Messages

1231

Longwave Loggings / KaySeeks' NDB Loggings

« on: December 05, 2017, 1000 UTC »

My first time ever trying NDB DX. Used the NH6XO SDR (Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii). Well over 20 beacons heard, mostly Hawaii and USA/Canadian west coast. Not going write it all here, but since I don't have a lot of experience, these were notable to me due to their distance from the RX:

2017-12-05 0845 365.0 AA Fargo, ND USA 6140 km
2017-12-05 0849 390.0 HBT Sand Point, AK USA 3814 km
2017-12-05 0850 390.0 EHM Cape Newenham, AK USA 4191 km
2017-12-05 0840 413.0 YHD Dryden, ON CAN 6457 km

AA and YHD have been widely reported so these aren't apparently too crazy.

1232

Equipment / Re: QRP Pixie rig as CW beacon

« on: November 26, 2017, 1919 UTC »

The PCBs arrived. There's always the question when building the first board... was the PCB layout correct? Will it work?  And yes, it does!

 

1233

General Radio Discussion / Re: Pirate Radio is a Costly, Overlooked Problem—and It’s Thriving

« on: November 26, 2017, 1903 UTC »

Not a peep about that from the FCC nor even the broadcasters.

Not completely true. Though the FCC haven't really taken any regulatory measures yet either.

Noise Floor Complaints Grow Louder

No issue is more pressing to SBE than the noise interference faced by AM stations. “To us, it’s all related to ambient RF noise,” Imlay said. Not only are radio frequency or RF-emitting devices filling homes and offices with noise clutter, but big box retailers sell industrial strength technology for home use. “The problem is one of those devices is going to cause noise in a city block and anybody who would like to listen to the AM band at home isn’t going to be able to,” Imlay said. With little enforcement by the FCC against unlicensed Part 15 devices that exceed RF limits, engineers say it paints a dire situation for radio going forward. “They’re killing the AM broadcast band,” Imlay said. “And as long as those kinds of things are happening, the AM broadcast band is doomed.”

The Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE) is similarly concerned about the noise problem and how the FCC enforces its rules. “AM broadcasting is the proverbial canary in the coal mine and it’s simple physics,” AFCCE president Bob Weller said. “The noise problem, if it is not addressed soon, is going to kill off AM but it’s also going to kill off the Internet of Things before it even gets started.” Weller, who previously worked in the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau during the 1980s and 1990s, agrees enforcement needs to play a bigger role in the solution—not just with other technologies, but also among AMs to ensure station facilities aren’t drifting out of tolerance and causing interference. He says FM translators also need to be monitored. “A lot of this is a technical issue, not a legal one,” Weller said.

AFCCE met with Pai in April to discuss its concerns and Weller believes the chairman, while not tipping his hand in any way, is aware of the situation and he pressed them for how broadcasters could formulate a solution that wouldn’t draw objections from other segments of the industry.

Pai said he heard “a lot” from Midwest broadcasters during his road trip about the noise floor and the problem of modern technology creating all sorts of inference and preventing AM stations from delivering high-quality signals to listeners. “As I go back to DC that’s one of the things that we’ll be looking at—ways to improve the noise floor in order to make sure you are able to communicate information,” Pai said during an interview on WRDN, adding, “If we don’t have that you are really just broadcasting out into the ether.”

Last year the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council opened an inquiry on radio noise and how it can be studied to compare with data from decades ago. While the status of the effort is unclear, it appears that the FCC has decided to conduct its research in-house. However it’s completed, Imlay said something is needed since no one is quite sure whether the FCC’s governing RF emitters are too liberal, too conservative or just right. “Any of the academic studies that have been done since then indicate that there is a general increase over time in ambient RF noise to the point where in SBE’s view it’s a toxic environment for any listener to try to listen to AM broadcast stations because the listening environment becomes unpleasant very quickly,” he said.

Weller says the noise floor is a common problem that doesn’t just plague AM. It’s one reason why HD Radio FMs needed a power boost and why when VHF television stations switched from analog to digital the coverage was not as good as expected, especially indoors.

Radio receivers aren’t currently required to be manufactured to meet any spectrum efficiency standard and the NAB says adopting minimum performance standards for radio receivers could be one solution for the FCC to help broadcasters. “I know that might be controversial, but the truth is that consumers are often buying radios and other products that don’t work very well because of interference issues,” spokesman Dennis Wharton said.

From http://www.insideradio.com/bumps-remain-on-long-path-to-am-revitalization/article_cbbd1766-54b6-11e7-9742-a37b51b593b5.html

1234

General Radio Discussion / Pirate Radio is a Costly, Overlooked Problem—and It’s Thriving

« on: November 21, 2017, 1125 UTC »

Partially old news but with more depth here:

http://www.insideradio.com/pirate-radio-is-a-costly-overlooked-problem-and-it-s/article_73e73a12-3ecc-11e7-aecd-77c4ad3cfba2.html

Yeah, yeah, OK. They have been saying that the FCC are going to crack down more. Whatever.

