The Desert Whooper

[Desert Whooper]

Thank you very much for the detailed report along with the picture and audio recording! You must have a low noise floor there. Great audio quality and quite a thrill to hear the Desert Whooper through your SDR

The eQSL will be in your PM inbox in a minute

DW

[Exo]

The Desert Whooper,

Thank you very much for the wonderful e-QSL card!
The Desert Whooper is by far one of the strongest and most interesting HF beacons of its kind that I've copied in the past decade here.
The use of CW telemetry for temperature, power, and solar charge status is brilliant.
Best wishes.

Exo

Thank you very much for the detailed report along with the picture and audio recording! You must have a low noise floor there. Great audio quality and quite a thrill to hear the Desert Whooper through your SDR

The eQSL will be in your PM inbox in a minute

DW

[syfr]

Will renew my efforts for a direct reception when T-storm season is over. Thanks for the really fun DX target!

[Teotwaki]

I just discovered this new DW video today

https://youtu.be/7_CAxPhgWAw

[Teotwaki]

Another new video  https://youtu.be/LuP5GD1CLEQ

[HRO500]

Heard DW just fine here in the San Francisco area.
Date:  9/5/2021  Time:  0421 UTC
Frequency:  4095.489 CW, 600 Hz BW, BFO 685 Hz
Signal strength S-6 to S-7
Lots of whoops!
BAT:  13.1
OTMP:  91
ITMP: 96
PV:  1
Receiver:  Ten Tec  RX-340
Antenna:  100 meter horizontal loop

Would love to get your eQSL.  It's a very cool beacon.
-- 73 from HRO500

[Teotwaki]

In the first few messages there is an email address for eQSL requests

[Grounded_Grid]

I can't believe how well this beacon gets out for only being one watt.

I can pretty reliably hear it's whoop's and ID from upstate NY, but it's far enough below the noise
for me that the telemetry is too hard to copy.  Around 10:00Z this morning I did catch the battery
voltage of 12.9 though.

Hopefully the noise will drop far enough this winter I can copy the telemetry.

Thanks for a fun beacon!!

[Heathkit]

I can pretty reliably hear it's whoop's and ID from upstate NY...

Wow! That's pretty good for a watt.

Given it was logged in HI, northern Canada and all over the US, before the op clued us in, I guessed a good 10 or 15W. I would LOVE to see the perfect antenna/matching/ground system he's got on it

73's

[Teotwaki]

Now that the weather has cooled off I can sum up a couple of data points about the whoops

When DW first was heard at full strength back in February there were 30 whoops on each cycle.

As the weather heated up someone here noted the 30th whoop was shorter. Sure enough, as temps climbed upwards that 30th whoop all but disappeared.

Tonight DW reported the internal temp at 63 and the 30th whoop seems whole again.

[Dave Richards]

Tonight DW reported the internal temp at 63 and the 30th whoop seems whole again.

That observation shows quite remarkable attention to detail, Teotwaki.

[Teotwaki]

That observation shows quite remarkable attention to detail, Teotwaki.

Thanks Dave. It all sprang from a discussion between Syfr and myself at the end of March. He also pays close attention to interesting details. It’s been a long wait since March to get another data point!

Jim

[Finman]

Copied the Desert Whooper early this morning, around 09:30 UTC, but again, couldn't copy the telemetry due to the noise level.

[Desert Whooper]

Wow! That's pretty good for a watt.  I would LOVE to see the perfect antenna/matching/ground system he's got on it

A lot of time was spent trying to determine how much transmit power was appropriate. After extensive research about QRP rigs one watt seemed appropriate.  Next antenna efficiency and pattern were focused upon.

The desert soil is very rocky and dry so the antenna is hung relatively low to achieve a 50 ohm match close to 1:1 vswr. From the ideal free space length the antenna was shortened 92" to achieve the match. There are no additional ground rods or counterpoise elements strung out beneath the antenna.

Balun efficiency was also  looked into and a simple 1:1 "transformer" of coax wound on a large core had the lowest loss.

[Heathkit]

Thank you for that info!

73's