Wa8pyr

Now this happens to be an area in which I have a fair amount ofexperience. I’ve been listening to shortwave for almost 30 years. Ihelp produce a monthly magazine on the topic, serve as a member of theboard of directors of the largest shortwave radio club in the Americas,and am webmaster of a popular and well-regarded site for that club.I think that in an earlier entry in the series, the Professor brieflymentioned how some people have elaborate setups with long antennas andexpensive radios and such.

I am one of those people.

So I figured that maybe the audience that eats this stuff up atBeware the Blog might be interested in what you can hear with anoutdoor antenna specifically constructed to be good at receivingshortwave and a top-notch radio. On June 28, between 1855 and 2013 UTC(2:55 and 4:13 pm), I tuned through the 25 meter band, extending from11500 to 12200 kHz, recording as I tuned. My shack is down the shore inMonmouth county, about 30 miles south of WFMU’s Jersey City location.I’m about 5 miles from the ocean and maybe 2 or 3 miles from the bay. Ihave a couple of external antennas, one long piece of wire about 300feet long, and another about 100 feet long in a configuration called a T2FD. My main receiver is an AOR AR-7030 Plus,a tabletop communications receiver designed by the genius Englishengineer John Thorpe. AOR offers an optional noise blanker and notchfilter, and I had those installed when I bought the radio. When I sentthe radio back to the U.K. for servicing a couple of years ago, I alsohad AOR retrofit the radio with the ability to receive digitalshortwave broadcasts. the radio is basically all tricked out.

One thing you’ll notice as you listen is that most of these stationsare the same international broadcasters you can hear with a portablereceiver. There’s often a conception out there that one of theseexpensive tabletop receivers are required to hear oddball weakstations. but the truth is that what these radios and the antennasassociated with them really get you is better reception of the stationsyou can already hear for the most part, and the ability to "clean up" amessy signal to some degree. You can hear almost anything on a portablethat I can hear on my radio. You probably won’t hear it as well, andnot as often. but when the conditions are right, you can do amazingthings with a portable receiver. the reason to get a tabletopcommunications receiver is to do those amazing things even when theconditions are just shy of right.

If you’ve listened to any of the Professor’s recordings, you’llnotice one thing different about these recordings: as I approach astation, you will hear a descending tone. the reason for this is thatwhen I scan a band, I typically do so in sideband mode rather than AMmode. An AM signal consists of a carrier and two sidebands. Thesidebands carry the audio information, and they are mirror images ofeach other. Someone realized many years ago that this meant that one ofthe sidebands was redundant, and that it was possible to transmitrecoverable audio by transmitting only one sideband and no carrier.Radios that can tune sideband transmissions have the capability ofgenerating their own carrier to replace the missing one on the signal.so how does this explain the descending tone? When I tune across an AMsignal in sideband mode, the carrier of the AM signal and the carriergenerated by the radio generate what’s called a heterodyne; basically,the tone that you hear is defined by how far apart the two carriersare. a radio-generated carrier that’s 800 hertz away from the carrierof the AM signal the radio is receiving generates an 800 hertz tone. Asthe tuner approaches the carrier, this tone drops in frequency.Ideally, with a radio with sufficient resolution, you can place theradio-generated carrier right on top of the signal’s carrier. This isuseful for a couple of reasons: first, on a weak, fading signal, theradio-generated carrier is likely to be far more stable, allowing thereceiver to decode the sidebands without the fading one associates withshortwave. Second, when you’ve placed the radio-generated carrier righton top of the signal’s carrier, whatever frequency the radio shows isthe station’s frequency. It’s surprising how often they’re a little bitoff the frequency they’re supposed to be on. in some cases, withstations that are known to be off frequency all the time, this can evenhelp you identify the station. the tone that’s generated by thecarriers when they’re separated is called a "beat", so when you’vesuccessfully placed the two carriers together, that’s called "zero beat".Not all stations that generate a heterodyne have recoverable audio. Sotuning in this manner is a good way to find even weak stations(although I wouldn’t log a station simply based on hearing itsheterodyne; that’s considered bad form).

