Messages

1201

General Radio Discussion / Re: FCC Enforcement Bureau Field Resources Poised to Shrink

« on: March 15, 2015, 0954 UTC »

From what I've read, the profitable pirates tend to reside in parts of the country with large minority (or majority depending on how you look at it) populations.  The people can't seem to accomplish through legal channels what they want, so they resort to piracy.  They run big signals on tall buildings, sell advertising, et al.  Any time you screw with a licensed radio station's bottom line, they will whine.  Domestically, I haven't heard of an HF dudes charging for airtime or advertising, so I doubt there will be much of a focus here.  The EB's focus, as before, will likely be big FM's in major markets with large percentages of minorities.  Of course, they will say "drugs" were involved somehow, thus necessitating the bust, and to their credit there does seem to be a fair amount of that, particularly in Miami.  As the old saying goes, follow the buck...

Also to be fair, a lot of these FM's are not run by broadcast-competent people, thus a lot of them do not meet basic spectral and deviation limits, something quite a few commercial FM's these days also have trouble with.  My guess is that we will see more of the same old, same old; focusing on complaints.

Keep it clean gents, that your best defence.

+-RH

1202

General Radio Discussion / Re: Upstate New York radio station now plays Christmas music all year long

« on: March 13, 2015, 0505 UTC »

Sounds like someone is stunting before the real new format comes online.  At least christmas music has some class, god knows what they will switch to.

+-RH

1203

General Radio Discussion / Re: MILLIONS OF VINTAGE PARTS 300,000 TUBES COMPONENTS 6K SQ FT BUILDING ALL 4 SALE

« on: March 10, 2015, 1031 UTC »

He is offering free pick-up.  That could be a good deal if you have a place to store it all.

Hmmm, makes me wonder if I should've bought the farm...

+-RH

1204

General Radio Discussion / Re: FCC's Plan to regulate the Internet - Net Neutrality

« on: March 02, 2015, 0320 UTC »

Sadly, I agree.  Behind closed doors, there are no party lines.  It's all about who lined your pockets.

Like the 6 month old casserole in the fridge, lets throw 'em all out and start over.  It's about the only way the common man in this country will ever get any service.

+-RH

1205

General Radio Discussion / Re: FCC's Plan to regulate the Internet - Net Neutrality

« on: March 01, 2015, 0521 UTC »

Lets also keep in mind that most of the people in DC view the constitution as a mere inconvenience to the their ambitions.  This administration has proven that time and time again.

+-RH

1206

General Radio Discussion / Re: FCC's Plan to regulate the Internet - Net Neutrality

« on: February 27, 2015, 0617 UTC »

I for one am for net neutrality, but I fear that, as everything the government touches, something will get lost in translation.  Think of all the bills the house and senate look at and pass every year.  In most cases, the eventual law, by the time it winds its way through the bureaucracy in DC, is either so full of holes and earmarks as to be ineffective, or so distorted that it bears little resemblance to its original intent.

Lets be clear boys, a lot is at stake (Pointing to DC)


+-RH

1207

Equipment / Re: More like a tsunami than a QRP transmitter...

« on: February 21, 2015, 0326 UTC »

Cool design.  Put me on the freebie amp list too

+-RH

1208

Equipment / Re: Radios for 1720 KHz

« on: February 19, 2015, 1902 UTC »

According to the test procedure for the SRF-59, you are supposed to verify that coverage runs from 500-1750 KHz.  I imagine this is fairly typical of dial tuned analog radios.  I wonder if the CC Radio EP does this as well?

Yes we have thrift stores here, I thought Everytown, USA had one

+-RH

1209

General Radio Discussion / Re: With RadioShack kicking the bucket, who will fill its shoes?

« on: February 14, 2015, 1949 UTC »

From the electronic perspective, I think most people gave up on RS and went mail order in the late 90's.  Most have a major parts house 2 days shipping from them, and I think that's OK.  Allied, Digikey, Mouser, et al seem to be doing gangbuster business and I doubt that will change.  Depending on where you are, there are surplus places around the country that specialize in electronics surplus.  There's nothing like walking down a row of bins and selecting your parts

+-RH

1210

Equipment / Radios for 1720 KHz

« on: February 14, 2015, 1944 UTC »

Just curious if anyone has any production receivers that can go to 1720 or better.  I have a Sony SRF-59 AM/FM walkman that goes at least to 1750 KHz, and you can pick them up online for under $20.  MW DX people like them for "ultralight" DX, and I would get a real kick out of someone listening to us with one in the future.  Sadly, my Ratshack TMS-152 C-QUAM receiver was never expanded band, but I'm sure it could be pushed up there, and my Carver's  all stop at 1710.

Any other RX's come to mind?

+-RH

1211

General Radio Discussion / Re: What to say about this..?

« on: February 12, 2015, 2000 UTC »

The biggest problem I thing is that good equipment, or at least the know-how to keep lesser equipment in check, is simply beyond the reach of the average operator.  Most broadcast people I know have dabbled in pirate radio in the past, yet are very hesitant to help out for obvious reasons.  Such activity usually doesn't bode well with the folks that pay the bills.  I help people where and when I can, but there are limits.  You sometimes feel like you dancing with the devil.

+-RH

1212

MW Loggings / Re: 1720 khz carrier and possible traces of audio

« on: February 08, 2015, 1941 UTC »

If you have a synthesized radio, you can warp the reference oscillator just enough to reach 1720.  In a conventional superhet radio, you can adjust the padding caps on the main tuning capacitor to reach up one channel.

..Or you can use a general coverage receiver

+-RH

1213

North American MW Pirate Radio / Re: X-FM Shortwave 1720 KHz AM Stereo transmitter testing 2-8-2015 0035+

« on: February 08, 2015, 0146 UTC »

We are clear @ 0144z

Thanks for your reports everyone!

+-RH

1214

North American MW Pirate Radio / X-FM Shortwave 1720 KHz AM Stereo transmitter testing 2-8-2015 0035+

« on: February 08, 2015, 0040 UTC »

We are currently testing a new antenna system for medium wave.  This is running at quite low power, so it should be challenge to hear.
Please let me know what your receive level is, this will serve as a benchmark for later tests.

I am looking forward to your reports!

+-RH

1215

General Radio Discussion / Re: Shortwave Pirate Radio and Oddities of the Spectrum - VIDEO

« on: January 30, 2015, 0633 UTC »

Cool stuff.  Thanks for the mention Andy!

+-RH