Messages

541

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: Unid 6230.3 AM 1843 utc 15 Sep 2019

« on: September 15, 2019, 1847 UTC »

1843 Colonel Bogey march

This seems to be the song of the evening, no?

1848 - Same. I have the carrier on 6230.28 KHz, FWIW. Better reception in Scandinavia then central Europe, also FWIW.
1914 - Email address and, I think, ID but I missed the ID.

542

European Pirates and Private Stations / Abu Dhabi Radio 6303.95 AM 1733 UTC 15 Sept 2019

« on: September 15, 2019, 1737 UTC »

Very loud into Norway at the moment.

1736 - male vocal music with guitar. Language is UNID at the moment.
1751 - Vocal music in various languages, including English and perhaps Finnish, over the past 20 minutes. Their signal is listenable across most of eastern and western Europe.
1808 - Reception in Scandinavia is suffering now that the sun is setting in western Europe.
1810 - Long dead air break.
1819 - A lot of Spanish guitar music as of late. Signal is improving in central and northern Europe.
1824 - Colonel Bogey March song.
1826 - Doris Day, "Que Sera, Sera".
1835 - ID by Johnny Tobacco.
1842 - TX off after Frank Sinatra, "My Way".

Goede nacht, Johnny

543

European Pirates and Private Stations / UNID 6269.2 AM 1735 UTC 15 Sept 2019

« on: September 15, 2019, 1735 UTC »

1722 - Better reception on a Norwegian SDR. Sounds like Dutch vocal music.
1727 - Dutch song to the tune of "Free Electric Band".
1730 - Now covered in STANAG. Reception is extremely difficult.

544

European Pirates and Private Stations / UNID 6280 AM 1715 UTC 15 Sept 2019

« on: September 15, 2019, 1721 UTC »

Very bad modulation and I was listening on USB. Then STANAG started up and just as I switched to LSB due to the STANAG, the carrier went off. 

545

European Pirates and Private Stations / UNID 6274.88 AM 1712 UTC 15 Sept 2019

« on: September 15, 2019, 1714 UTC »

SINPO 32232 on an Austrian SDR.

1713 - Electronic music.
1737 - Very weak all around.

546

European Pirates and Private Stations / UNID 6285 AM 0730 UTC 15 Sept 2019

« on: September 15, 2019, 0733 UTC »

Schlager music with Dutch vocals
0754 - Live announcement (with microphone feedback) briefly in Dutch, greeting listeners. Music continues.
0805 - SINPO 45454 on a UK SDR right now.

547

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: UNID 6210 AM 0632 UTC 15 Sep 2019

« on: September 15, 2019, 0654 UTC »

SINPO 35444 on a UK SDR at 0653 UTC.

0808 UTC - Getting lots of QRM from LHH on 6205 KHz now. SINPO 32343 on UK SDR due to QRM.

548

Huh? / Re: Eddie Money, ‘Two Tickets to Paradise’ Singer, Is Dead at 70

« on: September 14, 2019, 1733 UTC »

Eddie Money, ‘Two Tickets to Paradise’ Singer, Is Dead at 70

Holy Shit.

549

European Pirates and Private Stations / Radio Pandora 6322.5 AM 1703 UTC 14 Sept 2019

« on: September 14, 2019, 1706 UTC »

1705 - ID.  Looked at logs of the station online on various websites, including this one.

SINPO 33233 on an SDR in Norway. No copy on an SDR in UK. Carrier is at 6322.48 KHz.

1709 - "Neutron Dance".
1727 - Reception is shifting as sundown comes across central Europe. Op told a story about how he used to put on his 25 Watt TX, leave the TX unattended and "go round to the pub".
1729 - Next song.
1735 - Signal is weaker is Scandinavia. Carrier now seems to be on 6322.52 KHz. Suzanne Vega song.

550

SDR - Software Defined Radio / Re: Hack RF One SDR

« on: September 14, 2019, 0046 UTC »

Thanks for doing this. I have been curious about this rig.

Next to see the effect of varying the VGA. Yes, it does vary the output power. No, not exactly as much as you would expect from theory.

At 7.1 MHz, with the RF Amp off, measuring the output into a 50 ohm load:
47 dB 111 mV  0.246 mW
37 dB 44 mV   0.039 mW
27 dB 28 mV  0.016 mW

With the RF Amp on:
45 dB 880 mV 15.5 mW
35 dB 308 mV 1.90 mW
25 dB 109 mV 0.24 mW
15 dB 42 mV 0.035 mW

I think what you mean is "not exactly as much as you would expect from the specifications."

The specs are likely only typical values, not max/min values, so don't be surprised if things differ "a bit" . (Everyone has a different definition of "a bit".    )

Noticing that with the amp off, the step from 47 to 27 dB (20 dB) was measured as 11.9 dB and with the amp on, that step was 18 dB. With the amp on, the the full step you have here (45 to 15 dB = 30 dB) was measured as 26 dB.

One of the things that happens with VGAs is that crosstalk from input to output can confound step characterization. Here's a table of your steps with the amp on:

45 dB --> 9.1 dB step from 35 dB
35 dB --> 9.0 dB step from 25 dB
25 dB --> 8.4 dB step from 15 dB

The incremental steps above are actually fairly uniform (but not exactly 10 dB) so crosstalk may not be the issue.

However, it is interesting that the step was closer to expected with the amp on, rather than off. Is there a possibility that the 27 dB value with the amp off is wrong? Are you measuring the noise floor of your oscilloscope at that step setting?

Any interest in a harmonic output or a two-tone IP3 characterization of the TX output? 

551

Huh? / Re: Scientist suggests 'eating human meat' to tackle climate change

« on: September 10, 2019, 2303 UTC »

Corpses of family members were often buried for days, then exhumed once the corpses were infested with maggots, at which point the corpse would be dismembered and served with the maggots as a side dish.

 

That should be served with some of this on the side. FAIR WARNING - do not read this if you have just eaten, or are about to eat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

Yup. Not hungry now. I don't think that my hunger will return for a few days....

552

General Radio Discussion / Re: Swiss To Shut Down FM

« on: September 10, 2019, 2240 UTC »

One can guess that DAB+ over there is in a different band.

Its not a well written article, which is commonplace today in the media.

I guess a prerequisite is that you would have to know that DAB+ and FM are different ...somehow. (A different frequency, mode, etc.) However, given that this is Radioworld, which is aimed at those in the radio business, I suppose that it's not too much of a stretch to expect that.

553

Peskies / Re: Scandinavians 6230 USB 1830 UTC 10 Sept 2019

« on: September 10, 2019, 2206 UTC »

The ute might be 06227.6 STANAG4285 1200L, FUE (French Navy Radio) out of Brest, France.

It could be STANAG, I suppose. It didn't seem like "the usual STANAG" that I am used to but...who knows?
It could also be the French Navy testing a different mode on the same frequency.

554

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: Laser Hot Hits 6205 AM 1647 utc 10 Sep 2019

« on: September 10, 2019, 1918 UTC »

SINPO 34333 on an SDR in northern Germany.

1915 UTC - E17 song.
1918 UTC - Jeff Lynn song.

555

European Pirates and Private Stations / Re: Radio Harmony 5780 AM 0725 utc 10 Sep 2019

« on: September 10, 2019, 1909 UTC »

disturbed by gurgling ut. on 5777 (but USB clear, just stormy)

The gurgling seems like digitally-encrypted voice but I really have no idea.

Some sort of comedy programming for a few minutes at 1905 then into music at 1908 UTC.