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Shortwave Pirate Radio In North America And Around The World, And Other Signals That Go Bump In The Night
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Okay fair enough but to what degree of accuracy are we talking about? I'm a stickler for precision but in my measurements I'm not really concerned about a SWR of 1.03 vs 1.09...
I'm not sure this is completely true Brian. I've calibrated mine for 100khz to 1.5 ghz and it seems pretty consistent across the spectrum. Perhaps if you're looking for extremely precise measurements then the specific calibration may be necessary; however, I can only speak for the NanoVNA-F model.
FWIW, I haven't used it on the HF spectrum that much -- but again, it seems consistent across entire range for me.
I think the key is proper calibration (performing all of the required measurements) and then you're good to go.
They're all over E-Bay but yes it generally comes with everything you need to start...
FWIW here's the model I got: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vector-Antenna-Network-Analyzer-50K-1GHz-Real-Time-NanoVNA-F-VNA-VHF-UHF-US-Ship/164051384904
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62
SDR - Software Defined Radio / Re: First SDR receiver
« on: February 10, 2020, 0010 UTC »
Yes Perseus has it's own proprietary software written for it. The author came out with a 2.0 update a few years ago and it's plenty good enough for me. The Perseus also has it's own network so users can host their units online and other users can remote into that Perseus. These are all over the world. It's not perfect but it works fairly well.
The problem with XYZ SDR is that most don't want to be open source -- or open to others using their hardware. RSP2 only allows HDSDR support -- at least it did when I owned one. It didn't allow for 3rd party software support.
I still break them down into HF vs VHF/UHF since that's how they started.
If you go here and look at the top shortwave receivers then you'll see the Perseus still very near the top of the list: http://www.sherweng.com/table.html
This table is trying to show which receivers have the best chance at pulling out weak signals and/or the ability to distinguish two valid signals very close to each other.
I haven't used all of the SDRs out there so it's hard for me to say which is best. With the RSP2 you'll be limited to whatever software they support.
Give it a chance and see how you like it.
The problem with XYZ SDR is that most don't want to be open source -- or open to others using their hardware. RSP2 only allows HDSDR support -- at least it did when I owned one. It didn't allow for 3rd party software support.
I still break them down into HF vs VHF/UHF since that's how they started.
If you go here and look at the top shortwave receivers then you'll see the Perseus still very near the top of the list: http://www.sherweng.com/table.html
This table is trying to show which receivers have the best chance at pulling out weak signals and/or the ability to distinguish two valid signals very close to each other.
I haven't used all of the SDRs out there so it's hard for me to say which is best. With the RSP2 you'll be limited to whatever software they support.
Give it a chance and see how you like it.
63
SDR - Software Defined Radio / Re: First SDR receiver
« on: February 09, 2020, 1545 UTC »
Yes the SDRUno software is what I was referring to. It also can be used with HDSDR which is OK but it's still kind of meh to me. I was spoiled early on. I really haven't seen anything that would make me switch from my Perseus SDR.
64
SDR - Software Defined Radio / Re: First SDR receiver
« on: February 09, 2020, 1448 UTC »
I bought the RSP2 when it first came out. Honestly I wasn't that impressed. The software was the deal-breaker for me. I think for people who haven't really played with SDRs before it looks fabulous but for those of us who have had SDRs before it's hit or miss. It probably comes down to what we started with and what we get used to over time.
I will admit that for the price, the RSP2 is a pretty good deal but that software... ugh.
It's starting to change now that SDRs are becoming more wideband but yes, I think I'm happy to have a SDR for HF and others for higher frequencies. The latter requires a NOAA + FM notch filter for me. Also I find myself using filters for specific frequency bands. This lets me crank up the gain on the SDR without any intermod.
I will admit that for the price, the RSP2 is a pretty good deal but that software... ugh.
It's starting to change now that SDRs are becoming more wideband but yes, I think I'm happy to have a SDR for HF and others for higher frequencies. The latter requires a NOAA + FM notch filter for me. Also I find myself using filters for specific frequency bands. This lets me crank up the gain on the SDR without any intermod.
65
Shortwave Broadcast / 6900khz Sound of Hope
« on: February 09, 2020, 1434 UTC »
Odd tick marks every 2 seconds on 6900khz AM. Not sure if this is new or not but I don't recall seeing it.
