Messages

16

General Radio Discussion / Re: RW rip: Armstrong Broadcast Returns to New Jersey in June, 42.800MHz FM.

« on: May 30, 2025, 0114 UTC »

Hey Thadood,

WAY COOL.

I am wondering about a few things though:

They didn’t say much about a schedule, is it 24 hours and if so, for how many days?

Also, they are running Wide FM.I wonder if it would sound too crummy on a NFM scanner ( which is all I have for the low band).

250 watts is not a lot of juice either. But you really can’t expect a temporary/ experimental station to run 50 Kw .I get it.

I DID just find a couple of old / very short boom TV antennas. It would be nice to have a BIT of gain. But they are flat line ( 300 ohm ? ) fed.Not sure how I would get them down to 50/75 ohm ball park without messing with baluns , etc.( which I don’t have) .

I wonder if they still make high/low Z inline transformers , like the old “back of the TV “ type.

The other alternative is simply a Vee dipole, with the elements swung 45 and 45 degrees inwards. As I “ recall “ from my experiments many years ago, this gave around 75 ohms.

NO gain, but “ some “ directivity if mounted correctly.

Perhaps from the big hill.

Prop has been mostly kind of crummy lately, especially above 12 M.

Not sure if Alpine would experience nigh time ducting to Boston or not.

In general, I probably need more info, time and LUCK.

de NQC

17

Huh? / Re: The History of UHF TV in America?

« on: May 12, 2025, 1303 UTC »

Hey ThaDood,

UHF went on here in Boston in  1953 w/WTAO /DuMont.

Failed/ off air 1/56. Back on air  continuous  since  1962 under new ownership.

FWIW, my UHF timeline is a  little fuzzy. I am pretty sure we never had a TV top converter box ( we got 4 VHF Ch's then). So we had to wait until my Dad bought a UHF capable TV.

This could have been as late as 1969.

And OT/ FWIW, our first FM receiver was also around '69 . FWIW,  this kitchen  radio was for my MOM - FM was NOT  given to  young kids back then.

MY first FM could have been a late as '73 or '74 (when I was 14 !). 

(with 4 kids, Dad  ran on a "budget").

UHF was initially  considered "second banana " (and  frankly a bit cheesy or dull )   compared to the "big  budget " stations like WBZ-TV.

 But  2 or 3   movies on Sunday ( and other programming ) eventually won us over  to UHF   .

In later years    UHF  often actually BEAT BZ and the other big  VHF's .

de NQC

18

General Radio Discussion / Re: Curious Greater NYC AM Station Purchase by Red Apple Media (WABC)

« on: May 12, 2025, 1229 UTC »

Hey Ct Yankee,

I found out about the change when I happened to slide by RCR during a bit of dxing.

When I heard them carrying WABC it immediately made NO sense . After a bit of pattern research , ABC actually (generally ) does better in the tri state area  than RCR, both  day and night.

Not sure what this guy is thinking.  Not sure what RCR's ratings as a music station were. Perhaps carrying ABC is "placeholder"  programming until something
 "else" ( "better " ?) comes along.

But I would have absolutely NO idea what format that would be.

It's a BIT of a bummer here- RCR IMHO played a pretty good mix- WHEN you could hear them well ( which wasn't very often, especially over the last year or so due to crummy BCB prop).

Slight OT ,I have 4 local AM'ers that have a good play list.

 2 of them are non commercial.One  (WJIB)  runs  fundraising every year, but has no commercials . 

The other (WAZN) , seems to be a "hobby" station that is fully funded and has zero commercials (or fundraising).
Obviously someone with $$$.

de NQC

19

General Radio Discussion / Re: Decommission of Gander VOLMET Service

« on: May 11, 2025, 1901 UTC »

Hey All,


Sorry to  hear this.

Is New York next ?

I have been listening to VOLMET for over 50 years. It was always really cool as a "propagation check" and to know how things are going weather wise,  to an extent.

But if I were an international pilot , getting weather info for a particular airport out of  such a long list  could be a problem in the cockpit. They  either want to rest or are busy doing other things . 20 minutes under the phones ( not sure how  much  noise or propagation  is a problem  airborne out over the ocean ) -VS-  getting  same info instantly is kind of a no brainer .

As a Dxer I will miss them , but I imagine 95 +% of pilots have moved past using  VOLMET broadcasts years ago. I surprised it lased as long as it did.

de NQC

20

North American MW Pirate Radio / Re: Throwback 90s 1720 AM 0012 UTC 8 MAY 2025

« on: May 11, 2025, 1849 UTC »

 Hey Chris,

Nice to see 1720 Kc active  again.

