Radio propagation beacon

From HFUnderground

A radio propagation beacon is a radio beacon, whose purpose is the investigation of the propagation of radio signals. Most radio propagation beacons use amateur radio frequencies. They can be found on HF, VHF, UHF, and microwave frequencies. Microwave beacons are also used as signal sources to test and calibrate antennas and receivers.^{[1] [2]}

Contents 1 Transmission characteristics 2 160 meters beacons 3 10 meters beacons 4 6 meters beacons 5 VHF/UHF beacons 6 Beacon projects 6.1 IARU Beacon Project 6.2 ITU sponsored beacons 6.3 DARC beacon project 6.4 RSGB 5 MHz beacon project 7 Notes and references 8 See also 9 Further reading

Transmission characteristics

Most beacons operate in continuous wave (CW or A1A) and transmit their identification (callsign and location). Some of them send long dashes to facilitate signal strength measurement. A small number of beacons transmit Morse code by frequency shift keying (F1A). A few beacons transmit signals in digital modulation modes, like radioteletype (F1B) and PSK31 (G1B).

160 meters beacons

The IARU Region 2 (North and South America) bandplan reserves the range 1999 kHz to 2000 kHz for propagation beacons.

10 meters beacons

Most HF radio propagation beacons are found in the 10 meters (28 MHz) frequency band, where they are good indicators of Sporadic E ionospheric propagation. According to IARU bandplans, the following 28 MHz frequencies are allocated to radio propagation beacons:

IARU Region	Beacon allocations
R1	28190-28199 Regional Time Shared 28199-28201 WW Time Shared 28201-28225 Continuous Duty
R2[3]	28190-28199 Regional Time Shared 28199-28201 IBP/NCDXF 28201-28225 Beacons, continuous duty 28225-28300 Shared
R3	28190-28200 IBP

6 meters beacons

In the 6 meters (50 MHz) band, beacons operate in the lower part of the band, in the range 50000 kHz to 50080 kHz. The ARRL bandplan recommends 50060  to 50080 kHz for beacons in the United States. Due to unpredictable and intermittent long distance propagation, usually achieved by a combination of ionospheric conditions, beacons are very important in providing early warning for 50 MHz openings.

VHF/UHF beacons

Beacons on 144 MHz and higher frequencies are mainly used to identify tropospheric radio propagation openings. It is not uncommon for VHF and UHF beacons to use directional antennas. Frequency allocations for beacons on VHF and UHF bands vary widely in different IARU regions and countries. The current allocation in the United Kingdom, which also reflects IARU Region 1 recommendations, is the following:^[4]

Band	Beacon allocation (kHz)
4 m	70,000-70,030
2 m	144,400-144,490
70 cm	432,800-432,990
23 cm	1296,800-1296,990

Beacon projects

Most radio propagation beacons are operated by individual radio amateurs or amateur radio societies and clubs. As a result, there are frequent additions and deletions to the lists of beacons. There are, however a few major projects coordinated by organizations like the International Telecommunications Union and the International Amateur Radio Union.

IARU Beacon Project

The International Beacon Project (IBP), which is coordinated by the Northern California DX Foundation and the International Amateur Radio Union, consists of 18 HF propagation beacons worldwide, which transmit in turns on 14100 kHz, 18110 kHz, 21150 kHz, 24930 kHz, and 28200 kHz. ^[5]

03 United States W6WX Mt. Umunhum 37º 09' N 121º 54' W CM97bd 04 Hawaii KH6WO Laie 21º 38' N 157º 55' W BL11ap 05 New Zealand ZL6B Masterton 41º 03' S 175º 36' E RE78tw 06 Australia VK6RBP Rolystone 32º 06' S 116º 03' E OF87av 07 Japan JA2IGY Mt. Asama 34º 27' N 136º 47' E PM84jk 08 Russia RR9O Novosibirsk 54º 59' N 82º 54' E NO14kx 09 Hong Kong VR2B Hong Kong 22º 16' N 114º 09' E OL72bg 10 Sri Lanka 4S7B Colombo 6º 6' N 80º 13' E NJ06cc 11 South Africa ZS6DN Pretoria 25º 54' S 28º 16' E KG44dc 12 Kenya 5Z4B Kariobangi 1º 15' S 36º 53' E KI88ks 13 Israel 4X6TU Tel Aviv 32º 03' N 34º 46' E KM72jb 14 Finland OH2B Lohja 60º 19' N 24º 50' E KP2Ø 15 Madeira CS3B Santo da Serra 32º 43' N 16º 48' W IM12or 16 Argentina LU4AA Buenos Aires 34º 37' S 58º 21' W GFØ5tj 17 Peru OA4B Lima 12º 04' S 76º 57' W FH17mw 18 Venezuela YV5B Caracas 10º 25' N 66º 51' W FK6Ønj

