DK0WCY Transmission Schedule effective from 01-JUL-2006 1800 UTC

Frequencies and Transmission Hours

On 3579 kHz in the 80 meter amateur radio band transmissions run from 0720 to 0900 and 1600 to 1900 local time (i.e. CET = UTC+1 resp. CEST = UTC+2).

Program Schedule

Minute Mode 0 CW 10 RTTY 20 CW 30 CW 40 CW 50 PSK31 (BPSK)

Between datagrams a beacon identification is transmitted in CW mode.

For internal purposes DRA5 (5195 kHz) is transmitting  5 minutes behind the 30 meters schedule.
 
There are no digimode broadcasts on 80 meters; instead the CW datagram is transmitted.

CW Identification

    DK0WCY BEACON 4/19/A/N _________________

Contained is a data group consisting of four information elements transmitted in this sequence:

• current disturbance level of the geomagnetic field (Kiel current K)
• MUF (maximum frequency just bent back from the ionosphere in MHz determined for a vertical antenna radiation angle of 5 degrees)
• one or more letters denoting events currently under way
• one or more letters denoting events expected to occur soon

The K-Index is valid for the beacon's location, data which determine the MUF originate in Juliusruh (Island of Ruegen).

Events are symbolised by these letters:

Letter Meaning A aurora F shortwave fadeout (SWF, sudden ionospheric disturbance) I solar shockwave (disturbes the geomagnetic field and increases the K Index) M geomagnetic storm (longer lasting strong disturbance of the geomagnetic field) N no event P polar cap absorption (PCA, attenuation of radio paths touching the polar regions, usually lasts several days) Z beacon is on maintenance, expect reduced output power and/or interupted operation

During an aurora event the carrier at the end of the CW id changes to a series of dots.

Missing information is denoted by na (not available).

CW Datagram

INFO CONDS 07 JUN 1948 UT = MAG KIEL K 4 4 KCUR 3.1 3.1 = IONO RUEGEN FOF2 6.2 6.2 MUF 19 19 MAXHOP 2367 2367 MUF1K 10 10 = SUN WIND 635 635 BZ P1 P1 XRAY B8 B8 FLARE 1M 2C == FORECAST 07 JUN = SUN ERUPTIVE MAG QUIET == INDEX 06 JUN = R 36 36 REQ 17 17 FLUX 78 78 BOULDER A 18 18 KIEL A 25 25 +

Meaning of abbreviations used in the CW datagram:

A A Index (diurnial geomagnetic disturbance) BZ field strength of Z-component of the interplanetary magnetic field in nT (P=positive, N=negative) CONDS current conditions DENSITY solar wind density in protons per cm3 FLARE number of x-ray flares during last 24 hours FLUX solar flux (intensity of 10,7 cm emission) INDEX consolidated figures of previous day IONO data on the state of the ionosphere K K Index (most recent 3 hour standard interval) KCUR current K-Index (most recent 180 minutes) MAG data on the state of the geomagnetic field MAXHOP maximum hop distance via F-layer in km MUF maximum frequency for a MAXHOP hop in MHz MUF1K maximum frequency for a 1000 km hop in MHz R relative sunspot number (SSN) REQ equivalent sunspot number (a more accurate measure for solar activity compared to) SUN data on the Sun's state WIND solar wind speed in km/s XRAY intensity of x-ray background radiation

Digimode Datagram

ZCZC events: none warnings: none Solar and Geomagnetic Indices observed on 20 Apr: sunspot number 12 12 12 solar flux 71 71 71 SSNe 1 1 1 Boulder A 5 5 5 Kiel A 9 9 9 mean SSN for Mar 9 9 9 Solar Conditions: solar wind speed 381 381 381 km/s solar wind density 1 1 1 cm-3 solar wind temp 46 46 46 kK IMF Bz component +1 +1 +1 nT x-ray flux low low low 24h x-ray maximum na na na 24h flare activity none Geomagnetic Conditions: 3-hour Kiel K 3 3 3 at 1800UT current Kiel K 3.1 3.1 3.1 at 2039UT Ionospheric Conditions: Ruegen foF2 3.90 3.90 3.90 MHz hf2 na na na km hf 235 235 235 km max hop at 5 deg 2467 2467 2467 km MUF(max hop)F 12.0 12.0 12.0 MHz MUF(1000)F 6.3 6.3 6.3 MHz current SSNe -1.4 -1.4 -1.4 Forecast valid for 21 Apr: solar activity quiet magnetic field quiet NNNN

Digimode datagrams contain some information which is missing from the CW datagram due to timing issues.

• maximum intensity of x-ray background radiation during last 24 hours and the exact time of that event
• virtual height of F-layer (hf resp. hf2) in km
• mean sun spot number of the previous month
• hourly calculated current equivalent sun spot number (SSNe)
• solar wind temperature in 1000 Kelvin
• current (events) and expected (warnings) events. This information is also contained in the CW id.
• usually frequencies are given in 100 kHz steps instead of 1 MHz steps

Data Sources

• Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States of America (NOAA SEC)
  http://www,swpc.noaa.gov
• Juliusruh (Island of Ruegen) branch of Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at University of Rostock (IAP)
  http://www.ionosonde.iap-kborn.de
• North West Research Associates
  http://www.nwra-az.com
• IPS Australia
  http://www.ips.gov.au

last changed on 20061105