How Does It Work?
How Does The Program Synchronize To Each Beacon Station?
The transmit sequence of the beacons are precision timed using GPS (Global Positioning Satellites). The W6NEK HF Beacon Tracker uses your PC Clock synchronized to the correct minute and exact second with WWV or CHU to duplicate this precision timing sequence. At program startup, you will be reminded to set your PC clock to WWV.
No. However, it is very important that you set your PC clock to the correct time. You must ensure that your PC clock is set to the current minute and exact second using any convenient time standard (such as WWV / WWVH, CHU, etc). The hour setting is not used to calculate which beacon is transmitting. Therefore, you can set your PC Clock to any time zone. Most PC clocks are set to your local time zone. For the same reason, Daylight Savings Time has no effect on the proper operation of the program.
If everyone used the Beacons, there would be much more activity on the bands. What happens is that people hear an empty band and assume propagation is poor or non existent. This happens most often on 15, 12, and 10 meters. As a matter of fact, this is the very reason the NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Network was established. To give operators a tool to measure band propagation independent of operator activity. So, if you hear a strong beacon signal from Europe on a "dead" band, fire up the transmitter, point the antenna to Europe and call CQ! You may be pleasantly surprised!
Do I Need To Set My Time Zone To GMT?
Why Bother To Listen For Beacons On A "Dead" Band?
How Does It Work?
