Achtung! Its the one and only Shortwave Radio Uberthread!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Achtung! Its the one and only Shortwave Radio Uberthread!

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Goblincat: Jan 20, 2004; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming...

Alright, I just bought an Eton E5 to satisfy my need to hear these number stations I've read about for years. Add $150 to the Financial Drain list.

# ? Jul 3, 2007 03:47

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# ? May 10, 2024 20:14

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

I hate you all. After reading just a little bit of this thread, I know I will not be able to resist buying a shortwave radio sometime within the next few days. And I'm going to have Swedish Rhapsody nightmares.

# ? Jul 3, 2007 08:39

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

Elijah posted:

I hate you all. After reading just a little bit of this thread, I know I will not be able to resist buying a shortwave radio sometime within the next few days. And I'm going to have Swedish Rhapsody nightmares.

Another one bites the dust.

I took my iPod and an AV connector dock with me to work yesterday (I work in a museum's fossil preparation lab) and hooked it up to the stereo in the lab. I set it in "shuffle" mode and went about my business, and everyone was rear end-deep in working on cleaning off the mammoth skull we're working on. Suddenly, Conet's ""Swedish Rhapsody" clip comes on and it bugs everybody the gently caress out, except for the curator who wanders in and says "You're listening to THE CONET PROJECT? What the gently caress?!?! YOu guys are SICK!"

# ? Jul 3, 2007 17:42

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

OK, I'm looking at the Eton radios. Are there any differences between the E1XM and the E1 besides the XM capability? They're the same price, so I would think there would be a trade-off.

The E1XM lists "IF passband tuning: an advanced tuning feature that functions in AM and SSB which greatly helps reject interference" as a feature. Is this something that I'd want to have, or is it mostly a gimmick? Does the E1 have it as well?

I assume the E5 would be the next best model. $350 is a pretty big price difference. How much am I going to lose by stepping down to this model?

I should probably mention that my main interest is finding obscure international stations (read: communist propaganda), so I definitely want a radio with pretty good reception.

# ? Jul 3, 2007 19:24

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

Elijah posted:

OK, I'm looking at the Eton radios. Are there any differences between the E1XM and the E1 besides the XM capability? They're the same price, so I would think there would be a trade-off.

The E1XM lists "IF passband tuning: an advanced tuning feature that functions in AM and SSB which greatly helps reject interference" as a feature. Is this something that I'd want to have, or is it mostly a gimmick? Does the E1 have it as well?

I assume the E5 would be the next best model. $350 is a pretty big price difference. How much am I going to lose by stepping down to this model?

I should probably mention that my main interest is finding obscure international stations (read: communist propaganda), so I definitely want a radio with pretty good reception.

E1XM is the same radio as the E1 with only having the added feature of XM capability. The standard E1 can not be upgraded to XM. In terms of comparing the E1 to the E5, the E1 has better selectivity and is a much better radio for tuning in Single Sideband, with improved dual sideband capability. Oddly enough, however, the E5 has better raw RF sensitivity and much better MW reception because the E1 does not have an internal ferrite rod antenna.

Here are reviews of each radio on Radio Intelligencer, which more fully outlines the differences between the two radios.

http://www.radiointel.com/review-etone5.htm
http://www.radiointel.com/review-etone1.htm

# ? Jul 3, 2007 21:56

.Boo.: Feb 26, 2007; ^_^

Do you think it's possible to get a unit that covers the standard frequencies and also transmits for under 150$? I don't care if it is used/old, actually I think I would prefer it. (Think warlock from live free or die hard)

# ? Jul 4, 2007 02:22

blugu64: Jul 17, 2006; Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?

.Boo. posted:

Do you think it's possible to get a unit that covers the standard frequencies and also transmits for under 150$? I don't care if it is used/old, actually I think I would prefer it. (Think warlock from live free or die hard)

Define 'Standard Frequencies' please. If you take the time to get a license you can get a HF Ham Transceiver for cheap, I picked mine up at a amature radio swap meet for $300; though I still need to get a better power supply and antenna for proper operation, so I'm betting the total cost to get my station on air will be around $500 or so.

Also I haven't seen Live Free or Die Hard yet, but if it's got a HF transceiver in it I'm game.

FauxEdit: You might want to swing by the HAM radio thread linked to in the OP.

# ? Jul 4, 2007 03:24

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

Is there anything in the non-portable category that you guys would recommend? Perhaps I shouldn't look at it this way, but I have a feeling that if I don't get something high-end to start with, I'm going to end up spending more money in the long run from upgrading.

