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I sent RHC a QSL by email about two months ago and got an email from Arnie Coro almost immediately, but no goodies in the mail. Do they only send material by explicit request, or do I just need to wait for the FBI to finish rifling through it?
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Nov 1, 2010 16:04
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Doc Faustus posted:I sent RHC a QSL by email about two months ago and got an email from Arnie Coro almost immediately, but no goodies in the mail. Do they only send material by explicit request, or do I just need to wait for the FBI to finish rifling through it? If you sent your physical mailing address, they may send one. If not, you may want to send in another report and specifically request one.
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Nov 1, 2010 17:59
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Chalk up $100 for me on the financial drain list, I just ordered a refurbished G3 from eBay. It's a shortwave birthday present for me. From here I'll probably end up investing in an antenna. Anybody have experience with one of these?
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Nov 7, 2010 22:23
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SentinelXS posted:Chalk up $100 for me on the financial drain list, I just ordered a refurbished G3 from eBay. It's a shortwave birthday present for me. From here I'll probably end up investing in an antenna. Anybody have experience with one of these? I'm not familiar with that one, but there's a similar antenna made by a ham who specializes in repairing/modifying shortwave radios that goes by the name Lowbander. The Lowbander 'Magic Wand' has 30' of lead-in wire where the one you linked has 20' if you need a longer lead-in. I'm actually sending him my DX-394 as soon as I can scrape together the $75 to have him modify it so that it's actually useable. Of course, if you like the hands-on approach I'm pretty sure those are just "Great White North" antennas inside of some tubing. If you'd want to build one, you can pick up 100' of speaker wire, some alligator clips or an 1/8" mono plug, and a piece of PVC with some end caps for pretty cheap and since you'd only need half of that wire strand for the antenna you could use the other half to build a longwire antenna, fashion a dipole for a specific frequency, or use it for autoerotic asphyxiation.
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Nov 8, 2010 01:22
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BigHustle posted:Of course, if you like the hands-on approach I'm pretty sure those are just "Great White North" antennas inside of some tubing. If you'd want to build one, you can pick up 100' of speaker wire, some alligator clips or an 1/8" mono plug, and a piece of PVC with some end caps for pretty cheap and since you'd only need half of that wire strand for the antenna you could use the other half to build a longwire antenna, fashion a dipole for a specific frequency, or use it for autoerotic asphyxiation. I may do that. I didn't think about how simple it probably is, heh. I'm just getting back into SW after spending some time with my other money pit hobby: home audio gear (restored a pair of vintage speakers among other things). I have some speaker wire left over from that which I'll use for some kind of antenna. I just can't wait to get the G3 because it'll be my first radio with SSB. Every time I hear garbled SSB stuff on my other radios I feel like I'm missing out. I live close enough to an airport and an Army airfield that I can pick up ATC and sometimes pilot communications with a scanner. It'll be nice to have airband in a portable radio so I can hunt for a better signal.
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Nov 8, 2010 22:12
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SentinelXS posted:I may do that. I didn't think about how simple it probably is, heh. I'm just getting back into SW after spending some time with my other money pit hobby: home audio gear (restored a pair of vintage speakers among other things). I have some speaker wire left over from that which I'll use for some kind of antenna. I just can't wait to get the G3 because it'll be my first radio with SSB. Every time I hear garbled SSB stuff on my other radios I feel like I'm missing out. I live close enough to an airport and an Army airfield that I can pick up ATC and sometimes pilot communications with a scanner. It'll be nice to have airband in a portable radio so I can hunt for a better signal. The G3 has a single 'SSB' button like the G6. It doesn't allow for selection of either USB or LSB separately. That's kind of a pain in the rear end, but it is a portable radio so I guess they're trying to pack in as much as possible without turning the thing into a button festival. I've been using a G6 as my main SWL radio for a while now, but I think it'll end up being retired as soon as I get my RadioShack DX-394 modified next week. Oh... Did anyone happen to catch the weekend edition of Radio Havana Cuba's English language programming yesterday? On his DXers Unlimited segment, Arnie Coro was talking about a shortwave receiver he built using perf board and basic electronic parts available to anyone, and was saying that it's easy enough to assemble that even someone with basic skills can do it. I emailed him asking for the schematics using the info he gave on the show. Is anyone interested in seeing them and building their own SW receiver? If so, I can 'host and post' when they show up.
