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Author Topic: New whooper beacon on 4095.65  (Read 36029 times)

Offline Dave Richards

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #195 on: September 18, 2021, 2040 UTC »
First time hearing the Whooper this morning under a tremendous noise level.
Could hear the Whooper but copy wasn't good enough to copy the data string.

Sept 17th, 11:27 UTC, 4095.65.

To hear it from your location is quite an achievement.
Oakland, CA
(SF Bay Area)

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #196 on: September 18, 2021, 2309 UTC »
I have a crummy antenna at home, though hope to listen for DW on a camping trip to the Eastern side of CA in a few weeks. In the meantime, I just had a listen on several online SDR's, and was excited to hear it over a wide area. In the period from about 0442 - 0446z on 9/15/2021, I heard it on Kiwi SDR's in the following locations -

Prescott Valley, AZ at Q5 with an S5 noise level.
Missoula, MT at Q5 with an S4 noise level.
Truth or Consequences, NM at Q1-Q2 with an S4 noise level (can hear whoops, but not copy telemetry).
Fort Collins, CO at Q1-Q2 with an S5 noise level (can hear whoops, but not copy telemetry).
and of course the following two -
Half Moon Bay, CA KFS at S7 with an S4 noise level (Q5 of course).
Point Reyes, CA KPH at S8 with an S4 noise level (Q5 of course).

Oh, and at 0503z, I could *just* hear the whooping under an S5 noise level from a Kiwi SDR in Booth Bay, British Columbia.

For 1 watt, this is really good!

Yes, the Desert Whooper really gets out! It puts in a respectable signal here out east in the morning just before sunrise.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
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Offline Desert Whooper

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #197 on: September 19, 2021, 2135 UTC »
All of the reception reports are very much appreciated and are a bit exciting too! This is the first HF telemetry beacon built by the DW team and the temperature reporting has filled a gap in our remote location weather data used for evaluating bighorn sheep migration patterns. Some of the government weather stations in the general area have been proven to be unreliable so we decided to build a weather station of our own.

Development started around September of 2010 utilizing a shortened antenna for local reception in our  city.  It was quite a surprise to read that the KFS SDR's still heard the beacon! That was unknown by us until reading of it here. As reported here on HFU, the whoop pattern and telemetry evolved over the months but were finalized early this year so as to commence with the beacon's final construction and testing. The beacon's on site installation turned out to be quite a challenge too, including backpacking the hardware to the site and reducing the visual signature of the equipment.

The transmitter's "whoop" was engineered to provide a distinctive yet consistent pattern that could worm through noise and interference yet fit within CW bandwidth filters. It also provides a sense of time between telemetry reports.

A reliability issue with the final amplifier was resolved with a redesign and retrofit. The 2N3866 bipolar transistor was replaced with a more robust IRF510 MOSFET that is not fazed by the 120 degree internal temperature peaks. The transmitter circuit has a jumper set up to allow bypassing the MOSFET for a final  output of only 200 mW. The MOSFET is slightly less efficient but the battery and solar panel are sized to provide at least three days of run time in heavily overcast weather so there is little impact from reduced efficiency..  The BAT and PV telemetry show the battery should provide a long life before requiring replacement. Hopefully the beacon continues to run well in the winter months.

The antenna system was a challenge to engineer but has exceeded all expectations as proven by the reports that all of you have generously supplied. Despite primarily aiming for NVIS operation over the area of interest the broader coverage across North America is turning out to be very beneficial due to the broad public network of HF SDRs.
 

The DW Team

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #198 on: September 20, 2021, 1547 UTC »
Maybe September of 2020?   ;)
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 MDK2

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #199 on: September 23, 2021, 0129 UTC »
23 SEP 2021, 0128 UTC (or Wed the 22nd, evening time, about 30 minutes after sunset), quite strong signal into Denver.
Denver, CO.
SDRPlay RSPdx & RSP2pro, Airspy Discovery HF+, Icom IC-7100, Grundig Satellit 750, Realistic DX-300, Tecsun PL-600.
MLA-30 active loop, G5RV dipole.
eQSLs appreciated wickerjennie at gmail

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #200 on: September 24, 2021, 1851 UTC »
23 SEP 2021, 0128 UTC (or Wed the 22nd, evening time, about 30 minutes after sunset), quite strong signal into Denver.

Great catch at home, especially with Denver's urban noise infesting local airwaves! I have a bunch of Grid-Tie solar systems around that kill my chance at long distance catches.

In the first page of this thread there is a post with an email address for DW eQSLs.
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

Finman

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #201 on: September 28, 2021, 2243 UTC »
First time hearing the Whooper this morning under a tremendous noise level.
Could hear the Whooper but copy wasn't good enough to copy the data string.

Sept 17th, 11:27 UTC, 4095.65.

To hear it from your location is quite an achievement.

Thanks Dave, but I think it's more of a testament to the Whooper's antenna system which I'd love to hear more about!  8) 8)

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #202 on: September 29, 2021, 0256 UTC »
.........................I think it's more of a testament to the Whooper's antenna system which I'd love to hear more about!  8) 8)


This thread was started when I discovered DW last year and logged numerous reception reports.

To learn about the antenna you want to see the thread from the people that built DW    :)

---->  https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,85047.0.html
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: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #203 on: October 04, 2021, 2121 UTC »
Updated

Propagation has been changing quite a bit. A few times DW's signal has been noisy even into the mighty KFS kiwi SDRs.

4095.650 KHz  DW  good signal on KFS BAT 13.7  oTMP 86  iTMP 93  PV 4
« Last Edit: October 06, 2021, 2010 UTC by Teotwaki »
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: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #204 on: January 27, 2022, 0156 UTC »
It's been about 11 months since DW's signal went "big" in February of 2021. The frequency has "aged" upwards about 50 Hz. In the last few weeks it has become easier to hear over more hours at home.

4095.700 KHz  Desert Whooper  good signal on my KX3, about +30dB/noise  BAT 13.0  oTMP 52  iTMP 62  PV 0
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: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #205 on: January 27, 2022, 1755 UTC »
I just caught the highest peak current I've ever seen and it looks like the bulk charging phase for the battery

4095.700 KHz  Desert Whooper. Weak at home, S6 on KFS SE. BAT 14.0  oTMP 52  iTMP  59  PV 2297
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 JW

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #206 on: January 30, 2022, 1216 UTC »
Just above the noise here in Eastern NC this morning. Can't make out the Morse but I'm hearing the whoop.

1215 UTC 30 Jan 2022

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #207 on: January 30, 2022, 1814 UTC »
Just above the noise here in Eastern NC this morning. Can't make out the Morse but I'm hearing the whoop.

1215 UTC 30 Jan 2022

Very cool! What is your receive setup?
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 JW

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #208 on: January 31, 2022, 1215 UTC »
Got it again here in Eastern NC.

...whoop whoop whoop DW whoop whoop...

1200 UTC Jan 31 2022

Still too weak to fully copy the code unfortunately.

Very cool! What is your receive setup?

I guess I should have posted that, sorry. FTDX-101 and a 240' Wire Doublet

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: New whooper beacon on 4095.65
« Reply #209 on: January 31, 2022, 1510 UTC »
4095.700 KHz  DW with a signal 20-25 dB over the noise here. BAT 12.7  oTMP 48  iTMP 53  PV 2
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

 

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