Messages

316

General Radio Discussion / Re: TCS co-founder 'The Radical' lost to the rough seas of cancer

« on: February 21, 2018, 1707 UTC »

I feel like way too many people connected with shortwave pirating have been dying in the last couple of years. RIP, The Radical.

317

General Radio Discussion / Re: Sony to Exit Shortwave Receiver Market

« on: February 21, 2018, 1704 UTC »

There was a ICF-2010 Yahoo group, with a database of serials, and I had literally one of the very last ones ever made. I bought it from Universal around 2003 or 2004. I bought it when they posted that they had received their last shipment of them. I kept it in the original box. Then I stupidly sold it about 5 years ago on eBay. I have regretted that almost since the day I sent it off.

318

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / Re: BEER is on the air 13566.00

« on: February 08, 2018, 1839 UTC »

Later this spring/summer I'll get a properly nourished antenna in the air for this beacon. But I'm hoping someone might be able to catch it as it is now.

319

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / Re: BEER is on the air 13566.00

« on: February 08, 2018, 1613 UTC »

BEER is back on the air. I added a cap at C16 to move the freq up. BEER is now at 13566 KHz.

320

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720

« on: February 03, 2018, 0130 UTC »

BEER is off the air. The house cleaners took some extra liberties with my shack and somehow managed to destroy the beacon. Looks like the power cable got tangled in a vacuum and the board beaten up in the bristles. My bad for not getting it into a box and tucked away.

Hopefully back on the air soon when I can affect some repairs.

321

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720

« on: January 30, 2018, 1204 UTC »

Just wondering, how is a dipole "end fed"?

With a tuning fork.

322

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720

« on: January 28, 2018, 1339 UTC »

No reports yet. The beacon is on the air 24/7.

323

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / BEER is on the air 13566.00

« on: January 26, 2018, 0103 UTC »

BEER is a Black Cat Systems 22m beacon kit (see: https://blackcatsystems.com/rf-products/22_meter_band_part_15_beacon_kit.html) 13566 is the area-ish.

It is assembled and on the air, transmitting from the Boston suburbs. As of 1/25/2018 the antenna is an end-fed 20M dipole not far off the ground. It is outdoors, but not far above the ground right now. Not entirely ideal, but it's possible someone may hear this beacon. Antenna improvements when the weather is warmer.

Valid reception reports will be rewarded with a nice printed QSL card.  Submit reports to: beerusmaximus@gmail.com. An audio recording, SDR capture, or legitimate waterfall screen scrape will get you a card. Note, a postal mailing address is required to receive a card.

Once again, target frequency is 13566.0-ish.

324

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Newport Pirate Radio 5010 AM 2020 UTC Jan 4 2017

« on: January 04, 2018, 2125 UTC »

Joy Division at 2123 UTC. Moderate to heavy fading but peaks at S6-S7.

325

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Relay Station 5010 AM 2014 UTC 27 Dec 2017

« on: December 27, 2017, 2030 UTC »

Huge S9+20 signal in the Boston burbs. ID of "Pirate Radio Newport" playing Ace of Spades.

326

General Radio Discussion / Re: "Pirates Beware. Chairman Pai Is Coming For You"

« on: September 16, 2017, 1819 UTC »

To be fair, a pirate FM station in Boston (this one: http://bigcityfm.com/) has been a problem for a small, locally owned AM station (this one: http://www.wjib.org/) that was recently granted an FM translator license. Bob Bittner (owner of WJIB) is that farthest thing from a radio conglomerate and I'm pretty sure he makes almost no money, he runs his station (legally) because he loves radio. These are exactly the type of stations that pirates are wise to avoid causing interference to because it undermines the entire "radio conglomerates are evil" justification for pirating.

327

General Radio Discussion / Commission’s Pirate Crackdown Continues

« on: July 08, 2017, 0050 UTC »

If you operate an FM pirate in the US, I'd be taking a lot of extra caution at this point. It remains to be seen what the impact on HF pirating might be. My gut tells me that the uptick in enforcement is the result of a backlog of complaints from commercial broadcasters to a much more commercial-radio friendly FCC. I'd like to think this won't trickle down to HF hobby broadcasters, but something to keep an eye on...

It seems we’ve been reporting more about the FCC taking aim at illegal broadcasters under new Chairman Ajit Pai, especially the past few weeks. Thursday, another flurry of pirates were notified they had 10 days to end their operation and respond to the FCC to explain what they were doing operating radio stations without a government license.

http://radioink.com/2017/07/07/commissions-pirate-crackdown-continues/

328

General Radio Discussion / Why am I Still Listening to British Radio in the U.S.?

« on: July 08, 2017, 0042 UTC »

Interesting perspective. I personally listen to a lot of London area stations on their web streams when I want some music discovery. Rinse FM,  Sub FM, etc.

As a born and bred Londoner living in the city, I would listen to the radio for around four hours per day during the week and a little less on the weekend..

..But last year I moved with my job to Brooklyn, and I have yet to hear the same quality of broadcasting in the U.S. Being such a heavy consumer of radio, and a fan of so many American artists, I was looking forward to switching my allegiance to the famous U.S. hip-hop stations...

..But when I listen to HOT 97, Power 105.1 or any similar stations, all I hear are commercials, boring chat, and a few Drake and Migos songs played on repeat..

Full article:

http://pigeonsandplanes.com/in-depth/2017/07/radio-uk-vs-us-bbc-npr-kcrw-interview

329

General Radio Discussion / Re: New boards on the HFU

« on: March 12, 2017, 1722 UTC »

I for one vote for very careful consideration of new categories/sub-forums. Sometimes you run across forums that have a comical number of specific sub-forums. I think it dilutes the forums and folks have a hard time finding one another.

330

General Radio Discussion / The history of UK pirate radio – and why it’s still here

« on: January 20, 2017, 1944 UTC »

Drive around some parts of London today and you’re still liable to hear mainstream radio broadcasts drowned out by fleeting bursts of unfamiliar music.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/34394/1/pirate-radio-history-and-future?curator=MusicREDEF