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April 11, 2013
Actual Radio Frequencies (Hz):
| 80m | 40m | 20m | |
| K5CM | 3,599,778.54 | 14,121,912.85 | |
| W8KSE | 3,599,755.70 | 14,121,898.30 | |
| WA6ZTY | 7,054,994.71 | ||
| W6OQI | 7,055,111.53 |
K5CM/W8KSE/WA6ZTY/W6OQI All (<=1 Hz):
AA6LK, AB4RS, AC0ZG, K0ANS, K3IT, K5CM, K6BZZ, K7TT, KG0HY, KG6HSQ, KM6QX, N8OQ, N9YKE, VE2IQ, VE3OAT, W3FAY, W6IHG, W6OQI, W6SFH, W8XN, W9ZB, WA2TND, XQ6FOD
K5CM 80 (<=1 Hz):
AA6LK, AA7YQ, AB4RS, AC0ZG, AE5P, AF9A, K0ANS, K0MZ, K3IT, K3KO, K5CM, K6BZZ, K6IQL, K7TT, K8CT, KB3OMM, KD2BD, KD5MMM, KG0HY, KG6HSQ, KM6QX, KU4PY, N5DM, N7EP, N8OQ, N9YKE, VE2IQ, VE3OAT, W0PHD, W2FD, W3FAY, W3JW, W3OYB, W5TV, W6IHG, W6OQI, W6SFH, W7KMV, W7KPZ, W8XN, W9ZB, WA1ABI, WA2TND, WA6RZW, WB0LXZ, XQ6FOD
K5CM 80 (>1 to <=5 Hz):
K2CM
K5CM 80 (>5 to <=10 Hz):
[none]
K5CM 80 (>10 Hz):
K4BSD, K5RKS, KD7KDO, N1NAZ, N4AU, WA6ZTY
W8KSE 80 (<=1 Hz):
AA6LK, AB4RS, AC0ZG, AF9A, K0ANS, K0MZ, K2CM, K3IT, K4BSD, K5BTK, K5CM, K6BZZ, K6IQL, K7TT, K8CT, KB3OMM, KD2BD, KG0HY, KG6HSQ, KM6QX, KU4PY, N5DM, N7EP, N8OQ, N9YKE, VE2IQ, VE3OAT, W0PHD, W2FD, W3FAY, W3JW, W3OYB, W5TV, W6IHG, W6OQI, W6SFH, W7KPZ, W8XN, W9ZB, WA1ABI, WA2TND, WA6RZW, WB0LXZ, XQ6FOD
W8KSE 80 (>1 to <=5 Hz):
AE5P, W7KMV
W8KSE 80 (>5 to <=10 Hz):
[none]
W8KSE 80 (>10 Hz):
K5RKS, KD5MMM, KD7KDO, N1NAZ, N4AU, WA6ZTY
WA6ZTY 40 (<=1 Hz):
AA6LK, AA7YQ, AB4RS, AC0ZG, AE5P, AF9A, K0ANS, K0MZ, K2CM, K3IT, K3KO, K4BSD, K5BTK, K5CM, K5RKS, K6BZZ, K6IQL, K7TT, K8CT, KD2BD, KG0HY, KG6HSQ, KM6QX, KU4PY, N3FG, N4AU, N5DM, N7EP, N8OQ, N9YKE, VE2IQ, VE3OAT, W0PHD, W2FD, W3FAY, W3JW, W6IHG, W6OQI, W6SFH, W7KMV, W7KPZ, W8XN, W9ZB, WA1ABI, WA1LWS, WA2TND, WA6RZW, WA6ZTY, WB0LXZ, XQ6FOD
WA6ZTY 40 (>1 to <=5 Hz):
AG2M, KB3OMM, KD5MMM
WA6ZTY 40 (>5 to <=10 Hz):
KD7KDO
WA6ZTY 40 (>10 Hz):
K4CXX, N1NAZ, W5TV, W9HLY
W6OQI 40 (<=1 Hz):
AA6LK, AA7YQ, AB4RS, AC0ZG, AE5P, AF9A, K0ANS, K0MZ, K3IT, K3KO, K4BSD, K5BTK, K5CM, K5RKS, K6BZZ, K6IQL, K7TT, K8CT, KB3OMM, KD2BD, KG0HY, KG6HSQ, KM6QX, N3FG, N5DM, N8OQ, N9YKE, VE2IQ, VE3OAT, W2FD, W3FAY, W3JW, W6IHG, W6OQI, W6SFH, W7KPZ, W8XN, W9ZB, WA1ABI, WA2TND, WA6RZW, XQ6FOD
W6OQI 40 (>1 to <=5 Hz):
AG2M, KD5MMM, W0PHD, WA6ZTY
W6OQI 40 (>5 to <=10 Hz):
[none]
W6OQI 40 (>10 Hz):
KD7KDO, KU4PY, N1NAZ, N4AU, N7EP, W5TV, W7KMV, W9HLY
K5CM 20 (<=1 Hz):
7L4IOU, AA6LK, AB4RS, AC0ZG, AE5P, K0ANS, K0MZ, K2CM, K3IT, K5BTK, K5CM, K5RKS, K6BZZ, K6IQL, K7TT, K8CT, KD2BD, KD5MMM, KD7KDO, KG0HY, KG6HSQ, KM6QX, KU4PY, N3FG, N4AU, N5DM, N7EP, N8OQ, N9YKE, VE2IQ, VE3OAT, W2FD, W3FAY, W3JW, W3OYB, W5TV, W6IHG, W6OQI, W6SFH, W7KMV, W8XN, W9ZB, WA1ABI, WA1LWS, WA2TND, WA6ZTY, WB0LXZ, XQ6FOD
K5CM 20 (>1 to <=5 Hz):
K3KO, K4BSD, KB3OMM, SV1XV, W0PHD
K5CM 20 (>5 to <=10 Hz):
AA7YQ
K5CM 20 (>10 Hz):
W7KPZ
W8KSE 20 (<=1 Hz):
AA6LK, AB4RS, AC0ZG, AE5P, K0ANS, K3IT, K3KO, K5CM, K5RKS, K6BZZ, K7TT, KD5MMM, KD7KDO, KG0HY, KG6HSQ, KM6QX, N1NAZ, N4AU, N7EP, N8OQ, N9YKE, SV1XV, VE2IQ, VE3OAT, W3FAY, W5TV, W6IHG, W6OQI, W6SFH, W7KMV, W8XN, W9ZB, WA2TND, WA6RZW, WA6ZTY, XQ6FOD
W8KSE 20 (>1 to <=5 Hz):
7L4IOU, AA7YQ, K4BSD, W0PHD
W8KSE 20 (>5 to <=10 Hz):
K0MZ, KU4PY, W2FD
W8KSE 20 (>10 Hz):
K5BTK, K8CT, N5DM, W7KPZ, WB0LXZ
Result Details (n=61):
| Call | QTH | Area | Method/Soapbox | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 7L4IOU | DX | DX |
| Method: record TS-950SD IF signal by HDSDR (SoftRock Ensemble RX)
played the recorded signal and measured by SpectrumLab later
