New 8m & 5m bands added to the popular PSK Reporter website...

The PSK Reporter website is used by nearly everyone on digital modes to see what is being heard by stations active on the HF and VHF bands.

Thanks to the efforts of Tim EI4GNB, the new 40 MHz (8-metres) and 60 MHz (5-metres) bands have been added to this hugely popular platform.

Tim writes...."After some emailing with Philip Gladstone, the coder behind the 'reverse beacon' system known as PSK REPORTER, it now officially supports 5m and 8m reporting and mapping, based on reports from [digital mode software] operating within the bandplan guidelines published on the IRTS website drafted by Dave Court."

Approx 40.0 to 40.7 MHz & 58.0 to 60.1 MHz

"This will mean anyone operating FT8/FT4/Digimode etc., or logging PI4 beacons, using supporting software with the 'psk reporter' option enabled, will now be correctly placed on the PSK Reporter map.

We nominated 2 new colours for this - 8m is to be Purple, and 5m is a Silver-Grey."

It's safe to say that the majority of radio amateurs in the world are still are not aware of the 8-metre and 5-metre bands. Even though this is just a small step, it will hopefully raise the profile of these two new VHF bands. 

Update: Example below of a FT8 contact between S50B and S59F on the 12th of August.

EI1KNH - Update on the new Irish beacon on 60 MHz

Back in early 2018, the 60 MHz (5-metre) band was allocated to radio amateurs in Ireland (EI) on a secondary non-interference basis. Now we have news that the very first beacon on 60 MHz is operational! See updates below...

The new beacon is operational since the 16th of December 2019 and has the call EI1KNH.

It is on 60.013 MHz and runs 25 watts into a vertical folded dipole. This is currently the only 5-metre beacon operational in the world.

The new 5-metre beacon is co-sited with some of the existing Irish beacons - EI0SIX on 50 MHz, EI4RF on 70 MHz. The elevated site has a locator of IO63VE and is located about 20 kms to the south of Dublin.

An 8-metre beacon operating on 40.013 MHz from the same site became operational in May of 2020 with an output power of 40 watts.

The photo above shows the vertical folded dipole for the 60 MHz beacon and the 40 MHz vertical for the 8-metre beacon.

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Update : 20th June 2020 - FT8 replaces PI4 -  Tim, EI4GNB reports that the new configuration for the EI1KNH 5-metre beacon in FT8 - CW - Carrier, with FT8 being in the first period of every minute. There are no breaks, just 60 phases an hour non-stop. This should make it easier for people to listen for it as there is a huge user base running the FT8 and WSJT-X software.

Previously it was running PI4 which is a specialised digital mode for beacons.

If anyone hearing the beacon tunes to 60.012 MHz USB, they should see FT8 decode at 1240 Hz.

Tim writes..."It is hoped that the FT8 addition will encourage more people to check for the beacon, it being a simple task of adding the 60.012 frequency to their software's FREQUENCIES list, as ALL REGIONS and ALL MODES, then they can just quickly flip over when working ft8 on 6m to see if the MUF is rising to at least 60 MHz."

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The 60 MHz beacon transmits on the digital PI4 mode and CW. Details below...

PI4 + CW + Carrier 00111 (1st, 2nd & 3rd Minute of every 5 minutes) Synchronised Beacon Project (SBP)

The RF for the beacon is generated by an RFZero module running about 20 milliwatts (+13dBm).

This is then fed into a homebrew amplifier with an RA30H0608 PA stage generating 25 watts of RF.

This is then fed into a homebrew band pass filter before going to the vertical folded dipole.

Expected Range???..... What range might be expected from a beacon on 60 MHz? Considering it a weak signal mode, a tropo range of somewhere in the range of 200 kms might be expected. Perhaps up to 400 kms during times of high pressure.

It's important to note however that the Dublin and Wicklow mountains which are just to the west attenuate the signals in that direction. The path across to the west coast of Wales is much better.

A good guide would be the other beacons on 50 MHz and 70 MHz. If you can hear those then there is a reasonable chance of hearing the 60 MHz beacon.

Sporadic-E Range... It's certain that the 60 MHz beacon will be heard in Europe during the Sporadic-E season from late April to mid-August.

The map below shows the approximate limit of one hop Sporadic-E. It's likely that stations in the Baltic states, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Italy and the south of Spain should be able to hear it on a regular basis.

When conditions are really good, stations in France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway should be able to hear it.

Shorter skip than that might be a problem though. If it's is exceptional then the skip might shorten to say the Netherlands. I suspect that most of the UK will be in the skip zone for Sporadic-E.

North America???.... There is every chance that the beacon could be heard in North America via multi-hop Sporadic-E. It just needs someone over there to make the effort.

Reports... Reception reports should be sent to Tim EI4GNB. Look up EI1KNH on https://www.qrz.com/

Report on 60 MHz activity for Mon 18th May 2020

Monday 18th May 2020. This was another excellent day for Sporadic-E with the MUF extending up to 70 MHz.

