Amateur Radio Wiki - User contributions [en]

Moonbounce (EME)

2010-11-15T15:48:34Z

Gm4jjj:

Moonbounce or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) is used to enable stations that are not line of sight to communicate on VHF and UHF by reflecting their signals from the surface of the Moon.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EME_(communications) Wikipedia: EME].

Special Interest websites

2010-11-15T15:46:11Z

Gm4jjj: Added Moon-Net link

Related wiki pages: [[Websites]], [[Wikis]], [[User Groups]], [[Forums]], [[Webrings]]

* [http://www.qsl.net/ham-icq/index.html Amateur Radio on ICQ]

* [http://tonywakefield.com.au ElseeMore] text-to-speech amateur radio client application for visually impaired, Tony VK3ZTR

* [http://www.70mhz.org/index.php?categoryid=1 Four Metre Website] for those interested in a 70MHz (4m) band.

* [http://www.handiham.org/ Handihams] Support for hams with disabilities and training for disabled people who wish to become hams.

* [http://www.geocities.com/icdx_australia/index.html ICDX] A specialist DX group interested in long distance terrestrial VHF/UHF television and FM radio signals

* [http://www.bluehaze.com.au/modlight/index.html Bluehaze] VK7MJ Website for those interested in optical communications.

* [http://www.nlsa.com/nets/moon-net-help.html Moon-Net] Moon-Net email list server - for all Moon Bounce enthusiasts.

{{websites}}

UK - Personal Sites

2010-11-15T15:41:01Z

Gm4jjj: Added link to GM4JJJ site

Related wiki pages: [[Personal Ham Radio Websites]]

* [http://www.g0hwc.com SSTV site with Live SSTV] with round the clock monitoring from G0HWC.

* [http://www.g1fef.co.uk Chris Smith - G1FEF] Chris is editor of the BATC's magazine CQ-TV and also runs London_UK the main European conversd hub.

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk David Anderson - GM4JJJ] Moonbounce and VHF/UHF

* [http://www.gw7aav.com/ GW7AAV]

* [http://www.m0glj.info Adrian - M0GLJ] Amateur Radio Homebrew & Related Information.

* [http://www.M1HOG.com Nicolas Pike - M1HOG] Adventures in amateur radio construction.

{{websites}}
Amateur Radio Stuff & related Information including some Home Brew

Moonbounce (EME)

2010-11-15T15:32:25Z

Gm4jjj: Added external link

Band plan

2010-11-15T15:24:37Z

Gm4jjj:

The radio frequency is traditionally separated in separate "slices" or "bands" of frequencies that have all their own use. By convention, certain bands are reserve to certain uses, most of the time because of the physical properties of the frequency or the environment.

This page aims to provide a quick overview of the broad properties of each band. The [[Wikipedia:Amateur_radio_frequency_allocations|Wikipedia article on bands]] has more extensive documentation about propagation characteristics.

== Radio Bands ==

Those are the bands of the radio spectrum relevant to amateur radio. Although ham radio operators have been very creative at exploring the full range of the radio spectrum, most operations hold in those areas.

* LF 30 - 300 kHz
* MF 300 kHz - 3 MHz
* [[HF]] 3 - 30 MHz (aka shortwave)
* [[VHF]] 30 - 300 MHz
* [[UHF]] 300 MHz - 3000 MHz (3 GHz)
* SHF 3,000 - 30,000 MHz (see also [[Microwave and other bands]])

== Band characteristics and usage ==

Each of those band have particular characteristics. Since the vast majority of operations (if we lump together the [[160m]] band within [[HF]]) happens within [[HF]], [[VHF]] and [[UHF]], we're going only to look at those here.

=== HF Bands ===

There are a number of amateur [[HF]] bands used worldwide, although the bands and frequencies legally available vary from country to country. HF is renowned for its capability of long range communication, because of the way [[sky waves]] [[Propagation|propagate]].

[[HF]] bands used today include:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Band (wavelength)
! Purpose
|-
| [[160 metres]]
| Night, [[DX]]
|-
| [[80 metres]]
| Night and local day
|-
| [[60 metres]]
| ?
|-
| [[40 metres]]
| Night and local day, [[DX]]
|-
| [[30 metres]]
| [[CW]] and [[Packet|digital]]
|-
| [[20 metres]]
| Most popular [[DX]], night and day
|-
| [[17 metres]]
| [[DX]], night and day
|-
| [[15 metres]]
| Daytime
|-
| [[12 metres]]
| Daytime
|-
| [[10 metres]]
| Daytime during [[Wikipedia:Solar maximum|solar maximum]]
|}

Note: although 160m is a Medium Frequency/MF band, it is often lumped in with the HF bands for simplicity.

