Messages

76

HF Beacons / Re: 20 meter dasher testing

« on: January 03, 2010, 2209 UTC »

PEANUT heard on the air:



3 January 2010 @ 22:00 UTC
Location: upstate South Carolina
Radio: IC-718
Antenna: 400-foot longwire @ 40 feet (north-south pattern)

Radio is tuned to 14.401.000 MHz, CW mode. 
Tone falls just a hair above 750 Hz, which makes it just about perfect for that frequency. 
Keying is strong and well-defined.
There might possibly be just the slightest hint of chirp or downward drift per dash, but if there is, it's too slight for me to say for sure.

77

HF Beacons / Re: 20 meter dasher testing today

« on: January 02, 2010, 1810 UTC »

Got it here in upstate SC:

<-- click for larger version

Even with a strong signal off the low end and a constant carrier just above it, it's in there good and solid.  Fantastic signal, there.

78

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: 6930 (usb) Wolverine Radio

« on: January 01, 2010, 0156 UTC »

6.930 USB

Fantastic signal here in upstate SC - SIO 444 or better, little to no fade, meter reading S8 to S9.  
The only detractor is the usual flurry of OTH radar sweeps blotting it out from time to time, as is normal for this band at night.

01:48 - Tune-in to oldies and band music

01:48 - crooning - "Start the new year right"
01:49 - "love you 24 hours a day, 365 a year"
01:52 - oldies song
01:54 - "It's that time of the year"
01:56 - Wolverine Radio ID - into another song
02:02 - "Reeling in the Years"
02:06 - Bowie - "Golden Years"
02:09 - Wolverine Radio ID into another song

02:35 - SSTV:

(Missed the very top due to being set up for audio recording, not SSTV - also some QRM in there from OTH radar sweeps)
02:37 - "California Here I Come"

I missed most of the California themed set, but the computer caught these:







Recording: http://www.rthtg.net/pr/audio/wolverine_01-01-2010_0148_long.mp3

Location:  upstate SC
Radio: IC-718
Antenna: 400-foot longwire @40 feet

79

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNDERCOVER RADIO

« on: January 01, 2010, 0128 UTC »

Just caught him @ 3.420 USB, saying that someone else was on 3.430.

Not sure how long he's going to be at 3.420, as he was saying that the TX didn't seem too happy down there, and then it might have gone away or detuned mid-song after that.

80

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNDERCOVER RADIO

« on: January 01, 2010, 0055 UTC »

Hearing the tiniest shred of a signal peeking through the noise here - SIO 111, up to 222 at times

00:24 - "All Right Now"
00:25 - bits and pieces of voice: mention of MT, an ID, and email address
00:27 - "Highway to Hell"
00:29 - ID - Dr. Benway
00:31 - mention of TX problems

Almost completely swallowed by static by 00:50

Good to hear Undercover Radio on the air - I still have the QSL material I got years ago.
Looking forward to hearing more as conditions improve.

-- Seamus

81

Equipment / Re: Pneumatic Antenna Launcher

« on: December 30, 2009, 2047 UTC »

I haven't built one exactly like that, but my airgun/launcher uses a 1" sprinkler valve to dump up to 180 PSI of air into a barrel behind a 1.25" slug of epoxy and lead fishing weights. 

For years and years, it was the best thing I had for stringing antennas, because I didn't have a bow and arrow available.  It could be used in tighter confines than the bow-and-arrow solution too, due to the lower penetration of the slug, as compared to the arrow with virtually no cross-section area.  The arrow just tends to sail right through everything and into/across the neighbor's yard, making it less than ideal for stringing those covert antenna installations.  The plastic-and-lead slug, on the other hand, will blow through quite a bit of canopy and get plenty of altitude, but eventually loses enough energy to fall back to earth before traveling too far downrange.

Recently, my launcher's performance has fallen off due to dry-rot of the rubber diaphragm in the valve.  In theory, I could just replace the diaphragm (they sell them as replacement parts for the valve), but after fifteen years of use, I have enough design notes accumulated through the launcher's use that I'm more likely to build a new launcher rather than fix the old one.

That, and I now have access to an archery rig for stringing antennas, and I've gotten much better at figuring out when the neighbors are going to be out of town.   

82

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6960 AM 1223z

« on: December 26, 2009, 2051 UTC »

Barely making it above the noise floor here - SIO 222 to 111

20:48 - tuned in to the end of Steve Miller - "Fly Like An Eagle" (I think)

Not enough copy to keep straining to listen, but something's very much still there.

83

HF Beacons / Re: Beacon kit ...

« on: December 22, 2009, 1408 UTC »

That looks a whole lot like the Michigan Mighty Mite circuit that I've been tinkering with recently...



