Messages

76

Utility / Re: US Air Force MARS net 4623.5 USB 14:32 UTC 15 Jan 2020

« on: February 04, 2020, 1754 UTC »

sorry for jumping in late here, but I just wanted to throw in a little more on M110A.

For RX only, you can use the same MS-DMT software that MARS ops apparently use.  I don't remember exactly where I found it lately, but I remember a year or so ago MARS made MS-DMT and an unencrypted version of their chat terminal available to amateur radio operators for either Armed Forces Day or one of their quarterly communications exercises.  A Google search should turn up links to both.

It's finicky to get M110A to decode.  Set your audio filter to the full 3 kHz channel, or as wide as your radio will allow.

Even if everything is setup just right, you might not see unencrypted headers anymore.  At least I haven't lately.  I can get a decode with few or no errors that still prints nothing but garbled text.  Reading between the lines of some Facebook posts I've seen, I think they're using online encryption, now.

All my experience with M110A has been unencrypted, so I don't know exactly what encrypted messages should look like at the raw data level other than the modem showing no errors.

77

Utility / UNID 5 Character ALE net 2113 UTC 03 FEB 2020

« on: February 04, 2020, 0245 UTC »

I'm not sure how reliable this website is, but according to
http://www.ominous-valve.com/ale-list.txt, this ALE net is believed to be run by FEMA or other elements of the US government.  The frequencies ("dial" freq USB mode) are said to be:

4610.0
4979.0
5837.0
7870.0
10424.0
11448.0
11587.5
12109.0
13437.0
16011.0
18475.0
20361.0
23390.0

I left MARS ALE scanning this afternoon and evening, and logged these soundings.  To me, it looks like a controlled net where only the NCS sounds.

03FEB2020
[21:13:50][FRQ 05837000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 27 SN 13
[21:44:00][FRQ 05837000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 29 SN 12
[21:42:38][FRQ 12109000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 05
[21:48:20][FRQ 04979000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 29 SN 09
[22:14:17][FRQ 05837000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 28 SN 12
[22:18:33][FRQ 04979000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 12
[22:44:33][FRQ 05837000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 13
[22:48:53][FRQ 04979000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 29 SN 12
[23:00:39][FRQ 04610000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[23:14:41][FRQ 05837000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 16
[23:44:57][FRQ 05837000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 13

04FEB2020
[00:31:20][FRQ 04610000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 17 SN 13
[00:45:32][FRQ 05837000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 15
[01:20:03][FRQ 04979000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 16
[01:31:44][FRQ 04610000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 16
[01:50:13][FRQ 04979000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 14
[01:52:35][FRQ 04979000][SND][               ][TWS][ZG7D8          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 15
[02:46:20][FRQ 05837000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08
[02:50:32][FRQ 04979000][SND][               ][TWS][6Y8M5          ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

78

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Nuttin' On Shortwave 6925 AM 2041 UTC 30 Jan 2020

« on: January 30, 2020, 2116 UTC »

SIO 222 down in the southeast - Strong S9 carrier, but modulation is down in the noise during music. I can hear Crusher better than the music, but it sounds like he's overdriving the mic.

Thanks for the show!

79

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Yeah Man Radio 6925 AM 1952 UTC 29 Jan 2020

« on: January 29, 2020, 2010 UTC »

Just tuned in.  Strong carrier here, but music is just above the noise.

2007 - The Monkees - Daydream Believer

2017 - I can hear Yeah Man speaking between songs better than the music

2025 - Aretha Franklin - I Say a Little Prayer
2026 - Spoken intro into Bee Gees - You Don't Know What It's Like

80

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Mix Radio International 6880 AM 1700 UTC 28 January 2020

« on: January 28, 2020, 1743 UTC »

SIO: 242

Weak, but readable here in GA.  Very little noise at the moment.

1839 - signal has improved a lot in the past hour and half.  When it fades up, I get a solid S7.
1855 - sign off with lots of nice station IDs

Thanks for the music, MRI.  When I finally got a good reception, you sounded great, as always.

81

North American Shortwave Pirate / PeeWee Radio 6955 USB 0256 UTC 27 JAN 2020

« on: January 27, 2020, 0259 UTC »

0256 Rock music
0258 SSTV
0259 More rock guitar

Despite the dog-centric SSTVs, I'm assuming this was Skippy (meant to write) PeeWee Radio, since he sent the sock image earlier and tends to send SSTVs of images posted on the HFU chat.

82

North American Shortwave Pirate / Radio Marijuana > Radio Humperdoo 6927 USB 2000 UTC 24 SEP 2019

« on: September 24, 2019, 2019 UTC »

Just tuned in via the Jumonville, PA SDR.  - SIO 454 - Playing Spanish translations of American rock songs.  YL with Spanish-language voice IDs.  It may be worth noting that websites and emails mentioned seem to use "dot com" which I associate with Spanish-speakers who grew up in the US, rather "puntocom" which I associate with Latin-American Spanish.

2105 - OM ID as Radio Humperdoo.  Guess it was a relay.

