Messages

16

Equipment / Anybody getting a copy of WRTH 2012?

« on: December 19, 2011, 2248 UTC »

Anybody getting a copy of WRTH 2012 edition?  As a New Year's present for yourself?

I haven't purchased in the past two years I've been an SWL, but took it out from the local library a few times.  The articles are really good.  I also picked up an older copy at a ham gear swap and it had really good articles.

This year I sent my order in to Universal Radio.

The only thing I know about the articles and reviews this year is that the WinRadio G33DDC "Excalibur Pro" won best SDR award and was given 5 stars on review.

The 'EXCALIBUR Pro' is the best SDR we have used - in some ways it is the best receiver we have used regardless of the underlying architecture - and undoubtedly represents a considerable advance in the state of the art."
John Nelson, WRTH 2012

Overall rating: 5 stars

If you hear what notable articles or reviews are in the 2012 edition let me know.

17

Equipment / Re: Sangean ATS-909X

« on: December 19, 2011, 1329 UTC »

I would look at the Tecsun PL-660 for $129 at Universal Radio.  It is said to be a good portable (has SSB reception).

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/2540.html

It would be good to put the 909X up against the PL-660 in a real life performance shootout.

18

Equipment / Re: Can a Sherwood SE-3 be used with an SDR?

« on: December 16, 2011, 1621 UTC »

Hi Zane:

You've sold me on the merits of the SE-3 once again!  I typically buy a piece of equipment each year so in 2012 it will be the SE-3 mk IV for $695  

My rationale is that my goal is to hear the DX better, not see the DX better which is the main SDR advantage (though SDRs do many things well).  The Palstar radio is a solid receiver as is, and matches well with the Sherwood sync detector, resulting in optimal shortwave audio.

Of course, if I was still using my old Sony portable and didn't have the Palstar radio already at hand (bought it used in 2011), I would go directly to an SDR as you can't argue with the features and value SDRs bring to the table.

Here's my favourite Palstar R30/Sherwood SE-3 webpage... Vic's Weblog... by a Japanese SWL... which I run through google translate:

original page: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/vic142178/c/a1dd141467dffcec39693bf0db1ed974

translation page: http://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.goo.ne.jp%2Fvic142178%2Fc%2Fa1dd141467dffcec39693bf0db1ed974

MM

19

Equipment / Re: Can a Sherwood SE-3 be used with an SDR?

« on: December 12, 2011, 1543 UTC »

I've read about what the Sherwood SE-3 can do, listened to the audio clips online, plus Zane sent me some recordings, no doubt it's the real hardware deal for synchronous AM detection.  It would be a nice improvement to have the audio remain intact when the carrier fades especially for the faraway DX like Radio Argentina Exterior (11710khz) or Radio Mali (5595khz) (two I listen for).  Sometimes fading is heavy enough to make voice unintelligible and music not enjoyable.

But it's hard to justify $695 for the one feature, when an SDR offers a plethora of features.

Maybe some people with SDRs can post some reception clips with Synchronous AM toggled off and on, and we can see which software has a good S-AM implementation.  As with hardware, all implementations of Sync Detection are likely not created equal.

I still might look on e-ham for a used SE-3 for a cheaper price.

20

Equipment / Re: Can a Sherwood SE-3 be used with an SDR?

« on: December 11, 2011, 2059 UTC »

Good info on SDRs Chris.  You know it's always great when you can build on your existing equipment to get more features.

Like how RF-Space offers their IF-2000 board for the Yaesu FT-2000 and FT-950 tranceivers so you get the required IF output to use their SDR-IQ as a panadapter.  Or this webpage where W1VD modded a Collins R-390A to get the required IF output to use a Softrock SDR as a panadapter:

http://www.w1vd.com/R-390ASoftRockdetails.html

Unfortunately, the Palstar R-30A has no known mods that would provide the required IF output to add an SDR as a panadapter (though I think it should be possible).  Although the Palstar is a nice traditional radio it is not known for mods or even circuit documentation. 

Which is to say, I would have to agree that SDR is where the new developments and upgrades are happening for radio.  It's remarkable that the RF-Space SDR-IQ radio will be out for five years as of January 2012, and that product has gotten more useful over that time via software upgrades.

21

Equipment / Can a Sherwood SE-3 be used with an SDR?

« on: December 11, 2011, 1603 UTC »

I have a Palstar R-30A radio and enjoy listening to shortwave DX.  I'm thinking of spending the $695 to get the audio improvements the Sherwood SE-3 sync detector promises.  The SE-3 would fit well with my afterdark headphone monitoring and daytime speaker listening.