Some of the links in the story are interesting to me. Like this: http://diymedia.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Pirate-2016-study-final-pdf.pdf
I like the photo of the pirate station antenna that is in the building next to the East Orange, NJ police station. (Location J, p. 86-87.)

Also of note:
"While getting Congress to pass legislation is always a lengthy process, Florida and New Jersey have already made operating a pirate station a felony under state law, while it’s a criminal misdemeanor in New York."

and
"Between Jan. 2003 and March 2017, the FCC issued 1,561 official warning notices to alleged pirates across 46 states with Arkansas, South Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia the only states untouched by the problem. Just one in ten of those warnings were escalated to the next step. The FCC says it proposed $2.15 million in fines against 168 alleged pirates. Yet of that number the Commission ultimately ordered just 93 pirates to pay up a combined $1.04 million. In order words, just 6% of the warning letters ultimately translated to formal fines. Also of note nearly half of the fines were to pirates in one state: Florida."

1235

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Clever Name Radio 6935 USB 2054 UTC 22 Oct 2017

« on: October 22, 2017, 2235 UTC »

Weak copy on the UTwente SDR in NL. If I did not already know it was there, I would not have found it. Nice to transit across the ocean.
Seems to have stopped at 2236 in middle of a song.

1236

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6940 USB 2338 UTC 14 Oct 2017

« on: October 14, 2017, 2344 UTC »

2344: "Who Are You"
2348: Van Halen "Atomic Punk".
2351: Van Halen
2352: Into a random music mix

Lots of QRN tonight.
Frequency is 6339.95?

1237

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: UNID 6255.38 AM 1830 UTC 14 Oct 2017

« on: October 14, 2017, 2115 UTC »

I've just listened to your mp3 recording, it includes an ID from Radio RAINBOW, (twice).

Oui, c'est logique. (Yes, that makes sense.)

1238

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: UNID 6919.96 AM 1925 UTC 14 Oct 2017

« on: October 14, 2017, 2112 UTC »

That's Key Channel Radio (Italy),

OK, thank you.

1239

European Pirates and Private Stations / UNID 6919.96 AM 1925 UTC 14 Oct 2017

« on: October 14, 2017, 1944 UTC »

1925: Tune in on UTwente SDR. Difficult copy. Continuous AfroPop music.
1930: switch to SDR in Germany. Good signal but much electrical power line QRM.
1940: ID in English but missed it due to SDR cutting out.
2000: ID "Jamasee Radio" ?
2013: Announcements about "....music.."
Continues with Afropop music and IDs every ~10 minutes.
ID and announcements at 2102. Fading a little too difficult to understand. Best reception in NL, DK, Sweden and northern Germany but starting to fade ~2100 UTC.
2105: tuned out.

1240

European Pirates and Private Stations / UNID 6255.38 AM 1830 UTC 14 Oct 2017

« on: October 14, 2017, 1909 UTC »

1829: Just caught tail end of rock song at tune in.
1830: Into computerized male voice in unfamiliar language, then computerized female voice ID in English, "This is Radio Leadbone (?), Cheltenham (?). Send reports to Radioleadbone (??) AT gmx (??) DOT net. "
Then off the air or faded out immediately after.

SIO 213 on the UTwente SDR in the Netherlands. I have attached a recording of the ID. Unfortunately I turned on the sync detector just as they were giving the email address.

1241

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: Triple L Radio 6282 AM 2303 UTC 8 OCT 2017

« on: October 08, 2017, 2328 UTC »

Heard on WebSDR in central Finland.

2312 - tune in and heard "Born To Be Wild".
2316 - Credence Clearwater Revival song.
2320 - Announcements and likely ID. Too weak to understand.

Carrier is right at the noise level and  modulation is too weak to hear more than 50% of the time.

1242

European Pirates and Private Stations / Delta Radio 6259.8 AM 1858 UTC 07 Oct 2017

« on: October 07, 2017, 1913 UTC »

English ID at 1902 UTC, "Non-stop music".
Announcement in Dutch and ID in English at 1907 UTC, into AC/DC "Highway to Hell".
English ID 1910, into Neil Young "Rocking in the Free World".

Heard on UTwente SDR, very pleasant to to listen to in synchronous AM. SIO 414.

Faded out by 1929. 

1243

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6955 LSB 2353 UTC 23 SEP 2017

« on: September 24, 2017, 0013 UTC »

S5 to S7 and in the clear on SDRs in OH, Western NY and MA.

1244

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6955 LSB 2207 UTC 23 Sep 2017

« on: September 23, 2017, 2358 UTC »

S7 on the K2ZN SDR (Rochester, NY)
S9 on the South Dennis, MA SDR
S4 on the Elida, Ohio SDR

Bag pipe interval signal from ~2301 - 2315Z, asssuming it was the same station.