83

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 5100 AM 1648 UTC 24 SEP 2019

« on: September 24, 2019, 1656 UTC »

Another relay of Mix Radio International who's currently on 5125 KHz USB.
SIO 222 on the Westminster, MD Kiwi.  Can't pick it up locally.

1704 - Sign-Off?
1705 - Carrier is back.  There was audio for a second, then back to dead carrier.
1714 - Still on.  Every once in a while I get a little audio, right at the noise level.

84

Equipment / Re: Test Equipment for First Time Build

« on: September 12, 2019, 1707 UTC »

From what I’ve read on EEVBlog and reviews on Amazon, the Hantek scopes seem to be coming from the factory “pre-hacked” now.  I’m sure they only guarantee performance for what each model is rated for.  One theory is that they have a tiered Q/A system with the best performing units becoming 200mhz and the worse ones becoming 50-75mhz models.  They all seem to have 200mhz firmware now, but I’m not sure how accurate they are.

85

Equipment / Re: Test Equipment for First Time Build

« on: September 12, 2019, 1257 UTC »

First off, thanks for all the great responses!  This community has been one of the most courtious and inclusive I've ever been a part of.

I'm starting to see the benefits of a DSO, and if I can't find a good analog scope for a song, I'll probably end up buying a Siglent or Rigol.

Thanks for the advice on a better soldering station and specific kinds of solder.  I've currently got a Weller WESD51 which has served me well, though I realize it's not something I'd make my living with.

The Nano VNAs are impressive for the price, even if you only use it as an antenna analyzer, which is about all I know how to do on a VNA right now.

Should I be worried about a function generator or spectrum analyzer?  I'm trying not to get overwhelmed learning about every piece of gear until I know I have a use for it.

86

Equipment / Test Equipment for First Time Build

« on: September 09, 2019, 1903 UTC »

TLDR: What hobby-level test equipment would you recommend for a first build project, a 100mW medium wave AM transmitter?

Up until now, I’ve just been a user of radios, but never understood at a fundamental level how the parts worked together.  I’ve built crystal receiver kits and arduino-powered robots with the kids, but always following someone else’s instructions.  At present, my troubleshooting ability is mostly limited to making sure I followed directions or a schematic correctly and checking for bad connections/solder joints.  I look at RF circuits with a DC short, and it blows my mind that it works.  But, I’m working on correcting that.

I figure there’s only so much I can learn from reading forum posts and watching YouTube videos.  I want to build something, if not from scratch, then at least with an understanding of why the designer chose the components he did.  My plan is to build several iterations, starting with something super-simple, like using an op-amp to generate a carrier, and modulate it directly with a line-level audio source.  Then I’d like to improve the design step-by-step to get better quality audio, low-pass filtering, and a usable range with a matched antenna.

Aside from the actual components and tools to assemble them, what am I going to need for this journey?  I’ve got a breadboard, soldering station, multi-meter, etc. as well as the “end user” stuff like a dummy load and SWR meter, but I don’t expect to need those until much later.  I’ve been thinking of getting an old analog oscilloscope on eBay or Craigslist since they seem to be available around $50 if you’re patient.  I guess at some point I’ll need to prototype a PCB or order it from China.  Can some of you more experienced guys tell me if there’s something important that I’m missing here?

I realize I’m probably not really giving enough information to get a good answer, but I’d at least like to get some ideas on what to start thinking about from those who have done it before.

87

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6880 USB 0425 UTC 9 SEP 2019

« on: September 09, 2019, 0427 UTC »

SIO 444 S7 in GA
Don't think this is the same operator that was switching freqs before.  This signal is 3khz wide as opposed to 5khz.

0425 Pink Floyd - Hey You
0427 Pink Floyd - Brain Damage

88

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 AM 1507 UTC 6 Sep 2019

« on: September 06, 2019, 1527 UTC »

Nothing locally, but listening on the Westminster, MD Kiwi.  Fading now, SIO 333

1522 Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
1527 OM in accented English.  I think he gave out a PO box.
1531 Neil Diamond - Summerlove - Peaking to S7 sometimes now.  SIO 434
1534 OM - did I hear "free radio magazine?
1536 Hot Chocolate - No Doubt About It (needed Google's help on that one)
1540 OM definitely not English this time.  Too weak to make a guess as to what it is.
1543 Pretty sure I heard "PO Box 314" again

89

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: CoolAM Radio, 6900 usb, 0130 utc, 6 Sep 19

« on: September 06, 2019, 1156 UTC »

S9 in GA.  Really sounded good. SIO 545

0100 caught the end of a song (in Dutch?)
0102 The Show is Over
0105 parody skit

Infrequent fades to S7 and peaks to S9 +10.  On peaks, I could get a decent copy listening to the residual LSB.  Still sounded good during fades.

90

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Mix Radio International 6880 USB 2316 UTC 26 Aug 2019

« on: August 27, 2019, 0100 UTC »

Nice wide signal as usual.  S7 but not much noise tonight.  SIO 444

0058 B52s - Love Shack
0101 ?
0104 Suspicious Minds