presenting another episode of fun with ham radio...frequencies and transmission schedule the beacons...

Presenting

Another Episode of

Fun With Ham Radio

Fun With Ham Radio

This is the URL:https://www.ncdxf.org/beacon/

Northern California DX Foundation and the

International Amateur Radio UnionInternational Beacon Project

*The International Beacon Project (IBP) is a

worldwide network of radio propagation beacons. It

consists of 18 continuous wave (CW) beacons operating

on five designated frequencies in the high

frequency band. The IBP beacons provide a means of

assessing the prevailing ionospheric signal propagation

characteristics to both amateur and commercial high

frequency radio users.

The project is coordinated by the Northern California DX

Foundation (NCDXF) and the International Amateur Radio

Union (IARU). The first beacon of the IBP started

operations from Northern California in 1979. The network

was expanded to include 8 and subsequently 18

international transmission sites.

The first beacon was put into operation in 1979 using the

call sign WB6ZNL. It transmitted a 1 minute long beacon

every 10 minutes on 14.1 MHz using custom built

transmitter and controller hardware. The beacon consisted

of the call sign transmitted at 100 watts, four 9-second-

long dashes each at 100 watts, 10 watts, 1 watt and 0.1

watt, followed by sign out at 100 watts.

Here’s a little History

NCDXF and seven partnering organizations from United

States, Finland, Portugal, Israel, Japan, Honolulu, and

Argentina operated the first iteration of the beacon

network. Due to difficulties encountered in building beacon

hardware, each site used a Kenwood TS-120 transceiver

keyed and controlled by a custom-built beacon controller

unit. The network operated on 14.1 MHz and the beacon

format remained unchanged.

In 1995, work began to improve the existing beacon

network, so it could operate on five designated

frequencies on the high frequency band. The new

beacon network used Kenwood TS-50 transceivers

keyed and controlled by an upgraded beacon

controller unit. The number of partner organizations

were expanded to 18 and the new 10 second

beacon format was adopted.

Kenwood TS-120Kenwood TS-50

In about 2015, they were using an Arduino based controller with an Icom 7200.

Frequencies and transmission schedule

The beacons are transmitted on the frequencies

14.100 MHz, 18.110 MHz, 21.150 MHz, 24.930 MHz, and

28.200 MHz. Each beacon transmission site operates

around the clock. A beacon is transmitted once on each

frequency, from low (14.100 MHz) to high (28.200 MHz),

followed by a 130-second pause after which the cycle is

repeated. Each transmission is 10 seconds long and

consists of the call sign of the beacon transmitted at

22 words per minute (WPM) followed by four dashes. The

call sign and the first dash is transmitted at 100 watts of

power. Subsequent three dashes are transmitted at 10

watts, 1 watt and 0.1 watt, respectively.

All beacon transmissions are coordinated using GPS time.

As such, at a given frequency, all 18 beacons are

transmitted once every three minutes.

*Wikipedia contributors. (2019, June 8). International Beacon Project. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:45, July 22, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Beacon_Project&oldid=900960387

Click on this URL: http://69.27.184.58:8073/

and it will take you to the KFS KiwiSDR in Halfmoon Bay, CA

It will open like this.

Click on Extension

Click on IBP Scan

The International Beacon Project Stations will be scanned in this

window.

Click on Band

We’ll begin with 20 Meters.Click on 20 Meters

Type 14100

Click CW

Click + (Zoom In)about 7 times.

Until you get about this wide.

We can do the same on 17 Meters18110

And, on 15 Meters21150

And, on 12 Meters24930

And, finally, on 10 Meters28200

https://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Software/Beacon_Monitoring/

Now, Let’s Go Live!