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The Spectrum Monitor — January, 2017
December 30th, 2016 | 
Author: 
Stories you’ll find in our January, 2017 issue:
Living the Shortwave Broadcasting Dream at WTWW
By Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF
Ted Randall WB8PUM is a lucky guy. Every day he gets to play radio with some pretty big transmitters and some very large antennas. What’s more, his whole family gets to play too. And at night, after work, he gets to play some more! Keith Baker tells us all about the radio engineer behind the mic at the “QSO Radio Show,” Tuesday evenings on 5.085 MHz shortwave.
SteppIR BigIR MK IV: Going to Great Lengths
By Mark Haverstock K8MSH
In limited spaces, the vertical has become the go-to antenna for many installations. They seem like a perfect solution; footprints are small, and simple radial systems are easy to hide in the turf. Verticals also exhibit lower angles of radiation, making them perfect for DX work. The SteppIR BigIR stands out as an alternative, providing a system that will mechanically create a quarter wave vertical on any of the major ham bands–even MARS frequencies.
Going Mobile with SDR
By Robert Gulley AK3Q
There are a number of reasons to go mobile with an SDR, not the least of which is the adventure factor! Every new place offers new listening opportunities; it is a bit like fingerprints in that no two locations are exactly the same. Every location offers something different, and with the wide-ranging capabilities of the SDR there are always new things to hear. Robert shows us what to bring along, how to hook up to power and an antenna. It’s easier than you might think!
The Extra Punch of SSB on CB
By Cory Sickles
In recent months, Cory has spent a good deal of time on the VHF and UHF aspects of Citizens Band, but CB is thought of more for what goes on at 27 MHz. To be sure, the core HF allocation is where the majority of CB users start and where they stay. As a simple option to enter the two-way radio hobby, it’s hard to beat. But that doesn’t mean the world of CB has to be limited to 4 watts of amplitude modulation. Cory explains what happens when CB goes SSB.
Basics of Motorized Satellite Reception: Part 1
By Mike Kohl
Free-to-Air satellite-TV enthusiasts get the most out of their systems, whether they’re Ku-only or C/Ku-Band big-dish systems, when they are motorized. But, moving small dishes or big dishes requires the right sort of motor and proper connections. Mike shows us how it’s done in Part 1.
Klingenfuss Utility Monitoring Book
By Bob Grove W8JHD
For several decades, Joerg Klingenfuss has been the consummate publisher of radio frequency directories on a global basis. His latest offerings include frequency guides, databases and CDs, code books, signal sound CDs, a frequency list for the Perseus SDR, screen-shots on a USB stick, and Internet web pages. Bob Grove takes a look at this extensive new collection.
Scanning America
By Dan Veenaman
New Digital Modes for Some Scanners
Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
A New Year In Federal Monitoring
Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman NV6H
U. of Twente WebSDR Featured in Popular Video
HF Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman
Digitally Speaking
By Cory Sickles WA3UVV
The Advantages of DMR on VHF
VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
Aurorasaurus.org: Aurora Tracking in Real Time
Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
A Vertical in Winter
Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
FTA Satellite TV Part II: “Hidden” Signals on Satellite TV
Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
Solar Cycle 24 Downgraded (Again)
The World of Shortwave Listening
By Jeff White
HFCC B16 Coordinating Conference in Miami and Okeechobee
The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Radio Australia Leaves Shortwave
Maritime Monitoring
By Ron Walsh VE3GO
The Old and the New
The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
More LW Information Sources and Readers’ LW Logs
Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Hallicrafters S-38B: the UL-Approved Basket Case
Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Sunspots Maybe, Part 2: Hey, Dan, What About Stealth?
The Spectrum Monitor is available in PDF format which can be read on any desktop, laptop, iPad®, Kindle® Fire, or other device capable of opening a PDF file. Annual subscription is $24. Individual monthly issues are available for $3 each.
