More NDB Information and Circuits

Introduction

Latest Update: Dec 22, 2007

A special note book for NDB related stuff

This web page is or will be a collection of NDB-related ideas, experiences and hopefully will include some feedback from fellow NDB enthusiasts.

I devoted a new notebook to this topic and hopefully with inspiration from band listening and communicating/learning from others, I will fill it over time. New content will be added to the bottom of the existing content as it is written up and/or photographed. The date of any new material added will be written below the Introductory title.

Improved NDB Chebyshev Low Pass Filter

A popcorn or "junk box" low pass filter was designed and presented on this web page. After discussion with VE7TW and testing a Realistic DX-300 and other receivers, it became apparent that even more attenuation of a strong local BCB station at 1150 KHz was desirable. In addition, there are other moderately strong AM radio stations from 630 to 800 KHz (especially at night time) which maybe causing mixer intermodulation distortion products. A fault of the junk box low pass filter is poor attenuation below 800 KHz and a better design was a prudent goal. Building on the learning obtained from the junk box filter experiments, an improved 7 element Chebyshev low pass filter was designed and is presented directly below. The 3 dB cut off of this filter is calculated to be 526 KHz. This is the filter that I now use for my home radio station. At my nemesis frequency of 1150 KHz (where a powerful local radio station broadcasts), the attenuation is calculated to be 68 dB. It takes careful layout and a conductive chassis to realize this level of attenuation, but the effort is worth it. In very strong AM BCB locations, you might consider placing 2 such filters in series between your antenna and receiver if required.

The schematic and simulation of the improved NDB low pass filter is shown above.

Non-directional Beacon Identification

NDB XC from Cranbrook BC - 242 KHz - Photo by VE7KPB

It is interesting to visit nearby beacons. In the photograph to the right is XC which broadcasts at 242 KHz. A useful web site to identify Canadian NDBs may be found here
and is the work of KA2QPG. Other useful links are also listed. Big thanks to Pierre for his effort.

I have learned that it is very important to confirm the NDB stations your hear via a database or list. What you hear on the air should match the database/list for both call sign and frequency, else suspect that you may have copied it incorrectly. RNA, the definitive signal list for North and Central America plus Hawaii may be found here.

Three Questions

Steve Ratzlaff, AA7U is an experienced NDB DXer and has been listening to beacons since the mid-1980's.
I asked him the following 3 questions:

1. LF beacons do little more than send their station identification in Morse code, are mostly low power and generally might be perceived by some people as boring and low tech. Yet, on the World Wide Web, one finds numerous web sites, software, projects and commercial equipment all passionately dedicated to NDB listening. What's all this fuss about listening to beacons?

Steve: It's a hobby that requires quite a bit of skill and technical accomplishment to get the most from the equipment. Most folks have AC noise to deal with, which can be particularly bad at LF. Finding an antenna that works at LF and that can be used at your own location can be a major task; finding a radio that has decent LF sensitivity, or an LF converter to use with an existing radio--all these must be dealt with just to begin hearing anything at LF. I find it to be quite a challenge. If it were easy to receive LF beacons then I probably would have lost interest years ago! It's true that in recent years several software programs have become available that allow finding beacons somewhat easier--one simply looks for them on the computer screen and decodes the dots and dashes of the beacon being received. This is quite popular among beginners and veterans alike. But the traditional method of aurally listening for the morse code idents of beacons is probably used more often, though many are combining both aural and software techniques now.

2. Let's say I live in a small city lot or even an apartment. I have modest equipment and/or not a huge amount of cash to spend on gear for NDB listening. From the antenna through to the headphones, what are some basic recommendations you might give to a newcomer wanting to get started in NDB listening?

Steve: The radio must have decent sensitivity at LF, or else an LF converter must be used. Due to high local AC noise, any type of LF antenna used indoors will be a poor substitute to one that can be placed outdoors. A few portable radios cover the LF NDB frequency range that will work for hearing local beacons, though the radio may need to be used outside to get away from AC noise. The discontinued Sony 2010 was the standard for portable radios for reasonable LF performance. Newer radios like the Degen DE1103 have been found to work reasonably well at LF and can be bought for well under $100 by mail order from eBay sellers; or the more expensive Kaito 1103 version, which has a warranty, can be obtained from several distributors like Universal Shortwave. The much more expensive semi-portable Eton E1 works well at LF, but is more in the price range of a tabletop radio. The Icom R75 is currently the best bargain in a tabletop radio that has very good LF sensitivity as well as 1 Hz tuning, which is an asset if a narrow external audio filter is used. I'm not too optimistic about what someone living in an apartment or high rise building might do to successfully receive LF beacons indoors. Often the AC noise level is too high to be able to use an indoor antenna. But some have been able to use loop antennas indoors for the stronger signals. An example of a top of the line commercial loop would be the Wellbrook ALA1530 or LFL1010. Unlike at shortwave frequencies, where simply tossing a wire out the window to a nearby tree or other support, or even running the wire around the room inside, will usually work fairly well, at LF a wire less than several hundred feet generally doesn't perform very well. It can be argued that an active whip antenna makes a very good LF antenna, and doesn't take up much room, but it must be used outdoors. And if there are strong AMBCB signals, then the active antenna, either loop or whip, must have very good overload resistance otherwise it can generate distortion of its own from the strong BCB signals.

