2011 ARRL Frequency Measurement Test
The object of the test was to measure as closely as you can the exact transmit frequency of four stations on both coasts in a time span of about 45 minutes. There were seven measurements in all. Conditions were not good. The west coast stations were weak and the signals had a lot of doppler which made exact frequency measurement a matter of chance ( or expertise I didn't have! ). My accuracy goal was to get within 100 millihertz (0.10 Hz). I met that on two. I was within 1.0 Hz on all seven which was good enough for the "green line" in the ARRL data report.
My results
| Station |
Transmitted |
Measured |
Difference |
Err ppx |
|
| K5CM |
3575607.73 Hz |
3575607.63 Hz |
- 0.10 Hz |
2.83E-08 |
|
7054511.27 Hz |
7054511.01 Hz |
- 0.26 Hz |
3.69E-08 |
| W8KSE |
3575648.60 Hz |
3575648.77 Hz |
+ 0.17 Hz |
4.75E-08 |
|
7054551.30 Hz |
7054550.73 Hz |
- 0.57 Hz |
8.08E-08 |
| W6OQI |
3575695.66 Hz |
3575695.74 Hz |
+ 0.08 Hz |
2.28E-08 |
|
7054586.57 Hz |
7054585.80 Hz |
- 0.77 Hz |
1.09E-07 |
| WA6ZTY |
7054576.72 Hz |
7054576.04 Hz |
- 0.68 Hz |
9.64E-08 |
|
| Average |
|
|
|
6.02E-08 |
Link to full results
Here is the link to the ARRL web site with the full results: http://www.b4h.net/fmt/fmtresults201104.php
Equipment Used
Icom IC-756pro3 Receiver
SignaLink USB external "soundcard"
Trimble Thunderbolt GPSDXO
Sectrum Lab 2.7 signal processing software
Calibration
WWVB at 60kHz
Thunderbolt at 10mHz
Calculations
A XLS sheet that shows the data reduction for one of the tests (W8KSE 40 meters)
IS HERE
Click cells D3 D4 D7 and F7 to see the formulas used to calculate the unknown frequency.