antenna is dipole about 10m agl Soapbox: thank you very much for the 20m test. 40m and 80m signals were not found here in JA. 73, Hisami 7L4IOU | ||||||||||||||||||||
| AA6LK | CA | W6 |
| Method: HP Z3805A 10MHz GPSDO, Marconi 2019 HF synth, HP 3325A LF synth, HP 54601A o'scope, FT-847 in AM/narrow mode, 5BTV antenna, Vista laptop running SpecLab, DigiPan for spotting, EZGPIB controlling Prologix USB-GPIB to set up and interrogate instruments, GPSCon for monitoring Z3805A; the 2019 was set to inject a reference beat signal to produce a ~400Hz beat tone, or 100Hz/~2kHz for 20M and 80M, and the 3325A was tuned for minimum phase slip between it and the beat tone. Each run was recorded to a .wav file through SpecLab, and at a later time export data was generated to tease out data for submission. Soapbox: Another well run event; thanks to all the transmitting stations; noisy bands, but signals were readable; after exporting SpecLab data to spreadsheet and creating plots, it appeared both 20M stations had good correlation between the reference and test signals of the apparent Doppler shifts, but both 80M stations had very little; used the phase slip measurements as the starting point, and refined all values after reviewing SpecLab data. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| AA7YQ | MT | W7 |
| Method: Softrock Ensemble 2 RX using HDSDR. Calibrated against NIST spec'd HP-8924C and also against CHU's carrier frequency at 7.850 MHz Soapbox: Simple technique probably not very precise though. I set the SDR to USB with Fc at 1kHz below the test freq. Then I set the averaging and zoom as high as I could on the water fall display to compensate for doppler shifts and get a frequency resolution of .4 Hz. At the end of the test tone I eyeballed the peak average Frequency to the nearest .5 Hz. I noted both the low freq and the high frequency. Since the low frequency was the reference, simple subtraction and addition gave me the test frequency, I confirmed this value with my HP-8924C. For the 40 meter test, I measured the test frequnecies using the same technique. Only this time I checked my HP-8924C against the CHU time signal and found it was 1 Hz higher. So I added 1 Hz to the two value of the two 40 meter measurements. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| AB4RS | VA | W4 |
| Method: Yaesu FT-897d, sampled and processed audio using SpectrumLab. Injected a reference signal generated by a HP 3336C locked to reference frequency from a Trimble Thunderbolt. Used the delta reference method, using the published frequency for the 20m and 80m runs, and using local frequency ref for the 40m runs. Soapbox: Good signals all around, except for W8KSE 20m signal, which was barely audible. Some significant QRM on the 20m and 80m runs near the published reference signal. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| AC0ZG | CO | W0 |
| Method: HPSDR Hermes, custom FFT analysis software, Excel. For 40m signals used Hermes ability to receive WWV on 5, 10 and 15 Mhz simultaneously with the 40m signal, in order to track what my oscillator was doing during the FMT. Soapbox: 20m K5CM signal was in the noise. 20m W8KSE signal was strong. Although there was doppler, the two signals correlated well. 80m signals, although reasonably strong, didn't correlate well. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| AE5P | TX | W5 |
