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Author Topic: WQFG689 antenna  (Read 1827 times)

Offline OgreVorbis

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WQFG689 antenna
« on: December 20, 2019, 0847 UTC »
I've been wondering what the antenna for WQFG689 looks like. Does anyone have a picture or has seen it before? (I did try looking it up and I was unable to find anything on google.)

I find it surprising the coverage that it has. No other TIS covers so much. It goes hundreds of miles and I never hear any other TIS on 1710. I assume they are limited to the usual 10W of power, so their antenna must be really good.
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Offline redhat

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2019, 1037 UTC »
The license lists their operating power as 10W into a 15M (~50') antenna.  The station did petition the commission to allow them to run 100W during normal operations and up to 1100W during times of declared emergency.  This petition was denied and is reflected in the license.  The TIS station for Los Angeles Airport is mentioned as running 100 watts on 530 KHz.

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Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2019, 1134 UTC »
One note for TIS hunters: The FCC database only has some of the TIS stations listed. Those operated by the federal government are *not* listed.   These include the Flight 93 Memorial in PA, and the Springfield MA Armory on 1710 kHz, as well as many other stations on other frequencies, such as those in national parks, on military bases, etc.

I filed a FOIA request with the government to get information about these "missing" TIS stations. The information is incorporated into my DX ToolBox program for Windows and macOS. AFAIK it's the only source for these stations. You can get a copy of DX ToolBox here: https://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/ham-shortwave-radio-propagation-software.html
Chris Smolinski
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eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
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Offline Rob.

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Offline NJQA

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2019, 1258 UTC »
Is DX Toolbox for the iPad going to be updated for these features?

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2019, 1315 UTC »
Is DX Toolbox for the iPad going to be updated for these features?

Possibly. I'm undecided at this point.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
netSDR / AFE822x / AirSpy HF+ / KiwiSDR / 900 ft Horz skyloop / 500 ft NE beverage / 250 ft V Beam / 58 ft T2FD / 120 ft T2FD / 400 ft south beverage / 43m, 20m, 10m  dipoles / Crossed Parallel Loop / Discone in a tree

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2019, 1316 UTC »
Is DX Toolbox for the iPad going to be updated for these features?

Possibly. I'm undecided at this point. Apple's app approval policies make it extremely frustrating to update and release new versions of iOS apps.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
netSDR / AFE822x / AirSpy HF+ / KiwiSDR / 900 ft Horz skyloop / 500 ft NE beverage / 250 ft V Beam / 58 ft T2FD / 120 ft T2FD / 400 ft south beverage / 43m, 20m, 10m  dipoles / Crossed Parallel Loop / Discone in a tree

Offline redhat

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2019, 2000 UTC »
Somewhere under the stars...
Airspy HF+, MLA-30/Mini-whip/Chi-Town Loop
Please send QSL's and reception reports to xfmshortwave [at] proton [d0t] me

Offline OgreVorbis

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #8 on: December 20, 2019, 2115 UTC »
Possible antenna:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7398821,-74.0570985,3a,15y,305.61h,100.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdXpMIjD5PMWCaRM-s-EIHA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Can't believe you found that. It looks like a valcom antenna: https://www.valcommfg.ca/v-147-cl2-th
I wonder what makes this one better than the other TISs. I would expect them to all use valcoms (maybe not)?

One note for TIS hunters: The FCC database only has some of the TIS stations listed. Those operated by the federal government are *not* listed.   These include the Flight 93 Memorial in PA, and the Springfield MA Armory on 1710 kHz, as well as many other stations on other frequencies, such as those in national parks, on military bases, etc.

I filed a FOIA request with the government to get information about these "missing" TIS stations. The information is incorporated into my DX ToolBox program for Windows and macOS. AFAIK it's the only source for these stations. You can get a copy of DX ToolBox here: https://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/ham-shortwave-radio-propagation-software.html

Nice work on that program. I just downloaded it and tried it for a few minutes. I found it saying I lack an internet connection despite it seeming to work properly and download databases.

Radio and Programming Blog: http://dosaidsoft.com/wp/

Offline Josh

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #9 on: December 20, 2019, 2208 UTC »
Sometimes the location supports a very good natural ground, while others may be fair to poor.
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Offline redhat

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #10 on: December 20, 2019, 2216 UTC »
None of these stations have full radial systems anyway, so ground conductivity play a bigger role in coverage than conventional broadcast stations.

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Somewhere under the stars...
Airspy HF+, MLA-30/Mini-whip/Chi-Town Loop
Please send QSL's and reception reports to xfmshortwave [at] proton [d0t] me

Offline Josh

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2019, 2230 UTC »
The stick at the ambc I worked at was set in a marsh in some of the most conductive ground in North America, and the daytime coverage with 1kw was amazing. If it hadn't been in the middle of the hood I'd have asked permission to hook my HAM rig to it when it shut down at sunset.
We do not encourage any radio operations contrary to regulations.

Offline redhat

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #12 on: December 21, 2019, 0012 UTC »
The stick at the ambc I worked at was set in a marsh in some of the most conductive ground in North America, and the daytime coverage with 1kw was amazing. If it hadn't been in the middle of the hood I'd have asked permission to hook my HAM rig to it when it shut down at sunset.

With the number of AM's going dark, it's not that hard to find a dead stick to used occasionally for various purposes  8)

+-RH
Somewhere under the stars...
Airspy HF+, MLA-30/Mini-whip/Chi-Town Loop
Please send QSL's and reception reports to xfmshortwave [at] proton [d0t] me

Offline Josh

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #13 on: December 21, 2019, 1633 UTC »
LOL! ! ! !
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Offline Rob.

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Re: WQFG689 antenna
« Reply #14 on: December 22, 2019, 0103 UTC »

Can't believe you found that. It looks like a valcom antenna: https://www.valcommfg.ca/v-147-cl2-th
I wonder what makes this one better than the other TISs. I would expect them to all use valcoms (maybe not)?


Thanks for finding the antenna manufacturer... I was curious about that. Very interesting documents associated with it, worth reading.
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