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Utility / Re: US Air Force MARS net 4623.5 USB 14:32 UTC 15 Jan 2020
« on: February 05, 2020, 0225 UTC »
Yeah MT-63-1k was in big use a few years ago and it worked well IMHO. Not sure why they dumped it. Perhaps it didn't work well with weaker signals and/or poor conditions.
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Utility / Re: US Air Force MARS net 4623.5 USB 14:32 UTC 15 Jan 2020
« on: February 04, 2020, 2012 UTC »
Most of the MARS 110A traffic is encrypted unless they're doing test transmissions with new users. The trick with 110A is you need to decode within about 2-3 secs of the transmission start or it can't sync properly.
Sorcerer works pretty well for the most part just be sure to add the ITA2 decoder so it'll be readable.
The encrypted traffic is just garbage upon output.
Sorcerer works pretty well for the most part just be sure to add the ITA2 decoder so it'll be readable.
The encrypted traffic is just garbage upon output.
68
Equipment / Re: Inexpensive VNA
« on: February 02, 2020, 0016 UTC »Cal for the band you are using never across the whole range as you'll have lots of errors.
Okay fair enough but to what degree of accuracy are we talking about? I'm a stickler for precision but in my measurements I'm not really concerned about a SWR of 1.03 vs 1.09...
69
Equipment / Re: Inexpensive VNA
« on: February 01, 2020, 1147 UTC »
Here's a quick demo of my comparison of the RTL-SDR and GPIOLabs FM Trap filters:
At quick glance it would easy to conclude the GPIO the winner but for me personally, the RTL-SDR performs better -- since I need the notching at the top-end of the FM broadcast band. The GPIO does a better job at the lower end. The RTL-SDR is a bit wider too.
At quick glance it would easy to conclude the GPIO the winner but for me personally, the RTL-SDR performs better -- since I need the notching at the top-end of the FM broadcast band. The GPIO does a better job at the lower end. The RTL-SDR is a bit wider too.
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Equipment / Re: Inexpensive VNA
« on: February 01, 2020, 1139 UTC »It must be calibrated for the frequency range that you using it on or the results may not be accurate. Once calibrated, it shouldn't require re-calibration unless you need to use it on a different band.
I'm not sure this is completely true Brian. I've calibrated mine for 100khz to 1.5 ghz and it seems pretty consistent across the spectrum. Perhaps if you're looking for extremely precise measurements then the specific calibration may be necessary; however, I can only speak for the NanoVNA-F model.
FWIW, I haven't used it on the HF spectrum that much -- but again, it seems consistent across entire range for me.
I think the key is proper calibration (performing all of the required measurements) and then you're good to go.
71
Equipment / Re: Inexpensive VNA
« on: February 01, 2020, 0145 UTC »I was watching a video where it shows what looks to be a tiny SMA 50 ohm dummy load for calibration. Does anyone know if this is included in the package and if not where to pick one up?
They're all over E-Bay but yes it generally comes with everything you need to start...
FWIW here's the model I got: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vector-Antenna-Network-Analyzer-50K-1GHz-Real-Time-NanoVNA-F-VNA-VHF-UHF-US-Ship/164051384904
72
Propagation / Re: Poor conditions (noob)
« on: January 31, 2020, 1324 UTC »
HF conditions were super yesterday and seem to be really good this morning as well.
73
Equipment / Re: Wellbrook help
« on: January 31, 2020, 1313 UTC »
FWIW, I use LMR240 for my Wellbrook antennas and have never looked back. It's ideal for HF and is a relatively thin coax.
74
Equipment / Re: Inexpensive VNA
« on: January 31, 2020, 1311 UTC »
I have the NanoVNA-F model which is the 'upgraded' version. It has a larger screen and better shielding. It also has the 1.5 Ghz update and works very well. I almost spent $2000 on a proper Spectrum Analyzer (with TG) but now I don't have to! I can test all of my filters and antennas.
75
Utility / Re: Boeing Everett & Seattle w-king Boeing 298 SELCAL 11306 khz USB 22:24 UTC 30 Jan
« on: January 31, 2020, 1306 UTC »
Hi Jasmine,
Boeing usually has several test flights per day. I see this daily from my Flightaware ADS-B home page: https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/cnick6
They don't always communicate on HF so good catch. Signals were quite good yesterday and look to be good this morning as well.
Cheers,
-Nick
Boeing usually has several test flights per day. I see this daily from my Flightaware ADS-B home page: https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/cnick6
They don't always communicate on HF so good catch. Signals were quite good yesterday and look to be good this morning as well.
Cheers,
-Nick