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Nov 9, 2010 07:37
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BigHustle posted:The G3 has a single 'SSB' button like the G6. It doesn't allow for selection of either USB or LSB separately. That's kind of a pain in the rear end, but it is a portable radio so I guess they're trying to pack in as much as possible without turning the thing into a button festival. Yes I am, very much so! Edit: I have not busted my radio out in a long time. I sort of want to buy a new radio. My KA1102 is decent, but I want more.
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Nov 9, 2010 09:13
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BigHustle posted:Oh... Did anyone happen to catch the weekend edition of Radio Havana Cuba's English language programming yesterday? On his DXers Unlimited segment, Arnie Coro was talking about a shortwave receiver he built using perf board and basic electronic parts available to anyone, and was saying that it's easy enough to assemble that even someone with basic skills can do it. I emailed him asking for the schematics using the info he gave on the show. Is anyone interested in seeing them and building their own SW receiver? If so, I can 'host and post' when they show up. I second this, sounds like it would be fun to play around with.
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Nov 9, 2010 12:38
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It's burgin' time! 
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BigHustle posted:Is anyone interested in seeing them and building their own SW receiver? If so, I can 'host and post' when they show up.
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Nov 9, 2010 13:33
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Interested! Also, I think I got the word out to a family member in time while Radio Shack still had their sale on Buzz Aldrin G6s. Hopefully I'll be rocking one of those post-Christmas.
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Nov 9, 2010 15:49
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Annual (or whatever) checkin. I resurrected my Icom PCR-100's and figured out how to get the software running on win7. Listened to some SW the other night. they still work great off my 80 meter dipole! I'm going to be writing a Python/ncurses based PCR100 control app over the winter. I'll post it here when I get it usable.
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Nov 9, 2010 18:03
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Do any of you guys listen to Family Radio's broadcasts? I was scanning the bands because Radio Havana Cuba was being overpowered by Radio China International again, and I ran into something hilarious. Apparently Harold Camping has named May 21st, 2011 as the day that The Rapture/Judgment Day will occur. He explained how he came up with the number on Open Forum tonight, and it was pretty convoluted. Honestly though, I hope this prediction works out for him better than his last one. I love Shortwave sometimes... EDIT: I am a retarded. BigHustle fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Nov 12, 2010 |
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Nov 12, 2010 05:32
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Hello! I've just recently started getting interested in shortwave again, but I am cheap so I'm dicking around on WebSDR (and was pleasantly surprised to see a lot more receivers added since the last time I tried it). I'm listening to WebDSR in Kolomna and I found some weird signals that sound like two Morse code sequences being broadcast super close together, and I can't seem to separate them. What sort of thing is this?
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Nov 18, 2010 04:08
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Nicolae Carpathia posted:Hello! I've just recently started getting interested in shortwave again, but I am cheap so I'm dicking around on WebSDR (and was pleasantly surprised to see a lot more receivers added since the last time I tried it). I'm listening to WebDSR in Kolomna and I found some weird signals that sound like two Morse code sequences being broadcast super close together, and I can't seem to separate them. What sort of thing is this? If the signal is coming out of Russia, it most likely IS Morse code. 7060 kHz is in the middle of the IARU Region 1 Band Plan. I listened for a few minutes, and I think it is just stations overlapping with each other. I was able to hear some CW that wasn't doubled on occasion. Oh... In case you hear something strange and want to know what it is, here's a good reference for figuring it out. My DX-394 is finally off of Lowbander's bench and I'll be picking it up Friday on my way through KS. It's going to be nice having a desktop receiver that actually works the way it was meant to.
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Nov 18, 2010 05:14
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I wish there were more webSDRs that covered outside the amateur radio frequencies. So much cool utility and even broadcast stations to listen to.
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Nov 18, 2010 15:26
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Radio Nowhere posted:I wish there were more webSDRs that covered outside the amateur radio frequencies. So much cool utility and even broadcast stations to listen to. I'll second that one... I hear so many strang things out there that I can't identify using these guides that it's not even funny.
