NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Project

The Latest News


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You never know where the beacons are going to show up. Listening for aliens at 6:15, you will have a nice surprise.

In The Pines (Short Film) from Shep Films on Vimeo.

Yuri Zaruba UA9OBA reports in QRZ.RU how the beacon returned to the air just as the Olympic torch passed through Novosibirsk on its way to the 2014 Sochi games. The beacon had been off since a direct lightning strike.

In November, 2014, new TS-50s was donated to the Israel Amateur Radio Club for use by the Beacon Project at 4X6TU in memory of Omeri Serlin AA6TA/4X1TA.

G4FKH, Gwyn Williams, has published a study of Longpath propagation from the UK to New Zealand, based on observations of ZL6B made using Faros. The article appeared in the May 2007 issue of the CDXC Digest and is reproduced here by permission of the author.

Faros is a new automatic beacon monitoring program by VE3NEA which accurately distinguishes beacon signals from noise to measure signal-to-noise, QSB, and propagation delay. Results are available in graphic form or logged for historical analysis.

Links to observed beacon propagation web sites can be found on the new Beacon Monitors page.

Monitoring Times features the International Beacon Project in an article in the February 2005 issue by Ken Reitz, KS4ZR -Check the Beacons!

The RSGB Propagation Studies Committee and G4FKH publish a Propagation Forecast based on data collected on beacon reception for several years.

MFJ has announced the availability of the MFJ-890 Beacon Monitor. LEDs on a world map light to show the currently transmitting beacon. The WWVB time signal is used for automatic synchronization. Review by VE3SUN.

The April 2002 issue of QST contains plans for a Beacon Clock by W6MMU on page 63.

Wolf, DL1SP, has released version 1.0 of BeaconTrack software with a beautiful world map and easily readable tables showing the beacon chain.

An article about the Beacons [pdf] by Gwyn Williams, G4FKH, appears in the April issue of RadCom. © Copyright 2002 RSGB, reproduced with permission.

The hfbeacons mailing list is a discussion group dedicated to beacon operation and monitoring set up by Steve Reed G0AEV and Martin Harrison G3USF. Whether you are interested in building a beacon or just enjoy exchanging reception reports with other beacon enthusiasts, you should subscribe to this mailing list.

Gerd Klawitter has written a book about beacons which has been published by Siebel Verlag in Germany. The book has extensive coverage of the NCDXF/IARU Beacons and many of the Beacon Monitoring Programs. It is in German, but there are lots of pictures and tables.
Funk-Baken und Indikatorstationen. Gerd Klawitter. Seibel Verlag 2001. 96 pages. ISBN: 3-89632-055-6.

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