Messages

1

General Radio Discussion / Re: List of Latin American shortwave stations from 1992

« on: May 05, 2024, 1622 UTC »

Hey All,

I went through the info and was able to pull out quite a few nuggets re stations that I heard way back then.

It is absolutely amazing how many were on the air then .

 If I recall, a number of Canadians also used to simulcast on 49 M, 1 or 2 still do this now.

I also used to hear Germans  on 49 when I lived in Germany, some Europeans cars had 49M in the car stereos.

A bit OT, but  I also used to Springbok Radio South Africa  on 90 M ( or MAYBE 120 M). If I recall, there was at least one other South African on 90 M ( or MAYBE 120 M ) anybody remember  that one ?

I never had much (or any) luck on the Pacific Tropicals though.

I greatly appreciate this info being posted.

NQC

2

Equipment / Re: WQVR(AM) Is Granted CP to Use HEBA Antenna at Night. RW rip...

« on: May 04, 2024, 1546 UTC »

Hey ThaDood,

Cool article. And I though X band top hat antennas were funky !

I just hope that it's not too little too late. Most tin can stations  are operating on a shoestring budget and may only be close to breaking even (or are even  gradually losing dough and are kept afloat by a  rich Sugar daddy. I know of two of these offhand ).

Even if they WANTED to experiment with new technologies, could they afford it ?

NQC

3

Equipment / Re: MFJ is closing down

« on: May 04, 2024, 1428 UTC »

Hey All,

MFJ offered a lot of cool toys at good prices, but hit and miss re QC. If you didn't mind the hassle of a a reship sometimes , eventually you would wind up with a working product at a decent price. My ant tuner had a bad  solder joint I simply touched it up. It shouldn't have happened but I knew   it was "buyer beware" before I went in.

I just have to laugh every time I hear this code  "argument".

I used to copy  some of the most FOUL mouthed operators and drunk jammers  WAY back in the 60's, when there was a CODE  requirement . There was a BIG clique of these attention hungry clowns on 3885 AM.

I have PERSONALLY heard it from 2 all the way down to 160.

There are ALWAYS going to be bad apples  no matter where you go. A code requirement never was and never will be a "screening mechanism " to keep the idiots out ! ! !.

FWIW,  The  best and most   EXTREMELY knowledgeable  hams (inc. Extras, ie folks employed in cutting edge /classified electronics ) I knew all  started out on CB  and then  "graduated" up to amateur radio.

And yes, CB, for the most part,  is  a playground for RF  simpletons. But like it or not , most  hams started out there.So we have to (grudgingly) "give" CB at least that -  it was an easy venue for the "first step".

Whatever.

NQC

4

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6960 AM 0400 UTC 4 MAY 2024

« on: May 04, 2024, 1412 UTC »

Hey All,

STRONG signal/great audio in occasional thunder storm QRN.  On MA SDR at  0200 UTC.Super Tramp "Take the Long Way Home" and other tunes.

Unid -   same outlet as SWL's report above  ?? Not sure.

NQC

5

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Re: Pacifica Network welcomes & interviews Part 15 AM'er in Fairmont, WV! And???

« on: May 04, 2024, 1408 UTC »

Hey Thadood,

Don't know what's up, no good today on 2 tries.

NQC

6

General Radio Discussion / Re: Me??? Several radios...

« on: May 01, 2024, 1637 UTC »

Hey ThaDood,

 "How the mighty hath fallen" here-

Currently I am using a Dx 440 and a Sangean 803a ( both are pretty much the same rig), CC Pocket radio ( nice) , Boy's 2 transistor reflex and a few other pocket radios.  I have an indoor square around 33 ft total length and 2 Select-A Tenna loops.

Back in the day it was a BIG antenna farm on a flat Apt roof, HF and 6 M ham SSB , Icom 70, Icom R-71a, Icom 735 , 40 M dipole, 90 ft end fed , 2 M SSB /beam, 145 Mc /220 Mc/440 Mc/   902 Mc (Moto) / 1290 Mc  Icom  FM rigs ,  etc, etc. Now all long gone , ham expired- no point  of renewing .

