International Beacon Project Explained

The International Beacon Project (IBP) is a worldwide network of radio propagation beacons. It consists of 18 continuous wave (CW) beacons operating on five designated frequencies in the high frequency band.[1] [2] The IBP beacons provide a means of assessing the prevailing ionospheric signal propagation characteristics to both amateur and commercial high frequency radio users.[1] [2]

The project is coordinated by the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). The first beacon of the IBP started operations from Northern California in 1979. The network was expanded to include 8 and subsequently 18 international transmission sites.[1] [2]

History

The first beacon was put into operation in 1979 using the call sign . It transmitted a 1 minute-long beacon every 10 minutes on 14.1 MHz using custom built transmitter and controller hardware. The signal consisted of the beacon's call sign transmitted in Morse code at 100 watts, four 9 second long dashes, each at 100 watts, 10 watts, 1 watt, and 0.1 watt, followed by sign-out at 100 watts.[3]

Northern California DX Foundation and seven partnering organizations from the United States, Finland, Portugal, Israel, Japan, and Argentina operated the first iteration of the beacon network. Due to difficulties encountered in building beacon hardware, each site used a Kenwood TS-120 transceiver keyed and controlled by a custom built beacon controller. The network operated on 14.1 MHz and the beacon format remained unchanged.[3]

In 1995, work began to improve the existing beacon network, so it could operate on 5 designated frequencies on the high frequency band. The new beacon network used Kenwood TS-50 transceivers keyed and controlled by an upgraded beacon controller unit. The number of partner organizations were expanded to 18 and the new 10 second beacon format was adopted.[3]

Notable Projects

Beyond helping amateur radio operators better understand HF radio propagation the project has aided scientists in better understanding the earths ionosphere,[4] improved prediction models,[5] and aided in radio direction finding.[6]

Frequencies and transmission schedule

The beacons transmit around the clock on the frequencies[1] [7]

14.100 MHz

18.110 MHz

21.150 MHz

24.930 MHz

28.200 MHz

Each beacon transmits its signal once on each frequency, in sequence from low (14.100 MHz) to high (28.200 MHz), followed by a 130 second pause during which beacons at other sites transmit in turn on the same frequencies, after which the cycle repeats.[7] Each transmission is 10 second-long, and consists of the call sign of the beacon transmitted at 22 words per minute followed by four dashes. The call sign and the first dash is transmitted at 100 watts of power. Subsequent three dashes are transmitted at 10 watts, 1 watt, and 0.1 watt respectively.[7]

All beacon transmissions are coordinated using GPS time. As such, at a given frequency, all 18 beacons transmit in succession once every 3 minutes.[3]

Hardware

Beacons transmit using commercial HF transceivers (Kenwood TS-50 or Icom IC-7200) keyed and coordinated by a purpose-built, hardware beacon controller.[2]

Beacons

The International Beacon Project operates the following beacons as of January 2024.[8]

Beacon regionCall signTransmit siteGrid
square
Operator
1United Nations
headquarters
New York CityUnited Nations Staff Recreation Council
Amateur Radio Club (UNRC)
2northern
Canada
VE8ATInuvik, NTCP 38 ghRAC/NARC
3California,
United States
Mt. UmunhumNorthern California DX Foundation (NCDXF)
4Hawaii,
United States
MauiMaui Amateur Radio Club (Maui ARC)
5New ZealandMastertonNew Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART)
6Western AustraliaRoleystoneWireless Institute of Australia (WIA)
7Honshū, JapanMt. AsamaJapan Amateur Radio League (JARL)
8Siberia, RussiaNovosibirskRussian Amateur Radio Union (SRR)
9Hong KongHong KongHong Kong Amateur Radio Transmitting Society (HARTS)
10Sri LankaColomboRadio Society of Sri Lanka (RSSL)
11South AfricaPretoriaSouth Africa Radio Society (SARL)
12KenyaKariobangiAmateur Radio Society of Kenya (ARSK)
13IsraelTel AvivIsrael Amateur Radio Club (IARC)
14FinlandLohjaFinnish Amateur Radio League (SRAL)
15Madeira Island,
Portugal
Santo da SerraRede dos Emissores Portugueses (REP)
16ArgentinaBuenos AiresRadio Club Argentino (RCA)
17PeruLimaRadio Club Peruano (RCP)
18northern VenezuelaCaracasRadio Club Venezolano (RCV)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Beacons . International Amateur Radio Union (iaru.org) . 2023-10-14 . Except for short-term experiments ... the IARU does not support the operation of amateur beacons below 14 MHz because of congestion in these bands..
  2. Web site: Jennings . Peter . Introduction . International Beacon Project . Northern California DX Foundation (ncdxf.org) . en . 2017-03-17.
  3. Web site: Jennings . Peter . Early history . International Beacon Project . Northern California DX Foundation (ncdxf.org) . en . 2017-03-17.
  4. Frissell . N.A. . Miller . E.S. . Kaeppler . S.R. . Ceglia . F. . Pascoe . D. . Sinanis . N. . Smith . P. . Williams . R. . Shovkoplyas . A. . 6 . 2014 . Ionospheric sounding using real-time amateur radio reporting networks . Space Weather . 12 . 12 . 651–656 . 10.1002/2014SW001132 . 53355527 . en.
  5. Tshisaphungo . Mpho . McKinnell . Lee-Anne . Magnus . Lindsay . Habarulema . John Bosco . 2011 . An attempt to validate HF propagation prediction conditions over sub-Saharan Africa . Space Weather . 9 . 8 . 000643 . 10.1029/2010SW000643 . free . 118626040 . HF propagation over Africa . en.
  6. Petrus Johannes . Coetzee . 2018 . Determining the electromagnetic constants of ground and analyzing HF propagation with the aid of a modern interferometric direction finder . Ph.D. . . . 2263/70554 . en.
  7. Web site: Jennings . Peter . Transmission schedule . International Beacon Project . Northern California DX Foundation (ncdxf.org) . en . 2017-03-17.
  8. Web site: Jennings . Peter . Locations and information . 2024-01-09 . Northern California DX Foundation (ncdxf.org) . International Beacon Project . en.