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Topics - corq

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1
Utility / My first HFDL log "Riverhead" 6.6610 MHz
« on: January 29, 2025, 0411 UTC »
Goofing around with the presets in OpenWebRX+ - happened to note that the preset threw me into decoding HFDL, on the AirSpy HF+.

Caveat: be gentle, I have NO idea what I'm doing:

HFDL 6.6610 MHz
GS-4 - Riverhead


Time   Flight   Aircraft   Data
03:55:36      A057EB   Logon confirm
03:55:36      F-HUVL   ACARS frame
03:55:30   NK837      @180.0000,180.0000
03:55:40   UPS214      @47.4185,-80.3401
03:55:44   CND598   347245   @26.3343,-56.8667
03:55:50   TSC427      @33.5441,-81.0769
03:26:16   FX1282      @33.4229,-94.1338
03:56:03   FX1307   N121FE   ACARS frame
03:56:39      39D2A2   Logon confirm
03:56:39      A2D1C6   Logoff request
03:56:39   FX1307   N121FE   ACARS frame
03:56:54   UAE69T      @38.0547,-71.4569
03:57:06   FX1307   N121FE   ACARS frame
0EH0356402SH
03:57:13      EC-NTB   ACARS frame
03:57:13      F-HUVC   ACARS frame
03:57:08   9220   AA2CB0   @4.6946,-74.1421
03:57:54   PAC998      @39.0448,-84.3182
03:58:00   ACA127      @45.0059,-81.7941
03:58:02   AMX8      @55.2600,-67.4799
03:58:22      A11BC8   Logoff request
03:58:22      F-HUVC   ACARS frame
03:58:22      F-HUVL   ACARS frame
03:58:22      N755AV   ACARS frame
03:58:39   AV206   N992AV   ACARS frame
03:58:49      39C427   Logon confirm
03:58:49   AV206   N992AV   ACARS frame
03:58:42   AEA98      @29.0726,-70.7964
03:58:48   AMX1      @31.9229,-69.2645
03:58:50   AEA64      @22.0033,-84.8963
03:59:48   SIA322      @49.4036,14.7087
03:35:58   LP2483      @32.0568,-83.8035
     



Airspy HF+


2
YL Captain Morgan ID just as I tuned in

03:33 Grateful Dead Hard to Handle
----
03:40 - Mandrill - Too Late

03:45 - Deep Fade but carrier still seems present



S5 Here in Winter Park, FL

Thanks Captain - Good to catch you!

3
North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6955 USB 0515 UTC 03 NOV 2024
« on: November 03, 2024, 0519 UTC »
Weak music, male vocalist just above my noise floor on the AirSpy HF+ from Winter Park FL. SIO 212
0515 - ?
0518 UTC Van Halen - Jump
0520 UTC - SSTV that alas I cannot copy

Super faint recording

Thank you, op! :)

4
Huh? / VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO ALARM CLOCK
« on: March 30, 2024, 0507 UTC »
https://hackaday.com/2024/03/29/video-killed-the-radio-alarm-clock/

For decades now, MTV has been on a bizarre trajectory given its original name was an acronym for Music Television. In the original days in the 80s and 90s it kept mostly true to its name, but starting around two decades ago they expanded into reality and other non-musical television programming and have now left it largely behind. Plenty of those who grew up in its heyday have an understandable amount of nostalgia for the channel as a cultural touchstone, and [Derf] used MTV archival footage to build a video alarm clock which helps him keep in tune with the past.

To keep the appropriate 80s aesthetic, the build uses a portable TV from the late 80s with its original CRT. The video files are hosted on more modern technology though, in this case a Raspberry Pi. The Pi is set up to run a python script which launches the VLC media player with a playlist loaded with video files, in this case a long list of MTV shows. Some configuration needs to be done to get it to output to the old CRT properly which depends on the hardware used, but once that’s in place it’s ready to be used as an alarm. [Derf] is using a smart outlet to power the TV at the appropriate time, and a cron job which starts the video player simultaneously at a somewhat random point in the playlist.

