| Author |
Message |
    
HAM Cber
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2001 - 2:20 am: | 
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I have a propagation beacon running on 27.125 MHz. with various audio tones and warble noises that is on the air for 1 minute and 50 seconds out of every 2 minutes. It is running 50 milliwatts from about 3,000 feet above sea level in Northern California.
Can you hear it??
Reports from Oakland and Sacramento already.... |
707
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 12:01 pm: |
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are you going to leave this up permanently? I would like to add it as a point of interest on my new site www.dxring.net |
HAM CBer
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 11:57 pm: |
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I do plan to leave it up. I may change the frequency down the road (I always wanted it to be on channel 1 to be honest). Want some more info about the box for you article? |
HAM CBer
| | Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2001 - 1:36 pm: |
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I put some pictures and technical explanations of the beacon online at: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1696062&a=13024626
This beacon is operating under FCC Part 15 rules. The field strength has been measured at much less than the 10,000 microvolts at 3 meters allowed. A local radio tech. checked the power output and field using some very sophisticated gear to confirm compliance. The furthest confirmed signal report is now from near Las Vegas, NV. That's over 380 miles away.
Enjoy! |
Balasco
| | Posted on Friday, May 25, 2001 - 12:34 am: |
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I live in the fresno area and i don't seem to hear it |
HAM CBer
| | Posted on Friday, May 25, 2001 - 7:41 pm: |
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Fresno is a bit too far for ground wave and a bit too close for skywave reception. I have listened for it on my way through there and could not hear it. In the wee hours of the morning I could hear it about to Merced. |
HAM CBer
| | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2001 - 12:08 pm: |
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Last night, the signal was lower than normal. Part of the problem may be the crummy antenna. The A99 that it uses was broken and repaired. The SWR bounces around a lot (especially when it's windy or you bang on the antenna) like there may be a bad connection inside the antenna, but that's the only CB base antenna I had available when I got the wild hair to put the thing up. After spending 100 bucks just to build the dumb beacon in the first place, I was not about to spend another Franklin on a stupid antenna that is only ever going to see 0.02 watts in it. Now, if somebody would like to donate an Imax 2000 or an Army big stick to see how those antennas perform from elevation, I would gladly accept!
The A99 ground wave coverage with at least an S-2 signal is about 40 miles out right now. It would be interesting to compare a new generation seal-a-meal (fiberglass) antenna to that. |
david
| | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2001 - 2:45 pm: |
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How about a 102" stainless whip ground mounted with wire radials on or in the ground? That would be cheap. Or make a dipole out of two of them, but then you would need it up above the ground some...
Or a single element quad with pvc for a frame is pretty easy...that might do better close to the ground than a dipole... |
707
| | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2001 - 7:55 pm: |
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You might give it a shot with a wire Delta loop |
HAM CBer
| | Posted on Monday, May 28, 2001 - 11:51 pm: |
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I would do the 102 inch whip thing, but that would not work as good as a full length base antenna. The quad on the PVC frame is O.K. if it is on your house and you are an Oakie. Keep in mind that this thing is at a commercial radio site that also gets constant 100 MPH+ winds from time to time. I can't put some piece of garbage up there, and I can't put an aluminum antenna up either.
The wire delta loop would become some debris on the ground too. Bummer....
Maybe I'll just break down and purchase an antenna. It all depends on how long this thing is going to stay up.
Thanks for the input guys. |