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Nov 19, 2010 15:16
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Despite the fact my amateur radio/shortwave setup is only 15 meters of wire hung out my townhouse window I'm able to hear 4625 KHz "The Buzzer" UVB-76 live for the first time ever! I have my Icom 706MIIG tuned in, mode USB, and it's actually coming in just above a S7 level of noise. Either conditions are really awesome to hear this in central Maryland or UVB-76 really boosted its power! My evening has been made  Edit: Video proof. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWtFSwepAaU Edit Edit: Video proof on Sony ICF-2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2i1AlPHUD0 Radio Nowhere fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Nov 23, 2010 |
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Nov 23, 2010 01:26
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BigHustle posted:If the signal is coming out of Russia, it most likely IS Morse code. 7060 kHz is in the middle of the IARU Region 1 Band Plan. Cool! Are there any visual references, so I can eyeball the pattern from the WebSDR back-scroll, or is it mostly a by-ear sort of thing? Edit: Oh, neat, I'm getting an English broadcast of Deutsche Welle from a WebSDR in Virginia. Nicolae Carpathia fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Nov 23, 2010 |
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Nov 23, 2010 01:47
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Shortwave goons, do me a favor and tune to 4625 KHz and let me know what you hear. Best mode is USB but AM may yield some results. I'm getting "The Buzzer" again and I could hear it most of last night. For years it was rare to hear it in the US, possible but not often. Now even on my portable radios (Grundig G6, Degen 1103, Sony 2010) I can listen to it all night long. That crazy Russian transmitter must have really boosted its power! What I'm hearing does not sound like 10 Kw from Russia. Thoughts?
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Nov 23, 2010 23:36
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Radio Nowhere posted:Shortwave goons, do me a favor and tune to 4625 KHz and let me know what you hear. Best mode is USB but AM may yield some results. I'm getting "The Buzzer" again and I could hear it most of last night. For years it was rare to hear it in the US, possible but not often. Now even on my portable radios (Grundig G6, Degen 1103, Sony 2010) I can listen to it all night long. That crazy Russian transmitter must have really boosted its power! What I'm hearing does not sound like 10 Kw from Russia. Thoughts? I'm not receiving anything on USB other than static using my G6 or my newly hot-rodded DX-394 using the dipole or the built in whip, but I'm also roughly 800-900 miles from you and in a valley in Eastern MO. I am getting an AM signal on the G6 when I throw up the whip and stand outside, but it sounds more like some sort of interference rather than The Buzzer. Instead of a 3 second 'ERRRRRRRR' it's 'ER-ER ER-ER ER-ER' pulse roughly twice a second. Your videos up there are definitely The Buzzer, but I think it's a case of kick-rear end propagation more than a power boost at UVB-76. For the past two weeks or so, I've been getting massive signals coming in out of Eastern Europe and Asia. I can't remember if it was in here or in the ham thread, but I was bitching about China's Firedrake making GBS threads all over the 49m shortwave band every time Radio Free Asia would start their broadcasts. I was also picking up Radio China International being broadcast from China better than the signal that retransmits from Sackville in Canada. Radio Moscow and Radio Romania have also been coming in strongly and being broadcast from Russia and Romania respectively. Spain and France have been top notch too.
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Nov 24, 2010 07:15
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BigHustle posted:I'm not receiving anything on USB other than static using my G6 or my newly hot-rodded DX-394 using the dipole or the built in whip, but I'm also roughly 800-900 miles from you and in a valley in Eastern MO. There has been a LOT of solar wind hitting us in the last week or so, and a massive burst of auroral activity yesterday. There's your reason.
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Nov 24, 2010 16:01
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My G3 died a while back and I'd like to get something for the house rather than a portable radio. The Satellit 750 looks very nice and is in the price range I was expecting. The only problem is that the old G3 didn't receive well in my apartment. It was absolutely wonderful for camping trips to remote areas though... I expect to get poor reception with the Satellit unless I construct an antenna, and I possess a large room and/or attic to set up several hundred feet of radio wire. I've never made an antenna before and don't know the first thing about them. What's the term for the type where you'd tack wire around the edge of your ceiling (do you X across the ceiling too?)? Would it matter whether I did it on a second floor ceiling or an attic ceiling? I'm in a residential area with no buildings above power lines for the most part, if that matters. If an array of a specific length/width would work better I could rig that up easily as well.
