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#shortwave created on irc.synirc.org. Come on in. I'm all alone right now, listening to radio cuba.
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Jul 29, 2007 05:50
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AstroZamboni posted:Mind if I add this to the OP? E: Elijah posted:Uh, can we put the scanner stuff in a different thread? I think a lot of us would prefer to stick to shortwave here. Halah fucked around with this message at 06:45 on Jul 29, 2007 |
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Jul 29, 2007 05:54
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Uh, can we put the scanner stuff in a different thread? I think a lot of us would prefer to stick to shortwave here. Thanks for starting the IRC channel. Can it be added to the OP?
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Jul 29, 2007 06:14
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Here's a template QSL a friend of mine, who's a HAM uses, if you want to send out QSL's:quote:Reception report for [RADIO STATION] Reply Postage: You can use IRC's (International Reply Coupons) that should be good for return postage for most countries listed here and you should be able to get them from your post office.
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Jul 29, 2007 07:16
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Elijah posted:Uh, can we put the scanner stuff in a different thread? I think a lot of us would prefer to stick to shortwave here. nitrogen posted:Here's a template QSL a friend of mine, who's a HAM uses, if you want to send out QSL's: At the vast majority of stations, the people who are reading your reception reports are doing so in addition to their normal programming/on air duties. There are extremely few stations who have a dedicated correspondence person any more. So think about it. These people, who are often overworked anyway, are reading listener letters. Which letter do you think is going to get a better response: the form letter, or something that at least looks like the person writing it took 10 minutes to write it and actually gives a crap about what Radio Petoria is doing? I guarantee you if you are actually sincere in your letter you'll get a better reply (not to mention more goodies). I apologize for being a dick about it, but 1) I don't want to see people sending for QSLs from more rare stations and never hearing back and 2) shortwave radio is on its last threads as it is and boring people at stations who have to read these things is the last thing we, as SW enthusiasts, want to do.
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Jul 29, 2007 11:25
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Elijah posted:Uh, can we put the scanner stuff in a different thread? I think a lot of us would prefer to stick to shortwave here. Actually, in a lot of ways VHF/UHF scanning shares a lot in common with SW listening, primarily listening to HAMs and utility broadcasts. Both fall under the category of "amateur radio monitoring." I also bet the mods would see two threads about listening to weird poo poo on specialty radios and say "why the hell aren't these in one thread?" I'm considering asking a mod to change the thread title to reflect this. Anybody think this is a horrible idea? Something like "Achtung! Its the Shortwave Radio and Scanner Megathread!" I have to keep "Achtung" in the title for no adequately explored reason. OP has been updated with antenna notes and I'm adding the IRC channel now. AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Jul 29, 2007 |
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Jul 29, 2007 17:14
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There was a lot of activity on Friday night on 4372 kHz USB. Sounded like pilots with maybe a Navy central command doing training, flying tracks categorized as friendly, suspicious, or hostile. All pilots had letter callsigns (DELTA, ECHO, GOLF, etc.) with the central radio contact being BRAVO FOX. They'd load up tracks, call for data silence, and do radio checks every few minutes. Heard a WIDOW callsign once, which I think is an F-16.
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Jul 29, 2007 18:51
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Yeah, but they're really quite different fundamentally. One is (primarily) for listening to broadcasts, the other is for listening to two-way communications. More importantly, though, some of us just plain aren't interested in scanning, and it would be nice to keep the discussions separate.
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Jul 29, 2007 19:52
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SpunkyRedKnight posted:4372 kHz USB. What's the USB mean on my Eton E5? My auto-scan mode seems worthless, and I still can't really figure out what the SSB button is for. Sometimes if I hear a faint beeping noise and I switch USB on I get morse code. That's about it.
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Jul 29, 2007 22:35
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I broke the "kickstand" on my E5. Anyone know where to get replacement parts?
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Jul 29, 2007 23:22
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I'm just posting a reminder that I haven't forgotten to get the E1. I've just been having a bit of monetary issues as of late. It's still going to happen. And I'm going to lose $500. 
