NEW WORLD LIGHT WAVE RECORD

Hot on the heels of a recent French lightwave record of 104km comes DB6NT's news of an even longer distance. Many congratulations to Michael and the rest of the team!

From: Andreas Kuhne [a.kuhne@kuhne-electronic.de]
Sent: 03 May 2004 13:04
Hello Peter,

Here's some information for your website (microwave DX records)

On April 21st,2004, we had a contact of about 106km with laser
660 nm (red) with 56...59 signals (QSB) in AM mode.

Time: 19.00 UTC.

DG0EB / DG8EB were on the Fichtelberg (JO60LK) and
DB6NT / DB2NP were on the Wetzstein (JO50RK)

Output power about 5mW to a 120 mm lens

vy 73 Michael, DB6NT

The French lightwave experiments are detailed below in the following email, passed onto us by David Bowman, G0MRF, co-holder of the UK lightwave record:

Subj: Re: Laser experiments
Date: 5/4/04 9:06:28 PM GMT Daylight Time
From: YvesF1AVY
To: G0MRF

Hello David
Many thanks for the news about this new Europe laser record from DG0EB/DG8EB and DB6NT/DB2NP

This winter we had rather bad weather and only very little opportunities for trying laser DXing.

Next experiments are planned in June with very new devices. A permanent laser beacon is running now from my QRA.

Some cloud scattering signals were received from more 20km with a 25cm mirror, OSD1-5T PIN photodiode, K3PGP receiver and FFTDSP processing. It is built in a waterproof sugar box with a PVC pipe to protect the laser diode.

The output power is 10 mW on 780 nm.(laser printer diode)
The laser is beamed on the polar star (North and about 45° elevation at Lyon).

The looped signal is "CQ laser from F1AVY JN25IV" in "JASON" code from PC audio card (Jason: Alberto I2PHD program). The center Jason VLF carrier signal frequency is 75Hz.The data rate is less than three characters / minute and "Jason" can extract signal - 15 dB / noise in perfect conditions at 5 km with low clouds, decoding limit seems at - 25 dB with some coherent characters on the screen at 20 km in the best conditions.

The echoes seem the best from low stratocumulus base (ASL about 1200 m) just after rain.

Best 73, Yves F1AVY

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JACK BROOKER, G3JMB, A SILENT KEY

We are very sorry to report the passing, on Thursday 12 February 2004, of a good microwave friend, Jack, G3JMB. He was in his early eighties. Jack, as many readers will already know, had spent the past few years fighting ill health but, with characteristic fighting spirit, he continued to get as much enjoyment as he could from his amateur radio hobby and, in particular, his microwave activities.

I have many fond memories of Jack, from the many 10GHz contacts we had, portable-to-portable station, to attempts at giving him new locator squares such as IO94, and working him when he was in tandem with his son-in-law Allan, G8LSD. Sometimes he was accompanied by his wife, Margaret, who braved the elements to turn his antennas for him and keep him company on the hilltop. How we all envied him that kind of support! He was a popular figure at the various microwave round table meetings and I have very pleasant
memories of him celebrating his birthday at the Martlesham meeting a few years ago … very little could keep him away from meeting his microwave pals!
Jack was a keen home constructor and during the days long before he joined the 10GHz “narrowband revolution” of the early 1990s, he was busy with wideband FM, working long super-refraction paths along the South Coast and across the English Channel.

As President of the Mid Sussex Amateur Radio Society and a founder member of the Crawley Amateur Radio club, Jack was held in very high regard in the South East of the country. Everyone who met him could not help feeling that they were in the company of a gentlemen, in the very best sense of that word. He was always as helpful as he could be to those wanting to learn about our hobby and he made it as much a family affair as possible with his daughter Mary marrying Allan, G8LSD and his other daughter holding an amateur callsign, G3ZZZ.

Jack’s interest in amateur microwaves was underpinned by his Royal Air Force career as a Radar Instructor. After leaving the RAF, he entered a long career with the Post Office. It was not all
microwaves with Jack though … he operated on HF and VHF as well as his beloved 10GHz.

At the time of writing this we have no information about funeral details, etc, but by the time you read this many of you will have already made your tribute to Jack in your own way.
Amateur Radio and UK microwaves in particular, has lost a most respected and valued member of its ranks. To Margaret, his wife and to his family, we extend our deepest sympathy.

Peter, G3PHO

(My thanks go to Derek, G3GRO, for some of the background information used above)

Another tribute, this time much more personal than the one above, can be found at

www.r-type.org/g3jmb and is given by Allan, G8LSD (Jack's son-in-law). Please visit the site.

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MARS PROBE RECEIVED BY G3WDG!

(SEE ALSO AT END OF THIS SECTION FOR UPDATED NEWS...)

The following email was forwarded by Charlie, G3WDG. It details his remarakable achievment in hearing the Mars spac craft, using amateir EME gear. The craft had previously been heard by AMSAT-DL but using a much bigger dish and professional gear. As far as we know, this is the first and only instance of any solo amateur microwaver receiving signals from this far into space. Well done Charlie!

From: Bill Tynan, W3XO <btynan@omniglobal.net>:

UK amateur copies signal from Mars Express spacecraft (Dec 10, 2003)

Using what he described as "just a quick throw-together" system,Charlie Suckling,G3WDG,has received a signal in the UK from the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft. Now in deep space, Mars Express is expected to reach the Red Planet on Christmas Day and
deploy its Beagle 2 lander for six months of exploration.