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Nov 24, 2010 18:08
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Radio Nowhere posted:Shortwave goons, do me a favor and tune to 4625 KHz and let me know what you hear. Best mode is USB but AM may yield some results. I'm getting "The Buzzer" again and I could hear it most of last night. For years it was rare to hear it in the US, possible but not often. Now even on my portable radios (Grundig G6, Degen 1103, Sony 2010) I can listen to it all night long. That crazy Russian transmitter must have really boosted its power! What I'm hearing does not sound like 10 Kw from Russia. Thoughts? I'm in Virginia, so somewhat close to your neck of the woods. I'll break out the SW tonight and see if I can't find it; I've never caught The Buzzer and would love to. I'm using a G6, just the whip, though I've had luck clipping it to a pair of TV rabbit ears and getting better reception. (Seriously, everyone, if you see a set in a thrift store for a buck, go ahead and try it!) Any particular times you're getting good reception?
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Nov 24, 2010 18:17
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JacquelineDempsey posted:I'm in Virginia, so somewhat close to your neck of the woods. I'll break out the SW tonight and see if I can't find it; I've never caught The Buzzer and would love to. I'm using a G6, just the whip, though I've had luck clipping it to a pair of TV rabbit ears and getting better reception. (Seriously, everyone, if you see a set in a thrift store for a buck, go ahead and try it!) Any particular times you're getting good reception? The last 2 evenings I've been hearing it as soon as I get home from work around 5:30. I keep my Icom on in the background and it seems to hold the same strength, maybe a little stronger, when I go to bed at 11. I haven't thought to check it in the morning so I'll say anytime after sunset should get you good reception.
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Nov 24, 2010 18:39
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p-hop posted:My G3 died a while back and I'd like to get something for the house rather than a portable radio. The Satellit 750 looks very nice and is in the price range I was expecting. The only problem is that the old G3 didn't receive well in my apartment. It was absolutely wonderful for camping trips to remote areas though... You're thinking of a longwire antenna. I have a few suggestions for ya there. - Make sure to use insulated wire if possible. If you're using bare wire make sure it doesn't touch itself somewhere along the loop. If the bare metal touches the bare metal it will create electrically shorten the wire. - When DXing, you may find that you get less interference from outside sources by turning off any fluorescent lighting fixtures and ceiling fans and unplugging laptops, desktops, monitors, etc. Any RF interference will be easily picked up with a longwire antenna. - If you have several windows on different walls, you may want to try making multiple 'directional' antennas by wrapping wire around the window frames. I had better luck picking up Radio Havana Cuba and European stations in Jersey by doing this with windows that had southern and eastern exposures respectively. Honestly though, if you're doing this for a large stationary rig for use in the house, you may want to set up the longwire as a temporary fixture and get something permanent to put outside. Universal Radio has list of antennas, ranging from sloping wire and dipole antennas to verticals that can be mounted on a roof without looking too obtrusive.
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Nov 24, 2010 19:42
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No dice on UVB-76 here. I'm in Portland, OR and 4625USB is simply static. I'm using a Yaesu FT-817ND with a Miracle Whip antenna for now. I had to take down my dipole at my landlord's request. Even with that, I'm guessing I wouldn't pick it up out here. The Pacific northwest is a radio signal black hole or something...
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Nov 24, 2010 21:24
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Catastrophe posted:No dice on UVB-76 here. I'm in Portland, OR and 4625USB is simply static. I'm using a Yaesu FT-817ND with a Miracle Whip antenna for now. I had to take down my dipole at my landlord's request. Even with that, I'm guessing I wouldn't pick it up out here. The Pacific northwest is a radio signal black hole or something... I'll try picking it up tonight in Seattle, even though the past few times I've hunted for signals, I have been getting nothing but static. I'm assuming its because of our cloud cover/weather right now. In the summer time when it was nice and clear, I was picking up China Radio International and some Australian news channel really clearly. Hopefully I'll get better results soon. I too agree that the PacNW is a radio signal black hole.
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Nov 24, 2010 21:29
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Night 4 of picking up UVB-76 here in Maryland, slightly weaker but definitely there. I've read the station has suppressed its lower side-band since coming back and the buzzer 'tone' is a little different. Maybe that tied with improved winter conditions has improved its coverage enough that I can hear it here regularly on the east coast. I still think a power boost was involved, there's domestic European shortwave stations running like 10-50 Kw that don't come in this good. The magic of shortwave, I'll enjoy 4625 while it's coming in 
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Nov 26, 2010 03:48
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After not being able to use it for a some time, I busted it out tonight. Tried my hand at a loop again. Unfortunetly I don't seem to get anything with or without the loop connected. I'm afraid after leaving it in my car in very cold weather that something might have been damaged. Any way that I can check and make sure its in working order?
