Topics

1

SDR - Software Defined Radio / Airspy HF+ Ranger | Next-Gen Model?

« on: April 15, 2024, 2222 UTC »

Skimming the Airspy HF library source code, a mention to an "AIRSPYHF_BOARD_ID_AIRSPYHF_RANGER_REV_A" was landed then removed on the same day in February.

https://github.com/airspy/airspyhf/commit/e1dcc17956157b15885a284d9c9b42ba5de7dc51
https://github.com/airspy/airspyhf/commit/39f06a4934a0707a35496cfabce45cfaf5c60d92

No more info found, though i did not dig much further than a couple of web searches.

There is at least one revision of the original Airspy HF+ Dual, plus there are at least two hardware revisions of the Airspy HF+ Discovery. The Airspy HF+ "Ranger" would appear to be something different.

enum airspyhf_board_id
{
   AIRSPYHF_BOARD_ID_UNKNOWN_AIRSPYHF = 0,
   AIRSPYHF_BOARD_ID_AIRSPYHF_REV_A = 1,
   AIRSPYHF_BOARD_ID_AIRSPYHF_DISCOVERY_REV_A = 2,
   AIRSPYHF_BOARD_ID_AIRSPYHF_RANGER_REV_A = 3,
   AIRSPYHF_BOARD_ID_INVALID = 0xFF,
};

2

MW Loggings / ZNS-3 Bahamas 810 AM 0318 UTC 2 APR 2024

« on: April 02, 2024, 0322 UTC »

Music at 0318z. SIO 544. S9+ via Airspy HF+D and 148' loop-on-ground. Typical multiple stations for an omnidirectional antenna on MW at night, but generally a decent to good copy.

Broadcasts from Freeport, Bahamas.

3

Shortwave Broadcast / Adventist World Radio 15515 0242 UTC 2 APR 2024

« on: April 02, 2024, 0247 UTC »

Religious format at 0242z. SIO 444. ~S8 via Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical. DSB sync tuning. A little fading but a decent to good copy.

Reportedly 100KW from Tajikistan.

4

Shortwave Broadcast / NHK World Radio Japan 17810 AM 0230 UTC 2 APR 2024

« on: April 02, 2024, 0236 UTC »

Music into talk format at ~0230z. SIO 333 trending 334. Occasional S6+ peaks via Airspy HF+D and 148' loop-on-ground. Reported area MUF is 23MHz. Some fades, but a ,generally decent to good copy.

5

Shortwave Broadcast / Radio Logos 4810 AM 1048 UTC 31 MAR 2024

« on: March 31, 2024, 1051 UTC »

Music at 1048z. SIO 534. ~S9+10 peaks via Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical. LSB ECSS tuning, as there is a digital UTE on the USB side. Static crashing, but a decent to good copy.

Transmitter is listed as located in Chazuta, Peru. Reportedly 1KW.

6

Shortwave Broadcast / Voice of the Strait 4900 AM 1038 UTC 31 MAR 2024

« on: March 31, 2024, 1046 UTC »

Talk format at 1038z. SIO 322 trending 321. ~S6 peaks via Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical. DSB sync tuning. Moderate to considerable static crashing. It is a rough copy, but it is there.

Transmitter is listed as located in Fuzhou, China. Reportedly 50KW beaming at Taiwan.

7

Shortwave Broadcast / Radio Cultural Amauta 4955 AM 1030 AM 31 MAR 2024

« on: March 31, 2024, 1036 UTC »

Music at 1030z. SIO 32. ~S6 peaks via Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical. Not a great copy due to band noise and moderate static crashing, but it is there.

Verified against online stream.

https://radioamautaperu.com/

The Transmitter is based in Huanta, Peru. Reportedly 5KW.

8

Clandestine Stations / Voice of the People 6520 AM 1015 UTC 31 MAR 2024

« on: March 31, 2024, 1021 UTC »

Talk format at 1015z, currently on top the usual NK jamming. SIO 433. ~S8 via Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical. Moderate static crashing but copyable.

