We seek to understand and document all radio transmissions, legal and otherwise, as part of the radio listening hobby. We do not encourage any radio operations contrary to regulations. Always consult with the appropriate authorities if you have questions concerning what is permissible in your locale.

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - MojaveBeaconeer

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7
1
HF Beacons / Re: Mojave Beaconeer's Rants, Opinions and Demands
« on: June 16, 2022, 0402 UTC »
Oh goodnes gracious Mr. Jim, likewise.  Most can tell here that I rarely report here anymore, and frankly I care not a wisp about your southern california attitude either and for taking over this forum, etc. 

This whole pirate beacon thing has gone **way too fa** and sooner or later the rising police state that the USA is becoming will engender Uncle Charlie to take action, as HE knows where all of these things are located, yup.

May I sweetly remind you that I began this mania back in 1988 with a small 4096 beeper stuck deep in a Marin fern forested canyon (you don't have those in smoglandtracthomeland down below, no?) -- friend Frank heard it fine in Descanso 1/88.

Now I cannot believe how it has morphed into this total *mania* like American pick-up trucks have grown mongo in size with the accompanying attitude problems, Jimbo.

So really, may all readers remember who began this before HFU even existed. I have NO qualms with Chris. S. at all, but the Southern California attitude you carry with your "I live in the better part of Orange (Smoggy, cough cough)  sprawl-County" is rather snarly too, sir, har dee har. 

I keep my beacons simple, as they LAST - yes far outlast the more complex ones - such as the Coxie beacon etc.  =  simple 4011 to 2N3866 designs are really throw away units. 

So you have a declining opinion of myself - oh gee willikers, oh my oh my. 

Do I really care - this is a silly radio forum, Mr. So Cal. silly kinda sn*bby guy taken over this forum, ad nauseum.  Actually I think other long time radio-heads might agree, dude - DOOOD southern kalifornia talk surfer dude newport beach car wreck boom boom box car capital of the planet like the rest of the big nasty mess down below where you have to watch your 6 o'clock constantly for the manic speeders galore.  hee hee.

"I live in the better part of the nasty LA Basin so car clogged sigalert PSI=300 cough cough" he should really say: - THE 405 to THE 710 to THE 210 to THE whatever # it is = all a gridlocked mess - sig-alert this is 1070 KNX giving you the manic traffricked report every 8 minutes from hyper maniced southern california, doodland for sure totally groady to the max I live in the better part of Encino - omigod. for sure, toootaaallllyy!.

aww just kidding. dooooood fer sure totally.

I challenge YOU, Jim, to do the radio achievements I have done since the 70s from Marin County/Point Reyes (far more bucolic the place once was before the SouthernCalifornian-rat-racers ruined the place so yuppie land now); and Hawaii (same thing now); with LF DX records broken, etc.  This stuff to me seems rather  - uh - silly, compared.

I am moving into restoration of antique radios and also WSPR DX beacons in 630 meter band.  fer sure tootally dood you can not like me at all oh waa waa do i really care jimbo. :-)

Could the pesky DW perps move the silly bird-thing up to the the former WindBeacon (oh, sorry, "Windy") or where the former TMP unit was once in kofazona.? Pleeze for sure dood totally?

LOLOLOLOL HIHIHIHIHI,

I think I will report about fish net beacon DX preferbly... it was glorious back in the 80s in Hawaii to hear the XBand filled up with those units before the freaking-out FCC freaked-up that band with still more AMBCB crap 1620 to 1700 splatter splatter/now still full of clashing SAHing stations - why can't the freakingout FCC get it right and have ONE - OMG just ONE  - ONLY ONE *clear channel* above 535 kc like 530 Cubans have and with the superior audio quality of the 530 (etc.) Cubanos rather than that weird/strange "AmeriMorph" AM radio audio characteristics Frank & I (etc.) call "Phasar Audio" - has anyone noticed how gawdawful 1070/640 KFI (cough cough!) 720 LostWages/740 KCBS 'all ads all the time'/and so many other 50 kilowatt "AmeriMorph" audio blasters which have adopted the strange mid-range ringing audio?  I swear The commies in Cuba have better audio engineering standards than the NorteAmericanos can do today, WTHeck?

