[HCDX]: (fwd) HAARP Listening Tests Evaluation

[mollyg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

<< From The ARRL Letter >>
Vol. 18, No. 14
April 2, 1999

HAARP LISTENING TESTS GO OFF WITH A HITCH

HAARP was heard round the world the last weekend in March, but a few
glitches injected a little intrigue to the research facility's 1999
listening test. The test on 6.99 and 3.39 MHz from the High Frequency
Active Auroral Research Facility in Gakona, Alaska, was conducted
March 26 and 27. Those who tuned in the first day to copy the test
signals and CW message encountered what sounded like either severe
multipathing or deliberate interference. Some listeners were convinced
that another station was sending CW right on top of the HAARP signal.

It proved to be a false alarm, however. The first-day "interference"
turned out to be largely related to apparent technical problems with a
little multipathing thrown in, according to HAARP Technical Manager Ed
Kennedy, K3NS. HAARP is still looking into the matter, but Kennedy
said it now appears that while some transmitters were being keyed
properly, others were not being keyed at all. "The net effect was not
only a change in transmitted power between on and off, but also a
pattern change," Kennedy explained.

Kennedy said the keying problem combined with auroral multipath to
produce CW that was intelligible to some listeners and with quite a
bit of multipath to others. The problem seemed to be most severe for
stations in the Northeast. Some stations in the western US were able
to copy the complete CW message. On the March 27 test, the same
situation existed during the 6.99 MHz call-up only, Kennedy said, but
it was corrected immediately.

The announced plan also had called for some antenna-pattern "tapering"
during the carrier signal-measurement periods on 6.99 MHz. It appears
that might not have happened on the first day either. This also was
fixed on Day 2, Kennedy says.

HAARP's plan had called for directing the array's main lobe
vertically, which meant that anyone outside of Alaska heard the HAARP
transmissions by virtue of one of the antenna pattern's sidelobes.
Just which pattern or patterns were employed is not yet clear, and not
all listeners noticed the tapering effects, although some reported
dramatic differences in signal strength. Total power output was in the
vicinity of 400 kW, about half-power for the present HAARP facility.

Kennedy says HAARP is still analyzing the results and reports that he
plans to post some "quite detailed measurements" on the HAARP 1999
Listening Test Results Web site.

HAARP's huge signals literally were heard on the other side of the
world. "Your signal on 3390 was very weak, and I had to use a narrow
filter to be able to read your carrier and signals," reported Tony
Magon, VK2IC, in Sydney, Australia. Stateside reports--many from
hams--flowed in from Arizona, Michigan, Connecticut, Florida,
Missouri, Maryland, and elsewhere.

Reception reports for the 1999 test are welcome. HAARP will provide an
attractive QSL card only in response to listener reports mailed to
High Frequency Active Auroral Research Facility, PO Box 271, Gakona,
AK 99586.

HAARP is managed by the US Air Force and the US Navy. For more
information, see "The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program"
(QST, Sep 1996, p 33) or visit the HAARP Web site,
http://w3.nrl.navy.mil/haarp.html
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