Messages

1486

General Radio Discussion / Re: Brasil extends FM band down to 76 MHz

« on: July 03, 2021, 2000 UTC »

According to the wiki entry, over 1700 AM stations have planned migrations to FM in Brazil with insufficient standard FM BCB spectrum available in 14 states.

Apparently the government is mandating the migration process. I am somewhat curious as to what Brazil intends to do the AM BCB band once vacated.

1487

Equipment / Re: Best MWDX antenna?

« on: June 24, 2021, 0648 UTC »

Went ahead and just ordered a replacement antenna board, too.

1488

Equipment / Re: Best MWDX antenna?

« on: June 24, 2021, 0638 UTC »

Second active miniwhip is way down on gain versus the first one. I should have checked that when deployed, but just noticed it when swapping around feedlines.

I checked impedance at the feedline. It matches the good one, so it is unlikely to be feedline or output stage related.

I will try taking a look at the antenna board later.

1489

10/11 meters / UNID 27245 AM 1458 UTC 22 June 2021

« on: June 22, 2021, 1502 UTC »

Period folk music at 1458z into more of a blues sound at 1502z. Peaking over S9+10.

1490

Equipment / Re: Best MWDX antenna?

« on: June 22, 2021, 0119 UTC »

Currently the coax feeds are grounded at the top and bottom of the 10.5' masts, with 3' of the masts in the ground and choke ferrites as the coax cables leave the masts.

Elevated counterpoises are out for now due to limited height, but I have thought about adding a few on-ground radials at some point. Alternatively I thought about using metallic guylines for added counterpoises if I ever bother adding another 10.5' section to each mast.

I can listen routinely to signals from the Middle East, interior Asia, Oceania, etc. on HF with just one miniwhip when propagation cooperates.

I am just too close to the tropics for decent mediumwave summertime reception, especially with these active antennas. Elevated noise floor and near constant static crashing. ;)

1491

Equipment / Re: Best MWDX antenna?

« on: June 21, 2021, 2326 UTC »

Quick-and-dirty example. I cycle the phasing unit a couple of times. Watch the noise level in the waterfall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqYjeREnnJQ

Local MW conditions are extremely rough right now with an elevated noise floor, static crashing, etc.

1492

Equipment / Re: Best MWDX antenna?

« on: June 21, 2021, 2310 UTC »

Deployed the second active miniwhip about 40' to 45' from the first one. Took a quick skim on upper mediumwave. So far phasing them can help with noise when tuning a single station. The better test should be tonight to try nulling and peaking simultaneous signals on the same frequency.

1493

Software / Re: SSTV software (Chrome)

« on: June 19, 2021, 1531 UTC »

There are SSTV apps in the Google Play store. You might need to first enable Android app support on ChromeOS.

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/7021273?hl=en

I have not used it, so no comment on usability, but here is a freeware app for SSTV decoding when receiving.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=xdsopl.robot36&hl=en_US&gl=US

Here is a free app for SSTV encoding when transmitting.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=om.sstvencoder

1494

Shortwave Broadcast / Radio New Zealand International 7245 AM 0930 UTC 19 June 2021

« on: June 19, 2021, 0933 UTC »

"Saturday Night Requests" music show. Peaking over S9+10. SINPO 55545. A little fading at times, but an easy armchair copy.

1495

10/11 meters / Re: 11m Band Opening 0728z 17 June 2021

« on: June 17, 2021, 0836 UTC »

Propagation kicked the usual hornet's nest on 27025AM.

1496

10/11 meters / Re: 11m Band Opening 0728z 17 June 2021

« on: June 17, 2021, 0835 UTC »

Picking back up a little at 0834z. Looks like it might be intermittently open most (or all?) of tonight.

1497

10/11 meters / 11m Band Opening 0728z 17 June 2021

« on: June 17, 2021, 0736 UTC »

DX on 27385LSB, plus a few AM frequencies. The band is starting to fizzle out here, but nonetheless a decent 11m late night opening.

1498

Equipment / Re: Ten-Tec SP-325 question

« on: June 16, 2021, 2312 UTC »

The RX-325 is the consumer-market model of basically the same receiver.

Scroll down the page here for a PDF copy of the manual:

http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/tentec/rx325

1499

SDR - Software Defined Radio / Re: Birdies RX-888

« on: June 14, 2021, 2307 UTC »

Looking much better. :)

Taking the next step, do you have any RF choking on your USB cable? There is a chance some birdies could be coming from the computer itself. Using an USB cable with RF choking and/or winding a few turns of an USB cable through an applicable ferrite can sometimes help.

1500

SDR - Software Defined Radio / Re: Birdies RX-888

« on: June 13, 2021, 1706 UTC »

I took a quick skim of the NextGenSDRs@groups.io group where the RX-888 is discussed frequently.

There is an updated RX888_extio_v0.5-release available.

https://groups.io/g/NextGenSDRs/topic/77958038

The download is a few posts down.

https://groups.io/g/NextGenSDRs/message/153

One user mentioned birdies disappearing when setting an 128MS/s sampling rate.

https://groups.io/g/NextGenSDRs/message/182