Messages

331

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6930 Am 0000 UTC 6 May 2018

« on: May 06, 2018, 0117 UTC »

good sounding jazz type music on the elida, ohio SDR with an S8.
40Hz is there for sure, nice bass - cant determine the upper audio due to lightening static but appears to be 10Khz.
0120 - cd skipping and faded audio out quickly to fix issue then back to music - very good sound for AM
0135 - signal faded on the elida, Ohio sdr - switched to the ST Louis, Missouri sdr, signal is S7 and climbing
0202 - dropped to an S5 on the st Louis SDR but still going, fading up to S7 occasionally, still jazzy sounding instrumental music, reminds me of Muzak
0205 - 6925Khz S8 USB trashing the LSB of 6930Khz on the st Louis SDR

332

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Radio Illuminati 6960 AM 2349z May 5, 2018

« on: May 06, 2018, 0026 UTC »

enjoying the show as well from a remote SDR (kiwi, fair hill, maryland) but the K3FEF sdr appears to be getting front end overload from an RTTY transmission, i dont hear the RTTY on any kiwi sdr when i checked.
thanks for the show RI !
always worth listening to the programming and enjoyment remotely if i cannot hear it at my own location due to not having my gear connected (same goes for red-hat when he is broadcasting)
0042 - signal dropped out on the fair hill, maryland sdr - switched to the warrenton, va sdr, signal is S9 and steady
0056 - signal dropped out on the warrenton, va sdr - switched to the elida, ohio sdr, signal S7, stable and climbing as the band starts to stretch her legs

333

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 AM 1812 UTC 5 May 2018

« on: May 05, 2018, 2126 UTC »

1813 checking it out on K1RA's kiwi SDR, where it's getting serious QRM from a signal at 6930 AM that may be a harmonic.
1816 harmonic gone. New song.

yup, apparently, K1RA is nearby an AM-BCS, its harmonic is at 6930Khz, sometimes it is quite strong.

334

Software / Re: directKiwi project

« on: May 05, 2018, 1646 UTC »

And, we test that the KiwiSDR "admin timeout setting" is bypassed by directKiwi, no restrictions applied, so.. no kicks


Regards

&linkz

that is great though i will delegate the use of no time-out operation of directKiwi on Kiwi SDR's that are not popularly used too often, to avoid angering the host operator and users.
i have done the same method as above in the past when stopping the page script.
thanks !

335

Software / Re: directKiwi project

« on: May 03, 2018, 2308 UTC »

Hi

I'm not sure the timeout is bypassed by the script but i think so as there is no .js scripts involved
I'm trying to fix an issue that appeared recently, i don't know why yet, but software not running and returning a
" _tkinter.TclError: already exists "
on some setups (64bits) in the python console.

It still works ok here on 32bits Win7, no updates made
python 2.7.15 has been released recently, perhaps it's the problem, I will check later

I also need some help to better code the datastream to audio output on MacOS X, it's pretty laggy the way the arrays are managed at the moment

thanks for the try

&linkz

thanks for the interesting software to tinker with.
i will keep you updated with any issues/bugs i discover in the process as well as any additional features i can suggest.
interesting page you have too, linkz.

336

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6880 AM 1555 UTC 3 MAY 2018

« on: May 03, 2018, 2126 UTC »

2108 - music heard here - Too weak to id
Seems to be getting stronger
2112 - A bit stronger
2114 - Good Kisser - Lake street Drive - Per shazam

thank you for the report Helicaster.
would you mind providing some details about your receiving setup (you dont have to if you dont want to, im just curious) ? (you can edit your post so as to not jam up the forum too much).
i made an earlier post concerning the details of my TX gear and antenna if you are curious.
the path from my TX to your receiver is significant for 50w especially during the daytime, i dont usually reach your area during the daytime but band conditions can be unpredictable.

Sdrplay rsp2 dipole and long wire - Haven't tried to listen on the Icom

oh thats cool, i want to get an RSP2 myself but im stuck between deciding if i want that or what Chris Smolinski has - something with a very high bandwidth sample rate so i can decode MPEG2 cable TV channels or OTA ATSC channels.