# ? Jul 4, 2007 03:26

blugu64: Jul 17, 2006; Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?

Elijah posted:

Is there anything in the non-portable category that you guys would recommend? Perhaps I shouldn't look at it this way, but I have a feeling that if I don't get something high-end to start with, I'm going to end up spending more money in the long run from upgrading.

I've always found that desktop units were pricier then portable units, unless you go used. Also I'd bet that quite a few desktop units are going to require an external antenna, which while you're going to want to get one, you won't have the flexibility of just toying around with it and it's internal antenna outside or in different rooms. This is not to discourage you as desktop units are awesome, and I prefer them to portable units, but I've found them to be a bit pricier. The E1 would probably work well for you if you want a decent radio that is a bit nicer then most portables.

# ? Jul 4, 2007 03:31

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

blugu64 posted:

I've always found that desktop units were pricier then portable units, unless you go used. Also I'd bet that quite a few desktop units are going to require an external antenna, which while you're going to want to get one, you won't have the flexibility of just toying around with it and it's internal antenna outside or in different rooms. This is not to discourage you as desktop units are awesome, and I prefer them to portable units, but I've found them to be a bit pricier. The E1 would probably work well for you if you want a decent radio that is a bit nicer then most portables.

The E1 appears to be more of a larger portable, though. Also, when you say external antenna, you're not talking a big freakin' hunk of metal in the backyard, right? It's gotta be apartment-friendly.

# ? Jul 4, 2007 03:39

blugu64: Jul 17, 2006; Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?

Elijah posted:

The E1 appears to be more of a larger portable, though. Also, when you say external antenna, you're not talking a big freakin' hunk of metal in the backyard, right? It's gotta be apartment-friendly.

No; I meant a long wire or assorted antenna like have been discussed all through this thread.

# ? Jul 4, 2007 03:43

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

blugu64 posted:

No; I meant a long wire or assorted antenna like have been discussed all through this thread.

OK, I was pretty sure that's what you meant. Just checking.

# ? Jul 4, 2007 03:44

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

Elijah posted:

Is there anything in the non-portable category that you guys would recommend? Perhaps I shouldn't look at it this way, but I have a feeling that if I don't get something high-end to start with, I'm going to end up spending more money in the long run from upgrading.

Ultimately, higher-end desktop receivers will only offer a major advantage if you are able to erect a tunable dipole or other high-end antenna. If you have a house and can do this, then by all means do this. In fact, there are several computer-based receivers like this one for $606 which will cover pretty much any radio broadcast you would want to listen to. The frequency coverage of the above model is 10 kHz to 3300 mHz, only blocking cell phone signal bands. You basically get every kind of radio there is in one package. For $100 more you can get this one, which you can connect two antennae to so that you can get an interferometric array effect for more stable signals. Both have multiple tuning steps with fine tuning as small as 1 Hz.

Edit: loving nevermind beaten. If you're confined to an apartment, for the love of god go for a portable. Besides, you'll want to take your SW receiver outside of the city to pick up better signals. As it is, you won't be able to have much of an edge-up advantage in terms of what you can do. Most non-portable receivers only offer a major advantage when you can hook up a high-end antenna.

AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Jul 4, 2007

# ? Jul 4, 2007 03:51

Dog Case: Oct 7, 2003; Heeelp meee... prevent wildfires

Okay, I posted my Grundig S350DL up in SA Mart:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2545921

Also, I'm getting terrible reception tonight. I can barely tell that Radio Japan is even there, while normally I get it loud and clear.

# ? Jul 4, 2007 07:20

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

Just bought an E5. Add $123 to the financial drain list. gently caress. Every. One. Of. You.

# ? Jul 4, 2007 07:43

Cmosfm: Apr 15, 2005; Don't Stop Believin'

Well dammit I just bought one of these things (Degen 1103), 75.00 impulse buy, and no better people to talk me into these goofy things like you goons.

This will be fun, I can't wait!

# ? Jul 4, 2007 08:00

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

So what's the etiquette for QSL reports? Include an SASE (how the hell would you even do that for an international mailing?) and a local postcard or something?

# ? Jul 4, 2007 08:38

Ham Session: Feb 23, 2006

I've been thinking of buying a GE SuperRadio and an Shortwave radio, the reason for the GE Superradio is because I listen to C2C at night and I've heard that shortwave radio's are usually good at AM reception but not great can anyone confirm or deny this and if this is true do you know any radio's that are great at shortwave and AM?

