Messages

106

European Pirates and Private Stations / Indy Radio 6931 AM 2200 UTC 11 FEB 2024

« on: February 11, 2024, 2204 UTC »

Carrier and occasional faint modulation at 2200z. SIO 322 trending 321. Airspy HF+D and 148' loop-on-ground.

Strong static crashing, but otherwise about "par for the course" for Indy Radio at my QTH in the late afternoon to early evening hours.

Thanks for the broadcast! :)

107

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Sternradio 6949.5 AM 2106 UTC 11 FEB 2024

« on: February 11, 2024, 2126 UTC »

2115z - Music. SINPO 55233. Peaking S9+ via Airspy HD+D and 31' vertical. DSB sync tuning. Some fading at times. Frequent intense strong static crashing from storms in the Southeast US.
2121z - Station ID
2128z - SINPO 54233. Peskies noted on 6950u. Switched to LSB ECSS.
2142z - Peskies noted on the LSB side, plus some whistling from them a few minutes ago. Switched to USB ECSS.
2148z - Peskies now back on the USB side. Anyway. Clicked the LSB button.
2151z - "This now concludes Stern Radio...." and QSL info.
2154z - Peaking over S9+10 on the outro anthem. Strong modulation.
2156z - Off air

Static crashing from storms aside, I can report wide audio with good modulation.


2206z - Back on air. "Transmitter is smoking...." 6949.4 AM. Airspy HF+D and 148' loop-on-ground. LSB ECSS tuning.
2211z - Peskies seem to be gone. Back to DSB sync tuning.
2211z - Station ID
2255z - Off air?
2257z - Back on air. Music.


Thanks for the broadcast! :)

108

Shortwave Broadcast / Underground Sounds WRMI 15770 AM 2103 UTC 11 FEB 2024

« on: February 11, 2024, 2108 UTC »

ID at 2100z into music. SIO 444 trending 433 via Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical. Some static crashing and fading, but generally a decent to good copy.

WRMI being in South Florida is close enough that is not always a great copy at my QTH, especially if a band goes long.

109

Shortwave Broadcast / CRFX Toronto 6070 AM 2037 UTC 11 FEB 2024

« on: February 11, 2024, 2041 UTC »

Talk format at 2037z. SIO 222 trending 221. Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical. DSB sync tuning. Very rough copy, but it is there. Verified against online stream.

CRFX  is a CFRB 1010 AM relay. Reportedly 1KW.

110

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: Indy Radio 6931 AM 1710 UTC 10 FEB 2024

« on: February 10, 2024, 2230 UTC »

Carrier and light musical modulation at 2230z. SIO 222 trending 221. Airspy HF+D and 148; loop-on-ground. Rough copy at the moment, but it is there.

Thanks for the broadcast! :)

111

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: NETWORK 51 PIRATE RADIO 6925 USB 1851 UTC FEB 10 2024

« on: February 10, 2024, 1943 UTC »

1939z - Music. SIO 333 trending 322 at times via NA5B WebSDR in Washington, DC. Some band noise and moderate fading. Not an easy listen at times, but generally copyable for the most part.
1947z - Station ID
2001z - Off air

Thanks for the broadcast! :)


Nothing locally here. Not too surprising considering the current solar weather conditions.


(click to enlarge)

112

10/11 meters / 11m Band Activity 10 FEB 2024

« on: February 10, 2024, 1215 UTC »

Traces of 11m DX from Europe well before 1200z on 27540u, 27555u, etc. England, France, etc. popped above the noise floor after 1200z, plus DX activity starting on the usual 11m CB frequencies.

1230z - 27000u - Ongoing SSTV traffic from Europe and Mexico
1233z - 27700u - Venezuela op calling CQ
1925z - 27385l - Hawaii op working DX

MSI SDR and 18' end-fed vertical.


(click to enlarge)

113

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Radio Free Whatever 6950 USB 2302 UTC FEB 09 2024

« on: February 09, 2024, 2322 UTC »

ID at ~2322z into music. SIO 433 via MSI SDR and active miniwhip.

Thanks for the broadcast and shout-out! :)

114

Equipment / Re: Cre 8900 10 Meter radio

« on: February 06, 2024, 0200 UTC »

Probably around 2-3 watts to limit splatter from clipping, though AFAIK and like many other smaller "10m" amps, most of those RMI amps are spec'd at ~5w max.

This radio is not a big AM swinging radio.  If you lower the deadkey down to 1 watt the radio will only swing to around 5 watts.

Source: https://cbradiomagazine.com/cre-8900-10-meter-ssb-export-radio/

Appears more than sufficient on AM. You *might* get away with an extra watt or few on SSB, but seriously take care. Do not opt for overdriving the amp even if the output falls somewhat short of 100w. More than a few watts into most of these smaller amps and your signal will likely clip into splattering; that is assuming overdriving the MOSFETs or whatever transistors in the amp's output stage do not fail first.

If you do not have a watt meter to measure the radio output, find one, even if it is a loaner from another area operator.

BTW, I assume you are referencing one of the regular RMI models and not the rather expensive MLA100 with selectable filters. If so please put a 30MHz lowpass filter after the amp to limit harmonics. You can often source older Drake, Johnson, or similar 100w (or higher power) 30MHz lowpass (TVI) filters for like $15 to $30 at eBay. Probably even cheaper at a local hamfest.

