Messages

1

Equipment / Anyone tried the Sirio re-issued Starduster 11M / 10M Antenna? Just ordered one.

« on: October 10, 2024, 1809 UTC »

I was trying to build a better, lower-gain, antenna for 11M CB and 10M local Chit-Chat, that goes on in my area on 28.415MHz USB. Being in this valley bottom, low-gain antennas seem to be the best way on VHF / UHF to talk out of here. Currently, I'm using a free Cushcraft AR-10 10M 1/2-Wave GND-Plane, which does pretty good, at +2dbd gain, but I believe that I could do better in my geographically challenged areas to my South and East. Anyway, by the time I get the parts together, and the time to do it, I might as well pay for an old tried & true antenna that the Italian company Sirio has re-issued, the old antenna design from Antenna Specialist, The Starduster.  https://www.sirioantenne.it/en/products/hf/starduster-m-400   I ordered mine from Copper Electronics.   https://www.copperelectronics.com/cart/M400-10-11-Meter Thus far, I've had good luck with them and they still have my INFO. So, an antenna that was all-the-rage in the late 70's and early 1980's with the CB'ers of the time. Quite a few friends of mine, back then, had one and loved them. So, a pretty Unity-Gain, 1/4-Wave, antenna for the upper HF band, with a higher angle of radiation, to take better advantage of Knife-Edge-Refraction and even Sporadic E propagation. The down-side that I've observed of this original antenna is that it may easily brake in wind storms. However, they seemed to be easily repairable and most were put back up. So, I have to ask, have any of you tried the 'ol Starduster, or even the newer Sirio version? What do you think? 

2

General Radio Discussion / Re: World Music Radio on 25.800MHz AM, in the 11M Int Band? Oooops!!!!!

« on: September 28, 2024, 1738 UTC »

Well, if there's anything that will teach me not to post anything, before coffee, then this does. Um, yeah... World Music Radio. I'm kind of surprised that they didn't correct me on that. I must have had that Irish station stuck in my head. So, oooooooooooooooooops...

3

General Radio Discussion / Weekend Music Radio on 25.800MHz AM, in the 11M Int Band?

« on: September 27, 2024, 1715 UTC »

Huh??? This is the 1st that I've heard about anyone, but CB Outbanders, using the 11M International Broadcast Band, from 25.670MHz - 26.100MHz, since for decades, that band has been pretty much abandoned. So, when I heard about Weekend Music Radio, (WMR), operating 24/7 on the FREQ of 25.800MHz AM, I had to inquire. So, here was their reply:

"Thanks for your e-mail.

What do you mean “Are you relay on the 11M band”?? Yes, of course we are. And have been there since June 2021 - running 24/7.

 

From the beginning the power was 60 Watts. Now it is 150 Watts (AM carrier). The transmitter is a Dutch built 300 Watts transmitter. We are using wide bandwidth – so excellent audio locally. We have a license for 25795, 25800, and 25805 kHz J

 

The antenna is a vertical half wave dipole on top of a 110 meter tall tower. On a hill top a bit south of the Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark. Giving a really good local coverage.

 

But the signal also propagates worldwide when conditions are good. Very often in No. Africa and So. Europe. Sometimes in the Americas (usually late afternoons UTC). Occasionally in New Zealand and Australia. And audible almost daily in Japan:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/fJKgWqKobNGBik3s/

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/vnZkDFvohzyKdZqG/

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/EKDo7ZJ234G99VBq/

 

I am attaching two photos of the antenna tower.

Need any more infos – pse get in touch again.

 

Best regards
Stig

 

www.wmr.radio     "

 COOL!!!!!!! Anyone out there heard them?

4

Huh? / FCC approves order to fast-track George Soros' purchase of over 200 radio statio

« on: September 25, 2024, 1726 UTC »

Yeah, WTF there, huh??? Gee... No favoritism here, right?    Actually, I heard this Monday, but since no one else posted it, here it is.   https://thepostmillennial.com/fcc-approves-order-to-fast-track-george-soros-purchase-of-over-200-radio-stations-report   HAM's are certainly talking about it on 75M.

5

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Part 15 preemphasis and compression?

« on: September 23, 2024, 1553 UTC »

Boomer, ran into this discussion:     https://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=441388&sid=2089fe7c284211d0cc4e5ef8d5c97a66     It's been asked and talked about before. Me??? I'm very cheap. Since 2005, I 1st run into a TERK VR-1 original DSP based Audio AGC, (Not the stupid Audiovox version that replaced that for cheaper.), then run into a ART CS2 compressor, set at 4:1 COMP, then run that into a 32-Band EQ. Why??? To me, it seemed to sound the best over-the-air that way to me, and less harsh. The EQ also helps control bad sibilance, (S's & T's.), from podcasts that do not use a de-essing unit in their audio chain. Believe me, it was done with lots of trial & error over the years, but my AM stations sound better than any of the commercial stations around here locally. One advantage about what I have for audio processing? No software updates. Also, when something goes wrong, I like the idea of separate components to repair, and, or, swap-out.    Basically, I'm doing what seems to work best for what I have setup here. You, may have a completely different setup that works for you.

6

General Radio Discussion / Re: Art Bell (Somewhere in Time) is talking about Pirate Radio? M.I.T.D.?

