Messages

1

The RF Workbench / Re: thinking of making the leap from FM to SW

« on: September 24, 2015, 0455 UTC »

Finally, yes, I'm one of "those" people.    If I can plunk down $300-$400 for a pre-built unit and get on the air within a few minutes, I'm all about that.  I wouldn't say I'm lazy, it's just that I'm all about efficiency and available time.  I'm fully aware there are plans/kits out there to build Grenades and what-not for a fraction of the cost.  I could try to get myself some better soldering skills, and then it'd take me a couple of weeks of late evenings trying to put everything together.  When it was finally all completed, I'd probably be the guy you read about on the news who got arrested for blasting Benny Goodman over the neighbor's baby monitor.  But the more likely scenario is that it wouldn't work at all and I'd spend another week troubleshooting only to throw the whole damn thing in the trash and go out and order something idiot proof like the X1M.  If there's one constant in life that I firmly believe in, it's that a man has to know his limitations.   

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a military/aeronautical RF environment but as soon as I left the farm I was super tempted by the latest Chinese 5W PLL FM stereo transmitter on e-bay for like $250.  I was sick of dicking with my Dunifer kit transmitter, so I made the plunge.  It was AWESOME and COMPACT.  I mean SMALL.  And when it suddenly smoked itself for no good reason, I had to shitcan it because there were basically 3 SMT SOICs on it with no discernible part numbers.  Would I do it again if I were still into FM?  Prolly.  That xmtr feeding a surplus 300W broadcast amp got me some wicked propagation with a simple home-made J-pole. 

LOL, Dunifer.

You'll catch the bug and realize you have to solder and think about power supplies and junk.  Don't worry.

2

The RF Workbench / Re: thinking of making the leap from FM to SW

« on: September 23, 2015, 0109 UTC »

A related question...the X1M manual warns that if you attempt to use frequencies outside of the main Ham bands, a band pass filter may be required.  I don't know if such a filter is necessary given what I want to do with the setup or not? 

I read that on the spec sheet also.  It sounds like some/all bandpass filtering can be disabled (or is automatically disabled) when selecting a frequency outside ham bands.  Bandpass filtering is there to make sure there are no spurious harmonic emissions unintentionally broadcast along with the target frequency.  Noise and splatter are your enemies, especially when your "Nickelback Marathon" is inadvertently being broadcast over top of some obscure government band.  Assuming that you'll be camping at 6925, you won't run into harmonic issues until like the 70cm band  but that's over 15th order. 

At least educate yourself/be aware of bandpass filtering techniques.  There's tons of good websites and LC calculators:

http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/filter/filter_4.html

Or just buy one from MFJ for $60.     But at 5W I wouldn't sweat it.  Game on, Wayne.

Curious to hear more reports about this rig.... although all those nights of completely SMOKING FT-101s makes me a little jealous of noobs with no solder skills being able to plunk down $ and get heard... but I digress.  Most of all, HAVE FUN!

3

FM Free Radio / Re: FM station heard

« on: May 31, 2013, 0331 UTC »

This station is still going at lower power.  It had been operating at around 300W in the fall with a home-made j-pole at 40 ft., 75W prior to that with a Comet 5/8.  Operating now at 6W until the stormy season is over....  PC-based with a few broadcast plugins/WinAmp.  Can usually pick it up on the Z-bridge or I675 even at reduced power.  The j-pole is getting kinda crusty having been up there over a year.  At 300W the Longley-Rice propagation model (which turned out to be surprisingly accurate) covered most of the thumb, which, in my father's words, is "really f*cking stupid".   I'll be unplugging it next time I'm up that way.  I had my fun, and honestly after the whole PIRATE thing wore off, it was all about experimenting and propagation.  Make a change, drive around, get angry, make more changes...  but there are better ways of doing it.  SW still has a certain allure tho...

Advice?  The key here is to keep it moving, both location and frequency.  Also be sure you're not generating complaints - stay away Clearwater/etc.  A few weeks in one location.....and move.  Started with 5W on a commercial grain elevator (a local ham club had a repeater up there, LOL). Placed it there all ninja-like and it wasn't discovered until it caught on fire.  Was a real work of art - a headless micro PC running winamp pulling stream from internet swiped from the ISP that had gear up there.  controlled the whole mess via LogMeIn.  Biggest loss was the Comet.

Now I've got my eyes on an old defunct christian radio station that is for rent in Birch Run, and the old WSGW AM station in Bay City.  I have dreams of going legit...anyone interested in the current events surrounding LPFM should definitely check out Prometheus.

4

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: captain morgan shortwave, 6925 am, 0300 utc

« on: May 25, 2012, 0336 UTC »

S7 here in Central MI.

Was dinking around with my Hallicrafters Skyrider Defiant on a long wire, and caught it starting at Steppenwolf "Magic Carpet Ride"

seems to be be skipping around with an MP3 player.

now Steve Miller.

5

North American Shortwave Pirate / 6935 carrier or data for the past few weeks?!

« on: September 30, 2011, 0343 UTC »

I'm a noob, but what's been hanging out on 6935?  Nothing but carrier or data mode. 

 

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North American Shortwave Pirate / 6925 0328 Maharishi!

« on: September 30, 2011, 0332 UTC »

 Just turned my rig on, picking up Maharishi (you'll laugh your ass off with the Maharishi).  Lots of noise, periods of pure static, carrier is strong.

SNP=313

Music now at 0332, can someone ID?  It's bluegrass and I really like it.

Thanks!

7

North American Shortwave Pirate / Unknown 6925u 0321

« on: September 23, 2011, 0327 UTC »

"THE WHITES OF THEIR HEADLIGHTS"

lotsa local EMI or something, jebus.  Static crashes galore.  Unidentified music (?) at 0324.

23.

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North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925u, 1920's music

« on: August 30, 2011, 1619 UTC »

I was at Higgins Lake in the woods and caught this broadcast.  Exceptional quality!  No station ID.

9

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Chamber Pot Radio 6925 USB 04:28z-05:25z 08-30-11

« on: August 30, 2011, 1615 UTC »

I heard this as well, but never caught a station ID.