115

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: Radio 319 5870 AM 1957 UTC 03 FEB 2024

« on: February 03, 2024, 2026 UTC »

Intermittent waterfall carrier and occasional faint traces of modulation mostly in the noise floor at 2026z. Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical.

116

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6950 USB 2117 UTC 2 FEB 2024

« on: February 02, 2024, 2212 UTC »

Music at 2208z. Off air at 2210z? SIO 332 with fading. Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical.

Thanks for the broadcast! :)

117

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Sternradio 6962 AM 1936 UTC 2 FEB 2024

« on: February 02, 2024, 2015 UTC »

I caught the last few seconds of an anthem and then off air. Apologies for no stats, but it was nonetheless copyable. Airspy HF and 148' loop-on-ground.

Thanks for the broadcast! :)

118

Equipment / Re: Best MWDX antenna?

« on: February 02, 2024, 2004 UTC »

Some longwave NDB loggings as well:

https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,124922.0.html

An outdoor remote-tuned ferrite loopstick probably would fare even better at longwave and below, but a simple vertical with even limited RF grounding tends to suffice at low frequencies assuming it is not completely swamped with local RFI/EMI.

I remember my 31' having quite impressive (to me anyway) low-frequency performance with a YCCC preamp. Instead of outright gain, the YCCC feedpoint preamp is designed to improve matching an electrically short antenna to a low-impedance coaxial feedline. Worked nicely for that, but it overloaded on some HF bands. It was not intended for a 31' vertical with a radial field back when I have that antenna ground mounted.

Occasionally I think about redeploying the YCCC preamp, but with a 9' or an 18' vertical element over a single ground rod as intended by the designer.

119

Equipment / Re: Best MWDX antenna?

« on: February 01, 2024, 0639 UTC »

Audiophile and SBC enthusiasts have driven up demand for 5v linear power supplies. There are lots of new models from China flooding into the market in recent years. My concern is the specs, or more often like the lack thereof. "Low noise" does not mean much IMO, and reviews can be all over the place as well since parts can change from production run to run.

Anyway, yeah, I am with ya'. At least the older supplies for lab, plc, and other precision uses are typically "known quantities" with often many years of stabilized designs.

The Lambda LCS-CC-5-O I ended up ordering is older and used, but I suppose if it does eventually need work like new caps at least most of the parts are probably through-hole. SMD parts and my hands really do not go well together anymore.

Speaking of linear power supplies, I recently moved my cable modem and network router to one. Probably no real difference, but it eliminated two more switchers.


Seeing as my 31' vertical seems to be doing decent at lower frequencies, I took a skim of VLF frequencies after midnight EDT.

18.3 HWU Le Blanc, France
21.4 NPM Lualualei, Hawaii
23.4 DHO38 Rhauderfehn, Germany
24.8 NLK Seattle, Washington
25.2 NML LaMoure, North Dakota
40.0 UNID (seriously doubt JJY Tamura, Japan ;p )
40.7 NAU Aguada, Puerto Rico
45.9 NSY Niscemi, Italy
52.0 UK Navy?
60.0 WWVB Fort Collins, CO
62.6 FUG La Regine, France
65.8 FUE Kerlouan, France
77.5 DCF77 Mainhausen, Germany
162.0 TDF / ALS162 Allouis, France
198.0 BBC4 carrier / UK-AMDS

120

Longwave Loggings / Longwave NDB Loggings 1 FEB 2024

« on: February 01, 2024, 0422 UTC »

I am not really into beacon monitoring, but I noted considerable longwave beacon activity tonight. Thought I would log some. It is a partial list as there were several (to many?) more weak signals I skipped trying to decode.

Airspy HF+D and 31' vertical. These are mostly fldigi decodes, plus there are a few manually keyed decodes. Admittedly I am horrid with CW. ;p

0148z - 366 EZM Eastman, GA
0149z - 363 RNB Millville / Rainbow, NJ
0152z - 359 LYZ Bainbridge / Willis, GA
0224z - 323 OUK Calhoun, GA (listed as decommissioned?)
0226z - 332 FIS Key West, FL
0229z - 353 VV Greensboro/Junne, GA
0231z - 353 UNID underneath VV
0237z - 366 EZM Eastman, GA
0240z - 379 BRA Asheville / Broad River, NC
0242z - 391 DDP San Juan, Puerto Rico
0250z - 405 UNID "8888" repeating
0252z - 407 BZ Statesboro / Bulloch, GA
0255z - 412 CTZ Clinton, NC
0300z - 417 SLP Shelby / First River, NC
0301z - 420 CFY Lake City / Evans, SC
0303z - 269 GN Gainesville, FL
0305z - 260 MTH Marathon, FL
0318z - 344 JA Jacksonville, FL
0320z - 346 VU Albemarle, NC
0327z - 349 GW Greenwood, MS
0337z - 372 UQN Vidalia / Onyun, GA
0340z - 375 DS Searcy, AR
0347z - 379 UNID underneath BRA
0349z - 385 EMR Augusta / Emory, GA
0349z - 385 UNID underneath EMR
0356z - 426 UV Oxford, MS
0408z - 224 BH Birmingham, AL
0409z - 260 UNID underneath MTH