500 KHz New Band Radio

[ka4koe]

Has anyone given any thought to old Gibson Girl emergency radios being converted/adapted for use on the new 500 KHz band, whenever, if ever, we get it.

PHILIP

[KA0HCP]

Hook it up to your stationary bicycle, cut a new disk to send 'CW de callsign" and you are ready to go!  Get your exercise and radio ops in one swoop.

[W4AAB]

Forget the crank generator. Just wire in a DC power supply to the unit. I had one of those things once. I figured that the more dire the situation, the harder one would crank.I was going to convert the 8364 kHz section to 40, but a guy at work who was a ham traded me out of it( he was a WWII Navy vet). I guess I need to read up on the new band and when it becomes operational.
                                               Joe W4AAB

[N4LTA]

There are going to be a lot of disappointed hams when this band comes available.

To do anything effective you need a good matched vertical or loop transmitting antenna and likely a good low noise receiving antenna. Frequency stability is very critical for any of the digital modes and with only a few KHz of bandwidth, frequency stability is going to be very important even for CW.

For the digital modes, even some of the modern rigs are not stable in enough when transmitting.

Gibson Girls and ARC5s may be find for communicating with the guy a mile away, but to do anything of substance, it will take planning, work and money.

I can currently work a good CW contacts with Northeastern stations with my setup getting 579 or so reports. I am running 500 watts out to a 55' vertical - probably 30-40 watts ERP. That is about ten times the allowed power for the new ham band.

I use an active probe located 300 feet from the house with two common mode chokes. Before I could transmit WSPR - 15, I found that it was necessary to GPS lock my transmitter. I tried a IC 718 (at 1 watt out) with a transverter locked to GPS  and stability was not even close to being workable. I now use an HP signal generator locked to GPS as a VFO for the transmitter.

I love working on 500 KHz and also 137 KHz. They are technical bands and if you like to build equipment it is great. Getting a signal that can be heard at a distance is fun and challenging. Appliance operators will not stick around long, though.

I decoded DK7FC last night multiple times with WSPR-15. He was running from -29dB to -39 dB below the noise level at my location. That was with a 6' whip antenna active probe (Jacks Smith's active antenna)


Pat

[Pete, WA2CWA]

From the ARRL web site date 12/10/12:

At the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12), delegates approved Agenda Item 1.23: a 7-kilohertz-wide secondary allocation between 472-479 kHz for the Amateur Radio Service, with a power limit of 5 W EIRP (or 1 W EIRP, depending on location). Before this portion of spectrum is made available to radio amateurs in the US, the FCC must first approve its use and amend its rules to reflect the change. As such, the ARRL filed a Petition for Rulemaking on November 29, asking the FCC to amend Sections 2 and 97 of its rules and create a domestic Amateur Radio allocation at 472-479 kHz, conforming to the allocation status and limitations set forth in the international Radio Regulations.

The complete story is here: http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-files-petition-for-rulemaking-with-fcc-to-create-new-mf-band-at-472-479-khz

I wonder if they will turn this into another channel radio segment.

[ka4koe]

Why even bother with the power level limits? Its not even worth it.

PHILIP
KA4KOE

[N8ETQ]

  "Give them 200 meters and down, they
won't get out of their own Backyards".

   Just sayin'

/Dan

[N4LTA]

I would guess that at night, a minimum of 1000 miles at 5 Watts EIRP would be easy. With 40-50 watts I get  579 reports to New England and to Illinois. Power is easy to generate so you can substitute power for a lack of antenna efficiency.

Pat
N4LTA

[W3RSW]

Do you think an erp limit will be enforced any better than what passes for a limit on 75 these days ( not to mention 11)?

[KA0HCP]

Yes, in the same way the Rules of Golf are strictly and vigorously enforced across our fair land!

[N4LTA]

You said It - Not me!

Ever tried to calculate and measure true EIRP?

Pat
N4LTA

[KA0HCP]

The problem is locating the catalog part number for an Isotropic element with an NMO mount.

[N0WEK]

It would give me reason to not part out my McKay 2012B marine set...that puts out 250 watts with a of a pair of 813s...it even has a half dozen Xtals in it.

It came of a Navy contract tracking ship. The transmitter was built in 1968. I've got the emergency receiver as well, a Regen built in 1968; it takes 12 volts and 90 volts B+.