UKT - 208kHz - Quakertown, PA





UKT



Not an easy beacon to find; nature has taken it unto its own. Tucked away down an oblique and overgrown pathway, some half a mile south down Rock Hill Rd. from Rt. 313 to the east of Q-town, the beacon is in a land time forgot. No apologies for the photographs - exactly how obvious and outstanding are 'phone poles in a forest?

The antenna is a substantial twin-wire 'T' some 40ft. high, and some 120ft. long or so, and likely has a decent ground system under it; 'UKT' gets out pretty well.

My buddy Karl, being that we'd just gone together to a nearby hamfest, came along for the ride to visit this beacon, good-naturedly but nonetheless somewhat bemused. Although a ham, and a private pilot, the concept of 'collecting' beacons was a bit of a struggle for him, and he drew comparisons with train-spotters as a frame of reference, expressing how they were totally loopy, too. As it happens, finding 'UKT' was a pretty good hunt, and Karl handled the navigation to the neighbourhood through the wilds in excellent fashion, whilst I leapt out of the car sporadically DF'ing the beast. The wild hunch (with the radio begging for mercy, totally overloaded and thus *very* close to the site) to crash off into the undergrowth to find the antenna not fifty feet away - yet invisible - was a worthy climax. I think Karl 'got it' at that point. Poor bugger.

Some other pictures:

  • The other pole (extreme top left), and the transmitter hut.
  • Antenna 'T'.





    © Steve Dove, W3EEE, 2003,4,5