HFU HF Underground

Loggings => HF Beacons => Topic started by: Looking-Glass on April 27, 2017, 2245 UTC

Title: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
Post by: Looking-Glass on April 27, 2017, 2245 UTC
At 1901z I logged Russian Naval beacon/marker "A" Astrakhan, Volga River, Russia a good 529 report, first time heard.   :D
Title: Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
Post by: Teotwaki on April 28, 2017, 2317 UTC
Very nice!!
Title: Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
Post by: Looking-Glass on April 29, 2017, 0850 UTC
Thanks Teotwaki, topped it off with another surprise at 1742z yesterday morning with "L" St Petersburg on 8.495.2MHz CW quite strong 529 report. Strange propagation the last three mornings.

What is more absurd is both were received on the humble Tecsun-2000 whilst lying in bed!  Normally the rare catches come via the FT-2000D... ;D

At 1805z I also heard, for the first time, on 8.888MHz USB UBB2 Syktyvkar Volmet around 5X2 report with female announcer in Russian.  The Russian Volmet stations are very hard to hear this way at any time.
Title: Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
Post by: Token on April 30, 2017, 1623 UTC
Thanks Teotwaki, topped it off with another surprise at 1742z yesterday morning with "L" St Petersburg on 8.495.2MHz CW quite strong 529 report. Strange propagation the last three mornings.

8495.2 kHz should have been F, not L.

T!
Title: Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
Post by: Teotwaki on May 01, 2017, 1653 UTC


Just found this resource on the beacons  http://www.qsl.net/wa3mej/Projects/Single Letter Beacons/Single Letter Beacons.pdf

And this is a good one HFU Wiki:  https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/Letter_beacon
Title: Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
Post by: Teotwaki on May 01, 2017, 1700 UTC
"L" St Petersburg on 8.495.2MHz CW quite strong 529 report.

8495.2 kHz should have been F, not L.

T!



It is interesting that F and L are just 1 KHz apart

F is on 8494.200 KHz at Vladisvostok

L is on 8495.200 KHz at Saint Petersburg




Title: Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
Post by: Token on May 02, 2017, 2024 UTC
"L" St Petersburg on 8.495.2MHz CW quite strong 529 report.

8495.2 kHz should have been F, not L.

T!



It is interesting that F and L are just 1 KHz apart

F is on 8494.200 KHz at Vladisvostok

L is on 8495.200 KHz at Saint Petersburg






Yep, my bad.  I saw 8495.2 and read it to myself as 8494.2.

T!
Title: Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
Post by: Looking-Glass on May 03, 2017, 0634 UTC
The only problem DXing on the Tecsun-2000 using the BFO for CW is the frequency inaccuracy, unlike the big FT-2000D the Tecsun will only show 8.495MHz on the display so you either have to rough guess or consult a frequency list of repute to get pure accuracy.

Even the above doesn't work, I used to find quite a bit of discrepancy in the finer frequencies of Yaesu, Kenwood and Icom sets.  7.509.3 on the Yaesu could end up as 7.509.5 or 7.509.2 on the Icom or Kenwood... ::)

Also some people use CW/LSB to receive, or some like me with the Yeasu FT-2000D use CW/USB, or the older sets, just CW mode only, we could argue accurate frequency reporting until the cows come home. ;D

At around 4.00am local time it's usually around 3 to 8 deg C here and I am not jumping out of bed to get a more accurate frequency reading off the FT-2000D! ;D

However, in general the Russian beacons/markers tend to stick to the same frequency offsets:

"D" Sevastapol        .7
"P" Kaliningrad        .8
"S" Severomorsk     .9
"C" Moscow            .0
"A" Astrakhan         .1
"F" Vladisvostok      .2
"K" Petropavlosk     .3
"M" Magadan          .4

The above mainly applies to 5MHz, 7MHz (lower allocation), 8MHz, 10MHz, 13MHz & 16 MHz allocation groups.

When it's all done and dusted it's only a hobby and as long as your near the frequency within a Kilohertz or so I couldn't give a continental... 8)

Teotwaki, I clicked the link you posted and the one via QSL net comes up as 404 Error here, so no joy on that... :P
Title: Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
Post by: sat_dxer on May 03, 2017, 1514 UTC


When it's all done and dusted it's only a hobby and as long as your near the frequency within a Kilohertz or so I couldn't give a continental... 8)



Good on you, mate; it is only a hobby!