[600MRG] 630m operating event report, Northern California (SF Bay -- CM87)

[Bart Lee]

Well, it was a lively night last night investigating the historical and
legacy band of 630 meters!

K6VK (northern California CM87)  copied:

WD2SXH/20           5x9       Eugene Oregon
WH2XXP                3x6       Arizona
CF7MM                  2x2       BC, CN
VE7BDQ                2x2       BC
CG7CNF                2x2       BC
VE7SL                    2x2       BC

I did not copy my friend Joe Craig, VO1NA in Newfoundland (but I will send
him tomorrow a copy of the *CHRS Journal* with our VLF/LF/MF adventures).

I could copy with some difficulty every west coast station on the band.  A
few nights ago I copied Ontario low power beacon YHD on MF @ 413 KHz. The
Montana low power beacons at 515 (SAK) and 525 KHz  (INE) come in well
every night.

There were several WSPR stations I could see but no CW ID (that I could see
at any rate) except WH2XXP.

Some antenna experimentation showed that the best (and quietest) signal-in
as measured on the SDR came from paralleling the 43 foot vertical with the
nearby 33 foot (+ 6 ' mount) Hustler 6BVT (both just E-field probes at
these frequencies).  The Very Kinky Loop of copper pipe, 8.5 square meter
capture area, area did well.  But when it rains it picks up electrostatic
discharge from the rain drops -- who knew? And it is highly directional
(which was OK last night as most stations were to the North). The Very
Large Loop seems to be beyond its resonance at these frequencies and was
pretty deaf.  Next I'll try loops and the verticals in parallel; that ought
to be interesting both as to signal strength and directionality.

So, all in all, my conclusion is that for everything from ELF to MF, the
best antenna is wires as high up as possible, as many as possible,
paralleled.  What has surprised me is the relative immunity from local
noise of the vertical wires. There were atmospheric "static" crashes in on
all antennas; I understand the frustration of the old wireless men with
static!

I tried the Staples W6BM impedance improver (the ZII) but it introduced
noise. I think that inasmuch as I have it in a partially unshielded box, it
picks up local noise that way.

It was helpful  to turn off everything and run from one heavy duty linear
power supply (and the laptop battery). I'm setting up long term battery
power for the SDR and laptop.

I ran the Icom 7000 parallel to the SDR.  It imposed weird spurious signals
on the SDR.  On the other hand, it seems equally sensitive and selective.
The SDR has no WSPR mode and I can't see any easy way to get one, so for
WSPR, the Icom 7000 will work fine but I need to get a good external card.
Any suggestions?

For hard to copy Morse CW I tried the old HAL Telereader.  No Joy unless
the signal was loud and clear.  It did help with WD2SXH/20 and gave me a
clue about "Eugene." It does work really well with KPH / KSM on MF, but
that's ground wave.
==  ==

So, can K6VK (and maybe W6CF) get on the air on 630 meters?  Maybe, at K6VK
with both vertical antennas and a lot of inductance and maybe a capacity
hat on the 6BVT.

At RadioCentral we can get a Marine Heritage license for MF like KPH (the
callsign KRE is free!), and also an experimental license like WH2XXP and
WH2XVN (David Curry).  I'm really interested in 137 KHz. WSPR-15 is
designed for that frequency. Maybe we can put up a 200 foot vertical on the
old broadcast station ground insulator we salvaged from KRE -- we already
have the antenna top lights required!

So that's the News from Lake Woebegone, where Grown Men Listen to the Radio!

73 de Bart, K6VK ##
-- --
-- --
Bart Lee,
​K6VK. CHRA. AWA, ARRL​

Attorney at Law

Cell Phone 415 902 7168

www.bartlee.com
<http://www.LawForHams.com>