G3WDG reports he heard the Mars Express signal on X band (8.4 GHz) December 9 using a 3 metre diameter dish. In a message to James Miller, G3RUH--who had provided him with advice on setting up his equipment--Suckling said his system noise factor was about 1 dB, and he used Miller's S-Band 2.25-turn helix scaled to 8.4 GHz as the feed (LHCP). "Signals seemed very consistent for about two hours," he said. The signal level was "very approximately" 0 dB S/N in 2.5 kHz. G3WDG said it was not too hard to locate the signal--about 10 minutes of searching plus or minus 100kHz and tweaking his azimuth and elevation settings.

In mid-November,a team of German amateurs were able to copy the Mars Express signal from
a far more sophisticated setup in Bochum, Germany, that's equipped with a 20 meter parabolic antenna. Reception of the Mars Express signal provided a test run for the facility, which will serve as the ground control station for AMSAT-DL's Phase P5-A Mars orbital mission planned
for 2007. AMSAT-DL President Peter G¸lzow, DB2OS, says it was the first time ever that a signal of an interplanetary deep-space probe was received in Germany. "It was probably also the first time ever that such a signal was received by Amateur Radio operators," he added.
There's a complete report on the AMSAT-DL Web site.

CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING URLS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION, TOGETHER WITH AUDI CLIPS OF TH RECEIVED SIGNALS:

http://www.amsat-dl.org/p5a/reception_g3ruh.htm and:
http://www.amsat-dl.org/p5a/reception_g3wdg.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------

LATEST MARS NEWS FROM G3WDG:

Just as this edition of the webpage was being posted another email arrived from Charlie....

Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 22:10
To: dj1km@amsat.org, g3ruh@jrmiller.demon.co.uk
From: Charles Suckling <charlie@sucklingfamily.free-online.co.uk>
Subject: Mars Odyssey reception
Cc: freddy De Guchteneire <Freddy.DeGuchteneire@UGent.be> Reinhard, James

We managed to receive a signal from Mars Odyssey this evening. Team
operation with G3WDG on the MEX receiver (and dish peaking) and G4KGC on
the Odyssey receiver. With MEX fully peaked up, Petra managed to find
Odyssey, approx 10dB weaker. Signal was detectable audibly, but not
with much margin.

We did not have time to get an audio recording today, but did capture
the AO40rcv display (attached).

We heard it from ~ 2045 - 2100z. Petra said the frequency went up 2kHz
from the point she found it initially, and ended up some 25kHz LF at the
end of our test. Odyssey is a much bigger challenge to find than MEX and
would have been impossible with the 3m dish unless we had been able to
peak and track using MEX.

73 Charlie

YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT CHARLIE'S EQUIPMENT AND HEAR RECORDINGS OF THE TWO SIGNALS HE HAS HEARD FROM MARS... GO TO:

http://www.sucklingfamily.free-online.co.uk/mars_express.htm

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NEW UK LASER DX RECORD

From: Allan Wyatt, G8LSD [allan@r-type.org]

David Bowman G0MRF and myself (Allan Wyatt G8LSD) have conducted tests over the last four months with Derek Atter G3GRO and Lech Laszkiewicz G3KAU. The distances have developed from a few tens of metres to 20 km, then 40 km and finally on Saturday, 5th April,2003 to 49.3 km. The path being from Fairlight east of Hastings to Capel le Ferne east of folkestone. The distance was verified by using the G4JNT software.

Semiconductor lasers operating at 670nM were used at both ends: 3mW to a beam expander at the G8LSD end, and 10mW "barefoot" at the G0MRF end. Both receivers were designed independently and operated at audio baseband without a carrier. 488Hz tones were generated in the transmitters for modulating the lasers by the dividing down of a crystal oscillator. Keying of the tone providing the CW. Both receivers featured audio filters to reduce bandwidth. I used a TimeWave DSP filter and David used a home brew op-amp based filter peaking on 488Hz

With the 40km path showing very significant scintillation of the signal, we had also taken laptop computers so that very slow CW could be sent and received to overcome any scintillation. In the event the audio was clear enough to read without additional aids.

Each station had separate RX and TX equipment. G0MRF used a purpose built telescope around a 100mm lens to gather light on receive and I used a Russian 4.5 inch reflector telescope and swapped the eyepiece for the detector head. Both transmitters used tripod bases with vernier adjustments mounted above. Finally the transmitter mounted on the vernier mechanism. Aiming of the laser was by rifle sight secured to the TX housing. Strong and very cold winds worked against long term holding of the beam position, but even when the laser dimmed from the brightest light in the sky to only just visible with binoculars, the signal remained audible.

We arrived on site at 18:30 UTC and saw a good sunset but no view, it was quite misty. The power station at Dungeness some 30 km away disappeared completely by 19:00 UTC. By 21:25 we had a sighting of the powerful white lights used for aiming as a dim yellow disc. The laser was aimed at the disk and at 21:30 the laser was switched on. G0MRF received the signal immediately and within a few minutes we had both systems aligned. Reports of 559 and 579 as well as both callsigns and additional characters were exchanged by 21:45.

In spite of wearing fleece lined trousers, a sweatshirt, two fleeces and a cagoule, as well as walking boots, it took me several hours to warm up after the event.

My wife, the long suffering daughter of G3JMB, and I celebrated 29 years of marriage on Sunday. On the way home on Saturday, at just after midnight, she expressed that she had been engaged in some daft radio expeditions in her life but nothing so stupid as standing on a clifftop in a bitingly cold wind in the pitch dark for three hours.

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