B ELOW 500 kHz
DXING THE BASEMENT BAND
Underground VLF and Uncovering Noise
A s I prepare this column, we are in the
middle of August and conditions are not
ideal for longwave work. Things are still
happening on the band, however, and this month
we share news from two of our readers, list sub-
100 kHz loggings, and introduce a new book that
should be of interest to many readers.
❖ 500 kHz Experimental
License
First, from The ARRL Letter, Vol. 28, No
30, comes this exciting news on the status of the
experimental work being done by the WD2XSH
group near 500 kHz…
FCC Expands ARRL’s 500 kHz Experimental
License: On July 28, the FCC approved a modifica-
tion that expands the ARRL’s 500 kHz experimen-
tal license WD2XSH. According to Experiment
Coordinator Fritz Raab, W1FR, the expansion
allows for more frequencies, more stations and
portable operations. “We can now operate between
495-510 kHz,” Raab said. “We were previously
limited to 505-510 kHz. We will not be using 500
kHz itself so as to ensure that there is no conflict
with the heritage stations on that frequency. The
expansion also gives us the opportunity to expand
the number of participating stations. We can now
have 42 stations, where before we were limited to
23.”
Raab said that the expansion will now let par-
ticipants operate within 50 km of their designated
stations. This was not allowed under the previous
terms of the experimental license. “Some stations
have reduced operating bands to ensure that they do
not interfere with nearby non-directional beacons
(NDB).” The FCC’s Office of Engineering and
Technology granted the WD2XSH experimental
license to the ARRL in September 2006 (www.arrl.
org/news/stories/2006/09/15/104/). Find out more
information on the ARRL’s 500 kHz Experiment in
the July/August 2007 issue of QEX (http://www.
arrl.org/qex).
❖ Deep Down VLF
Kriss Larson, KR6ISS (CA) travels fre-
quently to many parts of the world in search of
natural attractions. More often than not he succeeds
in finding something related to longwave radio dur-
ing his travels, and we are fortunate to hear from
him again this month, reporting on a destination a
bit closer to home for him: New Mexico.
Kriss writes: “I went on a short trip to Carls-
bad Caverns two weekends ago particularly to try
cave photography in the wild caves they allow you
into now, but by accident found out some interest-
58 MONITORING TIMES October 2009
Kevin Carey, WB2QMY
kevincarey@monitoringtimes.com
ing facts about caves and low frequency radio. I
talked with the Cave Resource Ranger, who said
that the national park was mixed up in early Navy
experiments with submarine radio in the 1950s.
They set up a stretch of 4” wide copper wire strung
with remote control features should be unplugged
from 120-volt AC power outlets” Perry says.
“These appliances have switching power supplies
that generate harmonics especially rich in the LW
band. This may also be true for certain UPS battery
from parachute cord in a backcountry cave called backup power supplies for computers.”
Chimney Cave, and were able to transmit directly Thanks, Perry, for this interesting infor-
to the White House from there on VLF to demon- mation. Indeed, some modern devices are not
strate to the President that these frequencies would truly “off” even when we think they are. Hunting
penetrate ground and water. After the experiments interference can be a frustrating task, and this ad-
were finished, the antenna was abandoned in the ditional tip could help readers get to the bottom of
cave and the remains are still there! a puzzling RFI issue.
“Independent of that, the Ranger also told me
about the still ongoing experiments with longwave
cave radio communications. Traditionally they use ❖ New Book
about 1 meter square loops you place horizontally There are a few books out there dealing
with how to identify and cure sources of Radio
on the ground of the cave, and use doctored SSB
CB radios that transmit on around 185 kHz. You Frequency Interference (RFI), but little has been
written about the nature of RFI, why it causes dif-
can usually penetrate about 200-300 feet of rock
with such a setup.” ficulty in reception, or its overall effects on radio
communications. Donald J. Arndt’s new book,
“More recently, commercially made radios
operating around 85 kHz that inject a signal with Demystifying Radio Frequency Interference, is a
new entry in the field, providing a historical context
spaced electrodes have been able to go maybe
1,000 feet in rock. Supposedly at the Dayton for RFI (both natural and man-made), and offering
real-world techniques for locating RFI problems.
Hamvention a section of cave radio guys have a
meeting there. It would be interesting to read more The book is 259 pages, softcover, and is
available from Trafford Publishing for $37.95 in
about this in longwave publications.
“A British caving society has a whole sec- the USA. For more information, including pricing
in other countries, point your browser to: http://
tion on cave radio – called Speleonics. If you go
to www.caves.org/section/commelect/spelonic. books.trafford.com/09-0388.
html, and then go to issues #19 and #20, there are
explanations about doctoring CB radios to transmit ❖ Loggings
around 185 kHz. A commercial cave radio maker Our loggings this month are courtesy of Kriss
has a web site at www.barrabes.com/.” (As of Larson, KR6ISS, who, in addition to his wide-
press time, it appears that this supplier no longer spread travels (see above) also enjoys tuning the
lists radio equipment, although there is a heading band from his home area in California. On this oc-
for “Lighting & Communication” gear. –K.C.) casion, he took his Icom IC-7000, a Palomar VLF
“I must say this whole underground radio converter, and a 50-foot random wire antenna to a
thing was news to me – you never know when you local park to see what could be heard in daylight.
will go someplace and stumble into a longwave He notes that he hasn’t heard Dixon, CA
radio activity!” locally at 55 kHz for quite a while – years he
Kriss, thanks for this “spelunking” report believes, and that the station has probably left the
from the field! Years ago, there was much discus- air indefinitely.
sion about cave radio in the LWCA’s Lowdown See you next month!
Journal, but there hasn’t been much written about it
lately. It’s good to hear that the technology is alive
and well, and it shows just one more application Table 1. Daytime VLF Loggings from CA
where longwave outshines the other frequencies.
FREQ ID ST/PR/ITU CITY Date/Time
19.8 NWC Australia Exmouth 7/9 2230
20.9 HWU? France Le Blanc 7/9 2230
❖ Unplugging from the Grid 21.4 NPM HI Lualualei 7/9 2230
Perry Crabill, W3HQX (VA) wrote in re- 22.2 JJ12 Japan Ebino 7/9 2230
24.0 NAA ME Cutler 7/9 2230
sponse to our August column on Summer Survival 24.8 NLK WA Jim Creek 7/9 2230
on LW. He points out that merely turning off some 25.2 NML ND La Moure 7/9 2230
devices may not be enough to eliminate interfer- 40.7 NAU PR Aguada 7/9 2230
60.0 WWVB CO Ft. Collins 7/9 2230
ence. “For maximum interference reduction, 100 – Several LORAN 7/9 2230
devices such as stereos, VHS, and DVD players