The beacons transmit every three minutes, day and night. This table gives the minute and second of the start of the first transmission within the hour for each beacon on each frequency. A transmission consists of the callsign of the beacon sent at 22 words per minute followed by four one-second dashes. The callsign and the first dash are sent at 100 watts. The remaining dashes are sent at 10 watts, 1 watt and 0.1 watts.
The actual starting time of each transmission is approximately twenty milliseconds
after the nominal time due to the keying delay of the transmitter.
Equipment used at each beacon site includes a
Kenwood
TS-50S transmitter,
a Cushcraft R-5 vertical antenna,
a
Trimble Navigation Acutime™ GPS
receiver and a controller built by the NCDXF.
For more information, see The
NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Network by John G. Troster and Robert S. Fabry, QST,
October 1994 pp. 31-33 and November 1994 pp. 49-51, The NCDXF/IARU International
Beacon Project by John G. Troster and Robert S. Fabry, QST, September 1997 pp. 47-48,
or contact the Northern California DX Foundation, P.O. Box 1328, Los Altos, CA 94023-1328, USA.
| Slot | DX Entity | Call | 14.09920 | 18.10920 | 21.14920 | 24.92920 | 28.19920 | Operator | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Nations | 4U1UN | 00:00 | 00:10 | 00:20 | 00:30 | 00:40 | UNRC | OK |
| 2 | Canada | VE8AT | 00:10 | 00:20 | 00:30 | 00:40 | 00:50 | RAC | Callsign to change |
| 3 | United States | W6WX | 00:20 | 00:30 | 00:40 | 00:50 | 01:00 | NCDXF | OK |
| 4 | Hawaii | KH6WO | 00:30 | 00:40 | 00:50 | 01:00 | 01:10 | NOARG, HARC | No output on 18 and 24 MHz |
| 5 | New Zealand | ZL6B | 00:40 | 00:50 | 01:00 | 01:10 | 01:20 | NZART | OK |
| 6 | Australia | VK6RBP | 00:50 | 01:00 | 01:10 | 01:20 | 01:30 | WIA | OK |
| 7 | Japan | JA2IGY | 01:00 | 01:10 | 01:20 | 01:30 | 01:40 | JARL | OK |
| 8 | Russia | RR9O | 01:10 | 01:20 | 01:30 | 01:40 | 01:50 | SRR | OK |
| 9 | Hong Kong | VR2HK | 01:20 | 01:30 | 01:40 | 01:50 | 02:00 | CRSA, HARTS | Off air |
| 10 | Sri Lanka | 4S7B | 01:30 | 01:40 | 01:50 | 02:00 | 02:10 | RSSL | Off air |
| 11 | South Africa | ZS6DN | 01:40 | 01:50 | 02:00 | 02:10 | 02:20 | ZS6DN | OK |
| 12 | Kenya | 5Z4B | 01:50 | 02:00 | 02:10 | 02:20 | 02:30 | ARSK | OK |
| 13 | Israel | 4X6TU | 02:00 | 02:10 | 02:20 | 02:30 | 02:40 | IARC | OK |
| 14 | Finland | OH2B | 02:10 | 02:20 | 02:30 | 02:40 | 02:50 | SRAL | OK |
| 15 | Madeira | CS3B | 02:20 | 02:30 | 02:40 | 02:50 | 00:00 | ARRM | Sometimes garbled |
| 16 | Argentina | LU4AA | 02:30 | 02:40 | 02:50 | 00:00 | 00:10 | RCA | OK |
| 17 | Peru | OA4B | 02:40 | 02:50 | 00:00 | 00:10 | 00:20 | RCP | Off air |
| 18 | Venezuela | YV5B | 02:50 | 00:00 | 00:10 | 00:20 | 00:30 | RCV | OK |