Laurence Howell, KL1X (ex GM4DMA), constructed and operated a 136 kHz beacon in Alaska. WD2XDW beacon is located in Anchorage (BP41XD). Currently, it works daily from 15 to 05 UTC on the frequency 137.77389 kHz, but the plan is also to operate continuously 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from August 9. In the meantime, Laurence is doing tests to see if some parts are overheating and finishing the air cooling MOSFET PA.
"A number of experimentalists are still interested in the 136 kHz band after the FCC released it to amateurs on an experimental basis," Laurence told the ARRL. At the same time, only in May the FCC canceled ARRL's promise to allocate the segment 135.7 to 137.8 kHz. In the end, they vindicated the radio amateurs against the big power companies, who argued that operation on 136 kHz could cause interference with the PLC systems used to control the grid.
The new WD2XDW beacon is used to monitor propagation conditions in the States and attempts to propagate the signal to Europe via the North Pole. It broadcasts by slow telegraphy, QRSS with a 6-second dot and power up to 2W ERP.
The antenna is a 32-meter wire vertical with a capacitive hat and a "killer" ground system on several acres. It consists of a 32×32 meter mesh, one hundred 40 meter radials, four 25 meter ones with two and a half meter grounding rods at the ends and four 550 meter radials. The adaptation is about a 1mH coil with a diameter of 35 centimeters in the base of the antenna.
The home-made transmitter gives approximately 400W of power, which means about 2A of antenna current. Due to the fact that the site is located in the forest of Kincaid Park, it is not in an open area. However, the antenna then radiates into an area called Cook Inlet, so Laurence says: "The signal should be good.".
Although he has not received any hearing report to date, he is expecting the first from Steve McDonald VE7SL in British Columbia, approximately 2200 km to the south. Europa is more than 7000 km away and besides, it will be too difficult because the signal would have to go through/under/above/beside the auroral region and once or twice through the sunlit region. Laurence also points out that Alaska is still in a 24-hour daylight period, but an improvement can be expected in late September and early October, when it gives the best chance to open to Europe. Laurence states that: “My beacon and 'more in the oven' will help us better understand the principle of propagation conditions in relation to something called the 'fascinating part of the frequency spectrum'. New mods capable of detecting weak signals, algorithms, modifications and coil designs make me - a licensed radio amateur since 1974 - a newbie."
The WD2XDW license is valid until August 1, 2005. However, it is impossible to say how long this LF beacon will be QRV. Laurence is running out of time in the "Land of the Midnight Sun" and will probably return to England or be somewhere else in America. He would be pleased if the lighthouse could move with him to a new location...