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 139
Ham Radio Deluxe bricks user’s software after negative review
37 pages into into this forum’s discussion of HRD’s brutally inept handling of a customer complaint, the co-owner of the company wades into the fray and apologizes.
Techdirt
Amateur radio fans drop the ham-mer on HRD’s license key ‘blacklist’
Remotely killing one customer’s copy was not an isolated incident, say readers.
The Register
NPOTA contact tally tops 1 Million
Activators operating from National Park Service units across the US and Chasers around the world pushed the contact tally over its goal this week.
ARRL
EME In The ’80s
Unlike today’s widespread JT65B usage on eme, where signals can be many db into the noise and inaudible by ear, eme contacts could only be completed by actually copying signals that you could hear with your ears. This usually required big antennas and lots of power.
VE7SL
Keeping an NVIS antenna legal on 60 meters
To compute ERP, antenna gain must be relative to a half-wave dipole antenna. An NVIS antenna has a lot more gain than a dipole.
keep-nvis-legal-on-60m
A Cootie key
The “Cootie” key or “Sideswiper” is basically a double-sided straight key and has a reputation for being very hard to learn, possibly harder even than the Vibroplex Bug.
Ham Radio QRP
Using a GPS repeater antenna with the Yaesu FTM-400DR
My Yaesu FTM-400DR has had a difficult time ascertaining a GPS lock inside of my vehicle. Some others have also complained of this.
K5ACL
Video
Discovering secret “Numbers Stations”
Brian and Jason have been scanning the air waves for sstv signals for two months, but what they found was something else. An old standby from the Cold War.
The Modern Rogue
Icom-7300 spectrum scope band edge how-to
For those of you wanting to customize the band edges here’s a how-to.
K0PIR
DMR range test part 1 of 3: Baofeng DM-5R
In the series I am doing a range test of three different DMR radios from two locations. One location is 11km away and the other almost 19km away.
dmr-range-test
A diamond radio receiver
Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have made the world’s smallest radio receiver.
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering
FX-9A Revisited
FX-9A Revisted
http://www.windcamp-gear.com
I was told by Frankie when it was shipped away and on the bench that there was a bad solder connection and a virtual switch issue, what-ever that might be in English.
I am happy to say that the radio came back new and working well on all bands. Receive is like many of the other videos I have watched on the internet.
I will have more updates and videos of the unit in action after the holidays.
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year one and all….
Fred
VE3FAL
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 138
Chinese Over-the-horizon radar QRMing 40 meters
IARU reports that one of China’s HF Over-the-Horizon radars has been transmitting on 6.999 MHz.
ARRL
Ham Radio: What are we millennials and younger doing?
We’re being hackers, engineers, leaders, developers, creators, and designers.
N0SSC
Portable antenna options for HF
For all the choices, it’s surprisingly hard to find a portable antenna for HF that is affordable and practical.
Off Grid Ham
GMRS: The other UHF band
GMRS is a licensed radio service but does not require a technical exam so it works great for basic personal communications.
K0NR
Review: WSPRlite WSPR Beacon
A small, light, & super portable WSPR beacon that transmits a WSPR signal on 20 or 30 meters.
K5ACL
Morse Toad, a Morse Code game
Morse Toad is an educational app that teaches you morse code through a series of simple lessons and exercises.
Ham Radio QRP
SSTV images received from MIR space station
April 16, 2000
N7CXI
Tracking down sources of radio noise
Yet another !&*%$! noise source…
The SWLing Post
Video
New UHF ISS Digipeater
Recently, the old VHF Ericsson handheld used for the digipeater on the ISS died and it was replaced with an equivalent UHF one. This is my first time digipeating through it.
YouTube
The Spectrum Monitor — December, 2016
Stories you’ll find in our December, 2016 issue:
The Coast Guard Cutter Courier: “A Cold War-era Battleship without Guns”
By John Schneider W9FGH
The Voice of America operated a unique shipboard radio broadcasting facility on the medium wave and shortwave bands in the Mediterranean Sea from 1952 to 1964. The US Coast Guard Cutter Courier was a seagoing Cold War shipboard broadcaster, which preceded the famous pirate radio ships of the 1960s and 70s and was the home to the most powerful transmitter ever operated aboard a ship. But, it was not always smooth sailing. There were complications with the 900-foot balloon-tethered medium wave antenna and constant jamming from Russian-based transmitters.
