Messages

406

General Radio Discussion / Re: Frequencies outside of 43M for pirates

« on: August 31, 2012, 0326 UTC »

FF,the first time I heard you,was up on 13910, I think you told me you were plate modulating a modified DX-40? Whatever it was ,it sounded good.

There were quite a few guys transmitting on 13910,between about '97 and '02. 6955 was the main frequency then. You could use the same antenna for both frequencies,not to mention the same rock with boatanchors.

Geez Pigmeat, you're showing your age here.  That was back in my Radio Garbanzo days in the early 90s.  I was running an E.F. Johnson Adventurer - a CW rig - with an outboard modulation transformer driven by a Radio Shack PA Amplifier.  That was my method of polluting the nether band regions - with only 10 watts...and lethal voltages within easy reach.  You're right, using FT 243s with a boat anchor enabled one to operate on the harmonics.  Nowadays I scratch these hard-to-reach spots I want to itch with dedicated narrow band homemade transmitters.  I have one modulator, and many plug in RF modules.  They're not hard to build.  It's just a pain to drop and swap dipoles every time I want to run in a different band.  I can do transmitters (with enough Mickey's) - but I'm somewhat less than antenna savvy...

407

General Radio Discussion / Re: Frequencies outside of 43M for pirates

« on: August 31, 2012, 0148 UTC »

I haven't tried 11 MHz myself, but I know Channel Z was active for a few tests there.  I don't recall hearing his results.  I don't receive enough reports to feed a good propagation profile.  But from what I have received, 32 meters seems to get out very well, and quite similar to 43 meters, although late night isn't as good.  13 MHz can yield some really surprising results occasionally, in the afternoon/early eves.  Your results will probably be better than mine since I'm using homebrew rigs running about 20 watts of carrier power into resonant dipoles...

408

General Radio Discussion / Re: Frequencies outside of 43M for pirates

« on: August 30, 2012, 2346 UTC »

Hi Redhat.  WAZU has sporadically used 13.5 MHz and 9.216 MHz for quite some time now.    Although I haven't fielded many reports, the occasional ones received have (mostly) come from shocked and pleased SWLs who aren't looking for pirates.  It's all good fun if you don't mind the low response rate.  I'm sure I could have more listeners if I pre-announced, but I personally feel that is a bad idea.  It's much safer to let serendipity work.  The only thing magical about 43 meters is that everyone watches there, and almost never anywhere else.  I encourage you to give in to your frequency wanderlust.  There's a big HF block out there and we might as well use some of it...

409

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: 6973 khz AM

« on: August 13, 2012, 0317 UTC »

Hi Crellitor - this is probably Galei Zahal from Israel...

410

General Radio Discussion / Re: HiFi-Tuning Supreme 10A, fast blow, 5x20mm WORLD'S BEST FUSE!

« on: July 31, 2012, 1431 UTC »

Customer feedback:
"Your fuses turned a mid fi integrated that I got as an intermediate until I got something better, into something better. This is not the same amp as when I started. Gone is the stridency and that digital mid fi sound. Its a completely different beast. I listened to it every morning upon wakening and when I got home from work, and every time it sounded better. I'm not talking miracles here, making something out of nothing, but as of now, I'm in no big hurry to get my new integrated. These fuses made a bigger and better difference than any cables that I've tried..."

I must order some of these metafuses.  I've been searching for YEARS to find a way to get that damn STRIDENCY out of my receiver.  It's gonna be great!  Mebbe it'll even make my rig perform like an SDR.... yessir, where's my credit card?

411

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Son of Lincolnshire Poacher 6925USB *0121 - 0146*

« on: July 13, 2012, 1813 UTC »

Fair copy here, with some ALE QRM.

I've found that the radio hobby experience is greatly enhanced with a good ale... or three...

412

General Radio Discussion / Re: How software-defined radio could revolutionize wireless

« on: July 07, 2012, 1949 UTC »

A spread spectrum beacon sounds very interesting... I assume you could have a network of them, all on the same frequency. Might be neat for propagation monitoring. Since encoding is often easier than decoding, I wonder if there's a relatively low cost way to make the transmitters, so they could be located in remote locations, as is done now with the various CW beacons.

