The LONGWAVE MESSAGE BOARD
Re: AZ and TSN and Belka


[ ]     [ View/Post Followups ]     [ Read Msg Board FAQ ]

Posted by Ed Holland on October 24, 2022 at 18:58:32.

In Reply to: Re: AZ and TSN and Belka posted by John K5MO on October 24, 2022 at 11:42:25.

I will follow up - but just to clear one thing up, I'm not responsible for beacon EH, which is located in Connecticut.

My QTH is on the San Francisco Peninsula, and this is the location of my QRSS beacon PVC.

Regarding the Belka receiver - it is remarkably impressive. I've logged 22m beacons with it connected to the large antennae here at PVC HQ, but this is the first time conditions and circumstances aligned to allow stand alone listening. I was (standing alone) in our driveway, receiver operating from the supplied "whip" and listening with a set of Sony earbuds. The high voltage AC line and pole top transformer installation for the house supply was about 20 feet away.

The mid-band signaling was very audible, and gave a strong indication on the signal strength indicator. receiver sensitivity was set at 90% of maximum. The natural noise was far above the receiver noise floor. Typical for good conditions, when listening on the fixt aerials. The beacons were subject to fading, but would rise clear above the noise for a few seconds. I think some of the other modes could be heard at times, but this was not definite. Based on prior observations on signal strengths with the "main" setup, I could reasonably expect to hear SHO, NC and 7P in Belka/Portable mode if conditions were favourable.

In the past, I've attempted to combine Belka+laptop as a field station for 22m reception. This was beset with QRM difficulties from the computer, traced to the display backlight (likely a CFL with inverter circuit). Not impossible to negotiate, but time consuming.

Last note, I see the latest Belka offerings cover LF from 100kHz up. Mine has a lower limit of 1500 kHz, although it plays well with an LF converter.

Cheers and 73s

Ed

Thanks

Ed

Follow Ups:



Post a Followup?

*Name:   *Subject:

*Name, *Subject, *Message Required   E-Mail (option):

* Your Followup Comments: