16
Peskies / Re: 5591 USB, Chat with a few F Bombs, 10:35 UTC
« on: March 09, 2020, 2141 UTC »
Given your location it sounds like classic fishermen out in the Atlantic somewhere...
Shortwave Pirate Radio In North America And Around The World, And Other Signals That Go Bump In The Night
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Perhaps they finally got around to watching "The Number Station" movie...
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659338/
After reading up on sat orbits a bit, this is what I was thinking. Like I said though, a few of the UFO sats are doing the same. Unless -- they are letting them wander a bit and then course correcting them after X period of days.
Are you 100% sure about this? FLTSATCOM 8 appears to be geo but FLTSATCOM 7 appears to be in an equatorial orbit.
Yep, I use a 133 Mhz highpass (M/C), NOAA notch (PAR) and a RTL-SDR FM notch.
Hehe this depends on where you live. High RF area == forget about it. I use (3) filters just to keep my signals in line.
Hehe, I feel a little stupid. I purchased a BHP-150+ from M/C a while back. About a week ago, I put it back into my discone's receive chain, which normally just monitors local federal activity.
I removed it last night as a test and sure enough, the signals (while still there) are much weaker. Without tweaking the SDR waterfall + gain settings, it'd be easy to miss. I've never had much luck with SATCOM in the past so I never gave it much thought.
Looks like I have a new interest to dabble in!
Thanks. Yeah I listened for quite a while last night and the language is starting to sound more familiar. I finally figured out which sats that are within my footprint. Looks like I have UFO 3, 4, 6, 8 and FLTSATCOM 7. I didn't realize they do move slightly and it looks like they start coming really alive around 11PM local.
Don't recall off-hand.
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17
Spy Numbers / Re: Numbers Station News Story
« on: March 06, 2020, 2251 UTC »Seems to be a lot of this going around, I wonder what has sparked the apparent peak in interest?
Perhaps they finally got around to watching "The Number Station" movie...
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659338/
18
VHF/UHF Logs, including satellites and radiosondes / Re: FLTSATCOM
« on: March 06, 2020, 1946 UTC »My guess is that they are either moving 7 or they no longer have enough fuel for station keeping.
After reading up on sat orbits a bit, this is what I was thinking. Like I said though, a few of the UFO sats are doing the same. Unless -- they are letting them wander a bit and then course correcting them after X period of days.
19
VHF/UHF Logs, including satellites and radiosondes / Re: FLTSATCOM
« on: March 06, 2020, 1034 UTC »
Well I'm confused then because when I plug the latest keps into Orbitron it shows FLTSATCOM 8 as stationary over India near its equator moving slowly S-N every day. If I plug FLTSATCOM 7 in, it shows it over Hawaii -- but every day it shifts west-ward along the equator. UFO 5, 6, and 9 are similar.
20
VHF/UHF Logs, including satellites and radiosondes / Re: FLTSATCOM
« on: March 05, 2020, 1951 UTC »FLTSATCOM uses geostationary satellites...there is no “pass”...either your location is in the footprint or it isn’t.
Are you 100% sure about this? FLTSATCOM 8 appears to be geo but FLTSATCOM 7 appears to be in an equatorial orbit.
21
Equipment / Re: Discone antenna performance (negative/positive)
« on: March 05, 2020, 1940 UTC »I use a 50MHz highpass and a fmbc trap inline with mine.
Yep, I use a 133 Mhz highpass (M/C), NOAA notch (PAR) and a RTL-SDR FM notch.
22
Equipment / Re: Discone antenna performance (negative/positive)
« on: March 05, 2020, 1929 UTC »An low noise amp would be a very good idea for a discone.
Hehe this depends on where you live. High RF area == forget about it. I use (3) filters just to keep my signals in line.
23
Amateur Radio / Re: Thoughts on HF verticals
« on: March 05, 2020, 0011 UTC »
Verticals can rock if it's done right. It just takes proper planning and a little monkey grease to make it work well. Oh and loads of $$$ don't hurt either!
In some cases they are better than Yagis... don't have to rotate a vertical!
In some cases they are better than Yagis... don't have to rotate a vertical!
24
Amateur Radio / Re: Thoughts on HF verticals
« on: March 04, 2020, 1108 UTC »
Heh, well, I purchased the 6BTV and it quickly became a lesson in futility and endless frustration. Granted, I learned some harsh realities due to the experience but it was a complete waste of time and energy. I went for the 'lower-cost' solution and that backfired.
As they say, YMMV, but I would stay away from these kind of verticals. They promise everything but require an extreme amount of patience. The biggest problem is that you need to assemble everything 'perfectly' from the start. Presuming you do this correctly then you need to assemble the complete antenna and then tune (each trap) from lowest band (80m) and work your way up. It may require tweaking each trap a little bit here and there. So to say that you'll likely have to bring down and put up the antenna a few times is also an understatement. You may get 80/40/20 right but then the 17/10/6 traps are way off. Or better yet, you get 80 then 40 and then 20 tuned -- but then 80 is suddenly out of whack. Yes, it was like whackamole.
What pissed me off about my 6BTV experience is that I finally got mine tuned for 40/20/10 (but no others would come close) and then after a few uses, one of the traps failed. There was some arcing inside and all I found was scorch marks on the trap. I was only running 100W too.
The *happiest* moment was tearing the thing down and throwing it in a box. I was planning to throw it out but someone offered me shipping costs to mail it to them.
I'm pretty happy with my current antenna -- but it is a compromise: https://zerofive-antennas.com/productdisplay/10-40-meter-groundplane-freestanding-vertical-antenna-unun
The 10-40 GP doesn't require any ground radials and is (relatively) easy to install. It still requires commitment to do it right -- which after my 6BTV experience -- I did do it right the first time.
