EI 6m Beacon
The EI 6m beacon has moved to 50.004 and now has an extended transmission time of three one minute sequences of PI4 and CW . The following two sequences will soon be taken up the the GI 6m beacon. The beacon hardware has been upgraded to an RFzero board and is GPS locked so it can be used to check the frequency calibration of your radio. Please spot the beacon if you hear it.
Traditionally, beacons on the 50 MHz band have been stand alone devices with mixed performance in terms of frequency accuracy. The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Synchronised 50 MHz Beacon Project is a plan to make better use of the radio spectrum with beacons in the same geographical area sharing frequencies.
The SBP beacons are spaced 1 kHz apart and use a 5 minute repeat period. The chart above shows EI0SIX near Dublin using three time slots and share the frequency with GB3NGI near Belfast which uses the other two time slots.
In the future, there is the potential space for adding three more beacons to this particular frequency slot.
Frequency Accuracy.... One of the best features of this new generation of beacons is that they are frequency locked to GPS satellites. You should never assume your radio is showing the correct frequency especially if it's an older model.
If you can hear the EI0SIX beacon then you should tune your radio to 50.003.2 MHz on USB and by running the PI4 software, you should be able to see how close you radio is to the correct frequency.
You need to tune your radio so that the carrier shows exactly 800 Hz. If your frequency shows 50.003.20 MHz then you're spot on frequency. If not, you should make a note of difference.
If you have to tune say 100 Hz higher to get that 800 Hz tone then your radio is 100 Hz off frequency.
While this doesn't make much difference with say CW or SSB, it can be very important with digital modes.
By the way, make sure your radio is turned on for at least 30 minutes before you do this test as it needs time to warm up, stop drifting and to settle. This test should enable you to find out how accurate your radio is to within +/- 10 Hz.
Weak Signals..... The PI4 software will also allow you to hear the signal even if it is buried in the noise. At times, you won't be able to make out the CW signal yet it will still decode the PI4 signal.
Other beacons... The plan is for all other beacons that are not part of the Shared Beacon Project to move up to 50.400 MHz and above.
Additional info...
1) Syncronised Beacon Project from the IARU
2) PI4 software
3) EI0SIX
4) GB3NGI
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