Dear LF Group,
I recorded signals from VA3LK again last night; no signal was
visible until 0140, and levels were 5 - 10dB down on previous
nights. By dawn, things were back to normal, and the best
reception occured around 0700. Periods of good reception were
0140-0210, 0250-0340, 0430-0515, 0550-0610, 0650-0805. QRN
seemed lower than normal. I wonder if the altered propagation was
connected with the solar flare reported earlier?
In correspondence with Larry on the subject of a possible 2 way
QSO, the need for some receiving tests in the Europe -> North
America direction has become obvious. Both VA3LK and VE1ZZ
can be received fairly routinely here by several stations, however
so far only VE1ZJ has definitely seen any Eu signals (most
recently in cooperation with VE1ZZ of course). Since John is
probably stuck with 60Hz noise problems at his QTH until the
weather warms up, now is a good time to make a concerted effort
to see what signals can be received by other NA stations.
Since 3s/dot slow CW has not been good enough for this so far, I
suggest we do something like this: As many European stations as
possible transmit very long dashes (90seconds for example), within
a very narrow frequency range (perhaps 20Hz maximum - 10Hz
would be better), which has been selected by the interested parties
on the North American side as most suitable for reception. This
way, high resolution spectrograms can be obtained by the
receiving stations of a frequency range containing all the strongest
available signals. At the moment this seems to be the most
sensitive weak-signal detection method available.
Once a positive result has been obtained, we will have a handle on
the signal levels that can be expected, and will be able to make an
intelligent guess at the appropriate modulation techniques, QSO
formats, etc. that will work for a 2 way QSO.
I guess there are several stations on both sides of the pond who
already have the equipment needed to take part, so how about
doing something in the next week or so?
Cheers, Jim Moritz
73 de M0BMU
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