Of course I'm wondering if I should instead put the money toward an SDR like one of the RF Space units.  The SDRs offer a lot, I could view the waterfall window on my TV (pc connected), but it would be not as usable as the Palstar and phones for middle-of-the-night listening.

So I have two questions: is the Synchronous AM detector on the SDR radio software typically any good? and can you envision a way that a Sherwood SE-3 hardware sync detector could be used with any SDR's out there?

Opinions requested about these hardware choices...

22

Spy Numbers / Re: V02a on 5883 kHz, 12 Sep 2011

« on: October 30, 2011, 2259 UTC »

Okay, I have my radio on 5883 khz and recorder set for 0658 UTC.  I'm a rookie spy and if I miss the transmission Ed and Arnie will be pissed!  Now where did I put that one-time-pad?

23

Spy Numbers / Re: V02a on 5883 kHz, 12 Sep 2011

« on: October 30, 2011, 1524 UTC »

I have a question about V02a on 5883 khz.  It seems to be a nightly transmission.  Can anyone tell me what time it starts either in Eastern Time or UTC, I am setting up a timer-recorder and want to catch the beginning section "Attencion!"

24

Equipment / Re: Software Defined receivers (radios)

« on: October 23, 2011, 2142 UTC »

There is a new low price SDR RX/TX coming from RF-SPACE in 2012... The TX side is very low power, like a half watt or 1 watt or something.

http://www.sdr-one.com

There are a couple of cool things about this SDR... the TX side can do ESSB (Extended Single Side Band) up to 40 khz wide.  If you can find a way to use its 1 watt to drive a linear SSB amp it could be a high quality RF source (not sure if that is enough power to drive a linear amp).

Also, its RX output is via SPDIF or I2S connection up to 192 khz receive bandwidth so can hook digitally to a suitable digital sound card input.  I'm looking at VIA's upcoming sound processing chip VT1731 which will be cheap as chips and can handle 192 khz input via SPDIF or I2S connection.  Also apparently a 3 year old Mac Book Pro can handle 192khz over SPDIF.

Quote from SDR-one Yahoo group:

The SDR-ONE project is 3 weeks old. Boards were received. They were built in 4
hours. Receiver is working at all sample rates and S/PDIF is working at 48, 96
and 192 KHz. Amazing that my old MacPro that is 3 years old works at 192 KHz
over S/PDIF under Windows 7.

Here is a short video of the SDR-ONE in action using PSDR software.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO-htuuBl6I

Pieter

Okay, enough from me on SDR-ONE.

25

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Family Radio 6924.6 AM

« on: October 17, 2011, 1402 UTC »

I heard this on Saturday night, the music was really good, the signal S9 here in Nova Scotia and I wished I had a wider filter than 6khz on my Palstar radio to catch the full audio quality.  Hope Family Radio returns for another broadcast sooner rather than later, they made a very good impression on me.

26

Utility / Re: Software for WEFAX/SSTV?

« on: October 16, 2011, 2317 UTC »

I ended up using a free program called WXSAT and decoded WeFAX weather maps from 9110 khz USB and 12750 khz USB (both NOAA Boston).

Some instructions for WXSAT are here: http://www.newearth.demon.co.uk/radio/hfwefax1.htm  The most obscure trick is that you have tune down 1.9 khz to receive the data properly.

I also had the September 2011 issue of Monitoring Times magazine which had a few good articles on WEFAX.

WXSAT does not do SSTV, however, so that will wait or another day.  Suggestions for SSTV receive software?

27

Utility / Software for WEFAX/SSTV?

« on: October 16, 2011, 1455 UTC »

I want to try getting some WEFAX maps on my Windows XP computer.  Any recommended software for this task?  Hopefully something free or under $20 if shareware.  I have the cable ready to hook the Palstar to the laptop.

28

Shortwave Broadcast / Shortwave Stations with "Roosters"

« on: September 29, 2011, 2343 UTC »

Hi all:

The other morning I was tuning around the 9 Mhz band and heard a crowing rooster on I think they said Radio Marti, can't quite remember.  Anyway, it brought a smile to my face and got me moving for the morning.

This morning I tuned 5025 khz Radio Rebelde Cuba (~11:30 UTC) and again heard a crowing rooster, I turned it up for my 7 y.o. daughter and she really liked it.

Now I don't know if crowing roosters on the radio is a Cuban thing, a Spanish thing or a shortwave thing , but it sounds good to me first thing in the morning.

So, a fun thread, feel free to list any reports of crowing roosters on shortwave, including if anyone can confirm R. Marti's morning crowing rooster frequency.
 
-mm