I must be some kind of possible mind control to agitate the rightwing masses, no? Just wondering why most nations have better AM/MW band audio than here, WTHeck?

but I digress... or do I:  no wonder I have almost ceased about all of my DXing of the VERY weird and totally 540-1700 All Graveyard dial here, in (very) vast preference to TP DXing those still gorgeous sounding Japanese, Korean, Chinese, (etc.) AM stations rather than the odious programming heard on those talktalktalktalk on and on PhasarAudio AM stations here weirdland.   Hmmm: maybe to avoid the mind control...(?)

There seems to be NO chatter anywhere (IRCA/NRC etc.) regarding the odious AM-BCB "Phasar" audio quality here in strangeland.

But I digressed from the "silly beacon thing" and silly opining of it all.

quoting the dood from "ClockWorkOrangeCounty":

...... some complicated micro-pro like DW

McGreevy, your public sniping is uncalled for (really?) and is not what this forum is about. My opinion of you continues to decline at a precipitous rate like the stock exchange, no?

oh don't take this whole silly thing too seriously, Jimbo.  LOL...

2
The sole and rare freedom frequency in the USA only a wee fishnet beacon sub-band (i.e. - "The NetherBand" also the Freedom Band).

A rare MW/AM-BCB station with 20watts from nowhaere important ota

tonight or tomorrow UTC beg. sundown with big band glenn miller peace and voctory music alledgedly - 1776 kHz at about 04z /m21.00 PDT - 21 April UT date).

3
PS - an unfortunate posting of mine months ago re. LWCA still exists in the 22m listing section, and this opinion is null and void today, as I re-joined LWCA in the winter and I find all  of the DXing efforts; waterfall and spectraldisplays; and various writings and chit-chat about 22m stuff is FASCINATING!

For the record, MB.

4
PCO bombed in here moving the S-meter to S2 to 3 on Saturday 07 April during the mid-day period (in and out) along with a ditter near 13562. 

RR-dash (about 13562.8 kHz) was off and still is off for listening purposes.  good job again and TNX for the nice QSL card for April reception! 73MB

5
HF Beacons / Re: Coastal Slider Back On 4109.5
« on: May 10, 2022, 0220 UTC »
It probably wouldn't hurt the antenna nor reduce radiation (mnaybe by a few dB by allowing for a "sag" of the dipole more into a Vee form from 25 to 25 degrees from horizontal.  This will reduce end-tension on the dipole antenna.  I prefer rock formations rather than trees due to how trees can thrash around and break antennas...  The shoert term solution of the bungee and // cord fix is good for a few months but Bungee cords deteriorate quickly out in the sunshine and elements, from past experience.

Slider is Now audible about S4-5 in the big QRN at 7:10 p.m. PDT now.  DW by comparison is S9 and propagation pre sunset time must be favoring DW's distance.  The other solar only daytimer 4096 cluster dashers are quite weak now due to fading Sun and for the cluster being "too close." At times the dasher out-signal strength DW by far mid-day and when absorption is low.

Anyway, cool and I plan on a Central Coast trip in June so it will be more of a local short skip signal there in a remote place between Templeton and Cambria. A far nicer/better place than this funky desert village locale by 100 times!

The original 4096 beeper was deep in a Marin County canyon in a fern forest in 1988 and the antenna was a half-wave wire (no ground) just to a 7aH SLA swapped bi-monthly via 10 mile round trip hikes.  The desert-based PV units would come when this endeavor re-started after 1998.

6
Yes indeed it is very sad to hear only about 10% of the NDBs OTA compared to the 80s - the beginning of the end was when the wonderful MARINE SUB-BAND (285-325 kHz) containing cool sequenced lighthouse (and other locales) beacons were ongoing, as well as single marine NDBs were OTA.

DGPS took over for a while there but now is largely gone, temporarily re-opening up former NDB frequencies and DX formerly covered by the various DGPS transmissions. JUst for a spell...

