[VHFcontesting] K1TR/B 23cm beacon turned off

[Ed Parsons]

Within 48 hours of turning up the new K1TR/B on 1296.300 in
Derry, NH, I got a phone call from Chief Engineer at the Millstone
Hill Observatory (Haystack Obs.) in Westford, MA.  This would
turn out to be the first (and last) signal report I would receive for this
beacon.  The good news: they are hearing it loud and clear!

The bad news:
The engineer indicated that the signal was impacting the 
observatory's capability to track satellites in certain directions,
and that the recipient of the satellite tracking information, the US
Air Force, would not be pleased.  Their radar takes up 8 MHz, centered
at 1295.0 MHz, with the antenna being an 80 foot dish.  My beacon is
less than 30 miles LOS from the observatory site.  Hams in this part
of New England could argue that we don't need another beacon; we can all
hear the 3 MegaWatt Millstone signal when they fire up.  Of course the
problem is you don't know when they will transmit and the signal intensity 
varies considerably.

So the 23cm beacon is off the air while the companion 33 cm beacon continues
unabated (signal reports are still appreciated for this one).

Anybody have a good UHF site more than 50 miles from Westford but still in
New England, and would be willing to host the beacon, drop me a line.

Ed, K1TR, FN42IU