What makes a good propagation beacon?

The beacon does what it was intended to do…. as an indicator of directional band openings and to provide data for propagation studies……

Which message characteristics have an effect on how well the beacon operation accomplishes the objective? ( band openings & propagation study data )

All of them……. But more specifically……. WPM  & COMPOSITION .

  WPM…….. Too fast or too slow……. What’s about right?

If band conditions are marginal the speed should be sufficient to hear the call on “peaks” between the deep fades or noise. …. Requiring a somewhat faster WPM .

Too fast and the listeners with limited CW copy ability will be left out….Too slow causes the message to be too long and can be missed by experienced listeners or during deep QSB.

COMPOSITION…..  The Call should be repeated often enough that a person is able to mentally re-construct the message amid backscatter or aural propagation “flutter”.

Key down between messages…. Can not be easily distinguished from an “intruder AM” heterodyne.

The most important part of the message is the call sign of the beacon operator. If the Call can be copied correctly all other information can be obtained via call books or the internet.

Location identifier……included for quickly determining the direction of the propagation.  …...  It should be short like either the State abbreviation or four digit grid square.

The FCC part 97 no longer requires that a “slash B” or a “slash BCN” be included with the Call……. See  97.119  Station  Identification.

Long messages with extraneous information should be avoided ….. more so in periods of low sunspots.

As a long time listener:

 I have found it helpful to include both the “DE” and “/B or /BCN” in the message…. This makes identifying the Call much easier by hearing both the beginning and end of that part of the message.

The “gap” between message repeats should be no more than 4 or 5 seconds…. This is long enough that another beacon that was unheard before can be heard within the space…… also, short enough that a person tuning the frequencies slowly will not miss the message.

A WPM speed of 10 to 13 WPM seems to be the best for all around copying of the message.

What seems the easiest for Me to log is a message typically like the following :

“NY  NY  NY  DE K2ABC/B  K2ABC/B K2ABC/B  (4-5 second gap)” repeat  

“CA  CA  CA DE W6ABC/B  W6ABC/B  W6ABC/B (5 DITS a second apart)” repeat

“ DE AF5BC/B  AF5BC/BCN  AF5BC/BCN  AF5BC/BCN  EM16  EM16  EM16 (5 DAHS a second apart) repeat

Or about any combination of the above examples………