As far as retro TVs go, having one as an alarm clock is certainly a novel idea. We have seen a few others in the past, though, one to play the golden age of The Simpsons, and another that recreates the nostalgia of 90s cable television complete with a preview channel and era-appropriate commercials.

(Video of the build at Hackday link above.)

5
Huh? / RIP Jimmy
« on: September 02, 2023, 0910 UTC »
https://apnews.com/article/obituary-jimmy-buffett-4295f355b39237f40663d485c4c6d557

NEW YORK (AP) — Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song “Margaritaville” and turned that celebration of loafing into an empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76.

“Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” a statement posted to Buffett’s official website and social media pages said late Friday. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

The statement did not say where Buffett died or give a cause of death. Illness had forced him to reschedule concerts in May and Buffett acknowledged in social media posts that he had been hospitalized, but provided no specifics.

“Margaritaville,” released on Feb. 14, 1977, quickly took on a life of its own, becoming a state of mind for those ”wastin’ away,” an excuse for a life of low-key fun and escapism for those “growing older, but not up.”

The song is the unhurried portrait of a loafer on his front porch, watching tourists sunbathe while a pot of shrimp is beginning to boil. The signer has a new tattoo, a likely hangover and regrets over a lost love. Somewhere there is a misplaced salt shaker.

“What seems like a simple ditty about getting blotto and mending a broken heart turns out to be a profound meditation on the often painful inertia of beach dwelling,” Spin magazine wrote in 2021. “The tourists come and go, one group indistinguishable from the other. Waves crest and break whether somebody is there to witness it or not. Everything that means anything has already happened and you’re not even sure when.”

The song — from the album “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” — spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at No. 8. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016 for its cultural and historic significance, became a karaoke standard and helped brand Key West, Florida, as a distinct sound of music and a destination known the world over.

“There was no such place as Margaritaville,” Buffett told the Arizona Republic in 2021. “It was a made-up place in my mind, basically made up about my experiences in Key West and having to leave Key West and go on the road to work and then come back and spend time by the beach.”

The song soon inspired restaurants and resorts, turning Buffett’s alleged desire for the simplicity of island life into a multimillion brand. He landed at No. 13 in Forbes’ America’s Richest Celebrities in 2016 with a net worth of $550 million.

Music critics were never very kind to Buffett or his catalogue, including the sandy beach-side snack bar songs like “Fins,” “Come Monday” and “Cheeseburgers in Paradise.” But his legions of fans, called “Parrotheads,” regularly turned up for his concerts wearing toy parrots, cheeseburgers, sharks and flamingos on their heads, leis around their necks and loud Hawaiian shirts.

“It’s pure escapism is all it is,” he told the Republic. “I’m not the first one to do it, nor shall I probably be the last. But I think it’s really a part of the human condition that you’ve got to have some fun. You’ve got to get away from whatever you do to make a living or other parts of life that stress you out. I try to make it at least 50/50 fun to work and so far it’s worked out.”

His special Gulf Coast mix of country, pop, folk and rock added instruments and tonalities more commonly found in the Caribbean, like steel drums. It was a stew of steelpans, trombones and pedal steel guitar. Buffett’s incredible ear for hooks and light grooves were often overshadowed by his lyrics about fish tacos and sunsets.

Rolling Stone, in a review of Buffett’s 2020 album “Life on the Flip Side,” gave grudging props. “He continues mapping out his surfy, sandy corner of pop music utopia with the chill, friendly warmth of a multi-millionaire you wouldn’t mind sharing a tropically-themed 3 p.m. IPA with, especially if his gold card was on the bar when the last round came.”

Buffett’s evolving brand began in 1985 with the opening of a string of Margaritaville-themed stores and restaurants in Key West, followed in 1987 with the first Margaritaville Café nearby. Over the course of the next two decades, several more of each opened throughout Florida, New Orleans and California.

The brand has since expanded to dozens of categories, including resorts, apparel and footwear for men and women, a radio station, a beer brand, ice tea, tequila and rum, home décor, food items like salad dressing, Margaritaville Crunchy Pimento Cheese & Shrimp Bites and Margaritaville Cantina Style Medium Chunky Salsa, the Margaritaville at Sea cruise line and restaurants, including Margaritaville Restaurant, JWB Prime Steak and Seafood, 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill and LandShark Bar & Grill.

