Messages

181

General Radio Discussion / Re: Brasil extends FM band down to 76 MHz

« on: July 01, 2021, 1606 UTC »

Hey Boombox,

Great to see your comments.
I hope it all works out for Brazil.

OT, I see you have  a “TRF” rig on your equipment list. Is it home brew ? Any details.

I have a few projects on the bench, a TRF included.

K

182

General Radio Discussion / Re: Brasil extends FM band down to 76 MHz

« on: June 28, 2021, 1138 UTC »

Hey All,

I was aware that Japan 's FM band went down to 76 Mhz.It apparently worked out for the Japanese a lot of years ago."More power to the Japan", but things are a lot  different now compared to when  they  extended FM.

I am not really sure what is fueling the Brazilian extension though. Is it  mostly low power translators ?? Is there THAT much of   a long term future market in 1930's style/ over the air/ 76 Mhz  FM  analog  technology ?

Isn't the REAL lucrative (greedy) future on 800 or 900   (or higher) Mhz)  (or fiber optic) were folks are  forced to PAY for it ?

Will this new FM band  be like our local  WMEX  1510- "ME TV  Radio"  (run by Me TV) ? 'MEX  is  LITERALLY  3 minutes or more  of  the same repeating commercials all about "Me" Tv shows (What time  Gilligan's Island  is on , etc)    grudgingly  punctuated  by   maybe 2 minutes of   music. PURE TORTURE.

I am going to wire  FIVE 1510 Kc  traps in series so that I NEVER even  have to  hear two seconds of it  as I quickly tune by  .

(OT-WMEX was once an early and very  influential  rock station. "How the mighty hath fallen". The "Me Tv" folks have soiled  this call sign .The FCC should  retire WMEX, and give them something like WBAD instead . Nauseating stuff.I'd rather listen to 12 straight hours of my local TIS. I hope Brazil doesn't  wind up with content like this).

Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of ALL broadcasting if , in  my opinion, it is "useful" or desired by the general public. If Brazil can actually get more listeners onto conventional FM , great.Is there a lot of public "enthusiasm" for this move ? I HOPE so, but don't know for sure.

OR is this a "push" from the Brazilian   broadcast business without a huge actual  need ? I am not sure either way (and probably shouldn't guess) whether this actually good for or  really desired by  the Brazilian PEOPLE (or not) . I'd need more info.

A band extension is a rather straightforward event with little in the way of new technology required, other than buying  an extended receiver.

I have heard that Brazil is also home to a LOT of FM pirates. Is this just going to make more room for them ?

I am just  a bit gun shy from past experiences  about who really wants these things, that's all.

Remember the AM stereo systems ( PLURAL), IBOC, shortwave DRM,digital TV and maybe another 1 or 2 other
"misguided" technologies that were "solutions in search of a  problem" or simply just  NOT  desired by the general public.

The Brazilian extension may not fall into this category, but....

Just sayin'.

K

183

North American MW Pirate Radio / Re: UNID 1620 AM 1900 UTC 16 May 2021

« on: June 27, 2021, 1442 UTC »

Hey All,

 6/27/21 1400 UTC .I logged the same Haitian station  described  in my earlier  post.

Quite good  car radio  at South Boston, MA/ seaside , very gradually degraded as I traveled toward my home QTH.

When we got close,it completely went  away.

K

184

Longwave Loggings / Re: Medi1 Radio (Radio Méditerranée Internationale) on 171 khz at 305 UTC

« on: June 22, 2021, 1133 UTC »

Hey Poacher,

Nice catch.

While never common,"back in the day" LW b'casts  for me weren't a HUGE deal either.Especially in winter.

Now  LW BCAST  stations are dropping like flies.

My new 5 ft loop (not done yet ) will have the "fairly easy"  capability too rewind on the fly from 1/4"  spaced for the   530-1710 Kc  range down to LW at much closer or no spacing (we'll see how THAT works out,   ).

 No more rooftop ants here  and portable  LW can be noisy in local area anyways .

 I will try loop (and maybe a ferrite tank to rcvr coupled long wire) at the beach, maybe  when Wx gets cooler.There is nothing better than an ocean horizon for Trans Atlantic MW or LW !

 So- LW b'casts -Get 'em before they're gone.

Ditto re LW beacons.

de N1NQC

185

Propagation / Re: The Termination Event?

« on: June 19, 2021, 2346 UTC »

Hey Dood,

Interesting read, I guess "we'll" see.

K

186

Weather / Re: eclipse this morning

« on: June 14, 2021, 0136 UTC »

Hey Pinto,

My wife and I saw it through thin cirrus and light  attenuation filtering. Incredible !

 Looking forward to 2024 in VT !

K

187

MW Loggings / Re: Dxpedition to Wells, Maine

« on: June 11, 2021, 1015 UTC »

Hey All,

Good to hear from everyone.

Dood, I am sure you already know this but in areas of poor ground conductivity multiple rods , buried radials or 6 or 10 ft elevated counterpoise(s)-OR- 3" or 4 " deep   buried counterpoises , flat top/cage antennas etc ,could be useful to try.Much re antennas and grounds winds up being experimental.

Also dipole antennas MAY  prove as a alternative to  property that has   poor grounding opportunities  . Admittedly this is  MUCH more of an option on HF than on MW though.

 I have played  a lot with high elevated  antennas (some   at over  600 ft above the street !) .Now  I'd  love   to try any number of  "near ,on or in Earth RF  systems": Ie Earth rods as antenna, especially at V/ULF, Earth  telegraphy  ,as  well as radials /counterpoises,on ground or  buried antennas.I do as much as I can under the circumstances.I have in the past successfully used  deciduous trees for VLF lightning/whistler reception, if that "counts" as a "Earth system". FWIW, pine trees don't work.

A times I really like to "limbo LOW" and have used the HFU SDR's for sferic work  way down  to as low as  TWO Kc.(Tnx Chris).

I have had times were a ground helps and other times when it almost completely kills reception, especially with certain very high Q circuits  on MW or with "high"  Q circuits  on HF. Experiences are going to be different for various  situations.

FWIW, My most extreme ground was 500 ft of bare copper laid into the sea for reception of SAQ Sweden on 17.2 Kc.Ant.was  2000 ft field telephone  wire  laid along sand  dune base, Rcvr Icom  R-70 on battery. 

Since  the downsizing of my "serious" ham gear( Icom, Motorola, et al ), most of my rigs have no ground terminal.I have tried the negative terminal of the battery as a substitute, it usually didn’t do much of anything.

When I go on dxpedition having things quick, simple , low profile and safe is important.
 
Throwing a thin wire up into a branch or setting up a stand alone loop is one thing.But rods , radials , etc become it bit more difficult, even if they could definitely help reception.

Usually I have to share my space with other users ,so I like to be as subtle as possible.







K

188

Equipment / Re: " Feedline " Antenna - "450 " Ohms

« on: June 10, 2021, 1954 UTC »

Hey Rob.

I had this set up many years ago:

A VERY high Q 660/46 coil was on a 4 gang ceramic . My 100 ft roof top inverted L on directly hot end, no ground
( ground killed Q) .

When coupled to a ferrite radio the tank was SO hot that you could blow by a station very easily, even with a 6:1 ball drive.

The audio was pinched SO tight, it made my superhet sound like a regen.

The Q was simply ridiculous.

I may not get the same results with my future pursuits, but MAN, what a set up THAT was !

Kind of nice that “ less may be better “ ( 1/8 wave or less) for a quickie set up /take down.

K

189

Equipment / Re: " Feedline " Antenna - "450 " Ohms

« on: June 10, 2021, 1208 UTC »

Hey Rob,

One of the problems I have is that I have no coax fed receivers left,the R- 70 and R-71a are long gone.

So everything has to be inductively coupled to my ferrite rigs ( ie the ATS 803a,etc)

Yes , the loop hopefully will work out.

But again, I was also thinking of trying for something larger, especially for long  dx frequencies that have no qrm or qrn issues.

I really have nothing to lose by simply trying it, the investment in materials is fairly small.If it doesn’t work out , it’s no big thing.

If nothing else, I am learning some new things as I go along.

I have some good “ tests” that I can use during the day .Ultra weak WINS 1010 or WMCA  570 from NYC , both of which are 20 Kc away from super strong locals
WEEI on 590 and WBZ on 1030.

I see how it works out.

My thanks for the reply.

K

190

Equipment / Re: " Feedline " Antenna - "450 " Ohms

« on: June 09, 2021, 2100 UTC »

Hey All,

The spot were I would set up may not be SUPER  noisy, if I gave  the wrong impression on that I apologize.