| Method: Flex 5000 into FLDIGI in frequency analysis mode. Soapbox: Doppler on most signals was fierce. It kind of becomes a guessing game with all the wild swings. Many thanks to the sending stations. Their efforts are much appreciated. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| AF9A | IN | W9 |
| Method: HPSDR Mercury in phase display mode. OCXO time base calibrated to WWV 5MHz and CHU 3.33MHz. Soapbox: Thunder storms in the area made it difficult. Both 20m signals were completely in the noise. Thanks! | ||||||||||||||||||||
| AG2M | NY | W2 |
| Method: Yaesu FT-840 to Spectran display. Soapbox: High level static crashes. All signals adequate; no excuse there. Precision recorded in my data beyond capability here. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K0ANS | CO | W0 |
| Method: Wire antennas, a warm Yaesu FT-817ND with TCXO and an iMac running CocoaModem, centering on the signal in the PSK31 waterfall. I measured WWV to get a reference for the 40m tests. Soapbox: A lively RTTY net on 3598 kHz exposed the risk of publishing a reference frequency. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K0MZ | KS | W0 |
| Method: For 40 meters, I used an Atlas 210X Receiver, TR-7 transfer oscillator, Heath IM-4100 counter clocked with HP 10544A OCXO. I tuned the transfer oscillator to the signal by ear and measured the frequency with the counter. For 20 and 80 meters, I used a Grundig G5 receiver in AM mode and recorded the beat frequency note onto a Roland RO-9 audio recorder. After the test, I tuned an Eico 377 audio oscillator to the RO-9 by ear and counted the audio frequency and added that to the published reference frequency. As the noise level was so high with storms, I could not accurately directly count the RO-9 recorded audio signal as static crashes would disrupt the counter. Soapbox: The K5CM 20 meter signal was just above the noise level. The W8KSE 20 meter signal was at the noise level. The WA6ZTY signal was 20 over with doppler. The W6OQI 40 meter signal was S9 with less doppler. The K5CM 80 meter signal was 20 over, good solid signal. The W8SKE 80 meter signal was about an S4. This was an interesting exercise on 20 and 80 with the two signals creating a beat note heard in an AM receiver. I thought that I would try recording the audio signal and measure it after the official test where I could replay it several times. QRN made it impossible to count the recorded signal directly so I tuned an audio oscillator by ear and counted that. Doppler doesn't seem to affect the audio beat note at all. Thank you to all for making this FMT an interesting and fun exercise. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K2CM | NY | W2 |
| Method: Flex F5K, direct frequency measurement. DSB mode, 100HZ filter, adjusted frequency to get a flat line on the scope. Soapbox: There was a USB QSO right on frequency on 80 MTRS that made it challenging. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K3IT | MD | W3 |
| Method: Afedri SDR-net receiver + HDSDR + K1JT fmt software. Calibrated against WWV, CHU, local GPSDO | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K3KO | NC | W4 |
| Method: K3, WAVETEK 3006 synced to LPRO Rb, SPECTRUM LAB software, HB post processing software Soapbox: First try at this. W6OQI very poor sig on 40. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K4BSD | AL | W4 |
| Method: "Old School" Analog signal generator, HP 5328A Counter, Icom 7000. Did use Spec Lab to get the "Zero Beat" a bit closer than my tired ears would have.
