Messages

1981

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Northwoods Radio, 6935u

« on: December 17, 2011, 2323 UTC »

Just tuned in at 2320 & heard Jackpine Savage with a brief announcement & into novelty music about making snow. Great to Hear Northwoods again!

Thanks for the show!
Andrew

1982

North American Shortwave Pirate / Radio 2012 Intl 6925 12/17 *2222 UTC

« on: December 17, 2011, 2225 UTC »

On immediately after Dr. Tim audio & transmitter went off. BIG signal with IDs and WMPR-like techno show

Thanks for the show & please QSL
Andrew Yoder
POB 109
BRS, PA 17214

1983

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Radio Doctor Tim 6925 AM 2056z

« on: December 17, 2011, 2219 UTC »

Been listening to Radio Dr Tim with the lights off, beside the Christmas tree, on the Hallicrafters SX-96. Lots of Christmas music. Very nice. Also heard the Morse code a few min ago, so I guess it was part of the program. Deep fades here, but mostly pretty good.

Thanks to Dr. Tim & also to the relay station!
Andrew

1984

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: 6.925 AM

« on: December 10, 2011, 2323 UTC »

Hearing standup comedy right now that seems to be the same as was reported last night on Captain Morgan's Christmas show, so that's who I'm putting my bet on.

1985

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: 6925 AM?

« on: November 02, 2011, 0123 UTC »

Yeah, Radio Malta was on, but much weaker than 10/31. Rave-on Radio signed on at 0200. Started fair/good here & is now really solid.

1986

General Radio Discussion / Re: The Philosophies of Shortwave and Pirate Listeners

« on: October 21, 2011, 0259 UTC »

I think that very few people in the US know anything about shortwave radio. Probably well below 1% of the population. But the really great thing is that even 0.33 percent of the US is a million people. If it's even 0.1 percent, that's still 300,000 people and stations like Wolverine Radio and XFM can reach every one. Wide geographic coverage of a niche audience is pretty cool.

Likewise, I've thought that the aspect of creating our own culture is a pretty interesting thing. TV shapes the bulk of our culture, but we've got a little eddy of current that, although still part of the river, is a bit different. And I've had the pleasure of meeting a number of pirate listeners and sometimes it feels almost like I've already met the person because we have a number of things in common that few other people understand

1987

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UnId 6925.2 AM

« on: September 11, 2011, 0158 UTC »

WBNY

1988

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: 6925.20 lsb UNID, 01:10z

« on: September 09, 2011, 0121 UTC »

WBNY. Pretty late in the evening, so maybe a relay?

1989

General Radio Discussion / Re: Another article "trying" to grasp pirate radio

« on: September 02, 2011, 1846 UTC »

Thanks for the link. Looks like the columnist has somewhat of an interest in pirates or at least isn't really opposed to most.

One question that I've wondered about for the 20 or so years since I've heard about RF fingerprinting. What do mods do to that fingerprint. For example, when Poet did all kinds of mods to his Valiant, it had to change the RF fingerprint. I would think that just changing a tube could conceivably change it. I'd like to see some full-out studies on this technique.

For example, two unmodified Viking Valiant II transmitters should have more similar fingerprints than a Viking Valiant II and a Knight T-150, for example. But, if one of those Viking Valiant II transmitters is heavily modded (audio and RF sections), I would think that it not only wouldn't have the same fingerprint anymore, but it probably wouldn't even be in the same "family" of fingerprints as other Valiant IIs.

I guess what it comes down to, for the cautious pirate, is: if pirates are also hams, they should operate on HF with ham-only equipment. I doubt that the FCC would be sitting around, trying to fingerprint every ham transmitter to see if they can match with a pirate signal, but an ounce of prevention...

1990

General Radio Discussion / Re: The FRN

« on: August 29, 2011, 2059 UTC »

Snow is better by the yard

1991

Equipment / Re: AN/FRR-22, FRR-23, etc.

« on: August 23, 2011, 0138 UTC »

Hi OW,
Thanks much for the info! I had no idea that I'd get an experienced answer right away! Yeah, the SP-600 is much easier to scan quickly through the bands than the R-390A. But I like SSB reception with the BFO in the R-390A MUCH better! I could get about zilch with the BFO on the SP-600 when I was messing around in the ham bands with it yesterday. This SP-600 is in fair condition. Dents & scratches, no cabinet, no dial lock, and the crystal control has been electronically disconnected. On the plus side, it seems to work really well: signals are strong, audio is loud, no problems with scratchy controls or "crunching" when changing bands, works fine on all filters and all bands. Also, it seems that all of the black beauty caps have been replaced (at least the ones in the underside of the chassis have been), but I haven't opened up the decks or cans to see if those have been replaced. One cosmetically weird thing about this one is that the apparently original paint on this is all medium gray--including the dial escutcheons.

Thanks for the info on the SRR-21. Really interesting stuff. Funny that it's not nearly as good as an SP-600 or R-390A. It looks like lab-grade equipment...and then 29 tubes? You'd think this would be a monster receiver. Now the soldered-in tubes? Just idiotic design for maintenance compared to the other two. I don't think I'll go out of my way to get one of those receivers!

Thanks again for the info!
Andrew

1992

Equipment / AN/FRR-22, FRR-23, etc.

« on: August 22, 2011, 2125 UTC »

I bought a Hammarlund SP-600-JX26 yesterday at a hamfest. While searching around a little for variations between the different versions, lot numbers, etc., I found some info on other military receivers that are interesting.

Specifically, the SP-600, R-388, R-390, R-390A, & R-392 are hugely popular receivers. But, I never see anything about the AN/FRR-22 & An/FRR-23. These are general-coverage receivers (but no AM or 160m) made by RCA with 29 tubes (!) from the early '50s. They seem to have some interesting features (6 filter positions, dimmer control on the front-panel lights, 2 headphone jacks, separate volume control for headphones, etc.)

I found a pic at: http://www.navy-radio.com/rcvrs/images/frr22-01.JPG

Anyone have one of these receivers or know why they don't seem to be for sale? Were they much more expensive than the R-390As and SP-600s of the day? Did they have a design flaw?

Thanks & have a great day!
Andrew

1993

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID - 11920khz @ 0430 UTC

« on: August 14, 2011, 1633 UTC »

I haven't checked out their full sked, but on a quick search, I see that HCJB uses 11920 kHz and they do broadcast in low German

1994

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Radio True North 6925 AM

« on: August 10, 2011, 1335 UTC »

I had someone here at about 0415 or so. Not strong enough to easily hear an ID. I've been hearing RTN, NRS, and Southern Relay Svc frequently in this time frame with similar signal levels. But I believe it was a few hundred Hz lower than 6925, which would probably mean that RTN came back on. Guess I'll have to check my recording more closely. It seemed to go off (or faded out) around 0530.

Thanks for the log!
Andrew

1995

General Radio Discussion / New Artem's World Music

« on: August 08, 2011, 1506 UTC »

I received this e-mail from Artem, a regular pirate DXer & program producer in Russia:

Hi all again,

Here:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/k2xq08

You can find my program prepared for relay by any pirate or just for listening of all who is interested in. It is dedicated to World Music. Hope, you'll like it.

Yours,

Artem