« on: September 21, 2024, 1535 UTC »

Well, here's the very 1st Test-Broadcast that Art did with WBCQ. Um... I may have had something to do with Keith Roland talking to Allan. (Hi-hi...) https://archive.org/details/art-bell-midnight-in-the-desert-rec-test-boadcast-via-wbcq-7490k-hz-off-air-7-19-2015-edited   

7

General Radio Discussion / Latest ARN # 2447, 9/20/2024, has Icom statement on HT's blowing up!

« on: September 20, 2024, 1935 UTC »

https://www.arnewsline.org/    Actually, Icom talks about a counterfeit version of their HT's copied in the wake of the Walkie-Talkie explosions in the news in Lebanon. (THANKS, to Caryn, N2GUT, for keeping me posted on this!)

8

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Sources for T.O.T.H. News Minutes and Special Reports for Part 15 and LPFM's?

« on: September 19, 2024, 1710 UTC »

I was asked the following, from an LPFM licensee, what do I run for Top Of The Hour, (T.O.T.H.), News 'Headlines / Special Reports'? I answered, "Good question!", since I'm in the same boat. I'd like to find a non-biased, (Practically impossible today.), news brief and, or, special reports. The LPFM'er was contemplating AP News, but aren't they commercial, with possible ads and fee-spots? That, would be fine for Part 15, but not non-commercial LPFM's.  Boomer, of WAG AM690, posed a couple of ideas, like FSN,   https://www.featurestorynews.com/subscribe-now/  that requires monthly subscription, and  USA Radio,  https://usaradio.com/shows/usa-radio-news/   . Many news services are just gone, like the nice, 5 minutes, MP3 downloads from Media Minutes, but that went bye-bye over 15 years ago. Say what you will, about The Christian Science Monitor News Service, but they did have an excellent news service department for decades, but also are gone. So, the question is out there, what very cheap, and, or free, news service is out there that LPFM's and Part 15 stations can, link / download, to for either T.O.T.H. Headlines, or breaking new flash events? LPFM's would have to be non-commercial, but Part 15 Stations could run pretty much anything. Hmmmmmmmmmmm... This might be a nice subject to suggest to Radio Survivor.     

9

General Radio Discussion / Re: Art Bell (Somewhere in Time) is talking about Pirate Radio? Download that, h

« on: September 09, 2024, 1735 UTC »

Wow!!! They actually,finally, re-aired that one. We'll, you can download an on-air capture here.  https://archive.org/details/andrew-yoder-on-art-bell-c-2-c-am-mon-9-10-2001-edited   Now, will they re-air the one with Pat Murphy? BTW, that one was captured as well.   https://archive.org/details/pat-murphy-roger-skinner-interview-on-art-bell-3-1998-edited   

10

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Does 'Cable FM' still exist anywhere today?

« on: September 06, 2024, 1704 UTC »

Another Part 15 option that has existed, at least since the early 1970's in the USA, is Cable FM Radio.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_radio  (I'm sure there are other explanations out there, but that was from a very quick search.) Anyway, in the 70's, 80's, and the 90's, college campuses and small towns, with CATV companies, could allow a station to exist via only being available on their cabled system. Where I grew up, we had Cable FM, but not anything local access like, just re-FREQ-assigned of rebroadcasted stations from Buffalo, Rochester, Hornell, Olean, Niagara Falls, in WNY, and even Toronto, ON, Canada. Local FM reception was dismal, at best, in that area, so FM was nice for the cable company to offer at the time. The only thing that was Cable-Only was the leaky-cable coo-coo at the very start of the FM dial. That, was the tool where cable company employees could drive around, using just a car stereo's FM RX, to find out where the RF leaky cable faults were, and, or, see whom was stealing CATV illegally. Bottom-line, does anyone know of any Cable FM only stations that exist only on the local CATV system, that they are carried on? Or, do you have stories of such station in the past?

11

Amateur Radio / ARRL September VHF Sweepsteaks, 9/14 - 9/16/2024.

« on: September 05, 2024, 1809 UTC »

https://www.arrl.org/september-vhf       Hopefully, 6M will still be hopping on F2 for this. Don't know if Tropo will exist for 2M, on up.

12

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Inexpensive Automatic Volume Control for Part 15 stations? And, other things.

« on: September 04, 2024, 1847 UTC »

https://www.tompolk.com/hobbies/automaticvolumeleveler/avc.html   Looks very doable to me. However, I wonder if you could use LM386 audio amp IC's in there? They would be easier to power, and are more readily available. https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm386.pdf

13

Huh? / Re: While we're at it, check out RigPix's site!

« on: September 03, 2024, 1951 UTC »

https://rigpix.com/cbfreeband/cbfreebandselect.htm  Even, if this doesn't have the owner, or service, manual that you might be looking for, still fun to look at various world-wide CB / Walkie-Talkie PIC's.

14

Huh? / Pretty big FCC AM Station(s) listing!

« on: August 29, 2024, 1938 UTC »

Actually, I was doing an updated TIS Station search, but came across this, instead:    https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=&arn=&state=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&edu=1&list=1&NextTab=Results+to+Next+Page%2FTab&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9       Yeah, a pretty big listing there, and not just USA stations. Just FYI...

UPDATE??? OK... This is, if you don't crash the FCC's site doing this. Oooops...

15

Huh? / CB Tricks is back, but as a .ORG now.

« on: August 27, 2024, 1822 UTC »

Great site for various classic CB radio INFO. And, now they are back with a different URL.    https://cbtricks.org/   You can spend hours looking through and downloading various manuals & schematics. (YEA!!!!)