Good to get back to basics occasionally...maybe I came close. Soapbox: Good signals here from everyone except 80 Meters. K5CM 5-5-9 QRN W8KSE 5-3-9 QRN | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K4CXX | NC | W4 |
| Method: Synthesizer zero-beating received signal in SW receiver for aural detection. It's not refined, and I hope it worked. Soapbox: Improvised with a SW RX at last minute. Am looking forward to the next FMT. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K5BTK | MS | W5 |
| Method: Yaesu FT-1000MP with standard master oscillator. Spectrum Lab. Soapbox: K5CM's 80m signal was plenty strong. But I failed to switch my measuring technique between it and the immediately preceeding 40m test. When I realized I was hitting the wrong "sampling button", it was too late! | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K5CM | OK | W5 |
| Method: For transmitting the FMT I use an HP-Z3801 GPS frequency source which clocks a HP-3336b and a PTS-250. The two signals are combined and feed to a 10 db transistor amp which drives a 12by7 / pair of 6146. The final amp runs about 200 watts. There are no mixers or any device in the chain of amplifiers that might impact the accuracy of the GPS frequency source. I verifiy the accuracy of the TX system with a second GPS referenced Receive system. Antennas:80 meter dipole slopping down from a 140' tower. 20 meters - Steppir in bi-directional mode. For RX I use an FT-1000D in AM mode with a PTS-250 for low side injection. Audio is feed to SpectrumLab. RX antennas are 500' Beverage. Soapbox: Signals from W8KSE were weak on 20 meters requiring me to switch to the beam. Good signals from both WA6ZTY and W6OQI on 40 however Doppler was bad on both stations. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K5RKS | OK | W5 |
| Method: For dual frequeny tests on 20m and 80m I set receiver to AM mode and measured audio tone from receiver. Then I added this audio frequency to announced frequency of lower carrier.
For 40m I injected signal from HP3336B which is driven by external 10Mhz GPS disciplined clock. Receiver was in USB. I measured the frequency of the two audio tones from the frequency. I found the difference in freq of the audio tones from the receiver and added that frequency delta to the known frequency from the HP3336B.
In all cases audio tones from the receiver were determined by homebrew software that takes 64K samples at 8000Hz sampling rate. The software generates a spectrum of the audio energy by using FFT algorithm. Soapbox: Signals ranged in strength but they were all usable. On 20m, K5CM was S3 and W8KSE as S2 using Log Periodic at 40 ft as receive antenna. On 40m, WA6ZTY was 20dB over S9 and W6OQI was S9 using an Inverted "V" with the apex at about 40 feet. On 80m, I used a sloper antenna. There was a horrible noise level here on 80m: 20dB over S9. However, K5CM had a rock crusher signal on 80m -- S9 + 40dB. W8KSE was about S4 but I was able to isolate his signal OK on the waterfall of my spectrum analysis software. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K6BZZ | AZ | W7 |
| Method: Thunderbolt GPSDO, Flex 1500, HP-3336b, Spectrum Lab, Win7
Delta tone method. Soapbox: All signals good except W8KSE 80 meter sig very weak. Thanks to everyone involved in putting on this test. It was extremely well coordinated and well run. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K6IQL | KS | W0 |
| Method: Tbolt referenced synthesizers used to create 500 Hz AF beat in dual receivers. Beat measured using SL and post processed with Excel. For 20 and 80 M reference and unknown signals processed in parallel setups using two narrow bandwidth receivers and two RF reference synthesizers. That way if reference method failed, the fall back was traditional single frequency technique. Turned out to be needed due to jamming of 80 M reference. 40 M signals processed in dual diversity using two magnetic loops spaced at 100 ft. sorted on time/frequency spacing and coincidence. Primary receivers Collins 75A4, Drake R8D, Icom 746 used with 2nd computer and SL with wide window for signal acquisition. Used my DDS synthesizer of March-April QEX with good success for main RF reference. Used Fluke synthesizer as RF ref for the "reference" signal. These 2 freq tests take a lot of gear. Soapbox: Good fun as always. I cannot emphasize how much it helps to have a carefully prepared and rehearsed written test procedure set up for each of the 6 tests. Saves all kinds of panic especially when measurement methods are different for some tests. I just followed my procedure, and that eliminated the cockpit errors. Given the QRM issues it will be interesting to see if anyone was successful with the 2 kHz beat method for processing the unknown and reference in one bandwidth. Thanks to all for the test, and best 73 - john K6IQL | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K7TT | WA | W7 |
| Method: ICOM-737 calibrated with WWV as reference. SpecLab to measure frequency with FLDIGI running also to find the signal. Using RCVR frequency value, correct with WWV data, then calculate using excel, the resulting frequency. Soapbox: Signals OK on 20M and 40M but 80M was excessively noisy with a RTTY signal that wiped out the reference signal on 3598 and it wasn't usable. 80M was a lot of guessing and hope. Overall, another challenging FMT. Thanks, Jim | ||||||||||||||||||||
| K8CT | MI | W8 |
| Method: GPS disciplined Flex-1500 using Spectrum Lab for data acquisition: Data analyzed in Excel using a Windows-7 laptop: Antenna is modified G5RV: Signals tuned to audio offset tones using Power SDR in digital upper side band mode. Soapbox: All signals were 10 to 20dbm above noise here in Michigan except for W8KSE 20m signal which was at the noise level. Many thanks to those who make these tests possible and special thanks to John for your help.. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| KB3OMM | MD | W3 |
| Method: Hermes OpenHPSDR mRX-FFT V3.0.2 Efratom 808-400-21 Rubidium | ||||||||||||||||||||
| KD2BD | NJ | W2 |
| Method: Dual carrier transmissions were received on a solid-stated HQ-140-X receiver using AM detection, and recorded at a 44.1 kHz sampling rate along with a 1000 Hz tone from my WWVB-based frequency standard.
