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Messages - Telegrapher

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31
Equipment / Re: Antenna Identification needed
« on: March 20, 2019, 1816 UTC »
That describes exactly the design I have. Thanks for the clear images. It’s the same design as I have. The only thing is there’s no such plug on the end. Only a stripped wire is hooked up on the device like around a portable sw radios whip antenna. That’s what I mainly use it for. Outside DX purposes are nice with this antenna. Easy to carry and pull out. The description on the second image was all I needed to know. As I wasn’t able to find out how to put this thing in the right directions. Thanks for the information given. Highly appreciated :)

Happy SWLing. Kind regards,
Telegrapher

32
Equipment / Re: Whats wrong with my antenna?
« on: March 15, 2019, 2322 UTC »
Hello, thanks for the quick response. I’ve just tested the plug of the feed line (which didn’t show any short circuit on the meter) secondly I tested the plug on my SDR (and there it is, a peak showed up on the meter so it has electrical current flowing from the center conductor to the shielding) the kind of plug I’m using is I think type n’ not sure what it’s called. It’s almost on all RTL-SDR dongles to be found. (Little nickel gold coated screw). I use a second plug to convert it to the bigger type used on a lot of CB-Radios (58rg coaxial cable) as it’s more stable and offers me the ability to hook the antenna up to multiple radios (as almost all my radios have the bigger type of plug on their back). So I am wondering if there’s a way to fix this. There’s nothing to see on the outside of the device. Always handled with care. The same problem is taking place with an older radio I have. If anyone has any tips or ideas to fix this issue I would love to hear it back. There’s nothing to see on the plugs of both radios in case of damage etc. so I think it’s maybe inside the cable itself that leads to the plug on the radio? Looks complicated to me screwing and disassembling the whole device for finding a solution that’s almost unseeable with my eyes. Will cleaning help with compressed air do the job maybe?

All tips and help is very appreciated! I’m just new into radio and I still have a lot to learn. Getting my hands on them is easy, but maintaining them is a whole new world yet to be explored as I have never build or repaired anything inside my radios. They always worked without trouble. A broken tube will be the first thing I might face in the future when I’ve finally set up the perfect antenna outdoors to listen all night long.

Kind regards

33
Equipment / Re: Whats wrong with my antenna?
« on: March 14, 2019, 1920 UTC »
https://imgur.com/gallery/C5vlmEz

Link in order with images

34
Equipment / Whats wrong with my antenna?
« on: March 14, 2019, 1912 UTC »
Hi fellow SWL and alike!

I have a quick question about a problem with connecting (any) kind of antenna to my radio. I used an RTL-SDR to give some technical view as images are the easiest way for me to show what I am struggling with at the moment.

It’s about the coaxial feed line plugs.

When I turn on my radio without antenna shows the first picture. Then the details of the cable and device. And the results of plugging the coax only into the antenna plug with its main center line (the core) and what happens when I attach the coax the way it must be. Results is no signal. Tested with several brand new cables without any results. So I am stuck at the moment and the only way to listen to shortwave is by only attaching the core of the coax cable without the screwing mechanism to hold the cable strong in its place. Resulting the cable to fall out of my radios antenna input every now and then. I need a fix for this. It’s strange. Please help me out. I would really appreciate it!

35
Equipment / Re: Antenna Identification needed
« on: February 15, 2019, 2311 UTC »
Not yet, all I know is that it's long enough to grab on the other side of a 3 stories high building thrown over the roof top. To me it looks like it's designed to throw up in the field like in a evergreen for example to hide it. Since it's color is green and brownish. Easy to carry on-the-go and roll out for portable operations. I'll need a meter to measure the length of it, I don't have anything here at the moment to measure it's total length.. It's likely around 35 - 40ish as the house I threw it over was about 18 meters high. The unusual part to me is the 3 elements on the end of the antenna. I still don't know to this day how to mount them.. Upside or pointed down to the ground, or like the usual horizontal radials in most outdoor antenna systems I see around.. The longer I roll the wire, the better the signal. So it's not really acting like a AM antenna loop. It needs to be stretched out to be effective.

36
Equipment / Re: Antenna Identification needed
« on: February 15, 2019, 1851 UTC »
Hey,

I have added a few more with the antenna unplugged from my receiver.

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

37
Equipment / Antenna Identification needed
« on: February 15, 2019, 1755 UTC »
Hi all,

I have a portable antenna (from military source) and I wonder what kind of antenna it is, and if possible some instructions as to how to mount / use it for SWL purposes.
See pictures for info.

https://imgur.com/a/LR3dK37

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

38
General Radio Discussion / Re: New to CB radio, Need help.
« on: January 24, 2019, 1023 UTC »
Thanks for the tips and info! I have just enough room for a dipole covering 24MHz at max. Which I currently use for SWL'ing. Mounted outdoors, about 3 meters in height and 3.1 meters in total length. I can mount a whip for CB on the tower in the center of my backyard and ground it with a copper pipe in the soil. That's all I currently have as building base.

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

39
General Radio Discussion / New to CB radio, Need help.
« on: January 23, 2019, 1726 UTC »
Hello all,

I just got my hands on a new CB radio from a local store. I never had a CB radio in my life so I have a few questions in my mind.

