beckoning beacons
Tonight for the first time I’ll be powering up my Kenwood TS-570DG and having a listen to the airwaves. I got the radio weeks ago but I didn’t have a power supply for it or an antenna or the cables to hook up the antenna. But tonight, it’s all lining up.
I’m not licensed to transmit on much, but I may try 10 meters SSB (28.300 MHz – 28500 MHz) with my 570, but I’m not interested in calling CQ (which means I’d be looking for someone to respond to my signal.) At this point I’m just looking to see what I can hear, and to possibly pick up some of the propagation beacons around the world.
Why? Well, it sorta works like this: There are amateur radio stations all over the globe that send out signals on different frequencies on a regular basis. They do them in repeatable patterns, at repeatable times throughout the day. A good way to determine if the radio frequency you are on is “open”, or capable of good propagation (that is, traveling well through the atmosphere) is by listening for the beacons. If you can hear them, the frequency may be open to you. It’s a good way to understand what is happening in the atmosphere with radio waves. There are thousands of factors that combine to increase or reduce propagation, so listening for the beacons is one way to figure it all out.
So tonight I’m going to connect up all my gear, put my headphones on, crack open the manual of my radio, and find out what I can hear.