Recordings were later played back into a Tek scope, with a DDS-based function generator serving as a sweep trigger. The generator's frequency was adjusted until the horizontal drift in the scope pattern was reduced to zero while playing the recorded 1000 Hz reference tone, and the error in the generator's displayed frequency was noted. The demodulated tone was then played back in a similar manner, applying the determined function generator/soundcard error to the final result. This audio frequency measurement was then added to the published reference frequency carrier.
Single carrier transmissions were also measured in a similar manner, except the function generator supplied the local RF reference, and its frequency was measured using a homebrew frequency counter referenced to WWVB during the transmission. Initial frequency estimates were made using an Elecraft K2/100 in CW mode.
The frequencies of all recordings were ballparked using Baudline software, and bandpass filtered to a bandwidth of 50 Hz using SoX software before final analysis.
Additional info at: http://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/fmt-methodology.html Soapbox: WWVB and all FMT signals were buried under intense QRN from thunderstorms covering the entire state (and beyond). Best signal was K5CM on 20. No copy from W8KSE on 20. K5CM and W8KSE were buried under QRN and QRM on 80. Thanks to all who organized the event. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| KD5MMM | TX | W5 |
| Method: yaesu 847/ spec lab/ chu ref on 40m Soapbox: bad conditions here, most stations were weak, K5CM was strong on 80m. The 2 tone format required more work, kept me hopping. Not too confident on my numbers. was fun! 73 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| KD7KDO | AZ | W7 |
| Method: Elecraft K2 with Signal Link using FMT WSPRnet software | ||||||||||||||||||||
| KG0HY | NE | W0 |
| Method: Receiver is WinRadio G313. Used HF yagi for 20M, an a untuned HF vertical for 40M and 80M. Wrote down FMT frequencies as received, then after the test, used CHU to check the WinRadio. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| KG6HSQ | CA | W6 |
| Method: HP-3586C, Spectrum Lab | ||||||||||||||||||||
| KM6QX | CA | W6 |
| Method: OCF dipole into Flex-1500 referenced to GPSDO. Rec'd in CW mode producing two tones. Configured Spectrum Lab to track, calculate, and plot difference between tones. Then eyeball selected stable section of plotted graph. Similar method on 40m (single carrier) but also corrected for Flex-1500 DDS offset. (Rev.1) Soapbox: During 80m runs, received strong RTTY net on our 3.598 MHz reference frequency. Only one RTTY station was exactly on 3.598 and his transmission was short. A big thank you to Tx stations and ARRL org. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| KU4PY | AL | W4 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| N1NAZ | NH | W1 |
| Soapbox: Did not prepare on purpose, just to see how I could do "on the fly" | ||||||||||||||||||||
| N3FG | PA | W3 |
| Method: IC-7200, Spectran, WWV Soapbox: It was a dark and stormy night at this QTH, but I was able to measure three of the six. Many tnx to the amateurs that provided the signals for the event. I hope the WX cooperates in the fall. Hi. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| N4AU | AL | W4 |
| Method: Kenwood TS570 and Signalink USB with the K1JT FMT program. Used Spectrum Lab for some calculations. I used a local in station 3MHz precision oscillator and CHU frequencies for references. Soapbox: Partly guesses due to the storms just west and some signals just above the noise. Didn't use the 3598 nor the 14120 references. Could barely see the 20M ref in the noise. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| N5DM | TX | W5 |
| Method: Kenwood TS-480S and DigiPan v2.0 NO external standard/reference. Soapbox: Worst ever QRN on Spring ARRL FMT. Major thunderstorm passage Texas-Louisiana. Most 80/40 FMT signals below noise. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| N7EP | WA | W7 |
| Method: Spectrum Lab. software, IC-745, WWV, 100 foot dipole with half on the ground due to wind storm. No special technique, just the amazing spec. lab software and well warmed up equipment. Soapbox: Spec. Lab. is amazing. I actually could see the 80 Meter signals buried in the stronger RTTY QRM, but that just made it more challenging. Perhaps the next FMT should be during one of the RTTY contests. (just kidding) I prefer the garden verity FMT's where speculating on the doppler shift is more of a challenge, instead of the dual frequency cutesy stuff, but still a lot of fun. Thanks to all who made it possible. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| N8OQ | VA | W4 |
