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Author Topic: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014  (Read 5050 times)

Offline Token

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Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« on: September 09, 2014, 1350 UTC »
For the past couple weeks I have been getting what might have been a new beacon on 6902.1 kHz at night.  The signal has been very weak, right in the noise floor, and really not detectable by ear, mostly I can just tell something is there on the waterfall in Argo.  However Saturday night (Sep 6) and again last night (Monday Sep 8 ) it came up nicely out of the noise, and put in quite a good signal for an hour or two each night before fading away again.  The night between them, Sunday, the signal was almost undetectable most of the time, with only an occasional dash rising out of the noise floor.  The dasher appears to be night only, I have never detected any sign of it before sundown or after sunup.  It was well after local dark for me, not just sunset, before it came on.  Of course that could be conditions, but based on the way it turned on Saturday night I don’t think so, one moment it was not there, the next it was there S3 or so, and stayed at that signal level until is slowly faded out a couple hours later.  Possibly the band going longer caused it to go away for me?

The dashes are about 0.75 sec long and happen every 3.95 seconds.  About every 2 minutes there is an CW ID sent “DE DRNK DE DRNK”.  At longer intervals there is a longer CW ID sent, it looks like about every 20 minutes or so but I have only caught a couple of them, so not sure yet.  The longer ID goes something like “DE DRNK DE DRNK DE DRNK DE DRNK DE DRNK MOJAVE DESERT VB 13.0 VB 13.0 VS 00.0 VS 00.0 TMP 81 TMP 81 U 004 K”.

I have video of the signal that I will put up on YouTube later today.

T!
« Last Edit: September 09, 2014, 1352 UTC by Token »
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline cwguy

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2014, 2040 UTC »
Wow - nice catch Token!  Looks like someone put a lot of effort into the keying message of the beacon, apparently including telemetry. (I assume battery voltage, solar voltage, etc.)  Very cool.  I'll listen for it here in Colo.
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Offline Token

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2014, 1158 UTC »
Video of this beacon from Saturday night is now up on my YouTube channel.  It stayed at this signal level for a bit over an hour before slowly fading to unusable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B98JUpTJDng

T!
« Last Edit: September 10, 2014, 1200 UTC by Token »
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline Rockpicker

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2014, 0411 UTC »
I'm getting decent copy of the  DRNK Beacon 9/12/14 4:04 utc here in Montana tonight..
Amazing seeing how we are in a G1 Geomagnetic storm at the moment..
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Offline mark-n-nut

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #4 on: September 12, 2014, 0635 UTC »
Copying it 579 here in Northern UT at 0630 utc. 

Mark..
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Offline Token

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #5 on: September 12, 2014, 1253 UTC »
Interesting that it was heard so well last night in other places quite a way from the Mojave Desert.  Here locally nothing at all was heard, never came out of the noise floor at all.  I was starting to wonder if it was a temporary beacon and if the OP had taken it offline.  At this time (a little under an hour before local sunrise) there is still no sign of it.

T!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline Rockpicker

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2014, 0434 UTC »
I have a copy on DRNK Beacon again here tonight, 9/13/14  4:25 utc
Not as strong as last night but definite DRNK.
Elegant example of pic programing for simple QRP (I assume)  beacon.
Central Montana
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Offline Token

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2014, 1730 UTC »
Looks like someone put a lot of effort into the keying message of the beacon, apparently including telemetry. (I assume battery voltage, solar voltage, etc.)  Very cool.

I was also assuming part of it was telemetry.  The VB looks like Voltage Battery to me, from the numbers I was seeing (between 13.1 and 12.8 depending on time).  I assume the VS is Voltage Solar, although every time I have seen the signal VS was 00.0.  TMP looks like Temperature.  No real idea what the U and 004 might be for.

The VS, if it is indeed Voltage Solar, poses a question.  I have only seen this signal at night, and it seems to turn on sharply when I do see it well.  But if VS is going to every have a positive value it would have to be daylight.  Does the signal indeed transmit during the day, and I have just never been able to receive it?  Another thought, if it does transmit in the daytime, what are the chances it would change freq during the day?  That would be pretty cool, a beacon with a daytime freq and a nighttime freq.

As a side note, I have not seen this signal for a couple of days now, not sure if it is conditions or something else.

T!

« Last Edit: September 16, 2014, 1732 UTC by Token »
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2014, 1910 UTC »
FWIW I have checked nightly for this beacon on my SDR recordings since it was announced, and have yet to hear it out east.
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Offline mark-n-nut

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2014, 2301 UTC »

I have looked for it at various times almost every day since I heard it on the 12th, without hearing it.  I have been copying the 6668-L and 6870 dasher off and on, but DRNK has been silent.  Will keep looking.

Mark in Northern UT (NUT)
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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2014, 2245 UTC »
Quote
I was also assuming part of it was telemetry.  The VB looks like Voltage Battery to me, from the numbers I was seeing (between 13.1 and 12.8 depending on time).  I assume the VS is Voltage Solar, although every time I have seen the signal VS was 00.0.  TMP looks like Temperature.  No real idea what the U and 004 might be for.

The VS, if it is indeed Voltage Solar, poses a question.  I have only seen this signal at night, and it seems to turn on sharply when I do see it well.  But if VS is going to every have a positive value it would have to be daylight.  Does the signal indeed transmit during the day, and I have just never been able to receive it?  Another thought, if it does transmit in the daytime, what are the chances it would change freq during the day?  That would be pretty cool, a beacon with a daytime freq and a nighttime freq.

As a side note, I have not seen this signal for a couple of days now, not sure if it is conditions or something else.

T!

Token, If VS was 0.00 that might indicate the Solar voltage is zero because it is off line or as you say It could be dark. I would bank on it not working because we are talking about he DPRK or "DRNK" here ;)

Offline Token

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Re: Possible new beacon, DRNK, 6902.1 kHz, 9 September 2014
« Reply #11 on: September 21, 2014, 2025 UTC »
Token, If VS was 0.00 that might indicate the Solar voltage is zero because it is off line or as you say It could be dark. I would bank on it not working because we are talking about he DPRK or "DRNK" here ;)

Yeah, but the point of what I was saying was that if it has a VS, and if VS is Solar Voltage, then the OP must expect to read something other than 00.0 in that place occasionally.  And so that must happen during daylight.  I have not been able to detect the signal before dark, and it seems to turn on suddenly after dark.

As a side not, I have not detected this signal in over a week now, so maybe it was jus a short time test?

T!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

 

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