N2NXZ 10 Meter Propagation Beacon

This sign is obviously in humor.The beacon transmitter is a whopping 3 watts of RF.Takes 2 weeks to kill a 12 volt deep cycle battery.Which was a test repeated 2 times as we will see later.

The antenna is now a flag pole due to the fact it is no good. A wannabe big stick.

Home brew antenna to replace the bad one.Hat and shirt $2.00/each @ local yard sale.The numbers and letters on the camper were from an old boat.Since the camper had lots of snakes in and around it when we arrived there,it seemed appropriate.

 This spot has the most elevation (1400 ft approx.). Red = Grid FN02wj.This is an old photo.The scotty camper is seen top left as a tiny white spec.

Placing the PVC vent cap on the housing and lots of silicone.

The antenna I am carrying makes a nice flag pole as you see my nephew preparing. Note the rotating safety light mounted on the camper for a dump load.It will serve 3 purposes.Protect the battery,warn people of fast moving blades and look really cool.

This was a suprise.The only wind we really had for 3 days lasted briefly soon after it was erected.Measurements were without a load.The video does not justify the blades speed or rotation (counter clockwise).Always note your blade design to rotate as to not spin the hub off the motor shaft.

A short video of the beacon operating.A bit dark.SWR is 1.4:1.

Left to right - My son Joey,myself and my 2 nephews - Dalton and brier. It was lots of fun for all of us working on this campsite.

Update - The battery was reported as being charged over one week later after installation and have received a beacon report from a local ham 2 miles away from Ken,N2LQ.His report was greatly appreciated as I will not be able to return to the site for a few months.If anyone else locally or DX hears the beacon (28.2278 mhz),please feel free to email me.

Update - Thank you W3IAC and N2LQ for the valuable beacon reports. It has been 2 weeks of continuous operation and looks the battery finally lost power.Reports of heavy chirp followed by loss of signal strength and all Dah`s no Dit`s :)Looks like a windy weekend,fingers crossed.

                                    n2nxz@yahoo.com

Well,the beacon site was hit with high wind gusts to almost 70 mph.I truly believed the blades would be sticking out of the camper roof.The 12 volt/125 AH battery was dead before and after the wind storm.The radio is on,but not transmitting.The controller is not blinking out the ID.The dump load controller shows a green LED.That is normal.Hopefully by switching the beacon controller OFF/ON by miracle will get it going. I unfortunately think a voltage spike killed it and the radio.Maybe the generator is fried as well.I wont know the facts until I get down there.

Final update until I get to the site and figure out why,with all the wind the battery only measures 6 lousy volts?The dump load LED is on,the radio is on and lit,no transmit,and the beacon controller is on but not functioning .Generator fry and short?Or maybe the battery somehow fried?Wont know the facts until I am actually there,whenever that will be.

Finally made it back to the site and found the wind gen exactly the same as it was installed.No damage.The only thing different is that the battery was dead.I still do not know why it was not charging.I re-wired the blocking diode according to the gentelman who sold it to me.It is configured different than the original way I had it.It possibly was getting volts,but no charging current.Lets see what happens this time around.There will be updated photos soon.

What a nice weekend.The beacon is running once again with a freshly charged battery.All it needs are some descent winds and hopefully last longer than 2 weeks.I will NOT wish for winds again after what happened the last time.Finding myself here often >  http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Caneadea&state=NY&site=BUF&textField1=42.3579&textField2=-78.2118

I sure hope the mill charges the battery now.The battery lasted 2 weeks the last time,I believe it never charged all the time it was there.For now,I will have to play the waiting game again.

So peaceful and colorful in the fall season.

This photo does not justify all that are there.The quality is terrible using the digital zoom.We spotted these turbines from miles away from a hilltop just West of Nunda,NY.I have no idea where they are actually located.I am guessing near Perry,NY.There had to be about 100 of them.

I will add another video of the mill in action ASAP.Most likely on another page.