There also was a Broadway-bound jukebox musical, “Escape to Margaritaville,” a romantic comedy in which a singer-bartender called Sully falls for the far more career-minded Rachel, who is vacationing with friends and hanging out at Margaritaville, the hotel bar where Sully works.

James William Buffett was born on Christmas day 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and raised in the port town of Mobile, Alabama. He graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and went from busking the streets of New Orleans to playing six nights a week at Bourbon Street clubs.

He released his first record, “Down To Earth,” in 1970 and issued seven more on a regular yearly clip, with his 1974 song “Come Monday” from his fourth studio album “Living and Dying in ¾ Time,” peaking at No. 30. Then came “Margaritaville.”

He performed on more than 50 studio and live albums, often accompanied by his Coral Reefer Band, and was constantly on tour. He earned two Grammy Award nominations, two Academy of Country Music Awards and a Country Music Association Award.

Buffett was actually in Austin, Texas, when the inspiration struck for “Margaritaville.” He and a friend had stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant before she dropped him at the airport for a flight home to Key West, so they got to drinking margaritas.

“And I kind of came up with that idea of this is just like Margarita-ville,” Buffett told the Republic. “She kind of laughed at that and put me on the plane. And I started working on it.”

He wrote some on the plane and finished it while driving down the Keys. “There was a wreck on the bridge,” he said. “And we got stopped for about an hour so I finished the song on the Seven Mile Bridge, which I thought was apropos.”

Buffett also was the author of numerous books including “Where Is Joe Merchant?” and “A Pirate Looks At Fifty” and added movies to his resume as co-producer and co-star of an adaptation of Carl Hiaasen’s novel “Hoot.”

Buffett is survived by his wife, Jane; daughters, Savannah and Sarah; and son, Cameron.

___
AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.

6
https://www.insideradio.com/free/fcc-warns-portland-church-to-shut-down-pirate-fm-operating-under-its-steeple/

They may be finding God at the Eastside Free Methodist Church in Portland, OR but it is also where field agents from the Federal Communications Commission are facing a bedeviling problem: pirate radio.

The FCC says its Portland, OR-based agents tracked an unlicensed FM station operating on 90.5 FM to the church on 139th Avenue. It appears field agents did not come across anyone at the site, however, and that may be due in part to questions about whether the church is even open any longer. Some postings online say the Eastside Free Methodist Church has gone dark for good, raising questions about whether it is the church members – or someone else – that is using the space.

Nevertheless, under federal law because Eastside Free Methodist Church owns the building, it is potentially on the hook for enforcement action related to the pirate station. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau is giving the property owner ten days to respond to the warnings with any evidence they may have, showing they are no longer permitting pirate radio broadcasting to occur on their property. The warning letter to the church also points out it could face a penance of more than $2.3 million in fines.

It is the second Oregon-targeted pirate action to be released by the FCC in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the FCC proposed an $80,000 fine against an alleged pirate operating in La Grande, OR. The FCC says Thomas Barnes was the man behind a pirate station operating on 100.5 FM since at least 2018. Under FCC rules, Barnes has until mid-April to decide if he wants to pay the penalty or file a request that it be cancelled or reduced.

The FCC says it logged its first complaint regarding the eastern Oregon pirate station in 2018. It dispatched Portland, OR-based field agents to investigate, and they tracked the station on 92.3 FM to Barnes’ former residence at the Orchard Motel on Adams Avenue in La Grande. After speaking with him, the FCC says it became apparent that Barnes was the operator of the unlicensed stations. At the time, he agreed to voluntarily surrender his transmitter to the agent.

But a year later, in April 2019, the FCC received a second complaint stating that Barnes was again operating a pirate radio station in La Grande. They tracked the station, again on 92.3 FM, to Barnes’ new home on Jefferson Avenue. He agreed to voluntarily surrender another transmitter to the agent.

Both times the FCC notified Barnes that he could face severe penalties, including substantial monetary fines, for running a pirate station. But that apparently was not enough to discourage him. It received a third complaint about another pirate station in La Grande in March 2022 that agents again traced back to Barnes’ home. This time Barnes’ wife, Rebecca, voluntarily surrendered two transmitters.