Opposite situation on 6660 AM with mostly NK jamming and seemingly intermittent blips of VOTP.

9

Utility / XSL 6418 AM 1008 UTC 31 MAR 2024

« on: March 31, 2024, 1012 UTC »

The usual "Japanese Slot Machine" digital transmissions at 1008z. SIO 333. ~S6 via Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical.

https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/Japanese_Slot_Machine_(XSL)

10

10/11 meters / 11m Band Activity 27 MAR 2024

« on: March 27, 2024, 1916 UTC »

Moderate DX acvtivity on 27.555u and similar at ~1910z. Ops from Europe, North Amercica, and South America working DX contacts. Noted prefixes for England, Netherlands, Mexico, Suriname, Venezuela, Wales, etc.

Various French and Spanish languages QSOs on nearby frequencies.

Airspy HF+D and 9' NCLP antenna. There are local storms so my usual verticals are disconnected right now.

11

Utility / Maritime Net 4027 USB 0015 UTC 26 MAR 2024

« on: March 26, 2024, 0020 UTC »

I assume likely the OCC Caribbean SSB Net. Usual network activity doing calls, check ins, traffic, etc. Multiple operators. Mostly decent to good signals.

Airspy HF+D and 9' NCPL.

12

SDR - Software Defined Radio / SDRSharp v1.0.0.1920 Release (updated)

« on: March 24, 2024, 0157 UTC »

SDR# 1920 is a preview release replacing Telerik UI components. .NET 8.x x86 is required.

More details and download link(s):

https://groups.io/g/airspy/topic/sdr_preview/104621579

There have been various build updates at the same download link(s), so perhaps check them every few days if interested in the latest build.

I am currently running the 3/23 minimal build. It is working okay for my HF listening purposes. Seems more stable than the 1919 public release as well.

13

Propagation / Solar Storm 0110 UTC 24 MAR 2024

« on: March 24, 2024, 0117 UTC »

There is an ongoing S2 moderate solar radiation storm at 0110z on 3/24. Current planetary Kp index is 5.67.

A strong X1.1 solar flare occurred early 3/23. The resulting coronal mass ejection is expected to reach Earth early to mid 3/25.

More information from NOAA SWPC:

:Product: 3-Day Forecast
:Issued: 2024 Mar 24 0030 UTC
# Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
#
A. NOAA Geomagnetic Activity Observation and Forecast

The greatest observed 3 hr Kp over the past 24 hours was 6 (NOAA Scale
G2).
The greatest expected 3 hr Kp for Mar 24-Mar 26 2024 is 6.67 (NOAA Scale
G3).

NOAA Kp index breakdown Mar 24-Mar 26 2024

             Mar 24       Mar 25       Mar 26
00-03UT       5.67 (G2)    5.00 (G1)    5.00 (G1)
03-06UT       5.67 (G2)    6.67 (G3)    4.00     
06-09UT       4.67 (G1)    5.67 (G2)    4.00     
09-12UT       4.00         5.00 (G1)    3.67     
12-15UT       2.67         4.00         3.00     
15-18UT       2.67         3.00         2.33     
18-21UT       5.00 (G1)    3.00         2.33     
21-00UT       5.67 (G2)    4.00         3.33     

Rationale: G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) geomagnetic storming is expected on 24
Mar due to lingering transient-like and negative polarity CH HSS
effects. Activity will likely increase to G3 (Strong) geomagnetic
storming conditions early to mid 25 Mar with the arrival of a CME that
left the sun on 23 Mar.

B. NOAA Solar Radiation Activity Observation and Forecast

Solar radiation, as observed by NOAA GOES-18 over the past 24 hours, was
above S-scale storm level thresholds.

Solar Radiation Storm Forecast for Mar 24-Mar 26 2024

              Mar 24  Mar 25  Mar 26
S1 or greater   99%     70%     50%

Rationale: S2 (Moderate) solar radiation storm conditions are expected
to continue through 24 Mar with S1 (Minor) levels likely continuing on
through 26 Mar.

