New whooper beacon on 4095.65

[Teotwaki]

Starting 2 days ago DW has exhibited some ragged keying. Signal strength seems normal when keyed up but some "whoops" and Morse characters go missing. It could be the result of the constant heat out there or an after effect of the last time it went off the air. The keying problem does not seem to vary directly with the reported temperature changes. Battery voltages seem normal.

EDIT

This report was based on the KFS SE kiwi SDR but I should double check other SDRs for compparison

[Teotwaki]

It seems that the KFS SDRs may be having more issues than I recently reported to the owner/operators

(see   https://forum.kiwisdr.com/index.php?p=/discussion/2605/possible-bug-with-public-facing-gui-fixed-in-v1-523 )

Now that DW is coming in strong this evening it sounds just fine. However, I found this interesting issue reported by our very own forum owner (Smolinski) and it makes me wonder if that is what made DW sound glitchy on the KFS SE kiwi.

https://forum.kiwisdr.com/index.php?p=/discussion/2623/the-saga-of-glitchy-audio-waterfall-and-a-chinese-bot

[Dave Richards]

That sounds like a very plausible explanation for the glitchy reception of DW Jim. DW is quite strong in Southern Utah and, as you observed, sounds fine. At about 1130pm MDT on 6/19/2922 (0530z on 6/20/2022) DW was 13.0V, otmp 76, itmp 86, pv = 1.

Receiver for the above was my plucky little Belka-DX with the telescopic whip.

[ChrisSmolinski]

I've been trying to kick and ban these Chinese bots when they appear on the KiwiSDRs, but unfortunately they frequently change IP addresses to avoid the bans, so it is like playing Whack A Mole.

Good reception of the Desert Whooper and the Slider on the northern CA KiwSDR. I don't think I'll be getting up early enough for local reception of 4 MHz beacons for some time 

[Teotwaki]

Okay signal here at home and very strong into KFS, KPH and Utah

4095.67 KHz     DW  battery 13.6v  outside temp 81deg  inside temp 86deg  solar panel current 1063 mA

[Teotwaki]

Gtreat signal here at home

4095.67 KHz     DW  battery 13.1v  outside temp 97deg  inside temp 102deg  solar panel current 1 (which is actually zero)

[Teotwaki]

Last night I rolled into Saint George, Utah around 11 PM and tuned in DW on the truck's Yaesu FT-857D and heard it faintly but clearly. Since the ATAS-120 antenna isn't made to go below 7 MHz I tune it to 8191 KHz and hope enough of the 4095.65 signal gets through. Will have to look at the 120 antenna with a network analyzer some day.

Back home tonight and DW is so strong I can easily hear it on the NRD-525 set to Narrow filter

22:11 PST  BAT  13.0  oTMP  100  iTMP 107  PV  1

[Ed H]

Jum[img in a bit late, but I just started looking for Beacons outsides 33 m. The DW signal is very readable here in Northern California after dark, S3  S5, equal to the noise. Antenna is an 80 ft random wire with transformer isolated feeder back to various radios. The higher frequency "desert slider", 4108 kHz is also easy copy, similar strenghts.

Ed

[Teotwaki]

Jum[img in a bit late, but I just started looking for Beacons outsides 33 m. The DW signal is very readable here in Northern California after dark, S3  S5, equal to the noise. Antenna is an 80 ft random wire with transformer isolated feeder back to various radios. The higher frequency "desert slider", 4108 kHz is also easy copy, similar strenghts.

Ed

Welcome to hunting Pirate Beacons Ed!! It is a lot of fun!

[Teotwaki]

fair signal here at home

21:58 PST 

BAT  13.0  oTMP  97  iTMP 104  PV  1

[Teotwaki]

Easy armchair copy her at home tonight. No ear strain!

BAT  13.1
oTMP  94
iTMP   99  (interesting, only 5 degrees above ambient)
PV   1   (it's dark out there

[Teotwaki]

A bit noisy here at home and also on KFS SE

BAT  13.1
oTMP  103
iTMP   106  (interesting, only 3 degrees above ambient)
PV  2   

[Charlie_Dont_Surf]

It looks like the battery voltage is dipping from the immediately preceding logs, taken at roughly the same time of the evening and an earlier sunset now.

08/23/2022, 0400 UTC, 4095.6 KHz carrier frequency, received on the KPH kiwi SDR, Point Reyes, CA, SINPO 25232.

BAT 12.1 (V)
OTMP 100 (F; still hot in the desert well after dark. Also perhaps the sensor is not in the open air.)
ITMP 107 (F)
PV 1

[Teotwaki]

It looks like the battery voltage is dipping from the immediately preceding logs, taken at roughly the same time of the evening and an earlier sunset now.

08/23/2022, 0400 UTC, 4095.6 KHz carrier frequency, received on the KPH kiwi SDR, Point Reyes, CA, SINPO 25232.

BAT 12.1 (V)
OTMP 100 (F; still hot in the desert well after dark. Also perhaps the sensor is not in the open air.)
ITMP 107 (F)
PV 1

The beacon maker’s thread is here
https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,85047.0.html

They state the otmp readings are from an outdoor sensor and the battery has a low volts disconnect. In all of my logs I’ve never seen the voltage below 12.8 and given my own weak skills with Morse a very low appearing reading was more likely to have been 13.1 rather than 12.1 volts.

I cross check temps by looking across temps in desert towns as well as seeing that DW’s two readings usually have a 3 to 7 degree delta based on time of day. A year ago I saw the iTMP hit 120 degrees.

[Charlie_Dont_Surf]

Yeah, the signal was fading up and down last night and maybe I copied the battery voltage incorrectly.

Here is a recording of much better reception on the KPH SE beam kiwi SDR at 2230 UTC 23 August 2022 in the afternoon sun.

https://voca.ro/1oQ6dhNbcpwM

In any case, it sounds like the battery voltage is up to 14.3 Volts right now with the sun at "full gas".