Barnes then took to Facebook where he posted a video admitting he was operating a pirate station and that the FCC could not stop him unless it “locked him up.” He then signed-on another station at 100.5 FM. Digging deeper, agents also discovered that Barnes had uploaded over 30 videos to his Facebook account admitting he ran a pirate station.

In its decision to slap Barnes with an $80,000 fine, the FCC said his conduct was “intentional” and he “had been warned multiple times since 2018 that his conduct was illegal, but he nonetheless chose to continue to operate without authorization.”

7
North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6930 USB 0151 UTC 12 OCT 22
« on: October 12, 2022, 0200 UTC »
01:57 Unsure of spacey ethereal music title, feels Brian Eno-ish

SIO 212 From Winter Park, FL

8
General Radio Discussion / Kevin Miller, KM6AU, "Al Fansome"
« on: May 07, 2022, 2126 UTC »
Kevin Miller, KM6AU, passed away May 5th 2022, from cardiac complications following a stroke. He is survived by 4 brothers and 2 sisters, and his longtime domestic partner, Lori Easterly.

He enjoyed the more esoteric radio hobbies, including “DXing” shortwave pirates, beginning his love of radio as a Caltech student making CB contacts via 70’s-era Tandy walkie-talkies. He never tired of hearing "weirdness" on the bands.

Kevin graduated from Caltech with a BS in Engineering in 1979. From home automation systems in the early 1980’s, to Industrial Control Systems and highway toll system infrastructure, he enjoyed a long engineering career, retiring in 2009 to move to Florida. Kevin was keenly curious to learn about this fabled “Florida man,” and inquire if he could apply for membership to this elite and fearless group.

He loved a variety of cats, big and small. He enjoyed the many friends and contacts he made at Winterfest, the radio forums, IRC WUNCLUB, and HF Underground Discord chats.

To his internet forum friends, he was simply the mischievous  “Al Fansome,” and he will be dearly missed.


9
This is project to rebroadcast/relay Radio Free Europe to censorship-impacted areas in Eastern Europe:

Quote
With Moscow silencing foreign media in Russia, threatening to send reporters to jail and censoring all war information, objective outside information is critically needed not only for Russia, but also for Ukraine and surrounding countries. 

Such content, produced by the U.S. government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is being disseminated on the internet and on TV. But these Russian, Ukrainian and English language programs are not being distributed through the simplest technology that skirts censorship and internet shutdowns  -- shortwave radio.

The parent agency of VOA and RFE/RL, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, has decided not to air such transmissions (unlike the BBC). As these programs are in the public domain, we plan to air them live and on tape delay by purchasing air time on commercial shortwave stations in the United States and Europe. These powerful transmitters (with hundreds of thousands of watts and large antenna systems) can easily reach Russia, Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe where millions and millions of people still have shortwave radios. These potential listeners   will be alerted through social media as to what frequencies and times to listen for these critical programs.

At this stage, organizers have started a fundraiser to buy airtime to get the content closer to Ukraine and Russia and affected regions, in response to Moscow's censorship and crackdown on dissenting opposition views and media organizations.

However, for other interested parties who have means to re-broadcast to the region, I am assured "All VOA and RFE audio/video streams are considered in the public domain" and that radio enthusiasts with means to disseminate RFE broadcasts near Russia / Belarus and affected regions would be encouraged to participate. 8)

For those interested in donating, more information is available here: https://fundrazr.com/61xi2e?ref=ab_6B5fU6_ab_5dr1kVXCscG5dr1kVXCscG

More information regarding this project is expected to be announced Monday, March 7th.

10
Began deep in my noise floor in FL at SINPO 21122, improving.
Sea Shanty Songs, many yo-ho-hos

SSTV at 0856 UTC that I did catch...

SSTV  @ 0905 UTC:





Thanks, Skippy!

Edit: corrected for UTC consistency.

11
North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6960 USB 0216 UTC 7 NOV 2020
« on: November 07, 2020, 0218 UTC »
SIO 323 from Winter Park Florida.