Here with a chebyshev filter on the output, which I'm still not sure is actually doing anything for me.

That "Unversal QRP Transmitter" circuit has been giving me fits for some reason.  I think I may have an idea of what I'm doing wrong, but need a little bit of "quality time" with the soldering iron to try out an idea or two.  I managed to find a wiring error I had in one of my recent attempts, which converted the board from a board that transmits smoke to one that produces no output whatsoever, and have identified two possible problems that I need to experiment with. 

Good, clear photos of the componentry in a working "Universal QRP Transmitter" rig would be very helpful for me to see, if anyone has them, as well as details of the L1/L2 RF transformer.  A unit built for the 40-meter-ish band would be nice to see, but at this point I'll take anything I can get.

84

HF Beacons / Re: Anyone else hear 8350 signal?

« on: December 19, 2009, 2312 UTC »

Old Boy the beacon was on 3549.6
on my Frg 8800...
the beacon is in N.C. a little to close for you
I suppose...universal qrp circuit he said it worked the first time...LOL

I'm beginning to think that that circuit has it in for me...

85

HF Beacons / Re: Anyone else hear 8350 signal?

« on: December 19, 2009, 2212 UTC »

I hear that too... bug sent numbers!

That's not the beacon I'm hearing though , still coming through here......

Are you getting both the numbers and the beacon at the same time?  Where is the one in relation to the other?  I've been up and down the dial in the neighborhood of 8350, with no beacon joy - just the numbers.

86

North American Shortwave Pirate / NOEL Radio - 6.925 AM

« on: December 19, 2009, 2158 UTC »

19 Dec 2009 - 21:50 UTC
6.925 AM - my dial actually zeroes out at around 6.924.60

Great signal into upstate SC - S8 on the meter, SIO a good solid 444 - some slight fading, and maybe a weaker station in there underneath.

21:48 - Used sleigh dealership advertisement
21:50 - Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas
21:56 - Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland
21:58 - North Pole Sports report
21:59 - It's a marshmallow world(?) - getting some fade now
22:01 - Off suddenly, no sign-off

Recording -- Don't think I got an ID in there, though:  http://www.rthtg.net/pr/audio/noel_radio_19-dec-2009_21-45.mp3

Location:  upstate SC
Radio:  IC-718
Antenna: 400-foot longwire @40 feet

87

HF Beacons / Re: Anyone else hear 8350 signal?

« on: December 19, 2009, 2149 UTC »

It's not a low-power beacon, but at 21:41 I'm seeing some S-9 code being sent on 8.350.  The dashes are long, and the dits are short and rapid fire.  My code is slow and rusty, but it seems to be largely digits being sent - perhaps a numbers station? 

88

HF Beacons / Re: Anyone else hear 8350 signal?

« on: December 19, 2009, 1808 UTC »

Nothing here in upstate SC, but I might be in the skip.

89

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: 15070 Cupid Radio

« on: December 19, 2009, 1436 UTC »

14:32 UTC tuned into Cupid Radio on 15.070 AM

SIO 333 with QSB to 222 but otherwise a good signal into northwestern South Carolina

14:32 - Outfield - "(I don't want to lose) Your Love"
14:35 Cupid Radio ID with mention of Chicago log above
14:36 - into music with signal fading somewhat - now around SIO 222 to 111 or lower during fades
14:39 - CCR - "Fortunate Son"
14:42 - Van Halen - "Why Can't This Be Love"
14:45 - Cupid Radio ID - VERY rough copy now - SIO 111
14:45 - back to music
14:48 - Hearing references to South Carolina and Chicago just making it through the static now.
14:53 - Signal came up for another ID - Hello to Caledonia(?)
15:00 - Guess Who - "American Woman"
15:03 - Cupid Radio ID - almost lost to noise floor, now
15:13 - Cupid Radio ID - received a recording, I think
15:16 - Music
15:35 - sounded like an email address, but signal and poorly-timed QSB caused it to fade at exactly the wrong moment, and I missed it.

Recording from 15:00 (band had already started to fade, so it was a bit rough by the time I started recording):  http://www.rthtg.net/pr/audio/cupid-radio_19-dec-2009_15-00.mp3

Radio:  Icom IC-718
Antenna: 400-foot longwire @ 40 feet (north-south pattern)

90

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: CHIP Radio 6925 AM

« on: December 18, 2009, 2149 UTC »

I had CHIP slightly below 6925, and another station came on at about the same strength around 21:43 or so.  Big train wreck right now (21:47) with both of them slugging it out - the chipmunks in one corner, and low, growly signing in the other.