4085 KHz, good choice or not?

[redhat]

I'm curious for feedback from listeners last night as to the suitability of 4085 as a transmission frequency.  One of the problems that plagues 43 meters is a combination of peskies and wideband data modes, both seem to be absent on 73 meters.  The down side to this frequency range is that it resides in maritime frequency allocations, and there does seem to be some data activity, albeit bursty.

With the downturn in propagation (SSN last night was ZERO) and the tendency for 43 meters to go long very early, I see few other choices but to head for longer wavelengths.  Halloween this year made this problem crystal clear for me, and until propagation returns to peak level or the noise becomes excessive on lower frequencies to allow enjoyment of a program, I see little reason to return to 43.

Any thoughts, or perhaps other ranges we should explore?  I would prefer not going much lower, as antenna considerations become a problem.

+-RH

[Andrew Yoder]

I can't speak for the potential problems with licensed users of this territory, but over the past two months, I've tuned here from time. I haven't heard any peskies or MARS ops, so that seems like a big plus. I also haven't heard much of the data that turns up on 43m. Strictly from the perspective of a listener, it seems like this is a great place to broadcast at night from the late fall through early spring.

I also wonder if there are any open chunks of spectrum around 60m, now that a lot of tropical band stations are dark

[refmo]

As Andrew stated, 4085 is probably the clearest frequency in the 73 meter range.
And, a frequency up around 60 meters, or perhaps around 5190 might offer some advantages as well.

[Josh]

With the demise of USN/MC MARS who used to hold this frequency, I think the closest MARS freq is still 4041, in use by USAF or Army MARS today. It'd also be neat to hear piracy on the region 2 to 2.5MHz hint hint.

[redhat]

With the demise of USN/MC MARS who used to hold this frequency, I think the closest MARS freq is still 4041, in use by USAF or Army MARS today. It'd also be neat to hear piracy on the region 2 to 2.5MHz hint hint.

Would you like to volunteer to help erect a 75' antenna every weekend?  hint hint... 

+-RH

[Azimuth Coordinator]

I'm thinking 5060 - 5070 ?? I can tune to 5 Mhz   I'm not able to tune 4085 at this time I'd have to put up another antenna.   

tAC

[R4002]

70 meters shows some great promise with prior experience on several frequencies in the 4000-4100 kHz range.  As for 2000-2500 kHz, that might be possible.  3375 kHz is another good one.  3400-3500 kHz is an aircraft band so I would avoid operating there. 

[Treehouse SWL]

I heard no interference issues anywhere around 4085 kHz that night.

Propagation wasn't great in my area; Radio Verdad down on 4055, which I use to judge reception on that band, was very weak that night compared to usual. But during periods when the fading settled down, you sounded great. To echo some of the others here, though, it might be interesting to try something between 5050-5100 kHz.

[redhat]

The 5 MHz region is possible.  Currently 50' seems to be the limit for a self supporting vertical in most weather conditions, and that would be 1/4 wave at 5 MHz or so.  I'm open to ideas, although I would have to build a new LPF, antenna matching network, and tank coil for any new frequency, along with a new set of radials.

Good stuff!

+-RH

P.S. how about 5110? It looks to have enough room for 10KHz audio.

[Radio Station]

5 MHz seems to be closer to the performance of 6 Mhz with 4 Mhz performing better at night. If would be interesting to see how well you will do in the 5100 area +- Your could try 4800 +- area also on the low side of the broadcast band if it is clear of stations. The advantage in going higher is a lower noise floor with propagation a little less at night.

[ChrisSmolinski]

I'll present my views as a listener: At the risk of stating the obvious... It's far far more likely for a station to be heard if it is transmitting where people are listening. This includes people tuning the dial, as well as those of us that run nightly SDR recordings.

If an op lets me know they'll be on random frequency XYZ on a given evening, I can set up my SDR recording to catch them. But otherwise, I'm probably going to miss them, as will most other listeners. This is the current "problem", if you will. Please don't take this as criticism, I appreciate the efforts ops make and enjoy listening to any broadcasts I happen to be able to catch.

If on the other hand a particular band has a fair amount of activity (as 43 meters does now), I'm more likely to be recording and catch it, as will others. I understand there's technical issues involved, with resonant antennas, transmitter frequency ranges, and so on. Some coordination amongst operators (which seems to be the intent of this discussion, yay!) to pick one additional band (say 100 kHz wide) on top of 43 meters, vs everyone using their own band, is going to result in a lot more folks hearing the transmissions.  Just saying 

[R4002]

Chris makes a good point.  I have had excellent results with 4 MHz / 70 meters, although I haven't tried 5 MHz / 60 meters and I understand the issue re: building verticals for lower frequencies...maybe 6800-7000 kHz and 4000-4100 kHz? 

[redhat]

I'll present my views as a listener: At the risk of stating the obvious... It's far far more likely for a station to be heard if it is transmitting where people are listening. This includes people tuning the dial, as well as those of us that run nightly SDR recordings.

If an op lets me know they'll be on random frequency XYZ on a given evening, I can set up my SDR recording to catch them. But otherwise, I'm probably going to miss them, as will most other listeners. This is the current "problem", if you will. Please don't take this as criticism, I appreciate the efforts ops make and enjoy listening to any broadcasts I happen to be able to catch.

If on the other hand a particular band has a fair amount of activity (as 43 meters does now), I'm more likely to be recording and catch it, as will others. I understand there's technical issues involved, with resonant antennas, transmitter frequency ranges, and so on. Some coordination amongst operators (which seems to be the intent of this discussion, yay!) to pick one additional band (say 100 kHz wide) on top of 43 meters, vs everyone using their own band, is going to result in a lot more folks hearing the transmissions.  Just saying 

Thanks to the HFU, once someone spots the signal and posts it, many more people find out about it who otherwise may miss it.  Through selective announcements, it is less likely that a signal would go unnoticed, for better or worse.  I did receive a few emails the other night from folks who stumbled across the show while looking for something to listen to.  Being adjacent to ham bands can help in this regard, but can also be a problem for obvious reasons.

+-RH

[Josh]

A 1/4w vert for 5MHz would get you some lovely dx I bet.

[redhat]

Yes, at the expense of local coverage.

+-RH