Messages

481

The RF Workbench / This Amateur Radio Antenna Is Made From a Single Tape Measure?

« on: April 01, 2022, 1827 UTC »

https://www.hackster.io/news/this-amateur-radio-antenna-is-made-from-a-single-tape-measure-95a0020726ea     I've heard of doing this, but never tried it myself, yet.

482

Huh? / The Cooling Radio Station & MUSA: The Ultimate SSB Receiving Site?

« on: April 01, 2022, 1823 UTC »

Yeah... Another SWL'ing rip, but a neat radio history read, nonetheless.     https://swling.com/blog/2022/04/the-cooling-radio-station-musa-the-ultimate-ssb-receiving-site/

483

Huh? / More Emergence TIS Stations upgrades, or more TIS Pests?

« on: March 30, 2022, 1924 UTC »

https://theradiosource.com/articles/news-2022-mar.htm        This includes, Communities that have received license waivers for increased signal and/or antenna height. So far, the only one that I hear is that NJ, Hudson Co. one on 1710kHz.

484

Amateur Radio / Re: 2M FM Simplex?

« on: March 27, 2022, 1937 UTC »

Is there any way that you could get your VHF VERT above the tree, foliage, level? Being in the land of FL, I would believe that 20W on 2M could talk 38 miles daily. And, if you happen to have a 2M beam, you could bounce off of a tall BLDG and see how far you could get out. A friend of mine and I did that with 222MHz national Simplex FREQ 223.500MHz FM. He was over 20 miles away on a IC-3AT HT, (MAX'es-Out at 1.5W.), and I was on my base with a home-brew 1/4-Wave GND-plane. I talked him into downtown Corning, NY, mobile, then lost him. Minutes later, I heard him call me. He was standing 10ft from the front wall of a Wagmans Supermarket and found a sweet-spot to work me on his HT! If he moved a couple of feet, I couldn't hear him. It was a neat test. We also did that bouncing signals off of hills too. BTW, that trick works well on 440MHz, 446.000MHz simplex FM. Passing thoughts.

485

Equipment / Re: Larsen NMO 2/70 antenna deaf on HF

« on: March 23, 2022, 1841 UTC »

You may have an existing 30" AM / FM RX'ing antenna that you can already use on your vehicle. They certainly work better than those new short stubbies that come on vehicles today. That 10", 45deg, AM / FM stub antenna on my sisters 2012 Chevy Cruz just sucks.

486

Huh? / Radio Jay Allen covers the rise & fall of AM Stereo.

« on: March 21, 2022, 0427 UTC »

Hey... AM Stereo is still out there and an option on some stations.   https://radiojayallen.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-hi-fi-am-am-stereo/

487

Amateur Radio / USB trend noticed on both 75M and 40M? As well as C4FM.

« on: March 21, 2022, 0419 UTC »

Has anyone else noticed this on both the 75M and 40M bands the last few months? I've been noticing USB being used more on these bands,  instead of LSB, mode. Now, as far as I know, there's nothing in the rules that says that an op can't do that, but even tonight, on 7296kHz, ops were in USB mode. Just an observation. Someone, around the AM portion of the 75M band, 3880kHz, is trying Yaesu's digital C4FM mode. They must be using the FT-991A, since it can do C4FM in HF. I have the FT-70D VHF / UHF C4FM HT, so it might me interesting to see if I can up-convert 3880kHz to 2M to decode that. (It would make for an interesting experiment.) 

488

Equipment / Re: Noise around the house? Keep things from the house.

« on: March 07, 2022, 1855 UTC »

I'm waiting for somewhat drier weather, but before the Spring growth goes crazy, to lay out the W.O.G., (Wire On Ground.), RX'ing Antenna. I have everything I need together for that project, but now waiting upon Mother Nature to cooperate. Getting away from the house isn't enough, but I also need more distance away from the power lines, outside the house.

489

Equipment / Re: Blackcat 22 meter build and modification. You can try this trick.

« on: March 07, 2022, 1845 UTC »

You can try to GND the case of the crystal to the circuit board GND. I do that to reduce phantom phase MOD and even spurs, than can radiate from the crystal itself. Passing thought, but I've had pretty good success doing that, when ICM engineers suggested that this is a good practice to do. (Too bad that they are gone, now.) Anyway, thanks for the info!

490

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Re: Any practical way for part 15 broadcasting in Canada?

« on: March 03, 2022, 1835 UTC »

My Part #15-like equivalent knowledge for Canada is limited, but I believe that Carrier-Current Operations are permissible there, a.k.a coupling to the power lines. From 160kHz - 190kHz, the quickest way to get-on-air fairly cheaply are those so-called wireless intercoms that use the house wiring. I had a pair of Novis FM Intercoms that went way further than the inside wiring. That rated 10mW output went down the street for hundreds of meters. You can also do AM Carrier-Current on the AM broadcast band and Neutral Couple to the AC Power Neutral. I do that. As far as a certified transmitter for that in Canada? You may have to roll your own transmitter there. However, 1W, or less, coupled to the lines may cover a whole neighborhood, and even beyond. Hope that helps. 

491

Huh? / 10 Times Hackers Hacked Live Television? Leenks rip.

« on: March 03, 2022, 0607 UTC »

Most of us have heard about the the 1980's Chicago TV hacks of that Max Headroom-like dude, and I remember when HBO got hacked in 1986. Well, there's more!   https://listverse.com/2019/07/19/10-times-hackers-hacked-live-television/

492

Amateur Radio / Re: Xiegu G90. Someone else did the EXT Speaker MOD.

« on: February 28, 2022, 1959 UTC »

Huh... Whereas, I hacked in to the radio's internal speaker connections, and ran a flat cable, and jack, out of the back of the rig external, this dude went to the Speaker / Headphones relay.              https://yo3hjv.blogspot.com/2020/12/xiegu-g90-external-speaker-modification.html

I'll bet that it looks better, than my EXT Jack MOD. Hey... If it works.

493

Huh? / Re: SWL'ing covers, WBCQ TESTS 4790 KHZ IN FEBRUARY! CODAR was in there?

« on: February 28, 2022, 1850 UTC »

According to Bill Tilford, Ilse Of Music, he suspects the interference to WBCQ's 4790kHz could be HF CODAR. Well, if that is indeed coming from out West, then at night, when near 4.8MHz goes long, would make sense. Any comments on this? http://www.codar.com/about.shtml    and     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_ocean_dynamics_applications_radar

494

HF Mystery Signals / Re: Another Version of the Hump near the WBCQ 4790, 0050 UTC 24 Feb. 2022

« on: February 25, 2022, 2142 UTC »

I heard that too well during the WBCQ relays of The Underground JAM. So, it's not just here in West Virginia, but what the hell is that?

495

Amateur Radio / ARN will have Ukraine news on radio-wise topics this weekend, for 2/25/2022!

« on: February 24, 2022, 2018 UTC »

Correspondence with Amateur Radio Newline's, Caryn, K2GUT, will top-feature Ukraine radio topics, and Amateur Radio related for sure. This might even include WRMI's news,   https://swling.com/blog/2022/02/wrmi-resumes-broadcasts-of-radio-ukraine-international/