=== VHF/UHF/Microwave Bands ===

Related wiki pages:

[[VHF]], [[UHF]], and [[Microwave and other bands|Microwave]] bands and frequencies available to amateurs vary more widely from country to country than HF bands do.

Amateur bands used today include:

* [[6 metres]]
* [[4 metres]]
* [[2 metres]]
* [[1.25 metres]]
* [[70 centimetres]]
* [[33 centimetres]]
* [[23 centimetres]]
* [[13 centimetres]]
* [[9 centimetres]]
* [[6 centimetres]]
* [[3 centimetres]]
* [[1.25 centimetres]]
* [[Bands above 24GHz]]

Most of those bands share similar propagation characteristic: we're usually talking about line of sight ([[ground wave]]) communication, although it is often taken up as a challenge for ham operators to go beyond those pesky restrictions with various techniques like [[Tropospheric ducting]], [[moon bounce]] and bouncing off [[meteor scatter]] and [[Aurora|aurora borealis]]. Certain frequencies (mostly [[70cm]] and [[2m]]) are often used to communicate with space [[satellites]].

== Actual allocations ==

What those band allocation mean in term of frequencies that the ham operators are allowed to work with varies according from region to region. This is regulated by the [[ITU]], or more precisely the [[IARU]], which manages regulations for each of the 3 [[ITU]] regions. Countries then make up their own local allocation in accordance (generally) with the region they are in.

=== Regional Band Plans ===

Within three regions around the world, different "plans" are agreed upon by Amateur Radio Operators to divide up the authorized band into sections. Each section is targeted to a specific operating [[Modes|mode]] (e.g., [[Modes#Single-Sideband_Modulation (SSB)|SSB]], [[Modes#Frequency_Modulation (FM)|FM]], Digital, etc). The [[ITU]] separated the world in 3 separate regions:

* '''[http://www.iaru-r1.org/Spectrumbp.htm Region 1]''' encompasses Africa, the Mediterranean, Europe, and Asiatic Russia
* '''[http://www.iaru-r2.org/band-plan/ Region 2]''' encompasses North America, South America, and Greenland
* '''[http://www.jarl.or.jp/iaru-r3/ Region 3]''' encompasses India, Australia, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and Pacific nations.

See also the [http://www.iaru.org/ IARU website] for details of those allocations.

=== Country Band Plans ===

Each country has its own conventions that are an application of the general band plans.

* The [http://www.wia.org.au/members/bandplans/about/ Australian band plan] (.pdf) from the [http://www.wia.org.au/ Wireless Institute of Australia]
* The [http://www.rac.ca/en/rac/services/bandplans/ Canadian band plan] (.html) from [[RAC|Radio Amateurs Canada]]
* The [http://www.nzart.org.nz/nzart/repeaters/ New Zealand Band Plan] can be found at [http://www.nzart.org.nz/nzart/ NZART]
* The [http://www.rsgb.org/spectrumforum/bandplans/ United Kingdom band plan] (.pdf and .html) from the [[RSGB|Radio Society of Great Britain]]
* The [[United States Band Plan]]

== See also ==

* [[Records - Distance]]
* [[Emergency Frequencies]]
* [[Propagation]]
* [[Antennas]]
* [[Electromagnetic Waves]]

== External links ==

* [[Wikipedia:Amateur_radio_frequency_allocations]]
* [[Wikipedia:Radio_spectrum]]
* [[Wikipedia:Waveguide]]
* [http://www.arrl.org/band-plan-1 ARRL band plan] - includes diagrams and listings
* [http://www.n4wis.org/downloads/hfband.pdf USA band plan] - one band per page, notable frequencies, with space for notes (PDF)
* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Frequency_Allocations_Chart_2003_-_The_Radio_Spectrum.svg US Frequency Allocation Chart] - good chart of all radio allocations (mediawiki, PDF, SVG, PNG)
* [http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/eng/03784.html Canadian chart of radio allocations] (PDF)
* [http://www.unihedron.com/projects/spectrum/ Electromagnetic Radiation Spectrum Poster] - very complete (PDF, PNG, mail order)
* [http://www.eham.net/newham/bands Amateur radio bands] at eham.net - good simple overview for new hams

{{bands}}

Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

2010-11-15T15:18:36Z

Gm4jjj:

Related wiki pages: [[Software]], [[Modes]], [[Websites]], [[Calculators]], [[User Groups]]

'''Moonbounce or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) is a way of communicating by reflecting radio signals from the Moon between two suitably equipped stations.'''

