Messages

1

Equipment / Re: Don't pass up those 1980's Radio Shack Mixers!

« on: April 07, 2025, 1700 UTC »

Do these have a Mute control or input line?

For that matter: Is there a rack-mount equivalent which does?

For anyone coming across this thread and needing a mixer with a Mute input:

The Rolls RM67 is such an animal. 3 Mic and 5 Source inputs, with a Mute (to ground) connection which knocks everything down. I'm going to use mine in the same manner as my NCS-3230s but with a slight twist: Two of the Source inputs will be fed by cascaded mixers - a Rolls RM-219 on one side of the room and a Roland M-120 on the other. Those get the inputs from secondary receivers, PC sound card outputs, what have you. The three Mic inputs (configurable as Line inputs) and the other three Source inputs will receive high-priority traffic from assorted scanners and receivers. Any time anything in the shack goes into transmit, the Mute line will silence the mixer.

As I find other mixers with this capability I'll update this post (if possible) or reply to it (if not).

2

10/11 meters / Re: 11 meter ROS

« on: March 25, 2025, 1758 UTC »

Getting lots of good decodes now. PC locked up this morning - don't know if it was ROS or just due for an update/reboot but all is fine at the moment. The traffic reminds me a lot of packet radio operations on 27540 during the early 90s. I logged a ton of that stuff.

3

10/11 meters / Re: 11 meter ROS

« on: March 24, 2025, 2135 UTC »

ROS 7.4.0

https://mega.nz/file/iHAGBChJ#sKXHnE-xasJWTZREpehgMnJk9cKtOfwH2TX9-m58_vs

rgg

Many thanks. I run Linux as an OS so I had to do a little extra configuration with WINE to get this program to work. Using an R-75 for RX though I have R-71s and a few other models available to test out at some point. Managed to get one decode (2PR101) so far so I'll leave the rig on 27635 and see what else happens by. Lots of ALE at the moment, however.

4

10/11 meters / Re: 11 meter ROS

« on: March 11, 2025, 1430 UTC »

What are you using to decode this stuff?

5

10/11 meters / Re: CB radio repeater 26.815 MHz FM Germany English / German Voice ID

« on: March 11, 2025, 1428 UTC »

Put the frequency in my R-75 yesterday and eagerly awaited an opening to DE land.

This morning, looks like an OTHR has set up shop on ~26810KHz and is currently wiping out 10KHz either side of center.

Also heard quite a bit of ALE activity there last night - west coast USA I presume.

6

Equipment / Re: Don't pass up those 1980's Radio Shack Mixers!

« on: February 19, 2025, 0030 UTC »

Do these have a Mute control or input line?

For that matter: Is there a rack-mount equivalent which does?

7

Equipment / Re: Is there a Mod for a Kenwood TS-530 to Transmit continuous or out of band?

« on: February 11, 2025, 0200 UTC »

That's the "butcher" way to do it.

At least one radio amateur reverse-engineered the set's PLL/Counter programming and came up with a way to add 27-27.5MHz to the set's Aux band position. Using the programming example as a guide it's also possible to add other ranges. An ongoing effort to make use of the "+0.5" switch is also underway and according to the author should be completed soon. A Net search will give details.

FWIW, this is also applicable to the TS-830 series. When done the set would cover 27-30MHz continuous with a bit of overlap. Perfect for some models of transverter whose IF was 27-29MHz.

8

Huh? / Different themes for the forum?

« on: January 14, 2025, 2239 UTC »

Apologies if posting in the wrong section...

Is there a way to select a different theme apart from the white background/black text default? Recently had eye surgery and this scheme is hard to read now - a bit of blurriness going on. A dark theme (where available) seems to work well.

Thanks!

9

Equipment / Re: Which HF radios have a Tx & RX antenna port, on the back of the radio

« on: October 10, 2024, 1654 UTC »

IC-720(A), IC-745, IC-751A, IC-761/765, FT-980, JST-135, TS-820(S), TR-5/TR-7 all directly support a second receiver. Meaning, dual receive (TRX and RX simultaneously).

i think the TS-830S does as well. TS-440S has a spare RCA jack that can be wired to support it. I run mine with an R-5000 as a secondary.

Why Icom didn't put such a jack on the IC-718 and 7200 is a head-scratcher.

10

10/11 meters / Re: 29.710 MHz FM 29710 FM UNID Land Mobile Comms [N1NTE RX] 15 April 2024

« on: April 23, 2024, 1324 UTC »

What are you using for a receiver to snag these?

Here in the upstairs shack/home office, I have a WillCo-equipped R-71A which can cover about a megahertz above 10M and may put it to work scanning when the upper HF spectrum is active.

11

10/11 meters / Re: Truck Drivers On 26.735 MHz AM Truckers On Free Band CB 1855 UTC 15 March 2024

« on: March 31, 2024, 1857 UTC »

Where are you hearing FM transmissions?

Two places I caught them recently are 27.605 and 27.615. Apart from that, nada.

12

10/11 meters / Re: Truck Drivers On 26.735 MHz AM Truckers On Free Band CB 1855 UTC 15 March 2024

« on: March 28, 2024, 1354 UTC »

Speaking of CB, someone is constantly jamming Channel 5 (27015kHz) a lot.

That's a LatAm trucker channel (similar to CONUS Ch19). They probably have their own unique set of wingnuts who interfere with the channel just as our homegrown idiots do 19.

13

10/11 meters / Re: Truck Drivers On 26.735 MHz AM Truckers On Free Band CB 1855 UTC 15 March 2024

« on: March 24, 2024, 1326 UTC »

A lot to quote in the above, so I'll hit the high points:

Radio owner loves his 48T - got great reports with it. The other one he brought was a 29LTD Classic. The Cobra suffered from what I'll call big-truck-itis: Being bounced around on haul roads without the benefit of shock mounting makes every intermittent solder joint in a radio show itself.

In times when there isn't snow or ice on our roads I'm usually on two wheels instead of inside four. Every one of my touring or sport-touring motorcycles has at a minimum a CB rig (either OEM accessory or J&M) installed - with the exception of one. That bike has the ability to accommodate an IC-703, 706MkIIG or IC-7000 and an FTM-10R in its top box. They can be run concurrently. Two of the others also have FTM-10SRs installed.

If I'm underway and on a major thoroughfare I usually monitor Ch19 and the weather band. Having comms aboard the bikes has saved me huge headaches and kept me dry. Relatively speaking. 

14

10/11 meters / Re: Truck Drivers On 26.735 MHz AM Truckers On Free Band CB 1855 UTC 15 March 2024

« on: March 22, 2024, 1954 UTC »

I have a DX48T on the bench for one of the locals at the moment. It'll come with the usual "Stay off 10M unless licensed" warnings.

Also volunteered to host study classes for a few of the drivers who are interested in getting their tickets. Those I talked to regarding CB usage say they do a lot more monitoring of road conditions and offloading facility stations than actually chatting with one another so this may open up some possibilities.

Couple hams I knew years ago were OTR drivers and had a lot of fun running HF mobile.

15

10/11 meters / Re: Truck Drivers On 26.735 MHz AM Truckers On Free Band CB 1855 UTC 15 March 2024

« on: March 22, 2024, 1333 UTC »

What are they talking about on 26.735?

Typical road blather, the idiot up ahead of them driving stupidly, who's running which load where, how well the truck is running (or not). I've heard activity like this all the way down to around 26.000 but usually not much above Ch40.

Will monitor 735 again today and over the weekend. If no activity then, it's probably local deliveries and their outfit (or customers) close for the weekend.