The North East Weak Signal Groups' 1296 Beacon:
is now QRV. Special thanks to K1WHS for
the antenna and N1DPM for the transverter donation and to
Microwave Update 2002 for a bit of the auction proceeds.
Callsign: K1FO/B (formerly W1RJA/B)
QTH: FN31th (southern Connecticut)
Frequency: 1296.288 +/-
Emission: CW
Power: 22 Watts
Feedline: 160' Cablewave 7/8 inch hardline
Antenna: Directive Systems bidirectional LPY pointed NE/SW
Height: 155 feet above base elevation.

Signal reports welcome:

PHOTOS FROM ANTENNA INSTALL DAY:
( click on any image below to enlarge )

Left - The 150' Pyrod tower.
Right - Our 1296 antenna at 155'.

Left - The beacon chassis and polyphasor hookup.
Right - Closeup of beacon box showing 3W & 18W PA'S on left, power supply, 1296 xvtr, and 144 exciter. The small green pc board is a WW2R PIC keyer. A CPU fan cools the 18W PA heatsink.
The roll of RG58 is used as an attenuator.


Left - New 1296 25W PA cooling fans.

Right - 1296 PA underside wiring.

New 1296 PA installed at the beacon site
on September 30, 2016.
I measured 22 Watts out at 12.5 VDC.
This is 3 dB more power than before.
Our old PA was limping along at 10 Watts.
Many thanks to Doug WA2LTM for building this and donating it for our beacon.


Click here to play Audio MP3 of K1FO/B heard at WZ1V 8 miles away
Click here for tower view analysis
N.E.W.S. Group Webpage           MORE PHOTOS