Maybe a few small home brew  receivers in the works (regen , Xtal ,etc )IF "life" gives me the time ( which I have precious little of right now ).

It was a good run though.

de NQC

7

General Radio Discussion / Re: List of Latin American shortwave stations from 1992

« on: May 01, 2024, 1625 UTC »

Hey avh,

Again thanks for the info, I will go through it when times allows.

de NQC

8

General Radio Discussion / Re: List of Latin American shortwave stations from 1992

« on: April 29, 2024, 1439 UTC »

 Hey n2avh,

Thank you SO much for posting this. I used to be a HUGE tropical Dxer way back in the day.There is SO much material there ,  it's going to take  a few pleasant hours to really go through it . I immediately  saw some of  the stations I had copied.

Yup, really sad, only a tiny few left.

HF in general has really dried up a LOT (with a degree of exception on the ham  bands). Some nights it's only 3 or 6 of the same  old  broadcasters  .

FWIW, my wife is from Peru and has a "bit" of on air experience.

NQC

9

General Radio Discussion / Re: WWVB (60 kHz) Service Degradation 07 APR 2024

« on: April 29, 2024, 1416 UTC »

Hey All,

There doesn't SEEM to be any reduced reliability here at my QTH.I use two Radio Shack 63-968 clocks side by side ( with  the ends of ferrite touching each other ), in the HOPE that both bars couple and perhaps give a better receive signal level .I am not sure if this concept actually plays out in reality, but I had two of them anyways, so why not.

Years ago, I had a long conversation with the WWV engineers.They mentioned Florida and MA ( especially  EASTERN MA- where I live- it figures ) as "trouble spots ".

And   that was when 'VB was running at FULL  capability.

But under   the current reduced WWVB capability, I am having NO problems. So if I am doing well , in THEORY , I would THINK  the rest of the country
( expect maybe FL ?)  SHOULD be doing "OK".

Side note:   Years ago there was talk going around about establishing a second 60 Kc transmitter at the old VOA site in Greenville, NC. I  suggested that they use the old 20 KC WWVL call sign  , which I am sure they already thought of anyways. Obviously  that idea never got off the ground back then.Now WWV is barely getting funding and the WWVB antenna fix doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Nice.

Colorado can experience some VERY violent weather and this (IMHO) extremely important service is now only running on one lung. If the remaining array  goes down, do they just throw in the towel and render millions of clocks useless ?  This would have a VERY  LARGE negative impact .

NQC

10

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Re: Pacifica Network welcomes & interviews Part 15 AM'er in Fairmont, WV! And???

« on: April 28, 2024, 1251 UTC »

Thadood,

For some reason my messages are not going out ( did 3 attempts ).

Good post.

Sorry,

NQC

11

MW Loggings / Re: ZNS-1 (Nassau, The Bahamas) 1540 AM 2359 UTC 2 MAR 2023

« on: March 22, 2024, 1953 UTC »

Hey Pinto,

Interesting note re ZIZ, It wouldn't surprise me at all if St. Kitts is  off AM now.

I am kind of amazed that ANY Caribbeans are still active on AM (!). If I recall correctly, more than one AM antenna system has been trashed by hurricanes.

 I am also curious as to what  coverage range  these island stations are really looking for. "Generally", I believe that any serious  Dx coverage  may be  viewed by management  ( and maybe even the engineers) as kind of a "waste".

As much as I LOVED Dxing the Caribbean AM'ers, I never really understood why they couldn't just use a 200 Ft multi bay FM tower , which would mostly be  operating over a generally   flat     environment.

A beefy 200 ft tower would seem to be  "harder " take down  compared to a similarly heavily guyed  300 to 400 ft one .

I am not sure re making a comparison of a tall AM vs a shorter FM  and their expected field strengths with respect to any mountainous area coverage.

Perhaps ( way back when) , some of the leadership of the island wanted a local station that also had  an element of an "external" service or presence, so that the island would be able to "make itself known " outside the local area   ("prestige "? ). 

 Since SO few folks now listen to AM, such a concept today wouldn't seem to be worth  the trouble on AM  re big electricity  bills,tall tower "vulnerability" and low listenership.

