|
The Shortwave Radio Uberthread! JESUS PENIS CHRIST, SIX YEARS? People need lives. OP UPDATED, 05/06/10 ___________________________________________________________________________________ UPDATE: The 100th radio contest has been won by Supreme Lord Jeremy! ___________________________________________________________________________________ I know threads on the topic of Shortwave “Numbers Stations” have popped up a time or two, but I haven’t seen a thread devoted to SW Radio as a whole since I’ve been here, so I figured why not start one up? First of all, the nitty gritty: Great, you’ve called us all in here. Now just what the hell IS shortwave radio? Shortwave (also known as High Frequency, or HF) is a term for AM radio of frequencies between 1701 and 29999 kilohertz. Most AM radios you’re used to listening to probably only go up to 1700 kHz. The range of SW frequencies is special because they can reflect off of the ionosphere, to the ground, back up and down several times. This effect, known as “propagation,” allows signals to carry much farther than any other type of signal. A strong enough SW broadcast under proper conditions can travel all around the world! Weather and solar activity can boost/weaken signals at different frequencies, so when you look for broadcasts with a SW receiver you never know just what you might pick up! So what can I listen to on SW? Because of the worldwide nature of shortwave, it is frequently used for international government-operated news and propaganda services. Using a portable SW receiver I have picked up nationalistic propaganda from Cuba, Russia, China, Israel and North Korea! Most countries broadcast in multiple languages, so you can listen to Fidel Castro or Kim Jong Il’s propaganda machines in English! Some nations (I’m looking at you, Netherlands) actually have decent, untainted news media but they are in the minority. One time I listened to a half-hour long opera in poorly translated “Engrish” singing the praises of North Korea’s “fearless leader” Kim Jong Il. It was surreal! A vast portion of SW broadcasts from the United States are Religious in nature. American SW preachers are the absolute creepiest loving brimstone preachers on the goddammiting planet. Half of them sound like rambling schizophrenics, the others are just plain weird. Even the staunchest Atheists can get a kick out of the limitless humor goldmine of SW god praising. Perhaps the most fun broadcasts to search for are clandestine transmissions, including pirate radio broadcasters, which can usually be found around the “Echo Charlie” band at 6.6 mHz (and extremely active around the frequency of 6925 kHz in particular) or so called "border blasters" which are pirate signals which circumvent US laws by operating just on the other side of the Mexican border. More on these "Border Blasters" can be learned from this NPR documentary (thanks, TetsuoTW!), and more on ordinary pirate radio can be found out at the HF Underground wiki, run by Chris Smolinski. Some slightly more unsettling clandestine transmissions are government affiliated secret signals. The most famous phenomenon of the government kind being number stations. Nobody knows how long intelligence agencies have been communicating this way, but it first started to become readily apparent to SW listeners during the cold war. A voice (sometimes electronically generated like an automated telephone message) would come on the airwaves (often heralded by a short piece of music) and begin reading off chains of seemingly random numbers. While governments like to deny the existence of number stations, they are generally accepted to be one-way transmissions to spies encoded with a one-time pad. Spooky! Here are some good sites for more info on Number Stations, which are what drew me to SW in the first place. The CONET Project: A 4 cd set of number traffic recordings, now available for free download online. Shortwave Espionage by Simon Mason. A VERY comprehensive guide to numbers monitoring. Spy Numbers by Chris Smolinski, head of the "Spooks list." What's Transmitting Now? is a list of Numbers Stations currently transmitting (or probably transmitting) at any given time. Can help you track them down easier than simply scrolling through the bands willy-nilly. Mysteries of Radio Here is an archive of the "Spooks List" Numbers and Oddities newsletter, a publication just for people who love listening to numbers stations... and are unhealthily obsessed with it. A wealth of information. What happens when a pair of humble Hams, angry about interference on their allocated bands, single-handedly wage war on a number station? Here's what happens: They win. Does Shortwave have anything to do with Ham radio? For that matter, what the blue gently caress IS ham radio? SW is tangentially related to ham radio in that many ham operators transmit on SW frequencies in SSB or CW mode. For those who may not be familiar with ham radio, it is simply an amateur-operated 2 way communication system. More information can be found in this excellent thread put together by McRib Sandwich. With an SSB capable SW receiver, you will be able to listen to Ham conversations. So I’m thinking of buying a SW radio. What should I look for? First of all, remember this very simple rule: You get what you pay for. There are lots of cheap “pocket” SW radios that only cover a small portion of the SW spectrum. Some only receive within designated “broadcast bands” leaving some of the more interesting broadcasts inaccessible. Ultimately, if you’re thinking of getting into SW plan on spending at least 100 to 150 dollars on a good receiver. Here is a list of features you should look for: • Full, continuous coverage of the SW spectrum. • Multiple tuning increments, including 1 kHz. Some cheaper radios tune in 5 kHz increments only, but some more interesting things transmit between these internationally designated increment frequencies. Make sure you can tune in the smallest increments