| Method: Elecraft K3 #6534 w/P3+SVGA Panadapter, KTCX03-1 TCXO upgrade, and an 80m horizontal loop up 14m. Spectrum Lab software. Soapbox: Signals ranged from 54dB SNR for K5CM on 20m to 22dB SNR for W8KSE on 80m. There was obvious differential out-of-phase fading for the dual carrier transmissions for both stations on 20m and 80m. All of K5CM's carriers were very narrow and strong. The west-coast stations had significant Doppler dispersion with weak or no central cores and sometimes clumpy spectra. WWV5 and WWV10 were used for the 40m classic single frequency reductions. W8KSE signals significantly weaker than K5CM, but still strong, and surely due to a combination of skip distance difference, antenna pattern differences, etc. My dual frequency measurement method was to place both carriers in the 2.7-KHz SSB bandwidth. Measure both carriers and get the frequency difference. Finally I simply added the frequency difference between the two carriers to the nominal stated carrier frequency. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| N9YKE | WI | W9 |
| Method: A K3 with P3 used to detect signal in CW mode. SBSpectrun used to zero beat signal. Two thunderbolt referenced DDS signals injected into receive path about 25 Hz below and above the K3 dial frequency. DDS amplitude adjusted to about the same amplitude as received signal. Audio frequencies measured with Spectrum Lab. Fx calculated using the three measured audio frequencies and the actual DDS frequencies injected above and below the unknown frequency. Soapbox: Twenty meter signal weak at my QTH (S1-S3), other signals strong (S9). Standard Deviation of reference tones is about 2 mHz. Standard Deviation of signals about 0.15 Hz. Have been building the dual DDS since the last ARRL FMT test to reduce sound card sampling errors and receiver drift errors. Tried using sub receiver and DDS signal set 25 Hz below Fx and reference signals in practice reference signal test with poor results. Because of my limited antennas decided to use this single frequency method for maximum sensitivity. I have a great deal of fun with this activity. Many thanks to K5CM, W8KSE, WA6ZTY and W6OQI. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| SV1XV | DX | DX |
| Method: HF tranceiver (IC-706 MkII) and GB3RAL soundcard beacon reception program calibrated together against RWM (9996.0 kHz) and WWV (15000.0 kHz). Soapbox: I'm afraid things didn't go as planned this time. Due to Doppler shift I was unable to calibrate my setup against off-air signals, so I don't expect to be within 1 Hz of transmitted signals. Maybe next time... | ||||||||||||||||||||
| VE2IQ | ON | VE |
| Method: Dipole to TS-850 xcvr. Record audio to disk. Cool-Edit gets ballpark freq estimates. Dual-freq: break keydn into approx 200 segments, measure freqs separately, average ratios, resulting avg ratio gives ftest. Soapbox: Thanks to the transmitting stations for another great FMT. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| VE3OAT | ON | VE |
| Method: GPS-disciplined oscillator used as reference for signal generator and to calibrate the computer sound card. Receiver used in AM mode for the dual-frequency tests. SpectrumLab FFT software used to measure audio frequencies and to log the data. Soapbox: Lots of QRN on all bands, but especially with the 20m beam aimed at K5CM! Guess I am the wrong distance from W8KSE as his signal was very weak here on both 20 and 80 m. Thanks to all four stations for their transmissions. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W0PHD | MN | W0 |
| Method: IC756 pro zero beat signal with Singer CSM-1 which is phase locked to 10 MHz (Z3801) The result is guess work in the 0-100 Hz region. no fraction of Hz with this method.... Soapbox: where are the fields with a red background ? | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W2FD | PA | W3 |
| Method: ICOM706/MKII/TCXO/Measure receiver audio output difference from 600 Hz. CW offset audio frequency with stable frequency counter to produce corrected dial frequency with 1 Hz. resolution. WWV 15 MHz. used for receiver frequency calibration. Soapbox: Thanks for your efforts in setting up and running another good FMT., I could have used more "key-down" time or separate tests for the dual frequency measurements. Conditions were not good. Lots of static crashes, high noise levels and some interference. W8KSE was very weak on 20 meters. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W3FAY | MD | W3 |
| Method: Kenwood TS-2000; SignaLink USB;HRD for frequency adjustment; Spectran for measuring 600Hz audio sidetone. Adjusted test frequency for 600Hz tone; read display frequency and applied correction factor from reference frequency. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W3JW | VA | W4 |
