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QRSS Beacon Test

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Dave Marshall

Sun Sept 09 2007, 03:50PM

Registered Member #16 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 02:22PM
Location: New Wilmington, PA
Posts: 554

This is a tentative announcement. Specific times and frequencies will follow shortly.

Chris Russell will be visiting my home in Georgia later this month, and we'll be doing an HF QRSS beacon test on Saturday, September 22nd. Tentative start time is 16Z.

There will definitely be a transmitter at 10.140Mhz. At this point we're hoping to have atleast one other transmitter in operation on a different band.

The 30m beacon will be transmitting from a half wave dipole at considerable height. We may turn it into an inverted V for some omni-directional work, or we may leave it as is, oriented east and west for greater distance to the west coast and Europe. That will largely depend on who expresses interest.

If you are interested, but are lacking a receiver, drop me a line and we'll see what we can work out. Unfortunately, because this broadcast will be originating from my location, there won't be a streaming receiver like there was last time (unless somebody with an extra linux PC and an okish HF receiver wants to volunteer).

Dave

Steve Conner

Sun Sept 09 2007, 03:58PM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

I'm up for it! Not that I'll be able to receive anything, but who knows. :|

ShawnLG

Mon Sept 10 2007, 10:45PM

Registered Member #286 Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 04:52AM
Location:
Posts: 399

I am ready for 10.140Mhz.

"Unfortunately, because this broadcast will be originating from my location, there won't be a streaming receiver like there was last time (unless somebody with an extra linux PC and an okish HF receiver wants to volunteer)."

I would volunteer but I do not have linux. Can it be done on XP?

Chris Russell

Tue Sept 11 2007, 12:27AM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

Actually, yes, XP should work. We've been using icecast to redistribute the stream to a number of people, which is compatable with shoutcast. If you can get shoutcast running, and you have enough bandwidth to constantly upload a 24kbps (or so) stream to 4hv, 4hv can then serve the stream to a large number of people.

ShawnLG

Tue Sept 11 2007, 02:20AM

Registered Member #286 Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 04:52AM
Location:
Posts: 399

I got Shoutcast running but my Firewall is blocking it. I am connected through a linksys wireless router. How do I get pass it's firewall?

Steve Conner

Tue Sept 11 2007, 09:03AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

You need to use the configuration tool in your firewall (often a special web page hosted on the unit) to unblock the appropriate ports. See the shoutcast documentation for which ports.

If you want to try connecting your shoutcast to the 4hv server as Chris suggested, you should probably discuss it with Chris by PM or in the chatroom. He can give you the configuration info you need. Connecting to the server should work without any changes to your firewall, as most firewalls only block incoming packets, and you would be going out in this case.

I'm going on a MTB trip that Saturday, but I should be home by 1700Z.

Chris Russell

Sun Sept 16 2007, 02:10AM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

Everything seems to be on track! Anyone who is interested in actually trying to receive, please let me know. The orientation of the antenna will depend on who expresses interest.

For those who don't have a radio, but would still like to try receiving, ShawnLG has kindly offered to stream his receiver's output. Speclab or Argo will be quite capable of recovering the transmission from the stream, if ShawnLG is receiving the beacon.

For anyone else who is interested, but doesn't want to get into the radio or dsp aspects of it, Steve Conner has offered to set up an automatic screencap gallery, so you can see if the signal is making it to Scotland. Dave and I will also make captures of ShawnLG's stream available.

ShawnLG

Sun Sept 16 2007, 07:55PM

Registered Member #286 Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 04:52AM
Location:
Posts: 399

SpecLab has the ability to monitor the left or the right stereo channels. I can setup Shoutcast to send reception from both recievers when Chris and Dave have a second beacon up and running. You would need to go into your audio setting and null out one or the other channels to receive one of the beacons.

Sulaiman

Tue Sept 18 2007, 03:00AM

Registered Member #162 Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 10:25AM
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3141

I'm hoping to receive my M3 (foundation) licence in a day or two,
and a Radio Shack DX-390 receiver I won on ebay should arrive any day now.
I've just put up a simple aerial (13.5 meters of 1mm2 about 3.75 meters in the air) aligned North-South
I'd like to try receiving the beacon but there are a lot of variables;
- I'm inexperienced
- is the DX-390 suitable/capable?
- is the aerial any good?
- should I quickly make an ATU and/or pre-amplifier?
- any way I can test my setup before Saturday?
- am I too far away to hope for a signal?
- I've got Spectran installed but don't know how to optimize the settings for this test

My location is Walsall England,
any (helpful) comments urgently requested.

Steve Conner

Tue Sept 18 2007, 09:50AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

Yay Sulaiman, that's cool, congratulations on your license!

There are loads of variables, but don't worry, most of them are outwith your control because it's just a case of whether the propagation decides to work.

You can test your setup by seeing if you can tune in any other ham stations. Listen for callsigns and try to figure out where in the world they are: if you can hear other American stations, you may hear Chris.

10MHz is mostly CW, so if you don't know Morse code, try the upper end of the 14MHz band, above roughly 14.250. You should hear plenty of folks yakking away on (upper) sideband up there. You can also try the 3.5MHz band, you should hear plenty of UK amateur stations after dark. But this doesn't really predict how your setup will perform on 10MHz.

If the noise level in the receiver on your band of interest increases when you plug the aerial in, it's probably good enough for initial attempts. An ATU can help, but you can often get by receiving without one. They sure come in handy when you're trying to transmit though! :o

Speaking of noise, check that you don't have any bad noise sources in your shack. In my house, it's the kitchen lights. They are halogen lights running off electronic transformers that blot out all of the HF bands completely! I swear the ones in the ceiling even generate noise up to 2m. My shack is in the kitchen, but I got used to operating in the dark after a while

I've never received any of Chris's beacon transmissions so far :( I have a HF rig, so I should probably do a similar beacon for the UK and Europe one day.

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