Project Updates: 10/11/15

With autumn setting in, I've started doing more radio-related activities again. A month or two ago, I strung up a decent random longwire for my Philco 44, so it's nice to listen to old-time radio shows on a '30s-era cathedral.

I also started listening more to the radio again. I logged a few broadcasts last night (and also posted the logs here). And over the past few days, I picked up some radio projects again. Here are the updates:

Philco 87: Today, I pulled it back onto the porch sanded, retaped some areas, and stained some parts of it. A couple of new photos and some text is up.

Corsette: I don't have a thread up for it, but I soldered a bit more yesterday and I almost have the oscillator portion finished.

Goldentone: Still sitting out in the garage. Pretty radio, but it's the closet thing you'll find to a disposable radio from the '30s.

I have a few other projects that I've done just a little bit with, but haven't written about on the blog. We'll see if they're worth writing about in the upcoming months.

Some Pirate Loggings: 10/11/15

Unid(s): 6925U, 10/11, 0043 Heard what sounded like a loop of the opening call of SCTV's "Great White North." Another station came on with a deep-voiced announcer that reminded me of the announcer from Satan Radio, then the song "Things that Go Bump in the Night" by Allstars (per PghScanner on HFU). Still later, I heard B-52s "Private Idaho" before Liquid Radio came on.

Liquid Radio: 6925, 10/11, 0115+ Techno with a weak signal (but better than I've heard in a while). Just checked their web stream and it's definitely Liquid Radio (same song on the radio & on the stream). BTW, the song I'm hearing right now is E-Zee Possee "Everything Starts With An E" Now, he's playing Ecstacy Club "Jesus Loves The Acid" and I could hear "How ya doin' Andrew?" over the stream, but I couldn't pull that out over the air (I was listening to both at the same time to try to hear how much of a time delay there is between the two). BTW, I think the web stream is delayed by 10-15 seconds

PARI DXpedition

If you follow SWLing.com very closely, you know about the 1st annual (?) DXpedition that's planned for the upcoming weekend at the the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI), "a 200-acre radio astronomy observatory and former NASA tracking station located deep in the mountains of western North Carolina." How deep in the mountains? Well, it's not far from either Tennessee or Georgia, and it's about 30 minutes from any towns of appreciable size. It's not a total radio blackout area, like Greenbelt, WV, but it's definitely radio limited. And for fans of radio and DXing, that's great news.

I'm not sure if there's still time to sign up, but it's worth looking in to if you have a chance. It's definitely worth checking out if you have a can attend. It's not looking good for me this year, but I'm hoping that I can next time.

As electronic noise has dramatically increased all over the bands, DXpeditions to a less noisy area are increasingly useful, whether for DXing or just more comfortable listening. And when those DXpeditions are organized events, it's a great way to forge relationships with other listeners while learning more about this fascinating hobby of ours.

Even if you can't make it to the PARI DXpedition this week, it could be a great time to consider organizing your own DXpedition with a few local or somewhat local listeners to a quiet location.

The Spectrum Monitor: October Issue

I've had a few things to write about recently, but I haven't gotten around to putting fingers to keyboard. And today, the October issue of The Spectrum Monitor arrived in my in-box, so I think it's worth mentioning a few bits of the content.

For anyone who doesn't know about The Spectrum Monitor, it's essentially the successor to Monitoring Times, but only in PDF format. The October issue contains 87 pages in an 8.5"-x-11" format. Some of the articles in this issue include Norden clandestine programming from World War II, stealth antennas, a tour of radio & TV stations in the West, a look at the Zenith Trans-Oceanic G-500 (with restoration tips), marine radio technology,  longwave radio, a look at the Sun’s chromosphere, building the Ramsey Part-15 AM transmitter (+ a listing of other available AM low-power transmitters), amateur radio on 60 meters, SW utility loggings, easy digital-mode catches, and my 3X/year pirate radio column (including bits on Kort Maar Krachtig, Halloween pirate DXing, Northwoods Radio, Burn It Down Radio, Amphetamine Radio, Pirate Radio BBC, Cold Country Canada, and a recent unid on 18145 kHz USB).

And I've been listening to the OTR station while typing this:

Old-Time Radio unid: 6770, 9/29, 2245+ Red Skelton show and ads for Avalon cigarettes. Skit with Caesar, Octavius, etc. It definitely sounded like it was recorded live because there were a few mistakes throughout the show. Red Foley and the Avalon Chorus.

2014 Pirate Radio Annual Sold Out

Just a note that the 2014 PRA is officially sold out. I just sent the last batch left to Universal Radio and the last one to an individual. Throughout the year, I've been working on a combined 2015-2016 annual, which will hopefully get everything caught up (2014 was a full year behind schedule and 2013 was about 6 months behind). I'm hoping to have it ready in March 2016, but something always seems to turn up and slow me down.

And speaking of things turning up, I need to leave now, so I can't write anymore for at least the next few hours. . . .

Pirate logging(s): 9/3/15

I've been missing far too many stations lately, but here's a log of one that's not too difficult for me to hear:

Old-Time Radio unid: 6770, 9/3, 1200+ The Damon Runyon Theatre, then The Adventures of Frank Merriwell "The Stolen Masterpiece" from June 19, 1948. Safe driving PSA: "The next life you save could be your own." The Hallmark Playhouse "Mrs. Union Station" from June 17, 1948.

The Spectrum Monitor: September issue

It's been far too long since I've adding anything to the blog. But, a connector broke on the riding mower and it won't start. So, I've been mowing acres of land with the pushmower . . . that is until the bolts of the handle pulled completely through the mower deck. So, I'm left with more energy than mowing ability and it seems like a good night to type in here.

I just received my September issue of The Spectrum Monitor. Lots of monitor- and DXer-related material for the radio hobbyist.

The first shortwave station that I received a QSL from in 1981 was AFRTS . . . and the lead feature in this month's TSM is on AFN. Nice to see a feature on a historic operation that's still around. Speaking of whether stations have closed or not, Jeff White's "World of Shortwave" column is about the last days of International Radio Serbia, which closed on July 30. Jeff also describes the current no-win stand-off between DRM transmitter and receiver manufacturers. Fred Waterer spends a few pages on shortwave programming, including Radio Tirana, Deutsche Welle, Radio Austria International, CKZN, Radio Havana Cuba, and broadcasts to Africa. Something a bit different that interests me nonetheless is an article on the restoration of the Heathkit AA-151 audio amplifier. There are also articles on amateur radio satellites, the history of WOWO, building a roof-mounted loop antenna, longwave radio, and much more.

A subscription to The Spectrum Monitor is $24/year, which works out to about $2/issue for a wealth of timely shortwave radio information.