For the past several years, amateurs in the U.K. and many other European countries, have had access to the 136 kHz or 2200 metre band. North American amateurs in both Canada and the U.S. were hoping to have the same opportunity but a recent decision by the FCC has, for U.S. amateurs, put an end to this possibility for the immediate future. Hopefully, the Canadian proposal remains alive and well, but only time will tell. One can only carry on and remain hopeful about the eventual possibility that all North American amateurs will gain access to this fascinating portion of the radio spectrum.
Although 2200m remains 'off-limits' to Canadian amateurs, it is possible to obtain a temporary 'experimental' authorization that will allow licenced amateurs to conduct transmission / reception tests within the band. Applications for temporary operating privileges are channelled to Industry Canada through the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) national organization. Incidentally, if you are not a member of RAC, and you are a Canadian amateur, please seriously consider becoming a member. It is the only voice that Canadian amateurs have and they need your support. It is an inexpensive investment in the future enjoyment of amateur radio.
CANADIAN ACTIVITY STATUS
*** Note that as of June 30th 2007, all Canadian 2200m Experimental Licences have expired pending the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) in Geneva. *** VE3OT - Mitch Powell in London, Ontario. Presently running beacon "MP" in QRSS mode 24/7 on 137.780 kHz. Mitch is being heard well in the eastern/south-eastern USA as well as out west. Mitch has recently (Feb '06) fired up his GØMRF amplifier into a large loop and was reported in Europe.
*** Latest News *** The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) in Geneva has approved 2200m as a world-wide amateur band! It now remains for indiviual countries to implement should they choose to do so. My understanding, as far as Canada is concerned, is that the earliest this will take place will be January, 2009 so you have one year to get prepared. Heat up your soldering-irons gentlemen, build your variometers and get those antennas up and ready to go!!!VO1NA - Joe Craig in Torbay, Newfoundland. Joe is presently running the VO1NA QRSS beacon. VO1NA completed a two-way Trans-Atlantic QSO on June 12/03 when he worked MØBMU on QRSS30 mode. In early July, Joe's signal was also heard with good strength in Portugal and Germany. Joe's signal was recently heard south-east of Moscow by RN6BN in both QRSS and 5 WPM CW modes! If you are in the east, listen for Joe's signal. VO1NA runs 500 watts from a refurbished Decca transmitter into a 100m sloper. See the link below for V01NA's latest activities.
This is Joe's 136kHz antenna. It consists of a pair of 100m wires fed in a sloper configuration. At 600' ASL, it certainly does the job!
This is the transmitter previously used at VO1NA, a single IRF 640 running at 125W.
VY1JA - J. Allen in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory is now operational on 2200m, both beaconing and in listening mode. J is using a very large antenna system consisting of a 110' top loaded vertical, utilizing two 390 foot top-loading wires. In earlier tests, his low-power (50W) signal) was very good copy here on Mayne Island at 1000 miles distance. Now that he is QRO at 200W (soon to be even higher), his signal is very easy copy, even during the daytime. Our recent QRSS QSO was the first long-distance LF contact between two 2200m stations in Canada.
On the evening of September 8th, 2006, just a few minutes before midnight, J and I were able to easily work on CW for the first long distance CW QSO on LF between two Canadian stations. A small 30 second .wav file of VE7SL's CW signal in Whitehorse was captured during the QSO.
Since our initial CW contact, Jay and I have had several pre-dawn or late evening CW ragchews on 2200m. Signal levels on several of our contacts have reached 599 levels over the 1000 mile path.
*** The first confirmed European reception of 2200m signals from western Canada took place on the night of November 21, 2006 at 0700 UTC. VY1JA's trans-Polar QRSS signal was received by Hartmut Wolff located in Germany. Thanks to the diligence of Scott's (VE7TIL) and his screen grabbing system, Hartmut's capture, shown below, was confirmed by comparing it to the screen grab captured by Scott during the same time period. Jay's beacon, shown drifting downward, had just been turned on for the evening. This reception covers a tantalizing distance of over 4300 miles and is an excellent indicator of what can be accomplished with small levels of erp, even on 2200m. Congrats to Jay, Hartmut and Scott. ***
VY1JA will continue beaconing, throughout the Yukon winter, weather permitting, on 137.778 KHz, using his newly-implemented DFCW QRSS system.
VE7SL - Steve McDonald on Mayne Island, British Columbia.
*** The first VE7 2200m QSO was completed on July 10th 2004
between myself and Scott, VE7TIL, in Vancouver. ***
As of early December, my high-power transmitter has been completed and the antenna system has undergone extensive renovation. (see 'My 2200m Station Page').
