TopBand: drift net beacons

[wb6tza@compuall.net]

I have listened to these for quite a number of years, now, and the reports
of VQ9SS/N6SS and 4S7RPG seem to me to be as close as we are likely to get.
I have compared notes several times directly with Press, while he was at
home in AZ, and it all matches reasonably. I have chased several LF beacon
problems, and the research for those does NOT indicate the periodic pattern
of these drift net beacons matches any known LF nav/aircraft beacon.  The US
class nav beacons transmit in various patterns, with the vast majority
continuously.  Their IDs are always listed (except for a few private NDBs at
private airports).  I have never been able to match a beacon with numbers in
the ID to a local (domestic) LF beacon.  I have less info on the domestic
"lighthouse" ocean beacons - anyone have current info available on
locations/ids of those?- as far as I know, there are relatively few of them.

The times and directions that most (not all) of these show up as heard on
the west coast pretty well indicate pretty deep pacific stuff.  I have notes
from several years in a file at the shack, and will compare those to 4S7RPGs
list later in the week when I get up there again.  The fact that these
signals appear to be most prevalent in the south pacific/indian ocean areas
best heard by 4S7 and VQ9 pretty well supports the hypothesis.  The problem
of battery time is likely to be insignificant with potential solar power and
sea water support- the most likely case being that these simply get
batteries swapped whenever the nets are pulled - likely fairly often if the
fishing is economically effective.  Remember that fishing is a very big
business in that part of the world, and the nets themselves likley cost far
far more than a solar/battery supported beacon transmitter.

73 .. cu all after christmas and in the BB test.   robin, wa6cdr/n6ll/xz1n

   


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