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/MoonSked/moonsked.htm MoonSked] for moonbounce scheduling and tracking written by David Anderson GM4JJJ.

MoonSked is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareware Shareware]. Available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

MoonSked has Drivers for popular computer controlled antenna rotators to allow autotracking of the Moon, Sun and other Cosmic radio sources.

{{software}}

Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

2010-11-15T15:17:29Z

Gm4jjj:

Related wiki pages: [[Software]], [[Modes]], [[Websites]], [[Calculators]], [[User Groups]]

'''Moonbounce or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) is a way of communicating by reflecting radio signals from the Moon between two suitably equipped stations.'''

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/MoonSked/moonsked.htm MoonSked] for moonbounce scheduling and tracking written by David Anderson GM4JJJ.

MoonSked is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareware Shareware]. Available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

Drivers for popular computer controlled antenna rotators to allow autotracking of Moon, Sun and other cosmic sources.

{{software}}

Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

2010-11-15T15:16:08Z

Gm4jjj:

Related wiki pages: [[Software]], [[Modes]], [[Websites]], [[Calculators]], [[User Groups]]

'''Moonbounce or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) is a way of communicating by reflecting radio signals from the Moon between two suitably equipped stations.'''

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/MoonSked/moonsked.htm MoonSked] for moonbounce scheduling and tracking from GM4JJJ.

MoonSked is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareware Shareware]. Available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

Drivers for popular computer controlled antenna rotators to allow autotracking of Moon, Sun and other cosmic sources.

{{software}}

Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

2010-11-15T15:15:29Z

Gm4jjj: link to wiki shareware page

Related wiki pages: [[Software]], [[Modes]], [[Websites]], [[Calculators]], [[User Groups]]

'''Moonbounce or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) is a way of communicating by reflecting radio signals from the Moon between two suitably equipped stations.'''

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/MoonSked/moonsked.htm MoonSked] for moonbounce scheduling and tracking from GM4JJJ.

MoonSked is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareware Shareware]. Available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

Drivers for popular computer controlled antenna rotators to allow autotracking of Moon, Sun and other cosmic sources.

{{software}}-

Propagation

2010-11-15T15:08:19Z

Gm4jjj: Added link to Moonbounce

[[Radio wave]] propagation largely depends on atmospheric conditions, the [[band]] and [[power]] used to operate the radio equipment.

''Main article: [[Wikipedia:Radio propagation]]''

[[Ground waves]] are "line of sight" communication. Atmospheric conditions come into play when transmitting between ham radio stations that are farther away and so, because of the curvature of the earth, cannot be reached through a straight line. This is called a [[sky wave]]. Since those atmospheric conditions are ever-changing, there are resources to allow operators to predict those conditions and the idea propagation techniques to use.

Various [[bands]] have different properties regarding those atmospheric conditions and can bound off the ionosphere or other particles to propagate further away.

More powerful stations are going to be able to reach further than weak stations, although some ham operators take it as a challenge to reach other stations with weaker power ratings (~5W instead of 100W to sometimes 1000W). This is called [[QRP]].

== Sky wave propagation ==

[[Image:Vk4yeh_ionosphere.png|300px|right]]

The E and F layers contain a high density of [[Wikipedia:Ions|ionized particles]]. [[DX]] (long distance) communications are possible when radio waves are reflected off the E and F layers in the [[Wikipedia:Ionosphere|ionosphere]]. This way radio waves can propagate all over the earth, bouncing up and down between the ground and the ionosphere. This is called a [[sky wave]]. Note that during the day, energy from the sun splits the F layer into two distinct parts known as F1 and F2.

Th F-layer (between 120km and 400km above earth) is contains the highest densities of ionised particles, is the most reflective of RF energy, and hence is responsible for most DX propagation of HF communications.

The E layer can be found between 90km and 120km above earth. Reflection of RF waves by this layer is responsible for most of the long distance propagation valued by hams. The E layer both thins out at night, and rises, again resulting in increased propagation distances. E layer propagation is most useful for frequencies below 10MHz.

Sporadic [[E-Skip]] is caused by "clouds" of especially intense ionisation. These are highly reflective and allow DX communication from 25MHz to 225MHZ. The cluods are usually relatively short lived, and occur mostly during summer months.

The D layer can be found between 50km to 90km above earth. Propagation by reflection from this layer is quite rare as it is highly absorbent of RF energy. The thickness of the D layer decreases during the night, allowing more RF to travel through to the E and F layers, hence propagation often improves during the night.

