Messages

976

General Radio Discussion / Re: CHAZ Free Radio Stations?

« on: June 18, 2020, 0607 UTC »

Well, from what I've observed from CHAZ, CHOP, or whatever they will next call that now 3 block area, if it can't come over a smart phone, then there's no use, or interest, for it. That, and unless it's all plug& play, I suspect that the technical competency to build, assemble, and run, a pirate station there doesn't exist. Yes, I can certainly be wrong here, but that said in the preceding, it may be interesting to monitor the known pirate FM stations in areas where the protests, and riots, have been going on in other cities.   

977

Bacon, BBQ, Beef, And More / Re: Why is the World Health Organisation Anti-Meat?

« on: June 15, 2020, 0316 UTC »

And, apparently raising farm animals adds to the so-called 'Greenhouse Gases' when they fart. Last year, didn't you hear about the dangers of cow farts?

978

10/11 meters / Re: 11 meter channel 29 usb June 13

« on: June 15, 2020, 0302 UTC »

Sounds like Sporadic "E" skip from Quebec. Tis the season for it. You may still hear Canadians on CH16 LSB still when Skip rolls from Quebec and Ontario.

979

General Radio Discussion / Letter to the Editor: AM Stereo Is Still an Option? Sure!

« on: June 13, 2020, 1757 UTC »

Boomer forwarded that to me.    https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/readers-forum/letter-to-the-editor-am-stereo-is-still-an-option
      Well, I still think that it's an option, even if many of those AM stereo stations are not music formats. And, there are still a couple AM Stereo transmitter kits out there, as well as receiver MOD kits for that as well.

980

Amateur Radio / Re: ARRL VHF Sweepsteaks this weekend June 13 - 14, 2020!

« on: June 12, 2020, 1909 UTC »

VHF High and UHF were wide open to my south this morning towards the VA and SE KY borders. The country bumpkin on 96.5FM Williamson, WV boomed in right over a local 96.5FM translator. And south is my geographically very worst direction. Will we have that this weekend? Murphy's Law says, NO!

981

Equipment / Re: Radio Jay's review, site and Radio Survivor interview?

« on: June 12, 2020, 1904 UTC »

The Radio Jay site is indeed a fun site to get lost in,   https://radiojayallen.com/    And, how I remember hearing about him was when I aired the interview of him on a very early Radio Survivor,   http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/03/14/podcast-84-improving-radio-reception/     It is more on improving AM / FM reception, but Radio Jay does talk about his site here, and I'm glad that he did. Yeah... No tech specs on his radios, and he says that up-front, but wants his site so that the average person can go through it.

982

MW Loggings / Re: Shuttered AM College Station Frequency in CT Relaying NWR Transmitter

« on: June 09, 2020, 1909 UTC »

I interpret this to mean that the new format of the station is going to really suck.

983

Amateur Radio / ARRL VHF Sweepsteaks this weekend June 13 - 14, 2020!

« on: June 09, 2020, 1902 UTC »

Good practice for the following weekend's Field Day,   https://contests.arrl.org/junvhf/   Now, can we hope for decent "E" and Tropo propagation for this? Rarely... Usually the Monday afterwards are when the VHF / UHF bands open up.

984

Equipment / Radio Jay's review on a new Sangean table radio.

« on: June 09, 2020, 1858 UTC »

Yeah, only AM / FM, but might be decent to chase AM night DX,    https://radiojayallen.com/sangean-wr16-wr16se-am-fm-table-radio/

985

Equipment / Re: Please recommend some good MW and LW DX radios

« on: June 06, 2020, 2012 UTC »

Still have the neat reads from Radio Jay Allen,     https://radiojayallen.com/    His go-to radio is still the Panasonic RF-2200. (Yeah, I want one as well.) Be aware, you can easily get lost on Radio Jay's site. To my surprise, he didn't have a Sangean ATS-803A / Realistic DX-440 portable. So, I had to fill him in about that portable. He's tried several Part #15-type transmitters as well, like the Curthbert C-QUAM AM Stereo kit. (Enjoy that!!!!) Oh... Follow up on using an MFJ-956 Preselector on your ATS-803A, I believe that it's spec'ed down to 150kHz. So, should be good for LW and MW.

