QRSS
NEWS Archive:
6 April
2006, 1200 hours local time: 80 Nanowatt
test as per previous details with VK6JY (see below).

(Update: 4 May 2006, signals were detected at 50 nW)
4
April 2006, 1450 hours local time: 200
Nanowatt tests as per previous details with VK6JY (see below).

14
March, 2006, 1736
hours local time: NVIS 40M QRPp tests
with John,
VK6JY produced good results at powers down to 50 uW. See
image
below. John is located in Albany at grid square OF84wx and is
some 383 Kms south of me. Powers below 50 uW were not
attempted due to time limitations. Clearly success
at
reduced power levels would have been possible.
VK6JY 50 uW
Simple low dipole antennas were used at both ends of the path.
March 17, 2006, 1000 hours local time: Further tests on 80M
with
VK6JY at 63 uW and 16 uW revealed results similar to previous 40M tests
a few days earlier.
VK6JY 16 uW
John's TX antenna was an 80M dipole at 8M above ground level
(AGL). My RX antenna was an 80M full wave loop at 5M AGL.
Feb 1, 2006: 30M QRSS experiments were
conducted with
WB3ANQ using a
measured power output of 961 microwatts into Larry's outgoing 50
ohm coax line. (Lets call it 1 mW!) Full details of
Larry's
end of the operation are available from WB3ANQ.
Real
time Skype VoIP communications
during peak
propagation times enabled Larry and myself to accurately determine that
band conditions were favourable for an attempt to break the 1 mW
barrier into VK6 at a time near to my local sunrise. Larry's
power output was gradually reduced as conditions were seen to improve,
and eventually I was fortunate enough to capture Larry's weak 1 mW Argo
trace
entering Western
Australia. Later in the day, and near to sunset my time,
Larry's
1 mW signal was also detected on the long path.
Not
surprisingly previous 1 mW tests
with WB3ANQ had
proved unsuccessful using my low 40M dipole as a RX antenna.
The balance of the equation was tipped in our favour on this occasion,
due I believe, to the recent erection of 50 foot high 30M inverted V
dipole at my end of the path. Interestingly Larry's similar
TX
dipole had at the time of this test been damaged by high
winds.
Larry eventually decided to switch to an alternate dipole some 20 feet
lower. Once that was done, Larry's signal appeared from out
of
the noise amid much rejoicing at each end.
Larry's
1 mW and 1 Watt signals can
be seen as
triangular
waveforms slowly sweeping between 10140065 and 10140070 Hz in the 2
screen
captures hereunder -
WB3ANQ at 961 uW
WB3ANQ
at 1 Watt
Note that
the lower 1 Watt
comparative image was received on my
40M dipole some weeks prior to the 1 mW test.
Due to the minimal signal strengths involved,
Larry's periodic CWID was not visible in any of the 1 mW
images.
Clearly such minimal signals are also well below any receiver's audible
noise floor, and so cannot be detected by ear. It was
only due to Argo's effective 0.34 Hz QRSS3 bandwidth that this signal
was detectable.
1
mW
short path #1
1
mW
short path #2
1
mW
short path #3
1
mW short path #4
1
mW long path #5
Subsequent
tests run with Larry, WB3ANQ have since yielded a weak trace at 500
microwatts.