June 2021 Eclipse Festival Updates: Protocols, Beacons, Practice Run 30 May

[Kristina Collins]

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone who's been in touch about the upcoming eclipse campaign and shared data so far. Here are a few updates. 

1) Data Collection Protocol: Use Audacity, not fldigi.

This experiment will require the recording of .WAV files with Audacity, rather than .CSV files with fldigi. This will enable us to gather data from sideband modulations and distinguish between multiple carriers that may result from receiving more than one station or multipath propagation. 

2) Beacon stations.

Because of this eclipse's unusual geometry, it's a little tricky to select a beacon station. In last year's events, all stations monitored the same frequency. For this event, we advise trying multiple beacon stations and recording the one that is easiest to receive at your station. As a default option, recording RWM on 9.996 MHz (local oscillator tuned to 9.995 MHz) is recommended. (Remember to include your radio's frequency in the track name, as discussed on the instructions page.)

3) Practice Run, 30 May.

In order to gather information about beacon stations, there will be an optional practice run this weekend on May 30th. To participate, please make a recording of one or more time standard stations using the recording protocol, upload the file, and fill out the survey on the website. 

I will send a reminder for the practice run, some additional reminder emails at the start of the campaign, and other updates as needed. 

Thanks and 73,

-Kristina KD8OXT