Kenwood TS-870S Appendix B Propagation, Information, NCDXF/IARU Beacon Network, HF Beacons, Erp

● APPENDICES

APPENDIX B: PROPAGATION	The following table shows some of the stations involved
INFORMATION	in this program.
	Station	Location
STANDARD TIME AND INFORMATION STATIONS
	4U1UN/B	United Nations, New York
Besides providing an extremely accurate time source
	W6WX/B	Stanford University, California
and other information, stations WWV and WWVH, in the
continental U.S.A. and Hawaii respectively, deliver	KH6O/B	Kane'ohe, Hawaii
propagation announcements every hour in addition to
	JA2IGY	Mt. Asama, Japan
acting as powerful beacons themselves. The
announcements include information on geophysical	4X6TU	Tel Aviv University, Israel
alerts, solar activity, and more that all affects how well
	OH2B	Helsinki Technical University, Finland
your signals will propagate to the DX station youÕre
trying to catch. If you canÕt hear WWV/WWVH, then	CT3B	Funchal, Madeira Island
consult references such as the World Radio TV
	ZS6DN/B	Transvaal, South Africa
Handbook for information on some of the other standard
time stations located closer to your area.	LU4AA	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Check 2500, 5000, 10000, 15000, and 20000 kHz at 18	Note: As a courtesy to other Amateurs, avoid transmitting on the
minutes after each hour (WWV), and 2500, 5000,
10000, and 15000 kHz at 45 minutes after each hour	14100 kHz beacon frequency. Also, plans are in progress to expand
	the beacon network to include 18110, 21150, 24930, and 28200 kHz.
(WWVH) to hear the propagation forecasts.
	When operation begins on these new frequencies, avoid transmitting

on them as well.

NCDXF/IARU BEACON NETWORK

The Northern California DX Foundation and the International Amateur Radio Union are cooperating to support this particularly useful on-the-air tool. The network is monitored by scientists, students, etc. as well as Amateur operators.

This group of stations are located in North America, the Pacific, eastern Asia, the Middle East, Europe, southern Africa and South America, and more stations continue to be added to the network. They transmit beacon signals on 14100 kHz consecutively in sequence at power levels from 100 watts down to 100 milliwatts. You can listen to each station transmit with a known power from a known direction and location.

With minimal effort, in a brief time you can compile a customized and accurate profile of HF propagation conditions at your location. This information will help you decide where to point your antenna to look for DX or to call CQ. You could even distribute the information via packetcluster to local friends for their benefit. Or, because of the very precise timing used for each transmission, possibly you could develop an automatic means of monitoring the beacon frequencies, then assemble the recorded signal levels into a meaningful database for later consultation.

Beacon Power	CW Message
Level (W)	Transmitted
100	Call sign
100	(long dash)
10	(long dash)
1	(long dash)
0.1	(long dash)

HF BEACONS

Beacon stations transmit from locations in many countries. Often they operate 24 hours per day and, if you can hear a particular beacon, you know there is some propagation to that area of the world. Consult reference books such as the ARRL Repeater Directory for detailed information on active beacons. The table below lists some beacons that you may hear.

Freq (kHz)	Call Sign	Location	Emis.	ERP
14100	See	NCDXF/IARU	A1A	100
	page 80	beacon network
24192.05	KK6TG	St. Helena	F1A	0.03
28050	PY2GOB	Sao Paulo	—	15
28175	VE3TEN	Ottawa	—	10
28191	5B4ZL	Cyprus	—	10
28191	VE6YF	Edmonton	—	10
28195	IY4M	Bologna	A1A	20
28200	GB3SX	Crowborough	F1A	8
28200	KF4MS	St. Petersburg, FL	—	75
28200	KG5YB	Tyler, TX	A1A	3
28200	W6WX	California	—	100
28201	LU8ED	Argentina	—	—
28201.5	EA7PS	Spain	—	1
28202	KE5GY	Arlington, TX	—	5
28202.5	ZS5VHF	Natal	—	5
28204	DLØIGI	Germany	—	100
28205	DLØIGI	Mt. Predigtstuhl	F1A	100
28206	KJ4X	Pickens, SC	—	2
28207.5	KE4NL	Sarasota, FL	A1A	5
28207.5	W8FKL	Venice, FL	—	10
28208	WA1IOB	Marlboro, MA	—	75
28209	NX2O	Staten Is., NY	A1A	10

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