Messages

16

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / A free AM Carrier-Current Coupler Unit? You might already just have one.

« on: May 28, 2025, 1806 UTC »

Ya know... A friend of mine struck on a subject that I've wanted to explore for a while now, a free Carrier-Current Coupling Unit for the AM Broadcast Band. And, you might just have one already. When a DSL MODEM is done with use, don't trash it, but cob it for parts, like that built-in coupler for Carrier-Current to the phone lines. You'd think that would be good for a few watts. And, not HOT inject, but Neutral inject. Hey... The price is right, and everyone usually just trashes these. Certainly, worth looking into. I have yet to try this myself, but had contemplated on the idea for a while now. So, if y'all out there got the time to open one of these units up and cob the coupler units, I'd like to hear the results.

17

Huh? / Can the NAB be DOGE'd of our tax $$$$$?

« on: May 28, 2025, 1500 UTC »

My dumb question of the week. Does the National Association of Broadcasters, (NAB), take in any funding from the federal government? And, if so, can that be DOGE'd out? If, they are a 501C6 non-profit organization, let them fund themselves. Hey, NPR and PBS are getting slashed of tax $$$$, so it would seem that the NAB should be looked at next. I understand that they have their offices right next to the FCC in Washington. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Broadcasters    Thought that this might give a clue, but not from what I see here.    https://nabpac.com/2023/default.asp    Anyway, the question is asked.

18

Huh? / Re: The History of UHF TV in America? 342 - 362MHz area?

« on: May 27, 2025, 1622 UTC »

A little 'off-topic' for TV, to talk about a proposed FM BC Band up in 300MHz, but... If, the FM BC Band was to be from 342 - 362MHz, there are perks & jerks to it. The perks??? Better S/N Ratio, with less noise from computer spurs, lightning, electrical interference, etc. Better penetration in buildings in urban areas. Smaller antennas could mean nice beams to put up. Oh... And, better distance from Tropo PROP, (DX'ers would like that.), but practically no Sporadic "E" effects. The downside jerks??? Mobile picket-fencing effects are way more pronounced. Foliage absorption attenuation is very pronounced up there. Long cable runs mean lots of attenuation there as well. And, penetration of signal in rouge / mountainous terrain would be even more difficult. (However, the plus-side there would be for more localized broadcasting for rural communities.) The US military has the band today, and I doubt that they'll give it up anytime soon. Propagation-wise, to compare to is what the current TV CH13 is like, in the lower 200MHz region. So, imagine propagation that's between what VHF TV CH13 and UHF TV CH14 would be. Just my $0.02 worth here.   

19

General Radio Discussion / Re: Hobby Broadcasting Radio? Good question...

« on: May 26, 2025, 1638 UTC »

Yeah... I want to know about that myself. I offered to load all five shows on my Archive .ORG page a few months ago, when I asked in an e-mail, but no response to that, yet. If, he does say, "Yes.", to that, then I plan to do so.

20

Huh? / The U.S. FM Landscape by the Numbers? For those of us that love 'useless INFO'.

« on: May 25, 2025, 1751 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/the-u-s-fm-landscape-by-the-numbers    Now, someone need to do this for AM Radio, then TV.

21

Huh? / A Belt From Gates Radio? RW rip of 'before Tapecaster Cart Machines'.

« on: May 25, 2025, 1741 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/roots-of-radio/a-belt-from-gates-radio   Anyone old-time radio buff remember this? I remember for years wanting a Tapecaster Cart Machine, that didn't look like it came from a war-zone. But, by September 1994, that wanting vanished with MiniDisc, to do the same thing as a cart machine. BTW, the bad thing about the Tapecasters is that it was a dirty format, where you had to clean the tape path's in the machines. That, was rarely, if ever, done at many stations. I've been asked by friends, in broadcasting, to visit them to use isopropanol and cotton swabs to do just that, especially college stations. That Gates Belt-Type spot Player sounded pretty reliable, but Tapecaster won-out for decades. (Boomer! Thanks, again...)   

22

Propagation / Summer Sporadic "E" is back? Sounded like it. And, pirate possibilities?

« on: May 25, 2025, 1600 UTC »

Around 03:00UTC, I had the 11M CB on, for the 1st time in weeks, only to find it jamming with activity. 10M??? Void of activity. 1st, were station heard around Baton Rouge, LA, then, several booming-in from E. TX at +S20/9, then going North to AR, OK, then ending in MO. By 04:00UTC, midnight my time, it was like someone flicked the "E" switch and shut the band off. I didn't make any contacts, but the Sporadic "E" Season is just getting started.
ADDITIONAL:  Back to 11M Sporadic "E" propagation? When it does come, you usually can't really predict when it is coming, but listening to the CB 11M band is the best indication for when it is wide-open to some where. Here's the thing, it's the perfect PROP for pirating on the INT 11M BC Band. Why??? Because, those Sporadic "E" clouds are just point to point, then moves around the point. So, not wide-area, like F2 PROP. The perfect Gorilla Warfare style of pirating. A 30min broadcast, with lots of ID's, could make it out with like 5W, and still be like S+10/9. And, chances are, only one FCC monitoring station will hear that at a time, not three, for triangulation. Let me just say, it has been done. Could be done easily via mobile operations as well. DX Maps, on 12M and 10M, would be the best to use as an indicator as well. https://www.dxmaps.com/spots/mapg.php?Lan=E&Frec=50&ML=M&Map=W2LN&HF=N&DXC=ING2&GL=S   (Hit the thumb nail for the band you wanna' look up.) Oh... Less lightning and other noisy crap there as well.