 Frankly I can't even see how most of the tin can AM'ers here in the US manage to stay on the air (re making a  profit), even without as much of  severe weather threat  to the towers.10 or 15% of the AMer's here make 90% of the money.

I may be full of beans, but just spitballing.

NQC

12

MW Loggings / Re: ZNS-1 (Nassau, The Bahamas) 1540 AM 2359 UTC 2 MAR 2023

« on: March 21, 2024, 1601 UTC »

Hey All,

ZNS-1 was one that I have been wondering about over the last year or so re whether they were still on the air. Didn't ever log them though.   I was going to do a dedicated DXpedition to the South coast of MA to try and grab them, but "life " got in the way .

WAY (WAY!) back in the day from MA ( some on my  crystal set ) I was able to log  "some " Caribbeans - from  really  fuzzy memory : Caymans,Jamaica, Turks/Caicos,  St Kitts , LOTS of  Cubans and maybe one or two others.

Apparently ZIZ 555 Kc St. Kitts put in a good  split frequency signal to NYC. Folks back in the stone age (using analog car radios) used to be able to cruise around the Big Apple and blast ZIZ . I am not sure if they have now QSY'ed to a 10 Kc allocation.

Due to local sometimes severe QRM/QRN  from  recently  apt. building electronic systems (and also  other factors), my days of LONG AM Dx from my local QTH  may be pretty   much done. I can still copy "some" (SOME)  of the  Eastern  US big guns ( big whoop ). Working on  reducing or "solving "  some of these  technical issues ,as time allows.

Thankfully my favorite music station  (WMEX  1510 , 100 watts night , omni, around 6-8 mi ) is pretty good ,but I am working on some outboard audio tweeking to bring it up  a bit better.

My # 2 music station ,   MA regional WCRN 830, is also "OK" , but not fantastic either .
 
I USED to do awesome  here , but not so much  now. I suppose  I can now  look at it as a "challenge" . 


K

13

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 4185 USB 0125 UTC 1 JAN 2024

« on: January 01, 2024, 0302 UTC »

Hey All,

Off suddenly after Fibber MCGee
 
Got in late, anybody get an ID  ?

NQC

14

MW Loggings / NYC- Boston- NH Daytime "Study"

« on: April 29, 2023, 1524 UTC »

Hey All,

Yesterday I took  a road trip to NH to the big ham radio flea.

I left MY Boston QTH (Bos -NYC  215 Mi) at around 0700 local .

Notes :

Stayed with 880/WCBS  on car radio the entire way up. Initially  I encountered a good deal of 1st adjacent QRM from local WAMG 890.The car radio seems to play kind of broad. This QRM    gradually went away as I proceeded North away from Boston,as expected .CBS's occasional ( sometimes deep) QSB also pretty much went away while  traveling North- ODD .

AT Deerfield ,NH (277 Mi to NYC ) 0900 local  in huge RF quiet open field :

660 WFAN fair to good.
710 WOR fair.
770 WABC fair to poor.
880 WCBS  VERY GOOD.FWIW Their "fringe" pattern contour is "depicted"  as being on the MA/RI border.So QUITE a ways beyond that !
1010 WINS - nothing heard.   WCNL  NH 10 Kw from a "short" tower  copied instead.
1130 WBBR poor.

Kind of cool to receive and compare  day time signals over some of the least conductive ground in the US (although admittedly , all @ 50 Kw). I am sure it's not  an overly spectacular distance record  , but was fun.

I wonder how much further North before before these (especially WCBS ) start to get into trouble.

K

15

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WTF Radio Worldwide 6920 USB 0102 UTC 30 May 2022

« on: May 31, 2022, 1826 UTC »

Hey All,

I also copied WTF on short indoor wire and an ATS 803a in a sometimes noisy apt.

Storming in at times , even to my very “ humble “ receiving set up.

“ I Went Back to Ohio” song absolutely  came bombing in.

Other times up and down in QSB.

Music set at a good level, but a tiny bit more punch on the live mic would have helped.

Must have used a SERIOUS amount of juice on a great antenna.

FWIW, another  pirate also copied a few weeks ago, but no ID, too weak/ noisy.



K