Yep, by 2030 LW is going to be strangely empty (if the ICBMS have not flown and blown yet) - I suggest counteraction: - A TAKEOVER by hoibbyists (like the HF beacons) abd personal NDBs should happen! Perhaps a minority view and a bit controversial, but this IS HFU and many here ARE into un-sanctioned (by the govt AHs) beaconeering, so WHY NOT, when the FAA and other avation-related NDBS largely vacate the band, just TAKE OVER the emptied RF spaces with experimental beacons of our own... 

***QUITE FRANKLY THE USA REALLY REALLY REALLY NEEDS TO GET RID RID RID OF 90% of it's AMBCB overload/logjam of crap and crud-race-to-the-bottom  transmitters/transmissions (commercial/advert-overload 75 percent crap adverts) on the declining and assinine AM band, thusly opening-up long-haul DX like the rest of the planet can now enjoy on the AMBCB (except in China which has become also just as log-jammed an AM dial like the USA go figure...) >>> make the stupid AM band more like the emptying-out LF NDB/BCB band, folks... maybe by 2050 or after the ICBMs fly... good luck...


7
Longwave Loggings / Re: Receiving LWBC in North America
« on: April 25, 2022, 1316 UTC »
171 Medi-1 seems to now be inaudible "out west" here in CA compared to the early 2000s to about 2010 - I think this is because they went to a directional pattern that nulls North America - . Once quite easy in Inyo Co. CA to hear after evening dusk in the winter when the K-index was ZERO (and I caught them loudly in western AZ April 2009 with just a random wire atop some Saguaros). This before they went to the NA-semi-null.

The best antenna for LWBC and LW in-general is a good directional BEVERAGE antenna (look that one up).  You will get a lot more help with LWBC reception at the LWCA site and IRCA/NRC (the principle North American DX clubs). "Beverage on ground" wires (i.e. - simply spool out 300m/1000 feet on the ground or atop shrubs/etc. in-lieu of those 3m tall (plus) poles will offer amazingly directional reception - these are called "BOGs" and DXers employ them with amazing results!  "Terminate" the far-end of the wire to a ground rod 1m meter deep if possible (alternatively attaching the far end to another spool of wire and just putting the spool onto a ground rod or even wrapping it in a plastic bag and burying it just under the soil surface works to reject signal reflection from the far-end thusly reducing the undesired "back-lobe" ( most BOGs do not really need that 200-400 ohm resistor in-series to the earthing-rod - I find - as earth grounding is rarely low enough resistance with a single earthing rod). As such, this all makes the wire quite unidirectional toward the axis of direction of the wire. 

BOGs have a cool phenomenon pertaining to a "velocity-lag" of the signal in the wire vs. light-speed, and this further pulls the reception pattern into the reception-lobe along the axis of the wire.

For amazing receptions of LWBC stations via Bevs, listen to samples here:

https://archive.org/details/TheBestOfHawaiiMediumwaveamBroadcast-bandDx-86To91

AND:

https://archive.org/details/KeelerFenceBeverage1

For the time being - "forget about it" now, as storm static noise (QRN) and now a rising solar-max and huge attenuation of LW signal DX now (including NDBs) has now ensued - it is now like a -20 dB suck-down of LF signal strengths has ensued - just since the January 2022...

Solar-Minimum periods (such as between 2016 to as recent as October 2021) were the BEST epoch for long-haul LWBC DX, but it's all going away and the LWBC signals are rapidly leaving the air, too (alas!). 

Brave New World... 73MB

8
22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / Re: "DAD" On Air ~13.56305 MHZ
« on: April 25, 2022, 1227 UTC »
Not yet heard out west in the CA desert on any of my rxs. 

One thing to know is that you WILL get a better idea of the propagation of your beacon by checking out many KiwiSDRs (or WebSDRs too) for its signal rather than rely on reporting here which seems to be scanty by-compare for the 22m stuff.

I see my "RR-dash" shows up on a few SDRs here and there (13562.78 kHz presently into a helical vertical with counterpoise "ground") - but if I strictly relied upon reports here (i.e. a total lack of them) i.e. "I'd never know."