1) 60 MHz Crossband Contacts - Tim EI4GNB reports making no less than four crossband contacts on FT8 from 60 MHz to 70 MHz.

DG1VL (JO61WE) was at 10:18 UTC, S59F (JN65TX) was at 10:24 UTC, SP9HWY (JO90NH) was at 10:35 UTC and DL5WG (JO52XJ) was at 11:00 UTC.

Screenshot of the FT8 contact with DG1VL

Screenshot of the FT8 contact with DG1VL

Links...
1) For more information on the 60 MHz band, visit this page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/60-mhz.html

New home wanted for the GB3RAL suite of HF & VHF beacons

The RSGB have announced that the GB3RAL suite of HF and VHF beacons at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England have been turned off due to developments on the site. 

They are now looking for a new home for the beacons somewhere in the UK. It is also hoped that the beacons will be upgraded so that they are all locked with a more modern GPS technology.

Interested parties or groups should contact the Propagation Studies Committee of the RSGB.

The GB3RAL beacon was originally intended to operate on six bands (60m, 10m, 8m, 6m, 5m and 4m) but most have been out of action for some time.

60m - The 60-metre beacon on  5.290 MHz was last spotted on the DX Cluster in December of 2016.

10m - The 10-metre beacon on 28.215 MHz was last spotted as recently as February of 2020 and it was last spotted consistently in July of 2019.

8m - The 8-metre beacon on 40.050 MHz was last spotted in June of 2014. Despite the beacon being listed on current beacon lists, it hasn't been on the air for the last six years.

6m - The 6-metre beacon on 50.050 MHz was last spotted in June 2018.

5m - There was supposed to have been a 5-metre beacon on 60.050 MHz but the DX Cluster has no record of it ever being spotted.

4m - The 4-metre beacon on 70.050 MHz was last spotted in July 2016.

The two beacons of particular interest to me are the ones for 40 MHz and 60 MHz. There are only two beacons in the world currently on air on the 40 MHz band which these are in Ireland and Denmark. On 60 MHz, there is just one beacon in Ireland. It would be great to see these 8m and 5m beacons up and running properly from the UK.

Guest post: A look at the Clansman PRC-3512 Low Band VHF Radio...by EI5DD

Regular visitors to the blog will know that I try to promote more interest in the low-VHF part of the spectrum by having a dedicated page related to the new 40 MHz / 8 metre band. If I come across anything of interest that might be related to the band then I post it here on the blog and link to it from the 40 MHz page. 

The Clansman is an ex-British army radio that can operate on FM on the low VHF spectrum from 30 to 76 MHz. As such, it is one of the few radios available on the second hand market that can operate at 40 MHz, 50 MHz, 60 MHz or 70 MHz. 

Thanks to Steve EI5DD for his permission to post this guest post here....de EI7GL

The Clansman PRC-3512 is an intra-platoon level backpack VHF FM transceiver. The PRC 351 has 4 watt RF power output, and operates in the 30–75.975 MHz range with a possible 1840 channels spaced 25 kHz apart.

This radio is also capable of being mounted on a vehicle in conjunction with the TUAAM (Tuning Unit Automatic Antenna Matching). The PRC 352 is identical, with the addition of a 20 watt RF amplifier and can be used as a ground station also.

The Clansman RT-351 / VRC-351 Back-Pack 4 Watt portable VHF (FM) Radio was made by RACAL BCC Ltd. in England. The PRC-351 was designed to provide command communications at battalion and company level for dismounted troops. It was also used in vehicles by mounted troops. The PRC-351 replaced the older A41 and A42 British VHF radios.

The frequency Range 30 to 76.000 MHz in 25 Khz steps giving a total of 1841 programmable channels. The desired frequency is set by four knobs on the side of the radio which can be operated even while the operator is wearing Arctic mittens, or in the dark by counting clicks from the end-stops.

IRTS release updated band plans for 40 MHz and 60 MHz...

Back in April of 2018, the Irish Radio Transmiters Society (IRTS) announced that Irish radio amateurs had gain access to a huge swathe of the VHF spectrum from 30 to 70 MHz.

In May, they released a proposed band plan with an invitation for comments.

Based on the feedback received, the IRTS have further refined the band plan and it can be seen HERE

While the band plan covers quiet a lot of spectrum, the IRTS considers the key areas to be 40-42 MHz for the 8-metre band and 58-60 MHz for the 5-metre band.

From the document....."IRTS considers that the band most likely to be transverted to an IF of 28 – 30 MHz might be 40 – 42 MHz." ... "Similarly to 40 MHz the band most likely to be transverted to an IF of 28 – 30 MHz is considered to be 58 – 60 MHz."

They are inviting comments before the end of July 2018.

Links...
1) New proposed band plan (v6) ...link may break in time
2) Copy of new proposed band plan (V6)
3) My 40 MHz page where I keep some information