C. NOAA Radio Blackout Activity and Forecast

Radio blackouts reaching the R3 levels were observed over the past 24
hours. The largest was at Mar 23 2024 0133 UTC.

Radio Blackout Forecast for Mar 24-Mar 26 2024

              Mar 24        Mar 25        Mar 26
R1-R2           90%           90%           90%
R3 or greater   45%           45%           45%

Rationale: R1-2 (Minor-Moderate) radio blackouts are expected, with a
chance for isolated R3 (Strong) events, through 26 Mar primarily due to
the flare potential exhibited by AR 3615.

14

SDR - Software Defined Radio / Airspy HF+ Firmware Updates Available

« on: March 15, 2024, 1628 UTC »

Firmware updates are available for the Airspy HF+ series of SDRs.

https://airspy.com/airspy-hf-discovery/ (firmware info near bottom of page)
https://airspy.com/downloads/airspy-hf-flash-2024-03-14_4.0.8.zip (latest firmware as of this post)
https://airspy.com/downloads/hfplus_changelog.txt

Recent changes:

R4.0.0 - 2024-03-10

Updated the ST firmware. Better AGC. Faster tuning. More robust USB streaming. Replaced sample rate 256k => 228k.

R4.0.1 - 2024-03-10

Added fall-back support for legacy systems (out-of-date Linux, old libs, etc.)

R4.0.2 - 2024-03-11

Ported the firmware code from Atmel Studio to Visual Studio 2022 + VisualGDB.
Added more compatibility code for manual gain in the HF band.

R4.0.3 - 2024-03-12

Added initialization code to make the unit usable right after flashing, without a hard reset.

R4.0.4 - 2024-03-13

Added 650 ksps sample rate with Low-IF. Stop the streaming when the USB connection is closed.

R4.0.5 - 2024-03-14

Adjusted the buffering to support slow USB controllers and USB hubs.

R4.0.6 - 2024-03-14

Increased the interrupt frequency for better handling of the AGC.

R4.0.7 - 2024-03-14

Fixed the initialization of the 384k and 192k sample rates.

R4.0.8 - 2024-03-14

Faster HF AGC convergence.

I upgraded my HF+D to firmware R4.0.8 2024-03-14 with Win11 under VirtualBox. The process took some extra steps, but it worked okay for me. YMMV.

Connect to the Airspy HF+ using the VitualBox USB devices menu.

C:\temp\airspy-hf-flash>FLASH.bat
Airspy HF+ Flash Utility
Looking for a suitable flashable device...
No Instance(s) Available.
Looking for a suitable flashing driver...
This one can do the job: \WINDOWS\INF\OEM32.INF
Saving the calibration...
Rebooting the device in flash mode...
No Instance(s) Available.
Press a key to close.

Connect to the Amtel Boot device using the VitualBox USB devices menu. Select your specific HF+ model.

C:\temp\airspy-hf-flash>FLASH.bat
Airspy HF+ Flash Utility
Looking for a suitable flashable device...
Flashable device found on port COM3
Help us decide what to do. Which device are you trying to flash?
1 Airspy HF+ DUAL PORT
2 Airspy HF+ DISCOVERY BB
3 Airspy HF+ DISCOVERY CD
Enter a number: 3
Using binary file hfplus-firmware-cd.bin
Unlock all regions
Erase flash

Done in 0.017 seconds
Write 28700 bytes to flash (113 pages)
[==============================] 100% (113/113 pages)
Done in 11.739 seconds
Verify 28700 bytes of flash
[==============================] 100% (113/113 pages)
Verify successful
Done in 8.415 seconds
Set boot flash true
Rebooting the device in normal mode...
The system cannot find the file Calib.
Restoring the calibration...
Done
Press a key to close.

Connect to the Airspy HF+ using the VitualBox USB devices menu. Enjoy.

15

10/11 meters / 11m Band Activity 05 MAR 2024

« on: March 05, 2024, 1824 UTC »

11m DX is hopping this afternoon here. Europe, Mexico, Hawaii, etc. Even UK NFM CB. Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical.

1827z - 27.66125nfm - Music and occasional voice comms


(click to open)