Signal reports have been received from: Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Connecticut and Ontario. Two-way crossband work has also begun. A recent QSO with KØMVJ (Duluth, Minnesota) demonstrated the viability of that mode. To read more about setting up a crossband sked, see my (see 'CQ Crossband') page.VE7TIL - Scott Tilley in Vancouver, British Columbia. Operating authority has been granted effective July 1, 2004. Scott is presently on the air with a homebrew 500W P-P FET final driven with a homebrew DDS exciter. Scott's antenna system consists of a small 3-wire flattop about 40' high. After our initial QSO, Scott's beacon signal was reported in southern Oregon, while running about 100W. VE7TIL's 500W signal has now been copied (QRSS60) regularly by Laurence, KL1X, in Oklhoma as well as in eastern Canada and the eastern U.S.A. Scott's efficent station demonstrates that even living within the noisy city, it is still possible to operate on the 2200m band!
Canadian amateurs wishing to make an application for experimental LF operation should contact the Regulatory Affairs liason person at Radio Amateurs of Canada.
QRSS DX
Activity from my station has so far been centered upon receiving. Almost all DX work on LF utilizes the slow speed CW or QRSS mode. The most popular software for decoding QRSS signals is ARGO by I2PHD and IK2CZZ. It is freely available at various web sites for downloading (see LINKS section). ARGO is a very intuative user-friendly program and works extremely well. Accordingly, my first attempts at low frequency QRSS work were directed towards listening for signals from Larry Kayser (SK), VA3LK. Larry was on a nightly transmitting schedule in an attempt to see if his signal could be heard in New Zealand.Here is a screen capture of Larry's 2200m QRSS signal as received on 06/23/01 at 0944 UTC.
QRSS signals are usually too weak to be actually heard by ear. ARGO allows signals buried in the noise to be 'seen' rather than 'heard'. The screen capture above clearly shows the sequence
"K V A 3 L K". The signal abruptly faded out at Larry's sunrise in the middle of the next "V".PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES... Seven days later, my overnight screen captures showed the weak signals of amateur station ZL6QH, transmitting from Quartz Hill, New Zealand on 184.4kHz. This was the first transpacific reception of LF amateur signals from New Zealand to North America, a distance of 11,715km.
ZL6QH was transmitting QRSS in the DFCW mode which meant the 'dots' were shifted in frequency slightly from the dashes. Unfortunately my receiver calibration was slightly off and I had only captured the 'dots' and missed the dashes just a few hertz lower. Subsequent transmitting tests were eagerly monitored by numerous other stations in North America and quickly confirmed that long-distance propagation was possible, even at amateur power levels. The ZL6QH signal has now been heard as far back as VE1 land!
My next attempt at seeing the ZL6QH signal was in September of 2001. This time I made sure my receiver calibration was set correctly. Note the abrupt fade-out at my local sunrise. ZL6QH was sending the letter 'Q', with the lower signal representing dashes, the higher one dots. Note that the two dashes are run together, appearing as one long dash in order to conserve time.
The best reception of ZL6QH on 137kHz was obtained in December of 2002. Almost four hours of continuous "Q's" were noted until the sunrise fade-out shortly after this screen shot. Note from the ARGO calibration scale that the two signals are only .4 Hz apart.
LOWFER DX... A number of good test targets are available within the U.S.A. on the 160-190 kHz LOWFER band. They are exceptionally challenging and a good test for your receiving system as lowfer power is restricted to 1 watt DC INPUT and antenna sizes are severely limited.
The night of January 03, 2002 provided some exceptional propagation on the LF LOWFER band. The 1 watt QRSS signals of LOWFERS "LEK" and "BRO", both located in Minnesota, were noted with strong signals around local midnight. The two stations were transmitting .5 Hz away from each other.
Earlier in the evening around 2100 hours, the skip was much longer and LOWFER "NC" in North Carolina was also seen briefly. Dexter's signal was .5 Hz above the "Minnesotta Twins".
Unfortuantely, Laurence, KL1X (near Anchorage), has now closed down his LF station and moved to Oklahoma but his activity from KL7 land created a lot of interest. Here is a screen capture of the first really good signals received from Laurence (August 17th, 2003) after listening nightly for about one week. Laurence's signal was strong, all night long, starting shortly after local sunset until shortly before sunrise. KL1X was transmitting in the QRSS60 (60 second dots) mode. The distance is approximately 2200km. Hopefully we will soon see Laurence active again from the southern U.S.
* * * ALASKA ON 2200m !* * *
Almost all normal night-to-night activity in North America takes place within the 'watering hole' section of 2200m...a 5 Hz section of the band from 137.775 kHz - 137.780 kHz. On nights of above normal propagation, several amateur or Part 5 (U.S.) signals, along with numerous Loran Line signals can be seen. Here is an Argo screen capture taken on a March afternoon showing several Loran Line signals normally heard on Mayne Island. Not only can they be used to check propagation but also to check your system frequency calibration. See the 'links' section below to get a list of all the Loran Line signals visible in the 2200m band.