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Jul 29, 2007 23:31
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AnimalChin posted:What's the USB mean on my Eton E5? USB stands for Upper Sideband. An explanation of everything you're asking here is in the OP. Elijah posted:I broke the "kickstand" on my E5. Anyone know where to get replacement parts? Eton sells replacement parts on the support section of their website. The kickstand costs $6.95.
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Jul 29, 2007 23:53
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I created a wiki for us: http://shortwave.nurgle.net/ Let's start putting stuff there. I am migrating stuff from the OP there slowly.
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Jul 30, 2007 04:08
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nitrogen posted:I created a wiki for us: Oh my loving holy god awesome......
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Jul 30, 2007 04:24
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Allright, I made my first contribution to the Wiki, an entry on the Cuban number station "Atencion" (the article name is under the Enigma group designation V2). Edit: Added the Wiki link to the OP as well. Mad props to nitrogen, this is an AWESOME addition! AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Jul 31, 2007 |
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Jul 31, 2007 00:13
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While this thread hasn't caused me to drop any new money yet (though the last shortwave thread got me into it), it did cause me to break out the wire antenna that came with my Grundig G5. I had tried it a few times in my apartment before just stringing on the ground, or hanging it out the window, but I wound up looping it around the window sill and now I can actually pick things up slightly better than the telescoping antenna. Listening to ham radio operators talk about how much they like to pay for a cut of steak is a pretty good time.
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Aug 1, 2007 00:42
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Well, my SWL activities have been royally FUBARed by the Arizona monsoon season. So I've been spending some time writing a comprehensive Number Station section for the Wiki, documenting individual stations to the point of adding skeds and frequency lists. I'm first going to concentrate on the more commonly known stations (Atencion, Mossad, Lincolnshire Poacher) and then move onto some of the more obscure ones. Then I'll get started on "Historical" stations like the East German 2-Letter network, Gongs and Chimes and "The Swedish Rhapsody." All the uber-creepy cold war-era poo poo. Edit: Forgot to mention that iit isn't uploaded yet. I'm going to wait until I have something really presentable. Also, I'm going to start building a tunable slinky dipole. Woot! AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Aug 1, 2007 |
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Aug 1, 2007 18:53
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Woah, a Wiki? I go away for a week and a bit and the thread still isn't dead! Hooray!
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Aug 1, 2007 20:39
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AstroZamboni posted:Well, my SWL activities have been royally FUBARed by the Arizona monsoon season. So I've been spending some time writing a comprehensive Number Station section for the Wiki, documenting individual stations to the point of adding skeds and frequency lists. I'm first going to concentrate on the more commonly known stations (Atencion, Mossad, Lincolnshire Poacher) and then move onto some of the more obscure ones. Then I'll get started on "Historical" stations like the East German 2-Letter network, Gongs and Chimes and "The Swedish Rhapsody." All the uber-creepy cold war-era poo poo. any AM recommendations for us poor broke nubs without SSB would be awesome too 
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Aug 1, 2007 21:07
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Spanish numbers on 7887 KHz right now.
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Aug 1, 2007 21:18
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Rev. Bleech_ posted:any AM recommendations for us poor broke nubs without SSB would be awesome too The only good AM Number Station I'm aware of is the sultry Cuban mistress herself. E10 (Mossad) has been known to occasionally (but rarely) transmit in AM, but almost all other number traffic is pretty much limited to the sidebands these days. From a certain point of view it makes sense. Far fewer portable radios have SSB reception, so the vast majority of people listening to SW won't even hear the traffic. Placing the broadcasts in utility bands also helps. This keeps the broadcasts from calling attention to themselves.
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Aug 1, 2007 22:10
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If anyone is still thinking about getting a scanner, I've thrown mine online streaming so you can get an idea of what kind of transmissions you'll pick up. Right now it's setup for the Chicago, Illinois, police department frequencies. I'll add the fire department frequencies later on tonight. Obviously what you pick up will vary based on your location. I might take it down for a little while when I move it later tonight. http://chiscanner.listen2myradio.com Enjoy!