| Method: On 80 and 20 meters I used the AM detection, two frequency method, into Spectrum Lab. On 40 meters conventional single frequency measurement technique using an IC-7800 locked to a Rubidium, 10Mhz standard into Spectrum Lab was used. Soapbox: Propagation conditions were not particularly good. I got measurable signals for all transmissions except for W8KSE on 20 meters, where there was absolutely no signal detected (nothing, zilch, nada!). Those skip "dead zones" will kill you ! Hi---- | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W3OYB | PA | W3 |
| Method: G5RV Antenna NE/SW 30'ht
ICOM 730 Transceiver
Dell Dimension 4600 Computer, CPU 2.8 GHz., XP Home OS
Sound Max Integrated Digital Sound
Spectrum Lab Ver 2.7b12 Soapbox: I'm new at FMTing and hope my measurements are somewhere in the ballpark. 20m K5CM signal strong and clear. W8KSE no signal. 80m Both signal were very weak and covered by SSB activity. Looking forward to more FMTs Art | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W5TV | TX | W5 |
| Method: Flex 3000 and Fldigi 3.21.33 Soapbox: I enjoyed this FMT. I hope to get better in the future. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W6IHG | VA | W4 |
| Method: Flex 5000A, HP3336, GPS. Used both the Delta Reference method on all signals with the HP3336 and also used Delta Reference between the two RF signals. Tried to correct for sampling errors and also estimate of Doppler. Soapbox: 20m signals good but 40m and 80m was very weak with lots of atmospherics. I\Q recordings saved the day because my export filters were wrong on most signals with no time to correct in real time. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W6OQI | CA | W6 |
| Method: HP Z3801 GPS disciplined oscillator serving as an external frequency reference fo a HP3586B slelctive level meter. The I.F. output of the HP3586B is measured by Spectrum Lab. The I. F. offset is the mathematically applied to the HP 3586B displayed frequency to give the final measured frequency. Despite all this accuracy, Doppler shift likes to move the measured frequency around. Soapbox: All signals were near S9 except for W8KSE on 80 meters where the W8KSE signal was a challenge to measure. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W6SFH | CA | W6 |
| Method: GPS disciplined reference, HP 83732 synthesizer divided by 10 or 100, polar detector for phase/frequency comparison, JST-245 receiver. Soapbox: There was strong RTTY QRM on the 80 meter frequencies zero-beat with the reference frequency in Northern California. The K5CM signals were audible under the QRM but W8KSE's reference signal was completely covered and I could barely make out his test signal. 20 meter and 40 meter signals were strong here and only a fraction of a Hz shift was noted on both 20 meter reference signals. On 20 meters the beat note between the test and reference signals was very clear and for stations with good reception, all they'd have to do is measure the beat note. I'd rather see the FMT go back to one frequency to measure. That's more realistic for measuring signals off the air. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W7KMV | AZ | W7 |
| Method: Spectrum lab listening to TS-940s. TS-450sat as local oscillator into Rubidium conditioned HP5326A counter. Use SL to analyze audio freq and TS-450sat for ref freq on audio and rf. Soapbox: Good signals on all bands and stations except w8kse on 80m which was barely audible sometimes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W7KPZ | OR | W7 |
| Method: ICOM IC-718 and indoor wire antenna. Frequencies measured with FLDIGI in Frequency Analysis mode. Calculated linear error function of this setup from WWV transmissions, which were all strong and steady. Used this function to correct the measurements of the test transmissions. Soapbox: All signals were strong except for W8KSE on 80meters. I may have heard him for just a few seconds, maybe not at all. A lot of QRM on 40. Good fun as usual. Thanks to K5CM and the others for providing this test. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W8XN | MI | W8 |
| Method: RFSpace NetSDR locked to Thunderbolt GPSDO, K8ZOA active vertical; custom analysis software written in C++ and MATLAB. Soapbox: All signals received with 40M the strongest; the 20M signals were only 4-5 dB above background. I like this format although the non-referenced 40M signal frequencies were a tough read given the odd shape of the Doppler spread. Thanks to all who transmitted and organized. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W9HLY | IN | W9 |
| Method: FLEX-1500, Digipan, SpectrumLab, 9:1 balun /w 170' wire Soapbox: Big storm, heavy rain static, NIL prop on 20. Yes, I got the same calculalted frequencys for both 40 meter stations. Not likely. But I am learning.... [[ This is an update entry!! ]] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W9ZB | IN | W9 |
