Messages

76

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WMID 3440 AM 2358 UTC 25 Nov 2015

« on: November 26, 2015, 0120 UTC »

Still doing S7 here at 0115.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse-"Down By The River"
0118- JTA WMID ID and off at 0119

77

The RF Workbench / Re: Noticeable drift to listeners

« on: November 25, 2015, 2333 UTC »

Hi Kage-

I've been watching your ongoing VFO build posts on your forum with great interest.  Back in the 80s I occasionally ran a Johnson Valiant from the VFO when I needed to be where I had no rock.  I never remember having had negative reports but then again, it was a long time ago    What Vince said about buffering is true.  FMing is a real issue, not only through the RF chain, but by perturbations through the power supply.  With the good tight regulation you have with the LM431, that probably isn't an issue.  Good luck with the project.  BTW- nice pickup on that Amazon counter.  Methinks I need one of those...

78

Huh? / Re: Mitch Mitchell, Drummer for the Hendrix Experience, passed away

« on: November 17, 2015, 2219 UTC »

Yeah atrain, old news, but thank you for the article anyway.  Hendrix was amazing, but Mitchell's kamikaze drumming was equally amazing.  Every bit as much an innovator as Jimi was.  Reading the article, I see he was another of rock's sad sacks, being treated very unfairly, yet soldiering on because he loved and believed in what he was doing.  I hate to see a real rock hero so abused by syndicates and tied up for life with terrible contracts.  Steve Mariott comes to mind...

79

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WAZU on 11518 - 1510 UTC

« on: November 08, 2015, 1538 UTC »

Running 120 watts PEP this morning - a one hour show that started at 1510.  Anybody closeby (radio wise) to upstate NY is probably being skipped over.   wazushortwave@gmail.com for any QSL requests.  Thanks for sharing in the propagation experiment folks...

80

North American Shortwave Pirate / WAZU on 11518 - 1510 UTC

« on: November 08, 2015, 1513 UTC »

Let's try a morning b'cast...

81

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WAZU 11518 AM 2002 UTC 7 Nov 2015

« on: November 07, 2015, 2201 UTC »

Back on at 2156 - 100W PEP

82

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WAZU 11518 AM 2002 UTC 7 Nov 2015

« on: November 07, 2015, 2059 UTC »

hey hey hey - my linear kept its pants on this weekend!  Output power is 110 watts PEP measured after the LPF.  QSL requests can be sent to wazushortwave@gmail.com for anyone who desires one.  Thanks for your interest!

83

Broadcast Announcements / WAZU trying again on on 11518 this weekend

« on: November 07, 2015, 1940 UTC »

Linear is repaired.  We'll be transmitting several times this weekend if the stars are all in alignment...

84

Broadcast Announcements / WAZU Smoke Test on 11.532 MHz - Sunday Nov 1st @ about 1900

« on: November 01, 2015, 1758 UTC »

Gonna put a new exciter and dipole through its paces today.  Power level will be held low - probably about 50 watts PEP.  Catch me if you can...

Update at 1920 - I zorched a snubber cap in the linear amp but the exciter is running barefoot at about 10 watts PEP and will remain on for several hours.  A good QRP test if Cuba can resist running numbers today...

Off at 2355.  Exciter worked flawlessly.  I'll make repairs on the linear and try again soon.  Thanks for trying!

85

General Radio Discussion / Re: Winter is comming time to check your antennas and ground systems...

« on: November 01, 2015, 1713 UTC »

Absolutely right Vince!  I dropped and rehung two of my dipoles last week and 70s wx is also forecast for this coming week so the time is now.  I don't know about youse guys, but some of my LEAST favorite things in life are antenna work with frozen fingers, outdoor connections that require soldering with a MAPP gas torch, and dealing with coax seal below 50 degrees.  Mama Nature is being extra nice this year.  Stiff is good - unless you're talking coax... 

86

General Radio Discussion / Re: Betty Boo Radio

« on: November 01, 2015, 1311 UTC »

Betty Boo - as in Halloween.  I haven't heard them in several years either, Al

87

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: 21460 KHz AM broadcast! Sluwe Vos Radio

« on: October 25, 2015, 1332 UTC »

S4 here in the Vampire State.  ID in Dutch and EE at 1326.  Dance mx...

QSB getting progressively worse.  Now S3 at 1355

Pink Floyd-Comfortably Numb
1403- anncr with sign off, into sign off montage with several "boings"
1405 carrier off

88

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Northwoods Radio 6955 USB 2308 10/23/15

« on: October 24, 2015, 1507 UTC »

S9 signal with armchair copy here in the Vampire State. Piano jazz music interspersed with monologues from several sources. One was about a man that taught his a$$hole to talk. Another was a drunken man extolling on the virtuosity of Dr. Benway's surgical talents. Several IDs including one at 2308 "broadcasting freedom from the Great Lakes". A delightful change from all the pirate jukeboxes playing "Monster Mash". Addy: northwoodsradio@gmail.com.

89

General Radio Discussion / Re: FCC Sets Incentive Auction Opening Bid Prices

« on: October 21, 2015, 1425 UTC »

The creative destruction driving this makes sense to me.  It's basic capitalism at work.  Scarce resources are being reallocated to present day needs.  What I don't get is why our government needs to inject itself directly into the process by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars around to help TV broadcasters monetize "their" spectrum.  It's not theirs.  It's ours.  Licensees should be reassigned without a payday at renewal time and given a reasonable amount of time to comply.  Lobbying at work...

90

The RF Workbench / Re: Trying A Different Approach

« on: October 13, 2015, 0023 UTC »

So now I'm thinking dipole, which I'm sure you are all going to tell me I should have done in the first place.

No shoulda woulda coulda from me, Scotty.  It's good that you're trying things, noting what happens, and recalibrating.  That's why this is an ART.  You can get ideas from the books and the blogs but in the end your successful setup will usually be an amalgam of techniques with you own little twist here or there.  I'm a dipole guy myself because I have space and I never operate below 48 meters.  As to your setup, I'm assuming you are operating MW.  A dipole or other horizontal antenna is quite problematic for low freqs unless you have the ability to get it REALLY HIGH.  The WHOT guys operated around 1620 KHz and had their end fed Zepp strung between two apartment buildings at the eighth floor.  That's what I mean by high.  I'm not familiar with any horizontal designs that differ from this.  My take would be to stick with a vertical and try to run at least 4 ground radials away from the base.  Also you'll want to base load it.  You'll need to do some experimenting to get all this juking right but I believe this to be your best bet for MW.  Good luck with your setup...