NOTE: See also "K2_Freq_Calibrate_C22" From: lenny wintfeld Subject: Re: [Elecraft] How to beat the zero (not the dahdahdahdahdah) Hi Leo: The instructions on page 98 in the manual allowed me to calibrate my K2 to within 20 - 40 Hz of WWV after I figured out how to zero beat the signal. Which did take a little research (and head scratching). First understand that WWV sends an AM signal so your objective is to make the AM signal's carrier go lower and lower in frequency out of your K2's speaker until it disappears (goes to "0 Hz"). This is made a little complicated by WWV's transmission scheme (but there's an easy way around it as you'll see). The first 45 seconds of WWV transmissions consists of a 500 Hz or 600 Hz tone (in alternating minutes) with a "click" embedded in the tone every second. The next 7 1/2 seconds are just "clicks" without a 500/600 Hz tone. The last 7 1/2 seconds is a voice announcement of the time. If you try to zero-beat during the 1st 45 seconds you'll find it difficult to recognize which is the carrier you're trying to zero-beat and which is the modulation tone. Armed with this info here's what I did: a) Set the K2 for LSB reception with the widest XFIL bandwidth you've got. b) Set the K2 for 30 Meter reception and tune to about 10.002 Mhz (about 2 khz high). c) Listen for WWV's signal - it's hard to miss the clicks. Through the period of a minute you'll hear a pair of tones for a while (one's the 500/600 Hz modulation the other is the beat note of WWV's carrier in the K2), then for a shorter time you'll hear only one tone (the beat note of WWV's carrier only), finally, you may make out the voice announcement. d) Wait through a 1-minute WWV transmission cycle until there's just one the one tone plus clicks. During that interval, crank the tuning dial down until the carrier frequency goes so low it disappears and all you hear are clicks (Zero-beat). If you're like me it will take quite a few tries in that 7 1/2 second interval each minute to get the zero frequency set up in the K2. But after you've tried it for a few 1 minute cycles, you'll find that 7 1/2 seconds is more than enough time to achieve zero-beat. From zero-beat, all you need to do is follow the rest of the instructions on p98. You'll be rewarded with a very accurately calibrated K2. Hope this helps. Lenny W2BVH +++++++++++++++++++++ From: "Darren Zimmerman" Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Zero Beating Another method that Tom Hammond, N0SS, told me about uses the SPOT feature and CW mode to zero beat on WWV. Set the K2 in CW mode and tune for the bottom of the 30 meter band around 10 MHz. You should hear WWV's carrier which will sound like a steady tone. It is easy to hear by rolling the main knob up and down a bit. The audio tone transmitted by WWV should remain a constant pitch while the carrier tone will increase and decrease in pitch depending on which side of it you're on. All you need to do is activate SPOT and then tune until your spot tone and WWV's carrier are the same pitch. Since the carrier is a purer sine wave and the K2's spot tone is fairly sharp, you'll have to do your best in determining when you're on zero beat with WWV's carrier (alternatively, use the sidetone sine wave mod to clean up the K2's spot tone; instructions are on the builder's resource page on Elecraft's site). From there, just follow Elecraft's directions. Of course, anybody who spots any errors in my instructions should feel free to make any corrections. Darren, KL0PE ++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 21:07:37 -0700 From: "Rod N0RC" Subject: [Elecraft] WWV/WWVB Had cause to visit the NIST/WWV(B) web pages today. They've really been "spiffed" up since the last time I visited. Check it out at http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/wwv.html Be sure and check out the antenna farm picture/story for WWVB at: http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/wwvb.htm You folks on 160m will appreciate it. * * * One thing I'm frequently asked: "Can I visit the WWV site if/when I'm in Fort Collins?" Well, you see more on the web actually. No tours are given of the site, but you can drive close to it and admire the antenna farm! ***Happy Holidays*** 73, Rod N0RC Ft Collins, CO ++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 11:48:54 -0800 From: "Douglas Westover" Subject: Re: [Elecraft] WWV/WWVB In 1996 I had the opportunity to visit the WWVH site on Kauai. The wife and I were just driving around the island, saw the sign pointing to WWVH and said "why not". We drove up to the cinder block building, walked into the "reception" area and found no one around so signed the guest book (MANY hams had been there, even some I knew) and waited. Soon the chief engineer showed up, he had been up on the 2.5 MHz vertical dipole when we drove in. We got the full tour...all the 10kW rigs and the frequency/time generating facility. Least you think this is all hi-tech