HAARP - LWA Moon Bounce Experiment Jan 19-20

The HF Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) in Alaska, and the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) in New Mexico, conducted a bistatic low frequency lunar radar experiment in October 2007. A brief description of the experiment and an example of the lunar echo radio waves received may be found in this press release.

HAARP and LWA are planning an additional lunar echo experiment for 19 and 20 January 2008. Interested radio amateurs and short wave listeners are invited to participate in this experiment by listening for the lunar echoes and submitting reports. The following table shows the planned schedule, where dates and times are in Universal Time (UTC):

HAARP-LWA Experiment Schedule

    Date                From      To      Transmitted Frequency
    (UTC)                  UTC Hr:Min)            (MHz)

19 January 2008         05:00    06:00          6.7925
                        06:00    07:00          7.4075

20 January 2008         06:30    07:30          6.7925
                        07:30    08:30          7.4075

Based on the previous experiment, we believe it should be possible to hear the lunar
echoes with a standard communications receiver and an antenna as simple as a 40 meter dipole. If you have a 40 meter beam antenna, point it in the direction of the moon. Other antennas may also yield acceptable results. The format for the transmissions will follow a five second cycle as shown in the following figure.

The HAARP transmitter will transmit for the first two seconds of the five second cycle. The next three seconds will be quiet to listen for the lunar echo. Then HAARP will transmit again for two seconds, repeating the cycle for the first hour using the first HF frequency. During the second hour, this periodic five second cycle will be repeated but using a different HF frequency as shown in the table above. Transmissions from HAARP during each two-second period, will be carrier only (no modulation). Therefore, listeners should use the CW mode on their receiver to hear HAARP and the lunar echo. We hope to operate this experiment using the frequencies given in the table above. However, depending on frequency occupancy at the time of operation, it may be necessary to adjust the frequency slightly.

Depending on ionospheric conditions, it may or may not be possible to hear the HAARP transmission via skywave. If conditons allow, the HAARP transmission will always be heard during the first two seconds after the five second cycle starts, for example, between 05:00:00 and 05:00:02 and again between 05:00:05 and 05:00:07. The lunar echoes will occur during the three second "quiet" period after HAARP transmits, for example during the interval 05:00:02 until 05:00:05 and again between 05:00:07 until 05:00:10. Depending on a number of factors, you may hear HAARP, the lunar echo, both or neither.

We are interested in receiving signal reports from radio amateurs who may be able to detect, or not detect, the lunar echo or the transmitted skywave pulse from HAARP. It will be helpful if your report includes your call sign and the type and location of your receiving equipment and antennas. Reports may be sent to the following address: mbreport@haarp.alaska.edu.

ALE On The Air Week: 05-15 October

AOTAW (ALE On The Air Week) is an annual International Amateur Radio event sponsored by HFLINK, a resource for ALE, HF Interoperative Communications, and HF Emcomm. Ham radio operators worldwide are invited to participate in a 10 day readiness event of ALE HF activity on the air. AOTAW-2007 is an excellent chance to explore ALE communications.

Start: 0001 UTC Friday 05 October
End: 2359 UTC Monday 15 October

Thousands of amateur radio operators worldwide have ALE capability now, using HF ham transceivers and computers running PCALE software, Multipsk software, or commercial ALE HF transceivers adapted to ham radio ALE use. The experience gained by operator participation is also useful for HF Emergency / Disaster Relief Communications.

What Is ALE? Automatic Link Establishment. In the hands of a skilled HF ham operator, ALE is a force multiplier. With the capability to call up a specific HF station, a group of stations, a net, or a networked station, ALE is a versatile digital calling system for initiating and maintaining QSOs with SSB voice, data, text, instant messaging, internet messaging, or image communications.

Each ALE station uses the operator's callsign as the digital address in the ALE controller. When not actively in communication with another station, the transceiver constantly scans through a list of frequencies in multiple HF or VHF bands, listening for its callsign. To reach a specific station, the operator simply enters the callsign just like dialing a phone number, and transmits a short digital signal burst. When the distant scanning station detects the first few characters of its callsign, it stops scanning and stays on that frequency. The receiving station, which was muted up until now, typically emits an audible alarm and visual alert for the receiving operator of the incoming call. It also indicates the callsign of the linked station. The two stations' ALE controllers automatically handshake to confirm that a link is established and they are ready to communicate in any mode, such as SSB voice, text or image. All of this happens quite fast, usually within a few minutes.

A unique ALE Operator Certificate is available to operators who participate in AOTAW. To qualify for the certificate, the operator simply completes at least 5 QSOs through Automatic Link Establishment communications on HF or VHF. The initial ALE linking QSO can use SSB Voice or "AMD" Text Message (the standard text messaging format in all ALE systems). See AOTAW Guidelines and Details. http://hflink.com/aotaw

Additional certificate endorsements are issued to operators who link with 25 stations or more, or send 2 ALE-SMS text messages through High Frequency Network Pilot Stations.

ALE High Frequency Network (HFN)
The HFN Pilot Stations are equipped with scanning ALE transceivers, multiband antenna systems, and special software control systems for internet connectivity. Ham radio ALE users in the field on HF connect with the HFN Pilot Stations to exchange digital ALE-SMS text messaging to and from internet devices such as cell mobile phones, black berry type devices, PDAs, PCs and laptops. The free service includes:

HF-to-Cellphone message
HF-to-email message
HF-to-HF message

All HFN stations automatically exchange signal reports with each other every hour on every HF band, and all this ALE HF activity with signal reports and messages is displayed in real time on the web at ALE CHANNEL ZERO: http://hflink.net/qso

Organized ALE ham activity began about 6 years ago, when a group of operators started working together to experiment with various methods of HF selective calling on HF. The need to call up emergency nets or inter-operability and liaison with government HF systems led many hams to adopt the government ALE standard, called FED-STD-1045 or MIL-STD 188-141. This standard caught on slowly in the ham community, initiated by a few operators with limited government surplus gear and some with expensive commercial equipment having embedded ALE or hardware controllers. They adapted the system into what has come to be known as Ham Friendly ALE, which includes ham-specific programming and use of frequencies in the automatic subbands. Now, with a ham HF transceiver, a computer as the controller, and an appropriate antenna system, hams can harness the power of ALE using one of the available software ALE controllers.

How to Get Started in ALE
The number of hams with ALE has grown steadily each year. In mid-2007, when the ALE HF Network expanded to 24/7 operation, a big increase in daily ALE activity was noticed. Some operators are following the traditional ham curiosity to explore interesting aspects of communications; others are developing dependable HF nets for Emcomm; many are using it as a propagation tool; others are just using ALE for fun, or to keep in touch with a circle of ham friends. Whatever the reason, there's room for everyone.

The AOTAW "ALE QSO Party" in 2006 saw many new ALE calls on the air around the world. Some surprisingly good DX ALE contacts were made, despite the being at the bottom of the solar cycle. We look forward to another good ALE On The Air Week this October 2007.
NNN

more information: http://hflink.com