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Reposting from the Amateur Radio Thread:
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Dec 12, 2014 00:19
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| # ? May 15, 2024 08:16 |
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I'm thinking of whipping up a 13.560 MHz beacon and/or transmitter to gently caress around with. tl;dr the 22 meter ISM band has way higher power limits than any other, about 10,000 uV at 30 meters which translates to about 2 milliwatts into a full sized dipole. Anybody who has messed with QRP ham stuff knows that can get out there if the conditions are right. You can even broadcast AM if you center it right around 13.560. Maybe start out with a simple slow speed CW beacon, which could be pretty much done with an eBay digital synth board and an on/off transistor Be neat to see how far it goes out from Denver!
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Dec 22, 2014 05:50
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Aren't those things littered all over the Death Valley area?
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Dec 22, 2014 05:58
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I'm in Colorado Springs, so I look forward to hearing it.
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Dec 22, 2014 06:20
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I was listening to plenty of SW last night with my Kenwood transceiver but I think I'd like a simple portable unit. I'm considering either a Tecsun PL-380 or a Tecsun PL-310... the PL-310 seems to have a nicer tuning knob, so I'm leaning toward that, but any recommendations would be great. I'm wondering if I should shell out the extra $40 for the Tecsun PL-600, which adds SSB... but it sounds like most SW broadcasting will be AM anyway, in regular practice as an American listener is it worth getting SSB?
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Jan 9, 2015 00:01
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Absolutely and I wouldn't buy a non-vintage receiver without it. SSB opens up your world to a whole bunch of ham, utility and fax broadcasts when you get tired of SWBC.
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Jan 9, 2015 00:44
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Jonny 290 posted:Absolutely and I wouldn't buy a non-vintage receiver without it. SSB opens up your world to a whole bunch of ham, utility and fax broadcasts when you get tired of SWBC. What would you consider the current best sub-$100 receiver with SSB? The Tecsun PL-600 looks pretty decent but I guess you don't get a USB/LSB selector, just some knob to twiddle on the side that no Youtube reviewers seem to be able to make work.
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Jan 9, 2015 01:00
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Kaito KA-1103 has like a 4.6 average out of 5 across 80 reviews on eham, and those guys are pretty critical. I'd take a look at one of those maybe.
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Jan 9, 2015 01:03
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Synchronous AM is also nice for reducing interference, it's basically SSB but it automatically zero beats on the carrier. My PL-660 is pretty good except for no noise blanker, but that's more of a high end feature.
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Jan 9, 2015 20:26
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I ordered a PL-600 last night. Considered the KA-1103 but it's just too drat ugly and that display is really very silly-looking. Hopefully I'll have the radio by Wednesday.
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Jan 9, 2015 21:44
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Pham Nuwen posted:I ordered a PL-600 last night. Considered the KA-1103 but it's just too drat ugly and that display is really very silly-looking. Hopefully I'll have the radio by Wednesday. I just got that radio and I really love it so far. The only thing that bugs me, and this might affect other radios and not just the PL-600, is that I have to keep it away from my computer by several feet on some bands or there's too much noise- even if I'm using the external antenna jack and that antenna is far from the PC. Then again, this building is a massive RFI hot zone.
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Jan 11, 2015 00:52
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Kind of a odd question but I got a Grundig G6 a few years ago and the rubberized coating on it has started detonating into a sticky mess, and it's really disgusting. Any suggestions on how to clean it up?
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Jan 13, 2015 00:57
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C.M. Kruger posted:Kind of a odd question but I got a Grundig G6 a few years ago and the rubberized coating on it has started detonating into a sticky mess, and it's really disgusting. Any suggestions on how to clean it up? I don't have a Grundig but in general, I'd try some rubbing alcohol. That shouldn't hurt the underlying plastic, worst case it just doesn't do anything. If the alcohol doesn't work, I'd try carefully applying some acetone, preferably somewhere inconspicuous to start in case it fucks up the plastic.
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Jan 13, 2015 01:37
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C.M. Kruger posted:Kind of a odd question but I got a Grundig G6 a few years ago and the rubberized coating on it has started detonating into a sticky mess, and it's really disgusting. Any suggestions on how to clean it up? Rubbing alcohol and toothpicks, plus an xacto knife for large sections. I managed to get the rubber off of a disintegrating mouse wheel with a fair bit of success that way.
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Jan 13, 2015 08:06
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I've had great success with Goo Gone from the dollar store
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Jan 13, 2015 13:29
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PL-600 showed up yesterday, I like it! Didn't pick up a ton yesterday because I was just using the built-in whip, but this morning I got Radio Free Asia out of... Tajikistan? On 11945 kHz, clear as a bell, even on the whip. I sent them a QSO via e-mail. I also picked up Australia, a bit faint, but not too bad. The proliferation of cheap lovely wall-warts has really made listening harder than it probably was in the 60s... I've got the radio on my nightstand and if a phone is charging, MW and SW are both hosed. At least I don't have any more compact fluorescent bulbs on dimmers, that used to DESTROY my old tube radio no matter where it was in the house.