Experiences of a (Relatively) Young Ham with Vintage Radios
By W. Eric McFadden WD8RIF
While the author has been a licensed ham for 38 years, he’s relatively young. And, since most of his operating gear is modern, he’s fairly new to vintage radio. He writes that he wanted to experience what the hobby was like for earlier generations and he felt the contagion of many of his close amateur radio friends who are quite into vacuum tube-era gear. He’s apparently a quick study because now he has some good-looking vintage gear in his shack, including a Heathkit HW-16 and a Drake 2-NT transmitter and 2-C receiver as well as tube-fired 6-meter gear. He’s definitely hooked!
Beware the Mods: Drake 2NT Transmitter
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Longtime vintage radio guru, Rich Post KB8TAD, helps Eric McFadden restore his Drake 2-NT transmitter and shows the rest of us some of the things he does to give vintage radio gear new life. Here’s a hint: It’s not easy and it helps to have good diagnostic equipment, skills to operate that equipment and many decades of understanding the variables of tube-technology.
Shortwave Listening with the “Old-Timers”
By Eric Beheim
Growing up in the 1950s and listening to his grandfather’s 1936 23-tube Scott All-Wave console shortwave radio was a pretty good start for young Eric Beheim. That’s why today, Eric likes to listen to the shortwave bands on number of vintage shortwave radios, including a 1936 Hallicrafters S-20R Sky Champion and a 1942 Zenith model 7G605 Transoceanic “Clipper” among others. Listening is not as easy as you might think. Eric writes, “Most older radios lack the sensitivity, selectivity, and stability that we take for granted in our modern sets. But that’s what makes monitoring with the ‘old timers’ both challenging and exciting.”
A Salute to the Esteemed Regenerative Receiver
By Richard Fisher KI6SN
Fifty years ago, a teenage Richard Fisher, sporting his Novice call, WN1DWL, found he was at loose ends during his high school winter break. What better way to pass the time than to build a regenerative receiver that he could use to cover the ham bands from 160 through 10 meters? It was a project financially within reach of “a broke 16 year-old.” Years later, while he still had the rig, it had fallen victim to the ravages of time and “parts scrounging.” Now, Richard thought, what better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that little radio than to restore it to its full regenerative glory?
Scanning America
By Dan Veenaman
Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Holiday Radio Logs
Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman NV6H
Russia to Activate Arctic OTH Radar in 2017
Digital HF: Intercept and Analyze
By Mike Chace-Ortiz AB1TZ/G6DHU
What Digital HF Signals can you Hear and Decode Today?
HF Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman
Digitally Speaking
By Cory Sickles WA3UVV
Holiday Wish List
VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
ARISS: A Brief Flyover and My Experiences with ARISS QSOs
Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
The Hows and Whys of DIY Open-Wire Feed Line
Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Getting Started with Free-to-Air Satellite TV
Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
Plasma Bullets
The World of Shortwave Listening
By Rob Wagner VK3BVW
On the Road with a Tecsun PL-680
The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Christmas Around the World on Shortwave
Amateur Radio Astronomy
By Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF
Amateur Radio Satellite Operating Protocols
The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
Resources: What’s On Your Bookshelf?
Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
The Heathkit Laboratory-type Signal Generators: LG-1 and IG-42
Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Sunspot Maybe: Surviving without Upper HF
The Spectrum Monitor is available in PDF format which can be read on any desktop, laptop, iPad®, Kindle® Fire, or other device capable of opening a PDF file. Annual subscription is $24. Individual monthly issues are available for $3 each.
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 137
Amateur Radio Parity Act stalled
The legislation will be reintroduced in both houses of Congress after the 115th Session begins in January.