==Day and night ionospheric conditions==

Ionisation of the atmosphere varies considerably between day and night. During the day:
* the D and E layers are continuous
* the F layer splits into F1 and F1 (F1 is lower than F2)

During the night:
* The F1 and F2 layers coalesce to form a single F layer that lies between the position of the daylight F1 and F2
* the D layer disappears altogether
* the E Layer is patchy
[[Image:Day and night atmos.jpg |700px]]

These ionosperic variations are responsible for the variations in propagation noticed across a 24 hour period.

==How are ionospheric conditions measured?==

Ionospheric conditions are measured using an '''ionosonde.''' This has two variants:
* a single high frequency radar that sends short pulses vertically upwards and records the time for the signals to be reflected back to the same place. Ionosondes are used to measure the height of the various ionised layers.

[[Image:Ionosonde.jpg]]

* pairs of transmitter and receiver that are a measured distance apart. These allow propagation between points to be measured

== See also ==

* [[Antennas]]
* [[Aurora]]
* [[Tropospheric ducting]]
* [[Sunspot Cycle]]
* [[Meteor scatter]]
* [[Trans-Equatorial Propagation]]
* [[Lightning scatter]]
* [[Moonbounce (EME)]]
* [[Gridsquares]]
* [[Interference]]
* [[Electromagnetic Waves]]
* [[Feedlines]]
* [[What causes QRN?]]
* [[Skip Zone]]

==External links==

* [http://www.hfradio.org/propagation.html Propagation Resource Center]
* [http://www.qsl.net/n9ssa/mpwcalc.html Miles per watt/ km per watt calculator] You will need to enter the gridsquares of two stations and the tx power of the transmitting station.
* [[IPS|Australian Space Weather Agency (IPS)]] - Australian prediction center
* [http://prop.hfradio.org/ Radiowave Propagation Center]
* [http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/dregion/index.html D-Region Absorption Prediction Center]
* [http://online.voacap.com/ Online VOACAP propagation tool]

{{propagation}}

Moonbounce (EME)

2010-11-15T15:07:43Z

Gm4jjj: Started new page on Moonbounce

Moonbounce or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) is used to enable stations that are not line of sight to communicate on VHF and UHF by reflecting their signals from the surface of the Moon.

Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

2010-11-15T15:03:57Z

Gm4jjj: Explanation of EME started

Related wiki pages: [[Software]], [[Modes]], [[Websites]], [[Calculators]], [[User Groups]]

'''Moonbounce or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) is a way of communicating by reflecting radio signals from the Moon between two suitably equipped stations.'''

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/MoonSked/moonsked.htm MoonSked] for moonbounce scheduling and tracking from GM4JJJ.

MoonSked is Shareware. Available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

Drivers for popular computer controlled antenna rotators to allow autotracking of Moon, Sun and other cosmic sources.

{{software}}-

Template:Software

2010-11-15T14:59:54Z

Gm4jjj: Moonbounce added to title of Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

<center>
{|cellspacing=10 style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: solid 2px #000000;"
|-
|colspan="2" align="center" |'''Amateur radio [[software]]'''
|-
||Operation
||[[Radio and Repeater Control]] * [[Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software]] * [[SSTV software|SSTV]] * [[Widgets]] * [[Yfklog]] * [[Yfktest]] * [[Miscellaneous software|Misc.]]
|-
||[[RTTY TOR PSK and other Digital Modes|Digital modes]]
||[[WSJT]] * [[WSPR]]
|-
||Platforms
||[[Linux software|Linux]] * [[Mac software|MacOS]]
|-
||
||
|}</center>
[[category:software]]

Software

2010-11-15T14:55:18Z

Gm4jjj: Direct Link to Moved page added. Previous link removed.

related wiki pages [[Calculators]], [[Websites]], [[User Groups]]
* [[Antenna Design]]
* [[Circuit Design]]
* [[CW]]
* [[Linux software]]
* [[Logging]]
* [[Mac software]]
* [[Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software]]
* [[Miscellaneous software]]
* [[Radio and Repeater Control]]
* [[Radio programming software]]
* [[RTTY TOR PSK and other Digital Modes]]
* [[SSTV software]]
* [[Tower design]]
* [[Website Creation]]
* [[Widgets]]

{{software}}

Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

2010-11-15T14:32:44Z

Gm4jjj: Added description.

Related wiki pages: [[Software]], [[Modes]], [[Websites]], [[Calculators]], [[User Groups]]

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/MoonSked/moonsked.htm MoonSked] for moonbounce scheduling and tracking from GM4JJJ.

Available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

MoonSked is Shareware.