0216 UTC - "We just disagree"
0217 UTC - Bluesy guitar music I don't recognize

12
0515 - Convoy - CW McCall

0520 - ? - George Thorogood

0524 - ? - Johnny Cash

SIO 323 from Winter Park, FL - Rough due to local noise floor, great audio fidelity when I can hear ya!

Thanks OP!

13
Bacon, BBQ, Beef, And More / Spicy Thai Meat Salad (Low Carb edition)
« on: January 11, 2017, 2225 UTC »
Code: [Select]

1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced thin
2 green onions, chopped
15 fresh mint leaves, chopped
Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 stalk's worth of lemon grass paste
1 squeeze of sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon honey #can be subbed with Stevia/Splenda dissolved, to offset sharpness of lemonjuice
1 package soy/shirataki noodles, drained, rinsed, and cut into 2" pieces
1 lb pan-grilled tender steak, such as ribeye, cut into 1" x 1/4" pieces
Toss all together while meat is still warm. Serve immediately Serves 3-4 as a main dish.


Derived from recipes in "Keo's Thai Cuisine" and "Practical Thai Cooking".

14
Amateur Radio Sleuthing Pins Down Source of Strange RF Interference

TAGS: ARRL Lab, ARRL Lab EMC, cell phones, Director Kermit Carlson, licensed radio service, public safety, Specialist Mike Gruber
08/09/2016
Police in Evanston, Illinois, contacted the ARRL Lab, after an apparent interference source began plaguing wireless vehicle key fobs, cell phones, and other wireless electronics. Key fob owners found they could not open or start their vehicles remotely until their vehicles were towed at least a block away, nor were they able to call for help on their cell phones when problems occurred. The police turned to ARRL for help after striking out with the FCC, which told them it considered key fob malfunctions a problem for automakers, although the interference was affecting not just key fobs but cell phones, which are a licensed radio service. ARRL Lab EMC Specialist Mike Gruber, W1MG, believes the FCC should have paid more attention.

“This situation is indicative of what can happen as a result of insufficient FCC enforcement, especially with regard to electrical noise and noncompliant consumer devices,” Gruber said.

Evanston authorities worried that a serious situation could develop if someone were unable to call 911, putting public safety at risk. They also were concerned that the RFI could be intentional and indicate some nefarious or illegal activity. Given the seriousness of this situation, Gruber contacted Central Division Director Kermit Carlson, W9XA, to ask if he could look into the matter.

On June 2, Carlson met with an Evanston police officer, her sergeant, a local business owner, and the local alderman, and he quickly confirmed that the 600 block of Dempster Avenue in Evanston was plagued with an odd RFI problem. Carlson determined that the problem prevailed along a set of eight on-street parallel parking spots in the downtown commercial district of the North Chicago suburb.

Carlson employed a Radar Engineers 240A Noise Signature Receiver and UHF Yagi antenna to survey the affected block. Since key fobs typically operate at around 315 MHz and 433 MHz, he looked on both frequencies. The survey identified several noise sources in the affected block, but in particular a strong signal in the middle of the block. The interference source turned out to be a recently replaced neon sign switching-mode power supply, which was generating a substantial signal within the on-street parking area just across the sidewalk, between 8 and 40 feet from the sign.

The problematic power supply interference also disabled Carlson’s cell phone when he was within a few feet of the device. Carlson anticipated that further investigation would show that the harmful interference could disrupt licensed radio services in close proximity. The troublesome transformer was not replaced, but the building owner agreed to turn off the sign should problems arise.

Carlson called the Evanston case “a particularly alarming example of radio interference,” especially since local authorities considered it a public safety matter. “This situation demonstrates the electromagnetic compatibility problems that are evolving in an atmosphere of noncompliant, unintentional RF-emitting devices,” he said.

A return visit to the area with calibrated antennas and equipment capable of measuring the radiated signal strength with quasi-peak detection is planned for later this year. Since the initial visit, several other instances of unexplained key fob malfunctions have been reported in the Greater Chicago area. — Thanks to Kermit Carlson, W9XA, and Mike Gruber, W1MG

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