I'm sure whatever Chris has is better than anything I have. If I win the lottery I will hire him to make me some antennas. I am impressed with the RSP2

agreed ! lol.
2200z - end of todays broadcast - thanks to everyone who checked in with their reports and comments, it was a fun day indeed - see you next time - enjoy the rest of the week

337

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6880 AM 1555 UTC 3 MAY 2018

« on: May 03, 2018, 2022 UTC »

  Yes, I am sure your technical input and expertise has greatly helped. I must admit I am an operator not enginner, so what said is what I see. We have a salvaged maritime  transmitter that Andre converts from 3 phase. He says it could do 50 kw pep. We have never done that has our lights and the neighborhood would go black.
Andre is a part time field engineer for a company that does very high power and is in Nova Scotia. Should not say more.
Nautel does it ring a bell?
We want to do DRM, but nobody can decode it. It is best for shortwaves I am told.

Now we hear that sweet Canadian boy, doing summer 69? You I presume?

yes, summer of 69, good song too.
i wouldnt go the way of DRM unless you plan on operating at least 50KW with a commercial antenna and realize the listener base is comprised of many DRM capable receivers.
the characteristics of transmission for DRM is similar to how DTV is received, the signal has to be strong and stable to be properly decoded.
at least with analog, the signal can be weak and still be effectively intelligible and understood under the right circumstances.
i dont think i would operate at more than 1KW even though i am more than capable of it at full duty, i generally operate at half that when i am utilizing the extra power which isnt too often.
i feel its better on the tubes and my electric bill
the idea of operating at low power presents an interesting challenge for hobbyists.

338

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6880 AM 1555 UTC 3 MAY 2018

« on: May 03, 2018, 1948 UTC »

BTW my husband asks, did you see the cross eyed FCC agent bust the Texas station and the op said did you actually get readings and recorded it on Utube. The agent said he wanted the transmitter (big sqatter deal) and said an equation could be used. But in court never would hold up. My husband is a broadcast engineer, who used to work for CHOM and CBC

so then your husband understands exactly what i am talking about when it comes to field strength readings being used as proof and evidence that RF was emanating from a specific location.
im pretty sure the agency in Canada utilizes the same type of method using field strength readings.
your husband might have curious interest what i am using to broadcast and what type of sound processing software i am using.
unfortunately, you cant hear my station strong enough to discern the quality of sound at 10Khz but the range of transmitted audio response is DC to 10Khz though DC to 10Hz really isnt audible, its just there for consistency reasons and for those who can actually see the waveform on their analyzers
i am using "Stereotool" as the processor and a completely modified by me, Yaesu FT-757GX2 for full duty operation at 50 watts which includes improved cooling (replaced built in fan with PC fan), lowest TX bias level (for reduced heat) and full audio spectrum capability on AM (tapped straight to the low level modulation mixer IC).
the ALC circuit is also disabled since "stereotool" does a much better job.
thermal and VSWR circuits i custom built for shutdown have also been added for protection.
this is a very clean TX as i intended it to be.
the antenna is a simple 14GA twisted copper, full wave horizontal center fed dipole about 40 feet above the terrain constructed to operate at 6880Khz, no tuners are used with 50FT of LMR400 from the TX to a weather shielded quick disconnect and then from there, 50FT of RG8X to the dipole.

339

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6880 AM 1555 UTC 3 MAY 2018

« on: May 03, 2018, 1852 UTC »

Oh, yes, Andre and I do relays also with 2kw PEP.. But of late family other things taking over. We also do real time off web transmissions for some users, Yeti and formerly Buddha now its Peace radio

Maria   Anyone who wants not risk an FCC bust is welcomed here ! Peace has too much to lose for that if it ever happened. But I am told by Andre 41 is a waste band with some stray CBers and huge military over horizon radars, obviously from other side of planet since never heard during daylight in NA.

i would be ecstatic to relay your broadcast or anyone else for that matter, live or pre-recorded, i prefer to relay op's rather than broadcasting myself.
i have relayed Andre's shows in the past and i have one he sent me awhile ago that i have not yet played due to antenna troubles from storms, but it may have been already played by other op's.
as far as the FCC is concerned, i have a PTZ camera set up, i can see them coming and shut down before they get close enough to take a field strength measurement, without a FSM, everything is speculation and assumptions.
at this point with the agency being under-staffed due to budget cuts, their main focus is FM pirates since the mega-corporations who own the FM stations have top priority with the FCC to eliminate their pirate "competition" likely due to the financial support from these mega-corporations who own the FM stations.
their secondary focus is interference to anything, any agency or any user that legally occupies, is licensed for and uses a frequency and the allocated bandwidth of that frequency, so staying away from licensed and occupied frequencies and their allotted bandwidths and not causing interference to anything and anyone is a most certain benefit.
not making any money from advertising or other means of financial support utilizing a broadcast is also another method of staying out of the radar and not talking bad about anyone on the air.
an example is "Old Time Radio" at 6770Khz who has been operating for several years without issue, likely at less than 50 watts.

