Messages

1351

General Radio Discussion / Re: RIP Universal Radio

« on: November 23, 2020, 1617 UTC »

Cross-posting from https://swling.com/blog/2020/11/end-of-an-era-universal-radio-is-closing-shop/ ....

I shop DXE and eBay more these days, but I have made a few purchases from Universal Radio over the years. Hate to see it go, but I understand wanting to retire, too.

Suspected something was occurring when noticing several transceivers were no longer listed as “in stock” a few days ago. Even without the store, the site has lots of amazing information.

Hope the best for the owners and staff as they move forward.

1352

Equipment / Re: Keep your ground connections short if you want them to work

« on: November 23, 2020, 1614 UTC »

On a related note and probably as a last resort, a tuner can be used to create a pseudo-"tuned counterpoise" for those in difficult to near impossible RF grounding situations.

The MFJ-931 comes to mind as an off-the-shelf solution:

https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-931

1353

Equipment / Re: Generic Handheld Radio (Numbers Station)

« on: November 13, 2020, 0221 UTC »

The CountyComm GP-5 is a popular handheld shortwave receiver. It does SSB as well. Under $100, too.

https://countycomm.com/products/countycomm-gp-5-ssb-general-purpose-radio

Add a short wire antenna for better reception. Scrap wire works fine, but assuming you want something a little nicer, here ya' go:

https://countycomm.com/products/shortwave-coil-up-antenna

—— —— —— ——

Going up in price for handheld models, maybe take a look at the Belka-DX. However, note it only tunes shortwave bands and a tiny portion of the upper mediumwave AM broadcast band. That is fine for HF purposes, just know you will not be getting a general purpose radio with AM, HF, and FM band reception. Also note it does not have an internal speaker, though the option or maybe a kit is expected.... sometime.

http://belrig.by/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=50

If your only interest is HF bands, the Belka-DX is an impressive receiver in a tiny format IMO.

—— —— —— ——

Alternatively, if you just want a portable general-purpose receiver in a more standard size format, the older but still available Tecsun PL-660 is a good option, again IMO. It is sensitive, delivers decent sound quality, tunes SSB acceptably enough, and has an actually usable AM sync function. There are newer Tecsun portable models, but many of them have DSP-related quirks and issues, so YMMV.

1354

Equipment / Re: Sangean ATS-909X2 Launch + Pre-Order

« on: November 13, 2020, 0206 UTC »

The Airspy HF+ Discovery is well under $200 shipped. Leaves over $200 for a basic notebook, which is doable these days and especially now during holiday season sales.

My HF+D often is connected to an old 17" notebook with just a quad-core AMD Jaguar processor. Jaguar was far from high performance when launched in 2013, less long today. o.0 However, the system runs GQRX and SDRangel fine on Linux in my experience.

1355

General Radio Discussion / Ethernet As Unintended VHF Radiator

« on: November 11, 2020, 0853 UTC »

Apparently a couple of Raspberry Pi 4s using an un-shielded network cable can suffice for 125MHz transmission of CW up to 100m distance using a decent receiver with a simple directional moxon antenna.

https://lipkowski.com/etherify/

On a side note, the FAA and FCC do not take kind to interference in the VHF air band. YMMV.

1356

Shortwave Broadcast / Re: UNID 4885 AM 1015 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 1746 UTC »

Sounds much more likely. Thanks. :)

Oddly enough I do not log many South American broadcasters despite my QTH being in Florida.

It seems I did better listening to Brazil with a Grundig G3 portable, YouLoop antenna, and L-match tuner in the eastern TN mountains awhile back. o.0

I do have a decent semi-clearing to the south. I might try tossing out a BoG that way sometime.

1357

Shortwave Broadcast / UNID 4885 AM 1015 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 1021 UTC »

"Get Lucky" by Daft Punk at 1015z onto other music. Under S1 with heavy static crashes. SIO 122.

Echo of Hope, perhaps? Trying a couple of shortwave schedule databases did not return results.

1358

Clandestine Stations / Re: Voice of the People 6600 AM 0956 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 1009 UTC »

Might as well add...

6520 - Carrier and sporadic modulation.
4450 - Ute and/or jamming.
3930 - No copy.
3910 - No copy.
3480 - Carrier and modulation, but difficult copy due to extensive static crashes.

1359

Clandestine Stations / Voice of the People 6600 AM 0956 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 1000 UTC »

Commentary and talk at 0956z. Maybe S1, along with heavy static crashing. Definitely a difficult copy, but it is there. Jamming seems limited or nonexistent. Again, dealing with static crashing here, so YMMV.

Kenwood R-2000 and 31' vertical over radial field, plus preselector and preamp.

1360

Latin American Pirate / R.O.C.V. 6906 CUSB 0608 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 0615 UTC »

Latin music at 0608z. S4 with good modulation at times, but right now mostly heavy audio distortion and serious interference due to a strong ute or similar. SIO 211.

1361

Longwave Loggings / JA Beacon 344 0558 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 0600 UTC »

Under S1, but an easy copy well over the noise floor.

Kenwood R-2000 and 148' loop-on-ground antenna. No preamp.

1362

Longwave Loggings / DIW Beacon 198 0528 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 0541 UTC »

S2. Easy copy with just a stock 2.7KHz SSB filter.

I know a 2KW beacon is not exactly a challenge for NC to FL, but NDBs are something I rarely check, thus the post for a change of pace. I was checking for longwave broadcasters anyway.

Kenwood R-2000 and 148' loop-on-ground antenna. No preamp.

1363

Longwave Loggings / Radio Algeria 252 AM 0450 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 0459 UTC »

Commentary at 0450z into Arabic reciting and music later. S4 over an annoying high cyclic noise floor likely due to local EMI/RFI. SIO 222.

Kenwood R-2000 and 148' loop-on-ground antenna. Narrow AM. No preamp.

1364

Longwave Loggings / Medi1 Radio 171 AM 0437 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 0447 UTC »

Music into commentary at 0437z. Back to music at 0442z.

Averaging a S8 signal, though with the usual longwave high noise floor and intermittent static crashing for Florida during the tropical weather season. SIO 322.

Kenwood R-2000 and 148' loop-on-ground antenna. Narrow AM. No preamp.

1365

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WBPR-SW 3235 USB 0233 UTC 9 November 2020

« on: November 09, 2020, 0305 UTC »

It is there, but it is a tough copy under S1 with static crashes at 0302z.

148' LoG with preselector and slight preamp here.