Radio propagation beacon

From HFUnderground

A radio propagation beacon is a radio beacon, which is used for investigating the propagation of radio signals. Most radio propagation beacons use amateur radio frequencies. They can be found on HF, VHF, UHF, and microwave frequencies. Microwave beacons are also used as signal sources to test and calibrate antennas and receivers.^{[1] [2]}

Contents 1 Transmission characteristics 2 160 meters beacons 3 60 meters beacons 4 10 meters beacons 5 40 MHz beacons 6 6 meters (50 MHz) beacons 7 4 meters (70 MHz) beacons 7.1 General beacon operations 7.2 Special beacon allocations 8 VHF/UHF beacons 9 SHF and microwave beacons 10 Beacon projects 10.1 IARU Beacon Project 10.2 ITU sponsored beacons 10.3 DARC beacon project 10.4 RSGB 5 MHz beacon project 11 Notes and references 12 See also 13 Further reading

Transmission characteristics

Most beacons operate in continuous wave (CW or A1A) and transmit their identification (callsign and location). Some of them send long dashes to facilitate signal strength measurement. A small number of beacons transmit Morse code by frequency shift keying (F1A). A few beacons transmit signals in digital modulation modes, like radioteletype (F1B) and PSK31 (G1B).

FT-897, a budget HF tranceiver produced by Yaesu/Vertex, has a programmable beacon mode and is used in some temporary propagation beacon installations.

160 meters beacons

The IARU Region 2 (North and South America) bandplan reserves the range 1999 kHz to 2000 kHz for propagation beacons.

60 meters beacons

In addition to the DARC and RSBG beacon projects on 5195 and 5290 kHz (see below), Eddie Bellerby of UDXF discovered in March 2011 a new CW beacon on 5206 kHz, sending LX0HF, presumably from Luxembourg.^[13] Further intelligence indicates that the beacon is operated by Philippe LX2A/LX7I of the Luxembourg Amateur Radio Society.^[14] Two more european beacons are listed on 5 MHz, OV1BCN on 5290 kHz, operated by OZ1FJB and OK1IF on 5258.5 kHz from the Czech Republic, though their current status is unclear.

Callsign	Frequency	Locator	Details
DRA5	5195.0 kHz	JO44VQ	DARC
LX0HF	5205.3 kHz
OK1IF	5258.5 kHz	JO40HG
GB3RAL	5290.0 kHz	IO91IN	RSGB
GB3WES	5290.0 kHz	IO84QN	RSGB
GB3ORK	5290.0 kHz	IO89JA	RSGB
OV1BCN	5290.0 kHz		Op OZ1FJB

10 meters beacons

Most HF radio propagation beacons are found in the 10 meters (28 MHz) frequency band, where they are good indicators of Sporadic E ionospheric propagation. According to IARU bandplans, the following 28 MHz frequencies are allocated to radio propagation beacons:

IARU Region	Beacon allocations
R1	28190-28199 Regional Time Shared 28199-28201 WW Time Shared 28201-28225 Continuous Duty
R2[3]	28190-28199 Regional Time Shared 28199-28201 IBP/NCDXF 28201-28225 Beacons, continuous duty 28225-28300 Shared
R3	28190-28200 IBP

40 MHz beacons

• The first radio propagation beacon on 40 MHz was OZ7IGY in Jystrup, Denmark (JO55WM) and transmits on 40021 kHz. Transmitted power is 22 W to a dipole antenna. Modulation is F1A keying (frequency Shift Keying), with a shift of 250 Hz. [1]
• The Radio Society of Great Britain has a license for beacon transmissions from GB3RAL (Didcot, UK) on 40050 & 60050 kHz.

6 meters (50 MHz) beacons

In the 6 meters (50 MHz) band, beacons operate in the lower part of the band, in the range 50000 kHz to 50080 kHz. The ARRL bandplan recommends 50060  to 50080 kHz for beacons in the United States. Due to unpredictable and intermittent long distance propagation, usually achieved by a combination of ionospheric conditions, beacons are very important in providing early warning for 50 MHz openings.

4 meters (70 MHz) beacons

General beacon operations

Numerous beacons operate on 70 MHz in recent years. Their main purrpose is to dected the relativley rare and extreme Es (sporadic E) opennings, which exceed 70 MHz.

There is no definite international beacon allocation, due to various countries having different amateur radio allocations in this band. Generally beacons operate near the bottom end (70.000-70.100 MHz).^{(11) (12)}. Most respect the RSGB bandplan, staying below 70.050 MHz.

