> Wouldn't it be possible to place the loop antenna
> (at least for a test) high on the mountain,
The location here is bad for VLF, so many power lines. If I
posted a sample of the raw signal from the antennas, you
would be horrified and wonder how anything could be received
through that.
I have tried with a portable rx on the local hills but the
situation is no better, usually worse! There are some large
grid lines crossing the country nearby.
As I get better with building reliable receivers I begin
to think about a remote site. Perhaps further north in the
Yorkshire Dales. Only a 90 minute drive - 60 minutes if I
take the Evo. I'm often up there climbing and rarely see any
power lines. Too far for a direct radio link but some other
arrangement could be made. I could rent a corner of a field
from a farmer (just as I do here) plus internet and power.
Or perhaps I will move up there, or to North Wales or the Lake
District. Then I could do astronomy again and the mountains
would be nearer too.
Meanwhile, I might try moving the H antenna. The hum seems
especially high where it is for some reason. An underground
stream runs beneath the antenna, only a couple of metres down.
It drains water off the moors and I often wonder if it forms
a channel for ground currents too. When the weather improves
I will take a portable rx to survey the H hum in that field
and try to prove that. It is complicated to hum-survey the
H field because the level changes all the time anyway. You
must record hum (orthogonal components) plus some reference
signal, eg GBZ, and at the same time record hum and reference
on a fixed antenna to normalise the readings. This ought to
be easier now with an Rpi, 2-channel Audioinjector card and
a GPS module - another construction project on my to-do list.
--
Paul Nicholson
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