If you have a lot of grass and don't mind doing the radial work then consider this: https://zerofive-antennas.com/productdisplay/43-foot-10-160-meter-multiband-foldover-vertical-antenna-unun
Just note the 43ft'er is a VERY LARGE ANTENNA. It's not for the timid.
FWIW, vertical antennas are noisy compared to wires. If you have the space (and I really mean space here...) then it may be worthwhile. I would ONLY buy a high quality vertical though. Read all of the instructions PRIOR to buying one of these. Also search YouTube for videos. They will be valuable to learn what's required in terms of parts, tools, accessories and the commitment.
Here's a good idea of what's involved. The author went with DXE's 43ft vertical kit: http://www.k8jhr.com/files/43_ft_vertical_antenna.pdf
As they say, YMMV, but I would stay away from these kind of verticals. They promise everything but require an extreme amount of patience. The biggest problem is that you need to assemble everything 'perfectly' from the start. Presuming you do this correctly then you need to assemble the complete antenna and then tune (each trap) from lowest band (80m) and work your way up. It may require tweaking each trap a little bit here and there. So to say that you'll likely have to bring down and put up the antenna a few times is also an understatement. You may get 80/40/20 right but then the 17/10/6 traps are way off. Or better yet, you get 80 then 40 and then 20 tuned -- but then 80 is suddenly out of whack. Yes, it was like whackamole.
What pissed me off about my 6BTV experience is that I finally got mine tuned for 40/20/10 (but no others would come close) and then after a few uses, one of the traps failed. There was some arcing inside and all I found was scorch marks on the trap. I was only running 100W too.
The *happiest* moment was tearing the thing down and throwing it in a box. I was planning to throw it out but someone offered me shipping costs to mail it to them.
I'm pretty happy with my current antenna -- but it is a compromise: https://zerofive-antennas.com/productdisplay/10-40-meter-groundplane-freestanding-vertical-antenna-unun
The 10-40 GP doesn't require any ground radials and is (relatively) easy to install. It still requires commitment to do it right -- which after my 6BTV experience -- I did do it right the first time.
If you have a lot of grass and don't mind doing the radial work then consider this: https://zerofive-antennas.com/productdisplay/43-foot-10-160-meter-multiband-foldover-vertical-antenna-unun
Just note the 43ft'er is a VERY LARGE ANTENNA. It's not for the timid.
FWIW, vertical antennas are noisy compared to wires. If you have the space (and I really mean space here...) then it may be worthwhile. I would ONLY buy a high quality vertical though. Read all of the instructions PRIOR to buying one of these. Also search YouTube for videos. They will be valuable to learn what's required in terms of parts, tools, accessories and the commitment.
Here's a good idea of what's involved. The author went with DXE's 43ft vertical kit: http://www.k8jhr.com/files/43_ft_vertical_antenna.pdf
25
HF Mystery Signals / Re: 11 meters mystery - solved.
« on: March 03, 2020, 2037 UTC »
Thankfully we don't have the streetlight issues here. I know SoCal switched to their 'green' version many years ago and those definitely caused some issues. I've had all kind of RFI here at this QTH -- from electric pet fences, powerline spark gap, cable tv amps, touch lamps and PLN crap.
26
HF Mystery Signals / Re: 11 meters mystery - solved.
« on: March 03, 2020, 2024 UTC »
Frankly, those are easy culprits to find. It's the damn powerline noise that drives me up the wall. Bzzzzzzzzzzz! Across most of HF. When we have high winds, it knocks the branches all around. The trees that have yet to be trimmed by our utility company end up getting into these lines and causing sparks, etc.
A few years back I noticed that when the noise got high that meant a transformer was about to blow. Sadly, that logic didn't hold water after the first few times it happened.
A few years back I noticed that when the noise got high that meant a transformer was about to blow. Sadly, that logic didn't hold water after the first few times it happened.
27
ID and Translation Requests / Re: UFO SATCOM
« on: February 28, 2020, 1915 UTC »They are fairly strong signals, I get them with just a discone as well.
Hehe, I feel a little stupid. I purchased a BHP-150+ from M/C a while back. About a week ago, I put it back into my discone's receive chain, which normally just monitors local federal activity.
I removed it last night as a test and sure enough, the signals (while still there) are much weaker. Without tweaking the SDR waterfall + gain settings, it'd be easy to miss. I've never had much luck with SATCOM in the past so I never gave it much thought.
Looks like I have a new interest to dabble in!
28
ID and Translation Requests / Re: UFO SATCOM
« on: February 28, 2020, 1909 UTC »That language is Brazilian Portuguese. Those are coming from CONUS transponders.
Thanks. Yeah I listened for quite a while last night and the language is starting to sound more familiar. I finally figured out which sats that are within my footprint. Looks like I have UFO 3, 4, 6, 8 and FLTSATCOM 7. I didn't realize they do move slightly and it looks like they start coming really alive around 11PM local.
29
Equipment / Re: NanoVNA for dummies
« on: February 28, 2020, 0026 UTC »
Yep with portable antennas they can be quite funny. For ideal results you need to hold it away from your body and make sure the rubber duck is vertical (to simulate real world use.)
Of all the two-way radio antennas I've tested, only a handful are constructed/designed well -- and that actually have usable SWR values for their assigned band.
Of all the two-way radio antennas I've tested, only a handful are constructed/designed well -- and that actually have usable SWR values for their assigned band.
30
ID and Translation Requests / Re: UFO SATCOM
« on: February 27, 2020, 1716 UTC »What other frequencies other than the ones listed above were noted?
Don't recall off-hand.