Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland, 22 Jan 2011. 

This information is provided to aid the Canadian delegation  at the WRC-2012 
technical meetings held in the ITU, Geneva, in February 2011 and is a report 
of experimental activities on the 500 kHz band at VX9MRC, NL Canada.

The transmitter comprised a 100 watt class E final stage operating with a 
drain voltage of 40 volts and a direct digital synthesis exciter.  Further 
details may be found on the MRCN web page by searching for VO1MRC on the 
internet.  The modes used were conventional CW which is received aurally 
and QRSS which uses long integration times and Fourier transforms to obtain 
low effective bandwidths at the expense of signalling rate.  The antenna 
comprised a aerial tuning unit and a 100 metre wire at 10 and  15 metres 
average heights.  

The transmitter operated on a frequency of 507.77 kHz and was in continuous 
operation during the hours of darkness from 15 September until hurricane Igor 
caused extensive damage to the antenna systems on 21 September. Reception 
reports had been received from several locations in the eastern US, including 
KN1H and KN1AZN on 20 September. 

On 27 September, the antenna had been repaired and raised on a new tower which
was to be used as part of the second phase of the experiment.  Signal reports 
were solicited from amateur stations in Newfoundland and Labrador and 
we are grateful to VO1's  VCE and KVT and UG who reported clear readable
signals at ranges of 20 to 500 km.  The following day, the exercise was 
repeated and VO1's BQ, FJS,UL, IRA, GWK, MP, SJH, NJS and TA reported 
reliable reception over many regions of the province.  VE1DM in Glace Bay 
listened for the beacon, but did not hear the signals until 2304 UTC.  
A report by PA3CPM overseas indicated no signals were being copied, 
but signals were reported by KN8AZN.  

Beacon operation resumed on 2 October and continued during the nights and 
reports were received from KN8AZN and WD2XSH/17 on the 2nd and 3rd.
There were operations on the 8-10 and 27 October.  Slow speed CW was used 
to improve reception at distant stations. The dot length was 3 seconds. 

In October, the MRCN board, in consideration of information from RAC and IC,
decided in future to acknowledge other experimental stations with an "R" but to 
exchange no further information as might be done in an amateur contact.   

On 12 January 2011, the beacon was operated again.  A visual trace of the CW 
signals was sent by email from PA3CPM. The operation was challenging.
Efforts to restart the transmitter and retune the aerial resulted in 
a fried FET and several blown fuses!  Reports were received from
PA3CPM and PA3FNY confirming good reception on 13 January. Conditions
deteriorated and poor reception was reported on 16 January.  
Reception reports have been received from PA3CPM PA3FNY G3LDO and VE7BDQ
between 17-22 January. 

There were no reports of interference of any kind. 

The RAC Field Organisation have been notified of the potential interest in 
this work given the potential of 500 kHz to complement emergency 
communications during unfavourable conditions on the HF bands.  

A new insulated tower is under construction.  It will be used for 
part two of the experiment.  

The experiments reaffirm the earlier measurements which are generally 
consistent with what might be expected.  Very reliable ground wave propagation
up to 500 km was observed, but at greater distances, such as Glace Bay, 
reception was more likely at night. 

It is hoped to continue experiments in 2011 and to investigate the 
the operation and performance of a monopole antenna, to compare 
it with a wire aerial, seasonal changes in signal strengths and noise,
and to explore other modulation methods.