[CQ-Contest] The Next Generation [was: VE8AT NCDXF Beacon?]

[Radiosporting Fan]

While I hope that someone can still answer Kirk's
question...

--- K4RO Kirk Pickering <k4ro at k4ro.net> wrote:
> Can anyone verify if the VE8AT NCDXF beacon is
> operational?

I thought this might be interesting for folks to think
about...

I won't take a lot of time on this list on this topic
(hopefully just this e-mail), but thought I'd share an
interesting strategy that is presently being employed
by the "Next Generation" of automatically-reporting
RF-based propagation-tracking systems.

If you can agree that you know as much about
propagation by *not* having any as you do when you
*do*, then it is important to know who is active, but
not being heard.

Here is a 20-meter propagation map (superimposed on a
sunlight/weather map) from the past hour, using a
system called PropNET (based on PSK31):

http://propnet.findu.com/catch.cgi?zoom=2&geo=http://w2ev.rochesterny.org/PropNET/images/findUmaps/rectangular_1600.geo&band=hk&last=1

Compare that to 10-meters:

http://propnet.findu.com/catch.cgi?zoom=2&geo=http://w2ev.rochesterny.org/PropNET/images/findUmaps/rectangular_1600.geo&band=hy&last=1

Here is a 20-meter propagation map from the previous
24-hours, using a different underlying map:

http://propnet.findu.com/catch.cgi?geo=http://w2ev.rochesterny.org/PropNET/images/findUmaps/GeomagneticLatMap.geo&band=hk&last=24

Compare this to 10-meters (over the past 24 hours):

http://propnet.findu.com/catch.cgi?geo=http://w2ev.rochesterny.org/PropNET/images/findUmaps/GeomagneticLatMap.geo&band=hy&last=24

Participants send Internet-streamed reports that are
gathered and displayed.  Callsign, but no vector?  No
one reported hearing them...even though they are
active.

http://www.PropNET.org

Ev, W2EV



	
		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 
http://mail.yahoo.com