Attached below is a suggestion that I received from noted DX'er Craig Healy that I think has quite a bit of merit. In a nutshell, he suggests adding high frequency sweep tones and/or Morse Code signals to future tests.
Since the tones and code would occur at 5khz or slightly higher, we'd be able to use very narrow bandwidths and avoid the carriers all together. This indeed might make it easier to DX these tests. My problem is that I currently am limited to using WinMorse for Morse Code generation and it maxes out at 1Khz tones. I have no ability to generate the sweep tones at any frequency and have simply been reusing the ones created by Fred V. Can someone on the lists point me towards software that would meet these needs or offer suggestions? Also, what do the rest of you think of this technique? Les Rayburn, N1LF NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator Please call anytime 24/7 if your transmitter will be off the air for maintenance. (205) 253-4867 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Healy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Les Rayburn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 9:40 AM Subject: Tones > Hi Les, > > I've been thinking about test content that could be broadcast without > disrupting normal programming. Years ago I used morse code at a 5KHz > audio > frequency. Transmitters pass it easily, but most receivers won't. Also, > the success of the sweep tones has been good. I first used those in a > test > at WSYB-1380 in Vermont in the mid-70's. Worked well, and one DXer even > complained that "someone was trashing the frequency" with them while he > was > listening for the test. (grin) > > How about a combination of 5KHz morse and a sweep tone that goes from 4 to > 6 > KHz? I bet I could put that on a station and no local listener would > really > even hear it. > > Additional bonus: It puts DXable content on a split channel halfway > between > the 10KHz North American steps. Set your receiver with a narrow filter > and > BFO to the split, and ignore the carrier completely. > > Do you have the oscillator that can make those tones? > > Craig > > _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://arizona.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com
