Tag: receiver

PLAGIARISM AND FAKE RADIO RECEPTION REPORTS?

PLAGIARISM AND FAKE RADIO RECEPTION REPORTS?
Yessiree. There are a few DXers out there who in the pursuit of a QSL have the gall to fabricate a reception report. The phenomenon, if it can be called that, is nothing new. It is as old as radio itself.
Why address the subject? Well, a few days back a fellow DXer and free-radio operator called it to my attention. He informed me of an individual who, apparently after reading my blog entry for his station, decided to pass off a reception report as his own. The station alerted me and promptly asked the guy to submit an audio file of the transmission. Guess what? He couldn’t produce it.
Wait a minute! He could have sourced the Internet for an audio file and produced a sample, right? It does happen. I actually had one young man do just that. He submitted a file of WWV and CHU on frequencies for times normally not received in his quarter, yet he tried to pass it off as genuine. How did I know it was fake, aside from the obvious physics? The audio file — stolen from a fellow radio listener — still had the original Box or Soundcloud name attached to it.
Even with the advent of remote web-receivers some DXers attempt to pass off the remote RX location as their home RX location. A diligent station engineer/operator will immediately recognise this for what it is — a bogus or less than accurate report. Why hide the obvious fact? There is no shame in stating the actual RX location, even if it is remotely observed. Simply keep one’s home and remote QSLs in separate categories. Be honest.
Now, it is possible to submit a reception report to a station, honestly believing it is a particular broadcaster. The time, frequency and language of the broadcaster all seem to be the station. Unfortunately after either submitting a report or further listening, usually days later, one discovers the error. It happens. I have done it more than a few times myself over the decades. Yet, I will fess up and duly note my error.
Folks, honesty is more priceless than any QSL, however prized it may be. No DX contest for X number of stations, X number of countries is worth sacrificing one’s integrity. Be patient and diligent in DXing. It’s like fishing. It takes time, calculation and patience. And the results are far more rewarding when one knows it was a genuine catch.
Happy DXing!!!

WRTH 2015

WRTH 2015 will be published, as usual, in early December. This will be the 69th Annual edition! Even though both International and Domestic SW is declining there is still a lot to be heard out there on those broadcast bands, so don’t consign the SW receiver to the attic (to gather dust) just yet.
There is a mix of over 200 languages and dialects to get stuck in to, plus the Clandestine broadcasters are always around from politically troubled areas.
Some of these are low powered or broadcasting to a different part of the world and can be a tough challenge to pick up.
All the details you need to stand the best chance of catching these, or any of the other broadcasters (be it LW, MW, SW or FM), can be found in WRTH.
You will soon be able to reserve your copy of the 2015 edition and be one of the first to receive it. Check the WRTH website for pre-ordering details. If the 2014 edition is still showing, try again in a few days time.

Info via Facebook

9450 khz and special test of a digital text….

The Mighty KBC will test to the USA on Sunday 11 November 2012 00.00 –
02.00 UTC on 9450 kHz!

Please join the Mighty KBC for a test of a digital text sent via a
shortwave broadcast transmitter. This will take place during the next
transmission to North America, Sunday 0000-0200 UTC, at approximately
0130 and just before the end of the broadcast at 0200.

All you need is a basic shortwave receiver (no SSB mode is necessary),
and a basic personal computer. Using a patch cord, you will feed the
audio out of the earphone jack (or line out) of your radio into the
microphone jack of your PC. If you don’t have a patch cord, you can
try placing the speaker of your radio close to the built-in microphone
of a laptop PC.

You will also need software. There are several freeware or shareware
programs used by the amateur radio community that decode digital text
modes. One is FLDIGI, available from http://www.w1hkj.com .

After installing FLDIGI, pull down the Configure menu, then click
Sound Card, and select the soundcard your PC is using.

You might also have to adjust your audio settings. In Windows 7, left
click twice on the speaker icon in the lower right of PC display, then
click Options, then click Properties, then click Recording, then click
the input that works. Other operating systems will have different
procedures. A good way to test your audio settings is to try to decode
the radio amateurs using the PSK31 mode on 14070 kHz.

For the test digital text transmissions on Sunday, The Mighty KBC will
be using the QPSK125 mode. On your software, your cursor should be
centered on 1500 Hertz, where you will see the “waterfall” of the
QPSK125 signal. You can decode the transmission while you receive it,
or record the transmission and decode from the recording. The latter
will give you more opportunities to perfect the technique.

The test to be transmitted will be a formatted html file. Copy it from
to (and including) , and paste it to a text editor (such
as Notepad in Windows). Save the file, using any file name, with the
suffix .htm or .html. Then open the file in any web browser. If all
goes well, this might be the first time you receive a shortwave radio
broadcast in color!

In the future, an app will be developed to make this process simpler!

Info via A-DX

RMRC Herbst DX-Camp in Langenselbold 3.-9.10.2011

Der Rhein-Main-Radio-Club läd ein

zum **Herbst DX-Camp in Langenselbold 3.-9.10.2011**

Die ersten Tage und Nächte Mo-Mi. wie immer zum intensiveren Hören bei Kaffee, Bier oder Rotwein.

Wir werden auf dem DX-Camp die neueste mpfängerentwicklung der Fa. Reuter zum testen und ausprobieren haben und aller Voraussicht nach wird uns Fr. oder Sa. Herr Dennis Walter den neuen Receiver Bonito Jet 1102S vorstellen und erläutern.

Fr. und Sa. wieder warmes und kaltes Buffet.

Einzelheiten und Anmeldung über die Homepage www.rmrc.de

Eingeladen sind alle RMRC-Mitglieder, alle DXer und Radiofreaks.
Mitzubringen sind Empfänger, Kopfhörer und gute Laune.

Harald Gabler
RMRC-Vorstand

Rhein-Main-Radio-Club, Frankfurt

Info via A-DX

Offsets: Screenshots of 130 mediumwave channels

Hallo – recently I have screenshotted some 130 medium wave channels for 6,5 hours each, spaced 9 kHz as well as 10 kHz:

* 600 kHz – 531 kHz on the 16th of December, 2010 within a window of mostly 10 Hz. Time was from about 19:00 UTC to 05:00 UTC.
* 1602 kHz – 999 kHz on the 26/27th of January, 2011 within a window of mostly 20 Hz. Preferred time has been 01:30 UTC to 08:00 UTC, with some screenshots from the afternoon (Asian DX)

Receiver was SDR-IP with GPS-disciplined oscillator.

The screenshots for each channel can be downloaded from:
http://bit.ly/eyIstc

Info via dxld