Thank goodness for the SDRs we have today which are the best way to get a "report" - DIY! 73MB

9
HF Beacons / Mojave Beaconeer's Rants, Opinions and Demands
« on: April 25, 2022, 1220 UTC »
Thanks for your posting in this and Jim's reports - I guess you could say that the ~6627 kHz "Gendarme" is the other "whooper" of a simpler kind that simply relies upon a voltage drop during "key-down" to create its characteristic whoop rather than some complicated micro-pro like DW.= has (i.e. likely more reliable esp. lacking a battery).

Secondly I now insist my beacons are daytime-only to keep the propagation footprint smaller (these are, after all, not-officially sanctioned, to be truthful).

What is STRANGE is how the other beacon paired with Gendarme - the long time "Rainy" ticker/dripper) - seems to come and go when otherwise propagation would bring in its signal.  I suspect it has been relocated and is being run intermittently and is not in its 'original location' in the Mojave Nat. Preserve since March 2003.  I have no intent on ever venturing down to the lower deserts to check out the remaining (dying) beacons implanted around the early Millienium (no fun now and too tiring) in-preference in maintaining daytimer beacons closer to "home." 73-MB

10
Token,

Your remarkable report and the near-abrupt shift from short skip to long skip on 6.9 MHz band / 43m was likely the X1 flare that began a radio blackout over s.e. Asia at 03:34 UT! A proton stream struck at the time of the UV and X-rays, so it immedisately affected the night and terminator ionosphere, also... 73MB

11
Missed this report or else I would have tried for a local sounding signal as was the case (I suppose...) a few weeks ago when a fade-free recording of YHWH on 15105 was made&posted at this DX page:

https://archive.org/details/KeelerFenceBeverage1 - look for the YHWH file name toward the end of the list there along with a lot of other DX from Owens Valley, CA (it is numeric-alpha format)

Maybe he didn't check for CRI before coming OTA...

73MB

12
HF Beacons / Re: The Desert Whooper
« on: April 16, 2022, 1259 UTC »
Next time you're there could you put it on the former Windy freq. (4102.7 or so)  to get the whooping away from the sun only ditter/dasher cluster (makes for more esthetic listening). - I and a friend in MN ask this... please?

13
~13559 is the "NFC" or near-field communications for smart phones - those are weak "blips" CW-like but can carry far in some cases.  13560 is a mash of strange carriers.  Somewhere in the PNW is the sweeper (OTH-b) above 13560 - reception correlated with FRC beacon here much of the time if by Es.

CNR-1 China on 13570 splashes all over the upper part of the 22m ISM band until 1700 UT sign-off.

Just some more oddities and misc.  73-MB

14
I was wondering what this (PCO) DAID beacon after 3 idents was a couple of weeks ago as I was slow-offroading and hiking in the Talc City area near Darwin, CA (Inyo Co.) - Q3-5 (but weak) reception easily achieved just the whip on my ICF-SW7600GR out in the wide open spaces. OK cool and thanks for the update...  Thanks Bill also!

RR-daid has now a helically loaded "wooden-pole vertical" atop the shop bldg. in-lieu of former 1/4 wave horizontal-wire broadside east/west.  Now 13562.88 +/- A1A drift.  It is xmtr #1 employing a CB-14 in 3x overtone osc., etc.

I also occ. hear a ditter of about 75 DPM near PCO and exhibiting similar propagation--might be friend Mike's in NM, possibly, per his info. 1/2 a year ago.

22-m has very differing propagation daily - now better due to higher MUF and Es season coming.

73-MB

15
Not certain how to put this but YHWH on 15.100 MHz is a ***very-rock-steady*** S8 on my Kenwood TS-440S and 15m inverted-L "hamming" and general listening antenna here in the northern Moj. Desert at my QTH - go figure but I can't confirm nor deny this report - it is NOT mine!  I prefer rock music and his ideology is not entirely mine but it IS interesting though dark... MB

Hmmm... if it were not Sunday nor windy I'd go out and DF for my own edification!

Between 2010 tune in through 2035z. Strong on my portable Sony ICF-7600D that neighbors always see me carrying on my walks (tourists too). MB-edit

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7