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Re: VLF: Earth antenna transmissions on a guide rail?!?? NOW on the air

To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: VLF: Earth antenna transmissions on a guide rail?!?? NOW on the air...
From: DK7FC <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2018 12:50:11 +0200
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Update: Since 10:13 UTC i'm TXing on 5170 Hz. The antenna current is 556 mA and the phase looks a bit less inductive but still inductive. Despite beeing in the center of the Pfälzer Wald, i have mobile internet access and so i reached my Linux PC recording the VLF stream (both loop antennas). Using vlfrx-tools i managed to produce a spectrum peak of 17 dB SNR after just 30 minutes!!!! (More later) So it is possible with this ground loop TX antenna to transmit on 5170 Hz and beeing detected in about  55 km distance! :-)  These are two new records for the TX earth antenna league :-)
I'm going to continue transmitting on 5170.000 Hz until 11:13 UTC, then i'll do QSY to 2970.005 Hz which simply means i change the frequency in SpecLabs signal generator driving my PA! :-)

73, Stefan

Am 28.07.2018 11:43, schrieb DK7FC:
Hi VLF,

I'm sitting in my car while writing this email. I'm in JN39WI96GX and i transmit on 8270.000 Hz with a GPS locked signal generator into an about 450 m long earth antenna using two guide rails as the earth electrodes on both ends. On each end there are 16 (18) massive T-T poles holding the guide rail, providing a super good earth coupling. I measured that they are connected to each other.
The transmitter is on the air since 9:08 UTC running 550 mA with just 75 W DC inout power into my hand warm lossy linear mode VLF PA!

I'm amazed about the low losses! At DC i got 447 mA at 50.9 V. The wire is 0.4 mm diameter so it has 63 Ohm. That means the ground loss is just 50 Ohm !!!! Amazing! And i have no efforts to build up a ground connection here, i just need to connect the wire. Since the wire losses are higher than the ground losses, i can get maybe 2 dB more signal when buying some better wire. I already found a source that offers 0.75 mm^2 100 m loudspeaker cable (i.e. 200m wire)for just 13 EUR....

BTW i even have an ugly old scope here which is battery powered. I can see that the phase of voltage and current is slightly inductive, maybe 30 deg or so. So i could series resonate the antenna with some C. This is for the next experiment...

The signal becomes visible on my grabber now, in 424 uHz and also some bright pixels in the 3.8 mHz window.

I'm going to stop the carrier at 10:08 UTC, after 1 hour. Then i'll continue on 5.17 kHz!
BTW the antenna , if it works like a real loop, is beaming directly to Paul Nicholson ;-)

73, Stefan




Am 26.07.2018 17:19, schrieb DK7FC:
...i just searched in the old emails and also on G3XBM's blog and found this entry: https://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2010/09/vlf-dx-transmission-with-earth.html
So that is the best distance on a transmit earth antenna (or ground loop) so far, at VLF, by amateurs.
I had a much lower earth resistance in mind but actually i just got 0.53 A at 250 W RF power, so the losses were rather 890 Ohm!
Will it be possible to make 55 km distance at 8.27 kHz, maybe in a lower bandwidth like 424 uHz, with power levels in the range of 50 W only?

73, Stefan

Am 22.07.2018 20:28, schrieb DK7FC:
Hi all,

During the weekend i am in the Pfälzer Wald again which is such a nice place to be! I already installed a fixed E field antenna for VLF/ULF reception in JN39XI06 :-)

Now i have the idea to use a guide rail (attachment!) as an electrode for a earth electrode antenna! There is a perfect road which is not much frequented and where no way is crossing so i could temporary install a long wire on the ground between two of these guide rails. I would assume they provide a good grounding. They are located on a relatively high hill/mountain with stony ground. The mountain is very steep there and in some distance, 200m deeper, there is a brook..

With some luck the ground losses can be near 200 Ohm? Maybe rather 300 Ohm. I'm going to prepare things and plan to transmit for some time next weekend. If the ground loop actually acts like a loop, the bearing should be 135 deg, so it will be in a 45 deg angle towards my QTH where my grabber is listening in 55 km distance. That's quite a good distance for testing! I'd like to try LF and VLF, maybe ULF it all works well.

A BTW the wire length will be 860 m! However there are two guide rails in a shorther distance, about 450 m. I will try the shorter length first, to get an impression of the loss resistance and to see if something is visible at all :-)

73, Stefan
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