23

Huh? / Latest Radio World rips, 5/23/2025? Sure...

« on: May 23, 2025, 1708 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/business-and-law/sbe-proposes-easing-fccs-fm-interference-rules

and

https://www.radioworld.com/global/the-79th-wrth-is-the-bible-for-dx-listening

and then,

https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/delilahs-kdunam-signs-off

Well, that sucks... THANKS, Boomer!!!

24

SDR - Software Defined Radio / A Custom-Made SDR with RX / TX with YOUR specified features? Could be done?

« on: May 22, 2025, 1818 UTC »

An idea popped in my head this morning, but is it already being done? The idea, Custom-Made SDR TX / RX featuring. Meaning??? YOU, request the spec's and features that you want, and voila, end result is a rig to YOUR spec's, features, and standards. At this point, I figured that AI could calculate and write the software. Yeah, the hardware would have to be custom as well, for FREQ ranges, RX-only, TX / RX capabilities, etc. However, I don't see why it can't be done today. But, is it already??? Case in point... That Xiegu G90 is nice, for what it is, especially at its price range. However, there are features that could be way better, like wide-range AGC control, and not just three settings, wide-range NB setting that actually are effective, audio FREQ range settings, TX / RX EQ settings, compressor range settings, FM deviation and AM MOD MIN / MAX settings, wide-range A/D modulation settings, like FM standard MPX stereo, FM SCA decoding, TV analog MTS stereo, SAP decoding, AM various stereo decoding, C-QUAM, Kahn, Harris, Magnavox, etc., various analog VID decoding, NTSC, PAL, SECAM, digital ATSC 1.0 & 3.0, COFDM. The various print text modes, CW, FT's, AMTOR, RTTY, packet, FAX, etc. Heck, even custom Spread-Spectrum modes. Digital voice modes, of choices, P-25, D-Star, C4FM, DMR. Yeah, KIWI-SDR comes close, and government agencies most likely have these capabilities. And, the abilities to upgrade software & hardware. Oh, then there's Noise Reduction capabilities and various display settings. Today, someone has got to have the ability to put together such a custom type rig at our level. I suspect that I'm late to contemplate this. I wouldn't be good at the setup of such a rig, especially software-wise, but I'd love to be an end-user.

25

Equipment / Mast Mountable J-Pole Antenna, but with decoupling 1/4-wave stub.

« on: May 22, 2025, 1650 UTC »

Boomer found this:     https://www.hamradio.me/antennas/mast-mountable-j-pole-antenna.html    Huh... Well, the other ways that ops have done mast and coax decoupling is to use ferrite clamps, or wind a few turns at feed-point with the coax. I should modify the custom 462 / 467 MHz GMRS repeater J-Pole to this.

26

Software / The people stuck using ancient Windows computers? BBC rip.

« on: May 20, 2025, 1521 UTC »

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250516-the-people-stuck-using-ancient-windows-computers?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us            Yeah... I know... Not really radio related, or is it? I still have many Icom commercial HT's, and mobile rigs, that still need WIN XP to update FREQ's and modify features. Heck, I still have Motorola MAXTRAC's, and a Radius, that require DOS-based programming. My CHIRP works with WIN 8. And, Zara Radio automation runs on WIN XP. VISTA, runs a 20-year-old 8GB Sansa MP3 unit, that I've used to run on-air, and it won't take MAC and Ubuntu. So, I'm still using older Windows for various radio-related gear. And, I suspect that I'm not the only one.

27

Huh? / Possessed Radio??? Well, it wouldn't be the first.

« on: May 19, 2025, 1757 UTC »

https://www.coasttocoastam.com/photo/possessed-radio-photo/       Kind of surprised that WBST, (The Beast), didn't come on that FREQ. (Hi-hi...)   Somehow, I wouldn't worry too much about this, until that green back-lit LED turns to red. Then, I'd probably crap myself.

28

Amateur Radio / Hanvention could make for event travelers communicating and contacts? Sure...

« on: May 14, 2025, 1751 UTC »

A little late to post this, but... With Hanvention in swing this weekend, over in Xenia, OH,    https://hamvention.org/   , one thing that I've noticed living near WV routes 64, 77, and 79, is the convoys of event travelers to & fro the event on FM Simplex FREQ's, like 2M 146.520MHz, 146.550MHz, 146.580MHz, 147.490MHz, and even 446.00MHz, 29.600MHz, and occasionally 52.525MHz. Not heard anyone on 223.500MHz, yet. I've even broken-in and contacted several of these travelers. So, could make for some neat scanner listening and even contacting this weekend. 

29

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / D. Develop a Part 15 “Unlicensed AM” category for community broadcast use? CF pr

« on: May 14, 2025, 1719 UTC »

Boomer, linked me to another RW rip from the Common Frequency group. https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/news-makers/common-frequency-is-a-fierce-radio-activist   I wrote to them and ask about their opinion on an LPAM proposal. Well, they have one. https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/10429808002397/1    (Scroll down to,   "D. Develop a Part 15 “Unlicensed AM” category for community broadcast use")  located at the very bottom of the proposal. I congratulate them, but doubt they'll get it with The NAB to fight that tooth & nail. Then again, you just never know.

30

Huh? / Southern California Cities Invest in AM’s TIS? RW rip...

« on: May 13, 2025, 1723 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/products/southern-california-cities-invest-in-ams-tis   Yeah??? I'd still like to see an LPAM System, to rival the current LPFM system. Still, this shows that someone still believes that AM Radio have viability.