Checking the North American 'Watering Hole'
Another way of checking your system is to compare what you are hearing against what the KIØLE Argo Grabber is showing. This is an online display of what Bryce's 2200m system is hearing in the watering hole. Ideally located in the central U.S.A. (MN), Bryce's grabber often shows signals from both coasts!
INTERESTED? - THINGS TO CONSIDER 1. You should familiarize yourself with the 136kHz community. Find out what has been done, how it is being done and what some of the challenges are.
2. Download and study as much as you can find from the European LF sites. These fellows have 'been there - done that' now for several years. Find out what works and what doesn't.
3. Look at their antenna systems (loading coils / top hats / variometers / grounds). Decide if you can manage something similar.
4. You must check out your own location for noise with an LF receiver. With the proliferation of lamp dimmers, security lighting, switching power supplies and the plethora of microprocesser-controlled home-based widgets, it may be challenging, which is part of the fun. Each location is different. The VE7TIL station is an excellent example of what can be transmitted and heard, even from a noisy city location.
5. Your receiver should be stable and capable of accurate frequency reading. There are many commercial receivers and transceivers that are suitable for LF work. See what the Europeans are using. One of the best radios is also one of the least expensive, the Icom R-75, which is a superb LF receiver with a 1 Hz readout. Although being phased out, it is often found at bargain prices as well as on e-bay. Most LF'ers make do with what they have.
6. Download and install ARGO and become familiar with the way it works! This will be your main method of finding other stations, unless straight CW is strong enough. Try listening for my QRSS3 beacon on 1997.755 kHz, at the top end of 160 meters to get a feel for ARGO and QRSS reception. The beacon is normally not on, but a quick e-mail request to me will activate it for as long as you need. If you have things set up correctly, this is what you will see. Thanks to Dan Peterson, W7OIL, in southern Washington (CN85pu) for this screen capture of the 500mw signal at a distance of 340km.
7. Once you have done all this, consider your level of commitment. If you apply for temporary authority, you must be serious. If one were to apply and receive authority to operate but did not actually follow through with their proposal, it could make it more difficult for future applicants to obtain operating authority.
8. If you are serious, you must formulate a proposal in the form of an experiment (since it is an 'experimental' licence). Simply wanting to 'get on the band' to work someone else is not a valid experiment. It should be something that cannot be done on any other frequency but 2200m. Proposals must go to Industry Canada via the RAC national organization. You are a member, I hope!
9. The licence is 'time-sensitive', usually being one year in duration. If you can document positive outcomes towards your goals during that year, you may request a renewal, subject to review, for another term. In this case it is a matter of 'use it or lose it!'
L.F. LINKS If you are interested in learning more about constructing a station for 2200m, there is a huge amount of practical information available on the following web sites.
THE WORLD OF L.F. - A fantastic site by G3YXM. Get the latest LF news, getting-on the air, tx circuits etc. Be sure to visit the excellent photo'gallery'of European LF stations. It's hard not to get inspired after seeing some of these fine 136kHz stations!
DF3LP's L.F. INFO - A simple 100W LF transmitter for 136kHz using inexpensive power FETs.
DF3LP's L.F. INFO - A simple receiving loop for 137kHz.
136kHz AT G3YMC - A good source of 'hands-on' information.
ON7YD - AMATEUR RADIO ON LONGWAVE - Probably one of the best sources of practical construction info. It's all here!
DK8KW LONGWAVE INFORMATION PAGE - Lots of good links.
GW4ALG's 136kHz Pages - Good information on station details, antennas, variometers, etc.
G3XDV's L.F. PAGE - Pictures, station description, latest LF activities in Europe. Be sure to read the story of the huge Decca Mast operation!
136kHz EQUIPMENT -Tx, rx, antenna and variometer info from IK2PII.
G3LDO's L.F. PAGE - Words of wisdom from the author of the "LF Experimenter's Handbook".
FIRST TRANS-ATLANTIC LF QSO - Read about the first LF TA contact along with station details and pictures!
VO1NA ACTIVITY PAGE - Latest reports, beacon schedule, station description and links.
GØMRF PROJECTS - Lots of good stuff on tx, rx, amplifiers etc.
QRSS AND YOU - Clint Turner's excellent QRSS page. A must see!
LONG WAVE CLUB of AMERICA - Get the latest LF news here. Interactive Longwave Message Board, archived articles, software links, wav. files, propagation articles. LOWFER and MEDFER targets. An excellent site.
DIGITAL SITE of ALBERTO (I2PHD) and VITTORIO (IK2CZZ) - Download the latest versions of ARGO, SPECTRAN and others.
AMRAD L.F. PAGE - Equipment details.
KØLR's L.F. PAGES - Lot's of great links and construction info.
KIØLE's L.F. PAGES - Lot's of antenna and tx info plus 2200m screen grabber.
136kHz L.F. REFLECTOR - A very busy interactive LF reflector; both European and North American.
W4DEX ON THE WWW - LOWFER 'NC'. Station description. LF/MF information.