There are radios out there that do this heterodyne hunting automatically. This feature is called "synchronous detection",and what happens is that the radio finds the carrier, locks on to it,and substitutes its own carrier automatically. You would think thiswould be something you would find only on expensive tabletop radios,but the two best synchronous detectors produced in a non-military radioare on portable receivers, the classic Sony ICF-2010 (now discontinued, but produced for 20 years, a testament to its high quality) and the brand new etón E1XM.  the synchronous detector on my 2010 is far better than the one on my early Drake R8,and probably even a little better than on my AOR AR-7030 Plus. Theseradios are definitely at the high end of the spectrum of portables, butyou can get a radio with an excellent synchronous detector for muchless; the Sony ICF-7600GRtypically costs less than $150 and has pretty much the same circuitthat much more expensive ICF-2010 had. with synchronous detection, youcan reduce the fading that can make shortwave difficult to listen to,and in most implementations, you can select one or the other sidebandto listen to. That’s very useful; if there’s a strong station 5 or 10kilohertz above a station you’re trying to hear, tuning to the oppositesideband can make a signal that’s being interfered with perfectlylistenable. That’s one reason I tune in sideband mode, but theseportable receivers make it easy to do that at a fraction of the cost.

The 25 meter band presented here is a transitional band; at times oflow sunspot numbers, like now, it is mostly a daytime band; at times ofhigh sunspot numbers, as we’ll probably see in about four or fiveyears, it’s useful at night as well. At this hour of the day, the bandis open to quite a bit of the world, including Europe, Africa, andparts of Asia. a few hours later, shortly before sunset at yourlocation, European stations would likely be inaudible, but more Asianstations would be available. This is prime listening hours in Europeand Africa, so many of the broadcasts recorded here are directed there,and merely overheard here in North America. That’s one of the neatestthings about listening to shortwave is this ability to eavesdrop on theworld. One other nice thing about this reception is a relative lack ofU.S. religious and fringe political broadcasts. Personally, I’m not afan of those broadcasts, and tend to tune right by. There are a coupleof instances of them in these recordings, but they’re far outweighed bynational and even local broadcasters.

Segment 1 – 25 meter band 06-28-2006 (download MP3)

11605 – Deutsche Welle

This sounds like it might be Arabic via their transmitters inWertachtel. One thing that’s interesting about listening to broadcastsin languages you don’t understand is that, once you’ve listened to anumber of broadcasts, you can often figure out what kind of program isbeing aired. This is toward the end of the hour, and there areaddresses in a number of countries being given. the largestinternational broadcasters often open postal addresses in othercountries so that their listeners in that country can write themwithout having to pay for anything more than domestic postage. There’sa brief stinger after the addresses that gives the identity of thisstation away; this brief piece of music is used in all their languageservices.

11620 – All India Radio

News from India in English via transmitters in Aligarh. and tuned injust in time to get the ID at the top of the hour! Shortwave is full ofbroadcasts like this, offering a different perspective on the news thanwe usually get in the U.S.

11630 – Golos Rossii

Russia’s external service in Russian via Moscow. the news ends, thenthere’s an ID for "Radio Compania Golos Rossii", just like what weheard a few seconds earlier from All India Radio. Radio is radio. Oneof the nice things about my tabletop receiver is that I can play withthe sound, trying to get better reception by switching which sideband Ilisten to or engaging different filters. You can hear some of that here.

11650 – China Radio International (maybe)

Too weak to really tell.

11655 – Radio Netherlands

English via transmitters at Flevoland. Radio Netherlands is astation that definitely punches above its weight in internationalbroadcasting. the people who make the programs there have a visceralunderstanding of what it means to make interesting radio of a certainsort. As a result, their programs often win awards at festivals likethe International Radio Festivalin New York each year. One other interesting aspect of their broadcastsis that they don’t flinch from covering the darker side of life. so,for example, you get this program about alcoholism, something youwouldn’t expect to hear from most international broadcasters.

Radio Netherlands’ programs compare favorably to those of the BBC,from a station in a country that doesn’t speak English as their firstlanguage and made with a tiny fraction of the budget. they do it bydeploying their limited resources carefully, by hiring excellentpeople, and by being clever. for example, when the BBC World Service shut down its shortwave broadcasts to North Americaa few years ago, Radio Netherlands seized the opportunity and bought upmany of the now-silent transmitter hours for a few weeks so that whenpeople tuned in expecting to hear the BBC, they would hear someexcellent programming in English, but from Radio Netherlands. Theycouldn’t afford to buy most of the time permanently (although NorthAmerica did gain a morning broadcast from them that wasn’t there beforeas a result), but they gained some listeners and some goodwill from theBBC’s now abandoned listeners.

11655 – Voice of the Arabs (Egypt)

Arabic music via Abu Za’bal. This is pretty faint, but you can hearthe music, slightly distorted because I was tuning in SSB and didn’thave a perfect zero beat here. There are a number of stations thatbroadcast hours and hours of Arabic music, many of which come in muchmore strongly than this.

11680 – BBC World Service

Arabic broadcast from the BBC via their transmitters in Rampisham.whatever they’re talking about, it has something to do with Israel.

11690 – Deutsche Welle

Arabic from DW via Wertachtel, Germany.