But again, although it has the  BIG advantage of being a "clear" channel, casual listeners (probably) may not have a rig that covers 1720 "effectively" (or at all).

This could eliminate a LOT of potential  listeners.

de NQC

21

General Radio Discussion / Re: Armed Forces Network to reduce radio programming in May

« on: April 30, 2025, 2115 UTC »

Hey All,

I too used to listen to AFRTS on shortwave sideband .I thought it was SO cool to copy a broadcast in SSB !

SO long ago, but I definitely had them from Key West, Iceland and maybe Puerto Rico. Never copied DG, Italy , etc.

When I was stationed at Kaefertal Wald , Germany ( 1992) I liked to tune in the Canadian Forces Network on FM , can’t recall the QTH . I was at the fringe, and I don’t think they had big power or a high antenna. So a little dicey to pull in at times .

de NQC

22

General Radio Discussion / Re: Optimod 5750 Boosts Coverage for WJFF! Um, What??? RW rip...

« on: April 18, 2025, 2315 UTC »

I think I would agree.

It almost sounds like a snake oil sales pitch to me.

23

General Radio Discussion / Re: Optimod 5750 Boosts Coverage for WJFF! Um, What??? RW rip...

« on: April 18, 2025, 0329 UTC »

 
Duplicate  :

24

General Radio Discussion / Re: Optimod 5750 Boosts Coverage for WJFF! Um, What??? RW rip...

« on: April 18, 2025, 0324 UTC »

Hey Dood,

I am also kind of lost with the information in the links.

Unless I am missing something very fundamental ( which is a distinct possibility), as I understand it a signal is limited to the old rules: path/ terrain, antenna height/ power, blah, blah.

As I have experienced, an analog signal goes through a gradual degradation from good to fair, then noisy , then gone.

Digital transmissions go from very good to maybe a  brief chopped up good, then very rapidly vanish .

I am not sure how someone has suddenly developed some magical new physics that defy, what I thought, were the basic rules of a station’s range- be it analog or digital.

So by messing around with bit rates, compression and what ever else, you are suddenly going to double the range.

Maybe I am really dumb about digital
  “ manipulation “ ( possible) .But digital seems to be the INFERIOR Dx mode, no matter how much you shuffle it.

I maintain an open mind, but so far,I’m not getting this either.

de NQC

25

General Radio Discussion / Re: Good old days

« on: April 16, 2025, 1326 UTC »

Hey N2AVH,

Interesting.

That could be a cool  experiment to try.

de NQC

26

General Radio Discussion / Re: Good old days

« on: April 14, 2025, 2146 UTC »

Hey N2AVH,

SDR’s can do some absolutely astounding things at times, compared to an analog box ( ie R-71a , etc).

BUT an SDR is a lot like any radio: It’s only as good as the location , propagation and antenna allow.

And like a box, perhaps some SDR’s are not as good as others.

Additionally, at least in the early days of SDR’s , I had HEARD that the  noise of the PC itself could get into the audio.

Not sure how big an issue this was or if it could have been resolved in later versions.

And smashing this one last time, at least in MY case, if the “ receiver “ ( box OR SDR ) isn’t at MY QTH , it isn’t quite the same.

But on the UP side, you can get a lot closer to desired signals compared to your own QTH , which may simply be impossible to copy “ direct “ on your own antenna and your box or SDR.
 

I have listened to  weak
European “ traffic” on the Twente SDR when I didn’t have a PRAYER of hearing it direct.

So , kind of a mixed bag.

de NQC

27

General Radio Discussion / Re: Good old days

« on: April 14, 2025, 1536 UTC »

Hey N2AVH,

Thanks for the info. The  published (supposed  )  listings for tropical,  are sometimes ( or often) old and /or inaccurate ( same things goes for Cuba on the  regular AM broadcast band).

 It's  really  useful and nice to get actual updated ("live" ) listings from someone.

Once upon a time I had an AWESOME listening capability (Icom R-70, R-71a, IC -735,etc, etc  -  big roof top antennas, blah, blah.All long gone . How the "mighty" hath fallen ).
 
I am now limping along with a "well  built" but INDOOR "40 M  1/4 wave "  square   and a deluge of QRM. My Dx440 and 803a ( which are all I have left )are "good" receivers. But obviously NOT   anywhere close to what I used to have.These rigs have a "BFO" , but no separate filters . When tuning SSB they are kind of pain to use. On   exalted  carrier for  AM they  completely fall flat and are essentially useless- I do MUCH better in AM. For how little is left on HF I have yet bothered to try an inline trap. I am probably 90% on the AM broadcast band now digging out what I can.

