ARRL’s 500 kHz station, WD2XSH, wants to hear from you

Fritz Raab, W1FR, coordinator for ARRL’s 500 kHz Experimental Station, WD2XSH, reports that fall has brought lower static and good propagation, making excellent conditions for the 500 kHz experimenters.

The experimental license, issued in September 2006, has more than 20 active stations. Raab said that last year, a second US experimental license – WE2XGR, with five participants – joined the project, as well as experimenters in the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

These stations’ operating modes include CW, QRSS, PSK-31 and others. Contacts have been achieved at distances up to 1234 miles, with signals received from all over North America, Alaska and Hawaii; transatlantic reports are not uncommon.

“The 500 kHz experimenters are experiencing excellent propagation conditions, “ Raab said. “The best time to listen is between sunset and sunrise. The operating frequencies are: WD2XSH – 505.2 – 510 kHz; WE2XGR – 505-515 kHz; UK – 501-504 kHz, and SM, DL, OK – 505.0 – 505.2 kHz.

Raab requests that listeners file reception reports at the experiment’s Web site so that they become part of the station’s data base http://www.500kc.com/.