# ? Jul 4, 2007 09:08

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Elijah posted:

So what's the etiquette for QSL reports? Include an SASE (how the hell would you even do that for an international mailing?) and a local postcard or something?

Be polite, and try to make the letter not sound like a form letter. If you listened to a program in English, then they'll generally respond to correspondence in English as well.

Be sure to include:

Date/time/frequency
Quality of reception (either SINPO, RST, or plain English like "Reception was strong, not much interference, but the signal occasionally faded.")
Details of what you heard (I include at least 5 minutes of program details, if it's the news I'll write down what stories they covered; some people go so far as to record a clip of the show and include that with their letter)

Generally, you don't need to include anything, although some stations will ask for an IRC or two, mint local airmail stamps (which can be found on the internet somewhere I'm sure), or occasionally American currency (usually a $1 or $2). If you're not sure what they require (or appreciate), look it up in Passport, ask here and someone will look it up for you, or email the station (if they have some sort of email address). Otherwise, unless you know the station appreciates local pictures or knicknacks or whatever, I wouldn't send anything in the mail, because it makes it more likely to be stolen while en route or the stuff might just get thrown away by some mail clerk. (That's not to say that some smaller stations don't appreciate that stuff, just that some of the larger stations probably don't care all that much.)

Jedi_2 posted:

I've been thinking of buying a GE SuperRadio and an Shortwave radio, the reason for the GE Superradio is because I listen to C2C at night and I've heard that shortwave radio's are usually good at AM reception but not great can anyone confirm or deny this and if this is true do you know any radio's that are great at shortwave and AM?

There's no portable SW radio that will do MW nearly as well as a Super Radio III. In fact, there aren't many radios period that perform on MW like a SRIII (and a proper outdoor antenna). IMO the only SW radio that I would say is equally excellent in both MW and SW is the Drake R8 (R8A & R8B), but those run around $1000 on eBay.

nmfree fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Jul 4, 2007

# ? Jul 4, 2007 09:24

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

Elijah posted:

Just bought an E5. Add $123 to the financial drain list. gently caress. Every. One. Of. You.

A happy day and gently caress you to you too, good sir! Have fun and welcome to the club!

# ? Jul 4, 2007 18:06

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

So, tonight I'm thinking while I go up on the roof to watch fireworks, I'll take my E5 with me and listen to Communist propoganda and piss off the neighbors, probably winding up on some sort of CIA "watch list."

I wouldn't have this exciting opportunity if it weren't for Shortwave radio. :patriot:

# ? Jul 5, 2007 02:35

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

AstroZamboni posted:

A happy day and gently caress you to you too, good sir! Have fun and welcome to the club!

Thanks much. I appreciate all the info you and the others here have taken the time to post.

# ? Jul 5, 2007 05:06

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

So this is interesting...

There's a "Mystery Station" in Russia called "The Buzzer" (4625 kHz, USB) which only transmits a buzzing, bleating tone 24 hours a day and has been doing this for DECADES, only stopping once every few years to broadcast numbers. This ha happened only a rare handful of times. One was during an attempted coup in Moscow, and there are rumors that it also stopped to transmit numbers during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Last week it was tranmsitting morse numbers, apparently. Gotta wonder what hit the fan in Russia last week that the news wasn't reporting on?

# ? Jul 6, 2007 00:49

meltie: Nov 9, 2003; Not a sodding fridge.

AstroZamboni posted:

So this is interesting...

There's a "Mystery Station" in Russia called "The Buzzer" (4625 kHz, USB) which only transmits a buzzing, bleating tone 24 hours a day and has been doing this for DECADES, only stopping once every few years to broadcast numbers. This ha happened only a rare handful of times. One was during an attempted coup in Moscow, and there are rumors that it also stopped to transmit numbers during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Last week it was tranmsitting morse numbers, apparently. Gotta wonder what hit the fan in Russia last week that the news wasn't reporting on?

Weird, any more info on the switch to morse? (I know what the buzzer is

)

# ? Jul 6, 2007 01:04

Stuntman Mike: Apr 14, 2007; The saucer people are coming!

AstroZamboni posted:

So this is interesting...

There's a "Mystery Station" in Russia called "The Buzzer" (4625 kHz, USB) which only transmits a buzzing, bleating tone 24 hours a day and has been doing this for DECADES, only stopping once every few years to broadcast numbers. This ha happened only a rare handful of times. One was during an attempted coup in Moscow, and there are rumors that it also stopped to transmit numbers during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Last week it was tranmsitting morse numbers, apparently. Gotta wonder what hit the fan in Russia last week that the news wasn't reporting on?

