LWA Moon Bounce Experiment

[akula65]

If you have an interest in amateur or shortwave radio or an interest in science and physics in general, you have the opportunity to participate in an experiment this weekend. The goal of the experiment is to bounce High Frequency (HF aka shortwave) signals off of the moon and to have terrestrial stations detect the reflected signals. Details on the experiment and information on where to send reception reports can be found on this page:

http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/mbann.html

This experiment is a follow-on to an experiment conducted in October 2007 as described here:

http://www.nrl.navy.mil/pressRelease.php?Y=2008&R=4-08r

As far as equipment is concerned, you will need a shortwave receiver that is capable of tuning Single Sideband (SSB) or CW (Continuous Wave) transmissions and probably an external antenna such as a dipole or long-wire antenna. It is unlikely that a receiver's built-in antenna would be capable of picking up the signal, but you might want to give it a shot if you don't have access to an external antenna.

Note that the dates and times scheduled are given in UTC time which means that the experiment will be taking place late 18 January/early 19 January and again late 19 January/early 20 January depending on your location. If you want to see the current UTC time, you can go to the following web site and click on the UTC link in the lower right corner of the graphic:

http://www.time.gov/

[Richard Cranium]

So, are you a HAM?

[akula65]

I have been an amateur radio operator since 1980 when I was licensed as KA4QWI. I upgraded my license in 1988 and got a new callsign, KM4IC. After moving to Alaska in 1997, I got a new callsign, AL0I.

[Richard Cranium]

I don't recall what year I got my license. It must have been sometime around 1991 or 92. I started out with the No-Code Tech then upgraded to General shortly after. I never went for Advanced or Extra but I should have at least taken the written for Advanced since I already passed the code for it.

For a while I tried to get my wife to get at least the No-Code Tech but with cell phones as cheap as they are now and free calls between us she never did get her license. It would still be nice if she did because the 2 way radios would still work in the event the phone system went off-line (some disaster or other reason). Life has kept us too busy to do some of these things though.

[akula65]

Richard, did you know the FCC got rid of ALL Morse Code requirements last year? They have also reduced the license classes to just Technician, General, and Extra. You can renew if you have a Novice or Advanced license, but they no longer issue new Novice or Advanced licenses.

It's nice to know there is at least one other ham on the board.

The LWA Moon Bounce test was a success (for me anyway). I was able to hear both the skywave signal from HAARP and the reflection from the moon. HAARP was a little weak at times, but it was virtually always audible, while the moon bounce was audible for stretches. I was only able to copy the transmission on 6792.5 kHz. 7407.5 kHz was just a bunch of noise at my location. I made audio cassette recordings, so I will have to transfer it to digital.

I had to use a communications receiver and a 72-foot dipole antenna to hear both signals, but I was able to hear HAARP with a portable receiver (Sony ICF-2010) with the built-in antenna only.

Of course, nothing is perfect. There were a number of idiots who just had to fire up their transmitters on the test frequency, and there was one moron who was sending \"USA\" several times at the end of the first hour.

[Richard Cranium]

Ya, I knew they removed the requirements for code. I was referring to back when it was required and I was taking the tests. Maybe someday I'll get my Extra class but it just isn't the same with out the code requirements. I think they should still require them for at least the Extra class. 20 WPM isn't unreasonable. If they wanted to they could lower it to 13 like the old General and Advanced if the fell enough people aren't able to reach 20.

I mostly stick to 2m and 70cm now so I guess it really doesn't matter much. I wouldn't mind getting a new HF rig though.

I guess the world is full of idiots. You see them everyday. We have some around here that keep messing with the repeaters. I've been on a couple of fox hunts trying to find them too.

[akula65]

I upgraded to Advanced in 1988 and Extra in 1994. I hit a 12 WPM plateau after I got my Novice ticket because I had not really learned to copy code properly, and it took quite a while to \"unlearn\" it and learn to do it the right way.

I suppose there is a part of me that feels the same as you do in terms of things \"not being the same\" after the loss of Morse Code, but I really do think the Amateur Radio Service is better off in the long run. Heck, when I got my Novice license, the written exam focus was still on vacuum tube technology rather than solid state. I am really glad I had a chance to participate in that era, but if the Amateur Radio Service is going to be an innovator in technology, then the service has to shift focus to computer-based protocols rather than Morse code.

I have an old ICOM IC-02AT 2m HT, but I seldom use it. I still have the first rig I ever got, a used Heathkit HW-16 that my step-father bought for me in 1980. I also have a Ten-Tec Century/22 and a Ten-Tec Corsair II that I bought new back in the 1980's, but I haven't had much opportunity to use them. Too many distractions.

[Richard Cranium]

My HF rig still uses Vacuum Tubes in the final. I have several sets of spares too because I doubt I would be able to get replacements at this point. Nice thing about tubes was they could take some abuse if you didn't load up correctly or short out the output. Todays solid state have lots more protection built in now but the early rigs just couldn't handle a bad load or shorting.

But since I haven't been active much at all and defiantly not active in the HF bands I don't have to worry about replacing my rig any time too soon.

Did you get in to packet radio? I had a low wattage packet radio repeater setup for a while.

[akula65]

Briefly. Around 1990 I was developing a software package that HF RTTY enthusiasts could use to print 3rd-shift Cyrillic RTTY text which came predominantly from the Soviet fishing fleet. I bought an AEA PK-88 unit to get started in packet radio, and at the same time, I also bought an AEA PK-232 and a Kantronics KAM because both of those units had the ability to capture 3rd-shift Cyrillic RTTY, but they couldn't print it. So I did play with the packet capabilities of all those models, but I had to sell them in a fairly short amount time since I was about to start graduate school. I got my toe wet, but that's about it.

[WillyP]

I never got a ham licsence but in the military I was a radio relay tech. The equipment that I was responsible for was all tube. It was a little odd using digital test equip on it though.

[akula65]

Like Richard says, they take a licking, but keep on ticking. It's a pity you can't say the same thing about other types of components. The paper capacitors in the power supply of my Heathkit rig are all shot. I'm going to have to replace all of them to get the thing running again.

[Richard Cranium]

Ya, I have a PK232 some where too, but I don't use it. I wonder if people around here are still using packet radio. With the internet as easy as it is to access now and transmission speeds much faster I don't know many people that would want to rely on the slow speeds of packet radio.

[Richard Cranium]

The paper capacitors in the power supply of my Heathkit rig are all shot.

Ever seen a cap blow? I was in electronics one day and some one hooked one up wrong. That thing popped like a small fire cracker and everyone jumped. I don't remember what kind it was though.