The vertical folded quarter wave is supposed to be a “ low noise”  (“magnetic “ ?) antenna.

One of my goals ,other than a reduction of some possible noise, is to have an antenna that has some decent capture area.

FWIW I am also in the process of building a BIG octo loop around 5 ft diameter and (at least temporarily) wound with 660/46 litz. The var cap will be a 4 gang /500 pf ceramic  wired “wiper less” to eliminate wiper loss.

After this post it’s down to the shop to work on the loop.

So I have a couple of things to eventually try ( other that the Select -A - Tenna loop, which is very good but has limitations due to it’s size).

Again, thanks for the replies.


de K

191

Equipment / Re: " Feedline " Antenna - "450 " Ohms

« on: June 09, 2021, 1120 UTC »

Hey Stretchy,

Interesting ideas to think about.

Thanks for the info,

de NQC

192

Equipment / " Feedline " Antenna - "450 " Ohms

« on: June 08, 2021, 1531 UTC »

Hey All,

I want to try an antenna that would be for temporary use  in areas of possible power line noise.

I envision running 2  insulated  multi stranded   wires  ( AWG size TBA , aluminum vs copper  composition TBA ) ,
 air spaced at 1"   to  "simulate "  foam twin lead in  the  ball park  300 to 450 ohm  range     .
Conductors are  shorted at the elevated end.

I am shooting to build a supposed  folded  vertical "quarter" wave/ "low noise " design  for  1 Mhz. It's a bit unclear to me what length is "ideal" and  what  length actually represents  a TRUE quarter wave when it is  folded .

FWIW, At 1 Mhz a quarter wave MONOpole  would be 234 ft (  for now I am disregarding any "Earth" side considerations such as 45 degree  drooping  radials, buried "spoke" radials, etc). 234 feet is  WAAAAY  TOOOOO TALL !

But I AM thinking about a possibly  alleged "desired" electrical  length of 117 ft.

117 ft is also a "practical " length to actually be able to work with.  I am not sure  whether (2X) 117 ft would  still   only "represent" an 1/8 monopole in reference to the wire run's total  vertical height -OR- whether it acts as a "true" folded 1/4 wave, having one leg running up to full height and one leg running back down to "lawn level" (117 ft "plus" 117 ft).

BTW, I am sure that there is no way I can hang it "fully" vertical. I'd be LUCKY to get it up 40 or 60 ft. So there would probably be more than  HALF of the antenna's  total length arcing over and running fairly low  horizontal to the  lawn (like a kite string). I can probably get    a tie off on a low tree branch at 6 ft or so , then down to radio. Implications ?

I also wonder if  giving this "twin  lead " a few twists is advantageous. I have seen this done when twin lead is actually used to FEED  a "real" antenna (  ie a horizontal dipole ).

For  the  receiver, I'd make  up a 175 or 220 uH (wound with #28) ferrite bar with maybe 4 or 5 "taps" mostly bunched up at the cold end- hopefully one of which winds up  at a ball park  300 ohms or greater (otherwise put, guesswork).
 A  properly spec'd ceramic var cap would be across full coil,so  the project would end up being a twin lead tuned  ferrite  auto transformer air /magnetically coupled to the receiver's internal  ferrite.

I know that design specs  and "rules" are much less important on receive antennas as  opposed to transmit antennas.Also  the "characteristic response" is going to  vary as one moves up or down in frequency away from the "design reference" of 1 Mhz. There is one school of thought that says "Just try it and see how it works". The problem is that I don't have NEARLY as much to time play radio as I would like, so I'd like to get a bit of  back round , input and "predictions" before I forge ahead.

Also, it  can be a bit of  learning experience and  if nothing else, a  theoretical exercise  on how antennas work.

ANY help GREATLY appreciated,

de N1NQC 

193

MW Loggings / Re: Dxpedition to Wells, Maine

« on: June 06, 2021, 2338 UTC »

Hey Yankee.

Interesting re FED.Not sure if /when going to Wells again this summer.

Next stop may be Cuttyhunk Island where the dx just simply ROARS in , especially at night.

One exception though , last time on the island I did try for WBAL during day time using Panasonic Rx 840 (which has a kickin’  AM section), but no luck.No BFO on that rig , so unsure if there could have been a beat  note or not. But no hint at all  in AM mode.

Maybe a better path to FED compared to BAL.

