Messages

856

The RF Workbench / Tecsun PL-990X/PL-330 New Hidden Feature

« on: October 09, 2020, 1907 UTC »

Did anyone else know about this?     https://radiojayallen.com/2020/10/09/tecsun-pl-990x-pl-330-new-hidden-feature/

857

The RF Workbench / Re: Watch out for those cheap components

« on: October 07, 2020, 1814 UTC »

Ehhh??? Huh... Well, one way you could tell that you're getting a 3W carbon resistor, instead of a ceramic wire-wound 5W, is put an inductance checker to it. Look at it this way, at least you could probably use these on RF applications. But, still... Almost makes you not want to break open that carbon resistor, to find out just what's inside that. Hmmmmm, a piece of Tungsten???

858

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Re: Part 15 EAS kinda?

« on: October 06, 2020, 0623 UTC »

Laugh In German soldier says, "Very interesting..." I've heard the local 2M COVID-19 Net talk about this devices, when they switched to radio-like topics, and summer storms. I suppose you could get it to switch on a NOAA Weather Radio, or a cheap scanner running the NOAA VHF FREQ's. C'est possible. My question is, would an arc welder close-by set it off as a false warning? 

859

MW Loggings / WGN 720AM, from inside a sheet metal building, booming in.

« on: October 02, 2020, 1650 UTC »

The talk station that I wanted to listen too last night suddenly went off-air just after 4PM. So, pissed with sports radio, until dark. Then, tuned around on a cheap POS QFX portable that I have there. To my surprise, Chicago's WGN just boomed right in for the last 2hrs of work. And, that's inside a steel building, where my AM RX'ing is very limited. So is my FM. I've heard folks say that AM DX'ing seems to be much better now, and I guess so. However, Cleveland's 1100WTAM has been a hard catch at night, lately. Must be too close at 300 miles away, where as WGN is about 500 miles from me.

860

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Part #15 Carrier-Current, Radiating 100mW, AM Stereo? Boomer's got it!

« on: October 01, 2020, 1747 UTC »

The stuff that Boomer has collected is now a really nice read, and info downloads! (And then some.)      http://boomerthedog.net/radio.html
Now, probably the best on-line source for Carrier-Current AM operations. Not to mention AM C-QUAM Stereo via Part #15. Another good source is this page about James R. Cunningham,  http://lowpowerradio.blogspot.com/2015/11/low-power-am-circuits-of-james-r.html   
However, what I need to do is to make a good .PDF copy of the Ernest Wilson book - Carrier Current Techniques: The Wired Wireless Broadcasting, from 1979's Panaxis Productions. He shows you how you can build it all from the ground up.   

861

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Re: Radio Survivor - Social Distancing Sparks Interest in Part 15 Unlicensed Broadca

« on: October 01, 2020, 0654 UTC »

Yeah... In AM Carrier-Current Broadcasting, coupling to the power lines is what I'm talking about. And, the electrical power lines are a leaky radiating antenna. You may have seen this at home, with those plug-in FM 'so-called' wireless intercoms. They operate in the 1750M Experimenter's Band, around 175kHz NBFM with a RF OUT of about 10mW. They are usually coupled with a capacitor and a can-like Low FREQ transformer network. AM Carrier-Current Coupling also requires a matching network that can handle some pretty low impedance values, like 10 Ohm, or lower. A Carrier-Current Coupler has an RCL network, that's usually adjustable, since every location with be a different impedance. I'm trying to find a site that has like a Radio Systems CP-15 Coupler, or the equivalent LPB one. Even a simple LPB T-8 would be a good one. Huh... I'll have to add the inside PIC's of the CP-15 that's on my AM610, the brown box seen in a PIC that's labeled Phase II.   https://vk.com/realfreeradio?z=photo219315054_381150537%2Fphotos219315054      Yeah, my bench was a real mess years ago, but the station still rocks.   UPDATES 10/1/2020:    I've added more CP-15 PIC's to my VK page, just below the weekly programing listings,     https://vk.com/realfreeradio

862

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Re: Radio Survivor - Social Distancing Sparks Interest in Part 15 Unlicensed Broadca

« on: September 30, 2020, 1824 UTC »

Well, there's still AM Carrier-Current Coupling, (Loading to the power lines.), that's still totally permissible, like some schools and colleges still do. However, lack of gear, with Radio Systems and LPB, Inc., gone bye-bye, and the idea of coupling to the power lines, seems to set most folks away from that idea. You can Neutral Inject, like my AM610 is. If a mega church parking lot is big enough, where they have a dozen light poles lighting that, you can couple to those power lines and easily cover that whole lot with less than a watt carrier. Not a new idea either, since many Drive-In Movie Theatres have done that for decades, after they trashed their pull-aside window speakers. (Remember them?) The smart owners just coupled into the old speaker wiring. Can still be done.

863

Equipment / Re: DX Engineering Maxi-CoreŽ 20 Baluns and Feedline Chokes DXE-MC20-V4-1 TESTS.

