Messages

781

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 AM 20.16 UTC 9 Sep 2016

« on: September 09, 2016, 2032 UTC »

Carrier, no audio

2051 Amphetamine Radio ID, now in USB with fair signal in very high local storm QRN
2054 CW then vocal ID; gonna have to cut antennas soon...
2106 off

Good to hear you AR!

782

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 AM 0202 UTC 7 Sep 2016

« on: September 07, 2016, 1523 UTC »

The carrier was observed here at fair level, but I could hear no audio.

783

Longwave Loggings / Re: Fall 2016 NDB Logs

« on: September 07, 2016, 1517 UTC »

Nice logs. My next step after finishing the DGPS app is one to demodulate and ID all the NDBs. That is more of a challenge, as machine decoding of CW is not as easy. Plus I'll have to deal with stations sending at different speeds, various frequency errors, etc. Should be fun!

That will be a daunting task, to say the least.  I cannot even imagine how many demodulators would be required to cover the entire NDB band.  There are so many considerations and special cases that it makes MY brain bleed. 

Here is a screen cap I took back in January which illustrates some of the problems.  This was from an overnite recording against a particular target, YGZ Grise Fiord, Nunavut, which is a pretty tough catch here, and I was lucky enough to see it for a short time in the recording.  This was with the ferrite rod loop, and its azimuth was set dead on YGZ; there are possibly other NDBs which are not visible in the image due to the pattern.



The thing that jumps out first is the stack of carriers about 365.0 kHz.  By my reckoning, there are at least 4 carriers there, and it illustrates that NDBs can be off nominal frequency by quite a bit.

The first carrier belongs to JN Muncie Indiana, and this has both LSB and USB at ~400 Hz offsets.  At least during this timespan, the LSB should give a good decode, although the USB appears as XN during one ident cycle.

The second carrier belongs to YGZ.  This has no LSB, but the USB is clearly rendered at ~ +415 Hz.  Like most Canadians, the YGZ format is DAID, it sends a dash after the ID, and this dash has been chopped up by fading and can appear as a random string of CW characters.  This is typical of long haul DX.  Just a WAG here, but I wonder if a demodulator which is "cycle time" aware may be of use here?  When DXing very weak Canadians which may not be rendered adequately in the SDR, I generally DX aurally.  The first step for me is to mentally set a clock - a rhythm - which corresponds to the cycle time, even if I have to tap a foot to count off the seconds.  Doing this, I then try to decode ident characters by ear following the perceived end of the DAID.

The third and fourth carriers belong to a pair of USA beacons, SYZ Shelbyville Illinois and presumed MRJ Mineral Point Wisconsin.  The USA beacons are in general far tougher to separate in a pileup.  This image shows only 2 beacons crashing into each other, but I have seen up to a dozen beacons simultaneously crammed into a narrow delta freq span.  Here, one needs to employ the fact that the cycle times for the beacons are not identical, and over time, the ID characters of a weaker beacon may "cycle through" the gap between ident cycles of a stronger co-channel beacon.  Having an antenna with some discrimination in azimuth also helps.

There is also a carrier close to 366.0 kHz, and this is presumed to be the carrier for EOK Keokuk Iowa, which is a daytimer here, and generally heard around the clock.  Its USB is not visible in the upper zoom panel (it can be seen in the lower panel if you squint), but its LSB can generally be found in the middle of the carrier pileup at 365.

Hope some ideas here help!

784

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 USB 2104 UTC 9/6/16

« on: September 07, 2016, 1211 UTC »

Heard here in an SDR Recording at JBA level.

785

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6210 AM 2002 UTC 6 Sep 2016

« on: September 06, 2016, 2023 UTC »

Just a visible carrier here.

786

Longwave Loggings / Re: Fall 2016 NDB Logs

« on: September 05, 2016, 1821 UTC »

A few logs from recent sessions, with 2 new ones.


2016-09-03  1600  245.0  FS   Sioux Falls, SD, USA
2016-09-03  0925  320.0  TY   Tyler / Indoo, TX, USA
2016-09-03  0143  326.0  SIV  Sullivan, IN, USA
2016-09-03  0222  329.0  PMV  Plattsmouth, NE, USA
2016-09-03  0118  332.0  YFM  La Grande 4, QC, CAN
2016-09-03  0107  347.5  ANQ  Angola, IN, USA
2016-09-03  0155  356.0  SKI  Sac City, IA, USA
2016-09-04  0735  379.0  LRR  Oakdale, LA, USA
2016-09-04  0646  380.0  GC   Gillette, WY, USA
2016-09-04  0655  383.0  CNP  Chappell, NE, USA
2016-09-04  0745  392.0  BAJ  Sterling, CO, USA
2016-09-03  0211  392.0  FMZ  Fairmont, NE, USA
2016-09-04  0748  392.0  ML   Monroe, LA, USA
2016-09-04  0815  392.0  ML   Charlevoix, QC, CAN
2016-09-04  0751  394.0  DTE  Dayton, TN, USA
2016-09-03  0216  400.0  AHQ  Wahoo, NE, USA
2016-09-04  0905  400.0  CI   Sault Ste. Marie, MI, USA
2016-09-04  0730  400.0  TRX  Trenton, MO, USA
2016-09-04  0915  400.0  UWI  Dalton, GA, USA
2016-09-04  0731  401.0  YPO  Peawanuck, ON, CAN
2016-09-04  0910  404.0  YSL  St Leonard, NB, CAN
2016-09-04  0756  407.0  HRU  Herington, KS, USA
2016-09-03  0111  407.0  IL   Wilmington, OH, USA
2016-09-04  0948  407.0  ZHU  Hauts-Bois / St Hubert (Montreal), QC, CAN
2016-09-04  0850  410.0  V7YE8  Rowan Resolute, , XOC    New  (Drill ship in the Gulf of Mexico)
2016-09-04  0921  411.0  SDA  Shenandoah, IA, USA
2016-09-04  0810  412.0  CMY  Sparta, WI, USA
2016-09-04  0635  414.0  3U   Gatineau, QC, CAN
2016-09-04  0850  414.0  IEB  Lebanon, MO, USA
2016-09-04  0850  414.0  MSD  Mansfield, LA, USA
2016-09-04  0815  415.0  CBC  West End (Cayman Brac), , CYM
2016-09-04  0615  417.0  IY   Charles City, IA, USA
2016-09-04  0820  417.0  SLP  Shelby, NC, USA
2016-09-04  0715  418.0  CW   Lake Charles, LA, USA
2016-09-03  0114  420.0  FQ   Fairmont, MN, USA
2016-09-04  0845  420.0  PK   Olathe, KS, USA
2016-09-04  1030  421.0  VLY  Mc Kinney, TX, USA
2016-09-04  0620  423.0  PCW  Port Clinton, OH, USA    New
2016-09-04  0720  424.0  RVJ  Reidsville, GA, USA
2016-09-04  0759  426.0  FTP  Fort Payne, AL, USA
2016-09-04  0615  426.0  UV   Oxford, MS, USA
2016-09-03  0115  428.0  POH  Pocahontas, IA, USA
2016-09-03  0116  434.0  SLB  Storm Lake, IA, USA