986

General Radio Discussion / Re: Pirate radio laws outside the US

« on: June 05, 2020, 1746 UTC »

Years ago, I remember reading in The A.C.E., (Association of Clandestine Radio Enthusiasts.), that unlicensed broadcasting was pretty laxed in Ireland and Italy. Ya might want to post your question to the folks leftover from that. Many of them being on The FRN,    http://frn.net/vines/    You may even see an older post on just this subject. I do remember 20 years ago, (A couple of sunspot cycles ago.), that the best way to hear Euro-pirates was on the upper 21MHz, (13M), band. Border Hunter Radio comes to mind around 21.860MHz. Oh yeah!!!! Check out this Euro-pirate site!  http://www.alfalima.net/   (Almost forgot about them.) Some of those posts go back 20 years as well. Happy hunting!!!!

987

Equipment / Re: Please recommend some good MW and LW DX radios

« on: June 04, 2020, 2055 UTC »

The Sangean ATS-803A is certainly one of the better, more sensitive, portables to have for LW and MW DX'ing. I still use mine to DX MW at times. However, when I put that portable to my Windom, I can get IMD from local stations and very strong 90M SW. You may want to consider a preselector to help improve what you already have. https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=3912

988

The RF Workbench / Re: Cardinal Components to discontinue programmable oscillators

« on: June 01, 2020, 1927 UTC »

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Might indeed be worth checking out, especially if Digikey can do the programming on their end. Thus far, the only thing that I don't like is the +/-50PPM rating, as I'd want something to be a bit tighter in FREQ tolerance. Thanks for the heads-up!

989

The RF Workbench / Ya broke? Need a decent OSC? Look at trashed computers!

« on: May 28, 2020, 1907 UTC »

My bro-in-law 2 years ago wanted to trash his Y2K Dell desktop computer. So, I did rip & tear for the components and came across the 25MHz, SG-615P, CPU clock OSC. So, around Christmas 2019, I've built a PS circuit around it using a 9VDC wallwart, filter CAP's, an LM7805 +5VDC REG, another filter CAP, a 250uH choke, and by the info on-line, added a .1uF CAP before that IC. On the RF OUT I've built a homebrew adjustable Butterfly Filter and terminated that with just a 1k-Ohm resistor. And??? Nice clean sinewave on the 'scope, and the FREQ starts up right at 25.00000MHz, then sags to 24.999986MHz. Not bad, but I want better tolerance. However, I'd put that OSC project to the side for other 'Must fix' projects. Then, went back to it, after the scrubbed SpaceX manned launch. That OSC project still sags down to 24.999986MHz. So, I then looked at the AC ripple on the output of the 7805 REG  = .058V. Not bad DC, but did a 'What if' and added another 2,200uF CAP on the output of that REG. Now AC ripple is .001V. NICE!!!! And RF = 24.99997MHz. I then loaded to a 50 Ohm dummy load and now get 25.00000MHz. Huh.... Now that looks better, and useful for receiver aligning. So, if folks trash computers, especially by the roadside, and you're super cheap, (Like me!), there's some clock OSC possibilities there for use. And, the price is right! (Minus the Bob Barker.) 

990

General Radio Discussion / Re: Question

« on: May 28, 2020, 1831 UTC »

I know that I don't, anymore. I did 20-some years ago, when ya didn't need to sign-up for an account and PW for just that. And, that was the one for Rowe Productions for Mortification death metal fans. Gee... That had to be either 1998, or 1999. I seem to recall doing The ACE chatroom years ago as well. But... Just one more UN and PW to remember, and I have a whole book of just those to go back for that has accumulated. Today, if I wanna' chat, that's what two-way radio is for. The ultimate social distancing.