Messages

46

Spy Numbers / XW - The Workshop is running right now. Confirmation?

« on: December 18, 2012, 0310 UTC »

Allegedly the Russian XW "Workshop" station is running right now, either on 4330 or 5430 kHz. I can't get it in; can anyone confirm?

Station will sound like a machine shop with occasional Russian voices.

47

General Radio Discussion / Re: What are you doing Dec21?

« on: December 17, 2012, 0643 UTC »

Aimlessly driving around the wastelands of the American Southwest in a battered black 1973 XB GT Ford Falcon Coupe with a crazed dog, making CQs with a bigass transceiver and dodging the go-kart riding mutants.

48

General Radio Discussion / Re: North Korea Satellite Launch

« on: December 14, 2012, 1235 UTC »

I'm rather impressed that a nation that can't even feed it's people without a handout can get something in stable orbit.

They said the same thing about the USSR when they launched Sputnik....when national pride is on the line, you throw everything at it. It would have been far easier for them to buy a Russian rocket and just focus on the satellite, but the North Koreans had to show the Chinese that, yes, they too could fling things into orbit.

I like how it infuriated everybody.

49

Equipment / Re: And people think NRD 545 receivers on eBay are overpriced

« on: December 14, 2012, 1011 UTC »

You can buy five JRC NRD 545s for the price of one RF-9000.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JRC-NRD-545-DSP-Receiver-/321036294479?pt=US_Ham_Radio_Receivers&hash=item4abf41194f

50

General Radio Discussion / Re: North Korea Satellite Launch

« on: December 14, 2012, 0215 UTC »

The great irony is that India denounced North Korea for launching a rocket....then launched a rocket itself.

51

General Radio Discussion / Re: Kansas Ham Issued $10,000 Fine for Operation of Unlicensed Broadcast Station

« on: December 11, 2012, 0320 UTC »

Does the FCC ever reveal the identity of the person who complained?

Very, very seldom...if it is a licensed station, sometimes. Otherwise it's just a "we received a complaint" sort of thing.

You can try to FOIA info out of the FCC, but they're likely to deny, since the issuance of a NOUO is not "case closed"...the FCC often says its investigations are "ongoing" and thus won't release anything.

I think all their pirate cases are "ongoing"; I tried to talk to the local FCC about an FM pirate they had harassed off the air the previous year, their agent said the case was still "open."

52

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WBNY 6849.7 AM 2328 UTC 10 Dec

« on: December 11, 2012, 0303 UTC »

I'm not trying to restart the Great Radio War; I just thought he burned his bridges with the rest of the community.

53

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WBNY 6849.7 AM 2328 UTC 10 Dec

« on: December 11, 2012, 0017 UTC »

I thought we were supposed to ignore him because of WEAK....

54

Other / Re: UNID Satan Signal

« on: December 09, 2012, 0842 UTC »

It sounds like some sort of scanner or burst transmission, possibly some sort of new superjammer, maybe a new Russian Woodpecker (Chinese?)

You have me, but what I can tell you is that is is the most annoying sound since Mick Jagger's score for Kenneth Anger's Invocation of My Demon Brother....I have a link to that below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzO8uZCdODU



[Just wanted to add that even listening to it for ten minutes almost gave me a headache....I could see this noise being used as a torture device.]

55

General Radio Discussion / Re: Kansas Ham Issued $10,000 Fine for Operation of Unlicensed Broadcast Station

« on: December 09, 2012, 0831 UTC »

Actually, the average FM pirate is shut down due to *a* complaint - interference oftentimes doesn't factor into the equation at all. Read the Notices of Unlicensed Operation handed out by the FCC - they typically say, "this field office received a complaint of an unlicensed station on frequency x." That's all they need to begin action: a pirate's very existence is the violation.

What the FCC says is usually boilerplate; what I was talking about were the n00b operators who didn't get a filter and their neighbors called the radio fuzz because the pirate signal was coming through their TV, and unfortunately you see more of those guys in the pirate FM field*. I know all it takes is one complaint to start the ball rolling, it's just where those complaints come from is important.

_________________

* And in CB; I grew up in an area where there were two 11 meter machomen with the dirtiest linear amps in history - if you tried watching a faraway station and they keyed up, the picture went to static and you could hear their conversation.

56

General Radio Discussion / Re: Kansas Ham Issued $10,000 Fine for Operation of Unlicensed Broadcast Station

« on: December 08, 2012, 0929 UTC »

I think this guy finally thought "I've been a ham X number of years, I can run an FM broadcast station." I'd love to know what his output wattage was.

Corq is right; the average FM pirate is shut down because of interference complaints, though there was one station  ("Deez Nuts 93.7" in Seattle, WA) that was shut down by a Clear Channel station (KUBE 93) because the pirate was stealing the licensed station's audience.

57

General Radio Discussion / Re: Jimmy the Weasel

« on: December 08, 2012, 0839 UTC »

I'd like to thank the responders; I will contact those people and see what happens.

Meanwhile, I was wondering if there were any "Voice of Green Acres" recordings out there....I know there were a lot of SWLs who disliked VoGA because it was an idiotic premise for a station, but seeing as how the "obvious gimmick" station has faded away, it would be nice to hear it anyway. If you can find clips of the "East Coast Beer Drinker", we need to hear a guy chanting the Green Acres theme.

58

Other / Re: UNID / AXBP 6941 CW 0501 UTC 26 Nov

« on: December 07, 2012, 0923 UTC »

K5SU is a callsign for a ham extra named David Callahan....he was way out of band if it was him.

59

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: The 6914.5 Mystery Continues

« on: December 07, 2012, 0850 UTC »

Yesturday (12/05) at approximately 2250 UTC on 6915 I heard F speaking in Spanish for about 30 seconds and heard mention of horse races in Kentucky. She did not sound like any professional broadcaster as her voice was monotone and flat. There was a brief series of bells and they were gone.
...Steve

If it isn't all one station, then it's the damnedest thing. And if it is, then I nominate it as the weirdest pirate SW station of 2012.

60

Other / Re: Siren Jammer 9855 AM 11:29z-11:30z 12-05-12

« on: December 06, 2012, 1735 UTC »

It's some sort of religious broadcast that they're trying to jam because the station is playing "The Old Rugged Cross." The Chinese Firedrake would do a much better job at obliterating the signal, so I'm guessing the station is trying to reach Vietnam, Laos, or North Korea; I know that Vietnam and North Korea have jammed signals before.