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Jan 13, 2015 18:14
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Pham Nuwen posted:PL-600 showed up yesterday, I like it! Bring a little hunk of wire with you and go for a nice hike. Elevation helps, but good clear terrain away from humanity in general is good. You'll think your radio is broken when you first turn it on because the noise floor is so low out there. I remember going camping with my HF radio for the first time, "huh there's nothing on" and then I spin past a CW signal that was so loud it rattled my fillings. Guy was running 10 watts from across the country.
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Jan 13, 2015 18:37
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So far, been mapping all the signals I can receive clearly on a map of the world. If/when I get some QSL cards (expecting some in the mail presently) I'll tie them to the tacks with string, detective-drama movie style. When I can transmit, I intend to start swapping these pins out for colored ones indicating successful QSOs in different modes. So far so good! *hugs his obedient little TecSun.* EDIT: Add clear pins for Iran, Texas, Peru and Greece General Tofu fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Jan 14, 2015 |
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Jan 14, 2015 05:28
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That's really cool!
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Jan 14, 2015 22:48
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Been a while since I posted one of these. Here's an interesting 'new' preacher on 5830 KHz. I hope they respond to my reception report so I can see if their newsletters are as crazy as their broadcasts. 5830 KHz: Stomp Satan, Because of the Israeli Matrix https://soundcloud.com/deven-gallo/5830-khz-wtww-scriptures-for-america Major points to take away: - Science fiction was created to fool you into not believing Satan exists - We will stomp Satan - Satan makes youtube not work terribly well during the broadcast - Early stages of senility/alzheimer's - Independece Day was about Satan and Sorcerors - I forget what psalm I was on - The federal reserve or something - amen
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Jan 23, 2015 08:30
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Here is the same recording after I used Audacity to filter out the sound of my very loud keyboard. Please let me know what you think of the difference- I might use the same noise profile on all my future recordings if it doesn't muffle the program too much. https://soundcloud.com/deven-gallo/5830-khz-wtww-scriptures-for-america-detypified
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Jan 23, 2015 09:51
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I really wish the Third Eagle of the apocalypse would get on the ball and start a shortwave station.
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Jan 23, 2015 16:00
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Dee's images would look even more unsettling over SSTV.
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Jan 24, 2015 06:28
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General Tofu posted:So far, been mapping all the signals I can receive clearly on a map of the world. If/when I get some QSL cards (expecting some in the mail presently) I'll tie them to the tacks with string, detective-drama movie style. When I can transmit, I intend to start swapping these pins out for colored ones indicating successful QSOs in different modes. So far so good! *hugs his obedient little TecSun.*  I have the same thing, a sweet-rear end Tyvek map with pins. My record so far is picking up Iran with my trusty Buzz Aldrin edition Grundig G-6, hitched to an old set of tv rabbit ears.
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Jan 31, 2015 01:31
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JacquelineDempsey posted:
Hey, awesome! I'd love to see a pic of yours sometime. I think I used to have the G6 .. is it the one with the built-in MP3 recorder?
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Feb 4, 2015 23:13
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I re-repaired my old MW tube radio last night, set it up in the kitchen, and turned off every light in the house (loving dimmers). Goddamn, this thing can pick up a lot! I was getting beautiful clear signals everywhere along the spectrum, while my Tecsun can barely find anything even with a wire strung up around my ceiling. Now, to be fair, I should try it with the Tecsun in the kitchen instead of the other side of the house, but holy poo poo. Found a neat station out in the Central Valley that plays oldies, which is a nice change from the sports & Jesus which otherwise fill AM (ok, 1170 Desi Radio is fun too) I kind of regret that I intend to sell the old radio, but since it's completely useless if the kitchen light is on I just don't get much use out of it.
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Feb 7, 2015 00:53
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To make up for not posting a new one lately, here's an interesting recording from tonight. A guy on IRC thinks it's an Air Force EAM: Odd Alphanumerics around 80 Meters Suspect encrypted message overheard on 4723.730 KHz at ~0100 AM EST, ~0600 Zulu time. Filtered in audacity for greater clarity. Excerpt: ... "3 U G T K M 4 T U Q 4 S O 5 N I L 4 A V I Q J S Z 4 L O I G "... Recording: https://soundcloud.com/deven-gallo/4723730-khz-odd-alphanumerics General Tofu fucked around with this message at 08:13 on Feb 15, 2015 |
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Feb 15, 2015 07:24
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General Tofu posted:To make up for not posting a new one lately, here's an interesting recording from tonight. A guy on IRC thinks it's an Air Force EAM:
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Feb 15, 2015 14:00
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For beginners that want a super cheap set to play around with, RadioShack has its travel AM/FM/SW radios for $13 after all close out discounts. No sb capabilities and the one I got picks up a ton of interference and is nowhere as good as my vintage Zenith, but for $13, why not? If you can stand the depression of seeing a former beacon of fun and science in the mall in such a pathetic state.
