Earth Current Communications
Information about the Earth Current Communications experiments in the LF and MF bands carried out at VK2XV.
Introduction
ECC stands for - 'Earth Conduction Communications' or 'Earth Current Communications'.
The fundamental principle of ECC utilises the inherent "resistance" of the earth. This principle has been used for more than 100 years and is by no means a new technique. The interest here lies in applying modern DSP techniques to extend the electromagnetic radiation (i.e., radio) range of this communication mode in the LF and MF bands. Note that this is different to the predominantly conduction mode commonly employed at lower frequencies in earth current communications.
Archive of Past Activities
- Introduction to ECC: Information about Earth Current Communications.
- ECC Technical: Information about the theory of Earth Current Communications.
- ECC Experiments: Information about experiments associated with Earth Current Communications.
Dedication
G0AKN - John Taylor was a contemporary practitioner (circa 1998) of ECC at frequencies below 9kHz as well as 73kHz and 136kHz. Sadly John has passed away. His experiments can be found in this PDF file [470kBytes]. His work kindled my interest in ECC and his method of basic experimentation has set an good example to follow.
Prior Art
Although I have had an earth electrode antenna for many years it was only used for my 8975Hz VLF experiments and also general receiving duties. Others have used earth electrode antennas in the LF and MF bands before the experiments described here. As an example these posts on Roger's (G3XBM) blog here show the work he has done. Also Dimitrios's (VK1SV) work is a local (VK) example of the use of this mode. Dimitrios's experiments using earth electrodes is, AFAIK, the first in Australia on 136kHz.
Recent Work carried out at the VK2XV QTH
Details of more recent Earth Mode work carried out here and by others can be found on my 136kHz Activities Blog in these posts.