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iostream.h posted:I am so glad to hear you say that! I have to admit, all of a sudden I saw your post and thought 'oh poo poo, I was so worried about getting the blessing of the WtNV creators I never thought about the artists for the Weather'. Thanks very much, it's been a blast so far! Well my music is Creative Commons and the way my license is set up what you are doing is fine. But I have no idea what terms the various Weather artists are under. Though I'm sure if it was a problem, maxnmona would have said so already.
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Oct 8, 2013 01:41
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It's been years since I've looked into buying a SW radio, but the 2m ham bands are dying down out here, so what's the current consensus on the best budget/value-priced SW radio? Is it still the Grundig G3/G6/whatever? I'm also looking at a few Tecsun models, but I haven't heard much about them before. Then again, my favorite ham radio is a cheap Wouxun handheld, so I wouldn't discount the small-name Chinese makers.
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Oct 8, 2013 21:03
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I think the G3 is manufactured by Kaito and rebranded by Eton/Grundig. As a small portable it still can't be beat.
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Oct 8, 2013 21:27
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I finally bought a home and moved in. I've been waiting for this time my entire life. Anyone have a suggestion on an outdoor antenna for shortwave that's fairly inexpensive? (the house is in California so I can't afford anything, anymore.) So pumped to be able to mount antennas on my home.  I'm also lightly into HAM but don't think I'll be able to afford much more than my handheld for the time being but I'll hopefully be that guy in the neighborhood with multiple antennas on the roof.
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Oct 9, 2013 00:14
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I have a PL-660 receiver, it seems to work very well and generally has nice reviews. I can usually pick up a decent signal with the built in whip around the 30-15 meter bands, using the Degen active loop antenna I found I can tune lower bands decently and it rejects some noise. I don't have any reference radio though. Synchronous receiver is basically auto-tuned SSB, and works well if there's adjacent channel interference. I've ordered the Sony AN-LP1 active loop which has a better design and should perform better than the Degen, but I won't get that until Saturday. Very late edit: One thing to note is that mine came with the SSB BFO tuned for CW, that is, around 1 kHz off centre. The re-tuning for proper SSB frequency only required tweaking two pots inside and no special tools except a stable CW signal like a time-station and a basic frequency counter or PC/iPhone spectrum analyzer software. I literally did this tonight in a dark hotel room with a leatherman and an iPhone as the spectrum analyzer so it's not hard. longview fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Oct 9, 2013 |
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Oct 9, 2013 14:50
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Surprised it hasn't been mentioned here, WRMI is taking over the massive WYFR facility in Florida. Good news is that some English language international broadcasters are broadcast on 9955 KHz and it'll have a much more powerful signal in December. A win for some decent programming, a slight reason to run more antenna wires besides number stations.
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Nov 25, 2013 00:09
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Ugh, so tired of coming in to share sad news. http://www.arrl.org/news/view/voice-of-russia-former-radio-moscow-to-end-shortwave-broadcasts another one bites the dust 
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Dec 9, 2013 20:51
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I've been listening to Radio Romania International a bit lately. They've had pretty good programming.
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Dec 9, 2013 21:31
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I like to listen to China Drive when I can, and CRI is pretty much always on the air on one band or another.
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Dec 10, 2013 18:39
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Jonny 290 posted:Ugh, so tired of coming in to share sad news. Sir Mix-A-Lot likes to get down on the shortwaves so there's that ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRTab_MZJ_A&feature=youtu.be
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Dec 18, 2013 16:03
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First off, I'll mention that I've been a shortwave listener for most of my life. Still to this day I use my dad's ancient Zenith receiver. It's slow death has led me to consider finally getting a new one and getting serious about Amateur Radio. A Christmas gift from my father-in-law has expedited the process. However, I can't see to have much luck with NOAA weather stations on a NOAA Weather Radio. I'm currently situated in a tough area: halfway between Beckley, WV and Bristol, TN. It's high terrain, but I'm in a town surrounded by mountains. Elevation here is about 1900 ft. Beckley is at about 2500 and Bristol at 4200. No mts taller than 4000 in the line of sight. I'm getting no reception. I'm a total noob at this, but I figured it was a good problem to start solving as I learn more. What's preventing me from getting anything? I've checked my setup numerous times and the codes are all correct. Just bad terrain? There is a large AM antenna about .5 mile from me on a ridge line that should be at about 2100 ft. I've always lived in flat places. We're just visiting family in the mountains.
