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Presenting
Another Episode of
Fun With Ham Radio
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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
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*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
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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.
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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
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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.
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Click on Extension
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Click on IBP Scan
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The International Beacon Project Stations will be scanned in this
window.
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Click on Band
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We’ll begin with 20 Meters.Click on 20 Meters
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Type 14100
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Click CW
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Click + (Zoom In)about 7 times.
Until you get about this wide.
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We can do the same on 17 Meters18110
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And, on 15 Meters21150
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And, on 12 Meters24930
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And, finally, on 10 Meters28200
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https://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Software/Beacon_Monitoring/
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Now, Let’s Go Live!
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