k=
now
about Roger/G3XBM's VLF pages at https://sites.google.com/site/sub9kh=
z/ ??
> If not, i would strongly recommend to take a look on that and read =
all
that is written there ;-)
>
> Many of us have done similar local tests and SpecLab is THE most
useful software here, without any doubts. Even more: Without SpecLab,
most of the VLF receptions were not have been possible, due to its ba=
nd
limiting and noise reduction technics.
>
> Please, what is your locator?
>
> What about your RX performance on VLF, i.e. how well can you receiv=
e
the Alphas and other MSK military transmitters, such as JXN ;-) ?
>
> In a short time i will come back, TXing on VLF with several 100 wat=
ts
on a 300m vertical antenna. I would like to invite you to make the fi=
rst
official DL-LA VLF reception (by amateurs).
>
> If you have any questions about VLF settings on SpecLab, don't
hesitate to ask here.
>
> Best 73, Stefan/DK7FC
>
>
> Am 02.10.2011 13:23, schrieb Steinar Aanesland:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I am new to the group and on top of that Norwegian so please be ni=
ce to
>> me,  my English is not the best.
>>
>> The last few days I've been doing some digi mode testing at 8.97 k=
hz;
>> "dreamers band", mostly with use of the QRSS mode.
>>
>> On the transmitter side, I have been using a 5 turn 10 x 10 m ante=
nna
>> and an audio amplifier 100W. The system is feeded with a signal fr=
om the
>> program "Spectrum Lab".
>>
>> On the receiver side, I have been using a 70 x 70 cm 60 turns loop=
,
>> tuned with a capacitor. The loop was connected to the microphone i=
nput
>> on my laptop and decoded with "Spectrum Lab".
>>
>> The result has been interesting . With this simple arrangement, I =
have
>> reach a distance of 2.5 km.
>>
>> Yesterday I tried out CMSK8 made by ZL1BPU  Murray. I had to make =
some
>> changes in the ini-file to get the CMSK work om 8.97khz. The sampl=
ing
>> rate was adjusted with the program CheckSR and the transmitting
>> frequency was set to 8970Hz.  Waterfall has a 2000Hz limit so this=
 was
>> black and useless on 8790Hz.
>>
>> It would makes it easier to track the signal if the developer coul=
d
>> extend waterfall to 10 kHz. I am aware that one can get the view o=
f the
>> waterfall by going down in frequency, but 8.97khz has become a de =
facto
>> water hole of VLF .
>>
>> The result was exciting. A clean copy of the signal was received a=
t
>> about 2 km.
>>
>> I would also try to test out some of the VLF mode in multipsk ,
>> especially  PSK10 and PSKAM10,  but I have not find a way to fool =
the
>> program to work on 8.97Khz yet.
>>
>> 73 and good dx the VLF Steinar la5vna
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>  =20
>
>