ARRL
Pearl Harbor Attack: Monitoring American radio traffic
IJN beefed up its radio-intelligence coverage of the American military presence in Hawaii. Two more stations, on Saipan and near Tokyo, now covered the communications of the Pacific Fleet and the U.S. Army Air Corps in Hawaii.
U.S. Naval Institute
28MHz high hopes monitoring
This blogpost is about monitoring 28MHz just before the ARRL 10m contest this weekend. It will be updated regularly till the weekend.
PE4BAS
ABC Ditches Shortwave Services
The ABC will end its shortwave transmission service in the Northern Territory and to international audiences from 31 January.
Radio Today
Five common mistakes new Hams make
This short list comes from working with a gaggle of new hams over the years and trying to help them get started in ham radio.
Ham Radio School
Where does 9600 bps come from?
We use serial communication all the time. But why are we using multiples of 300?
SparkFun Electronics
Reverse engineering traffic lights with an RTL-SDR
To reverse engineer these new lights he made a recording of the signals in GQRX and then opened them up in Inspectrum.
RTL-SDR.com
Creating a 2m repeater with a Raspberry Pi and RTL-SDR dongle
I will be using an RTL-SDR dongle to receive an input signal on 70cm. The receiver signal will then be demodulated and retransmitted using a GPIO pin on the Raspberry as a transmitter.
ZR6AIC
An unusual night for CB
For the most part, AM is used on most of the channels but you’ll find LSB activity on Channel 36 (27.365 MHz). And when the band gets busy and crowded, you’ll hear LSB QSOs from Channels 36 – 39 (27.365 – 27.395 MHz).
The SWLing Post
Video
TYT MD-398 power test
It is rated at 10W on high, let’s see if it is true to its claims.
Ham Radio Reviews
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 136
SSTV active from ISS December 8-9
The SSTV images will be transmitted as part of the MAI-75 Experiment on 145.800 MHz FM using the Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver located in the Russian ISS Service module.
AMSAT UK
Last call to press for Senate passage of Amateur Radio Parity Act
The House of Representatives approved the bill in September, and the Senate must follow suit if the bill is to succeed.
ARRL
Hurricane Center on air for SKYWARN Recognition Day
WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center in Miami will participate in SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) on Saturday, December 3.
ARRL
Santa Net 2016
Every year on 3916, we give good little boys and girls a chance to talk to Santa Claus at the North Pole!
The 3916 Nets
2 element dual-rectangle beam for 70cm
The antenna described here is a direct-connect dual-rectangle beam for use on 70 cm between 440 and 450 MHz.
jedsoft.org
Easy homemade Outernet antenna
An antenna for less than $1 total cost, doable without power tools and soldering, in less than 30 minutes.
Radio for Everyone
Emergency preparedness on the road
If it is required that I spend the night away from home for whatever the situation, I am prepared, as I carry all the required gear that will keep me safe if I become stranded.
VE6AB
A review of the Elecraft KX2 general coverage QRP transceiver
The KX2 is a feature-rich pocket QRP transceiver. For those who are familiar with the Elecraft product line, it’s like a KX3 (feature rich portable rig) in a KX1-sized (much smaller, handheld/pocket) package.
The SWLing Post
Looking back at Cycle 23
Cycle 23 was a much bigger cycle with higher sunspot numbers than Cycle 24.
NY4G
Disturbing the peace: Can America’s quietest town be saved?
There’s a town in West Virginia where there are tight restrictions on mobile signal, wifi and other parts of what most of us know as simply: modern life.
BBC
Special event
Members of the ‘Battleship Iowa Amateur Radio Association’ (BIARA) will be active as NI6BB between 1600-2359z on Wednesday, December 7th, in memory of the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Southgate
Video
How to set up an Outernet receiver
Outernet continuously sends out useful data like weather reports, news, APRS data as well as files like Wikipeda pages, images, videos and books.
RTL-SDR.com