1) I use a PSU from a PC for the 12V to power it on. Is this a safe solution?

2) I have no antenna that I can screw up on the back of the transceiver, Currently I have a long wire in the middle of the coaxial plug. It works, but again is it safe? (I heard stories about antenna's and when not using the right antenna it can blow up the radio's back end.)

3) Since there are no grounding screws on it, Does a grounded wall socket do the job for the radio?

I hope I can get it going without worrying each time I push the PTT button. It's a Midland ALAN 121.

Thanks for any response.

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

40
General Radio Discussion / Re: A couple of newbie questions
« on: January 23, 2019, 1717 UTC »
Hi and welcome to HFU :)

I learn most things by practice (most stuff I learned regarding things like the purpose of USB, LSB, CW, SSB, AM, FM, etc... are from using an RTL-SDR dongle with a software on a PC to see what the functions are doing in the spectrum dispay) .

For DXing I recommend https://www.dxing.com/ To start off.

Regarding pirates, I receive them a lot here locally on the AM and FM band. They are usually broadcasting once a week on a schedule.

Good luck and enjoy your hobby!

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

41
Hello all, I just came across a Telegraph Message Coder. As I collect vintage stuff as a hobby, I would love to find more about this device and how to give it a new life.. I was looking this evening on the web but couldn't find anything clear about it. No images of it on the web. No manual regarding it's unique kind.

Maybe someone here is able to help me out? I'll post some pictures of it below.

https://imgur.com/a/JnIe6ld

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

42
Equipment / Re: Identifying Vintage Radio
« on: January 15, 2019, 1652 UTC »
Is there a way to turn a Raspberry PI 3 into a signal generator for AM like shown in the video above? I have an oscilloscope handy but fine-tuning is kinda hard when everything has turned off-band. Any tips or suggestions? I would appreciate it very much :)

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

43
SDR - Software Defined Radio / What to stick to? SDR or analog radio?
« on: January 15, 2019, 1007 UTC »
Hello all,

I currently have an old RTL-SDR device and some analog tube radio's as well. My question is what should be the best choice for lifetime SWL'ing?
I know that my SDR has a lot of noise interference because it needs a PC to run. I have spend like 4 months to try using my Raspberry PI 3 for operating it but it leaves me without success (Lack of Linux knowledge). The old radio's have absolutely sero noise interference even on the lower bands (200KHz - 500KHz). I was thinking about this for a while, shall I buy a better SDR device like Hackrf or Kiwi-SDR? Or shall I keep using the old militairy tube radio's? The best things about my experience with SDR is the waterfall, the frequency digits. and the easy filters all in one little device I can carry in my pocket for easy outdoor DX'ing in places like forests, mountain tops, etc.

The analog radio's don't have a exact correct tuning scale, which the SDR does have. And all is done by carefully listening instead of monitoring the waterfall spectrum. Also they are bulky, heavy, and usually stored in museums (that's the place where I bought some for SWL'ing at my home shack).

The only good part about my experience with analog radio's from the early days is that they are easy to repair. The radio's nowadays are hard to repair, parts are getting smaller in size etc. While a tube is easy to replace.

About the tube radio's, There will be one day that there are no more parts available for replacement as most isn't produced anymore. These days I can only buy transistors in the local electronic shops around me. So that also leaves me thinking about their historical value and whether or not I should use them till they become even more damaged and eventually break and die..

I know that the older radio's last much longer than the new stuff nowadays. The oldest one is about 73 years old and it's still alive and works like new.. Even after it's journey inside a bomber plane from the USSR and been recovered after WWII from the disassembling process of the airplane's wreck.

If anyone has experience in both kind of radio's, I would love to hear more about it. Things like how to take care of the older devices especially.

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

44
Equipment / Re: Identifying Vintage Radio
« on: January 15, 2019, 0944 UTC »
On the back I can see a logo with the following details:

(L3) or (B) as the brand logo, U.K. DESING
REGISTRATION NO.1038735

I just discovered the number of the device finally.. It's hard to see when all is printed on a white plastic board as the letters are white also. So I needed to hold in in daylight to clearly see the description on the back :P

And yeah I was already assuming that it wasn't that much of a vintage radio, maybe a replica or something indeed from either Japan or China as they are good at making this kind of stuff (just using a 3D printer for the housing and that's it). I was just curious as the design looks kinda old fashioned so that's why I posted it here in the first place. Anyways, thanks for giving some advice. Time to hunt for the next piece this week :) Maybe this one will be rare.. Flee markets are like a lottery and a surprise box where anything might pop-up :D

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

45
FM Free Radio / Re: FM Pirates in the Netherlands.
« on: January 15, 2019, 0930 UTC »
Thanks for the quick reply. I see in your Signature that u'r also selling transmitters? If so, what kind of transmitters do u sell? And are they cheap to ship to the Netherlands? I would rather buy them from someone who has interest in the RF hobby than from a wholesaler who just makes them without quality in mass production.. Let me know if u have something available like a webshop or something. I would love to support others who dedicate into this kind of stuff :)

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

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