11695 – China Radio International

French transmission via a relay in Cerrik, Albania. CRI is really anup-and-comer in international shortwave broadcasting. At a time whenthe BBC and Deutsche Welle are abandoning large patches of the globeand the VOA is cutting its English broadcasts in favor of focusing onsurrogate home services in Arabic, Farsi, and other language, CRI isexpanding its broadcasts. It’s investing in relay stations to ensurethat they’re widely heard everywhere. and it has seriously upgraded thequality of its programming. This is not your father’s Radio Beijing.

11705 – Radio France International

If Radio Netherlands punches above its weight, RFI has long punchedbelow its weight. Much like its insistence that French is the languageof diplomacy long after English has usurped its former position there,so French is the language of international broadcasting. they focuslargely on former colonies, so perhaps there’s a justification fortheir approach. they have an hour or two per day to Asia and maybe abit more to Africa in English, and most of the rest of their broadcastsare in French. They’re well respected, particularly for their reportingin Africa, but within Anglophone communities perhaps not as visible asthey could be.

Segment 2 – 25 meter band 06-28-2006 (download MP3)

11735 – Radio Tanzania Zanzibar

This station is a great example of a station that’s worth listeningto despite having no clue what the presenters are saying. mostly, theybroadcast music, and it’s beguiling. Typically, there’s a fairsprinkling of the local taarab music, mixed with Arabic pop, Indianfilmi music, and African music, largely South African and Congolesestyle. I like the use this station as an example of how I switchbetween being a DXer and being a program listener. the first time Iheard this station, I was thrilled to add a new station and a newcountry to my log. the next 70 or 80 times I listened, it was because Iloved the music. I actually took to listening to this station mostafternoons while I worked for a while.

This particular reception is not the best representation of theirprogramming. the reception is a little weaker than usual, and this kindof unaccompanied Arabic singing is not what I usually hear. That said,I still enjoy listening to it. RTZ typically starts fading in aroundmid-afternoon; given that it’s summer and that this recording was madenot long after the longest day of the year, that fade in is fairlylate. in the winter, it’s much earlier. There’s a five minute newsbroadcast in English every weekday at 1800 UTC, relayed from theirlocal FM station aimed at tourists, Spice FM. That’s not so easy tohear at this time of year, but in the autumn and winter, it comes inquite clearly.

Given that, this station comes in much better an hour or so later.Check out this bonus reception of Radio Tanzania Zanzibar from 2017 totheir closing at 2100 UTC. RTZ is without question one of my favoritestations in the world.

11740 – Holy Koran (Saudi Arabia) mixing with Radio Farda

Many Arabic countries broadcast readings of the Koran. Saudi Arabiahas a station entirely devoted to it. While the readings sound quitemusical, it’s considered offensive to describe it as "music" or"singing". the Saudi station is mixing with Radio Farda, a U.S. stationaimed at Iran, broadcasting in Farsi and serving as a surrogatedomestic service in much the same way that Radio Free Europe and RadioLiberty did for Warsaw Pact countries and the Soviet Union during theCold War. Sadly, this is usually being done at the expense of the Voiceof America, which has a reputation for impartial news reporting andprobably does more good for America’s image abroad than all of thesesurrogate stations combined.

11755 – YLE Radio Finland

Finnish via Pori. This station recently decided to stop transmittingon shortwave, and in fact are already off the air. in lieu of this,they’re saying they can better reach their audience of expatriate Finnsvia satellite and the Internet. they used to broadcast in English aswell. several years ago, they had a wonderful English service thatbroadcast a half hour a day, with a number of releases throughout themorning that were easy to hear here in North America. Then they movedtheir broadcasts to the North American evenings and largely lost theiraudience. I had a conversation with the head of Radio Finland at the Winter SWL Festin Kulpsville, Pennsylvania, several years ago shortly after they madethis move, and told her why I thought this was a bad move. in theevenings, they were competing against the dozens of other broadcasterswho were trying to reach North America at the same time, and they kindof got lost in the noise. but their morning broadcasts, which coincidednicely with breakfast time across the continent, had littlecompetition. I don’t want to take credit for the move, but the nextseason they reinstated their morning broadcasts. Unfortunately, by thentheir audience had moved on, and it wasn’t much after that when theydiscontinued broadcasting in English. That was a shame; they hadexcellent programming that I enjoyed listening to.

11775 – Caribbean Beacon

The late Dr. Gene Scott® has been covered pretty extensively in TheProfessor’s musings, but I have to say that I particularly like thisclip where he talks about getting laid. This is a nice example of theGood Doctor’s more eccentric approach to evangelism.