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Dec 6, 2010 06:42
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I went thrift store shopping today and ended up walking out with a Realistic SW-100 multi-band radio. I wanted one of these when I worked for RadioShack, but couldn't afford one. I believe the list price at the time was $200. I got this one for the princely sum of $3.53.JammyLammy posted:After not being able to use it for a some time, I busted it out tonight. Tried my hand at a loop again. Unfortunetly I don't seem to get anything with or without the loop connected. I'm afraid after leaving it in my car in very cold weather that something might have been damaged. Any way that I can check and make sure its in working order? Being out in the cold shouldn't affect the radio itself, other than possibly causing damage to any LCD displays on it if it got WAY too cold. What rig are you using?
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Dec 8, 2010 22:31
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BigHustle posted:I went thrift store shopping today and ended up walking out with a Realistic SW-100 multi-band radio. I wanted one of these when I worked for RadioShack, but couldn't afford one. I believe the list price at the time was $200. I got this one for the princely sum of $3.53. That was my first shortwave radio way back in middle school. I have it somewhere, still works. Nice find.
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Dec 9, 2010 00:10
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BigHustle posted:I went thrift store shopping today and ended up walking out with a Realistic SW-100 multi-band radio. I wanted one of these when I worked for RadioShack, but couldn't afford one. I believe the list price at the time was $200. I got this one for the princely sum of $3.53. The Grundig G3. Try to go to the old standby stations of 6000 and 9000 but it comes in with some pretty bad static, maybe just problems in my area. Finally redid that loop antenna, hopefully I made it right, just need to build a rig to hold it up.
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Dec 9, 2010 00:45
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JammyLammy posted:The Grundig G3. Try to go to the old standby stations of 6000 and 9000 but it comes in with some pretty bad static, maybe just problems in my area. The early run of the G3 had a lot of problems with the sync detector and overall reception sensitivity. What's the serial number on your radio? If it's low (under 1300), email Eton and tell them your problem. They're excellent about repairing or replacing defective merchandise. EDIT: I need to make a magloop. I took down my dipole to modify it and haven't put anything up in its place. I don't know now if I'm going to re-hang it before winter hits.
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Dec 9, 2010 02:46
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Where is the serial number on the G3?
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Dec 9, 2010 04:35
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Tomcat1944 posted:Where is the serial number on the G3? It's
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Dec 9, 2010 05:20
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BigHustle posted:The early run of the G3 had a lot of problems with the sync detector and overall reception sensitivity. What's the serial number on your radio? If it's low (under 1300), email Eton and tell them your problem. They're excellent about repairing or replacing defective merchandise. Hmm, I just got my new G3 and the serial number is 000666. I don't know if I should send it in for replacement or keep it and look for demonic messages in the static...
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Dec 10, 2010 17:19
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So this morning I'm doing some random shortwave tuning on my car stereo and landed on one of the funniest advice programs I've ever heard. The hostess was literally selling people on the idea of shoving garlic sticks up your rear end to cure tumors. It ended on slathering some garlic and herb paste on your taint (well she phrased it "between your testicles and rectum") to rid your body of toxins. Who says content on shortwave is dead these days, this was comedy gold!
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Dec 10, 2010 18:13
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MrGreenShirt posted:Hmm, I just got my new G3 and the serial number is 000666. I don't know if I should send it in for replacement or keep it and look for demonic messages in the static... Send it to one of those paranormal wackjobs and have them turn it into a ghost box. Seriously though, if you're noticing reception issues with it, especially with the sync detection, email Eton and tell them your problem and include your radio's serial number. They should take care of you if you fall in the 'defective radio' zone.
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Dec 10, 2010 18:36
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DX'em while you can folks, on the heels of Sweden dropping all shortwave broadcasts at the end of October, Argentina & Slovakia will terminate shortwave broadcasting at the end of 2010 and Radio Prague will stop their broadcasts at the end of January 2011. Add: And now I'm reading Greenland too in February. Radio Nowhere fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Dec 12, 2010 |
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Dec 12, 2010 20:11
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Does anybody have any suggestions for a good variable capacitor for an active loop antenna and where to buy one?
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Dec 18, 2010 02:44
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