Slot	DX Entity	Call	Location	Latitude	Longitude	Grid Sq
01	United Nations	4U1UN	New York City	40º 45' N	73º 58' W	FN3ØAS
02	Canada VE8AT	Eureka, Nunavut	79º 59' N	85º 57' W	EQ79AX

ITU sponsored beacons

As part of an International Telecommunications Union-funded project, radio propagation beacons were installed by national authorities at Sveio, Norway (callsign LN2A, 59.6042⁰N - 5.29167⁰E) and at Darwin, Australia (callsign VL8IPS, 12.6042⁰S - 131.2920⁰E). The beacons operated on frequencies 5471.5 kHz, 7871.5 kHz, 10408.5 kHz, 14396.5 kHz, and 20948.5 kHz.^[6] Since 2002, there have been no reception reports for these beacons and the relevant ITU web pages have been removed. ^[7]

DARC beacon project

The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) sponsors two beacons which transmit from Scheggerott, near Kiel (54.6875⁰N - 9.79167⁰E). ^[8] These beacons are DRA5 on 5195 kHz and DK0WCY on 10144 kHz. In addition to identification and location, every 10 minutes these beacons transmit solar and geomagnetic bulletins. Transmissions are in Morse code for aural reception, RTTY and PSK31. ^[9] DK0WCY operates also a limited service beacon on 3579 kHz at 0720-0900 and 1600-1900 local time.

RSGB 5 MHz beacon project

The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) operates three radio propagation beacons on 5290 kHz, which transmit in sequence, for one minute each, every 15 minutes. The project includes GB3RAL near Didcot (51.5625⁰N - 1.29167⁰W, IO91IN), GB3WES in Cumbria (54.5625⁰N - 2.625⁰W, IO84QN) and GB3ORK in the Orkney Islands (59.0208⁰N - 3.20833⁰W, IO89JA).

Beacon GB3RAL, which is located at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, also transmits continuously on 28215 kHz and on a number of low VHF frequencies (40050, 50053, 60053 and 70053 kHz).^[10]

Notes and references

1. Andy Talbot, G4JNT: "Amateur Beacons", Radio User, ISSN 1748-8117, 3(5), pp.56-58 (May 2008). The article includes the following definition for beacons licensed in the Amateur Radio service: A station in the Amateur Service or Amateur Satellite Service that autonomously transmits in a fixed format, which may include repeated data or information, for the study of propagation, determination of frequency or bearing, or for other experimental purposes.
2. Andy Talbot, G4JNT: "Amateur Beacons", Radio User, ISSN 1748-8117, 3(8), pp. 30-33 (August =2008)
3. New IARU Region 2 bandplan introduced in January 2008
4. Amateur Radio UK VHF Bandplan, Great Yarmouth Radio Club
5. International Beacon Project by the Northern California DX Foundation (2008)
6. HF 0-20 MHz beacons
7. ITU Resolution ITU-R 27/1993: HF Field-strength measurement campaign (PDF)
8. Aurora beacon DKØWCY by Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club e.V.(DARC), 2004.
9. Pat Hawker, G3VA: "The DK0WCY/DRA5 Propagation Beacons", Technical Topics Scrapbook - All 50 years, Radio Society of Great Britain, ISBN 9781-9050-8639-9, pp. 98 (2008)
10. Mike Willis, G0MJW: "The GB3RAL VHF Beacon cluster", RadCom, 84(04), Radio Society of Great Britain, pp. 65-59, April 2008

See also

• Ionosonde
• Radio beacon

Further reading

• IARU/NDXF International Beacon Project
• R.Wilkinson, G6GVI, S.Cooper, GM4AFF, & B. Hansen, OZ2M: "The 70 MHz Beacon List", The Four Metres Website, 2008.
• Martin Harrison, G3USF: Worldwide List of HF Beacons.
• Martin Harrison, G3USF: Worldwide List of 50 Beacons.
• Joost Schuitemaker, ZS5S: List of active HF Amateur Radio Beacons.
• Joost Schuitemaker, ZS5S: Additional HF Beacon Information.
• Joost Schuitemaker, ZS5S: Inactive HF Beacons.
• Thomas M. Rösner, DL8AAM: The DL8AAM QSL Collection: QSLs from Radio Beacons, 2005.
• John Jaminet, W3HMS and Charlie Heisler, K3VDB: "Building a beacon for 2401 MHz", CQ VHF, 10(3), CQ Communications, Inc, ISSN 1085-0708, pages 44–46, 2007.
• Andrew Talbot, G4JNT: Design and building of the 5 MHz beacons, GB3RAL, GB3WES and GB3ORK.
• Andrew Talbot, G4JNT: The Next Generation of Beacons for the 21st century (PTT format).
• UK Microwave Group (UKMuG): UK Amateur Radio & Microwave Beacons.

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