I will put in the “ try for” notes, we’ll  see.

K

194

MW Loggings / Re: XEPRS 1090 am 0315 utc 05 Jun 2021

« on: June 06, 2021, 1418 UTC »

Hey Yankee,


My jaw dropped when I saw you post K and X call signs, until I read that you are  currently out on "the  coast" .

Nice catch to hear the Border Blaster "Express" /  XEPRS  , one of my favorites that I've read about re the old Mexican Flame Throwers.

I have never heard a Mexican on MW from MA. PLENTY of Cubans  and some other  Caribbeans  (especially  when I am in the town of Gosnold on Cuttyhunk Island , Buzzards Bay , MA ) but  never a peep on MW. Just too much of  stretch  - WAY too much U.S.  on frequency on same bearing  .

I've only  ever copied Mexico on HF . Even then, at least in my experience at my station, it was exceedingly  rare over the years for some reason. Maybe 1 or 2 hams and 1 or 2 broadcasts over 50 years.That's it.

I heard a LOT more from the "tough" areas of South America than from  old Mexico.

TONS of  night time Mexicans  crystal set  copied while I was on the Gulf coast of FL, EASY "fish in the barrel" type of  catches. Even some in daytime on car radio.No brainer there.

But to me ANY Mexican copy, even when you are "staring" at it  (ie  from West FL) is AWESOME !

OT, but speaking of Mexicans, one of my favorite pirates was XEROX, "Radio Duplicado". Hilarious !

K

195

MW Loggings / Dxpedition to Wells, Maine

« on: June 06, 2021, 1332 UTC »

Hey All,

 Yesterday I took a day trip to Wells ,on the coast of Maine.

Logged on the car radio at a HUGE salt marsh ,1830 UTC.

570 WMCA Nada, M.I.A.
710 WOR barely any audio
770 WABC barely any audio
880 WCBS barely any audio
660 WFAN barely any audio , maybe a TAD better, up and down in slow QSB.   ( FWIW, 710,770, and 880 couldn't even "find  the ambition" to  give me any QSB )

A bit of an education: Despite  being at the  marsh  there was no salt advantage  . The   NYC to Maine  bearing was  nearly ALL over a land path of high loss New England granite. It was nice to find out where the  "dependable" NYC day timers (listed above)  almost completely run out of gas. So being 78 miles north of my normal Boston QTH caused even the BIG New Yorkers to pretty much  find the  end of their string.  MAYBE they would have been  a" bit more  usable" on a BIG antenna, but.....

1010 WCNL Newport ,NH ,at around 110 mi ,mostly barely any audio, but up and down a bit  like 'FAN. Bizarre transmitter - 10 Kw daytime into a 62 ft (!) antenna (  essentially a "dummy load")
1600 WUNR Boston barely any audio, despite 20 kw at 78 miles, but I was mostly out of pattern.
740 WJIB Cambridge, MA, 250 watts into  omni 1/8 wave, mostly barely any audio. Interesting to deliver the same as 'UNR.
730 WJTO Bath ,Maine, 1 Kw omni, 65 Mi ,mostly salt path.Loud and clear. JTO is net control /program origin station for JIB and others around New England.

So , some really cool and interesting very weak signal  daytime work.Fun.


(Also on 150 Kc- ATS 803a:  Surprised  no QRN crashes copied  despite lightning within 100 to 150 Mi to West . So I'm also finding out how a  barefoot (no outboard  loop) ATS  may  on work on LW or BCB. . A sensitive rig , but with a short ferrite bar). The 803 got no  NYC BCB  at all.

Other activities were: beach ( 52 deg water WAY too cold, could only wade up to ankles  ) seafood, shopping/ flea market with the Mrs. (got a few cool goodies ) ,  cool breezy ride on a  nicely restored antique  trolley at trolley museum,  walk  in pine forest ,countryside driving, etc.

Wx was around 80,humid  and mostly sunny. At times good flows of very cool air off ocean  suddenly gave nice refreshment. At other times , flow would shut down and it got quite warm.  Later on , well after  the ATS  150 Kc LW session, visually  interesting thunderstorms (with infrequent lightning)  built up  to the our distant   West (around  the Lake Winnipesaukee area of NH  and  Northward toward   MT Washington ,NH   ), but we got home before they drifted into the Boston area.

Overall , a GREAT day, felt good to get out and actually be able to DO things.

K