The International Beacon Project (IBP) is a worldwide network of

radio propagation beacon An amateur radio propagation beacon is a radio beacon, whose purpose is the investigation of the radio propagation, propagation of radio signals. Most radio propagation beacons use amateur radio frequencies. They can be found on Low frequency, LF ...

s. It consists of 18

continuous wave A continuous wave or continuous waveform (CW) is an electromagnetic wave of constant amplitude and frequency, typically a sine wave, that for mathematical analysis is considered to be of infinite duration. It may refer to e.g. a laser or particl ...

(CW) beacons operating on five designated frequencies in the

high frequency High frequency (HF) is the ITU designation for the band of radio waves with frequency between 3 and 30 megahertz (MHz). It is also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as its wavelengths range from one to ten decameters (ten to one ...

band. The IBP beacons provide a means of assessing the prevailing ionospheric signal propagation characteristics to both

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

and commercial high frequency radio users. The project is coordinated by the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) and the

International Amateur Radio Union The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is an international confederation of national organisations that allows a forum for common matters of concern to amateur radio operators worldwide, and collectively represents matters to the Internatio ...

(IARU). The first beacon of the IBP started operations from Northern California in 1979. The network was expanded to include 8 and subsequently 18 international transmission sites.

History

The first beacon was put into operation in 1979 using the call sign . It transmitted a 1 minute-long beacon every 10 minutes on 14.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

using custom built transmitter and controller hardware. The signal consisted of the beacon's

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

transmitted in

Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

at 100

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, four 9 second long

dashes The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, each at 100 watts, 10 watts, 1 watt, and 0.1 watt, followed by sign-out at 100

s. Northern California DX Foundation and seven partnering organizations from the

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Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and

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operated the first iteration of the beacon network. Due to difficulties encountered in building beacon hardware, each site used a Kenwood TS-120 transceiver keyed and controlled by a custom built beacon controller. The network operated on 14.1 MHz and the beacon format remained unchanged. In 1995, work began to improve the existing beacon network, so it could operate on 5 designated frequencies on the

band. The new beacon network used Kenwood TS-50 transceivers keyed and controlled by an upgraded beacon controller unit. The number of partner organizations were expanded to 18 and the new 10 second beacon format was adopted.

Notable Projects

Beyond helping

amateur radio operator An amateur radio operator is someone who uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other amateur operators on radio frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. Amateur radio operators ...

s better understand HF radio propagation the project has aided scientists in better understanding the earths

ionosphere The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...

, improved prediction models, and aided in radio direction finding.

Frequencies and transmission schedule

The beacons transmit around the clock on the frequencies : 14.100

: 18.110 MHz : 21.150 MHz : 24.930 MHz : 28.200

Each beacon transmits its signal once on each frequency, in sequence from low ( 14.100

) to high ( 28.200 MHz), followed by a 130 second pause during which beacons at other sites transmit in turn on the same frequencies, after which the cycle repeats. Each transmission is 10 second-long, and consists of the call sign of the beacon transmitted at 22

words per minute Words per minute, commonly abbreviated as WPM (sometimes lowercased as wpm), is a measure of words processed in a minute, often used as a measurement of the speed of typing, reading or Morse code sending and receiving. Alphanumeric entry Since ...

() followed by four dashes. The call sign and the first dash is transmitted at 100

s of power. Subsequent three dashes are transmitted at 10 watts, 1 watt, and 0.1

respectively. All beacon transmissions are coordinated using

GPS time The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the satellite navigation, global ...

. As such, at a given frequency, all 18 beacons transmit in succession once every 3 minutes.

Hardware

Beacons transmit using commercial HF transceivers ( Kenwood TS-50 or

Icom ICOM may refer to: * International Council of Museums * Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, a medical school in the United States * Icom Incorporated, radio equipment manufacturer * Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM), a co-operative fe ...

IC-7200) keyed and coordinated by a purpose-built, hardware beacon controller.

Beacons

The International Beacon Project operates the following beacons as of January 2024. :

References

{{reflist, 25em Radio frequency propagation Beacons