Page 10 May June 2014 TCA

SIX METRES AND DOWN

Rarer, but still
often repeated
are openings
beyond that
distance
allowing
propagation on
50 MHz into
Dana Shtun, VE3DSS/VE3KU
14 Ashwood Crescent Western and
Toronto, ON M9A 1Z3 Eastern Europe,
E: ve3dss@rac.ca
W: www.qsl.net/ve3dss Russia, the
Middle East, the
West coast of
SUMMER DX Africa, South
America and
Sporadic E Rules Hawaii.
I’m writing this during a Even rarer, but
blizzard here in Toronto. appearing
annually is a
Despite being a skier and
one who enjoys winter, very long haul Here is a shot of the NooElect Ham It Up upconverter
mode of propagation that permits contacts
really this is a bit much for between Japan, China and Asia into North running from 12V converting the K3 IF from 8.125 MHz
March weather here in up to 133.125 MHz, which then feeds into my RTL
Ontario, but what can you America. Now this mode is not well understood dongle and into SDR Console V2.
do, eh? and there is discussion as to whether signals RTL MADNESS CONTINUES
propagate in a waveguide type structure over that
Here is a quick recap for distance or if they actually ref ect in a more I’ve been able to semi-integrate one of the
the OTs and newbies... traditional Es mode. NooElect Ham it Up HF Upconverters into a
From early April through Whatever the actual mechanics are it’s pretty Hammond Diecast box and power it off of the
September the VHF bands, exciting stuff. Given that, the F2 propagation just K3 rather than the USB. In addition, I installed
particularly 50 and 144 has not appeared with any constancy this solar a Clifton Laboratories preamp into the unit
MHz, open via Sporadic E Cycle Es and related propagation is our best bet that includes some f ltering at the 8.125 MHz IF
propagation quite often. for long haul DX on 50 MHz. of the K3. The results are encouraging as the
signal is cleaner with the shielding and running
Now the normal Now last summer was pretty quiet Es wise, and we the board from the 12 V line of the K3. To do
propagation that you see is have usually had one summer like that during each this I removed the SMA connectors and USB
what is called “Single Hop” cycle so this summer should be much more active. plug from the board, installed a 5 V regulator
propagation where signals BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC ON 144 MHZ and with a bit of edge trimming was able to
are ref ected out over a pop the entire board into the die cast box.
distance of about 2,000 As mentioned in a previous column, over the last The unit now sits behind the K3 with the
kilometres, and this is few years the Irish Radio Transmitters Society (IRTS) output line going to the computer and RTL
pretty normal on 50 MHz has had a Crystal trophy and plate available for dongle. The next step will be to shield and
and can occur almost daily. decades now to be awarded to the Amateurs who f lter the dongle. Now all I need is the software
are the f rst to bridge the Atlantic between North to allow the dongle to talk to PowerSDRIF
Some years, the band has America and Europe on 144 MHz without using stage for a nice package.
been open to Florida on
this mode daily. EME, Satellites, Aircraft ref ection or other This project all started with the SDR from
augmented means – in other words via Tropo, Tony Parks, but I wanted to enable a wider
Now you also can get what Sporadic E or Meteor Scatter or all three at once! bandwidth, eliminate all the mess of cables
we call “Double Hop” Es and still have the advantage of a second
where you have a group of We have in Newfoundland, the ideal locations receiver without shelling out big bucks for the
for Amateurs to make the grade, and a group of
ionization “clouds” lining second K3 receiver board or the Elecraft
up and allowing long haul stalwart Canadians are making another attempt Panadapter. It’s an interesting learning
propagation out beyond at it! experience as well – and all for under $100
4,000 kilometres, reaching The press release from the group is included on the bucks… hihi. A photo of the setup is
the west coast of North next page. Let us hope that the propagation – be shown above.
America easily. it Tropo or Es, or meteors or all three – support Well that’s it for now. Please let me know what
this effort! The team’s website can be found at you work on VHF/UHF and Microwave this
http://brendanquest.org/home.html. Drop them a spring and summer.
line of support!
– 73, Dana, VE3KU/VE3DSS
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