possible! • Digital tuning with direct frequency entry via numerical keypad. • Single Sideband (SSB) circuitry. SSB is a modulation, separate from AM/FM which is sort of like AM with no carrier. Frequently used by aeronautical transmissions, HAM radio enthusiasts, and many many MANY weird clandestine operations. If you try listening to an SSB frequency without SSB circuitry, it will just sound like an adult on the “Peanuts” cartoon talking. • External Antenna socket. This allows you to plug in a more powerful antenna and pick up all manner of crazy poo poo from farther away. I would recommend buying from the following short list of radios that have ALL of those key features, and are easy to find through various online retailers as well as brick-and-mortar locations such as Radio Shack and Fry's Electronics. All of these radios have an excellent combination of price, performance and features.  The Grundig G3 My #1 Pick. Please note: Earlier G3 units were plagued by defective synchronous detection and several other problems. While these issues have been ironed out beautifully in the current models, plenty of the 1st-gen G3s are still in stores. If you get a lemon, Eton/Grundig is EXCELLENT about repairing/replacing radios, so you can buy a G3 with confidence.  The Grundig G6 Advantages include most (but by no means all) of the features of G3 at just over half the size/price. I have one and enjoy it immensely.  The Eton/Grundig E5/G5 (Look for used/overstock - no longer produced) Previous version of Grundig G3, sourced from Degen in China. Excellent radio, and my go-to shortwave receiver. Can frequently be found refurbed for a good bargain at places like Fry's Electronics.  Degen/Kaito DE-1103 Older Degen/Kaito version of G5/E5. Almost identical in performance, but with a bizarre and awkward interface.  Sony ICF-SW7600GR Like a G3 with fewer presets and minus a few notable features. All of the radios listed above will be excellent first SW receivers, but the one I would recommend most highly would be the Grundig G3, which has a superb balance of features and price while also including aeronautical scanner capabilities. The G6 and E5/G5 are outstanding radios as well (I use them myself, and highly recommend them), but the G3 has the edge in terms of absolute performance and features for the buck. Each radio, however, has its own set of features and what may be ideal for one listener may be overkill for another. As such, I made the following chart that shows the differences in features:  This chart DOES require a bit of explanation as to what some of these features are. Synchronous Detection is a special type of circuitry that helps a radio lock onto amplitude modulated signals and keeps you from losing signal due to selective fading. Can make a large improvement when it comes to copying fainter signals. Aeronautical Band Scanning capability allows you to listen to aircraft/control tower communications on the VHF aeronautical frequencies. Selectable USB/LSB allows you to switch between Upper and Lower sideband, whereas Continuous fine tuning has a single fine tuning knob to tune between USB and LSB. Selectable SSB is a highly desirable feature. Wide/Narrow Switch adjusts the receiving bandwidth of the radio. It can help tune out interference if a station on an adjacent frequency is bleeding through to the frequency you're trying to listen to. DX/Local switch adjusts the sensitivity of the unit. If you're listening to a relatively nearby station, the local position can keep the excessive signal strength from sounding distorted. The DX position helps boost sensitivity for copying distant stations. FM Radio Data System picks up digital text information piggybacked on FM signals, and displays the station's callsign as well as the song/program playing on the LCD display of the radio. Note on Local AM Station interference: All of these radios are (to a certain extent) susceptible to interference on SW frequencies caused by nearby AM broadcast transmitters. The G6 is particularly susceptible to this! The Magnetic loop antenna linked in the antenna section below is particularly useful in "tuning out" this type of interference, and can be easily built for very little money. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Now that I have a SW receiver, there's a whole bunch of crazy rear end noises messing things up, and I can't use it in my car. What the gently caress, charlie? SW signals are highly susceptible to interference of all kinds. Luckily, by identifying the kinds of interference you are hearing, you can learn to eliminate interference from your reception and coax stronger signals out of the ether. Goon extraordinaire Halah provided educational sound clips that'll help you to identify the different types of RF interference caused by household items. Here's his post on the subject: Halah posted: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.) Also, there are a lot of utility transmissions that can seem like some sort of interference if you aren't familiar with them. These can include over the horizon radar, RTTY, Interval signals, Radiofax, and even scientific experiments like the HAARP array in Alaska! overflow provided this link which contains numerous audio clips that can help you figure out what some of those kooky sounds you pick up are! Using External Antennas A portable shortwave receiver's built-in whip antenna has severely limited capabilities. Luckily, there are a number of options for boosting the strength of distant signals. The simplest is called a "long-wire" antenna. A long-wire can be easily built by taking a 45 foot length of speaker wire, soldering the end to an alligator clip and clipping it to the end of your whip antenna while throwing the other end up a tree! If you're a bit more ambitious, you can solder the speaker wire into a 1/8" mono phone plug and plug it directly into the external antenna jack on most portable radios. Also, legendary SW goon InediblePenguin provided a schematic on how to build a "slinky antenna" to improve your reception. It really works! InediblePenguin posted:We have a black plastic AM loop, two Slinkies, and about 75 feet of assorted wire (stereo and clothesline) looped back and forth in a sort of net pattern across the ceiling of our radio room. It's pretty ghetto, but hey, we can listen to the BBC! Unfortunately, a long-wire or a slinky, while massively amplifying distant signals, also amplifies local interference For a more sophisticated antenna that takes a little bit more work/parts, but is still easy to build in an afternoon, many goons (myself included) swear by Alex Krist's Homebrew Magnetic Loop. It gives a HUGE boost in signal, while also rejecting local interference from nearby RF sources and MW transmitters. However, goon Jonny 290 has the following word of advice about magnetic loops. Jonny 290 posted:That's a solid mag loop design. If you guys experiment with mag loops, make sure that all of your connections are very solid and secure. Mag loops operate in a different manner, and resistance in the antenna elements and connections hurts them quite a bit. You'll be good if you securely clean and solder all connections, probably - don't cheese it with clamps, though. I can vouch for the quality of the mag loop design, as well as Jonny 290's advice. Still, this is an extremely simple project even for a novice electronics DIY-er, and the results are fantastic. This has very quickly become my go-to SWL antenna for the superb amplification in signal combined with a phenomenal improvement in signal-to-noise ratio. A+++++, would build antenna again! I can't recommend this antenna project highly enough. Halah also provided a few general notes about antennae and frequency terminology applicable to both Shortwave and Scanners. Halah posted:Longer isn't necessarily better at the really high frequencies. The reason long antennas work for shortwave is indicated in the names of the bands. 15 meters, for example. That is roughly the length of one wave (hertz/cycle.) Antennas work best when optimized for the frequency they are receiving. 1/4 wave or 1/2 wave, or even 5/8 wave, for example. A 1/2 wave antenna on 15 meters would be 7.5 meters long. At 460 mhz, for a 1/4 wave antenna, we're talking about 6.5 inches. A full wave antenna at 460 mhz is roughly 26 inches. For future reference, to find the 1/4 wave length, 2992/(freq. in mhz) is a rough approximation. One can do the math from there to find other combinations. Also, remember the lower the frequency is, the longer the wavelength is. Brushing up on some basic photon physics can always help you figure out whether a harebrained antenna idea will be ridiculous or not. --------------------------------------------------------------- Shortwave Terminology Glossary With special thanks to Halah There are lots of phrases and terminology used throughout this thread that may be confusing to SW newbies. So here is a breakdown of some of the more important phrases. AM: Same as in typical AM radio, AM stands for "amplitude modulation." It is a common way of sending signals over radio frequencies. Most commercial and national SW broadcasts are in AM. SSB/USB/LSB: "SB" stands for sideband. SSB= Single Sideband, USB= Upper Sideband, and LSB= Lower SIdeband. Sideband is modulation seperate from AM which works like AM with no carrier and is a highly efficient method of sending transmissions over long distances. SSB is frequently used for two-way transmissions such as HAM radio operators, aeronautical transmissions and maritime transmissions. RTTY: Radio Teletype. RTTY is a way of sending text over shortwave by way of a decoding device. Radio Fax: Radio fax frequencies are like a shortwave radio data modem. They sound like the 7th level of hell in a scifi movie when heard in SSB mode. MW: Medium wave, more commonly known as local AM broadcast band. LW: Long Wave, a range of frequencies with longer wavelengths than the MW band. UTC/GMT/"Zulu time": These are all terms for coordinated universal time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time or "Zulu time" (in the military). UTC is a universal 24 hour clock with no regard for time zones. SW schedules are given in UTC so people can tune in without having to convert to local time. UTC updates can be heard in the US on time signal frequencies 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mHz. CW: CW (or Continuous Wave) is another term for Morse Code. Morse code is still frequently used on SW frequencies. By the way, W1AW broadcasts regular code practice on 1.8175, 3.5815, 7.0475, 14.0475, 18.0975, 21.0675, 28.0675 and 147.555 MHz so you can hone your mad CW skillz. "Q" Signals: These are CW shorthand. 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. SW LINKS Dog Case gave us a great link, a PDF chart that has a basic breakdown of EVERYTHING you will find on the SW. In the event that you run across weird noises/data streams (which you certainly will), this will help you to determine what you are hearing. Also, here is the link to the A/V forum Ham Radio thread. It'll be great if the Ham goons can come in here and get some good crossover discussion going! -NOTE: This thread is now in the archives and requires an archives capable account to view. There is now a new GBS Ham thread located here. I also would like to include a few links in terms of general SW primers and equipment resources that can help people cet started. Radio Intelligencer is a great amateur radio resource focusing largely on equipment. They have a lot of good product reviews to help you with choosing a good receiver. Universal Radio is a flippin' fantabulous retailer that carries everything you could possibly look for in terms of SW/ham/emergency/scanner radios. They have every tiny bit of equipment you could hope to look for. I'm not going to lie, I have a serious hard-on for Eton/Grundig radios. I do not have a financial/corporate interest in the company, I just really like their radios. Their Elite series (E1, E5, E10, E100) are very good radios. They even have a $500 uberpimped-out SW/AM/FM/SSB radio with XM receiver built-in. DXing dot com has a good beginners introduction to SW listening. Definitely worth checking out. If you're looking for a good dipole antenna on the cheap for serious DXing, this visually atrocious, but terrific ebay store is a great resource. They sell high-end dipoles made out of metal slinkies! Kiwa Electronics will hot rod receivers for you for enhanced performance at reasonable rates and many people swear by them. Additionally, here are a couple of reference books on SW listening that many find useful: WRTH Passport to world-band radio UK-Centric SW links, provided by thehustler http://www.ofcom.org.uk - The UK regulator of telecommunications and radiocommunications. A good starting guide for lots of information. You'll also find some information on amateur radio licensing, if that is your sort of thing (see HAM radio thread, obviously), which leads to... http://www.rsgb.org.uk - The Radio Society of Great Britain - this is more suited to HAM radio than listening, but you might find information on new allocations and special event stations that might be worth a listen. Places to spend your hard earned cash: http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk - Nevada Radio, a pretty cheap online shop that sells a good range of stuff http://www.wsplc.com - Waters and Stanton, pretty much the main place for radio gear in the country, stocks a wider range of stuff than Nevada, and the prices are usually pretty comparable. Both places stock a huge range of shortware and HAM gear, as well as other cool radio-based stuff. That's all well and good, but is SW the ONLY way to hear weird and crazy poo poo on radio frequencies? No, not at all. For shorter range, but frequently weirder stuff, go for a VHF/UHF scanner. Scanner discussions and great info for the beginner start on Page 18. But AstroZamboni, I'm a lazy, shiftless motherfucker who doesn't have the patience to read this whole post. What should I do? My first instinct would be to tell you to find and utilize a straight razor and a bathtub, as you are polluting the gene pool with your ADD and illiteracy. However, some of you out there might dismiss such a measure as draconian extremism. Instead, just check it all out in portions on goon extraordinaire nitrogen's awesometacular SA Shortwave Wiki (NOTE: link currently broken. Leaving in place in case nitrogen returns)! The wiki contains all of the information contained in this OP, and will soon contain a whole metric fuckton more! Mad props to nitrogen for making this possible. ---------------------------------- So, any fellow SW goons want to join the conversation? Trade stories of weird poo poo found on the airwaves? Grab your radios and start tuning, everyone. Lets have some fun! Also, goon nitrogen has put together a SW listening IRC channel #shortwave. So go keep him company! ---------------------------------- THREAD FINANCIAL DRAIN STATS, ADDED 6/14/07, UPDATED THROUGH 9/10/09 Kenwood R1000: 1 unit sold: $176 Uniden BCT8 Scanner: 1 unit sold: $160 Yaesu Receiver: 1 unit sold: $300 total Yaesu FRG-100 receiver: 1 unit sold: $430 Yaesu Ft-707: 1 unit sold: $142 Icom IC-725 Tranceiver: 1 unit sold: $400 Icom IC-T7H: 1 unit sold: $162 Quansheng VHF Tranceiver: 1 unit sold: $60 GRE PSR-282 Scanner: 1 unit sold: $100 Sangean ats-505p: 2 units sold: $200 Sangean SG-721L: 1 unit sold: $30 Softrock: 1 unit sold: $10 Kaito/Degen 1103: 9 units sold: $728 Kaito/Degen 1102: 1 unit sold: $49 Kaito/Degen 2100: 1 unit sold: $85 Yaesu FRG-7: 1 unit sold: $50 RadioShack DX-394: 1 unit sold: $90 RadioShack DX-390: 1 unit sold: $15 Sony 7600 portable: 2 units sold: $310 Sony ICF-SW7600GR: 5 units sold: $874 Sony ICF-2010: 1 unit sold: $293 cvisors big spending spree (IC-706MkIIG, powersupply, LDG AT-7000 tuner, a few antennas): $1,713 Sony AN-LP1 antenna: 8 units sold: $797 Grundig S350/DL: 7 units sold: $500 total Grundig YB 400: 1 unit sold: $3 (Dog Case, you are one lucky son of a bitch!) Grundig G4000A: 2 units sold: $130 Grundig G2000A: 1 unit sold: $54 Grundig Mini300: 5 units sold: $150 Eton E5/Grundig G5 : 60 units sold: $7,913 total Grundig G6: 13 unit sold: $1,379 Grundig G4: 1 unit sold: $100 Grundig G3: 1 unit sold: $100 Roberts R9914: 1 unit sold: $66 Realistic DX-440: 1 unit sold: $4 Pro-2055 scanner: 1 unit sold: $200 Sundry accessories (books, antennae, wire): Totaling $720.50 investment Eavesdropper Dipole: 1 unit sold: $80 slinkyantennas.com Broomstick Antenna: 1 unit sold: $35 Degen DE31 Antenna: 3 unit sold: $84 Lowbander Slinky Antenna: 1 unit sold: $20 MFJ-971 ATU: 1 unit sold: $160 Ham License (1): $50 Lowbander DX-394 Mod: $90 Platinum Upgrade: 1 (thanks Halah!) $10 New Forums accounts (welcome aboard, PancakeMan, Stephen-Mcr, War Penis, BrntNjal, Coryne, JacquelineDempsey and I, Greyhound!) $70 Forums Upgrades for 100th radio winner: $20 So far, this thread has inspired goons to part with $19,162 dollars (American) of their hard-earned money, making this thread a significant financial drain on the forum population! And if Hudibrastic can persuade his wife to let him get an E1XM, this total will be pushed to $19,662! Considering $10,879 of the second total has been going to the Eton/Grundig corporation, and $2,274 has been going to Sony, I should be asking for some big drat commissions! Hell, even Lowtax himself has made 100 bucks in new members and upgrades resulting from this thread. Quick Stats: Radios sold due to thread: 129 External high-end Antennae: 17 Special Thanks I'd like to thank some of the goons who have made AWESOME contributions to this thread, providing links, instructions, hints, tidbits and general radio badassery. I'd like to name them here. Halah thehustler Darksol Dog Case blugu64 Bad Mutant Vibes overflow nmfree Hudibrastic InediblePenguin PancakeMan Nitrogen McRib Sandwich Keep on listening! -AsroZamboni (KF7JKA) AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Jun 11, 2013 |
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 01:01
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 08:01 |
|
|
AstroZamboni posted:My personal favorite is the Eton, which has a good balance of features and price. What kind of antenna do you use with your portable? I have the Sony radio you mentioned and use a length of wire soldered on to a 3.5mm plug into the external antenna jack. It gives a bit better reception than the included reel antenna and telescopic but I’m just wondering if there’s anything better you recommend. I’ve only been doing this a few months so I don’t know much.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 01:13
|
|
|
Oh good one. Might be an idea to add a link to the Ham thread in A/V, seen as it's kind of linked. No crazy stories, just some nice picks over the past few years. All of this is with a single length of 20 metre bell wire looped around my room a few times, and back to the coax (one on the shielding, one on the centre core) and then a metre length of 50ohm Coax. No fancy gear at all. Just a handheld Kenwood F7E that does SSB too. Which rocks. Rare to find a handheld that does SSB. I've managed to get planes over the Atlantic, the VOLMET station in Gander, Canada, and some nice stuff from Russia and Eastern Europe (Although, that isn't much of a pick, a lot of them use loving ridiculous amounts of transmit power). All of this from my bedroom in North West England. Radio is cool.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 01:17
|
|
|
Kid Ying posted:What kind of antenna do you use with your portable? I have the Sony radio you mentioned and use a length of wire soldered on to a 3.5mm plug into the external antenna jack. It gives a bit better reception than the included reel antenna and telescopic but I’m just wondering if there’s anything better you recommend. I’ve only been doing this a few months so I don’t know much. Depends. I have an antenna farm in my backyard of wire antennae of various lengths stretched out in different directions. I also have a 35 portable wire antenna that a keep wound up in a fly fishing reel attached to a caribener clip for taking on camping trips. Sometimes I just take a shitload of wire, alligator clip an end to the built-in whip antenna and throw the other end up a tree. Different set ups work better/worse than others depending on conditions. There isn't any one perfect answer. In a perfect world I would erect a large tunable multi-band dipole on my roof, but that aint happening.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 01:18
|
|
|
Crazy story #1. This happened just last night. I was tuning in "Atencion" which is a Cuban number station, and picked it up nice and cleanly. About 5 minutes into the transmission, something which (at first) sounded like a legitemate broadcast came on the same frequency causing interference. The station was in Spanish, but I noticed that it seemed to be repeating the same phrases over and over again. I know a little bit of Spanish, so I was able to pick up the gist of what was being said and it was always variations on the phrase "I like it very much," such as "It is very pleasing to me," "I love it," "it is certainly agreeable," etc. All together there were 10 variations on the phrase repeated in groups. This obviously implied the phrases were substitutes for digits 0 through 9 and was transmitting code groups. Data bursts could also be heard interspersed with the phrase groups. Also, the broadcast seemed to be coming from farther north than the Cuban number traffic, which indicated it was likely coming from inside the US. So here's the million dollar question: If you're going to jam a number station, why try to send a message on top of it, or go to that much trouble to make a jamming signal sound like a half-assed legit broadcast or a very weird code group?  Edited for spelling. AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Jun 6, 2007 |
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 01:25
|
|
|
Ah shortwave. I don't have room to put up an antenna now, but I still have my trusty Realistic DX-380 with me. I can mostly pick up the American stations, but not much else these days. One interesting aspect about shortwave is how it's used around the world. Here in the so-called First World, shortwave radio is becoming obsolete. With the internet and wide spread terrestrial FM stations, we have easy access to news. Shortwave in North America and Europe is mainly for ex-pats working abroad to keep abreast of what's going on in their home country, or to broadcast signals into countries and regions with light news coverage. As we scale back on SW broadcasts, the stations and transmitters are being bought by religious broadcasters. Most SW signals in North America are from churches. In places like Africa and South America, SW broadcasts are the main way of getting news reports and emergency announcements to the citizenry. A UK company invented a cheap, wind up shortwave radio that doesn't run on batteries and these radios are widely distributed into remote areas for the people to hear newscasts. These broadcasts are very low power and often challenging to try to pick up in North America. These are often called Tropical Band stations and are down in the 3-7 kHz range. You'll mostly hear subtropical noise down there without an extremely sensitive antenna. Great idea for a thread AstroZamboni!
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 01:26
|
|
|
I'm really interested in the Preachers. I've long had an interest in  and watching televangelists due to the utter hilarity, but I think hearing even more crazy Shortwave preachers rant would be better, but I'm not about to buy a nice shortwave radio just for that. You wouldn't happen to have any clips of this saved that could be uploaded do you?
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 01:26
|
|
|
Aineris posted:I'm really interested in the Preachers. I've long had an interest in If you primarily want to smoke up and listen to SW preachers, a cheap pocket radio with analog tuning would actually be just fine. There is a decent Eton/Grundig pocket 7 band SW radio that is carried at most Radio Shacks for 30 bucks. It'll give you access to the weirdest SW religion has to offer. http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card/?p_ProductDbId=6289
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 01:31
|
|
|
Here'e the link to the HAM thread in AV. I'm not a HAM myself, but many SW listeners are. Maybe we could get some good crossover discussions happening! http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2386322 I also wouldn't be opposed to hearing stories from VHF/UHF scanners. Maybe this should just be the RF monitoring megathread?
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 01:52
|
|
|
Crazy Story #2: The existence of this freaky station was independently verified by other goons during the last Number Station thread (which pushed me to stop lurking after five years and finally get a loving account). On some nights, if you turn to 5915 kHz you can hear bird calls. The odd thing is it is only a short (five or six seconds) loop of bird calls repeated over and over and over for TWO FREAKIN' HOURS. It starts at the top of an hour, runs for two hours, shuts off. What is even weirder is that the bird calls are used to cover up an RTTY (radio teletype) or Databurst transmission in the lower sideband. This is one of the spookier stations I've run across, and I haven't yet found an explanation for it. Crazy Story #3 By far the weirdest single clandestine station I've listened to was the "Cuban Babbler," a Number Station where a male voice sings the number transmissions in spanish. I often wonder if differing musical notes conceal an extra layer of encryption to the code.  Mundane story #1: Every shortwave HAM radio operator is a middle aged or elderly gentleman with a southern accent. Basically, HAM frequencies are the most boring chat rooms of all. I've used the SSB function on my radio to listen to ham conversation. One time I listened to a bunch of old guys chatting for an hour about their favorite brands of coffee, with the one who roasts his own beans being the most vocal. Usually all the hams I've listened to mostly talk about radio equipment.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 02:17
|
|
|
Unfortunately, I haven't come across any numbers stations with my cheap shortwave radio from Radio Shack. It's still rather addictive to listen to. And yes, I have found a lot of crazy preachers. Also: some guy that sounded like a South American revolutionary of some kind rallying his people, and the Netherlands version of NPR (basically).
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 07:03
|
|
|
Shortwave has always been something that interested me, but freaked me out way too much to get into. I mean, I just listen to it, even recordings, and freak out a little bit inside.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 07:28
|
|
|
Just put in an order for an Eton E5, been meaning to get a shortwave radio for awhile, and now I finally have the money/excuse (birthday present for self). I've tried looking but haven't found anything quite like I want ... is there a chart of what frequencies are commonly used for what, like emergency services and aircraft and so on? Or is it something you have to sort of get a feel for?
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 08:26
|
|
|
I've always found the radio realm rather fascinating and I've wanted to get into it for a while-- especially shortwave. What I'd really like to do though is to build my own radio from scratch. I figure I can use 2 old pulse generators I have for parts-- one from the 1970s that is working (somewhat) and one from the 1980s that is broken-- for a LOT of discrete spare parts, a 120v transformer with a few secondary rails, etc. -- and the working one, since it can pump out anywhere between 5 Hz and 50 MHz, could be used to tune in frequencies in very small increments (the things are fully analog.) Although, they spit out a square wave signal, and I probably want a sine. I have access to a pretty big TV antenna and I figure I could probably use it to pick up AM radio signals as well as the usual FM TV signals. If someone could point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 10:36
|
|
|
The reason why Ham conversations are boring and about radio is because the whole point of amateur radio is experimentation and bettering your skills and setups. People share information and help each other. Saying that Ham radio is boring because people talk about radio is like saying SH/SC is boring because people only talk about Computers 
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 10:47
|
|
|
I just dragged my old 10-meter (28MHz) radio out, stuck a magnetic-mount antenna to my air conditioner, and talked to a guy from North Carolina using a few watts of radio energy. I still think ham radio's fun, even though I usually have better conversations at the bar around the corner. Epicenter, check out old ARRL handbooks, they usually have lots of schematics that use "obsolete" parts.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 10:52
|
|
|
How difficult is it to transmit over shortwave, e.g. is it possible to carry on a decent conversation with someone very far away? Or is it pretty much receive only unless you want to spend lots of money, use tons of power and give yourself a wicked RF burn?  I'd also like to know, if anyone can tell me, where I can get electronic components, blank PCBs, solder, wire, BNC cables, and radio specific stuff of that nature fairly cheap. eBay has a lot of crap but it all costs a fuckton. Epicenter fucked around with this message at 12:16 on Jun 5, 2007 |
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 12:14
|
|
|
I got extremely lucky and bought a Grundig Satellit 700 at a garage sale for 40 bucks. Haven't really gotten to use it yet, I just got married and going to bed when my wife does is far more appealing than numbers stations.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 12:20
|
|
|
I had heard that BPL (Broadband over Power Line) will effectively make listening to worldband impossible anywhere remotely close to power lines. Does anyone know more about this?
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 13:13
|
|
|
drat, I really wanted to get into this, but I really can't justify spending $150 for a radio 
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 13:40
|
|
|
Shastao posted:Just put in an order for an Eton E5, been meaning to get a shortwave radio for awhile, and now I finally have the money/excuse (birthday present for self). I've tried looking but haven't found anything quite like I want ... is there a chart of what frequencies are commonly used for what, like emergency services and aircraft and so on? Or is it something you have to sort of get a feel for? Actually, charts of that very nature are included in the user manual for the E5! They are very helpful and have aided me in picking up several aircraft and nautical transmissions. Emergency transmissions are rarer, and local ones will almost vertainly be in VHF/UHF unreachable through the E5. I am very seriously considering purchasing a UHF scanner sometime in the future. Niklas Kronwall posted:I got extremely lucky and bought a Grundig Satellit 700 at a garage sale for 40 bucks. Haven't really gotten to use it yet, I just got married and going to bed when my wife does is far more appealing than numbers stations. Jesus merciful gently caress on a pancake! THat is one HELL of a score, and if that thing is in good condition it might be just about the best drat radio you can get. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2007 16:45
|
|
|
Popsicle posted:I had heard that BPL (Broadband over Power Line) will effectively make listening to worldband impossible anywhere remotely close to power lines. Does anyone know more about this? Short answer is possibly. It would really cause interference with anyone trying to listen to any kind of radio (including cell phones, TVs, and police/fire radios), but would really muck up SW due to the relative weakness of signals. Additionally, anyone transmitting any kind of RF signal could cause interference on the BPL line loving up data streams. So here we have 2 choices: We could scrap BPL until we can find a better system, or completely say goodbye to any technology utilizing radio. I'd go with scrapping BPL, personally. Wikipedia has a lot on the subject here.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 06:42
|
|
|
Finally! I've been waiting for a thread like this. I love my old Hammarlund HQ-129X. Thing's taken quite a beating over the last 60 years (not in my possession, obviously, but with the Civil Air Patrol), but it's still going strong. Best drat receiver I've had.AstroZamboni posted:Short answer is possibly. It would really cause interference with anyone trying to listen to any kind of radio (including cell phones, TVs, and police/fire radios), but would really muck up SW due to the relative weakness of signals. Additionally, anyone transmitting any kind of RF signal could cause interference on the BPL line loving up data streams. If I am not mistaken, Japan tried BPL already, with horrible results. Pepperoneedy fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Jun 6, 2007 |
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 06:52
|
|
|
Good timing! My shiny New SL350 Deluxe should be here tomorrow Also I'm a ham, and found this thread via the A/V Ham thread blugu64 fucked around with this message at 07:11 on Jun 6, 2007 |
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 07:03
|
|
|
blugu64 posted:Good timing! My shiny New SL350 Deluxe should be here tomorrow In terms of sensitivity and audio quality, that is a drat fine radio. Lacks a few features like key entry and SSB, but makes up for it in solid quality. WHen you get it be sure to let us know how it holds onto station positions. The earlier model S350 (non deluxe) tended to "drift" pretty badly. I'm curious to know how well the frequency lock feature works on the DL.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 07:10
|
|
|
I bought the el cheapo radioshack handheld and can only pick up a few stations in my apartment. Can I perform any mods to boost my reception on this thing or should I scrap it and pony up some cash for a halfway decent receiver? I'm in the city in a small apartment so I don't have any room to run lengths of wire and realize the being in a city probably doesn't help my situation at all.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 07:12
|
|
|
AstroZamboni posted:In terms of sensitivity and audio quality, that is a drat fine radio. Lacks a few features like key entry and SSB, but makes up for it in solid quality. I'm planning on picking up a nicer HF Transceiver in the next month or so, so it's a stop gap radio as I'm feeling quite impatient. Also I scored it for $40 off of ebay I grew up with a japanese market Sony SW radio (parents were in the military), which drifted better then those fancy cars do, so half of the reason I picked the 350 was because of the analog tuning. blugu64 fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Jun 6, 2007 |
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 07:14
|
|
|
AstroZamboni posted:I also wouldn't be opposed to hearing stories from VHF/UHF scanners. Maybe this should just be the RF monitoring megathread? I apologize for the double post, but didn't catch this until now. Superman Strikes! I enjoy listening to scanners, and usually find a nice busy frequency(s) to scan and listen to while I drift off into dreamland. One friday night I was listening to the South Dallas police (it's what all the cool kids do on friday night, right?) who were called over to a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex. Pretty run of the mill, until I hear the police say that the suspect ran out the front door and across the parking lot wearing nothing but a 'superman cape' and a kitchen knife. The apprehended the suspect,and sadly I didn't catch much more then that. Police Scanners (and radios in general) Rock.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 07:23
|
|
|
blugu64 posted:I apologize for the double post, but didn't catch this until now. Fuuuuuccckkkk.... Now I NEED a god-dammitin' scanner. There goes next semester's tuition. hoju22 posted:I bought the el cheapo radioshack handheld and can only pick up a few stations in my apartment. Can I perform any mods to boost my reception on this thing or should I scrap it and pony up some cash for a halfway decent receiver? I'm in the city in a small apartment so I don't have any room to run lengths of wire and realize the being in a city probably doesn't help my situation at all. Depends. Getting close to an open window should help reception a bit, but deep in the busy city isn't typically the optimal place to do SW DXing. Just taking a drive out of the city a ways for an evening will open up lots of stronger signals, and boosting the antenna with a length of wire won't hurt either. AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Jun 6, 2007 |
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 07:26
|
|
|
I have a Sony 7600GR and had at one point a 100-foot longwire antenna. Radio is cool and I always seem to hear something new despite having to slog through the ten million religious broadcasters. Gene Scott is still on their air, despite being dead!
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 07:43
|
|
|
hoju22 posted:I bought the el cheapo radioshack handheld and can only pick up a few stations in my apartment Get a long length of wire and wrap it around your antenna. Also, go outside.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 07:44
|
|
|
Radio is awesome. I've got a couple shortwave receivers, a scanner, and another scanner on the way. I've posted this in a few other threads, but I think it needs to come out again:  My Yaesu FRG-7 I found at a thrift store for $12.99. Works perfectly. Even came with the manual, schematics and warranty card!
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 07:45
|
|
|
Dog Case posted:Radio is awesome. I've got a couple shortwave receivers, a scanner, and another scanner on the way. This is the reason my fiance makes endless fun of me for religiously going to local thrift stores.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 16:49
|
|
|
I've got a Grundig S350, which isn't half bad, but leaves a bit to be desired - if I did it over again, I'd definitely pay an extra $50 for a better radio like the ones in the OP. Digital tuning is the way to go (although analog with a digital frequency display is tolerable), and SSB is a nice feature to have as well. Honestly, given the reception around here, I use it more as just a portable AM/FM radio (it has drat nice sound quality for something its size). Keep in mind that in much of the US, you're going to need a decent external antenna if you want to get much of anything besides Radio Havana and a pile of religious stations, especially if your geographical location is poo poo or if there's a lot of RF noise in your area (yay large city situated in a valley  ).
Beerios fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Jun 6, 2007 |
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 17:44
|
|
|
Dog Case posted:Radio is awesome. I've got a couple shortwave receivers, a scanner, and another scanner on the way. Best. Thrift store find. EVER. Jesus gently caress, where is this thrift store? Bobcats posted:I have a Sony 7600GR and had at one point a 100-foot longwire antenna. Radio is cool and I always seem to hear something new despite having to slog through the ten million religious broadcasters. Ironically, I've found that sometimes "longer is better" isn't the case. When I tried hooking up an 80 foot long wire, it picked up more interference than programming. Trimming it down to 60 feet worked best ultimately. At least where I live, Gene Scott is still on TV too! A local channel shows "Festival of Faith" reruns on latenight. I gotta give the dude credit, he was a hell of a showman. Rotten Library has the best biography of him I've ever seen. Wikipedia's entry is a joke, blatantly propagandized by one of his followers/employees. http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/religion/dr-gene-scott/
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 18:06
|
|
|
My current RF command center consists of my LW\MW\SW\FM Grundig Satellit 700, my old-as-gently caress Realistic Patrolman-B which picks up AM\FM\VHF\UHF\Weather\Television\Air Traffic, and my also-old-as-gently caress Panasonic RF-1150 which picks up AM\FM\SW\CB frequencies. I have them wired into the line-in on my computer for recording, and am looking into picking up external antennas to wire into them (hopefully I can find a way to splice a few antennas into all of them). Unfortunately, the old SW radio doesn't do SSB, I don't have a manual with my Grundig, and the old Patrolman can't pick up most modern VHF\UHF transmissions. I will probably add a good modern scanner at some point so that I can cover the full RF spectrum. The funny thing is, all three radios were purchased at garage sales and cost me a total of 60 bucks, for what I think is 500 dollars worth of equipment.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 18:17
|
|
|
Niklas Kronwall posted:My current RF command center consists of my LW\MW\SW\FM Grundig Satellit 700, my old-as-gently caress Realistic Patrolman-B which picks up AM\FM\VHF\UHF\Weather\Television\Air Traffic, and my also-old-as-gently caress Panasonic RF-1150 which picks up AM\FM\SW\CB frequencies. I have them wired into the line-in on my computer for recording, and am looking into picking up external antennas to wire into them (hopefully I can find a way to splice a few antennas into all of them). Unfortunately, the old SW radio doesn't do SSB, I don't have a manual with my Grundig, and the old Patrolman can't pick up most modern VHF\UHF transmissions. I will probably add a good modern scanner at some point so that I can cover the full RF spectrum. Whish SW doesn't handle SSB? Because the Satellit 700 sure does. I'm pretty sure the Grundig manuals can be found online somewhere. Radio Intelligencer might be a good place to start looking.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 18:38
|
|
|
AstroZamboni posted:Whish SW doesn't handle SSB? Because the Satellit 700 sure does. The Patrolman-B is a lower-end portable from the early 80s; it can receive CB (but I hardly ever hear anything) but it doesn't do SSB. I am trying to find a long external antenna for both my Grundig and the Patrolman; but the Grundig has a european input and the Patrolman has the weird prong screws in the back, I think, like old TVs have for their antenna inputs.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 18:51
|
|
|
Niklas Kronwall posted:The Patrolman-B is a lower-end portable from the early 80s; it can receive CB (but I hardly ever hear anything) but it doesn't do SSB. Universal Radio is probably a good source that can help you find the adapters you need. That way when you do have a good external antenna, you can use it with either radio.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 19:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 08:01 |
|
|
Just adding a neat link before I run off to work. A chart of all of the radio frequency allocations for the U.S. Find a weird data transmission and wonder what it could be? This thing can give you some sort of an idea. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2007 19:10
|
|