Topics

1

MW Loggings / 1210 WPHT, Philadelphia, PA, airing old-school 80's metal from 0400 - 0500 UTC?

« on: July 13, 2025, 1552 UTC »

It's not often that you tune the AM BC Band and hear old-school 1980's metal on a clear-channel, 50kW blow torch, but I've heard this a couple of times while tuning on the W.O.G., from midnight Saturday night / Sunday morning, to 1AM EST. It was Philly's 1210 WPHT airing 'The Week In Music History!', where you heard anything from Y&T live, to Kix, to Stryper, to Keel, and last night ended with The Beattles - Maxwell's Silver Hammer. https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=wpht&nav=home    and      https://www.audacy.com/stations/1210wpht/shows/this-week-in-music-history-with-phil-almquist-a2a12    Hey!!!! Hearing something like this on a 50kW AM blow-torch is a rare treat indeed. So, I applaud this. I haven't listened to WPHT, since the 1990's, when it was the best station to DX for C2C AM with the then Art Bell. This, may prompt me to listen to them more now on Saturdays at midnight. So, COOL!!!!

2

Equipment / A best-of-both-worlds AM / FM transmitter, or a piece of lab gear?

« on: July 12, 2025, 1634 UTC »

https://www.ebay.com/itm/197189121231   Boomer, FWR this. Interesting... FM beyond what would aloud for FCC Part 15 ops. And, from what I can tell, too low of a signal for decent Part 15 AM. So, I see better used as a piece of bench-testing lab gear for RF tests. The price is right. Just my take.

3

The RF Workbench / The Chebychev Filter Calculator. Nice to bookmark.

« on: July 10, 2025, 1949 UTC »

I came across this bookmark, after forgetting about it for the last few years, and it does get you into the ballpark in calculating L & C values for a Chebychev Filter.  http://www.calculatoredge.com/electronics/ch%20pi%20low%20pass.htm  Get those harmonics and spurs under control.

4

Huh? / Letter: For DX With SDRs, It’s Not the Same As It Was? OK, my take.

« on: July 08, 2025, 1623 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/readers-forum/letter-for-dx-with-sdrs-its-not-the-same-as-it-was  Alright, Boomer FWR me to this RW article, and I even had to add my $0.02 worth. True, we now have that full capacity to monitor world-wide SDR stations, record them, and then pick another. BTW, this capability is something that the FCC, as well as other GOV agencies, have had for years to monitor YOU. Now, if you are stuck in a motel room, the bottom of an apartment complex, or even unlucky enough to live in an HOA, then having this on-line SDR ability is a nice alternative. However, it is something completely different to see what signals reach your QTH. There, you still need a decent antenna setup, a decent receiver, most likely some kind of noise reduction and filtering, etc. And, at your QTH you can pick whatever flavor of radio you want. You can use an SDR, a 30-some year old rig with some DSP and mostly analog circuits, PLL based rigs, analog hybrid rigs, (Tubes & solid-state.), all tubes, and even a REGEN receiver. You still can pick your flavor of radio at your place of receiving. Technology has just provided us with more options to do so. Just my take... What say you???

5

Huh? / Illinois High School Teaches Radio Broadcasting With Video Games? Ok... RW rip..

« on: July 08, 2025, 1600 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/guest-commentaries/this-illinois-high-school-teaches-radio-broadcasting-with-video-games   Huh, interesting read.

6

Huh? / A wealth of radio & electroniocs INFO, M.W. Persons.

« on: July 08, 2025, 1557 UTC »

http://www.mwpersons.com/index.html     Go through the site and there's some INFO that you'll find useful for sure. I've heard of this dude before, but Boomer reminded me of this site. Good to know!

7

FM DX Loggings / KKOK 95.7FM, MN, 7/4/2025, 1300 UTC, Sporadic "E".

« on: July 04, 2025, 1559 UTC »

Woke up to country tunage on WVTS's translator FM FREQ 95.7FM. Even heard the full ID / Promos / Liners at 9AM WV EST time to hear it was KKOK, a 100kW blow torch.  https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=kkok&nav=home  And, this was on that little Yorek YK-901 DSP portable, connected to a VHF High Band Delta Loop. Sure enough, CB was nuts and 6M FM 52.525MHz Simplex was full of CQ-CQ's. So, quite a "E" opening indeed, and totally over took that WVTS translator for minutes at a time. NICE!!!! BTW, the Delta Loop is the VHF version of this,  https://archive.org/details/pren2mdvuhfindoortvantennaandtestpdf/6342862%2C%20Pamphlet%2011-2014%2C%20hi%20res/   Being, the VHF High Version, centered for 200MHz, no real gain for the FM BC Band, but it still is very bi-directional, and is in a North / South facing on the wall.

8

Equipment / AM/CW/DIGITAL LINEAR AMPLIFIER 800W MF/HF 0.4-3MHz from UK? And, more...