I really miss the PBT, notch and U/L SSB filters on the Icoms. You could do some amazing things using those controls.

I am really old school and much prefer listening to what I can  direct on my rigs . But I do  occasionally go onto SDRs at times (or even worse, streaming ) when condition are impossible or I am away from home.

Oh well, boo hoo for me  , moving on with what I have left. I have MUCH bigger problems in my life  now than poor radio reception.

It was a good run though.

Thanks Again,

de NQC

28

General Radio Discussion / Re: Good old days

« on: April 13, 2025, 1058 UTC »

Hey N2AVH,

Just out of curiosity  ( and not that I will probably  copy ever  them direct), what were the names and  frequencies of the Peruvians you heard on the Lima SDR ?

de NQC

29

General Radio Discussion / Re: Good old days

« on: April 10, 2025, 2148 UTC »

Hey Don,

Absolutely true.Not only would a third world station have trouble finding parts for a tube dinosaur Collin’s , Continental  or RCA transmitter, but try finding someone qualified to actually WORK on one ( again IF they could find the parts).

Salvage, innovation,  substitution ,in house  rebuilding ( IF possible) , etc would be the order of the day.

Although most of these 1Kw tube wonders are fairly “ simple “ in design, it would probably take a REALLY talented tech to pull it off now.

And again, there is the $$$$!!!. I can see an owner wanting to keep an aging FM transmitter up. And probably, even an old AM rig.

But a SW transmitter? From a business standpoint it would be such a distant third , probably just to the point of “ junk it “.

The only exception I know of is on Tarma.He states he makes near zero money on SW and keeps 60 meters going purely as a public service and a labor of love.

Probably not the philosophy ( or even an option) nearly anywhere else.



NQC

30

General Radio Discussion / Re: Good old days

« on: April 09, 2025, 2122 UTC »

Hey N2AVH,

Tarma is a really cool “ network “ ( having the SW and I believe the AM outlet IN Tarma  and FMs scattered around the region- not sure how much of Peru these cover though).

Sinning against the radio Gods , I have listened to R T on stream ( which seems to be intermittently available).On one occasion he really played some awesome
Andean music, very similar to the music from my wife’s  birth region of Peru
( Departmento Junin ).

Other times ( WHEN he is streaming) it is “good”  but I wish I could remember the day / time he really played the gold records .

R. Cultural Amauta strikes a vague ( possibly imaginary) bell.I don’t THINK I ever logged them.

I have found that Peru , Chile and the Southern half of South America was always kind of tough even back in the day.Ecuador and most countries in Northern South America seemed a good bit easier.

Never had too much luck on the Africans ( except Spring Bok and 1 or  2 others from The Republic of South Africa).
 Maybe a few other tropicals from
Africa , but not many. Mostly it was the big guns.

Asia was also pretty much “ big guns “ only ( ie high powered R. Japan, etc  , over the
 N .Pole ). But even RJ  (actually FROM Japan ) was not too common for me.

I did strike gold one night while camping with my wife in Maine 20 years ago, logging 12 Peruvians in one night on the Icoms.

I believe many SW tropicals run single vertical towers , perhaps without much in the way of radials ( or maybe low height dipoles). I would bet most had/  have pretty high angle signal and fairly low power.This may explain why the more distant stations ain’t so easy to copy outside of the region ie in North America ( along with being in
a “ naturally “ noisy part of the band and propagation “ variability “ factors ).

But the higher angle SW is probably more dependable for , say, 50 to 300 miles- perhaps a bit more so during the day  and / low lobe leaAM probably limited to ground wave during the day.

Not sure how these small stations did at night- on AM or SW.

But having two frequency choices is  always good.

FWIW,I have found U.S. AM graveyard band/  single tower/ at 1 kw or less are good to about 300 mi at night.

Grey line may be a different matter: it has been said that it is not as dependent on the solar cycle and it may act somewhat like a duct , conducting signals further than just the simpler  and more conventional ionospheric propagation.

I also had some crazy stuff happen when I used to run 40 M SSB QRP  daylight NVIS.

“X” number of minutes after sunset ( when working NY) I would go from good copy to ZERO in 45 seconds to at most a minute and a half - EVERY DAY, at the EXACT same window after sunset.Like  clockwork. It was SO dependable it was almost freaky.I had a few theories, but nothing definitive.

de NQC