• 70.000-70.050 MHz: UK beacon allocation, including personal beacons on 70.030 MHz

Special beacon allocations

• USA: 70.005 MHz is allocated to the WE9XFT beacon. Transmits from Bedford, VA, under an FCC experimental license issued to Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, with a power of 3 kW.
• Austria: 70.045 MHz is allocated to the OE5QL beacon.
• Hong Kong: 71.757 MHz is allocated to the VR2FOUR beacon.

VHF/UHF beacons

Beacons on 144 MHz and higher frequencies are mainly used to identify tropospheric radio propagation openings. It is not uncommon for VHF and UHF beacons to use directional antennas. Frequency allocations for beacons on VHF and UHF bands vary widely in different ITU/IARU regions and countries.

Band	Beacon Sub-band (MHz)
	R1	R2	R3
2 m	144.400-144.490	144.275–144.300	Unknown
1.25 m	N/A	222.050–222.060	N/A
70 cm	432.800-432.990	432.300–432.400	Unknown
33 cm	N/A	Varies Locally	N/A
23 cm	1,296.800-1,296.990	1,296.070-1,296.080	Unknown
13 cm	2,320.800-2,320.990	2,304.300-2,304.400	Unknown

The current allocation in the United Kingdom, which also reflects IARU Region 1 recommendations, is the following:^[4]

Band	Beacon allocation (kHz)
4 m	70,000-70,030
2 m	144,400-144,490
70 cm	432,800-432,990
23 cm	1296,800-1296,990

SHF and microwave beacons

In addition to identifying propagation, microwave beacons are also used as signal sources to test and calibrate antennas and receivers. SHF beacons are not as common as beacons on the lower bands, and beacons above the 3 cm (10 GHz) band are unusual.

Band	Beacon Sub-band (MHz)
	R1	R2	R3
9 cm	3,400.800-3,400.995	3,456.300-3,456.400	Unknown
5 cm	5,760.800-5,760.995	5,760.300-5,760.400	Unknown
3 cm	10,368.800-10,368.995	10,368.300-10,368.400	Unknown
1.2 cm	Beacons are rare

Beacon projects

Most radio propagation beacons are operated by individual radio amateurs or amateur radio societies and clubs. As a result, there are frequent additions and deletions to the lists of beacons. There are, however a few major projects coordinated by organizations like the International Telecommunications Union and the International Amateur Radio Union.

IARU Beacon Project

The International Beacon Project (IBP), which is coordinated by the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), consists of 18 HF propagation beacons worldwide, which transmit in turns on 14100 kHz, 18110 kHz, 21150 kHz, 24930 kHz, and 28200 kHz. ^[5] The IARU/NDXF beacons transmit in turns on the five designated frequencies according to the following schedule, which repeats every 3 minutes:

Slot	DXCC entity	Call	Location	Latitude	Longitude	Grid Sq	14100	18110	21150	24930	28200	Operator
01	United Nations	4U1UN	New York City	40º 45' N	73º 58' W	FN3ØAS	00.00	00.10	00.20	00.30	00.40	UNRC
02	Canada	VE8AT	Eureka, Nunavut	79º 59' N	85º 57' W	EQ79AX	00.10	00.20	00.30	00.40	00.50	RAC
03	United States	W6WX	Mt. Umunhum	37º 09' N	121º 54' W	CM97BD	00:20	00.30	00:40	00.50	01:00	NCDXF
04	Hawaii	KH6WO	Laie	21º 38' N	157º 55' W	BL11AP	00.30	00.40	00.50	01.00	01.10	(Off)
05	New Zealand	ZL6B	Masterton	41º 03' S	175º 36' E	RE78TW	00.40	00.50	01.00	01.10	01.20	NZART
06	Australia	VK6RBP	Rolystone	32º 06' S	116º 03' E	OF87AV	00.50	01.00	01.10	01.20	01.30	WIA
07	Japan	JA2IGY	Mt. Asama	34º 27' N	136º 47' E	PM84JK	01.00	01.10	01.20	01.30	01.40	JARL
08	Russia	RR9O	Novosibirsk	54º 59' N	82º 54' E	NO14KX	01.10	01.20	01.30	01.40	01.50	SRR
09	Hong Kong	VR2B	Hong Kong	22º 16' N	114º 09' E	OL72BG	01.20	01.30	01.40	01.50	02.00	HARTS
10	Sri Lanka	4S7B	Colombo	6º 6' N	80º 13' E	NJ06CC	01.30	01.40	01.50	02.00	02.10	RSSL
11	South Africa	ZS6DN	Pretoria	25º 54' S	28º 16' E	KG44DC	01:40	01.50	02:00	02:10	02:20	ZS6DN
12	Kenya	5Z4B	Kariobangi	1º 15' S	36º 53' E	KI88KS	01.50	02.00	02.10	02.20	02.30	ARSC
13	Israel	4X6TU	Tel Aviv	32º 03' N	34º 46' E	KM72JB	02:00	02:10	02:20	02.30	02:40	IARC
14	Finland	OH2B	Lohja	60º 19' N	24º 50' E	KP2Ø	02:10	02:20	02:30	02:40	02:50	SRAL
15	Madeira	CS3B	Santo da Serra	32º 43' N	16º 48' W	IM12OR	02.20	02.30	02.40	02.50	00.00	ARRM
16	Argentina	LU4AA	Buenos Aires	34º 37' S	58º 21' W	GFØ5TJ	02:30	02:40	02:50	00.00	00:10	ARC
17	Peru	OA4B	Lima	12º 04' S	76º 57' W	FH17MW	02.40	02.50	00.00	00.10	00.20	RCP
18	Venezuela	YV5B	Caracas	10º 25' N	66º 51' W	FK6ØNJ	02:50	00.00	00:10	00:20	00:30	RCV

