Messages

751

Equipment / Re: What Radio Did you start your listening hobby with?

« on: January 05, 2013, 1709 UTC »

Cyberflexx, is your DX-350 the one that's branded as a Realistic or the one with the Radio Shack brand on the front?  Just wondering, as they are basically two separate radio designs.

Says radio shack  made in china.. Not the better of the two i dont think.

I think it's the better of the two.  The Chinese made 350 has a better IF / AF chip inside -- it's a Sony chip which has an RF amp built in, as well as electronically controlled volume.

It has a little less selectivity than the Realistic branded, Taiwanese made DX-350, but has more sensitivity and I think it has better overall performance, esp. on MW.

I heard the SW CBC outlet in Newfoundland on mine last Spring, just using the whip antenna.  And I live in the NW US.

752

Equipment / Re: Help pulling in Pirate radio stations

« on: January 05, 2013, 1702 UTC »

One way to connect an outside wire antenna to your radio indoors without drilling holes, or keeping your window cracked is to use alligator clips (only works if you have metal or aluminum window frames). 

Clip the outside antenna wire to the outside of the window frame, clip the indoor lead (that goes to your radio) to the inside of the window frame.  When you're done listening, you can unclip the leads from each side of the window.

753

Equipment / Re: Help pulling in Pirate radio stations

« on: December 29, 2012, 1916 UTC »

Re: receivers: I live in the PNW and have heard pirates on my DX-390 with a 25 ft. indoor wire, so your DX-392 (a radio with very similar circuitry to the DX-390) should be capable of receiving them where you live.

Re: antennas: be very careful using your DX-392 with outdoor wire antennas, unless you have some sort of protection against static buildup, which can zap your DX-392's RF amp transistor.  Some guys use back to back diodes (between antenna and ground), others use resistors between antenna and ground.  The other guys here who are more into antennas than I am will have better thoughts on this than I do. I wired two protection diodes inside the back of my radio.

Re: RFI: ditto to the above mentions of devices that emit RFI when they are switched off.  I had all sorts of interference on 20 meters, and finally discovered it was my printer -- it was making all sorts of racket even though it was powered off.  I unplugged it -- instant quiet. 

It was the same thing with one of my DVD players, which was a regular RF generator even when switched off.

754

Equipment / Re: What Radio Did you start your listening hobby with?

« on: December 29, 2012, 1904 UTC »

Cyberflexx, is your DX-350 the one that's branded as a Realistic or the one with the Radio Shack brand on the front?  Just wondering, as they are basically two separate radio designs.

755

Longwave Loggings / Re: Longwave

« on: December 29, 2012, 1853 UTC »

For copying code on longwave, all you need is a code chart, and write down the dits and dahs, and then correlate what you heard with the chart.  You don't really need to know the code well, although it helps.

I myself don't listen to the longwaves much.  Lately it's just been the AM band for me. 

I probably should get back into it and log some beacons before they all leave the air.

756

General Radio Discussion / Re: when mellowing out...

« on: December 17, 2012, 0914 UTC »

I'm another fan of Radio Nacional Da Amazonia and Radio Rebelde.  Sometimes the late night DJs on China's CNR-1 are interesting to listen to -- they play a mixture of soft jazzy music and sound like they're reciting some sort of poetry or something.

The Middle Eastern stations, when they're coming in, are always good for music.  I used to listen to the Voice of Turkey every night until they either signed off or faded out.  They played a terrific mix of Turkish music almost non stop.  A lot of cumbus and saz....

The last couple of months I've been concentrating on MW, and the sounds of the distant stations coming through the ether have this mellowing effect on me, especially if conditions are good and the noise level is low.

I think it's the phasing effect, iI just find it very relaxing.

757

General Radio Discussion / Re: when mellowing out...

« on: December 17, 2012, 0907 UTC »

Yes, RHC English can be entertaining... with Ed Newman as Jack Tripper, Eva Barajas & Lena Valverde as Janet & Chrissy and Arnie Coro as Mr. Furley.  It's like Three's Company never left the air!
 

Eva Barajas has one of the best female voices on the airwaves.... sexy and sultry.

758

General Radio Discussion / Re: What are you doing Dec21?

« on: December 17, 2012, 0902 UTC »

DXing, maybe some Christmas shopping, last minute stringing up of Christmas lights outside....

The last thing I'm worried about is the world ending that day.

759

MW Loggings / Radio Rebelde, 1180 khz, heard in PNW

« on: December 17, 2012, 0846 UTC »

Radio Rebelde is booming in on 1180 khz, here into Washington state behind KOFI Montana.  It even comes in barefoot on one of my portables.  // 5025 khz.

I heard it earlier on 670 khz, just behind KBOI Idaho, extrememly weak, during fade ups, also // 5025.

Over 2700 miles. 

760

MW Loggings / Re: MW opening to Mexico/Cuba, 10/25

« on: November 30, 2012, 0440 UTC »

I logged R. Rebelde on 1180 khz underneath KOFI, Kalispell, MT a couple nights ago (11/28).  Lots of music and talk in Spanish, // to the R. Rebelde outlet on 5025 khz.

Just over 2700 miles -- I think it's my longest received station from the North American continent.  I logged a station from Mexico City on 1500 khz in the late spring... don't remember the calls.  But I think Cuba is a bit farther away.

I heard the same music and talk before on 1180 but hadn't thought of comparing it to 5025.  I guess the Cubans sometimes make it up here in the PNW.  Must be the Gulf of Mexico affecting propagation.  I was pretty surprised.

761

General Radio Discussion / Re: Solar cycle 24 continues weakly, perhaps weakest of the space-age

« on: November 14, 2012, 1803 UTC »

Yeah, a couple days ago I had a strong copy of KXOL, 1660 khz, Brigham City UT between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. local, and it's over 600 miles from my QTH.

762

General Radio Discussion / Re: Solar cycle 24 continues weakly, perhaps weakest of the space-age

« on: November 11, 2012, 1401 UTC »

I wonder if that means MW DX will continue to be really good this season.  The summer season seemed to be better than a lot of DXers expected....

763

MW Loggings / Re: 1060kHz Spanish language sort of unid, 10/29 0400

« on: October 29, 2012, 0537 UTC »

There's a station in Mexico City, XEEP, that is 100 kw days, 20 KW nights... it would be a possibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XEEP-AM

Which direction was the station coming from?

764

MW Loggings / Re: 1539 kHz AM Asian possibly Japanese or Korean

« on: October 26, 2012, 1409 UTC »

My guess -- from your description -- is you were hearing KMPC with possibly a heterodyne from China, being that your location is close to the Pacific Ocean.  If the beat note is 1000 hz, that would be an indicator.

KMPC would have sounded clearer on 1539 because you would have been tuning into one of KMPC 1540's audio sidebands.  It would be the same as tuning an analog AM radio a little to one side of a channel or the other -- you get a little more fidelity, and sometimes interference from the next channel is reduced.

765

MW Loggings / Re: 1539 kHz AM Asian possibly Japanese or Korean

« on: October 22, 2012, 1115 UTC »

If it's Korean you're hearing, it looks like KMPC in L.A. broadcasts in Korean.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMPC

It's also possible the whistle noise you heard was a real heterodyne, being that you live close to the coast.