Topics

121

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6935 kHz AM 2240 UTC 05 Nov 2017-suspect Radio Appalachia?

« on: November 05, 2017, 2242 UTC »

S7 with some strong fades, good sound quality otherwise.  Also hearing another signal mixed in, not sure if that's on my end or in the broadcast. 

122

Shortwave Broadcast / Adventist World Radio-India? 15150 kHz AM 1525 UTC 5 Nov 2017

« on: November 05, 2017, 1537 UTC »

~ S5 or so.  Caught what sounded like 'Punjab' when they were signing off at around 1528.  Had a few very sharp nulls while listening....carrier and all. 

123

Utility / COMEX 17-4 5330.5 khz USB 0300 UTC 05 NOV 2017

« on: November 05, 2017, 0349 UTC »

AAM3 (plus another station that I didn't catch the callsign for) giving out frequencies for military/amateur interoperability infrastructure reporting exercise COMEX 17-4:

5346.5 kHz SE US
5337 kHz NW US
5371.5 kHz(?) SW US
5403.5 kHz Central US
5330.5 kHz NE US

Followed up by reports coming in on 5330.5 kHz.

(edited....damn analog UTC clock)

124

SDR - Software Defined Radio / SDR-setting I/R gain?

« on: November 05, 2017, 0328 UTC »

Could someone explain the difference between the gain settings in SdrDx for an AFEDRI SDR?  You can apparently set the RF gain at the SDR itself (in the SDR setup menu), but there's also a slider for I/R gain in the main software window.  How does one go about finding the optimal gain settings?
Thanks,
Robert

125

Other / Unknown 9140 AM 1829Z 31 JUL

« on: July 31, 2016, 1831 UTC »

Music, perhaps Spanish lyrics?  Weak w deep fades into central MD.  Posted here because I didn't see anything on the normal software schedules at this freq.

126

SDR - Software Defined Radio / AFEDRI net-SDR (now with vhf!)

« on: July 19, 2016, 0017 UTC »

Oh joy. Ordered a radio from Alex and I'm having a blast.  Had no problem getting it connected with sdrdx (hint...don't use a crossover Ethernet cable if you're running a Mac).  I've got my discone plugged in for vhf, and a h800 connected for HF....and sdrdx is apparently good for the vhf side of things too. I haven't tried scanning with it yet but that is next on my list.

I think this will do just fine...at least until someone commercializes PA3FWM's web SDR and its 30 MHz of bandwidth.....

127

Equipment / random question...SATCOM antennas?

« on: September 20, 2015, 2216 UTC »

I've seen a few plans for homebrew UHF satcom antennas online (looking at you, Chris!), and apparently military surplus antennas show up on ebay from time to time.  Does anyone know if there's a reasonably priced (for argument's sake let's say <$200) hobbyist grade antenna available on the commercial market?

128

Equipment / yet another antenna question...near field effects?

« on: August 22, 2015, 1535 UTC »

I know that the ideal is a high antenna away from anything else, but while I'm trying to decide on my next rig I'm just playing around with my 7600 and random long wires.  I have one strung along the back of a (wood) deck railing behind my house, and was thinking about running another at right angles to give me more options in terms of directionality.  The question is if I have the choice of running a wire under the tree canopy, or alternatively about halfway up and along the side of the house (without any trees overhead), which one is most likely to produce better reception?  Along those lines (pun not intended) is there any benefit to using a feedline since I'm just connecting the antenna to the radio via it's external whip?  I realize the answer might be 'try and see what works' but thought it would be worth asking.

129

Utility / SSTV 6940 kHz USB 0348Z

« on: August 09, 2015, 0352 UTC »

I think I'm hearing SSTV on 6940 kHz USB....if so, how do i figure out what mode the SSTV tx is?

130

Equipment / Ran across this on Amazon (cheap 1:9 balun)

« on: August 08, 2015, 1913 UTC »

I'm contemplating my next radio setup, and ran across this on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R09WHT6?ref_=cm_wl_huc_item

Seems a cost-effective way to connect a long wire back to an SDR.....

131

FM DX Loggings / Unknown skip on 88.5 and 88.1 MHz, central md

« on: June 30, 2015, 0037 UTC »

Sounded like at least two stations trying to edge in on Wamu (88.5) and wypr (88.1).  Was a jumbled mess with strong fades so was unable to Id the culprit.

132

Shortwave Broadcast / Denge kurdistane 11510kHz 0343UTC 26 JUN 2015

« on: June 26, 2015, 0342 UTC »

Folk singing? Fading in and out.  Wife just hears the static.

133

Equipment / Cleaning circuit board in YB 400?

« on: June 22, 2015, 0343 UTC »

When packing up my YB 400 for a trip to the hills, I noticed that the alkaline batteries had corroded and left a fair amount of salt in the battery compartment.  I tossed the batteries, dusted out the compartment, and put new batteries in.  I used the radio all day Sat, and it worked wonderfully. 

Sunday morning, however, the bottom row of keys would only be recognized as "6", and the other keys were also jumbled up.  I opened her up and cleaned all the button contacts (finding a few flakes of salt here and there).  Put it back together and things are still wonky.  I suspect a bit of the battery salt has deposited somewhere I can't see, liquified in the high humidity, and is shorting something out.

I'm thinking a good cleaning of the circuit board might be the next step.  What are thoughts on using crc spray vs distilled water & isopropanol?  My thought is that distilled water would be the best at dissolving any leftover battery salt, but getting water off the board afterwards would be a pain (hence the alcohol)

134

For Sale / Wanted / Barter / Feeler...considering selling my PCR-1000

« on: March 02, 2015, 0229 UTC »

Just wondering if there were any pseudo-local folks interested in a PCR-1000; probably going to ask $200 plus shipping since it doesn't have a DSP.  Would like it to go to a good radio-loving home rather than ebay.

Time to finally invest in a SDR......

135

Shortwave Broadcast / WWRB 9370 AM 2319UTC

« on: September 12, 2014, 2319 UTC »

Piano music and what sounds like a cat being strangled.