International Beacon Project Contents History Frequencies and transmission schedule Hardware Beacons Notes and references Navigation menu"Beacon Project""International Beacon Project Introduction""International Beacon Project Early History""International Beacon Project Transmission Schedule""International Beacon Project Locations and Information"
Radio frequency propagationBeacons
radio propagation beaconscontinuous wavehigh frequencyamateurInternational Amateur Radio Unioncall signKenwoodwords per minute
The International Beacon Project (IBP) is a worldwide network of radio propagation beacons. It consists of 18 continuous wave (CW) beacons operating on five designated frequencies in the high frequency band.[1][2] The IBP beacons provide a means of assessing the prevailing ionospheric signal propagation characteristics to both amateur and commercial high frequency radio users.[1][2]
The project is coordinated by the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). The first beacon of the IBP started operations from Northern California in 1979. The network was expanded to include 8 and subsequently 18 international transmission sites.[1][2]
Contents
1 History
2 Frequencies and transmission schedule
3 Hardware
4 Beacons
5 Notes and references
History
The first beacon was put into operation in 1979 using the call sign WB6ZNL. It transmitted a 1 minute long beacon every 10 minutes on 14.1 MHz using custom built transmitter and controller hardware. The beacon consisted of the call sign transmitted at 100 watts, four 9 second long dashes each at 100 watts, 10 watts, 1 watt and 0.1 watt, followed by sign out at 100 watts.[3]
NCDXF and seven partnering organizations from United States, Finland, Portugal, Israel, Japan, Honolulu and Argentina operated the first iteration of the beacon network. Due to difficulties encountered in building beacon hardware, each site used a Kenwood TS-120 transceiver keyed and controlled by a custom built beacon controller unit. The network operated on 14.1 MHz and the beacon format remained unchanged.[3]
In 1995, work began to improve the existing beacon network, so it could operate on five designated frequencies on the high frequency band. The new beacon network used Kenwood TS-50 transceivers keyed and controlled by an upgraded beacon controller unit. The number of partner organizations were expanded to 18 and the new 10 second beacon format was adopted.[3]
Frequencies and transmission schedule
The beacons are transmitted on the frequencies 14.100 MHz, 18.110 MHz, 21.150 MHz, 24.930 MHz and 28.200 MHz.[1][4] Each beacon transmission site operates around the clock. Beacon is transmitted once on each frequency, from low (14.100 MHz) to high (28.200 MHz), followed by a 130-second pause after which the cycle is repeated.[4] Each transmission is 10 second long, and consists of the call sign of the beacon transmitted at 22 words per minute (WPM) followed by four dashes. The call sign and the first dash is transmitted at 100 watts of power. Subsequent three dashes are transmitted at 10 watts, 1 watt and 0.1 watt respectively.[4]
All beacon transmissions are coordinated using GPS time. As such, at a given frequency, all 18 beacons are transmitted once every three minutes.[3]
Hardware
As of today, beacons are transmitted using commercial HF transceivers (Kenwood TS-50 or Icom IC-7200) keyed and coordinated by a purpose built Beacon Controller unit.[2]
Beacons
IBP operates the following beacons as of March 2017.[5]
Slot | Beacon | Call Sign | Location | Grid Square | Operator |
| 1 | United Nations | 4U1UN | New York City | FN3Øas | United Nations Staff Recreation Council Amateur Radio Club (UNRC) |
| 2 | Canada | VE8AT | Eureka, Nunavut | EQ79ax | Radio Amateurs Canada (RAC) / Northern Alberta Radio Club (NARC) |
| 3 | United States | W6WX | Mt. Umunhum | CM97bd | Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) |
| 4 | Hawaii | KH6RS | Maui | BL10ts | Maui Amateur Radio Club (Maui ARC) |
| 5 | New Zealand | ZL6B | Masterton | RE78tw | New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART) |
| 6 | Australia | VK6RBP | Rolystone | OF87av | Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) |
| 7 | Japan | JA2IGY | Mt. Asama | PM84jk | Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) |
| 8 | Russia | RR9O | Novosibirsk | NO14kx | Russian Amateur Radio Union (SRR) |
| 9 | Hong Kong | VR2B | Hong Kong | OL72bg | Hong Kong Amateur Radio Transmitting Society (HARTS) |
| 10 | Sri Lanka | 4S7B | Colombo | MJ96wv | Radio Society of Sri Lanka (RSSL) |
| 11 | South Africa | ZS6DN | Pretoria | KG44dc | ZS6DN |
| 12 | Kenya | 5Z4B | Kariobangi | KI88ks | Amateur Radio Society of Kenya (ARSK) |
| 13 | Israel | 4X6TU | Tel Aviv | KM72jb | Israel Amateur Radio Club (IARC) |
| 14 | Finland | OH2B | Lohja | KP2Ø | Finnish Amateur Radio League (SRAL) |
| 15 | Madeira | CS3B | Santo da Serra | IM12or | Rede dos Emissores Portugueses (REP) |
| 16 | Argentina | LU4AA | Buenos Aires | GFØ5tj | Radio Club Argentino (RCA) |
| 17 | Peru | OA4B | Lima | FH17mw | Radio Club Peruano (RCP) |
| 18 | Venezuela | YV5B | Caracas | FJ69cc | Radio Club Venezolano (RCV) |
Notes and references
^ abcd "Beacon Project". International Amateur Radio Union. Retrieved 2017-03-19..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ abcd VE3SUN. "International Beacon Project Introduction". www.ncdxf.org. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
^ abcd VE3SUN. "International Beacon Project Early History". www.ncdxf.org. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
^ abc VE3SUN. "International Beacon Project Transmission Schedule". www.ncdxf.org. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
^ VE3SUN. "International Beacon Project Locations and Information". www.ncdxf.org. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
