The MVUS FMT:
December 2009 Announcement


Last Minute News!

Update 3 January 2010:

So far about 30 FMT submissions, including two from Japan! We'll post the measured frequencies and details right after the submission deadline of January 15.

The nifty image above is an off-air recording of the W8KSE ID sequence as received on 80M at N8UR's QTH (about 3 miles from the transmitter).


NOTE: Due to a QRM report, at about 1915 UTC (1415 Eastern) on 28 December we reduced the power on 40M from ~15W to ~5W. We will keep it at that level during daylight hours, turning it back up after 2200 UTC (1700 Eastern). We'll drop power again at 1300 UTC Tuesday and Wednesday.

Nominal frequencies for the December, 2009 FMT (actual frequency may be up to a couple of kHz away to avoid QRM):


The Midwest VHF/UHF Society (located in Southwest Ohio) is pleased to announce that the third MVUS Frequency Measuring Test will be held on December 28-30, 2009.

The test will use a novel format. Instead of the usual 5 to 15 minute test, we will transmit simultaneously on 80, 40, and 20 meters for 48 hours (with appropriate ID, of course!). We hope this long transmission period, which will encompass more than a full propagation day, will encourage new techniques and experiments. For example, it should be possible to measure Doppler shift caused by ionospheric raising and lowering.

The test will begin with a call-up starting at about 1445 UTC (0945 EST) on Monday, 28 December. The continuous transmission period will begin at 1500 UTC (1000 EST) and will end at 1500 UTC (1000 EST) on Wednesday, 30 December.

The signal will be a continuous carrier with CW ID every ten minutes. Transmissions will be from W8KSE in Dayton, Ohio (grid square EM79).

Here are more details:

If you have any questions, please send them to fmt@mvus.org. We will publish the official frequencies shortly after the submission deadline to time-nuts and fmt-nuts, and will make the full results available on the MVUS FMT web page as soon as we can.

Our goal is to transmit a signal known in frequency to parts in 10e-12 (i.e., less than 0.0001 Hz error at 10 MHz) and stable to a similar level during the course of the transmission. Signals will be generated directly from a Cesium frequency standard through low-noise synthesizers and amplifiers. Frequencies will be measured at the transmitter site with a system capable of microHertz resolution referenced to a GPS disciplined oscillator, and will also be monitored by another station in groundwave range that can measure with similar accuracy.

The MVUS Frequency Measuring Test is intended to supplement, not replace, the ARRL FMT.

For discussion about off-air frequency measurement, we suggest you check out the FMT-nuts mailing list, sponsored by Connie Marshall, K5CM. For details, go to http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/FMT-nuts.