Messages

136

General Radio Discussion / Re: ICOM 718 Pirate Friendly??

« on: August 11, 2009, 0118 UTC »

That's normal - My IC-718 (about 8 years old, now) does the same thing.  Discovered that one accidentally while tinkering around with some new digital mode software while listening to a pirate one evening.  I forgot that my interface box was still set to enable keying, and accidentally blurted out a bit of digimode when I hit the wrong button.

Yup.  The 718 will do that.

137

General Radio Discussion / Re: MFJ Aquires Cushcraft

« on: August 09, 2009, 1246 UTC »

Hey, now!  Be fair - MFJ sells some very nicely produced kits.

It's just unfortunate that they sell them as complete, ready-to-use products.   

I have NEVER received an MFJ product that didn't have some sort of manufacturing defect that had to be resolved prior to use.  From tuners with shorted leads to a dummy load with spare pieces - that didn't match anything from the construction of the dummy load - rattling around inside of them (how does a rattling dummy load make it past quality control?!), every piece of gear I have ever purchased from MFJ has had some sort of issue.  They usually work well enough after you fix them, but coming pre-broken from the factory should not be among a company's major selling points.

The only MFJ gear that I have never had a problem with are a second-hand TNC-2, and an electronic keyer that I inherited from my grandfather.  Both units have had work done inside of them prior to my receiving them, so I can only assume that they had manufacturing defects too.

Like many people, I bought MFJ gear early in my career because their stuff was affordable, only to find out that it was pretty cheap as well.   (Not to mention potentially radio-destroying, as in the case of the shorted tuner.)

Best piece of advice that a new ham can receive:  If you buy MFJ, make sure to have it opened up and checked out by someone who knows what they're doing, and what to look for before you connect it to anything!

138

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: 1st SSTV Captures !!

« on: June 14, 2009, 0752 UTC »

Some dude on a pin??  Anyone know the deal with this one??

[Number 6]

139

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 USB 2257z

« on: April 30, 2009, 2333 UTC »

What program do you use to get SSTV?

I have several programs that can send and receive SSTV signals, but for running in the background on the PC while listening, I usually use MMSSTV, available for free from the author.  It has a few quirks, but it's not a bad program and can handle almost all of the modes out there.  It's pretty quick to learn, though it really does help to read the instructions, get it properly calibrated on a known-good signal, etc.

For the people who are into the digital modes on the ham bands, there are quite a few programs that will do a large number of digital and fuzzy modes - including SSTV - in a single package.  Mixw is good for covering all of the bases in a single program, including some of the fairly obscure modes that I've never actually heard being used "in the wild", though it's got a $50 registration fee attached to it.

EDIT to add:  It's also been a while since I've really been active on the air with anything, let alone digital modes, so I haven't got a lot of experience with anything that's become available or been heavily updated in the last few years.

140

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 USB 2257z

« on: April 27, 2009, 0158 UTC »

Sounds like Radio Ga-Ga from around 23.45 to 00.10 or so on 6.925 USB.....?

At the beginning...or at least the beginning of what I could hear:


...followed by "Ballroom Blitz" and "Leave It To Beaver" theme.
Signal went into the mush for a while, but came back in fits and starts until I grabbed this SSTV image:



Then apparently either off, or back down into the static for the rest of the program.  Didn't get a lot else.