Dear LF Group,
I monitored VA3LK's signal again last night; conditions were slightly
better than last night, and signals were visible several times
between 2230 and 0800. The attached file cq.jpg is edited together
from 4 successive screen shots between about 0030 and 0210,
and shows (C)Q DE VA(3) pretty clearly - I got fed up of editing
after this, but it gives the general idea. I think this eliminates any
doubt that it is the real signal. I re-checked the frequency using the
Loran lines as calibration markers - it is very close to 137.7894kHz
as before.
On the basis of the limited experience available, the propagation
fades in and out quite quickly and deeply. Often the duration of a
propagation peak is only long enough for a few dots & dashes, and
1 - 2 hours seems to be an upper limit for a good signal so far.
Periods last night when the signal was clearly visible were 2230-
2300, 2345 (1 dash), 0030-0220, 0430-0530, 0615-0730. These
times are just estimated off the screen. After 0650, several chunks
of trace were blanked out by a local QRSS signal on an adjacent
frequency. I think this shows that propagation comes and goes
while both ends of the path are in darkness. Weak traces of signal
were visible at other times as well; the difference between 'clearly
visible signal' and 'weak trace' is probably about 10-15dB.
I have a continuous record of screen shots at 1/2 hour intervals for
last night; I could edit them all together , but the resulting file would
be too big for the reflector; if anyone has a web page they would
like to put such a file on, I will put it together and send it out.
Larry- as far as modifying you signal goes, the current frequency is
as good as any at my QTH - your power cut was something of a
blessing in disguise. The dots and spaces are fine - but the longer
the transmitter spends transmitting, the more signal there is for
people to detect, so I would aim at keeping spaces short.
Cheers, Jim Moritz
73 de M0BMU
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File: cq.jpg
Date: 20 Jan 2001, 12:48
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