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Life at Half a Mhz!
I know some of you have heard about a project a handful of
adventurous Hams have embarked upon. To discover the possibilities of
reliable communications down around 500Khz and maybe even the possibility of
an allocation of spectrum down there for all of us to use. I guess that
would be a new "Top Band". I hear it's a quite difficult place
but it sounds exciting...especially for technical types like myself. Pat
Hamel W5THT, one of our own, has been granted one of the experimental licenses
and has assembled a station to participate in the test. Pat sent in an
overview of activities thus far on this project that I thought I would include
it as this issues Feature Article. Pat like the rest of us has been
impacted by Katrina but has found the time to get his Half a Mhz station on
the air.
Here is Pat's note to The Magnolia DXer
From Pat W5THT & WD2XSH/6
Cecil,
My mixed DXCC count is now 232.
The house lost a few shingles, and the trees took out the towers and fences,
but retirement at the same time helped me and my sons do repairs.
I am now primarily working on the 600 meter experimental license station
WD2XSH/6. (see www.500KC.com).
Of those who originally applied to be part of the ARRL sponsored experiment,
I think I am the most southerly Katrina survivor.
I have 80 watts into the coax with a borrowed HP instrument as VFO and
a converted Heath monobander as the amp. (6EA8, 12BY7, and a pair of 6GE5's)
courtesy of Bob Kilroy WB8BIE's junkbox.
MY ERP as calculated on a 50 foot high top loaded vertical (inverted-L) is
about 0.0448 watts at 505KC. The experimental license allows up to 20 watts
ERP.
I have been heard in Minnesota and have QSO'ed with North Carolina and
Tennessee.
Getting the most out of the antenna seems to be the affordable way to
improve ERP, although I would like to find a cheap old AM rig with a
big case so I could build up a 600 meter final amp.
The extra reserve modulator power built into the power supplies of the old
AM tube rigs would allow them to survive while beaconing for propagation
tests.
The first step in the experiment is to show we can operate without causing
interference, so we are allowed only CW at this time.
If someone has a handful of power transistors or a tube rig with a big case
or even just some old high-voltage capacitors, I would be very happy to hear
from them.
I would like reception reports from anyone interested in listening.
One of our eastern members has been heard across the Atlantic, and the
westernmost has been detected in New Zealand.
I would be very happy to QSO all 20 members as they get on the air, and get
SWL cards from all states or 100 grids.
My assigned CW beaconing frequency is 505.6KC and my extremely slow (QRSS)
DX frequency is 505.053KC (see the 500KC.com site). If I can't stay at the
rig for QSO's, I let it beacon and monitor on a portable transistor AM
radio or ARC-5 receiver.
I am looking forward to your newsletter.
Thanks Pat for the update on this project. This has the feel to me of
the way I imagine things were back in the beginning of Ham Radio when we were
fumbling around in the dark so to speak and look where we are today.
There's no telling where this will lead!
If you can help Pat out with anything that might help this effort...be it
old AM gear, amps, components whatever, drop him a note by clicking on his
call above. I'm sure he would be very appreciative. I'd bet an old
Collins or Gates BCB transmitter or similar would be a big help!
K5DL
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