Messages

1231

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: UNID 6295 KHz 2120 UTC Jan 3 2015

« on: January 04, 2015, 0030 UTC »

I was surveying new territory when I heard some language that reassured me that this was not a broadcaster About S8 here @ 0028z, signed off right at the end of some rhythmic elements as the end of the song concluded.

+-RH

1232

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: XFM 6975 AM 0049 UTC 28 Dec 2014

« on: December 28, 2014, 2335 UTC »

Thanks for the recording Kilokat7.  I also received a short stereo clip from a guy in Madison, WI listening on a NRD-545.

Thank you all for the posts, I will be working on some of the QSL's this weekend.

+-RH

1233

General Radio Discussion / Re: Relay info for 3950kHz and 6065kHz from Sala in Sweden (FYI ONLY!)

« on: December 22, 2014, 0953 UTC »

I am apparently in the wrong business...

1234

General Radio Discussion / Re: Ho Ho Ho

« on: December 20, 2014, 2152 UTC »

Got one here too.  Thanks Jack!

+-RH

1235

General Radio Discussion / Re: SoCal for the holidays

« on: December 17, 2014, 2324 UTC »

2nd on the sex thing.  I was never a big fan of Five Guys, I thought it was awfully pricey for what is it, a burger in a bag.

+-RH

1236

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: XFM 6975 AM 0040 UTC 13Dec14

« on: December 15, 2014, 0710 UTC »

Thanks Kilo, and everyone else for that matter.  It was a show worth braving the weather for!

+-RH

1237

General Radio Discussion / Re: WBCQ $20 per hour. 5110 khz outlet FYI

« on: December 14, 2014, 1654 UTC »

I assume that includes royalties on music?

+-RH

1238

General Radio Discussion / Re: 6925 vs 6935 (or elsewhere)

« on: December 04, 2014, 0554 UTC »

I have recently noticed a rise in pesky activity in what used to be quiet frequencies.  It used to be quite rare to see them north of 6940, but that seems to becoming common now.  Can we organize some sort of effort to log activity of the pesks from say 6700 to 6900 and see if there is a place they don't like to go, or don't often go?  I realize all things are subject to change, but it might be a good idea to have some alternates if activity doesn't slow in the near future.

+-RH

1239

Equipment / Re: What kind of cabling to use 75 pr 50 ohm?

« on: November 25, 2014, 2158 UTC »

A pad means a device that attenuates the signal.  If you have one on each end, your losing almost 11dB, that means 10 watts in, .8 watts out.  Plus, you'll burn up the attenuators.

+-RH

1240

General Radio Discussion / Re: Troubleshooting (or just shooting) a Johnson Valiant

« on: November 23, 2014, 2354 UTC »

You could have one of the leads shorted to ground some place.  Of course, you'd have to pull the transformer to know for sure.

Sorry dude.

+-RH

1241

General Radio Discussion / Re: Troubleshooting (or just shooting) a Johnson Valiant

« on: November 23, 2014, 2330 UTC »

Pull V21 and see if your short clears.  If not, T2 is shorted.  The same LV winding is used for both tubes.

Got skype?

+-RH

1242

Equipment / Re: What kind of cabling to use 75 pr 50 ohm?

« on: November 23, 2014, 2317 UTC »

You can build an impedance matching section to match 50 ohms to 75 ohms.  Assuming the antenna is 1:1 SWR, using 75 ohm cable should only raise your SWR to 1.5:1.  You might be ok at those power levels.

+-RH

1243

General Radio Discussion / Re: Troubleshooting (or just shooting) a Johnson Valiant

« on: November 21, 2014, 0224 UTC »

During that brief period before the LV fuse goes, what does your LV look like?  All of what I read said that it should be around 300V.  If its low, something is pulling it down.  Did you replace the LV rectifier with diodes as well?  if not, look for a gassy rectifier tube, otherwise, shorted (or leaky) diodes are possible.  Worst case, a short in the LV transformer could also be a cause.  Try and pull all of the tubes out of the unit and see if it still blows fuses.  If so, you may have an issue with the transformer.  If the fuse holds, add tubes one by one until you find a tube or combination of tubes that cause the fuse to blow.  I'm not sure how the replacement high voltage stuff was redone, but check too that nothing has happened to the filament connections to the HV rectifier tubes, as those are run off the LV transformer and are relatively high current capable.

Dumb question, but do the filaments and pilot lamp light when you turn the filament switch on?

+-RH

1244

General Radio Discussion / Re: Troubleshooting (or just shooting) a Johnson Valiant

« on: November 20, 2014, 0738 UTC »

You could have a shorted (or leaky bypass cap somewhere.  Sometimes you can get carbon trails along tube sockets, phenolic ones are particularly bad.  If you have one, bring the unit up on a variac slowly and start looking for smoke.  The old carbon resistors they used in older tube gear would change value with age, and in some cases go open.  Double check everything, sometimes you will have to remove a suspect component from the circuit to be sure.  It is also possible you have a leak in your mod transformer, or one of the input chokes to ground.

Good luck!

+-RH

1245

General Radio Discussion / Re: 6925 vs 6935 (or elsewhere)

« on: November 16, 2014, 2120 UTC »

That is one of the reasons I rarely hang out on '25, that and the fact that a lot of guys do have crystal controlled rigs and it seems unfair to squat on it with any regularity.  The Link-11 that likes to sit on '48 seems to come and go with the seasons and the whims of the president.  '75 is a good alternative, although CFARs like to camp out on 6973 from time to time.  I like the idea of 'moving south' although a recent survey of pesky activity found them all the way down to 80 meters, with certain 'watering holes' having more activity than others.  6800-6875 seems to be a good compromise, and most peoples' equipment shouldn't need much to get there.

I also like the idea of 1720, but your looking at one big antenna, and unless your on the east coast, I doubt many people would here you with a good signal.  Although, it is a lot easier to make power down there.

+-RH