3. What kind of distances are considered DX for NDB?

Steve: NDB DX is pretty much a relative thing. One just starting out might be thrilled to hear a beacon from the next town, or from the other side of his own state or province. As one improves his listening setup and gains experience, then usually DX goals also expand to try to hear beacons farther and farther away. NDB DXing generally is not a competitive hobby, unlike amateur radio with its various competitive "contests". Each person's listening setup, local noise level, etc. is usually very different from someone else's, even someone in the same town or general area. One person might live in the suburbs and have a lower noise level than his friend who lives right in town and has a much higher noise level. One might have room to put an antenna in a quiet spot; the other might be limited to much less. People who live near an ocean generally have a much better chance at hearing something exotic offshore than folks living far inland. Folks living in the central or eastern part of North America have many more beacons available to be heard than folks in western North America. But there are always a few beacons that are much stronger than most, and can be heard from long distances of 1000 miles or more, pretty much anywhere in North America at night. One example would be 206 GLS in Galveston, Texas, which runs around 2000 watts, has a large antenna, and is generally readily heard anywhere in North America at night--that beacon might be 1500 miles or more away, and might be considered real DX. However another 25 watt beacon from the same general area in Texas might be hard to hear only several hundred miles from that beacon. So "DX" is pretty much a relative term. Ndblist, an international email list devoted to beacons, is open to anyone with an interest in beacons--members post their loggings there. What might be a local beacon to someone might be DX to someone in a different part of the country. All levels of experience are welcome.

Thanks Steve.

NDB High Pass Filter

Photo of high pass filter using some junk box parts.

A high pass filter using standard value capacitors was designed using GPLA. Although, such a filter would not help AC line noise and RFI generated in the house, I suspected my antenna was picking up local noise from below the NDB band. This filter was mounted inside a die-cast Hammond box with a SO-239 at each end. I used 22 gauge enamel covered wire for the inductors. A photo of the filter is shown to the right.
For the 0.01 uF caps, I used junk box ceramic capacitors with a 20% tolerance, however, I did measure a bunch and found 2 within 5% tolerance for my filter bread board.

To the left is the filter schematic. This is an N = 7 Chebyshev high pass filter with a 3 dB cut off of 157 KHz. This cutoff frequency allowed the use of common, standard value capacitors and also even turns numbers to reach the desired inductance for the inductors when wound with FT50-61 ferrite cores. Try to use high Q caps and not junk box ceramic capacitors as possible. I used ceramic caps for the 0.01 uF capacitors due to lack of better parts at the time of building and testing.

Above is the filter GPLA simulation. In particular, I have harsh noise from about 110 KHz on down. At 78 KHz, where this filter has a calculated attenuation of ~ 56 dB, I made an audio file of the band noise. This is in AM mode with the filter out for a few seconds and then in line. With the high pass filter in line, there is pronounced attenuation of the noise and my local 10 KW BCB station at 1150 KHz suddenly appears. Prior to this it was hidden by the harsh noise. At frequencies less than ~200 KHz (without my low pass filter) I can hear this BCB station intermittently as I tune around. I suspect that the R75 filtering down at 200 KHz and down is insufficient to stop this monster station.

At my QTH, using a high pass filter reduces some of the noise on the NDB band. At my location, a high pass plus a low pass filter in cascade between my antenna and my receiver results in less QRN and easier weak signal copying.

Long Wave Broadcast Radio Filter

I learned about LW Broadcast radio from Steve Ratzlaff. In particular, радио россий "Rah-deo Rossay" (make sure you roll the R!) can occasionally be heard on the west coast and broadcasts at night-time using 500-1000 KW power. The frequencies he recommended to try were 153, 180, 189, and perhaps 171, 234 and 279 KHz. I have terrible problems with a local BCB radio station at 1150 KHZ that causes intermodulation distortion and/or blow-by detection at and below 200 KHz in addition to a terrible noise source at 78-120 KHz. Therefore, I built another cascade low pass/high pass filter and placed it in the same chassis as my regular NDB low pass/high pass combination filter for use when tuning LWBC and perhaps for when listening to frequencies less than 200 KHz.

Above is. the schematic of the 322 KHz low pass filter. In the photograph above, you can see a 50 ohm pad at the input that was used only during testing. This filter offers a calculated attenuation of ~ 98 dB to my 1150 KHz interfering station. In reality it is not possible to achieve this level of attenuation, however, there is no detectable 1150 KHz signal interference with the filter in line which makes me happy. Click here to listen to the dramatic difference with regard to interference this filter makes at my QTH with my receiver tuned to 199 KHz. The receiver is set for wide band AM detection; first without the LWBC filter and then with the filter switched in. When the filter is switched in, the BCB interference disappears and a Canadian NDB (UAB @ 200 KHz can faintly be heard along with our cat meowing in the background. It is not possible to listen to LF without aggressive low pass/high pass filtering at my QTH.

Above is the schematic of the 129 KHz LWBC high pass filter. In either of the 2 filters, capacitor values can be obtained using 1 or 2 standard value capacitors in parallel. The cutoff frequencies of both filters were chosen to allow using practical component values.

Above is the GPLA simulation of the LWBC high pass filter. The high pass filter might not be needed at your QTH. My LWBC filter has the low pass filter before the high pass filter. I.e. they are in series or cascaded.

Dual NDB and LWBC Filters

For use in my radio shack, I built LWBC and NDB filters inside 1 chassis with separate inputs and outputs. Some photos of this project are shown directly above and below. The NDB filter is the 526 KHz low pass filter in series with the 157 KHz high pass filter. The LWBC filter is the 322 KHz low pass filter in series with the 129 KHz high pass filter. High Q caps were used and the inductors were wound with either 22 or 24 gauge wire to obtain a relatively high unloaded Q. The large Hammond project case allowed reasonable spacing of the inductors and a nice long input to output layout.