stuff, the frequency/time room was full of home built kludges, some hanging inside the racks from their power and/or coax leads. Looked a lot like the research sites that I used to deal with at Stanford and SRI. The chief engineer was the only onsite employee. He said he did have people he could call to help out if he were sick or had to be away. The site is not manned 24/7 but there is an alarm system which alerts him at home if there is a tx or announce malfunction. Though not a ham himself he knew there was alot of interest from the ham community and was interested in what could be done to make the service even more useful. And as for you 160 fans...you gotta see that full size 2.5 MHz vertical dipole! Made out of BIG tower sections of some type. BTW the multiple dipole arrays for the higher frequencies are beamed into the Pacific rather than the US. I had not been aware of this. Doug W6JD +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 13:39:57 -0800 From: "Ron D' Eau Claire" Subject: RE: [Elecraft] WWV/WWVB Doug, W6JD wrote: > BTW the multiple dipole arrays for the higher frequencies are > beamed into the Pacific rather than the US. I had not been > aware of this Nor I. I understand that Ft. Collins uses true half wave vertical dipoles for omni-directional patterns (except for 60 kHz where they have a classic top-loaded "marconi"). Even so, comparing the female announcement voice from Hawaii with the male voice from Ft. Collins, the Hawaiian signal is quite good here in the Northwest much of the time. Ron AC7AC K2 # 1289 ++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 11:28:56 +0000 From: "J. Ellis" Subject: Re: [Elecraft] WWV/WWVB Rod, Thanks for info on wwv. For the benefit of the list, go to the www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/wwv.html site, you will find a nice free program to sync your computer clock to wwv. 73, John, NP2B K2s 1645 & 2281 Rod N0RC wrote: > Had cause to visit the NIST/WWV(B) web pages +++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: DolfinDon at aol.com Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 11:14:17 EST Subject: Re: [Elecraft] WWWV for calibration. To: dbarker at visioncomm.net, elecraft at mailman.qth.net In a message dated 1/22/2002 9:45:58 AM Central Standard Time, dbarker at visioncomm.net writes: I'm assuming that using WWWV to calibrate should show a 600 Hz CWn tone with 10000.00 MHz on the freq display when the Sidetone Pitch is set to 0.6 KHz. ======================================= Hi Here is the way I do the calibration and it seems to work. Select USB tune to 10.000 MHz. WWV will transmit 500 Hz and 600 Hz tones on alternating seconds listen for the higher frequency that's the 600 Hz tone. Zero beat the tone with the spot tone set for 600 Hz. If the receive frequency is off adjust the 4.000 MHz trimmer per the manual. If you have trouble hearing the beat you can use Spectrogram. Just set up a 600 Hz marker and tune so the WWV 600 Hz signal in on top of the marker. As a double check there is a 1000 Hz tone on the minute. That will fall on the 1000 Hz point on the Spectrogram display Don Brown KD5NDB K2 #1808, #2174, #2153-sold, #2468 in work K1 #1000, #542 for sale ++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: DolfinDon at aol.com Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 19:17:50 EST Subject: Re: [Elecraft] WWWV for calibration. To: rohre at arlut.utexas.edu, elecraft at mailman.qth.net Are not the WWV tones 440 and 600? Check their web site for the format. 73, Stuart K5KVH OK. I checked the website and here is the text straight from the horses mouth. Yes, they do send a 440 tone, but only once an hour. >From the WWV website: Both WWV and WWVH broadcast standard frequency audio tones that alternate during most minutes of the hour. Most minutes feature a 500 or 600 Hz audio tone. However, a 440 Hz tone is broadcast once per hour, and some minutes do not include any audio tones at all. The schedule for the audio tones is listed in the table, with the minutes labeled from 0 to 59. Audio Tone Station Minutes 500 Hz WWV 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 52, 54, 56, 58 500 Hz WWVH 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 21, 23, 25, 27, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43 to 45, 47 to 51, 53, 55, 57 600 Hz WWV 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 53, 55, 57 600 Hz WWVH 2, 4, 6, 12, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 46, 52, 54, 56, 58 440 Hz WWV 2 440 Hz WWVH 1 None WWV 29, 43 to 51, 59 None WWVH 0, 8 to 10, 14 to 19, 30 The 440-Hz tone (the musical note A above middle C) is broadcast once each hour, during minute 2 on WWV, and minute 1 on WWVH. In addition to being a musical standard, the 440-Hz tone provides an hourly marker for chart recorders and other automated devices. The 440-Hz tone is omitted, however, during the first hour of each UTC day. Don Brown KD5NDB +++++++++++++++++