That's a little creepy.

Okay, a lot creepy.

# ? Jul 6, 2007 01:11

blugu64: Jul 17, 2006; Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?

Stuntman Mike posted:

That's a little creepy.

Okay, a lot creepy.

It gets even creepier when you listen to it:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/brogers/buzzer.mp3

# ? Jul 6, 2007 01:46

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

AstroZamboni posted:

So this is interesting...

There's a "Mystery Station" in Russia called "The Buzzer" (4625 kHz, USB) which only transmits a buzzing, bleating tone 24 hours a day and has been doing this for DECADES, only stopping once every few years to broadcast numbers. This ha happened only a rare handful of times. One was during an attempted coup in Moscow, and there are rumors that it also stopped to transmit numbers during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Last week it was tranmsitting morse numbers, apparently. Gotta wonder what hit the fan in Russia last week that the news wasn't reporting on?

That is really, really, really creepy. Are there any recordings of the numbers transmissions?

# ? Jul 6, 2007 01:55

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

Here's a website all about the buzzer, including recordings of previous (spoken) transmissions, and also the station's wikipedia entry.

http://www.geocities.com/uvb76/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Station_UVB-76

Apparently last week it didn't stop buzzing after all, but the morse messages were being layered into the buzz. It supposedly went on for several hours on the main frequency (4625) and also a second frequency occasionally used by the Buzzer, verified by multiple sources on the Spooks list.

# ? Jul 6, 2007 05:17

Capnbigboobies: Dec 2, 2004

I was shopping at frys and saw a eton e10 for 50 dollars so I picked it up. Is the e10 a good model? I am still new to this but will this work better for me than the DX-375? Jeez I have had this free radio for a few days and already bought another one! Am I missing much not having SSB? I want to be able to hear all the crazy stuff.

# ? Jul 6, 2007 06:17

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

AstroZamboni posted:

Here's a website all about the buzzer, including recordings of previous (spoken) transmissions, and also the station's wikipedia entry.

http://www.geocities.com/uvb76/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Station_UVB-76

Apparently last week it didn't stop buzzing after all, but the morse messages were being layered into the buzz. It supposedly went on for several hours on the main frequency (4625) and also a second frequency occasionally used by the Buzzer, verified by multiple sources on the Spooks list.

Cool. Do you know if all three occurrences of voice transmissions corresponded to major events in Russia? You mentioned one was an attempted coup. Do you know which date that was?

# ? Jul 6, 2007 08:51

Capnbigboobies: Dec 2, 2004

so i was playing around with the new E10 I got and was not getting much. I threw the external antenna it came with on the roof to see if i could improve my reception. Seemed to help a little, so I cracked open a beer and started to tune around. I hear theselittle foot steps outside of the garage, but I ignored them. (I had the garage door open to throw that antenna on the roof.) All the sudden a fuckin' family of raccoons show up and start watching me play with the radio! Scared the poo poo out of me! I had to shoo the little bastards off.

They were not too impressed with radio Havana hahah. I am kinda on the fence about this e10, it doesnt seem to pick up anything more than the DX-375 does even when using the external antenna. Maybe I am using it wrong? So far I have not really been able to pick up much shortwave wise and I am kinda sad.

# ? Jul 6, 2007 13:08

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

Elijah posted:

Cool. Do you know if all three occurrences of voice transmissions corresponded to major events in Russia? You mentioned one was an attempted coup. Do you know which date that was?

August 19-22, 1991

Apparently it transmitted numbers about a year and a half ago, too, when there was nothing on the radar. Who knows? But the sudden and inexplicable format change in the "message" transmissions is more than a little :tinfoil:

# ? Jul 6, 2007 16:25

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

Capnbigboobies posted:

They were not too impressed with radio Havana hahah. I am kinda on the fence about this e10, it doesnt seem to pick up anything more than the DX-375 does even when using the external antenna. Maybe I am using it wrong? So far I have not really been able to pick up much shortwave wise and I am kinda sad.

Its also very possible you're unable to hear very many transmissions due to local interference from a powerful MW transmitter. I have lots of problems due to the aforementioned Radio Disney, and usually have to go somewhere else to get good reception.

Get the Passport to World Band Radio, and also comb through Simon Mason's page/spynumbers to help you find times and frequencies to listen to cool stuff. There's plenty out there, and the E10 is a good radio. It'll just be a matter of learning how to find stuff, which isn't always easy at first. Good DXing takes practice and patience.