ITU sponsored beacons

As part of an International Telecommunications Union-funded project, radio propagation beacons were installed by national authorities at Sveio, Norway (callsign LN2A, 59.6042⁰N - 5.29167⁰E) and at Darwin, Australia (callsign VL8IPS, 12.6042⁰S - 131.2920⁰E). The beacons operated on frequencies 5471.5 kHz, 7871.5 kHz, 10408.5 kHz, 14396.5 kHz, and 20948.5 kHz.^[6] Since 2002, there have been no reception reports for these beacons and the relevant ITU web pages have been removed. ^[7]

HF Field-Strength measurement campaign For a number of years, ITU-R Study Group 3 has been promoting a world-wide HF field-strength measurement campaign, the impetus for which arose from WARC HFBC-87 and the request for improved accuracy in HF propagation prediction. At that time, the Study Group recognised that significant improvements in HF propagation prediction methods needed a substantial body of new measurement data and to that end, administrations and organisations were invited to participate in the measurement campaign, either by installing suitable transmitters or by collecting long-term data from appropriate receiving systems. The campaign is specified in Recommendation ITU-R P.845 'HF field-strength measurement' and comprises a world-wide network of transmitters and receivers using coded transmissions on pre-determined frequencies. The reasons for the campaign and the continuing need for participation in it, are underlined in Resolution ITU-R 27 (HF field-strength measurement campaign). So far, regular transmissions are being provided by the Administrations of Australia and Norway. Details of the transmitter in Norway, operated by the Norwegian Telecommunications Authority and Telenor Broadcasting, are given below: Radio Beacon LN2A Identification signal (Morse code): LN2A Location: Sveio, Norway 59 deg 37 min N, 5 deg 19 min E Hours of transmission: 24 hours per day Assigned frequencies: 5471.225 kHz, 7871.225 kHz, 10408.225 kHz, 14396.225 kHz and 20946.225 kHz Reference frequencies, corresponding to suppressed carrier frequencies when using suppressed carrier SSB techniques: 5470 kHz, 7870 kHz, 10407 kHz, 14395 kHz and 20945 kHz Transmitter: ICOM IC 725 transceiver, IC-4KL PA Transmitted power: approximately 1 kW on all frequencies Antenna: 5 band trap vertical monopole Mode: Suppressed carrier SSB, with the reference frequencies (suppressed carrier frequencies) 1225 Hz below the assigned frequencies, with the FSK "mark" 800 Hz above the reference frequency, and the FSK "space" 1650 Hz above the reference frequency. Signal duration and format: as specified in Recommendation ITU-R P.845; 4 min for each frequency, 20 min for all five frequencies according to the following schedule: Reference frequency (kHz) Minutes after each hour 14395 00 - 20 - 40 20945 04 - 24 - 44 5470 08 - 28 - 48 7870 12 - 32 - 52 10407 16 - 36 - 56 Administrations and organizations participating in the work of ITU-R are invited to consider the possibility of participating in the campaign, either through the provision of transmissions or by the collection of field strength measurement data, both in accordance with the specifications given in Recommendation ITU-R P.845. For further details on the campaign, including the availability of a suitable receiving system, please contact the ITU-R Counsellor for Study Group 3 (Dr. Kevin A. Hughes) at ITU Headquarters, in Geneva. The Norwegian Telecommunications Authority and Telenor Broadcasting would be pleased to acknowledge reception reports of LN2A with a QSL card. The contact address is: Norwegian Telecommunications Authority (Att. AYO/TF) P O Box 447 Sentrum N-0104 Oslo Norway

DARC beacon project

The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) sponsors two beacons which transmit from Scheggerott, near Kiel (54.6875⁰N - 9.79167⁰E, JO44VQ). ^[8] These beacons are DRA5 on 5195 kHz and DK0WCY on 10144 kHz. In addition to identification and location, every 10 minutes these beacons transmit solar, geomagnetic and ionospheric bulletins. Transmissions are in Morse code (CW) for aural reception, RTTY (45 baud 170 Hz at HH+10) and PSK31 (at HH+50). ^[9] DK0WCY operates also a limited service beacon on 3579 kHz at 0720-0900 and 1600-1900 local time.

