The WA1ZMS Trans-Atlantic beacon/transmitter project has had a recent upgrade to
its operation.
Technical Description:
QTH: FM07fm at 4200ft AMSL
Antenna: 2 6ele yagi stack aimed at 60 degrees to Europe
ERP: 7kw!
From Brian Justin, WA1ZMS/4...
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A land mobile grade base station VHF exciter is used and the 25w driver PA is
keyed for CW modulation. The exciter utilizes a 10MHz frequency reference with
is derived from an HP-Z3801A GPS frequency standard. The TX frequency is
144.285MHz and is stable to within 1E-10Hz, although propagation effects will
likely cause much more observed frequency error than the GPS standard can
provide.
A new higher power PA has been added as well as an upgrade to the physical rack
cabinet and requisite power supply, etc.
RF power out of the transmitter is now 500w and is driving a new pair of
Sinclair 6-element yagis. After LPF, circulator, bandpass cavity filter, and
feed line losses the ERP is now at the 7kw level. This is likely the highest
power 2m beacon currently on the air.
The new PA is a home brew design using a pair of MRF151G push-pull devices
operating with PCB Wilkinson splitters and coax delay lines to allow for true
quadrature operation of the pair of 300w amplifier pallets.
All QSL reports are welcome and can be sent to: wa1zms@arrl.net, although
trans-Atlantic QSL reports will be given the highest priority!
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So those of you interested in the Brendan Award keep an ear out. This service will go a long way towards helping us out.
