20 meter dasher testing

[beaconman]

PEANUT is this beacons name:
I'm going to use this thread as the location that will
mention when the 20 meter dasher will be on the air.
This beacon is in the experimental phase and there
will be a lot fiddle faddling with it. You can bet it will
be on the air everyday with the solar flux above 85.

Proof of hearing Peanut not seeing it...may yeild a QSL card.
 
Freq. 14401 Khz -+this beacon moves around do to the old Miltary xtal and cold temps.
So dial for it....it should not be hard to hear if condx are good into your area.
Power 100Mw or less
Dipole antenna inside rustic building wooden roof
Dash rate 30 dash /min
Location: Colorado

Reports should include:
Listener location
Time of Day in UTC
Frequency (important)
Any noted keying anomalies...

Thanks much...
Beaconman

[Seamus]

Got it here in upstate SC:

<-- click for larger version

Even with a strong signal off the low end and a constant carrier just above it, it's in there good and solid.  Fantastic signal, there.

[syfr]

I have a very heavy QRN level here ... no copy here. If you leave it on let me know and I'll check tomorrow.

[beaconman]

PEANUT  now on the air time is 1854Utc Sunday Jan 03 local date

[Seamus]

PEANUT heard on the air:



3 January 2010 @ 22:00 UTC
Location: upstate South Carolina
Radio: IC-718
Antenna: 400-foot longwire @ 40 feet (north-south pattern)

Radio is tuned to 14.401.000 MHz, CW mode. 
Tone falls just a hair above 750 Hz, which makes it just about perfect for that frequency. 
Keying is strong and well-defined.
There might possibly be just the slightest hint of chirp or downward drift per dash, but if there is, it's too slight for me to say for sure.

[syfr]

Very light copy here, but surely in there at about 2200. That's a lot of miles for 100mW to some wire .

The Magic of Radio.

[beaconman]

PEANUT IS ON THE AIR AS OF 1847Utc
14401kHZ   40-50 dash/min
100mw into dipole

[syfr]

Light copy on QSB peaks today at 2135. ~42 beats/min

Good show!

[beaconman]

At these nominal power levels
all the credit goes to the listener...it will always be
that way...I doubt most of the guys that view this
forum have ever copied a milliwatt beacon.

[beaconman]

peanut will air at 1700 utc today

[Seamus]

I've got Peanut, fading in and out, but definitely there on the "ups":



I set the memory slot the other day when I posted my previous image of Peanut's signal - everything is exactly the same: 14.401.000 MHz on the dial, CW mode, no RIT, etc. but now it's sitting right at 2000 Hertz, where the tone was around 750 Hz the other day.  Other than the frequency shift, it's got good, solid keying, no discernible chirp, and no visible drift.

Retuning the radio for exactly 14.400.000 MHz puts the tone at around 980 Hz.
Tuning to center the tone at 750 Hz (where I usually listen to CW, and where the radio puts the center of the narrow CW filter), I get a frequency of 14.399.760 MHz.

A recording of Peanut's signal - tuned to 750 Hz - is [here].  The first half of the recording is in normal CW mode, and the second half is with the narrow filter switched in.  Not bad for 100 mW!

[beaconman]

At 2130utc PEANUT went into
the 6 volt mode and therefore it might be putting out a couple of milliwatts
this might be your chance to copy the lowest powered signal you have ever heard.

[beaconman]

PEANUT is on the air
from 2130Utc to 2400Utc

14401kHz   30 dash/min

[beaconman]

 PEANUT is heard in East Tenn. with a S5 on peaks at 17:10 UTC. Freq. 14.39967. GOOD job
73s,
PRESTON

[beaconman]

PEANUT is on the air today