We seek to understand and document all radio transmissions, legal and otherwise, as part of the radio listening hobby. We do not encourage any radio operations contrary to regulations. Always consult with the appropriate authorities if you have questions concerning what is permissible in your locale.

Author Topic: The Desert Whooper  (Read 16646 times)

Offline Desert Whooper

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 29
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #45 on: May 27, 2022, 0115 UTC »
I'm on an extended campervan trip, to wherever my fancy takes me. I've been doing very little SW listening, but did catch Gendarme (which I will report elsewhere) and DW, on my little Belka-DX portable receiver, with the set top whip.

I'm in Coconino National Forest, a few miles north of Flagstaff, AZ, from where I logged DW, at 0010z on 4/21/2022. Weak sigs, but no QSB and perfectly copyable.

Thank you Dave! We appreciate your wonderful reports!

Offline Desert Whooper

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 29
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #46 on: May 27, 2022, 0118 UTC »
The DW beacon is being thoroughly baked again!

Battery was 13.1 volts
Outside temp was 101 degrees
Inside temp was 117 degrees
Solar panel current was 113 milliamps

Offline Desert Whooper

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 29
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #47 on: September 01, 2022, 1548 UTC »
Sharing old photos

Transmitter development, crystal oscillator and 200 mW stage


Controller development, basic analog meshed with a microcontroller


The DW Team

Offline syfr

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 682
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #48 on: September 02, 2022, 2132 UTC »
Great fun to see the DW protos , after hearing it on the air for so long. While I've never been able to log it from the east coast, I've always heard it during trips to the central coast  and of course via the Kiwis up in the bay area and Utah.

Thanks for providing a great deal of fun for us weirdos that enjoy listening to things that go beep in the night (and day)

« Last Edit: September 02, 2022, 2134 UTC by syfr »
Kiwsdr x 2. TenTec Paragon/NRD535

Offline syfr

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 682
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #49 on: September 22, 2022, 0031 UTC »
Out in the yard here in the central coast of CA and DW is sounding good on the Belka DX with nothing more than the 20" telescoping whip.

Great job from down south!
Kiwsdr x 2. TenTec Paragon/NRD535

Offline syfr

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 682
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #50 on: September 29, 2022, 0232 UTC »
Just did some listening from the back patio here in Santa Barbara County, and DW is whooping in here nicely on nothing more than the BELKA DX and it's 20" whip.
Kiwsdr x 2. TenTec Paragon/NRD535

Offline Desert Whooper

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 29
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #51 on: October 05, 2022, 2102 UTC »
Thank you Syfr!! We appreciate the compliments and are quite proud of our little temperature sensing beacon's success.

The DW Team

Offline Teotwaki

  • Moderator
  • DXing Phenomena
  • *****
  • Posts: 3111
  • California
    • View Profile
    • My adventures are at Sun To The North
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #52 on: October 13, 2022, 1533 UTC »
Is DW off the air?

I heard it last night at 10 PM with normal telemetry
BAT  13.1   oTMP  81  iTMP  87  PV 1

Nothing heard this morning.
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

  • Moderator
  • DXing Phenomena
  • *****
  • Posts: 3111
  • California
    • View Profile
    • My adventures are at Sun To The North
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #53 on: October 13, 2022, 2144 UTC »
Must have been propagation chicanery!

I just heard some very weak whoops on the home radio and then tuned to it on KFS and caught telemetry

BAT  14.0   oTMP 89  iTMP  96  PV   5
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 stendec

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 57
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #54 on: October 28, 2022, 0159 UTC »
Is everything OK with the DW beacon?

Normally DW is S5 to S7 almost anytime of the day using the KFS or KPH SDRs (almost anytime - except for late at night when the foF2 NVIS critical frequency drops below 4 Mhz). However for the past 4 or 5 days DW has been barely audible or not heard at all. Maybe just a whisper at best and not strong enough to copy the telemetry. I can hear the other Mohave Desert beacons and the Coast Slider just fine.

Could be just the propagation chicanery that Teotwaki mentioned. Any other recent DW reports?
/ STENDEC

Offline mark-n-nut

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 291
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #55 on: November 02, 2022, 0312 UTC »
I agree that it had gotten weaker.  But tonight it is back to its normal signal levels here.  Bravo to the engineering crew.

73
R-75
Wellbrook 1530 Loop
Dipoles
QTH - Northern UT (NUT)
DN41af

Offline Teotwaki

  • Moderator
  • DXing Phenomena
  • *****
  • Posts: 3111
  • California
    • View Profile
    • My adventures are at Sun To The North
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #56 on: November 02, 2022, 0425 UTC »
I’ve also had trouble receiving it at home. Just happened to check KFS Omni and had it at S7 at 18:21 pst

Bat 13.1
OTMP 64
iTMP 74
PV 1
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 stendec

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 57
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #57 on: November 03, 2022, 0203 UTC »
Yes, it was back to S9 on the KFS SDR for awhile today, but then went back to just a whisper this afternoon. Now (at 0150Z) it is abruptly going from S9 down to S2 mid-whoop - or even mid-character! DW may have an intermittent connection in its PA, or its antenna system.
/ STENDEC

Offline Teotwaki

  • Moderator
  • DXing Phenomena
  • *****
  • Posts: 3111
  • California
    • View Profile
    • My adventures are at Sun To The North
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #58 on: November 07, 2022, 0506 UTC »
Signal strength seems to be normal for the last four or five hours. Currently S8 on KFS SE

Bat 13.0
OTMP 65
iTMP 72
PV 1
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 Desert Whooper

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 29
    • View Profile
Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #59 on: November 07, 2022, 0704 UTC »
DW had been suffering severely low output. We finally made the long drive & hike and brought repair parts to cover the most likely failure types. It turned out the antenna balun was bad. DW has been enduring very high VSWR all these weeks! 

Will pry open the old balun soon