kg0vl / VHF Radio Aurora Research / Along The Way

	Frosty Trees Late spring in Manitoba
	Back Home In Beautiful Iowa
	Wow!
	White Hair Found At Ground Level In Svalbard
	Ex-Soviet Geophysical Building
	Russian Cuisine
	The Russian Welcome Committee
	Fall In EN48 Northern Minnesota
	Alaska Pipeline Near Fox, Alaska
	Waiting For Aurora
	Bigfoot Warnings
	Summer In EO30 Don't worry, we do raise the 144mhz antenna to the 20 foot level!
	Atop Pike's Peak At 14,110 feet
	Theresa Peters And Kim Leer
	Rolling Thru Waterloo Next to the aurora, I enjoy trains. Check out this consist on the ex-Rock Island Line in the spring 0f 1993.
	Not Northern California, But Northwestern Ontario Kim and I get to see some amazing things!
	Bigfoot Headquarters
	North To Churchill Looking North along the line towards Churchill from the PR280 junction.
	The Early Days Look close, you can see a straight key, gps, and crude scribbling proclaiming EO04.
	Moose Prints
	Northern Lights Radio Society Recital Here I am in 1997 giving a speech on VHF radio aurora. If one looks closely, it is clear to see that Barry (VE4MA) is actually conducting the business. On a serious note, I am proud to boast that the NLRS is on the leading edge of VHF and microwave advancement!
	Above The 48th Forty eight degrees North, zero minutes, zero seconds in Northern Minnesota.
	Hudson Bay Coast
	Tracks Near Beacon
	Early Beacon Experiments The crude and early days of low power and poor gain. Nonetheless, information was obtained. (looking back on a positive note, I only had to charge two batteries, every other day) Pictured here are Kim and Theresa Peters near Limestone, Manitoba.
	EN33 Iowa Near the qth in Northern Iowa
	Polar Bear Trap At Beacon Site It was a pleasure to have these three officers of the Manitoba Department of Natural Resources inform me that my six meter beacon lay just meters from a live polar bear trap! Lucky for me, I had no idea the trap was even there! The odd part is, the beacon components were lying near an adjacent snow bank, and I had spent several weeks working on my "hands and knees" in the -30's trying to control the drift, and current draw as a result of the cold. There were often times when I would work for "numerous minutes" so engrossed in my activity, I wouldn't have known anyone (or anything) to be there!
	Limestone To Sundance
	Flying Down The Nelson Imagine 225 KIAs near the Hudson Bay Coast
	Local Commissar Pictured here is Alexander Sokolov. He preformed an outstanding job providing us with all our needed supplies. He was able to supply food, fuel and logistical help while working in the Russian settlements. (also note the large caliber rifle carried by all personel)
	Russian Equipment
	Soviet Aurora Sounder
	Ex-Soviet Material
	CW Group From JW7M Pictured her are (left to right) Jacek SP5DRH, Gerhard OE3GEA, Jeffery KG0VL and Staffan SM3JGG. This group would go on to encounter many hardships, and later become known as the "Ice-Lakers"
	Remains Of Ancient Fortifications In Northern VE4
	The Original Fort Churchill
	Killing Time Waiting For The Aurora One of those countless afternoons! This was from early October of 1998 in EO26, awaiting darkness at -15C.
	Winter Road In Northern Canada
	Winter Road In Northern VE4 Interior Kim and I once tried to advance into EO46 from the relative safety of civilization and english speaking peoples, only to encounter a large number of trucks and heavy machinery. As this path was only open for several months of the year, it looked more like a Kansas City thruway.
	The Mighty VE4VHF/b How many times have we heard this monster? I always have found it fasinating to "see" where those signals have actually been originating.
	VE4VHF/b Up Close (And Personal) Now Bruce, If I could only get you to rotate that 90 degrees! (reference our little talk on Fourier Components and the conservation of momentum of engery in two dimensions - remember that cold night in Winnipeg?)