340

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6880 AM 1555 UTC 3 MAY 2018

« on: May 03, 2018, 1806 UTC »

50 watts sounds cool.. I didn't hear this time. The King from Across the Sea was received this side, with a low dipole and 120 watts AM. But my million years in radio tells me, he has to be near sea salt to do that.
I rxed here in Montreal, failing well..

well thank you for the report, i was not expecting to reach Montreal at all and i am not sure that i actually do especially during the daytime and with the polarization of my antenna being east/west but im not sure if you meant me or "The King from Across the Sea", who is that anyway ? i am curious.
do you do any daytime broadcasts ?
i used to enjoy listening to "Yeah Man" when he would broadcast during the daytime when i am not broadcasting but he hasnt been doing much daytime broadcasts, likely because the band conditions dont permit it so when im not broadcasting, there isnt much to listen to except for the AM ARO's at 80m and 40m.

341

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6880 AM 1555 UTC 3 MAY 2018

« on: May 03, 2018, 1715 UTC »

1705 UTC- Kick It Out / Heart, signal is S7-S9 with fading in WNY, audio just above  the noise.

thanks for the report Mr Wave
i am sure the noise level you have is something you could do without, i hope it doesnt affect all of the spectrum you monitor though.
i know the gentleman from Colorado (i forget his user name, i think its MDK2) always had trouble hearing me at 5150Khz because of high QRM he has that ends right at 5150Khz.
hopefully this time around, 6880Khz may prove to be better at his location especially if i broadcast in the later evening with additional power but i generally like to leave the frequency open during the weekday evening hours in case other op's want to use it.

342

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6880 AM 1555 UTC 3 MAY 2018

« on: May 03, 2018, 1651 UTC »

Journey / stone in love
1642 Boston/ something about you

Weak  and fading but occasionally identifiable music

Thanks TRS

thanks for the report and you are welcome.
i know certain western areas of PA and eastern areas of OH seem to receive the signal the best during the daytime.
this broadcast is just mainly myself listening to tunes while i work except i am broadcasting them and listening to them via a remote SDR so you might hear a track change at the start of a song that i dont feel like hearing
when its not too busy at work, i can get to choose and play Chris' favorite mash-ups but when its busy, i select a playlist of tunes from the external disk drive library i have and drop them in winamp.
unfortunately for Chris, i do not believe he will receive me today and on most days if at anything but a very weak signal or just a carrier despite his very impressive setup for receiving.

343

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6880 AM 1555 UTC 3 MAY 2018

« on: May 03, 2018, 1627 UTC »

UNID station at S8 into NE Ohio at 1555 UTC. Grand Funk "American Band" and Stevie Nicks "Sara" - nice mix of music. Thanks for the show!

thank you for the report.
im operating at 50 watts.
from this point on moving forward, i will make it my personal effort to thank everyone individually for their reports on this forum.
the reports are appreciated even though i monitor myself from many various online SDR's, not every online SDR is located in a specific area that is covered by daytime NVIS.

344

Software / Re: directKiwi project

« on: May 01, 2018, 1815 UTC »

very good job.
will the idle timeout (configured independently by each server) still apply ?
ive found an easy method to prevent the idle timeout by stopping the page script, this stops all functions except for the incoming audio.
modifying the page script also works but its not as easy and quick as simply stopping it.
this manner allows me to pass the I/Q (6Khz max BW) to software of choice such as "sdr-sharp" for the use of adjustments and plugins, other than the ability of frequency control.

345

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Seven Trees Radio 6880 AM 0100 UTC 1 May 2018

« on: May 01, 2018, 1753 UTC »

6880Khz is a good frequency and appears to be unused by MARS/SHARES and mostly free of QRM.
its in the chunk of I/Q spectrum that Chris records overnight too.