Drivers for popular computer controlled antenna rotators to allow autotracking of Moon, Sun and other cosmic sources.

{{software}}-

Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

2010-11-15T14:31:42Z

Gm4jjj:

Related wiki pages: [[Software]], [[Modes]], [[Websites]], [[Calculators]], [[User Groups]]

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/MoonSked/moonsked.htm MoonSked] for moonbounce scheduling and tracking from GM4JJJ.

Available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

Drivers for popular antenna rotators to allow autotracking of Moon, Sun and other cosmic sources.

{{software}}-

Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

2010-11-15T14:28:53Z

Gm4jjj: Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software moved to Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software: Clarification that this is for Moonbounce scheduling

#REDIRECT [[Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software]]

Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

2010-11-15T14:28:53Z

Gm4jjj: Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software moved to Moonbounce (EME) Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software: Clarification that this is for Moonbounce scheduling

Mac software

2010-11-15T14:21:34Z

Gm4jjj: Alphabetical order correction

Related wiki pages; [[Software]], [[Calculators]], [[Websites]], [[User Groups]]

Software for computers running Mac Operating Systems

* [http://www.blackcatsystems.com/ Back Cat Systems] Software for mac and windows

* [http://www.dogparksoftware.com/ Dog Park Software]

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/iCluster/iCluster.htm iDXSpot] DX-Cluster telnet access

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/lcd/lcd.html LCD Clock] Ham Radio LCD Clock Utility - displays UTC or local time and date from GM4JJJ.

* [http://www.machamradio.com/page1/page1.html Mac Ham Radio] OS X, X11 and Java Applet software

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/MoonSked/moonsked.htm MoonSked] for moonbounce scheduling and tracking from GM4JJJ.

* [http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/5899/ The Mac Shack] General index of software for macs

{{software}}

Software

2010-11-15T14:20:31Z

Gm4jjj: Alphabetical order correction

related wiki pages [[Calculators]], [[Websites]], [[User Groups]]
* [[Antenna Design]]
* [[Circuit Design]]
* [[CW]]
* [[Linux software]]
* [[Logging]]
* [[Mac software]]
* [[Miscellaneous software]]
* [[Radio and Repeater Control]]
* [[Radio programming software]]
* [[RTTY TOR PSK and other Digital Modes]]
* [[Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software]]
* [[SSTV software]]
* [[Tower design]]
* [[Website Creation]]
* [[Widgets]]

{{software}}

Software

2010-11-15T14:19:39Z

Gm4jjj: Reverted to previous title for Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

related wiki pages [[Calculators]], [[Websites]], [[User Groups]]
* [[Antenna Design]]
* [[Circuit Design]]
* [[CW]]
* [[Linux software]]
* [[Logging]]
* [[Mac software]]
* [[Miscellaneous software]]
* [[Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software]]
* [[Radio and Repeater Control]]
* [[Radio programming software]]
* [[RTTY TOR PSK and other Digital Modes]]
* [[SSTV software]]
* [[Tower design]]
* [[Website Creation]]
* [[Widgets]]

{{software}}

Software

2010-11-15T14:10:07Z

Gm4jjj: Moonbounce added to title of Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software

related wiki pages [[Calculators]], [[Websites]], [[User Groups]]
* [[Antenna Design]]
* [[Circuit Design]]
* [[CW]]
* [[Linux software]]
* [[Logging]]
* [[Mac software]]
* [[Miscellaneous software]]
* [[Moonbounce Scheduling (Sked) and tracking software]]
* [[Radio and Repeater Control]]
* [[Radio programming software]]
* [[RTTY TOR PSK and other Digital Modes]]
* [[SSTV software]]
* [[Tower design]]
* [[Website Creation]]
* [[Widgets]]

{{software}}

Mac software

2010-11-15T13:52:12Z

Gm4jjj: Added LCD Clock link

Related wiki pages; [[Software]], [[Calculators]], [[Websites]], [[User Groups]]

Software for computers running Mac Operating Systems

* [http://www.blackcatsystems.com/ Back Cat Systems] Software for mac and windows

* [http://www.dogparksoftware.com/ Dog Park Software]

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/iCluster/iCluster.htm iDXSpot] DX-Cluster telnet access

* [http://www.machamradio.com/page1/page1.html Mac Ham Radio] OS X, X11 and Java Applet software

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/MoonSked/moonsked.htm MoonSked] for moonbounce scheduling and tracking from GM4JJJ.

* [http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/lcd/lcd.html LCD Clock] Ham Radio LCD Clock Utility - displays UTC or local time and date from GM4JJJ.

* [http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/5899/ The Mac Shack] General index of software for macs

{{software}}