Hobby Broadcasting blog: Links for HOPE Conference

Links for HOPE Conference

I'll be linking a number of topics from my presentation here so that you (people from the HOPE conference) can have more background information. I might be adding some of these links over the course of the next few days, depending on how much wi-fi connectivity I have.

Forums, the lifeblood of modern pirate DXing:

Free Radio Cafe
FRN
HF Underground

An monthly magazine about shortwave listening in the PDF format is The Spectrum Monitor.

Wow, I added a bunch of links this morning and I just checked back in and everything that I added is gone.

OK, let's try to reinstate some of this information:

Here's an article from On the Shortwaves on Dave Thomas of WUMS (not Wendy's). And here's one of the few modern-day perceptions on Dave, written by Harry Helms.

I forgot to add a link to the photo of an SX-28A, but you can find plenty of photos and a lot more information about the model here.

I mention the BC-610 transmitter being left behind in post-war Europe (along with a lot of other radio equipment). The BC-610 was one of the key components of the SCR-299 communications truck. Here's an article on the topic, but alas there are no photos. But Wikipedia comes through with a short article and some photos of the equipment in use.

Dave Martin of WNKR has been experimenting with small, low-power, battery-operated transmitters for years, including the famous Corsair and Corsette transmitters. Here is his page, complete with plans, parts placement, schematics, photos, etc.

One of the best places to pick up radio equipment, whether for shortwave or amateur radio is Universal Radio. They have a lot of information posted about current and obsolete equipment, so it's a really handy resource.

There are a bunch of websites dedicated to weird shortwave phenomena. Here's one called Mystery Signals of the Shortwave. Here is the Dark Side of Shortwave Radio. Cracked.com comes through with The 5 Creepiest Unexplained Broadcasts. Here's a listing of what numbers stations might be on during the current hour.

The Pirate Radio Annual is a book that's approximately 190 pages and it chronicles the stations that are on in a given year. It also contains a CD-R of audio snippets from stations that were on (usually anywhere from 60-70 minutes in length and audio from 65-75 different stations. The 2014 edition is still in the process of being written, so it is not yet available. Last year's edition came out in December, so it still could be some time. If you'd like to place an advance order, the price is $18 in the US (15 + 3 shipping), $25 to Canada (includes $10 shipping), and $28 to the rest of the world (includes $13 shipping). PayPal is: info /a/ hobbybroadcasting.com.

Here is a link to MMSSTV, the program that I use to decode SSTV images from such pirates as Wolverine Radio.

If you don't own a shortwave radio and are interested in the subject, would you like to do a test run in the convenience of your own home? A number of software-defined radios are online. They're located around the world and they vary a lot in the number of users, etc. The one at the University of Twente in Holland is a favorite because every user to checks in "has the radio to himself (or herself)"--with some other SDRs, there is "only one radio" and you have to share the tuning, bandwidth controls, etc. with other listeners. This receiver is also nice because it's really close to a lot of shortwave and AM band (medium wave) pirates in Holland. Here are links to a number of other SDRs, but unfortunately, a lot of these are amateur bands only; nice if you want to check out ham communications, but not so great if you want to hear pirates or "oddities of the spectrum."

Last night, I took photos of a few weird things around: