Achtung! Its the one and only Shortwave Radio Uberthread!

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Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

Count me in the list of folks that found this thread from the ham one. I'll answer some questions if I can.

I've had several SW receivers through the years, but I always like to fire up this ol' boy. Nothing like a good old vacuum-tubed, spin-the-knobs travel through the bands.

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# ¿ Jun 7, 2007 00:28

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 00:07

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

bladernr posted:

You dont need a lot of room, just some wire. I have about 100 feet of speaker wire that I use for an antenna on my old Lafayette receiver (AM/CW only though, it doesnt do SSB) and I have it strung around the walls of my office at home. When I lived in an apartment, it was thumb tacked to the wall around the entire bottom floor.

I've been known to piss off the wife by running wires around the windowsills, hanging them from the balcony (I'm on the third floor), etc. It can certainly be done, even in an apartment setting. I also have access to the attic, so I can do all kinds of crazy poo poo up there.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2007 00:43

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

Funny Conet Stories:

The Conet project is seriously creepy to listen to, as anyone who's heard their recording of "Swedish Rhapsody" can attest to. So last year on halloween I set up speakers on the front patio and blared CONET to the entire loving neighborhood.

I sent them to my sister-in-law and told her to listen to the whole thing. About halfway through she found herself writing the numbers down subconsciously. Some neighborhood kids were playing nearby and their ball hit the side of her house. She said she fell back in her chair, it scared the poo poo out of her so bad.

quote:

Creeped out everybody, even people who had no idea what the hell these noises were. Creeped out parents more than the kids. A couple of Hams who live in the neighborhood knocked on the door, barely containing their laughter, to tell me I'm a twisted sadistic gently caress. I felt so proud.

Haha, that's awesome.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2007 02:52

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

xcvb posted:

What exactly is a 'reception report'? And is there any definite way to know where the station you are listening to is located if it doesn't say?

It's a small bit of information you send to a station, usually including

- Date/time you heard the station
- Frequency
- Some tidbits of the broadcast (announcer name, program content, etc.) This proves you actually heard the broadcast
- How strong was the signal (I use a 1-5 scale), did it fade, was there interference?
- What kind of radio/antenna setup do you have?

As mentioned before, many stations will send you cool stuff in return. Almost all stations will send a 'QSL' - a kind of plaque confirming your reception.

If they are in the US, amateur stations must ID themselves every ten minutes and at the end of a communtication. If I'm not mistaken, commercial stations only have to ID at the top of the hour. For the worldwide stations, most will ID on a similar basis. If not, you can usually narrow it down with a worldwide SW schedule.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2007 03:11

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

DarkSol posted:

What's a QSL? And where would I send it to? (and what's the frequency for Voice of Korea?)

This explains it best. You send them to the station you heard broadcasting.

Here is their schedule, with frequencies.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2007 03:26

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

Some stations will not just send a QSL card, but put you on a mailing list for all sorts of crazy swag.

Yeah, I pretty much said that, although I didn't go into detail. I've been sticking to North America lately - with this thread I'm gonna have to see what I can get from elsewhere.

Edit: Out of curiosity, and possibly off topic, how many of you guys troll the medium wave (AM) band at night? I'm in South Carolina and I can usually pick up WHO in Des Moines at night. I've heard WBT (Charlotte) in central Ohio before, and they have a crazy nighttime directional signal (you can't hear it about 50 miles west of Charlotte at night.) I can grab WJR out of Detroit all the time.

Edit2: I'm now listening to KDKA, the oldest commercial station in the US (WWV is the oldest non-commercial station.) Woo-hoo!

Halah fucked around with this message at 06:21 on Jun 11, 2007

# ¿ Jun 11, 2007 06:03

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

I went out and got an E5 today! So much better than my old radio. Thanks for the recommendation, AstroZamboni.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2007 03:19

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

I'm currently listening to ESPN radio on 380 khz. Longwave? What the hell? It's coming in clear as a bell, too. I can't find anything on Google about what station this is and they haven't ID'ed yet.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2007 06:34

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

Dog Case posted:

Is it USB? It might be the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. They broadcast network news and sports, but I don't know if they'd broadcast on anything other than SW.

Nah, I think I figured it out. I'm listening to 380, there's a local AM station on 1280 - WANS. Maybe I found a harmonic?

Edit: They just ID'ed, it is WANS, Anderson, SC.

Halah fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Jun 13, 2007

# ¿ Jun 12, 2007 06:47

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

I found a local sports radio station transmitting on 160 kHz. Think this is probably a birdie too? The regular station broadcasts on 1060. I'm not terribly familiar with the topic of birdies, so if anyone can help out on this topic I'd appreciate it.

Edited for CORRECT frequency.

Sorry, I just realized I used an incorrect term. It was actually a harmonic. To answer your question, though, ever have your scanner stop on a frequency that has no signal? That's a birdie. Every radio has a few, it has something to do with the guts of the radio causing some interference.

Harmonics are basically a multiple of a certain frequency. Your signals and mine were off by 900 khz each, so I think you probably found a harmonic as well. Edit: The station I heard has its towers about a half mile from my place. Do you happen to know where your station's towers are? It may be that my close proximity to the towers played a part.

Halah fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Jun 13, 2007

# ¿ Jun 13, 2007 00:50

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! That's loving beautiful. That's happened to me with my iPod, too.

One time I spent an entire week listening to CONET as I fell asleep at night. I think I might have caused permanent damage to my sanity.

My wife HATES the Conet project. She also works on the road and lives out of hotels most of the year. A couple nights ago I cut out a juicy part of Swedish Rhapsody and made it a ringtone, then sent it to her phone. At 3AM. I'm gonna get my rear end kicked the next time she comes home, but it was funny.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2007 01:10

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

StarkRavingMad posted:

Oh you bastards. Just what I needed, one more dorky hobby for my wife to make fun of me. I just ordered an E5. I bought a house this year, so I can actually do a decent wire antenna for it; I figure just run a length of wire out the doors on our balcony and around the rain gutters.

I have 30 feet of wire seven feet in the air running from the spare bedroom, across the living room, through the kitchen and clipped onto the back door. Yeah, I'm going to have to take that down before the wifey comes home

Edit: Don't know if I need to tell you this, but if it's outside make sure it's grounded really well.

quote:

How do you normally do a reception report? In this day and age of high tech, can you do them via email or do you have to send letters/postcards?

It depends on the station. Some have a website you can fill out. I sent a QSL via email to China last night to see if that would work. I usually send a letter with some local swag (postcards, etc.) and return postage.

AstroZamboni posted:

You are one magnificent bastard.

I'll send it to you if you want. You don't have plat, but you can email me at halah34@gmail with your number.

Halah fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Jun 13, 2007

# ¿ Jun 13, 2007 01:33

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

StarkRavingMad posted:

Good idea on the grounding, I didn't really think of it. I'll be sure to splice part of it down to a water pipe or something.

Also, which works better: running a long line around the house, or doing loops around a windowframe? Or a combo of both?

Outside is better. Back in the home ownership days I tossed a wire out the window and up over the roof. You can also run one to the top of a tree if it's convenient. Depending on what your gutters are made of, you can even use them as part of your antenna.

I'm going to have to go back to looping around the window soon, but I do it on the outside and tuck it into the siding (being on the third floor is nice for reception). And make sure your water pipe is copper well into the ground. PVC won't help (again, don't know if I need to say that.)

# ¿ Jun 13, 2007 02:45

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

Right now I have a wire wrapped around the outside of my window. I have a copper hose faucet right beneath my window and I ground it to that. My window faces east-southeast, making it perfect for picking up Cuba, but not so great for receiving Asian stations.

Can you email me? halah34@gmail

# ¿ Jun 13, 2007 04:37

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

hoju22 posted:

So I got 100 feet of 18 gauge speaker wire since it was only 8 bucks. It sounds like my next step is to run this in loops around one of my window frames? I live on the second floor of 3 story apartment building so running it out a window or anything like that is out of the question. Or would it be better to tun it around the ceiling of a room? Also, I'm assuming stripping a few inches of insulation off the ends of the wire and wrapping it around the basic antenna of the handheld is good a good enough way to connect the longwire?

Sorry for all the questions, I've tried googleing up some stuff and only learned the very basics of longwire antennas. Long and high are good, and stay from metal objects that carry generate RF interference, which is probably impossible in my situation.

I'd run it around your window. On the outside if possible.

quote:

Also, I'm assuming stripping a few inches of insulation off the ends of the wire and wrapping it around the basic antenna of the handheld is good a good enough way to connect the longwire?

If I understand this correctly, you mean wrapping the end of some bare wire around the end of an antenna that comes with your radio? That will work, yes. A better way, if your radio has a connection for an external antenna, would be to connect the wire to something that can plug in to your radio's external antenna jack.

Halah fucked around with this message at 06:03 on Jun 13, 2007

# ¿ Jun 13, 2007 05:57

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

Welcome to the club, my work here is done.

And god damnit Radio Havana is hilarious tonight. Edit: I'm listening on 6060.

Halah fucked around with this message at 06:49 on Jun 13, 2007

# ¿ Jun 13, 2007 06:46

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

Jesus, can we get a roll call of everyone who bought a radio because they were inspired by this thread? Be sure to post what radio you bought and how much you spent on it. I want to add stats on monetary drain caused by this thread to the OP.

I have an old Grundig and the half-century-old Hallicrafter I posted about earlier, but I bought an E5 for $150 to upgrade my reception. Can't say I complain about the upgrade.

# ¿ Jun 14, 2007 07:12

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

blugu64 posted:

I ordered the S350DL online and paid $40. It got here and turned out to be a S350 (sans DL), you can pickup some decent stuff with it outside at night. Have fun with it, it was probably worth the $40.

Yeah, for $40 I don't think you can go wrong. Slap a big-assed antenna on that puppy and have fun!

# ¿ Jun 15, 2007 00:24

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

I just thought of something. I have the Gordon West General class upgrade study CD. One of the tracks discusses (with examples) the different pops and hisses you hear on the SW frequencies (lightning, electricity, flourescent bulbs, etc.) Would it be :filez:

to share short examples of each sound? I'll ask a mod, it might be helpful to people new to the waves.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2007 00:31

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

4outof5 posted:

Ok stupid question number two, what works best for an in window wire antenna. any particular length or pattern (square, triangle, circle, swirl, braid, etc.)?

Longer is better. I added some phone wire to mine, so it's running around 60 feet. For a window, a square (rectangle, I guess) would be best.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2007 01:56

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

Holy hell, what's all that noise I'm hearing?!? Most of the time it's normal radio white noise, but shortwave is very prone to interference. Sometimes the interference can block a signal completely, and possibly frustrate a new listener. With the aid of Gordon West's ham CD's I can share some common noises and maybe help cure them (I got mod approval for this post.)

This one applies more to hams operating HF mobile, but if you do happen to get shortwave working in your car, your alternator can cause problems, especially if it's going bad.
Do you have flourescent lights in your vicinity? Turn them off while listening and you might solve this problem.
This one is a thorn in my side here in the South. Lightning is a curse for listening all the way up into the AM band in the summer down here with our pop-up thunderstorms. Not much you can do there.
Powerlines, especially the big ones up on those tall metal towers can cause reception issues. Moving away from them or waiting for a rain to wash off the insulators may help some of the issues.
I've never run into this one, but refrigeration units on RV's can cause problems.
Touch lamps, fans, even thermostats can cause interference. Unfortunately, all you can do is turn things on and off to see what's the offending device.

In addition, locating your receiver near a monitor or TV will impair reception.
(minor spelling edit.)

Halah fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Jun 15, 2007

# ¿ Jun 15, 2007 03:18

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

Totally awesome. Do you mind if I add this to the OP?

Go right ahead. Earwicker told me to keep the samples under 45 seconds (OK, one is 46 seconds) so it's all cool. Edit: Do me a favor and use the edited post if you can. I had some horrendous spelling errors

Halah fucked around with this message at 05:08 on Jun 15, 2007

# ¿ Jun 15, 2007 04:56

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

blugu64 posted:

Which CD was this? It sounds like it could be a pretty good resource.

I'm a ham and I'm studying for the General class license. It's a 4-CD set by Gordon West, WB6NOA. There are some pretty interesting things on these CD's, as well as some pretty dry material. They can be found on EBay or Amazon. Edit: I had to provide proof of a ham license before purchase.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2007 06:32

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

Aqua Bear posted:

Oh my god, I can't believe I'm actually thinking about taking this. You guys make it sound so interesting and fun...

Sorry for the stupid question, but I live in Hawaii and I'm wondering how this would affect reception. Would I be able to hear things differently because I'm in the middle of loving nowhere? I'm checking google right now.

Everything you guys have posted in this thread sounds neato, and this would be a good excuse to drive way out into the boonies every once and a while.

Water does strange things for propagation. You might be pleased with what you can pick up. And driving out into nowhere is never a bad thing, be it for radio or for the sheer hell of it.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2007 06:37

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

Dog Case posted:

So I was out and about today, and, well, this happened again.

Found it at Value Village for $2.99 in the box with the case, manual, earbud headphones and rollup antenna. Sorry I'm not really adding much to your financial drain tally

Don't worry about the total cost, that's a loving steal, you lucky bastard.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2007 06:25

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

blugu64 posted:

Well on my humble S350, I just picked up WHO 1040am out of Des Moines from my apartment in doors in Dallas Texas!

I'm currently listening to WOAI out of San Antonio...indoors in South Carolina :clint:

Edit: I just realized that's a 'W' call in Texas. Add another one to the list!

I picked up Radio Sweden earlier tonight as well - sent them an online QSL.

Halah fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Jun 19, 2007

# ¿ Jun 19, 2007 03:06

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

Bah! I can't seem to get Radio Bulgaria. I can get WHO all the time, though. Tonight it's getting killed by lightning interference from somewhere (probably in my area.)

# ¿ Jun 19, 2007 03:56

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

blugu64 posted:

Radio Havana is a fun one to listen to. I enjoy listening to bits and pieces of their news hour. Do all of you guys have to wade though a sea of tejano, and spanish stations? I'm in Dallas so it would make sense to pick up mexican stations clearly; however for all I know they are coming from South America. (I should probably look them up)

Radio Havana is hilarious when they launch into 20 minutes of anti-American propaganda.

And yeah, I get a ton of Spanish language stations. I'm firmly convinced they don't give a poo poo how much power they're putting out.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2007 04:27

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

SoundMonkey posted:

So, now that I'm totally a SW addict...

I have the wire antenna that came with my E5 (20-30', I'd guess) strung up inside my apartment (pretty much line of sight to my balcony). My main listening problem is insane amounts of interference - if I plug in the external antenna, I get probably twice as much signal, and like six times as much interference. This leads me to believe that my issue is antenna placement. Would out on the balcony be loads better? The best results I've heard so far were with me standing out on the balcony using the telescopic antenna. The only thing is that if I put the antenna on the balcony, I'll probably have to double it back once or twice, my balcony isn't that big.

I've also heard a lot more at sunset today than I did yesterday - yesterday may just have been a bad day for whatever reason.

Where you hang your wire can make a big difference, especially in an apartment. I'm guessing you're getting a lot of electrical interference from things like ceiling fans, refrigerators, computers, monitors, and whatnot. (Edit: beaten on this part, just adding personal experience.)

I don't have convenient access to my balcony, as my radio is in the front of my apartment. What I did is take the wire and run it outside the front window (tuck it into the siding), then completely around the frame, then back inside. I can close the window safely (and I'm gonna leave it closed because it's hot as balls). I have another 60 feet or so spliced onto that, but it's just sitting on the windowsill until I figure out what to do with it. But my reception has been pretty good so far.

Halah fucked around with this message at 06:41 on Jun 20, 2007

# ¿ Jun 20, 2007 06:33

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

E: see below

Halah fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Jun 20, 2007

# ¿ Jun 20, 2007 06:55

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

SoundMonkey posted:

I won't disrespect the wire antenna again. I strung it up on my balcony earlier, and while scanning around, I found what I thought was some British guy on 9615kHz. Very clear, like a 4/5, so I thought it was somewhere local. Nope. Radio loving New Zealand, coming in clearer than anything else I've heard in that band. There was some interference, but I could jot enough down to write a plausible QSL... which will be my first .

As nerdy as it sounds, I'm telling you it just might become quite the hobby. Not that I know anything about that, of course.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2007 06:57

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

SoundMonkey posted:

It already has, really. I can't seem to pick up much of anything at all during the daytime, on any band, but at night, I rarely see it scan more than 20kHz before something else pops up. I have yet to hear anything non-standard (so far: preachers, nav beacons, and news broadcasts), but I hope to hear a numbers station or some other cool thing soon.

Daytime sucks. At least until the Sun gets its rear end in gear. Nighttime is where it's at right now.

Now you scan and hear silly preachers and news. Yeah, the funny preachers are probably from the US but where is that news coming from? Is it from China? Vietnam? Russia?

Part of the game is to see who you can hear. I heard Radio Sweden last night. It's not necessarily about being entertained from commercial to commercial. It's more like 'can I find something from a country/city/station I've never heard before?'

Basically it's the ultimate nerd scavenger hunt.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2007 08:38

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

blugu64 posted:

Dude...not cool...I try and keep those visuals out of my head. (Yes you're right though)

Hey, can you email me? halah34@gmail

# ¿ Jun 20, 2007 21:24

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

I'm absolutely loving stunned at this point how much money I've inadvertantly cased people to part with. I'm very sorry I'm leading so many to financial ruin.

On the other hand, we all have cool radios, amirite?

I'll have you know that at 3 am last night I was out on my balcony rewiring my antenna around the siding and adding some length to it (pro tip - grab some phone cord. It's cheap and long.) I'm sure my neighbors thought I was nuts, but whatever.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2007 05:26

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

stash posted:

Anyone else get anything cool lately?

edit: Dog Case, yeah I get VOLMET at 6604kHz USB, a little faint but I can understand most of it. Temperature, Dewpoint, Altimeter, Weather, Ceiling, Wind, Visibility... Any tips on how to pick up more aviation type stuff?

I'm currently listening to a number station on 3292.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2007 05:18

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

AstroZamboni posted:

What kind of station is it? What language/format? The master list isn't showing anything.

I got very poor reception. It was a female, sounded like it could have been Spanish or German. Several groups (sounded like "group #") of five numbers. It lasted nearly 45 minutes.

Edit: It started at 0400 UTC on the dot, didn't notice any intro music or tones.

Edit 2: There's one on 5800 right now using CW, but I suck at CW.

Halah fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Jun 23, 2007

# ¿ Jun 23, 2007 07:13

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

Speaking of sucking rear end at CW, and since this is the shortwave thread, W1AW broadcasts regular code practice on 1.8175, 3.5815, 7.0475, 14.0475, 18.0975, 21.0675, 28.0675 and 147.555 MHz. In days of yore I knew code, but I never use it these days so I've pretty much forgotten everything but SOS.

A full schedule can be found at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html#w1awsked

And I'm on 8186 right now waiting to see if I can make it three numbers stations in one night. Supposedly there's one on that freq. at 0800.

Edit: AstroZamboni, that W1AW bit might be a good fit for your first post. Also, you might mention these times/abbreviations we're tossing around as a benefit to the new listeners that find this thread. As in; 0800 = UTC/Zulu = Greenwich Mean Time, CW = Continuous Wave = Morse Code. I'm sure I missed a couple (did you cover SSB/USB/LSB? I can't remember.)

Edit 2: Might as well include common "Q" signals, since there was a question earlier as to what a QSL was.

Why are they used? Because it's a hell of a lot easier to pound out "73" in Morse code than it is to do "goodbye" It's easier to "QSA" instead of "What is the strength of my signals?" Keep in mind you might be hearing a station thousands of miles away, even in another country. These codes remove language barriers and keep communication simple. If interference is high, "QSA" might get through, but you might hear "W**T I* **e s*re**h o* *y *ig**l**" If the phrase was typed out in Morse code.

QNA Answer in prearranged order.
QNC All net stations copy.
QND Net is directed.
QNE Entire net stand by.
QNF Net is free.
QNG Take over as net control station.
QNI Net stations report in.
QNM You are QRMing the net.
QNN Net control station is [call sign].
QNO Station is leaving the net.
QNP Unable to copy you.
QNS Following stations are in the net.
QNT I request permission to leave the net.
QNU The net has traffic for you.
QNX You are excused from the net
QNY Shift to another frequency.
QNZ Zero beat your signal with mine.
QRG Will you tell me my exact frequency?
QRH Does my frequency vary?
QRJ Are you receiving me badly?
QRK What is the intelligibility of my signals?
QRL Are you busy?
QRM Is my transmission being interfered with?
QRN Are you troubled by static?
QRO Shall I increase power?
QRP Shall I decrease power?
QRQ Shall I send faster?
QRS Shall I send more slowly?
QRT Shall I stop sending?
QRU Have you anything for me?
QRV Are you ready?
QRX When will you call me again?
QRY What is my turn?
QRZ Who is calling me?
QSA What is the strength of my signals?
QSB Are my signals fading?
QSD Is my keying defective?
QSG Shall I send messages?
QSK Can you hear between your signals?
QSL Can you acknowledge receipt?
QSM Shall I repeat the last message?
QSN Did you hear me?
QSO Can you communicate with me?
QSP Will you relay?
QST General call preceding a message.
QSU Shall I send or reply on this frequency?
QSW Will you send on this frequency?
QSX Will you listen?
QSY Shall I change frequency?
QSZ Shall I send each word more than once?
QTA Shall I cancel message?
QTB Do you agree with my counting of words?
QTC How many messages have you to send?
QTH What is your location?
QTR What is the correct time?

Other common shorthand CW phrases are mainly for amateur radio operators, but can still be found on the SW bands. These aren't in order, they're just as I think of them.

73 Goodbye, cheers, etc.
DX Distance. Used mostly for "DX contests" to see how far one can transmit/receive.
YL Young lady. Used with the numbers stations as a way to report who was heard.
WX Weather
SKED Schedule. Used for regularly programmed stations/nets.
DE From. As in 'W1AW SKED DE W4WIS' if I was going to send you the Morse code schedule that is broadcast on W1AW. Basically, "here is the W1AW schedule from W4WIS"
CQ Hello, _{hello, _hello,} is there anybody out there?
UR I hate the fact that this made it to the internet, but it's the obvious.

Anyone want to fill in what I'm missing?

Halah fucked around with this message at 09:08 on Jun 23, 2007

# ¿ Jun 23, 2007 07:51

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

SoundMonkey posted:

You could add the standard responses for QSL responses/cards, as in, what the standard scale is, whether 1 is good or bad on which scale, etc. Also, what exactly radio folk think of in terms of what 'moderate' interference is. People who are used to listening to local FM stations may well classify mild fuzziness as "extreme".

If you mean the "SINPO" code, here you go;

code:

S-Signal        I-Interference  N- Natural      P-Propagation   Overall merit   
                                Noise           Conditions                      
5-Excellent     5-None          5-None          5-Excellent     5-Excellent     
4-Good          4-Slight        4-Slight        4-Slight        4-Good          
                                                disturbance                     
3-Fair          3-Moderate      3-Moderate      3-Moderately    3-Fair          
                                                disturbed                       
2-Poor          2-Severe        2-Severe        2-Severe        2-Poor          
                                                disturbance                     
1-Barely        1-Extremely     1-Extremely     1-Very poor     1-Useless       
Audible         strong          strong          propagation

As for what all that means? Since I'm on the East coast, and for ease of offering examples, I can only offer AM(MW) examples right now. I'm in Anderson, SC. I'm listening to 700 WLW in Cincinnati.

Signal is 5 - The signal is as strong as can be. No changes needed to be made for me to hear it.
Interference is 5 - There are no stations I can hear interfering with WLW.
Natural Noise is 4 - There is a hiss that is natural but annoying for this time of night.
Propagation is 5 - There is no fade in the signal, I can hear everything that is said clearly.
Overall is a 5 - I can listen to this station without a problem, have no issue understanding anything that is said, and basically it sounds like I'm listening to a local station.

That report would be 55455.

Now let's go to 1200 and listen to WOAI in San Antonio.

Signal is 3 - I can hear it, but it's fading in and out
Interference is 2 - Heavy interference from a Spanish station, it fades in and out.
Natural Noise is 3 - Lots of pops and hisses. Sounds like a thunderstorm out there somewhere between me and them.
Propagation is 2 - There are several seconds between the signal fading to a Spanish signal and back again. When it's strong, it's good, but it's hard to copy/
Overall is a 3 - I can gain enough from this broadcast to ID the station and glean the content of the program, but it can be difficult to listen to for up to 30 seconds at a time.

That report would be 32323.

Halah fucked around with this message at 10:33 on Jun 23, 2007

# ¿ Jun 23, 2007 10:30

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

SoundMonkey posted:

Thanks for the protips on that, I've been mistakenly calling natural noise 'interference' for a while now I guess. Y'know, the kind of natural noise that sounds like satan violating a screech owl. Also, I thought the fading in/out was passing trucks or something. Now I know.

If you're hanging out on the sidebands and picking up an AM transmission, it most certainly will sound like a banshee from some circle of hell. Otherwise, it's normal to hear a loud hiss.

SoundMonkey posted:

A question... if I'm looking to pick up some USB/LSB stuff, would it be a good strategy to switch to SSB on the receiver, dial the fine tune all the way up to USB, and hit scan? Or is this just likely to make the preachers I find sound really hosed up?

In my opinion, it would be best to figure out what stations you want to hear. Why are you concentrating on the sidebands? At any rate, if the signal is strong enough, you can probably scan without SSB. The radio will catch the signal, and it will sound like crap. Switch to SSB and fine tune up or down until you catch it.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2007 11:34

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 00:07

Halah: Sep 1, 2003; Maybe just another light that shines

SoundMonkey posted:

No real reason, I've just never found anything SSB yet, so I wanted to give it a go and see what it sounded like both with and without SSB turned on, so I could better identify them in the future.

Your best bet is to hit the ham bands (40, 80 & 160m are LSB, pretty much everything else - with a couple exceptions - is USB.)

It sounds like this.

Edit:

SoundMonkey posted:

Also, will I get decent results just attaching the antenna to something big and metal? I ask because the person in the apartment next to me has their entire balcony enclosed in chicken wire to keep squirrels out, and it seems like it could be a great antenna.

Hahaha, hell yeah! An antenna wall! You'd probably want to ground that, though.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2007 04:08

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

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