Transmission details:

	Junkbox beacon construction: This simple 30m QRSS beacon is built entirely out of junkbox parts, the only component purchased specifically for this project was the 10,140kHz crystal. The oscillator is in a polysytrene box made using pieces of packaging material and rubber bands, for protection from short-term temperature fluctuations such as drafts. READ MORE.
	Antenna and Attic installation: I use a full size half-wave dipole (14.2m) in my attic, taped to the roof at about 4 feet (1.3m) above the attic floor. At its centre is an 18-turn balun wound on a T130-2 toroid. The balun connects directly to the transmitter output using 5m of coaxial cable. READ MORE.
	First reports, 28-Feb-06 - 02-Mar-06: David VK6DI reported seeing a plain carrier that drifted around slowly. I thought it could be me, perhaps with a broken FSK pattern generator. I checked the beacon and found the fault. David VK6DI saw me make the change, on the other side of the world! Subsequently reports came from Larry WB3ANQ and Chris DL6JAN the following morning. READ MORE.
	Reports, 03-Mar-06 - 01-Sep-06: On 02-Mar-05, 1800 UTC I added 2,200uF capacitances in parallel with each of the two 470uF period determining capacitors in the astable multivibrator pattern generator. This caused the cycle time to increase to about 25 seconds. The slower pattern is more suitable for DX listening. READ MORE.
	Special Reports: These are some unusual reports, showing interesting propagation conditions, unusual QRSS monitoring situations, etc. READ MORE.
	30m QRSS Receiver: Don't miss this related project: a simple 2-chip 30m QRSS crystal controlled direct conversion receiver powered with +5V from a computer's USB port! READ MORE.
	Reception map: This map shows the worldwide reception of the G0UPL junk box beacon. Not all stations are shown on the map since some are geographically close to each other so overlap on the map. A full list of receiving stations is listed below. CLICK THUMBNAIL (left) to see larger photo

List of receiving stations

Currently reports have been received from 45 stations as follows:

Two maps from from Larry WB3ANQ showing the path between G0UPL and Todd N3TFM: (click images for the full size versions).

QRSS WEBSITES

Knights webpages:

VK6DI David http://www.users.on.net/~davroz/vk6di/index.html
WB3ANQ Larry http://www.wb3anq.com
DL6JAN Christian http://www.proehl-elektronik.de/qrss/qrss_e.html
IW0HK Andrea http://mediasuk.org/iw0hk/qrss2.htm
I0SKK Alex http://www.eco-lavoro.com/i0skk/Beacon.htm
OE5EEP Heinz http://members.aon.at/oe5eep/QRSS.html
AK0B Stan http://www.ak0b.com/
G6AVK Colin http://www.g6avk.demon.co.uk/qrss.html
G7IZU Andy http://www.tvcomm.co.uk/radio/live_b.html
I2PHD Alberto http://www.weaksignals.com
G4OEP Andy http://g4oep.atspace.com/qrss/qrss.htm
M0AYF Des http://www.qrss.thersgb.net/
IK0VVE Max http://www.radionatura.it/ik0vve2/mept1.aspx

QRSS Information and QRSS Knights mailing list:

QRSS Knights mailing list http://mail.cnts.be/mailman/listinfo/knightsqrss_cnts.be
QRSS Knights website http://www.cnts.be/knights_qrss/

QRSS Software:

ARGO: the most popular QRSS viewer program http://digilander.libero.it/i2phd/

Propagation pages:

Digisonde - current propagation http://digisonde.oma.be/cgi-bin/latest.exe
Propagation theory pages by G4NSJ http://www.g4nsj.co.uk/which.shtml
Earth Viewer www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth
Freeware propagation prediction program www.its.bldrdoc.gov/elbert/pc_hf/hfwin32.html

Construction aids:

Mini ring core calculator http://www.dl5swb.de/html/mini_ring_core_calculator.htm
GQRP club guide to harmonic filters www.gqrp.com

Components:

DB6NT crystal heater (extra stability for your beacon!) http://www.kuhne-electronic.de/english/special/crystalheater.htm

Peter DL6NL has a QRSS frequency HC49 crystals for sale. He has the following frequencies: 7.000, 7.020, 10.137 and 10.140. Price is 5 Euros for three crystals, including shipping. Email him at his AOL address:

Beacon keyers:

http://k1el.tripod.com/
http://www.expandedspectrumsystems.com/
http://www.proehl-elektronik.de/start.html