Messages

241

General Radio Discussion / Re: The slow death of AM Radio?

« on: January 10, 2024, 2229 UTC »

I still remember in 2007, Hornell, NY's, 1320AM WHHO, tried a return-to-the-air for about a year. Instead of rebuilding the tower, they ran a longwire, which worked, but didn't have the coverage that they did originally. KQV in Pittsburgh came back, at 1410AM, but more, or less, as a glorified radio 'working' museum. https://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=KQV&band=&country=&scope=&count=20&sort=Call&sr=1&s=C&sid=   TIS Stations have been both, switched on and off, over the years, lately. And, the idea of expanding Low Powered radio to AM, for a licensed LPAM, already has, and continued, to get squashed by the NAB. Looks like Part 15'ers are the real AM expanders to take to the air, mainly with the 10ft Antenna and MAX power of 100 milliwatts peak. (Albeit, many Carrier-Current Stations have been taken off air. I know of only five that continue to exist.) Anyway, still interesting STATS to examine from Chris's preceding post.

242

Huh? / WBCQ Relies on High-Power Shortwave Antenna! Radio World rip.

« on: January 10, 2024, 2152 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/global/wbcq-relies-on-high-power-shortwave-antenna     THANKs, to Boomer for FWR that to me.

243

Equipment / Re: Best MWDX antenna? Yet, another on off of SWL'ing.

« on: January 10, 2024, 1755 UTC »

Well, this looks more convenient than that godzeyes antenna that I've made.  https://swling.com/blog/2024/01/video-giuseppe-explains-wiring-construction-of-dica-homebrew-antenna/   Tis the season to build and try stuff.

244

Amateur Radio / Re: Winter, of Amateur Radio stuff to look forward to? Heavy Metal Rally!!!

« on: January 06, 2024, 1830 UTC »

Last night, I blew-off C2C AM, for 75M QSO's to fall asleep to. However, when I woke-up around 7:30AM, EST, the SSB'ers were pretty much calling it quits. So, I tuned to 3885AM and caught the tail-end of what I believe was the AM Collins Net. Glad that I did, since someone made the announcement that the annual Heavy Metal AM Rally is, tonight. https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/34th-electric-radio-heavy-metal-rally.892062/   Cool!!!! Nice warm-up for next month's AM Rally.  Now, will lightning crashes be lower tonight, since last night I've needed to use the W.O.G. to listen to 75M?

245

Huh? / 2024 Stations' Format Changes, where you are?

« on: January 02, 2024, 2042 UTC »

With 2024, I've got to ask, what formats are changing around where I live, or where y'all live?  https://radioinsight.com/blogs/262047/format-changes-i-would-like-to-see-in-2024/    Here??? The Charleston / Huntington, WV market needs another Country, or Sports, format, like Michael Lindell, the My Pillow dude, needs a pillow fight. (Yeah... Just my $0.02 worth...)

246

Amateur Radio / Winter, of Amateur Radio stuff to look forward to? Uh-huh....

« on: January 02, 2024, 2016 UTC »

Already, looking FWR to The ARRL VHF Sweepsteaks.  https://www.arrl.org/january-vhf    Then, Winter Field Day, which seems to be growing.https://winterfieldday.org/    And then, the always fun AM Rally!!!  http://www.amrally.com/   This year, that could be much more fun on 20M, 17M, 12M, 15M, and especially 10M, AM. However, 6M and 2M AM can also be fun as well, albeit more local. So, if Southern thunderstorms rear their ugly, noisy, heads this AM Rally, chances are, this year, moving to the higher bands will be a nice escape from that. And, when F2 is open from 20M, on up, barefoot power, even QRP, is all it takes. 

247

Equipment / SWL'ing mentions Radio Jay Qodosen SR-286. And, the review.

« on: December 30, 2023, 1905 UTC »

https://swling.com/blog/2023/12/tef6686-dsp-chip-and-the-qodosen-sr-286/#     And, the Radio Jay review,   https://radiojayallen.com/qodosen-sr-286-am-fm-sw-high-performance-portable/    INFO on a new type of DSP chip used.

248

The RF Workbench / Radio World's article on Crystals!