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Dec 25, 2013 20:09
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quote:Popular Communications: free download of November and December 2013 issues
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Jan 12, 2014 06:07
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I've had a shortwave for about fifteen years now; spent a ton of time DXing on it in middle and high school. I have an old portable Grundig, a YB, a new Reporter, and a CCrane SW. All have been great. The E5 gets a lot of love. What's the recommendation on the next level of radio, in the $250-400 range? Also, even if it's a repeated sentiment -- if you like shortwave, definitely look into ham radio. The technician exam isn't difficult, and the hobby needs some young blood. Plus, you can join the burgeoning SA Club (call sign AG0ON).
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Mar 18, 2014 08:02
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Here's some condensed shortwave for newbies. It's pirate radio, crazy religious, creepy kids singing, single sideband (so terrible sound quality, more so) and it just appears wherever it drat well feels like it! Not my recording but I am using it for a ringtone now. http://amdxer.com/download/DX_Audio_Clips_Other/6075%20kHz%20AM%20YHWH%2023NO13%200228-0232%20UTC.mp3 http://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/YHWH
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Mar 23, 2014 20:07
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Radio Nowhere posted:Here's some condensed shortwave for newbies. It's pirate radio, crazy religious, creepy kids singing, single sideband (so terrible sound quality, more so) and it just appears wherever it drat well feels like it! Not my recording but I am using it for a ringtone now. That's some pro-click creepiness, indeed, thanks! Looks to have been caught by a western Michigan DXer, here's some other recordings as well as his radio and antenna specs: http://amdxer.com/download/DX_Audio_Clips_Other/ Doubt I'll pick any of those up with my lil' G6 here in Virginia, but you never know... This is a pretty nifty list, I love the "logos" for some of these stations: http://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/Category:Pirate_radio_stations
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Mar 24, 2014 01:08
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Radio Nowhere posted:Here's some condensed shortwave for newbies. It's pirate radio, crazy religious, creepy kids singing, single sideband (so terrible sound quality, more so) and it just appears wherever it drat well feels like it! Not my recording but I am using it for a ringtone now. Great find. I just imagine this broadcasting on some ancient equipment from a run-down house in the desert inhabited by people still wearing old 70s looking clothes. And those children are dead now.
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Mar 24, 2014 15:40
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It's been a long time since I've looked into it (and a lot time since the OP was written), but what is the current best entry-level radio? And is Shortwave still prevalent enough to warrant getting into it? I know that a number of stations have shut down. I'm looking at the Tecsun PL-600 since it has good reviews. Any opinions on that?
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Mar 24, 2014 15:57
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QPZIL posted:It's been a long time since I've looked into it (and a lot time since the OP was written), but what is the current best entry-level radio? And is Shortwave still prevalent enough to warrant getting into it? I know that a number of stations have shut down. If that is your price range the PL-600 is a great deal. Also in that range is the Kaito 1103, I've had mine for 5 years now and still works great. It seems if you go much lower in price you lose SSB which is needed for pirate crazies, amateur radio, 2-way comms and morse code/digital stuff. Another investment to make is an antenna, loop antennas are hard to beat if space is an issue. You can make them, cited in the op, or buy one for pretty cheap like this Degen DE13.
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Mar 24, 2014 16:38
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I used to be a loop guy but I've been convinced by the Mini-Whip http://dl1dbc.net/SAQ/miniwhip.html, there's kits for various active antennas like that on eBay and for a crowded city environment it performed better than my Sony AN-LP1.
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Mar 24, 2014 19:52
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So I got tricked in to seeing the movie Divergent over the weekend. I can't seem to grab any good stills from the movie to demonstrate it, but all I could see was the russian woodpecker Movie Still  Duga-3 (I swear it's easier to see in the movie, and yes I feel a bit of shame for noticing this)
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Mar 25, 2014 03:49
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blugu64 posted:So I got tricked in to seeing the movie Divergent over the weekend. I can't seem to grab any good stills from the movie to demonstrate it, but all I could see was the russian woodpecker Exactly my thoughts. Who here actually heard the real Woodpecker? I picked it up with my dad's help on his old 1963 Zenith set that I used to DX til 2007. He also had an actual crystal set that he built with his brother. It never worked well for SW, but as late as the late 90s when my grandfather passed away and we cleared it out of his basement, it still picked up AM well.
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Mar 25, 2014 17:07
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So I'm trying to get back into SWL, and since it's been a couple of years this seems a pertinent question: are there any good apps (Android, preferably) or websites for looking up schedules? I know I could always buy WRTH, but having all that on my phone would be so much easier.
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Mar 31, 2014 06:41
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TetsuoTW posted:are there any good apps (Android, preferably) or websites for looking up schedules?
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Mar 31, 2014 07:04
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Oh wow, that looks even better than I expected, assuming it's still updated. I guess I'll let y'all know on that count.