11780 – Radio Nacional da Amazonia

Portuguese language domestic broadcast from the capital, Brasilia.This is a national service, aimed at areas in the Amazon and theinterior of Brazil that are not well served by AM and FM stations. Theyplay some interesting music, and, unlike international broadcasters,they include commercials. Latin America has a tradition much like NorthAmerica’s with small local commercial broadcasters dominating the sceneas opposed to monolithic national broadcasters like in the rest of theworld. Even a large national broadcaster like this one can sound like acommercial broadcaster. There are dozens of shortwave stations inBrazil, and this is one of the strongest and easiest to hear.

Segment 3 – 25 meter band 06-28-2006 (download MP3) 

11785 – Possibly Radio Free Asia via Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands, or Chinese Jammer

The music here is clearly Chinese. Radio Free Asia, the U.S.’surrogate home service for China and a few other countries, is jammedby the Chinese using transmissions of traditional Chinese music. It’snot uncommon in this circumstance for propagation to favor the jammingstation and not the jammed station. so it’s probably the case here thatwe’re hearing the jammer, but not the jammed. That said, the fact thatI can hear the jammer more clearly here in the eastern U.S. is noindication that the same is true in China itself; often times whenpropagation is different at the transmitter site and the jammer site,the jammer will have little effect on the transmission it is attemptingto jam.

Most jamming is unpleasant to listen to, such as the dieselengine-like sounds used by the Cubans against Radio Marti. the Chinesejammers, on the other hand, aren’t half bad, and can be listened to fortheir program content. I wonder if the jammers QSL….

11795 – Deutsche Welle

German via Kigali, Rwanda. the largest shortwave stations, like theBBC, VOA, and Deutsche Welle, maintain numerous relay stations aroundthe world. This way, the signal doesn’t have to travel too far to reachits intended audience. This transmission is from Rwanda, and is one ofthe easiest ways to hear that country. It’s perhaps not as interestingas hearing Radio Rwanda though. Radio Rwanda is not an easy catch; itsbroadcast on 6055 kHz is usually covered by one European broadcaster oranother. There is a five minute window from 2055 to 2100 UTC afterRadio Slovakia signs off but before Rwanda signs off when Rwanda canoccasionally be heard. interestingly, that last five minutes of theirbroadcast every day is usually filled up with IDs in a number oflanguages, including French and English.

Arabic via Qasr al Kharana. At this hour, there will be a lot ofthis sort of unadorned vocalization, which is often broadcasts of theHoly Koran.

11820 – Holy Koran (Saudi Arabia)

This is the same station as on 11740, but this time not mixing withRadio Farda. This transmission is aimed at Arabs in Europe. America isin the same direction from Saudi Arabia (just a little further away),so this broadcast typically pounds in here.

Not sure who this is, but they’re in Arabic.

11850 – Voice of Turkey

French via Emirler. There’s an ID in French, "La Voix du Turkey",toward the end. the best source for IDs in languages you don’tunderstand is the World Radio TV Handbook.they typically print IDs in many or most of the languages anybroadcaster transmits in. so you don’t need to speak the language inorder to ID the station.

Hausa, the language of northern Nigeria, via Ascension Island in themiddle of the south Atlantic Ocean. Probably. I don’t hear an ID, sothis goes down as tentative in the logbook.

11895 – possibly China Radio International

Sounds like Chinese, but pretty weak.

11915 – Holy Koran (Saudi Arabia)

More of the same station as on 11820. the clicks you hear in hereare the sound of me flipping between the two frequencies to confirmthat they’re the same broadcast. Finding parallel frequencies like thiscan be used as a way to identify stations in a language you don’tunderstand. It’s not as good as hearing an identification or aninterval signal, but it will do in a pinch.

America’s anti-Castro surrogate domestic service to Cuba. Totallywiped out by those diesel noises. Not nearly as listenable as theChinese jamming, is it?

11940 – China Radio International

English via Kashi. Their English language program is closing. Thisis a good time to get an ID, as is the beginning of a broadcast.

Segment 4 – 25 meter band 06-28-2006 (download MP3) 

11945 – Radiodiffusão Portuguesa

Portuguese to Africa via Lisbon. This station used to broadcast inEnglish, but stopped about five years ago, along with all other foreignlanguages. now they only broadcast in Portuguese, aimed primarily atexpatriates and former colonies. On weekends, you can hear soccerbroadcasts on this station, which are almost as animated as theSpanish-language broadcasts on Univision during the World Cup.

11975 – Voice of America

English to Africa via São Tome, a small island off the west coast ofAfrica. This station is very weak. VOA is often much stronger andeasier to hear, but not on this frequency at this hour.