# ? Jul 6, 2007 16:29

thehustler: Apr 17, 2004; I am very curious about this little crescendo

I use The Buzzer as my personal "Check that the radio is operating well and that there's a decent lift" frequency.

If I can hear it well and it's booming in nicely, I know there's a good chance that I'll have a good night of DXing.

Meltie! Are you a closet shortwave fan too?

# ? Jul 6, 2007 16:35

StarkRavingMad: Sep 27, 2001; Yams Fan

AstroZamboni posted:

Its also very possible you're unable to hear very many transmissions due to local interference from a powerful MW transmitter. I have lots of problems due to the aforementioned Radio Disney, and usually have to go somewhere else to get good reception.

Ugh, I've been having a lot of interference the last week and I'm not sure why. Trying to figure out if I'm leaving something on like a wireless device somewhere or something, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be something my neighbors are doing. I can still get the big stations in fairly clear with only a little interference (Radio Havana, Radio China) but aside from that, every other frequency has been "The Buzzer" for me. :smith:

# ? Jul 6, 2007 16:59

GutBomb: Jun 15, 2005; Dude?

Ol' Tortoiseblossom posted:

Ugh, I've been having a lot of interference the last week and I'm not sure why. Trying to figure out if I'm leaving something on like a wireless device somewhere or something, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be something my neighbors are doing. I can still get the big stations in fairly clear with only a little interference (Radio Havana, Radio China) but aside from that, every other frequency has been "The Buzzer" for me.

living in a basement apartment I have been having the same experience, however I did (very faintly) get the spanish lady last week at 23:30 UTC

(I am near boston)

# ? Jul 6, 2007 17:37

potato of destiny: Aug 21, 2005; Yeah, welcome to the club, pal.

Hey guys, since there was interest earlier in the thread for a CONET torrent, I packaged up all the files (from http://irdial.hyperreal.org/) into one big torrent. Now you can get it without all that annoying clicking, or that annoying waiting for archive.org's slow-rear end servers.

More edit: Okay, I'm not sure why alluvion isn't picking up the thread. If anyone wants me to put it back up at some point, PM me.

potato of destiny fucked around with this message at 06:21 on Jul 7, 2007

# ? Jul 6, 2007 19:14

Dog Case: Oct 7, 2003; Heeelp meee... prevent wildfires

Capnbigboobies posted:

so i was playing around with the new E10 I got and was not getting much. I threw the external antenna it came with on the roof to see if i could improve my reception. Seemed to help a little, so I cracked open a beer and started to tune around. I hear theselittle foot steps outside of the garage, but I ignored them. (I had the garage door open to throw that antenna on the roof.) All the sudden a fuckin' family of raccoons show up and start watching me play with the radio! Scared the poo poo out of me! I had to shoo the little bastards off.

They were not too impressed with radio Havana hahah. I am kinda on the fence about this e10, it doesnt seem to pick up anything more than the DX-375 does even when using the external antenna. Maybe I am using it wrong? So far I have not really been able to pick up much shortwave wise and I am kinda sad.

I'm thinking those roll up antennas just don't work very well for some reason. I tried putting the one that came with my YB-400 out the front door and it didn't really do much at all. A shorter length of wire out my kitchen window and wrapped around the antenna on the radio works a lot better for me.
Try suspending it somehow so it's not resting on or close to a surface like the ground or roof. Might help.

# ? Jul 6, 2007 20:55

Elijah: Jul 13, 2004; how do i red title

AstroZamboni posted:

August 19-22, 1991

Apparently it transmitted numbers about a year and a half ago, too, when there was nothing on the radar. Who knows? But the sudden and inexplicable format change in the "message" transmissions is more than a little .

But the Wikipedia article only lists December 24, 1997, September 12, 2002, and February 21, 2006. Are you saying there were more?

# ? Jul 6, 2007 21:41

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# ? May 10, 2024 20:14

AstroZamboni: Mar 8, 2007; Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!

Elijah posted:

But the Wikipedia article only lists December 24, 1997, September 12, 2002, and February 21, 2006. Are you saying there were more?

There were a few that were documented by radio enthusiasts but audio recordings were not made. As such, there is some controversy over whether or not they happened (even though there were dozens of people each time who heard the broadcasts). That's probably why they weren't listed.

# ? Jul 7, 2007 02:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Achtung! Its the one and only Shortwave Radio Uberthread!

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