	BQ50 Here is the Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay, Alaska radio shack.
	EO26 Antenna installation at EO26
	Aurora Beacon Six meter aurora beacon
	Beacon Components This is the hardware that drives the EO26wn six meter au beacon
	Poker Flat Riometer What an array this is! It is a handsome series of antennas that measure galactic noise. This puts the Canopus Riometers in second chair (sorry John and Fokke, you were first, but this is spectacular).
	Polar Bear Watch When the Russian boat dropped us off on a remote island North of Spitzbergen Terje (JW3OHA) gave me a rifle to "ward off" any polar bears. Their instructions were not to shoot the bear directly, but to aim in front of him to "kick-up dirt" to scare him off. Thank goodness, no shots were fired. Terje also told me prior to our arrival in Svalbard, that the gun would not be for polar bear, but "for your own protection." To this day, I still do not know what he meant (my xyl was not too keen on the idea either).
	Museum USSR Museum
	NOAA's KL7 CDA Station What a complex facility this is, notice the array to the immediate left of the author!
	JQ78CD QTH Mountaintop near what is now Berentsberg, Svalbard.
	Wildlife Danger One of the dangers in remote Svalbard.
	Russian Satellite Station Note the elevation of the antennae
	Russian Rabbit Ears Homebrew television antenna inside Russian home
	The Ulitmate Mobile Here appears to be the remains of a Cold War Era relic. I found this in early 1996 in Northern VE4. I believe it may have come from the now defunct Gypsumville Pinetree Line Radar Station located nearby.
	Fine Autumn Day Life at 70 North, 148 West
	Russian Station Note the manufacturer
	Beautiful
	The home Of The VE8BY Beacon
	VE8BY/b Antenna
	144 mhz Mobile Array I built this for the auroral zone in the summer of 2000. It consists of four (4) 2M7's and will rotate 360 degrees with 60 degrees of elevation. It can apply 400 watts of power, and receive at nearly a .5db noise figure. With roughly 16dbd of gain, it is quite the eyesore. Nonetheless, Kim is reluctant to travel long distances with it, as it gathers constant attention, of which is not always positive in nature.




	Looking East At Minus 40 Near Midnight
	Abandoned Maritime Beacon On Hudson Bay Coast A remote piece of land indeed! This would be an excellent location for a VHF DXpedition. Located in EO37, it is only reached by air or sea. Unfortunately, it contains a large number of Polar Bears awaiting the pack ice. Summer is not much better, as the area is infested with large female bears and their young offspring. Care would have to be taken while assembling the station!
	Spring Break-up On The Nelson River Here is Kim and I near the mouth of the Nelson near the Hudson Bay coast.
	Remains Of R.C.A.F. Airfield In Northwest VE3 Preserved by it's remoteness, this airfield is just about gone. It is hard to imagine B-17's rolling thru these trees. Back in 1940 this place was bustling with Lend-Lease aircraft to Great Britain.
	The Silent Sentinel Here is the 144mhz beacon by it's lonesome. It is quite the machine! Sending at 15wpm and 100 watts, it runs on four deep-cycle batteries in parallel.
	High latitude research center Pictured here is Shawn (VE4SPT) Peters and Jeff at the Aurora Center in Gillam. One can clearly see the ASI camera, and Meridian Scanning Photometer located just below us. Shawn has numerous duties controlling data from various agencies for the aurora. Among those parties located here are the Canadian Space Agency, NASA, and the University of Calgary, just to name a few. The site is full of riometers, magnetometers, cameras and whatnot, all up-linked to Ottawa. Shawn is also the caretaker of the EO26 beacon. His help in the previous years has been outstanding.
	144 mhz Drone I have often wondered what might be the expression on anyones face who comes in contact with this for the first time with no explanation? (one must keep in mind the remoteness of Northern Canada) Note: There should be no humans within fifty miles of this antenna. (I can just imagine what they think of all that beeping!)