Messages

3076

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6905 LSB 0232 UTC 12 SEP 2021

« on: September 12, 2021, 0234 UTC »

UNID 6905.0 kHz LSB 02:32 UTC 12 SEPTEMBER 2021

02:32 UTC - UNID Spanish language station with voice and music;
02:34 UTC - Nothing else heard;
02:36 UTC - Male announcer back on-air and speaking;
02:38 UTC - Music with male announcer. Sound like a test transmission;
02:40 UTC - Off-air again.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3077

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6950 USB 0105 UTC 11 SEP 2021

« on: September 11, 2021, 0305 UTC »

03:00 UTC - Weak but readable with fading. Country western type music;
03:15 UTC - Station ID: "You are listening to radio ?? shortwave";
04:00 UTC - A mix of various music types continues;
04:28 UTC - Cars followed by Elvis Presley - Don't be Cruel.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3078

North American Shortwave Pirate / WDOG 6930 AM was 6960 AM 0236 UTC 11 SEP 2021

« on: September 11, 2021, 0242 UTC »

WDOG 6930.0 kHz AM was 6960.0 kHz AM 02:36 UTC 11 SEPTEMBER 2021

02:36 UTC - WDOG heard after Ball Smacker Radio went off-air. Signal was loud and clear but rapidly faded.

KMD3HR, Chris Lobdell, CJammer and Erk86; thank you for providing the updates. I have lost the signal into my part of the world.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3079

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Mix Radio International 6880 USB 2218 UTC 10 SEP 2021

« on: September 11, 2021, 0146 UTC »

00:30 UTC - As always, a loud and clear signal with classical music in wideband audio.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3080

North American Shortwave Pirate / BallSmacker Radio 6960 AM 0056 UTC 11 SEP 2021

« on: September 11, 2021, 0056 UTC »

Ball Smacker Radio 6960.0 kHz AM 00:56 UTC 11 SEPTEMBER 2021

00:56 UTC - Carrier is up;
00:58 UTC - Interval signal;
01:00 UTC - Broadcast begins;
02:26 UTC - Station ID;
02:34 UTC - SSTV;
02:36 UTC - End of broadcast.

Thank you for the show.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3081

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Nowhere Radio 6974.9 AM 2219 UTC 10 SEP 2021

« on: September 11, 2021, 0053 UTC »

00:52 UTC - Loud and clear to my location.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3082

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: KIPM 6960 USB 2352 UTC 10 SEP 2021

« on: September 11, 2021, 0049 UTC »

00:48 UTC - Weak but readable with male speaking.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3083

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6955 USB 2339 UTC 10 SEP 2021

« on: September 11, 2021, 0047 UTC »

00:45 UTC - Good and readable to my location with music;
00:46 UTC - Nothing else heard.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3084

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WTF Worldwide Radio 6925 AM 0003 UTC 11 SEP 2021

« on: September 11, 2021, 0041 UTC »

00:40 UTC - Nice signal to my location with music.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3085

Equipment / Re: LOG Not Performing Well

« on: September 09, 2021, 0054 UTC »

This is 60 feet. Is it enough to materially affect the signal?

Absolutely as you are dealing with signal amplitudes in the micro volts (uV) range which need to travel down the conductor to the feed point. The smaller the conductor the higher the resistance therefore you will get attenuation along the conductor. You also have less surface area to capture those waves.

Did you remove the insulation on the antenna wire? That as well has an attenuation factor. Then there is also the feedline loss. Every little bit makes a difference because all those little bits add up. Even the quality of the conductor can make a difference. Cheap mix alloy conductors with very little copper content make for poor antennae.

I also looked at the DXE-BFS-1 instructions and they specify:
Antenna wire: You will need a minimum of 3/8 wavelength of wire of any gauge between #8 and #20.

Your current wire is most likely 24 or 26 gage. 3/8 wavelength at 160 metres is 200+ feet of wire. Even at 1/4 wavelength you are looking at 137 feet of wire.

3086

Utility / Re: HFGCS 15016 USB 1805 08 SEP 2021

« on: September 09, 2021, 0021 UTC »

This is one of the USAF High Frequency Global Communications System (HFGCS) network frequencies. These messages are common and generally simulcast on all of the network's frequencies. I sometimes use this traffic to check propagation by cycling through the network. Good practise as well for receiving and copying those phonetic letter onto paper (or screen). Characters should come at you at an approximate cadence of 1 per second.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Frequency_Global_Communications_System

3087

Equipment / Re: LOG Not Performing Well

« on: September 08, 2021, 0440 UTC »

The use of small AWG telephone wire may not be the best choice in antenna wire. This wire has a typical DC resistance of approx 98 Ohms per km and a characteristic impedance of 100 Ohms from 1 to 20 MHz.

Attenuation is in the range of:
2.6 dB/100m at 1 MHz;
5.6 dB/100m at 4 MHz;
8.5 dB/100m at 8 MHz;
9.8 dB/100m at 10 MHz; and
13.1 dB/100m at 16 MHz.

Unfortunately, the result being that the signals captured by the antenna are substantially attenuated by the length of telephone wire even before they have the opportunity to hit the receiver input.

3088

Utility / FEMA Region IV 6995 USB

« on: September 06, 2021, 0334 UTC »

FEMA Region IV 6995 USB

02:55 UTC 06 SEP 2021 6995.0 kHz USB with FEMA traffic.
02:55 UTC to 03:01 UTC with RTTY traffic;
03:06 UTC to 03:11 UTC with RTTY traffic;
03:13 UTC - WRANGLER 01 THIS IS WIZZARD 01 RADIO CHECK OVER
WRANGLER 01 THIS IS WIZZARD 01 RADIO CHECK OVER
03:14 UTC - ALE traffic
WRANGLER 01 THIS IS WIZZARD 01 OVER
03:16 UTC - NORTHWEST 01 THIS IS WIZZARD 01 OVER, YOU ARE GOOD AND READABLE AS WELL, OUT
03:17 UTC - NORTHWEST 01 THIS IS WRANGER 01 RADIO CHECK, OVER
03:20 UTC - ALE traffic
[03:21:02][FRQ 06995000][SND][               ][TWS][FC6FEM3        ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3089

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Outhouse Radio 6955 USB 2346 UTC 05 SEP 2021

« on: September 06, 2021, 0131 UTC »

01:29 UTC - Weak but readable. Thank you for the Peter Frampton. I make it a habit to see him whenever he is playing in town;
01:39 UTC - Frampton rudely interrupted by SSTV;
01:41 UTC - SSTV: Outhouse Radio
02:34 UTC - SSTV: Outhouse Radio
02:48 UTC - SSTV: The Outhouse Radio Crew Air QSL
02:54 UTC - End of broadcast. Thank you for the show.




RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada

3090

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Radio Free Whatever 6965 USB 2326 UTC 05 SEP 2021

« on: September 06, 2021, 0123 UTC »

01:22 UTC - Loud and clear. Nice signal tonight;
01:25 UTC - Station ID.

RSPduo | Barker & Williamson antenna | Toronto, Ontario Canada