« on: December 27, 2023, 1959 UTC »

We all use them, in one form, or another.   https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/roots-of-radio/crystals-whats-going-on-in-there    Boomer, FWR that to me.

249

North American MW Pirate Radio / Re: Community Radio Network 1710 AM 0053 UTC 25 DEC 2023?

« on: December 26, 2023, 0025 UTC »

00:00 00:14UTC, heard very weak audio from 'A Christmas Carol'. Mixing in with other carriers on that FREQ as well.

250

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Pacifica Network welcomes & interviews Part 15 AM'er in Fairmont, WV! And???

« on: December 23, 2023, 1930 UTC »

https://pacificanetwork.org/pacifica-network-welcomes-am-station-wefr-in-fairmont-wv/      Good, to see others running with this.

UPDATE 1/1/2024:  Geez... I just hope that I didn't add to this op's on / off arguments on Part 15 station publicity and operations. But, goto https://part15.org/   , check-out the POSTS, and there's back & forth controversy upon the legits of a Part 15 op. What I don't like is when others insist to tell you how to run your station. People could suggest, but don't tell me what I can and can not do. There's a reason that I've not been a member of Part15.org, and that's certainly one of them. 

251

General Radio Discussion / Re: The Rise and Decline of CB Radio? Depends, where you are.

« on: December 21, 2023, 2040 UTC »

I've always thought that MAX distance rule was stupid. When you put a Citizen's Band in an HF portion, that gets more openings than the neighboring 10M Amateur Band, what did they think was going to happen? Still, CB has its place. Want to go deep into wooded areas, with hills & valleys, VHF MURS, and especially UHF FRS / GMRS, just have no penetration. Let alone, 800MHz cell phone.   

252

Amateur Radio / It pays to listen to HAM's? It was this time.

« on: December 19, 2023, 0325 UTC »

I go to bed at night with a Sangean ATS-803A. When I think that C2C AM has a guest that sucks, I'll plug-in the W.O.G. antenna and fall asleep listening to HAM's on 75M and 160M. I tuned-in to the 3878kHz group, late Thursday night, and heard them talk about this big flu epidemic going around. Whelp... A day later my household was sick, very sick, and incredibly fast oncoming. Now, has anyone in the mainstream news media picked-up on this? We've heard zilch here.
UPDATE 12/21/2023 :  Actually, FOX News had the new COVID strain in the news late, late, Monday night. Then, CBS News that day afterwards.

253

MW Loggings / Re: CHLO 530 AM Toronto 2314 UTC 17 DEC 2023

« on: December 19, 2023, 0315 UTC »

COOL!!! THANKS, for the complements, and glad that my INFO helped. Yeah... One thing that CHLO 530 has going for them is their own FREQ. 530kHz was a very popular Carrier-Current FREQ, back in the day. Not so much in WNY and S. Ontario, with CHLO on-air. Thus, why I didn't use that FREQ, but instead used 600kHz, when I lived further east, and was away from Coudersport, PA's WFRM. In the winter months, that 1kW station had a big footprint as well. There's a station that you can try to get, WFRM 600AM.  https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=wfrm&nav=home 

254

MW Loggings / Re: WGR 550 AM Buffalo 0033 UTC 11 DEC 2023?

« on: December 13, 2023, 2006 UTC »

Growing up, by the WNY / NWPA border, during the daytime, Buffalo's WGR 550AM, at 5kW, came-in about the same as 50kW 1520's WWKB, (Ex-WKBW.). Being heard in CT, that must be some great GND conductivity, due to the rains, then cold. Wait until a Zero degree day. I'll bet then, you could pull-in that near Toronto, ON station on 530kHz at 1kW. I, was able to hear that almost everywhere I could hear WGR. Oh yeah, unlike WWKB, which suffers severe fading and phasing at the NY / PA border, at night, 550 WGR is pretty listenable 24/7.

255

Huh? / “Attempt to Pass AM for Every Vehicle Act in Senate Falls Short”

« on: December 09, 2023, 2146 UTC »

https://swling.com/blog/2023/12/attempt-to-pass-am-for-every-vehicle-act-in-senate-falls-short/      Really??? Actually, and even a bit reluctantly, I see Rand's point that we shouldn't force manufacturers to do this, but should be a consumer-based demand decision. Suggest, but not force.