11995 – Radio France International

French to Africa via Moyabi, Gabon. This is relayed via the transmitters of Africa Numero Un,a commercial shortwave station broadcasting to Africa that plays someexcellent African music. RFI also often plays some great African musicand can be worth listening to in French for that. This is just a newsbroadcast, however.

12015 – Radio Exterior de España

Arabic from the home of the Moors.  Lots of talk about American-Arab relations.

Not sure who this is, but they’re broadcasting in Arabic too.

Relay of their domestic service in Arabic via Abu Za’bal. Egypt isthe home of much of the Arabic language music industry, so Radio Cairocan be worth listening to for the music. Unfortunately, they’relegendary for their poor audio quality.

12070 – Voice of Russia

English service via Moscow with the latest news. This is followed upwith a program promo in the dulcet tones of Estelle Winters, an expatBrit who has worked for VoR for several years. That high pitched voicereally cuts through the static. She came to the Winter SWL Fest inPennsylvania several years ago, and served as the keynote speaker. Shealso brought a prize for the Fest raffle, a no-expense paid trip to agolf resort just outside Moscow (she was appropriately sheepish aboutit, but it was all she could get someone to donate). I was sitting inthe back of the room next to two of my best friends when this excitingprize was drawn in the raffle. the one friend muttered to himself"please, Dear God, not me" as the winning ticket was drawn; two secondslater, his name was called out, and I and our other friend burst outlaughing.

12085 – Radio Damascus

Syria’s English service via Adhra is not an easy catch here in NorthAmerica. I think this is English, but it’s awfully muddled. You canhear me trying to adjust the radio to get a better sound, but nothingreally worked.

12095 — BBC World Service

English to Africa via Ascension Island. This frequency used to be onthe air pretty much 24 hours a day from a variety of transmittersaround the world, and could therefore be heard at almost any time ofday. with the BBC de-emphasizing shortwave, that’s not so much the caseany more.

World Wide Crackpot Radio, from Nashville. I couldn’t leave youwithout at least one example of the fringe politics and questionableclaims that emanate from the modern day equivalent of Doc Brinkley andthe border broadcasters. the odd sound here is a result of my not quiteaccurately zero beating this signal.

********************************************************************

That’s it. Again, much appreciation to Ralph Brandi for his work and insight in providing the meat and audio for this post. (And you can check out his personal blog here.) I hope you can do this again sometime Ralph.

But, it sure would be swell to hear some reception in this series from other reader/listeners as well. I like the bandscanning format a lot, but I’m open to historic or rare recordings of shortwave as well. and as far as bandscanning, I’d really like to hear some reception from around the country and the world, on AM as well as shortwave. If you’re interested in making recordings of scans, or have some radio recordings sitting around that might provide compelling content for this series please send me an email. and if you’d like any tips or suggestions I might have as far as recording or encoding radio for the web, drop me an email as well. While it would be great to get more audio contributions from experienced DXers like Ralph, if you have an interest in shortwave or venturing through far off late night AM signals AND have a tape recorder, you could do this too.

If you’d like to write about shortwave or the reception you’ve recorded (as Ralph has here), that’s great, but not compulsory. however, providing a log or notes offering the frequencies (and local or UTC time they were received) would be extremely helpful. I’d really like to hear what it’s like to tune across the AM or shortwave dial in Alaska, California, Luxembourg, Guam, New Zealand, just about anywhere (especially not in the NE U.S. and the Midwest, the only locations I’ve offered bandscan recordings from thus far in this series). My preferences are that there’s some English language broadcasting in the mix, and that at least some of the reception has enough clarity to be understood.

Always interested in comments, corrections, questions, and other relevant interaction. please leave them in the comment box below or you can send me an email here. in the next post in this series I think ‘ll get back into the medium wave realm– AM radio. Other posts on such topics can be found here.

Thanks for listening.

Rohm, a Japanese semiconductor company, has created a silicon chip and antenna that’s currently capable of transmitting 1.5Gbps, with the potential to scale up to 30Gbps in the future. by comparison, the fastest 802.11 (WiFi) transmission speeds max out at around 150Mbps, and the incoming WiGig standard peaks at 7Gbps.

The significant advance here, though, is the reception and transmission of terahertz waves (300GHz to 3THz) using a chip and antenna that’s just two centimeters long. As you see in the image below, this thing could be screwed onto the back of your PC or router with nary a bump. Rohm is saying that the chip should cost less than $5, too, when it comes to market in a few years. This is in stark comparison to existing terahertz-level gear that’s large, expensive, and only capable of data rates of 100Mbps.

