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Author Topic: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...  (Read 2786 times)

Offline Looking-Glass

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7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
« 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
Condobolin, NSW.

Grid Square:  QF37ub

Yaesu FT-1000D, Yaesu FT-2000D, ICOM IC-736 HF/50MHz, ICOM IC R75 & Tecsun S-2000 to 450 feet of wire, 27MHz 1/2 wave CB antenna converted to 21MHz & a multi band vertical of dubious reliability.

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2017, 2317 UTC »
Very nice!!
Jim
NRD-525, Elecraft KX3 and Elecraft PX3 Spectrum Display
76' end fed long wire & 66' off-center fed dipole for 10/20/40 meters
Orange County, SoCal, The better half

Offline Looking-Glass

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Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
« Reply #2 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.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2017, 0853 UTC by Looking-Glass »
Condobolin, NSW.

Grid Square:  QF37ub

Yaesu FT-1000D, Yaesu FT-2000D, ICOM IC-736 HF/50MHz, ICOM IC R75 & Tecsun S-2000 to 450 feet of wire, 27MHz 1/2 wave CB antenna converted to 21MHz & a multi band vertical of dubious reliability.

Offline Token

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Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
« Reply #3 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!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
« Reply #4 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
Jim
NRD-525, Elecraft KX3 and Elecraft PX3 Spectrum Display
76' end fed long wire & 66' off-center fed dipole for 10/20/40 meters
Orange County, SoCal, The better half

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
« Reply #5 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




Jim
NRD-525, Elecraft KX3 and Elecraft PX3 Spectrum Display
76' end fed long wire & 66' off-center fed dipole for 10/20/40 meters
Orange County, SoCal, The better half

Offline Token

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Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
« Reply #6 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!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline Looking-Glass

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Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
« Reply #7 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
« Last Edit: May 03, 2017, 0832 UTC by Looking-Glass »
Condobolin, NSW.

Grid Square:  QF37ub

Yaesu FT-1000D, Yaesu FT-2000D, ICOM IC-736 HF/50MHz, ICOM IC R75 & Tecsun S-2000 to 450 feet of wire, 27MHz 1/2 wave CB antenna converted to 21MHz & a multi band vertical of dubious reliability.

Offline sat_dxer

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Re: 7.509.3MHz Astrakhan...
« Reply #8 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!
Most times & frequencies posted are only an approximation.