RSGB 5 MHz beacon project

The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) operates three radio propagation beacons on 5290 kHz, which transmit in sequence, for one minute each, every 15 minutes. The project includes GB3RAL near Didcot (51.5625⁰N - 1.29167⁰W, IO91IN), GB3WES in Cumbria (54.5625⁰N - 2.625⁰W, IO84QN) and GB3ORK in the Orkney Islands (59.0208⁰N - 3.20833⁰W, IO89JA).

Beacon GB3RAL, which is located at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, also transmits continuously on 28215 kHz and on a number of low VHF frequencies (40050, 50053, 60053 and 70053 kHz).^[10]

Notes and references

1. Andy Talbot, G4JNT: "Amateur Beacons", Radio User, ISSN 1748-8117, 3(5), pp.56-58 (May 2008). The article includes the following definition for beacons licensed in the Amateur Radio service: A station in the Amateur Service or Amateur Satellite Service that autonomously transmits in a fixed format, which may include repeated data or information, for the study of propagation, determination of frequency or bearing, or for other experimental purposes.
2. Andy Talbot, G4JNT: "Amateur Beacons", Radio User, ISSN 1748-8117, 3(8), pp. 30-33 (August =2008)
3. New IARU Region 2 bandplan introduced in January 2008
4. Amateur Radio UK VHF Bandplan, Great Yarmouth Radio Club
5. International Beacon Project by the Northern California DX Foundation (2008)
6. HF 0-20 MHz beacons
7. ITU Resolution ITU-R 27/1993: HF Field-strength measurement campaign (PDF)
8. Aurora beacon DKØWCY by Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club e.V.(DARC), 2004.
9. Pat Hawker, G3VA: "The DK0WCY/DRA5 Propagation Beacons", Technical Topics Scrapbook - All 50 years, Radio Society of Great Britain, ISBN 9781-9050-8639-9, pp. 98 (2008)
10. Mike Willis, G0MJW: "The GB3RAL VHF Beacon cluster", RadCom, 84(04), Radio Society of Great Britain, pp. 65-59, April 2008
11. The Four meters website: 70 MHz beacon list
12. The Four meters website: RSGB 4m bandplan
13. Southgate Amateur Radio Club: Luxembourg 60m beacon LX0HF
14. Luxembourg: Une balise sur 60m LX0HF Radioamateurs-Online, March 11, 2011.

See also

• Ionosonde
• Radio beacon
• JG2XA: AN HF Doppler investigation beacon project.

Further reading

• IARU/NDXF International Beacon Project
• Ken Reitz, KS4ZR: "Exploring the World of 10 Meter Beacons", Monitoring Times, May 2007, pages 14-16.
• R.Wilkinson, G6GVI, S.Cooper, GM4AFF, & B. Hansen, OZ2M: "The 70 MHz Beacon List", The Four Metres Website, 2008.
• Martin Harrison, G3USF: Worldwide List of HF Beacons.
• Martin Harrison, G3USF: Worldwide List of 50 Beacons.
• Joost Schuitemaker, ZS5S: List of active HF Amateur Radio Beacons.
• Joost Schuitemaker, ZS5S: Additional HF Beacon Information.
• Joost Schuitemaker, ZS5S: Inactive HF Beacons.
• John Jaminet, W3HMS and Charlie Heisler, K3VDB: "Building a beacon for 2401 MHz", CQ VHF, 10(3), CQ Communications, Inc, ISSN 1085-0708, pages 44–46, 2007.
• Andrew Talbot, G4JNT: Design and building of the 5 MHz beacons, GB3RAL, GB3WES and GB3ORK.
• Andrew Talbot, G4JNT: The Next Generation of Beacons for the 21st century (PPT format).
• UK Microwave Group (UKMuG): UK Amateur Radio & Microwave Beacons.
• GB3VHF – a beacon designed for the 21st Century
• IK0WRB beacon keyer, based on a PIC16F84 microcontroller.
• Aurora Beacon DK0WCY
• OV1BCN: a new HF propagation beacon on 5290.5 kHz.
• BEACONCLUSTER worldwide beacon maps by Richard Kaminski ON4CJU.

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