« on: June 25, 2025, 1652 UTC »

https://www.grelly.uk/itm/am-cw-digital-linear-amplifier-800w-mf-hf-04-3mhz-164363239397   Well, neat to check out anyway.

9

Huh? / The write-up on the 119 mile Laser Beam COMM Experiment from 1963? Neat...

« on: June 20, 2025, 1722 UTC »

https://ka7oei.blogspot.com/search/label/helium%20neon     I've contemplated upon using narrow light beams, even modulated lasers, as an STL. However, you'd still have to deal with rain, fog, snow, falling debris, dust clouds, etc. Lines-of-sight is just that. So, a really neat experiment, but not practical for 24/7 data and COMM's delivery, except through Fibre Optic Cables. 

10

Propagation / Mid-West and East Coast Heatwave could mean good VHF / UHF Tropo? Maybe...

« on: June 19, 2025, 1753 UTC »

With this fist day of summer heatwave, starting in WV, Friday 6/20/2025, we may go to around 100 degrees this weekend and into next week. So, could that mean some nice VHF / UHF Tropo Propagation? Hope so... https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html   Especially, late night and very early morning. Our 162MHz Weather Stations make for some nice tax $$$$ bought VHF beacons. Oh yeah... Need an OTA Antenna for UHF HDTV DX reception? Build one.   https://archive.org/details/pren2mdvuhfindoortvantennaandtestpdf/6342862%2C%20Pamphlet%2011-2014%2C%20hi%20res/

11

The RF Workbench / Home-Brew, 20W, 5-Band HF Amp. Nice!!!!

« on: June 16, 2025, 1629 UTC »

https://www.qsl.net/on6mu/schemas/hf_5-band_mosfet_amplifier.htm     Hey, 20W on 20M and 15M can get you there, when the bands are wide-open. 40M, in the daytime isn't out of the question either. COOL!!!!

12

10/11 meters / 27.275 MHz AM late night Sporadic "E" path to S. MA 04:15 UTC 14 June 2025.

« on: June 14, 2025, 1625 UTC »

Coming back from work after 02:00UTC, (10PM EST), heard "E" skip pound in on several CB channels in the truck, all the LSB's CH's 34 - 40, and several AM CH's, 21, 23, 6, 18, and 31. No locals, since the local T-storm was still going, but centered maybe 10 miles away from me. After midnight, around 04:15 UTC, I was testing a 4-pin, newer, Cobra 25LTD Classic CB, that I actually found in the trash. The problem??? No power cord, from what I've found. (I've earlier ADJ AMC, SQ, RF OUT, etc.) Still on stock mic, and dated March 2021. (Why trashed??? Who knows...) Anyway, before bed, the T-storm was better than +50 miles away. So, safe to put that rig on the Starduster 1/4-Wave GND-Plane. Only activity heard was 27.275 MHz AM, (CB CH27.), with two dudes QSO'ing, and deep fades, from 1lbs to over 9lbs. (CB terms for S-Units here.) I heard a local WV station try to work them, but to no avail. By 12:30AM, they were coming in stronger. They skip-numbered ID'ed as 442 and 508 from SE MA, Boston Suburbs. I heard them picking stations from KY, TN, and VA. So, I tried working them on barefoot stock power, stock mic, and got them. Good, to only exchange skip #'s and state, since they were getting pile-ups. I didn't loose them by 1AM, they both called it a night. Neat, to hear a single "E" path stay open that late. 

13

Amateur Radio / ARRL VHF / UHF Contest 6/14-15/2025.

« on: June 11, 2025, 1847 UTC »

https://www.arrl.org/june-vhf    Despite all the craziness in the news, got this contest to try out. Huh... Now you can accept FM 1.2GHz and 902MHz contacts as a point? Really, you couldn't before? So, those of you with multi-band HT's, that include 902MHz and 1294.500MHz FM simplex, could now work and give points out to contestants. BTW, good practice warm-up for the ARRL Field Day,  https://www.arrl.org/field-day   

14

Propagation / How about FM Broadcast Double-Hop "E" catches? RW writes about it!

« on: June 11, 2025, 1809 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/double-hop-dreams-and-the-mystery-of-long-distance-fm  I still remember, a story from a dude, that invested into the then testing on a construction permit of Wellsville, NY's, WJQZ 93.5FM in Summer 1985, that they've received a QSL request from Egypt. And, not Egypt, NY. It was always neat to drive around, in what was usually a mundane FM reception area, and then hear like a Z-Rock affiliate out of Houston, TX into Western New York. I'll have to look to see how many FM stations I've heard via "E" skip over the years from USA, Canada, and even Mexico. I believe that Mr. FM, Bruce Elving, wrote a lot about this as well. Tis the season...   

15

Huh? / Real Time FM DX'ing Map from Rabbit Ears? Apparently, new.

« on: June 08, 2025, 1825 UTC »

https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/fm_all_tuners     Rabbit Ears is know for its Television OTA INFO, but here's FM DX INFO. Neat to have, with Sporadic E and Tropo Propagation ramping up for the Summer 2025 season.