HFU HF Underground
General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: Elf36 on October 29, 2021, 1927 UTC
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I was wondering if anyone still gets the Klingenfuss books or CD's and if they think its worth it? Yes I know the internet is full of resources, but I sometimes miss looking up frequencies and browsing stuff like that. I guess another factor would be buying one every year to adjust for changes. I'm sure lots of things stay the same though.
I was looking through some books the other day and found a couple of old Passport to world band radio books. I use to love getting those. They were beautiful books and I loved reading all the radio reviews and info about stations around the world. The internet is amazing, but it never gives me the same joy that those types of things did.
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Hey Elf,
I bought one or two Klingefuss frequency list books WAY (WAY !) back in the day. What a GREAT resource - at that time.
IMHO, things on shortwave have changed radically. There seems to be FAR less "utility" type stations ( maritime ARQ, RTTY , military voice, etc, etc .) on air now.
Frequency lists (in print or online) are a big asset -IF- they are derived actual on air monitoring and are up to date.
Even "WAY back when" , such lists were maybe 70% + of dead frequencies, that for whatever reason, you heard nothing . Ever. But what you DID hear was so cool that these occasional "nuggets" made the cost worthwhile. When I was at CSS/NSA Germany ( and at other locations I worked at ) , I actually found some of my installations active frequencies on such lists .That was a REAL hoot !
IF a RECENT copy of Klingesfuss is available for "medium " money then "maybe". He did a LOT of work to compile it and therefore, as I recall it , his book was not inexpensive, even back 30 or more years when I bought mine.
I USED to keep his books ,also Passport books and the lists from "murky" sources in Pop Comm ads ( etc) well beyond when I bought them, really just recall fond memories of things I USED to hear (tropical broadcast stations and long gone utilities, etc).
After 10 or 15 years of keeping them , I finally "let them go".
I still keep a few "short" handwritten frequency lists and info for stations (lifted from the WWW) that have been off air for up to 100 years , purely as a "historical archive " of what was one out there.
Again , I had a huge admiration for all of his hard work and certainly do not want to do anything to keep him from getting a sale.
I do not have any big outdoor antennas anymore . But if I did and I was hunting for such activity , I'd try and get a general idea of where any remaining stations might "hang out" and also take the time of day and state of current propagation into mind. Then I would just look on an SDR.
A while back I found a few "Buzz Saw" bursts (presumed US military - Any one know for sure ?) - at upper HF on this site's SDR. Not sure how much you'd find or how long it would take , but that's the way I would (me) roll now .The military UHF aero band would be my area of choice to look now . I think there "could" be more activity there now (in OPEN MODE !) than on HF ( maybe ).
A zillion years ago the best thing I ever got was a voice operated tape recordings from my scanner ( a really "primitive" attempt ). I'd leave up for days and then play it back. Of course there was no date/time stamp and I didn't even know which frequencies were actually recorded , but still kind of cool and better than nothing.
I also did a bit of UHF mil sat listening , got some stuff , but not a serious or long term effort on my part.
Again , just my two cents , but your call.
K
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Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, you are spot on about Utility stuff for sure. Rarely any voice stuff at all. It's all decoding various nonvoice stuff. Some guys are still into that, which is great. I may even get into it one day, although I don't have much interest at the moment. I think I will stick with internet resources. Great memories of the print though!
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I love the Klingenfuss resources. I have a few of them, including the electronic version of the 2013 Super Frequency List. Not something you want to purchase every year but I am most likely due at some point in the future to purchase an updated "package". I still use them along with my various Monitoring Times publications. Klingenfuss is an authoritative reference source. No second guessing what you find on the Internet.
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It's my understanding that he ceased publication a few years ago, so you probably won't be purchasing another package from him. :(
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You can buy 2021 editions here:
https://www.klingenfuss.org/homepage.htm
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These guys are known to log a few pertinent freqs;
http://www.udxf.nl/ute-info.html
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Thanks, Josh, I'm in the middle of cooking dinner, but that looks like a great resource from my quick look.