The Transatlantic on 2200 Meters

here has been much excitement below our so-called top band at 1.8 MHz. At less than one-tenth this frequency, near 136 kHz, you will find many amateurs enjoying QSOs using a variety of modes. Although US and Canadian amateurs need special permission to transmit here, there is a 2200 meter amateur band in many European countries and in New Zealand. Aside from its low frequency, the most striking thing about the 135.8-138.8 kHz band is its narrow width—only 2.1 kHz, barely wide enough to admit a single SSB transmission. Huge sources of interference are present in the band. In Greece, the Navy transmitter SXV operates on 135.8 kHz, and in Canada another Navy transmitter (CFH) is on 137.0 kHz. Just outside the band is the German station DCF39 on 138.83 kHz. These stations have effective radiated power (ERP) levels in the tens of kilowatts and can be heard on receivers thousands of miles away. At 100 kHz, there are the megawatt LORAN (long range aid to navigation) transmitters with their perpetual clatter, and above 150 kHz we have the commercial long wave band with powerful megawatt plus stations. How then can this band be of any use to the amateur experimenter? Amateurs have traditionally overcome many obstacles in achieving their goals. When regulators restricted us to the “useless wavelengths” below 200 meters, we spanned the globe. Now that we’re slowly being let above 200 meters again, we have used some modern technology and old-fashioned persistence to achieve amazing feats in this challenging environment on the long waves. We have even used the high power interference sources to our advantage.