« on: September 30, 2020, 1811 UTC »

Yeah... I know... I could've rolled-my-own, and usually I do. But, I had a $20.00 coupon with DX Expensive-neering, so this was a nice chance to use it, and I had only one more week left to do so. I also went with their experience in the toroid core type and turn windings. I'm really not that experienced upon determining core type make-ups and have only wound toroids a few times. The 1st time was with Fearless Fred's help upon homebrewing a MW 7 Element Chebychev LPF. That was over 25 years ago, and I still have that, which has three self-wound toroid transformers. Anyway... I went the lazy way, but am still glad that I've looked inside that Balun.  Maybe, I've bought one that was built on a Friday? Hmmmmmmm???

864

Amateur Radio / Re: Satellite attempt

« on: September 29, 2020, 2014 UTC »

Well, try building a 2M dipole Antenna, soldered to an SO-239 connector. The GND element = 51cm, and the main center conductor solder element = 49cm. One thing is for sure, with this Dipole, you should certainly hear 145.800MHz better.   One thing about a Dipole is it's high angle of radiation. Or, you could do what this dude did,    https://everydayready.wordpress.com/2017/02/06/diy-easy-2m-dipole-antenna/amp/

865

Huh? / Re: Mystery leak investigation continues on International Space Station

« on: September 29, 2020, 1945 UTC »

Pssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss...            https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/space-station-air-leak-forces-middle-of-night-crew-wakeup/ar-BB19xN6m?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout     Yeah, they don't want that up there.

866

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Radio Survivor - Social Distancing Sparks Interest in Part 15 Unlicensed Broadca

« on: September 29, 2020, 1834 UTC »

Here's the full, unchopped, title:  Radio Survivor - Social Distancing Sparks Interest in Part 15 Unlicensed Broadcasting, but Caveat Emptor.  Here's the link,      http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2020/09/21/social-distancing-sparks-interest-in-part-15-unlicensed-broadcasting-but-caveat-emptor/

On Part #15 FM, there no actual RF power out limit, but just that limiting FS limit of 250uV measured at 3 Meters away. I do remember that someone in the 1990's Panaxis EBN (Experimental Broadcaster's Newsletter) calculating with the possible RF OUT would be to a 1/4-Wave GND Plane Antenna, and it was something like 600pW - 800pW. That's picowatts, 10 to the -12! That small!!! 

867

Equipment / DX Engineering Maxi-CoreŽ 20 Baluns and Feedline Chokes DXE-MC20-V4-1 TESTS.

« on: September 29, 2020, 1744 UTC »

I did a spectrum test on that 4:1 DX ENG 5kW Balun.    https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-mc20-v4-1  I did a DC GND continuity test and measured 1.6 Ohms. Not bad, but I did look inside, and I didn't really like how they 1/2 soldered the connections inside, so I silver soldered them with the 140W gun. Passed DC GND tests at just .6 Ohms. Then, I took two 100 Ohm, 1/2W, resisters, (For 200 Ohms.), and tied them to the Dipole bolts. Then used my MFJ-269Pro ANT Analyzer and spanned from 1740kHz to 180MHz. WOW!!!! Solid, flat, 1:1 VSWR from MW to around 27MHz, but 11M and 10M were still a 1.1:1 match. Then, curved to 1.2:1 about 63MHz, and was still that all the way to 2M, which was a 1.3:1! Then, the curve raised about 1.5:1 around 158MHz. Damn!!!!! Now that's wide banded! Anyone ever put one of these Baluns up on a Dipole, or a Longwire? For over 25 Years, I've used the W2DU 4:1 Current Choke Balun, running barefoot power, with nice results. However, I believe that the power rating of that is 300W. The 5kW rating on the new Balun is certainly overkill, but at least 500W won't be a problem.

868

Huh? / Re: Why Does the FCC Allow Sinclair Broadcasting to Violate Station Ownership Rules

« on: September 29, 2020, 1729 UTC »

The FCC hasn't been referred too as the Federal Corporate Coddlers for nothin'. Someone's getting a  $$$$$$ kick-back.

869

Equipment / Re: 6P1 tube transmitter 5W tube shortwave transmitter on AliExpress for $32.87

« on: September 28, 2020, 1823 UTC »

Neat!!!! Kind of a modification of the Bob Heil's AM Pine Board Project that he was pushing a couple of years ago. So, 5W on the low bands can be had in the Winter on AM. I've done several QSO's with 5W / 6W 75M AM stations. So, can indeed be done.     https://heilhamradio.com/amateur-radio-post/the-pine-board-project/

870

Amateur Radio / Re: Satellite attempt

« on: September 28, 2020, 1817 UTC »

Being that you are in FL, that flat land allows most horizon to horizon sky for you. Unlike for me, where valley walls block better than 30% of the sky. So, I'd suggest that to aim straight up. When you hear the various calls coming in, like 8-land, 9-land, 3-land, 4-land, etc., that will give a clue where to point the beam at. Just the other night, I heard the ISS X-band Repeater, 437.800MHz FM, with an indoor 3 ele 440 beam, pointed at our local FUSION repeater. Hearing all those 9-land calls then, lead me to believe that I was RX'ing off the rear of the beam with an S2.