Topics

1

The RF Workbench / Passive Squelch Circuit

« on: March 01, 2019, 0446 UTC »

Hi, I'm currently working on a plug-in squelch solution for radios that do not have a squelch function themselves, such as many of my Tecsun radios. Looking at many of the circuit designs freely available, I have yet to find one that satisfies one of two conditions:
1) Completely passive, requires no power supply whatsoever, besides the 3.5mm input. (Maybe this is a ridiculous notion. Please tell me if it is.)

2) Swaps out its transistors for something more feasible like Diode Resistor logic, making it more suited for low power operation.

Thanks!

2

The RF Workbench / What exactly could cause a modulation transformer to ocscillate?

« on: July 21, 2018, 1937 UTC »

Today I've been assembling a transmitter and once I had gotten everything connected properly from the amplifier to the transmitter I turned it on. I then proceeded to find out that the mod transformer was oscillating to whatever I sent down in the input. In essence, my transformer has now become a speaker, and is not putting any output to my antenna or transmitter. Any suggestions on how to fix this? Thanks in advance.

3

Equipment / Stretchyman's 10W LuLu Transmitter

« on: March 18, 2018, 2225 UTC »

A few years ago, I bought one of Stretchy's original LuLu's, assembled at the component level, but not overall. I was wondering if anyone has one of the later fully assembled transmitters and would be willing to post the way you connect the amplifier, transformer, and transmitter components together. Thanks in advance.

4

QSLs Received / Unknown Name Radio Network eQSL

« on: May 12, 2017, 2040 UTC »

Giving a shout out to this operator for playing some requests! The QSL is very much appreicated, and thanks for the show!

5

QSLs Received / ION Radio eQSL

« on: May 12, 2017, 2038 UTC »

Just received mine here! Thanks ION Radio, greatly appreciated.

6

General Radio Discussion / Decoding HDTV audio

« on: March 25, 2017, 1553 UTC »

I had an idea about using a shortwave radio that has 64 MHz -88MHz (Channels 4-6) capabilities and using it to decode HDTV audio from it. This would be similar to older analog radios and how they would be able to pick up the audio carrier of TV stations for use in emergency situations. Any suggestions about how this would be accomplished? My thought is that it would be similar to SSTV and could have a decoder program for PC.

7

General Radio Discussion / Digital SSTV Modes

« on: March 13, 2017, 1320 UTC »

Has anyone ever considered making a digital SSTV mode that could yield a clearer picture than an analog signal? It seems like DX'ing would be made a whole lot easier if one were developed.

8

HF Mystery Signals / Standalone Carrier, 6970; 2/1/17, 22:40 UTC

« on: February 01, 2017, 2248 UTC »

I noticed this carrier when scanning through the band looking for pirates. Not much I can identify, it just seems like an S9+ carrier, perceivable in both Nashville and the WebSDR's.

EDIT: As of 2250 UTC, it's gone. Must have been either someone testing or another pirate related activity.

9

General Radio Discussion / Forum Notifications on Phone

« on: January 21, 2017, 1436 UTC »

I was wondering if anybody knew how to get a notification on your Android phone whenever a post is made on a board(Like the Shortwave Pirate Board.) I've been busy lately and I've been missing out on pirate radio stations because by the time you know about them, they're gone. I've also looked through the tapatalk app and found no settings where I could get push notifications for a new post. Any solutions would be appreciated.

10

Shortwave Broadcast / Radio Verdad 4055 AM 246 UTC, 25 December 2016

« on: December 25, 2016, 0248 UTC »

Extremely strong to be a pirate signal, but putting it here in case it is.
246 Hark the Harold Angels Sing

11

General Radio Discussion / Pirate TV Broadcasts in Pirate Band

« on: October 04, 2016, 0252 UTC »

I was doing some research on SSTV and thought the transfer rate was slightly too slow for an idea I had. I was wondering if it is possible to transmit modified Television over shortwave pirate bands. I realize 6 Mhz would be extremely too wide for shortwave, but I thought there might be a way to transmit a highly compressed form of image transfer over about 20 Khz with no audio and have it perform at a framerate of 15-30FPS. Any thoughts?

12

Equipment / Advice on choosing an antenna that won't make my transmitter go boom

« on: September 25, 2016, 2159 UTC »

I have recently bought one of the LuLu transmitters from eBay that broadcasts with a 10W carrier, 40W peak. Would like to find a cheap, lightweight antenna that won't produce a high SWR reading when tuned. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

13

European Pirates and Private Stations / Radio Blackbeard 1810 UTC 6210 AM Via Twente SDR

« on: September 24, 2016, 1800 UTC »

Appears to possibly be a pirate, not sure though. Does anyone have a better copy? S2 here with S6 QRM/N

14

Utility / Marine Weather Beacon 6519 USB

« on: September 06, 2016, 0114 UTC »

Has been on since 0:50 UTC. Currently giving weather statistics in Knots and Nautical Miles. Off @ 1:13 UTC

15

Equipment / Grounding design for portable PL-600

« on: August 21, 2016, 0355 UTC »

This evening I was listening to the broadcast of Wolverine Radio(Great quality show if you're reading this, Wolverine!) and noticed some issues. While listening the signal,combined with the local thunderstorm production of QRN, was causing the output to overload the speakers. Grabbing the whip antenna with my hand seemed to help very much and almost alleviate the problem, so I was wondering if anybody has come up with ways to ground a portable radio while still making it "portable", so to speak. I would request that the apparatus to ground the antenna be no larger than 2 in. x 4 in. x 1 in., but slightly larger designs are also appreciated. Thank you for any help in advance.