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Feb 21, 2015 20:18
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I'm reading UVB-76 is offline? I know it's happened before, but some interesting timing for that. edit: \/\/ either way, it didn't matter because Putin has re-appeared shoplifter fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Mar 16, 2015 |
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Mar 16, 2015 02:10
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shoplifter posted:I'm reading UVB-76 is offline? I know it's happened before, but some interesting timing for that. Probably bad reception at the SDR receiver site or the stream(s) are down. As of a few days ago I was hearing a faint UVB-76 buzz in Maryland.
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Mar 16, 2015 14:18
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shoplifter posted:edit: 
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Mar 17, 2015 01:17
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Finally took the jump and bought a SW radio not too long ago. I went all in and got the Tecsun PL-880 and I love it. I live in an apartment that's not on the top floor, so I ran the antenna it came with out of my window and up on the top of my porch. Hopefully people don't think I'm too  because of it.I was listening a week or two ago and managed to pick up a numbers station from Cuba completely by accident. It was pretty eerie. Pretty sure it was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pi-QPcd2Vw
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Mar 17, 2015 13:26
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Well this is interesting, I just ordered a Kaito KA-228 for $10 on Amazon, and I swear it picks up more SW stations than my PL-600. May tune FM better too. I guess the advantage of the PL-600 is that it shows you the actual frequency, while with the Kaito it's more like "I think the dial is on... around 9800 kHz?"
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Apr 16, 2015 17:11
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I heard my first pirate beacon through my own radio  I've heard the A beacon through a Cali guy's websdr setup, but not on my own stuff. I got a 40 meter Windom up this week and it's really good for shortwave, and I managed to copy the DM beacon on 4091 khz last night. Faint but definitely there. Had to actually go to CW mode and narrow things down to catch it reliably. http://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/High_Frequency_Beacon Good way to test your listening post here.
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May 1, 2015 21:55
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I thought you guys would appreciate this. A friend teaching english in Beijing sent it to me knowing I collect vintage radios. I can now say I'm probably one of a handful of people in the US who own a tube radio made in Red China during the mid 60's, in the heat of the cultural revolution. It's a "Plum Flower" 750-A  When I got it, It needed new filter capacitors, a dial drive cord, and a new ECH81 detector/first IF tube. It covers AM/MW and general coverage Shortwave 3-20 MHZ. Strangely enough, despite being built in china at at time when the country was more or less closed to foreign trade, all of the dial scales and labels on this set are printed in English, including the values on indvidual parts, caps, resistors, etc. Supposedly the Communist party had a plan to export electronic products to the west, but it never went anywhere. In terms of construction and quality, it shares a lot more with Japanese and European radios of the mid 1950's than their not so good Russian neighbors to the north. It's actually a half decent performer on Shortwave with a longwire antenna, and due to the 6P1P (soviet block miniature 6V6GT equivalent) audio output tube and big oval speaker, has good sound. I'm currently listening to the evening English broadcast of Radio Habana Cuba as I type this post. MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 03:10 on May 15, 2015 |
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May 15, 2015 03:08
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words cannot describe how dope that is, holy poo poo what a unicorn, as far as the free world is concerned
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May 15, 2015 03:18
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Jonny 290 posted:words cannot describe how dope that is, holy poo poo I found out after mine arrived that these sets are all over Taobao, the Chinese ebay, and you can get one for yourself for around $100USD shipped, if you're so inclined. Most of them are selling for under $30USD, the shipping is what kills you. You have to use a Taobao agent though. They're English speakers who will purchase the item and then pack and ship it to you VIA air mail.
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May 15, 2015 07:35
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This is pretty exciting! http://artbell.com/art-bells-new-show-faq/ Q. Will Art be on Shortwave radio? A. In fact yes! We have made a deal with a shortwave station out of Tennessee, WTWW on 5,085 khz, a good frequency to be heard at that time of night. They will carry just the LIVE portion of the show.
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May 18, 2015 12:46
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| # ? May 15, 2024 08:16 |
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Radio Nowhere posted:This is pretty exciting! Perfect range for me! Good thing too, since the only working set I have right now is a $13 RadioShack one.
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May 18, 2015 13:00
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