787

DGPS / Re: 24 hours of decoding the entire DGPS band

« on: September 01, 2016, 2016 UTC »

I note that on some frequencies, multiple DGPS stations are being reported.  Is this due to the yin and yang of propagation?

788

Longwave Loggings / Re: Fall 2016 NDB Logs

« on: September 01, 2016, 2014 UTC »

2016-08-31  1821  208.0  CHQ  Charleston, MO, USA
2016-08-31  1829  257.0  PEA  Pella, IA, USA
2016-08-31  1831  269.0  BEX  Bloomfield, IA, USA
2016-08-31  1834  283.0  PT   Pelee Island, ON, CAN
2016-08-31  1835  293.0  UI   Quincy, IL, USA
2016-09-01  0653  299.0  TV   Turner Valley, AB, CAN
2016-09-01  0631  320.0  YQF  Red Deer, AB, CAN
2016-09-01  0717  326.0  FC   Fredericton, NB, CAN
2016-08-31  1840  332.0  SG   Green Bay, WI, USA
2016-08-31  1841  338.0  LM   St Louis, MO, USA
2016-08-31  1928  341.0  DB   Dubuque, IA, USA
2016-09-01  0147  362.0  AK   Akron, OH, USA
2016-09-01  0149  365.0  JN   Muncie, IN, USA
2016-09-01  0151  368.0  VIQ  Neillsville, WI, USA
2016-09-01  0154  372.0  MF   Mansfield, OH, USA
2016-09-01  0200  375.0  OGM  Ontonagon, MI, USA  --  sounds like it's miskeying as OGT
2016-09-01  0210  385.0  YNC  Wemindji, QC, CAN
2016-08-31  1857  390.0  BR   Burlington, IA, USA
2016-09-01  0219  390.0  JT   Stephenville, NL, CAN
2016-09-01  0219  391.0  3B   Brockville, ON, CAN
2016-09-01  0221  391.0  OO   Oshawa, ON, CAN
2016-09-01  0228  394.0  SP   Spencer, IA, USA
2016-09-01  0231  395.0  ULS  Ulysses, KS, USA
2016-09-01  0232  396.0  GOI  Fort Knox, KY, USA
2016-09-01  0237  396.0  JC   Rigolet, NL, CAN
2016-09-01  0230  397.0  JE   Jefferson City, MO, USA
2016-09-01  0238  397.0  ZHA  Ancaster (Hamilton), ON, CAN

789

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Boom Box Radio 6925.375AM 00:16UTC

« on: September 01, 2016, 0026 UTC »

Fair signal here w/ occas pesc in the USB.

Thanks BBR!

790

FM DX Loggings / Re: What is the farthest station heard

« on: August 26, 2016, 2121 UTC »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Elving

791

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6930 USB 0016 UTC 26 Aug 2016

« on: August 26, 2016, 1801 UTC »

Nada here

792

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 USB 0003 UTC AUG 26 2016

« on: August 26, 2016, 0014 UTC »

Not a trace here

793

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Fab Four Radio Show 6925 USB 2303 UTC 25 Aug 2016

« on: August 25, 2016, 2305 UTC »

2303 On, and into "Free as a Bird"
2306 hearing some CW under the mx, but too hard to decode
2311 I Wanna Be Your Man, Kansas City
2315 ID and off (for a while?)
2330 ID, Rocky Racoon, Cry Baby Cry, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, In the Road
2341 ID, signing off for now

Thanks Pam!

794

Huh? / Re: Jazz harmonica master Toots Thielemans dies at 94

« on: August 25, 2016, 1839 UTC »

Call me a cold-hearted SOB if you must, but I haven't been able to muster a tear for a deceased harmonica player since the death of Johnny Puleo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBH9KiZvWmc

"Remember, only you can put ZIP in your postal system"

795

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6925 USB 2209 UTC 24Aug16

« on: August 25, 2016, 1827 UTC »

SDR Recorder catch

+2209 - 2212* heard with talk abt Hillary emails
*2254-2255*   heard with Trump talk

Weak to fair.  Assuming both came from the same op, and thanks!