Like WiGig and its 60GHz transmission range, though, terahertz networking isn’t going to replace standard, 2 and 5Ghz home networks. The higher the frequency, the more directional the signal — and a terahertz transmission, which has a submillimeter wavelength (0.1 to 1mm), is almost in the same class as a laser… and we know how directional they are. Terahertz signals also fall prey to atmospheric radiation. In other words, Rohm’s chip might allow for some truly awesome device-to-device home networks, but don’t expect your local city to be blanketed with 30Gbps internet access.

Ultimately, Rohm’s new terahertz chip is likely to have a larger impact on surveillance, or perhaps medical imaging. if you’re up to speed on the contentious topic of full-body security scans, you’ve probably heard of the millimeter wave scanner, the (probably) safer cousin of the backscatter X-ray. a millimeter wave scanner uses frequencies in the 30 to 300GHz range to see through clothing — and terahertz radiation, being submillimeter, can also penetrate through a few millimeters of skin. It’s likely that the next stage of airport security will use terahertz technology.

Read more at PhysOrg

Posted at: 11/10/2011 4:57 PM Updated at: 11/10/2011 6:00 PM by: bill Lambdin

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NASSAU - For roughly nine and a half minutes Thursday the space station was within range of a amateur radio transmitter and antenna set up at the Donald P. Sutherland School.

"My name is Samantha. What do the astronauts eat and drink up in space? Over," asked Samantha Milkiewicz.

"Hi Samantha," responded Astronaut Michael Fossum. "we eat and drink a lot of the same stuff you do at home. it just has to be food that we heat up or we add hot water to dehydrated food like camping food."

Fourteen youngsters, representing grades Kindergarten through fifth grade, were lined up to ask questions of Astronaut Fossum, who is on his third visit to the Space Station.

"My name is Nathan. What would happen if the space suit leaks? Over," asked Kindergartener Nathan Fajen. 

"Hey Nathan. That would be a problem if our space suit had a leak. we actually did leak checks today. we got in our space suits because we're coming home in a week and a half," said Fossum.

Three-hundred kids sat quietly listening as the students moved quickly to and from the microphone.

the whole session had to fit into roughly nine minutes.

at the very end, the signal faded as the spacecraft moved over the horizon above the Atlantic Ocean, headed toward South Africa.

"I didn't think that dreams like this could come true. I was wrong. They really can. Over," said Fossum. 

fifth grade student Martin Bombard said the experience "was amazing. it was awesome. it was the best experience of my life."

Some folks want to own a scanner, but others just just want one. But having Uniden scanners is often a requirement in a lot of fields. Uniden is often a name of scanners you’d always need to look for, and when my prior scanner burnt out, I knew I had to obtain a brand new 1. so I got the Uniden BC72XLT Handheld Scanner to replace it. the purpose of this review is to inform you about what it has to supply.

This can be a extremely handy device. Its compact design is specifically created for users to discover ease in accessing it. the dimensions of the device are 2.75” x 1.25” x four.5” without having the antenna, a extremely compact size for a extremely beneficial device. It weighs a mere five.8 ounces so you won’t have any difficulties carrying it anywhere you go. What’s excellent about this scanner’s design will be the black body, which is often a nice touch for a scanner that you actually wish to last lengthy. It has a NASCAR logo which isn’t just an aesthetic addition to the device, it’s truly a symbol that the scanner is designed for optimal NASCAR coverage. This is really a plus for me considering that I’m a great fan of the sport.

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Scanning and Audio Output

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other Characteristics

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The free to air system, also known as FTA, is sophisticated satellite technology that allows you to watch television programs with any qualified FTA receiver, such as the SonicView system. With these such systems, a client is required to download an FTA receiver program as well as various support files. Generally, there is no subscription requirement, and the available programming is unencrypted, though a client may have restricted channels based on geography.

Available FTA programming depends on geographic location and the satellite the client chooses to install on their house. With recent advances in technology, HD FTA receivers and programming are also available. these programs are available to some clients from countries on opposite sides of the world, and as many as two hundred satellite and digital channels can be received using the appropriate receiver.

Apart from the FTA receiver program and support files, the client will also need to buy and install a satellite receiver dish on their house. If the client wishes to access the FTA programming available on different satellites, then an antenna motor will be needed to point the dish at multiple satellites, in order to make the most of what is offered by the FTA system.

There are many different FTA systems available for client use along with the SonicView system, including ViewSat, K-Box, and nFusion. There are also various website hosts, such as CoolSat and ViewSat, which offer some of the best satellite receiver programs to prospective clients.