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Mar 31, 2014 08:35
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So if you were recommending a cheap set for a newcomer with no experience who doesn't want to sink much into an initial set, would you recommend RadioShack's in-house stuff? I use an old inherited Zenith set party for the fun of repairing it, so I'm not up on the recent stuff. From the looks of it, a Grundig mini runs for about the same as theirs.
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Mar 31, 2014 21:45
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De Nomolos posted:So if you were recommending a cheap set for a newcomer with no experience who doesn't want to sink much into an initial set, would you recommend RadioShack's in-house stuff? I use an old inherited Zenith set party for the fun of repairing it, so I'm not up on the recent stuff. I had to look at their website, it's been so long since I stepped foot in a Radio Shack store. Their $20-30 radios are priced similar to places like Amazon or eBay so why not. They are limited frequencies, no SSB and only the real strong signals will make the whip. Still a great way to get your feet wet in shortwave, I have two under $20 radios (one analog, one digital freq counter) and I'll use them to quickly gloss the dials to see what's out there. You don't need much of a setup to bring in religious crazies, Cuba and many foreign language stations.
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Apr 1, 2014 02:34
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I've been thinking about buying one of the $30 Rat Shack specials just to add a BFO and have a sooooper cheap radio for listening to the 40 meter powerhouse fellas. I guess some of them use magic tuner chips though that don't expose an IF or anything like that
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Apr 1, 2014 04:02
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Can anyone recommend entry-level equipment for software-defined radio (SDR)? It seems like a cool idea and some basic Googlging didn't really provide me with a good jumping-off point. Plus I respect and trust recommendations from this thread.
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Apr 2, 2014 16:09
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For $20 you can an RTL-SDR stick, though you'll need an upconverter to get to the shortwave bands (~$50). It's still cheaper than most other SDR kits.
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Apr 2, 2014 17:37
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ickna posted:For $20 you can an RTL-SDR stick, though you'll need an upconverter to get to the shortwave bands (~$50). It's still cheaper than most other SDR kits. ^^ exactly this. The ham-it-up upconverter is $50, and NooElec is having a sale on aluminum cases as well. I've been enjoying playing around with mine  In related news, I'm giving a talk/demo next week on SDR's, and I need to come up with an antenna for receiving HF inside a building. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, I'll probably just string up a random-length wire, but I'm struggling on the connection part of it... The upconverter has an SMA connector on it, and I have a bunch of various adapter pigtails. Maybe just a short length of RG-58/U, with the center soldered to the random wire? I just need something that will let me pull in the 20m ham bands, preferably. Doesn't have to be fancy.
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Apr 5, 2014 16:17
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manero posted:^^ exactly this. The ham-it-up upconverter is $50, and NooElec is having a sale on aluminum cases as well. I've been enjoying playing around with mine I'd be interested in checking out any docs (presentations, etc) you put together for your talk - any chance you'll post them here?
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Apr 5, 2014 20:41
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foobar posted:Can anyone recommend entry-level equipment for software-defined radio (SDR)? It seems like a cool idea and some basic Googlging didn't really provide me with a good jumping-off point. Plus I respect and trust recommendations from this thread. http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-quick-start-guide/ Nice little guide for getting set up with a RTL-SDR. I followed it and I've been listening to various broadcasts in the 400mhz range with ease, even with the lovely antenna it comes with. You'll need to get the upconverter for the lower frequencies, though.
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Apr 6, 2014 00:13
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foobar posted:I'd be interested in checking out any docs (presentations, etc) you put together for your talk - any chance you'll post them here? The slides themselves are pretty worthless without the context of a talk.. if they record my session I'll put a link up!
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Apr 7, 2014 21:44
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nmfree posted:Yep, it's called Shortwave Radio Schedules. It was updated pretty regularly when I first used it, haven't used it in a while, though.
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Apr 8, 2014 12:42
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So... here's something:quote:WWV: experimental broadcasts on 25 MHz
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Apr 9, 2014 02:00
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nmfree posted:So... here's something: It was coming in great this afternoon in Maryland. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SAzpX0xEk0
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Apr 9, 2014 04:06
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Hope this is the right place to ask: I think my computer speakers are picking up some sort of radio signal. Occasionally I get little bursts of what sound like really distorted human speech which are not coming from the computer. Is this actually possible and can you give advice on shielding?
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Apr 10, 2014 12:02
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freelop posted:Hope this is the right place to ask:
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Apr 10, 2014 12:53
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freelop posted:Hope this is the right place to ask: It's very possible, probably a nearby AM station or CBer. A ferrite core on the speaker wire could help, only like $2 from Radio Shack.
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Apr 10, 2014 13:56
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freelop posted:Hope this is the right place to ask: Could be nearly anything. I once picked up the audio from the local PBS station on some random speaker.
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Apr 12, 2014 06:22
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