Topics

1

The RF Workbench / Chinese electronics products tested

« on: April 12, 2021, 1244 UTC »

This is a really interesting site authored by a Dutch electronics engineer. In it he extensively tests, you guessed it: Chinese electronics products. I posted this here in the RF workbench forum because a lot of his reviews are focused on inexpensive equipment you may find on an RF workbench: scopes, function generators, multimeters, power supplies and so on, as well as parts like caps and resistors.

The reviews are extremely detailed and and most conclude with a go/no-go opinion. Check out the site here:

https://chinese-electronics-products-tested.blogspot.com/

2

Shortwave Pirate / Foxy AM 6925 AM 1755 UTC 26 Nov 2020

« on: November 26, 2020, 1756 UTC »

Foxy AM signed on at approx 1754 UTC with a super huge signal in the Boston burbs. Announcer is live and said "standby for CW" then into CW.

3

Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6970 AM 1957 UTC 11 Nov 2020

« on: November 22, 2020, 1959 UTC »

I have a weak-ish, S2 maybe, AM signal on 6970 AM for the last 20 minutes or so. Can't listen with wide bandwidth due to data just above it. Playing cinematic/operatic style music, for lack of a better word. Evidently no ID or announcer activity.

4

General Radio Discussion / RIP Universal Radio

« on: November 21, 2020, 2321 UTC »

Universal Radio is closing shop. This one hurts. The Ostermans were really dedicated to SWL.

https://www.universal-radio.com/RetireNotice.html

5

Shortwave Pirate / Foxy AM 6925

« on: October 05, 2020, 2253 UTC »

Foxy AM was on 6925 AM up until 2250 UTC with a good signal, played some bluesy rock for a bit, then the announcer complained peskies were on his freq and then he suddenly dropped.

6

General Radio Discussion / Hello Solar Cycle 25

« on: September 15, 2020, 2316 UTC »

September 15, 2020

For the past eight months, activity on the sun has steadily increased, indicating we transitioned to Solar Cycle 25. Solar Cycle 25 is forecast to be a fairly weak cycle, the same strength as cycle 24. Solar maximum is expected in July 2025, with a peak of 115 sunspots.

https://www.weather.gov/news/201509-solar-cycle

7

General Radio Discussion / Radio Six Pops Up Again on Shortwave

« on: July 22, 2020, 1618 UTC »

Radio Six International has not been a full-time shortwave broadcaster for some time. But after two recent live broadcasts on 6070 kHz prompted by the pandemic, it says it will continue monthly broadcasts at least for now.

http://www.radioworld.com/global/radio-six-pops-up-again-on-shortwave

8

General Radio Discussion / Watch The Resurgence Of Amateur Radio – A Silver Lining Of COVID-19

« on: July 20, 2020, 2108 UTC »

From one of the internet's preeminent nautical shipping sites (who would have thought?)...

During times of peace and prosperity, the death of traditional radio isn’t a problem on anyone’s radar but, COVID-19 has reminded us that we need to be prepared for the unexpected, especially considering the fact that modern systems like satellite radio are vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. The good news is that HAM radio has seen a resurgence during the past few months. Around the world, thousands of new amateur radio operators have used their time in quarantine to study for a radio license and many standby on HF stations like 14.300 MhZ to provide free information and services to ships.

https://gcaptain.com/watch-the-resurgence-of-amateur-radio-a-silver-lining-of-covid-19/

9

General Radio Discussion / Proposed Shortwave Station in Illinois Prompts an Objection

« on: July 13, 2020, 1437 UTC »

Might we see a new shortwave station in Illinois? Chris will be thrilled to learn it plans to broadcast in DRM!

http://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/proposed-shortwave-station-in-illinois-prompts-an-objection

10

Pirate Radio History / Vintage reception report MEGA THREAD!

« on: February 05, 2020, 0134 UTC »

I'm starting this thread to post pictures/scans of written reception reports to pirate radio stations. We've all seen QSL cards, but few have seen what the pirate radio operators saw before email: written reception reports from listeners in the age of "maildrops".

I grew up with a friend whose air name was "Doctor Lobotomy". He operated numerous shortwave pirate radio stations in the early 1990's. We lived across town from each other, attended high school together but didn't really know each other until we became acquainted by CB radio in our town. Over time, he revealed he was a shortwave enthusiast, a ham radio operator, and eventually, he revealed he operated pirate radio stations. He was instrumental in my introduction to the hobby that has followed me to this day.. HF pirate listening, utilities, oddities, etc.

I'm starting to scan his absolutely huge collection of reception reports. He's long out of the radio scene but I've been bugging him about putting these out there for a while, since I think they are so cool. Maybe you'll find them interesting? If so, please let me know. If you SEE one of your reception reports, feel free to comment! In the interest of privacy, I'll blur out last names and street addresses but keep town/city names. Unfortunately many of these DXers may have passed, some may have no interest in the hobby anymore, and some may still be here. If I happen to post something YOU wrote and you don't want here, feel free to let me know and I'll gladly remove it.