As with any other entertainment programming, there are commercials to interrupt your viewing sporadically, and some of them ask for donations. While it can be frustrating to sit through these disruptions, there is very little difference between the viewing of FTA programming and pay to view (PTV) programming. However, unlike with traditional PTV programming, there are no monthly fees for the client to worry about. The primary costs for the client include the FTA receiver program, the support files, the satellite dish for their house, and the dish motor, if the client so chooses to install it. Depending on the client’s desires and location, additional support files may be necessary to correctly run the FTA programming. Technical support programs should be adequate to take care of any technical issues that may arise during use, but many FTA retailers offer additional support if the need reveals itself.

FTA systems are on the rise as PTV programming becomes more expensive to the average household. The cost of the FTA system is a one time issue, while PTV programming requires a monthly fee. Oftentimes, the PTV systems require little money for setup but the client never actually owns the hardware. Conversely, the FTV systems are completely owned by the client, never leased. The FTA systems are a viable option for the discerning client who wishes to experience in-depth visual entertainment with low cost, maintenance, and worry.

The Standard Horizon HX290 is part of a total revamp of the Standard Horizon lineup. it is an affordable entry level marine VHF handheld radio that floats and features glow-in-the-dark gasket around the case.

Buy this Standard Horizon floating handheld VHF radio here.

The HX290 ships the radio, AC and DC charger cables that plug into a drop-in cradle for standup charging, an FNB-110LI battery pack housing an 1170 mAH lithium-ion battery, belt clip, removable antenna, hand strap, and owner

A VHF marine radio is an essential piece of equipment on a vessel. Very High Frequency (VHF) radios are available as a fixed mounted or a handheld portable unit to offer the best method of communicating at sea. Being in a position to contact other boaters is one sure way to enhance safety on large bodies of water.

The usable range of a VHF transceiver is subject to various elements, such as weather, height of the antenna, and model of radio. an effective range of five to twenty miles is often witnessed.

A typical marine radio is built to a high standard, incredibly easy to operate, and able to withstand the often rough conditions at sea, such as moisture, dust, vibration and shock. Hand-held units are ideal as a back up for a stationary or fixed unit and able to cope with direct immersion. VHF sets are often cost effective communication devices, and at minimum, a vessel should have a hand held unit.

A VHF radio offers communication that is more effective and consistent reception in a marine environment than that of a mobile phone or CB radio. Boat radios have dedicated channels reserved for distress calls, and monitored by rescue services, such as the United States Coast Guard (USCG). Channel 16 is the distress channel. And a lot of receivers are able to pick up the latest weather reports, so its possible to keep up to date on conditions when boating.

These two-way communication devices are an essential component of safe boating at sea. no vessel should leave port without a VHF marine radio system onboard.

A digital shower radio is just the perfect gift for anyone who loves to be entertained even when taking a shower or a bath. Guys will certainly want to follow a sports game even when they are in the bathroom while every girl would like to listen to music when she is taking a bath. such a gadget is certainly worth having. you just need to find the best item for your bathroom.

The digital shower radio that you choose has to be perfectly waterproof. this may go without saying, but you should ask specifically about the different parts and especially about the speaker. it is best for the device to meet set water resistance standards such as JIS7.

A built-in antenna with capabilities to detect all radio frequencies in the AM and FM range is the main feature to look for in a digital shower radio. For safety and durability purposes, the antenna should be inside the device. at the same time, it should offer excellent reception. you may want to test the model you consider before making a purchase. important features to look for when it comes to getting signal and finding radio stations are digital tuning and auto search function. The radio should come with at least five presets for greater convenience and more entertainment.

The speaker of the radio should produce excellent quality sound. it performance should not be affected by the humid environment and by direct contact with water. Again, you may want to test the sound to make sure that you are going for the right gadget. Similarly, you need to check how much you can increase the volume given that the bathroom environment is particularly noisy when the shower is on.

A large display and easy to use buttons are other important features to look for in a digital shower radio. you should be able to see the numbers and letters on the display even if it is wet around. you do not necessarily need an LCD display, but the screen should definitely have backlight for better visibility. Large buttons with easy to read symbols will certainly be convenient to use in the shower.

You should definitely consider opting for a portable digital shower radio. Most models come with brackets or suction cups for attaching to the bath or wall. However, it is best to have the option of taking your gadget with you when you travel. you may want to check out models that come with a simple hanger allowing them to be placed safely virtually anywhere.

RF transmitter is also called a radio frequency transmitter. This is an electronic device that transmits radio frequency that is composed of different components with different functions. the radio communication system is composed of two circuits to transmit a radio signal and another two circuits to receive the transmitted signal all four of these circuits are tuned in with the same radio frequency. the transmitter is an electronic device with the use of an antenna to produce and send electromagnetic signal for radio, television, and other telecommunication gadgets.