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Aug 2, 2007 03:09
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I'm a VHF nerd; if you guys want scanner stuff in the wiki, just say the word. Should be able to dump some info in.
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Aug 2, 2007 03:15
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instead of just listening why dont you get a hamradio license. think i paid $8 for the test (good for 10 years) kd5buy
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Aug 2, 2007 04:09
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overflow posted:If anyone is still thinking about getting a scanner, I've thrown mine online streaming so you can get an idea of what kind of transmissions you'll pick up. Right now it's setup for the Chicago, Illinois, police department frequencies. I'll add the fire department frequencies later on tonight. Obviously what you pick up will vary based on your location. I might take it down for a little while when I move it later tonight. Hey this is really cool, thanks!
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Aug 2, 2007 04:26
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nurall posted:instead of just listening why dont you get a hamradio license. think i paid $8 for the test (good for 10 years) Instead of just posting words, why not capitalize and use punctuation marks (good as long as the language is in use)? Jes' Sayin'. Jonny 290 posted:I'm a VHF nerd; if you guys want scanner stuff in the wiki, just say the word. Should be able to dump some info in. I'd ask nitrogen, since he created the wiki, but I think that would be totally awesome. I've come to the conclusion I love listening to utility transmissions. Aeronautical bands are like crack. Edited for spelling and stupidity. AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Aug 2, 2007 |
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Aug 2, 2007 05:45
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Word on the spooks list is that Atencion is using a different female voice on occasion. Very odd. By the way, here's a list of all known V2/V2A/M8/M8A (Cuban Intelligence) number station frequencies. 3245 3292 3389 3926 4028 4029 4035 4036 4174 4479 4507 5762 6768 6778 6797 6855 6933 6984 7482 7520 7527 7555 7681 7887 7862 7975 8097 8186 9024 9095 10120 10236 10510 11566 12215 Edited to add: For AM listeners outside of the Americas (or with really good antennae) it turns out most of the Russian spoken numbers traffic is broadcast in AM. Good to know. AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 07:04 on Aug 2, 2007 |
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Aug 2, 2007 06:49
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AstroZamboni posted:Word on the spooks list is that Atencion is using a different female voice on occasion. Very odd. Latest reports show E10 (believed to be Mossad) to be VERY active. Also, lots of EAM's going out from US Military lately. This may have been what meatpotato was hearing (number reading with no interference.) I've caught it a few times on 8992U. These are Emergency Action Messages broadcast from the USAF with a multitude of diffent purposes. They can signify intelligence, troop movements, nuclear strikes, etc. For more info, check the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Action_Message Also, if anyone is having problems getting my live scanner audio, try the winamp link on this page. http://chiscanner.listen2myradio.com overflow fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Aug 2, 2007 |
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Aug 2, 2007 17:17
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Question: I can't seem to find metal Slinkys for sale anywhere. Where would be a good place to look? [Yes, I checked the Wal-Mart, Toys 'R' Us, &c websites. Nada.]
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Aug 2, 2007 17:52
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Canuck-Errant posted:Question: Ordering online is a good bet. OR, you can get a fully pre-made slinky tunable dipole on eBay. There's a company that specializes in them. They also sell powder-coated metal slinkies for building your own outdoor slinky antennae that will stand up to the elements. I'm also fairly sure you can find large metal slinkies on Amazon. overflow posted:Latest reports show E10 (believed to be Mossad) to be VERY active. Also, lots of EAM's going out from US Military lately. This may have been what meatpotato was hearing (number reading with no interference.) I've caught it a few times on 8992U. These are Emergency Action Messages broadcast from the USAF with a multitude of diffent purposes. They can signify intelligence, troop movements, nuclear strikes, etc. For more info, check the Wikipedia entry: Wow, that's pretty fuckin' scary. Is there a list of known frequencies for this anywhere? AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Aug 2, 2007 |
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Aug 2, 2007 18:00
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Slinkies on Amazon: Original metal from American Science Surplus Colorful Slinkies from Atomic Hobbies Solid Brass slinkies: Corrosion resistant. Slinky Antennas eBay store
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Aug 2, 2007 18:12
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AstroZamboni posted:Slinkies on Amazon: American Science and Surplus has the Original Slinky on their real site for $3.75. Also you'll get their awesome catalog! http://www.sciplus.com/singleItem.cfm?terms=9132&cartLogFrom=Search vvv I was just pointing out that it's less than half the price directly from them than from them through Amazon. Also their site says it's stainless. Dog Case fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Aug 2, 2007 |
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Aug 2, 2007 18:25
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Dog Case posted:American Science and Surplus has the Original Slinky on their real site for $3.75. Also you'll get their awesome catalog! True, but the colored (powder coated) and brass are necessary if you plan to build an outdoor slinky antenna. If its an indoor antenna or an attic antenna, the plain steel will work out fine.