The reception reports are presented in no particular order. Stations I've identified so far operated by Dr. Lobotomy: Radio Free New England, WGNK, KMRZ, WARI, Alternative Radio International, Lobotomy Radio Network, East Coast Music Radio. Operations were primarily from mid-1991 until late 1993, and sporadically from there until about 1995. Almost all of the broadcasts originated from this bedroom studio in the Boston suburbs. I took this picture of Dr. Lobotomy sometime in probably 1992:



I'll continue to update this thread during 2020 as I have time to scan in a huge collection of reports. Keep checking back! Also, if anyone else has reception reports they'd like to add, feel free!

11

FM Free Radio / FM pirates in the Boston area.

« on: January 10, 2020, 1420 UTC »

Figured I'd start kind of a megathread for FM pirates in the Boston area. The Boston area could roughly be considered anywhere within 495 but we could consider some outlying areas as well. I have been regularly scanning the FM band with the factory radio in my truck and have found a few things so far. I'd like to keep one thread up to date. There was a good page with Boston area pirates at this link: http://www.bamlog.com/bostonlp.htm but it has not been updated in years.

Here's a few logs to start:

88.5 - Big City FM. Dancehall/rap/Caribbean type music with live DJs, professional liners and commercials for events in Boston. Very famous Boston station that was once on 101.3. Listened again this morning. This station fights with the Rockport MA legal Christian operation along the coast. As you go from western Lynn down 128 it occasionally becomes the dominant signal. This station is located in Boston and is probably much stronger in the city but I don't really venture there often. Last heard 1/30/2020 at 9:00 AM.

89.3 - Portuguese language folk music constantly, top of hour IDs, seems fully automated. Clearly audible at Route 3 and 62 in Bedford/Burlington, rumored to be a long running operation in Billerica. Last heard 1/13/2020 at 9:30 AM.

99.9 - [removed, not a pirate, construction permit translator for WJDA]

Other boards to check for pirate Boston pirate radio intel:

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forumdisplay.php?672-Boston (most active)

https://radioinsight.com/community/board/northeast/boston/ (not as active)

12

Peskies / Spanish 6810 USB

« on: October 19, 2019, 1210 UTC »

I have some Spanish conversation on 6810 USB at 1210 UTC 10/19/2019.

13

Equipment / Help ID my first HF transceiver?

« on: March 27, 2019, 2224 UTC »

Sorry, no pics. You'll have to close your eyes and imagine.

Chris and I were talking about first radios. The first HF radio I had was something my dad bought used for me (he wasn't into radio, somehow I was directed to this by another ham).

We went to this dudes house, and my dad unfortunately took the bait on the most decrepit and weird radio on earth (I didn't know any better either). This radio had the following features:

- We purchased the radio used around 1989.
- Design-wise and functionally, probably dated to the early 80's, possibly a little before, maybe late 70's.
- All solid state.
- I believe it was probably capable of 25-30 MHz for RX and TX.
- May only have been SSB (not really sure on this).
- I *think* it had a blue cover on the top and bottom, and a typical silver faceplate.
- Physically larger than a typical mobile CB, but same kind of layout.
- Red LED segmented frequency display.
- Used toggle switches (I think) for up and down frequency agility, and you had to HOLD the toggle switch while it tuned up or down in either 1 or 5 KHz increments. I can't remember exactly but probably 1 KHz.
- Extremely unstable on both RX and TX, definitely suffered some kind of PLL unlock issue, and temperature related variations.
- Definitely was not a major CB/ham/11m/10m radio brand of the era. It felt more Ten-Tec then Cobra (that's not saying much probably).
- May have had a bailer of some type to tilt the display up when on a desk.
- It was a total piece of crap.

Can anyone, in the recess of their mind, recall what this radio was?

14

General Radio Discussion / Over and out: CB radio-maker struggles to adjust to Trump tariffs

« on: October 09, 2018, 1717 UTC »

Buy that Cobra 29 now before they're gone!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/over-and-out-cb-radio-maker-struggles-to-adjust-to-trump-tariffs/2018/09/23/87cf518a-b6b8-11e8-a2c5-3187f427e253_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.93625116e5f1

CHICAGO — Cedar Electronics has been selling CB radios to American truckers since the 1960s, helping connect the workers who keep the U.S. economy rolling. But these days Cedar’s business isn’t exactly trucking along.

The Chicago-headquartered company is racing around Asia looking for other countries to host its manufacturing, after the radios Cedar makes in China and brings to the United States were hit with one of the Trump administration’s 25 percent tariffs this summer, making them more expensive to import.

Rare that CB radio makes any sort of mainstream media appearance so I thought this was interesting. This situation of course has interesting implications across a variety of electronic products sourced from China, not just CB radios.

No strong political comments, please.

15

Other / Alex Jones/Infowars pirate 3962 LSB

« on: October 05, 2018, 1621 UTC »

I'm relunctant to log this as a pirate, since it is inside the ham bands, and it is just a relay of the Alex Jones audio feed. So probably just the usual 75m kooks entertaining each other. But here we go..

Alex Jones/Infowars audio stream, 3962 AM at 1618 UTC on 10/5/2018. Alex rants, including commercials breaks. No ID of the relayer. Very good S9 signal.