The transmission of this kind of signal involves many parts that serve several functions as a group. These groupings are called blocks that have general role in the transmission process. Each of these blocks has a major role to complete the system of sending radio frequency or signal. before, a circuit is composed of many electronic parts such as diodes, capacitors, and lots of resistor. These are grouped to perform a certain task involved in the transmission. This circuit can also be considered as a single block. Then, another set of these devices with different measurements or units of their role are also grouped to perform a different function that contributes much in order to fully accomplish the objective in transmitting a radio signal.

The last section of the transmitter is the antenna which is also composed of several parts. However, many misinterpret that only the antenna is the transmitter. the entire radio frequency transmitter has a number of these circuits to produce and send radio waves through the air. While on live broadcast, the term on air of radio and television stations was derived from these radio waves being sent through the air. To avoid further misinterpretation, and simply comprehend, the term on air means broadcasting on time live conversation and events as they occur. These radio waves or frequency, otherwise known as signal which then will be received by another electronic device. This gadget may be a television, a radio, or another telecommunication device.

The time came when transceivers are introduced to the market. These consist of a built-in radio transmitter on the same item that also receive signals that are identical. At first, the hand-held radio was used but can only be applicable for short distances only. Then the primitive model of the cellular phones existed. These had an application limited to voice calls only but with the use of series of transmitters all over. now, as technology advanced, cellular phones can even send a video clip through satellites that also serve as transmitters located in space nearby. At this age of the internet, even the high-tech computers of today, still relies on the concept of the system of the radio frequency transmitter.

08/19/2011

This week, Surfin’ recalls the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summertime TV DX.

It was a lazy summer afternoon in my hometown, Waterbury, Connecticut, back in 1969. I was relaxing in the backyard, watching the battery-powered portable RCA TV that my folks gave me as a high school graduation gift.

Maybe I was daydreaming about the trip I was going to take with some friends later that summer to see a rock concert in upstate new York, or maybe I was worrying about Yaz and my pitching-challenged Red Sox. in either case, the rolling picture on the portable TV distracted me from those thoughts.

When it became apparent that the rolling was not going to stop, I got up out of my cushy chair and adjusted the horizontal hold and the antenna, but it did not help. When I realized that E-skip was causing the rolling, I started switching the channel selector between channels 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to see what I could see. my reward was crystal clear pictures from stations in Iowa — 1100 miles away.

In the past, I’d seen TV E-skip from Canada and Cuba (1300 miles between Waterbury and Havana), but that was with my family’s console TV and a rotatable Yagi antenna on the roof. this Iowa E-skip was captured with the 1-element telescoping antenna built into a low-end portable TV. amazing!

I’ve seen TV E-skip since then, but nothing as impressive as what I saw back in 1969. then again, I am a casual aficionado of E-skip. I enjoy it when I encounter it, but I do not sit in front of the receiver during the summer months waiting for it to roll in. But I wonder if K1MOD or WA5IYX do?

Jeff Kadet, K1MOD, of Macomb, Illinois, has been chasing television DX for a long time. He has photos of TV DX going back to 1963 on his website, so he has been at it at least 48 years!

“It’s all in the timing” is a quote from Johnny Carson that Jeff displays on his website, so I assume he does not sit in front of the receiver half the summer waiting for DX, but his success at catching TV DX is awesome, so he must be doing something right.

Pat Dyer, WA5IYX, of San Antonio, Texas, has been at it since the mid 1970s. He also has an impressive collection of TV DX photos on his website, including a catch of BBC Channel 1 – more than 5000 miles away. He has also been uploading TV DX video clips to YouTube; search for his call sign on YouTube to find them.

Recently, I read a claim that chasing DX in the digital era is easier than in the analog era. Digital TV signals include the station identification in their packets, so your receiver instantly knows what station it is receiving, unlike the analog TX DX days when you hoped and prayed the DX lasted until the station identified itself. 

Chasing TV DX makes the summer reruns more palpable and, by the way, the first half of this column is an edited rerun from the summer of 2001.

Until next time, keep on surfin’!

Editor’s note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, resides in downtown Wolcott, Connecticut, and is a member of the QQCC (QST Quarter Century Club) — he was a QST writer for 25 years. since getting his ticket in 1969, Stan has sampled nearly every entrée in the Amateur Radio menu (including a stint as Connecticut Section Manager), but he keeps coming back to his favorite preoccupations: VHF and packet radio. as a result, he runs a 2 meter APRS digipeater and weather station from his hilltop location in Central Connecticut. Stan has been a long time advocate of using computers with ham radio and wrote programs to dupe contests and calculate antenna bearings way back in 1978. Today, he is on the board of directors of the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) and uses his Mac to surf the Internet searching for that perfect ham radio webpage. To contact Stan, send e-mail or add comments to the WA1LOU blog.