| Method: SDR Cal'd to WWV and CHU Soapbox: 20M signals very weak at this QTH, but took a ruff guess. Other frequencies were good even with the big storm brewing up QRN. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WA1ABI | RI | W1 |
| Method: WJ-8718 Receiver locked to Rb standard. Used AM detection for 2-carrier tests, CW mode for single carriers. Beat notes measured with DL4YHF's Spectrum Lab software. Soapbox: No copy on W8KSE 20m here. Other signals were good. Thanks to all the transmitting stations and to ARRL for sponsoring. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WA1LWS | MD | W3 |
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| WA2TND | WA | W7 |
| Method: mix in std freq transmitted to antenna from HP3325 calibrated with Thunderbolt GPS DO 10 MHz standard
AM detection and audio frequency measurement with SpectrumLab
(only the latter on 20m) Soapbox: had to scramble a bit -- CW QSO right on top of 40m std I had chosen and RTTY net on 3598, so used my own std at 3599 (so subject to Doppler) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WA6RZW | CO | W0 |
| Method: I used an automatic computerized measuring process. The computer is a general purpose Linux OS based system. The code is homebrew written mostly in PHP, some shell and “C”. Radio (rig control) software libraries provided by Hamlib.org. The radio is an unmodified Kenwood TS-570, using CAT RS-232 to Linux USB. Frequency counter is a Stanford SR620, with GPIB interface to TCP/IP network via Prologix interface. Signal generator is a RIGOL DG1022 with USB interface to Linux USB. The software can be run from CLI (command line interface) or via a web page from anywhere on the WWW. The FMT was accomplished from the web interface for this test. More details of the system can be found at: http://wa6rzw.homelinux.net/addon/fmt/arfm/ Soapbox: Conditions for the April 2013 were less than optimal. With storm conditions from West of the Mississippi all the way to the East coast I was apprehensive of the outcome. Sure enough the first signal from K5CM on 20M was weak and noisy, and with QSB it disappeared entirely at times. The automated process kicked out it’s “I give up!” message; things were not looking good. The next 4 test transmissions went as expected and the computer provided results to three decimal places. The last test from W8KSE on 80M was once again plagued with noise and QSB. While the computer was able to lock onto the signal, we were unable to get a viable sample. The following morning I saw that I left the raw data on the computer screen. I manually constructed a “best guess” sample from the raw data and fed the results back into the program. My results for W8KSE 80M is a computer and “back of an envelop” collaboration. Thanks to all the operators who toil year-round to bring this great FMT event to fruition. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WA6ZTY | CA | W6 |
| Method: Zero beat by ear against synthesizer. Hope to be within a Hz on all except for W8KSE on 80M due to signal too weak for this primitive technique. Soapbox: Computer (running keying program) went into hibernation just before my FMT transmission was to begin. Made me 45 seconds late beginning my run. Sorry for any anxiety caused! Be cautious entering your data. Entry boxes are not in the same order as the transmitted signals. I mis-entered and had to come back and re-enter my data. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WB0LXZ | KS | W0 |
| Method: HP3586B, TBolt, SpecLab,80m dipole, 10m dipole, (20 meter dipole fell this winter). Soapbox: Lots of fun and storm noise. Thanks to xmt stations. I rewrote my notes beforehand and forgot to include W6OQI, so I went to kitchen for orange juice during that portion. -bill, WØLXZ Southeast Kansas, EM27pj | ||||||||||||||||||||
| XQ6FOD | DX | DX |
| Method: TS-450 phase-locked to GPS, Spectrum Lab and spreadsheet. This time I let a spreadsheet average the frequencies measured by Spectrum Lab, while for the April 2012 test I used eyeball averages of the lines on the spectrum display. Let's see which is more precise. Doppler compensation on 40m was done by observing WWV and CHU. On 20 and 80 I used the reference signals provided, which by the way showed a Doppler shift quite similar to but not exactly equal than the interpolated WWV and CHU. Soapbox: Strong signals on 20m, S7 for K5CM and S5 for W8KSE. On 40m, S6 for WA6ZTY and S5 for W6OQI, with some QRN. On 80m, both signals were totally inaudible due to S9+20dB QRN from a thunderstorm, but using fast AGC I could get a few specks on the waterfall, between static crashes, that formed recognizable lines and were enough to measure the frequencies. Uneven frequency scattering over roughly 2Hz by the unruly ionosphere is the ultimate limit to the precision one can achieve at this distance. |