 SparkChaserAvatar is not a SparkPremium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
kudos:3
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1 edit | SWL, another dying hobby? With the BBC eliminating broadcasts to various parts of the world. This short article reminded me of the fun of SWL.
»www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cmp/eet···tartid=2 |
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 opus74Deep ThoughtPremium
join:2002-03-04
Coello, IL
kudos:1 | Back in the 70s I used to listen to RSA from Johannesburg, HCJB in Quito, and VOA broadcasts a lot on my old Hallicrafters radio.
There's so much QRM anymore, it's hard to hear anything
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 mocyclerPremium
join:2001-01-22
Naperville, IL
·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to SparkChaser
I'm one of those "in-betweeners" when it comes to technology: Old enough to have been around for vinyl records and slide projectors, young enough to embrace iPods and Power Point.
I guess shortwave radio figures in there. With the advent of the internet, satellite radio, and all that, international broadcasts are not as important as they used to be. As a ham radio licensee I can accept whatever comes next. And something will come next.
mocycler |
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 Subaru1-3-2-4Premium
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT | I have my SW radio still however I can't pick up anything in the house anymore but I used to listen to BBC all the time but I wished I got one with SSB. |
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SparkChaserAvatar is not a SparkPremium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
kudos:3 Reviews:
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| reply to mocycler
said by mocycler:I'm one of those "in-betweeners" when it comes to technology: Old enough to have been around for vinyl records and slide projectors, young enough to embrace iPods and Power Point. Hey! I'm an ol'timer and I have an iPOD and MS Office, even a satellite radio. 
As a kid I used to listen to the far away places. In the army, I lock myself in the radio hut and listen to VOA. Around here, I've seen the "progress" increase the QRM to where it's impossible on some bands.
Radio Luxembourg was always a favorite. I actually got to sit in the studio during a broadcast before they shut down. I'm pretty sure the two events were not related. 
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"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley
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 BlackbirdBuilt for SpeedPremium
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:2
 ·Frontier Communi..
| reply to opus74
said by opus74:Back in the 70s I used to listen to RSA from Johannesburg, HCJB in Quito, and VOA broadcasts a lot on my old Hallicrafters radio. There's so much QRM anymore, it's hard to hear anything I used a Hallicrafters SX-99 for many years, clear into the late 70's for SWLing (yep, tubes and all!), though I was more partial to tracking down stations in the utility bands than commercial broadcast stations. I had gotten QSL cards from over 60 countries just from utility stations, which took some real doing since they customarily discouraged listeners due to privacy concerns related to their traffic. Then came my current Yaesu FRG-7 receiver - which is getting frighteningly old, itself.
But I rarely listen any more... the hash noise has gotten so bad anywhere near urban areas (my own home included) that it's nearly impossible to pick up any of the weaker stations any more. Light dimmers, computers, all sorts of other digital toys, wireless "everythings"... all those QRM-spraying digital signal edges, RF emissions, harmonics, and intermodulation products have pretty effectively destroyed reception below 30 MHz - at least, as I used to enjoy it. It's kind of like what light-pollution has done to astronomy anywhere in the vicinity of urban/suburban development. Largely the end of an era, I suppose...
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If God wanted us to work with electrons, He'd make them big enough to see... |
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Subaru1-3-2-4Premium
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT | reply to SparkChaser
Question.. would I be able to her a Meteroite on a SWL? |
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BlackbirdBuilt for SpeedPremium
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:2 Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
| said by Subaru:Question.. would I be able to her a Meteroite on a SWL? Uhmm... translation, please??
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If God wanted us to work with electrons, He'd make them big enough to see... |
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 alphapointeDon't Touch MePremium,MVM
join:2002-02-10
Columbia, MO
kudos:2
·Socket Internet ..
·Mediacom
| reply to Subaru
said by Subaru:Question.. would I be able to her a Meteroite on a SWL? If you're asking if you can hear the ion storm generated when a meteor passes through the atmosphere on a shortwave radio, the answer is... it depends on the radio and the antenna, but probably not. With all the digital hash and other QRM the others have been discussing, it'd be very difficult to pull that noise out of all of the other noise.
I've got a hallicrafters 5-tube SW/BC radio, and with all the garbage around Columbia, about all it's good for now is keeping my coffee warm.
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Ham radio for the disabled:
»www.handiham.org
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Subaru1-3-2-4Premium
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT | hmm I figure it would of been easy to pick up. |
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 n1zukBreak out the checkbookPremium
join:2001-10-24
Malta
kudos:2 | reply to SparkChaser
Maybe easy to pick up, but how do you discerne the momentary signal from a meteorite through all the rest of the QRM?
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SparkChaserAvatar is not a SparkPremium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
kudos:3 | reply to alphapointe
said by alphapointe:I've got a hallicrafters 5-tube SW/BC radio, S-38? |
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Subaru1-3-2-4Premium
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Greenwich, CT Reviews:
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1 edit | reply to n1zuk
said by n1zuk:Maybe easy to pick up, but how do you discerne the momentary signal from a meteorite through all the rest of the QRM? NASA or one of the sites posted a sound file.. you just tune to a channel with just static on
*edit found link
»science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlin···98_1.htm |
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SparkChaserAvatar is not a SparkPremium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
kudos:3 | reply to SparkChaser
Oh, that's a bit different. That's listening to the reflection of a terrestrial transmitter. Most of the SWL receivers (at least the old ones) stop around 30MHz. I would think a good receiver and a good directional antenna would get you that. |
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alphapointeDon't Touch MePremium,MVM
join:2002-02-10
Columbia, MO
kudos:2 Reviews:
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| reply to SparkChaser
S-38D, you're correct. |
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SparkChaserAvatar is not a SparkPremium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
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| Cool, I graduated from army surplus to one of those back, well a long time ago
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"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley
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Subaru1-3-2-4Premium
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT | reply to SparkChaser
don't need to be at a area where your in high elavation? |
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SparkChaserAvatar is not a SparkPremium
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Downingtown, PA
kudos:3 Reviews:
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| said by Subaru:don't need to be at a area where your in high elavation? Not really, what you need is azimuth , as well as rotational control of your antenna. You are going to be pointing it somewhere out there. That somewhere is going to depend on where you are, where the transmitter is and where the meteors are.
At least, that's my interpretation. I've never done it. Only thing like that I did when I was an active ham is bounce off of the aurora.
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"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley
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 CurtesyFlushBababooey, fafafooey, tatatoothy.Premium
join:2002-08-23
Fontana, CA
kudos:2 | reply to opus74
said by opus74:Back in the 70s I used to listen to RSA from Johannesburg, HCJB in Quito, and VOA broadcasts a lot on my old Hallicrafters radio. There's so much QRM anymore, it's hard to hear anything HCJB was my first SWL QSL card response, back around 1967. It also came with a nice personal, signed letter from their comm guy. I still remember the letterhead: "HERALDING CHRIST JESUS' BLESSING". Until then I thought it was just a gibberish call sign.
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