KC1ABL · FIELD GUIDE · AUTUMN 2026
PLATES I – VI

A Field Guide to the Signals over Chester, New Hampshire

as observed from the barn of amateur station KC1ABL, grid FN42jx

discone, at the ridge2 m, in the attic
the barn, more or less

A barn in southern New Hampshire turns out to be good habitat for radio. From one attic antenna and one discone at the ridge, the station records six species with some regularity. Each is identified here the way a birder would: by where it lives, what it sounds like, and how often it turns up.

Field marks are given as observed. Ranges are what this station has actually logged, not what the textbooks promise. Where a signal carries people's voices, we note that it was heard and leave it at that: this guide publishes no audio and no transcripts.

Want to see one in the wild? Send an APRS message with the word "help" to KC1ABL-10 and the Lodge BBS will answer.

PLATE I · KC1ABL-10

The Position Packet

Packetus positionalis
Habitat
144.390 MHz, FM. The barn attic.
Call
A 1200-baud warble, over in under a second.
Seen
Every 30 minutes, from a Yaesu FT-1900R at 10 W.
Range
Usually heard directly by an IGate. Has been carried two hops, to the digipeater on Mt Agamenticus in York, Maine.
Marks
PHG3140 in the beacon. Receive-only IGate: it carries others to the internet and never transmits for them.
5 W did just as well. Settled on 10.
PLATE II · HF

The Eight-Tone Chirper

Octotonus quindecimalis
Habitat
14.074 MHz and its cousins, upper sideband.
Call
Eight tones stepping for 15 seconds, then a pause.
Seen
Whenever a band is open. The decoders follow the ionosphere.
Gear
Xiegu G90 on a wire.
OBSERVED · LAST 24 HOURS
Asking PSK Reporter…
PLATE III · 1090 MHz

The Transponder

Transpondens altivolans
Habitat
1090 MHz, overhead.
Call
Fast pulses, too quick to hear. Aircraft announce who and where they are.
Seen
All day, on the approaches to Manchester and Boston.
Gear
RTL-SDR and readsb, at the mast top, merged with two friends' receivers.
OVERHEAD NOW
Listening on 1090…
PLATE IV · 915 MHz

The Mesh Chirp

Chirpus reticulatus
Habitat
915 MHz, slow and stubborn.
Call
Rising chirps that cut through the noise floor.
Seen
Solar nodes around the property, part of NHMesh.
Gear
Meshtastic and MeshCore.
THE NODES, NOW
Checking the mesh…
PLATE V · 118–137 MHz

The Airband Voice

Aeronautica modulata
Habitat
118 to 137 MHz, AM.
Call
Clipped, businesslike voices.
Seen
All day, via the discone, five RTL-SDRs and a Uniden BCD436HP.
Note
Listened to, never published. Below is only how often the receivers logged a transmission.
HOW BUSY · LAST 24 HOURS
Counting…
PLATE VI · OVERHEAD

The Satellite Pass

Orbitus transiens
Habitat
Low earth orbit, 400 to 800 km up. The ISS, and a handful of amateur satellites with FM and linear transponders.
Call
A voice or a beacon that rises out of the noise, Doppler-shifting as it goes, then fades.
Seen
Several times a day, if you know when to look. Passes below 10° are left out.
NEXT PASSES OVER FN42jx · EASTERN TIME
Working out orbits…
LIFE LIST · LAST 24 HOURS

Who carried our beacons

An IGate hears us on the air and puts us on the internet. APRS-IS keeps only the first copy, so each sighting goes to whichever station got there first.

  • Checking APRS-IS…
ALSO SIGHTED

Heard from the barn

Stations our IGate was first to carry, with what they say about themselves.

  • Checking APRS-IS…
RANGE MAP

Where the heard ones live

Positions as each station reports them, drawn around the barn. North is up; rings are in miles.

The attic antenna sits 15 feet from the discone and a bit lower. Everything on this map came in through it.
FIELD NOTES

Our beacons, as logged

The last few times KC1ABL-10 reached APRS-IS, and how it got there. Times are Eastern.

TimeGated byPathBeacon
Checking APRS-IS…