W2ETI Beacon Administrative Status

 

IN NORMAL OPERATION (350W Nominal)

 

IN PARTIAL OPERATION UNDERGOING TEST (Variable Power Level)

X

SHUT DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE or TEST

RECEPTION REPORTS

If you hear the beacon, please let us know.  Just send an email to the "org" known as SETILeague, with the email recipient as "rcf."  (The spam robots won't get that one!)  If you TRY to hear the beacon and can't, please let us know as well.  Your reception (or non-reception) report should include the time and date (in UTC/GMT), the beacon signal strength, and your station details.  If you would like a W2ETI QSL card (for reception only), please send yours to:

Richard Factor (WA2IKL), Trustee
The SETI League Inc.
433 Liberty Street
Little Ferry NJ  07643
United States of America


OPERATING HISTORY

27 Feb 2007 After an additional power drop for unknown reasons, and other problems associated with an errant cat that needs a new home, the beacon is off the air.  It will probably remain off until the new antennas are installed and some hardware changes can be accomplished.  With any luck it will be a month or less.  Without luck and/or with cat, it may be longer.
09 Jan 2007 Back on the air 160W, checking stability.
06 Jan 2007 Power had been slowly dropping, and reached as low as 130W in the past few days.  I have shut down the beacon to investigate and hopefully remedy the problem.  It will be at least several days before it is turned back on.  Please check here for new information.  02 Jan marked 10 months of continuous operation, almost 2 orders of magnitude better reliability than the previous incarnation!
5 Sept 2006 Two more 1Hz adjustments since the end of May.  Drift seems to be predictable and slow.  It came through another power failure without interruption.  Power is somewhat lower, mostly due to summer temperatures.
26 May 2006 Adjusted synthesizer frequency down by 1Hz to compensate for aging of standard oscillator.  That's about 1 part in 10^9 over a 3 month period.
03 May 2006 There was a power failure yesterday and the beacon continued to operate glitch free.  This was the main reliability issue with the previous incarnation, and this time it came through OK.
20 March 2006 Has been operating glitch-free for a week, so let's be optimistic and go green.
12 March 2006 Nominal power 350W, improvements to status display.  If no problems in the next few days will declare "Normal."
03 March 2006 Went to "full" power for the day's testing with no ill effects.  Nominal power was 330W.
02 March 2006 At present, the beacon is operating at the 200W level and undergoing testing.  We anticipate raising the power to the 350W target early in March 2006.

RECEPTION REPORTS RECEIVED:

K2UYH, K5SO, GW3XYW, PA3FXB


IS THIS BEACON VALUABLE?

If you find that having an EME signal available on a precise frequency and reliable schedule is valuable, you might want to consider how you can help keep it on the air.  One way is to join the SETI League, a 501(C)(3) organization.  Your membership fees keep it extant.  If you have any ideas as to how the beacon can be improved, please feel free to email them to the "address" above.

73,
Richard
WA2IKL/W2ETI