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Aug 2, 2007 18:29
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 about the slinky dipole?How about the tape measure dipole!
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Aug 2, 2007 20:29
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nmfree posted:
Pure loving awesome. Geek ingenuity knows no bounds.
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Aug 2, 2007 20:44
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AstroZamboni posted:USB stands for Upper Sideband. An explanation of everything you're asking here is in the OP. Not really. People are posting something like "I heard <something> at <time> on <frequency>U" I realise the "U" after the frequency means upper side band, but how do I tune my E5 to the upper side band? Do I hit the SSB button, or does my radio just not have that function? I apologize if I'm being daft but I just don't get it. Also, the wiki (which is really really nice, by the way) has boxes at the top for "Solar X-Rays" and "Geomagnetic Field." Would it be easy to add a "Current UTC Time" box up there? That would sure be handy.
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Aug 2, 2007 21:32
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AnimalChin posted:Not really. Well, I'm afraid that I have to say "RTFM" to a certain extent on this one as I've already explained this a couple of times in the thread and this is also thoroughly explained in the manual that came with the E5 (I should know, I have one), but here goes . SSB (Single sideband) is a type of modulation separate from AM and encompasses Upper AND lower sidebands which are fine-tuned between the two by using a little knob (that says -FINE+) on the right side of the E5. Tuning up and down on that SSB fine tuning knob (as it already explains in the manual that came with the E5). Once again, SSB circuitry and tuning are NOT used for improving EVERY signal. SSB is a TOTALLY different type of modulation. When a signal you're trying to listen to is being broadcast in SSB (WHICH INCLUDES LSB AND USB), hit the button and fine tune with the knob. Don't mean to be snarky, but if you have the manual that came with the radio its always a good idea to check there first because chances are it already answers your question.
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Aug 2, 2007 22:34
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Along the lines of discussing SSB and normal AM, when you're just dialing around looking for random interesting stuff, do you normally put it on SSB or off? I've been searching on SSB because while I can usually tell if there is an AM signal while I am on SSB and switch over, I've found I miss a lot of SSB stuff if I am on AM since it sometimes just sounds like static.
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Aug 2, 2007 22:46
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bad mutant vibes: I usually do the opposite. I start on AM, and seem to be fairly good at picking out SSB stuff. I guess it just depends on what you're looking for. Astro Zamboni: Thanks for the slinky antenna links! I've been trying to read a little bit about building an antenna myself, but then I start reading stuff about baluns, and air-wound coax, and resonating at such and such a length and so many MHz, and hurrrrrr...  I'm not even sure where to start, so I've got my speaker wire out the window and up a tree for the moment.
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Aug 2, 2007 22:59
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AstroZamboni posted:Ordering online is a good bet. OR, you can get a fully pre-made slinky tunable dipole on eBay. There's a company that specializes in them. They also sell powder-coated metal slinkies for building your own outdoor slinky antennae that will stand up to the elements. There's a list of the frequencies and transmitting stations at the link below, but 8992U seems to be the hot frequency. I've been hearing regular broadcasts from the base in Puerto Rico between 0300z and 0600. More frequent and longer transmissions usually mean something is about to happen. The longest transmissions ever recorder were during the Persian Gulf War. http://www.ominous-valve.com/hfgcs.txt
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Aug 2, 2007 23:09
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