[/quote]

It's been a long time since I've dealt with any of this so I'm just floating trial baloons here, but I believe a DSSS transmitter could be done easily enough.  You would need to generate a pseudorandom code train and input it with the digitized audio signal into an XOR gate, then phase modulate a carrier with the resulting signal.    The receiver needs to sync to the same pseudorandom code train to retrieve the audio signal.  Several different transmitters can use the same chunk of frequency without interference if they all use different code trains.  An easy way to generate psuedorandom code is to use a linear feedback shift register - basically a shift register / XOR gate loop... two ICs...  At least that's how I see it.  Any input would be welcome...

413

General Radio Discussion / Re: How software-defined radio could revolutionize wireless

« on: July 07, 2012, 1533 UTC »

Nice food for thought article Chris - thanks for sharing!  This might be a good area of experimentation for interested parties.  A low-power spread spectrum beacon shouldn't attract attention.  And if a few beacons were "around", the growing number of SDR owners could then experiment with decoding/demodulation.  Sounds like a really fascinating winter project to me, but I'll need to bone up on the theory a bit more.  It's been a long time since college...

414

General Radio Discussion / Re: RadioShack’s Fate Part III: RadioShack Meets the Makers, Again

« on: June 19, 2012, 0026 UTC »

I wish RS the best of luck with their transition plans.  I long ago tired of fighting off rabid salespeople hawking cellphone contracts on my way to the ever-shrinking parts cases way in the back.  I now shop online at places like Jameco and BG Micro, but would welcome their return to being "DIY-er friendly".  As the article mentioned, they can no longer compete with the tsunami wave of Chinese-made consumer knockoffs... so I wish they would stop trying.  They were a really good, cheap way to make things happen back in the day.  I STILL use a few pieces of Radio Shack studio equipment - all of which are at least 15-20 years old!  Hell, Boomer built his Grenade transmitters almost entirely from Radio Shack parts.  I would love to see RS re-adopt their older philosophy.  I would start buying there again.  However, they are gonna need to hire some more technically inclined salespeople than I've seen in there lately - or when you have questions - they'll only have blank stares...

415

General Radio Discussion / Re: What was the first pirate station you ever logged?

« on: June 14, 2012, 0104 UTC »

My first pirate was KPRC in 1983.  According to the sources of the day they operated on 1616.  I wouldn't know, having logged them on an old Realistic DX-100 with an analog dial and a mile wide IF filter.  My first shortwave pirate was logged in 1984 after I bought a Yaesu FRG-7700.  That was KRZY on 7435.  Thanks to the Frog I quickly added Secret Mountain Lab, Zeppelin Radio Worldwide, and Voice Of Laryngitis to the logbook - all within the first couple months of ownership.  A decent receiver really makes a difference...

416

QSLs Received / Re: Channel Z eQSL

« on: June 04, 2012, 0246 UTC »

And mine came over the transom today also.  Thank you Z, and thanks also for giving we statesiders a chance to hear Andy Walker.  He's classic...

417

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: 6925AM 0048 UTC Radio Ronin

« on: May 31, 2012, 0133 UTC »

0211-Eurythmics "Missionary Man"
0213 "Rescue Me"
0219- Pat Benatar "Love Is A Battlefield"
0223- Ronin ID and into Petty/Nicks "Stop Draggin My Heart Around"

I just got my R8 back from the Drake repair facility today and upon hooking it up tonight... came the big honkin' signal from Radio Ronin upon power up.  444 with great audio in upstate NY, sweeping fades and occasional +20 over 9 peaks.  That's the best kind of welcome home present a receiver could ask for... thanks Ronin!

418

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Channel Z Radio, 6925 AM, 0045 utc

« on: May 29, 2012, 0146 UTC »

About +10 over 9 in upstate NY w/ great audio.  Same Andy Walker show from earlier this weekend.  Off at 0137.  Dropped carrier at 0138.  Thanks for the show, Z!

419

General Radio Discussion / Re: 2012 Pirate Radio Annual ready for pre-orders

« on: May 24, 2012, 1742 UTC »

I just received mine this morning, Andy.  Another great job, and widely appreciated, I think.  Goodonya for including Chris' Channel Z transmitter comparison... good stuff - and now in hardcopy for the ages.  Thanks again for all you continue to do, and for the signed copy 8-)!!!!

420

Other / Re: MARS ops on 6845U & 4458U

« on: May 19, 2012, 0151 UTC »

I heard the MARS net operating on 6845 last Friday evening.  I made a note then on the details which I can't seem to find at the moment (sigh).  Yep, it looks like a place to avoid for now...