Ok, being the curious type and loving a good conversation. I was reading the BCB logs and various others sites last night. I've noted several recent BCB pirates being logged like the Big Q on 1710. Obviously as we know 1710/KHz is a popular stop over for pirates and part 15ners alike for obvious reasons(I know some transmit even higher, but not my point). So has anyone reliably ever DX logged a part 15 station? Seems like a stretch I know, but stranger has happened.
Brian
Since hearing that pirates had been heard on 1710 I now check it everyday but have not yet tried listening in the auto, which should be a much better way to listen.
I also pay close attention to AM and FM, sometimes picking a blank channel while driving, but I have never found either a part 15 or pirate station from my town here in Missouri.
But I will keep trying, because that sort of thing is more interesting than the canned licensed stations which do exactly the same thing at all times, never interesting.
I do stealth polling by asking people what kind of media entertainment they like, and 100% of the people I talk to use the internet in very common ways, have netflex, cable or dish tv, period. Their only radio consists of two or three stations and no curiosity about the rest of the dial.
It's a kind of cultural death.
Unless you got enough gas to run around for hours and hours covering every block of every city, I seriously doubt anyone will pick up a Part 15 station beyond the typical 1 mile point...especially at night...be it AM or FM. Your not going to pick one up off the home receiver even tied to an outdoor big wig fancy receiving antenna. There is simply just not enough signal strength to make the journey.
But keep trying...as said..stranger things have happened.
RFB
Hearing flea afar.....LOL.... Anyhow yes, plenty of 1710 pirates have been logged recently. There are even YouTube audio bits on them. The Big Q seems to be making a Big Splash as of recent. Anyhow yes stranger things have happened. Just figured I'd ask. I do remember the days of the FRN forums rec.radio.pirate back in the late 90s. Where actual E-skip reports were made on FM pirates. Of course they were running far more than flea power. None of this is new news. Just wondered if anyone after all these years actually successfully logged a Part 15ner.
Brian
P.S., RFB, are you the one making those AM stereo kits by chance?
With the recent discussions on signals being heard on 1.710Mhz, I have been monitoring that frequency with my Motorola communications analyzer connected to a long wire, and have yet to detect anything..not even a slight indication of something there..except the noise floor and occasional spikes of static and buzz noise.
But just last week I did pick up something on 1.720Mhz. And it wasn't a Part 15 station. After researching...found out who and where that signal was coming from. Classified.
BDM, are you referring to the C.Cuff Alfredo units? Unfortunately it is not I that built them or builds them. And it's unfortunate that Chris is no longer making them either. He sold off the remaining units he had as kits. I purchased a few of them to have as spares since my LPB TX 2-20 unit has one installed in place of the stock LPB exciter. Works flawlessly and puts out a sweet AM C-QUAM signal.
The only other place I know of for a C-QUAM unit is ASPiSYS AMAX-1 out of Greece. These are excellent as well. My LPB AM 25 has one in place of the stock exciter. It also works beautifully and produces excellent stereo audio.
The spare C-Cuff boards I have are configured to work in the upper AM band. Like the LPB final amplifer, the Alfredo units required a specific set of filter components after the envelope modulator for the band. Just like the LPB final amplifier filter, these units divide the MW band into 3 sections..low, mid, and hi. The components are much smaller of course and a heck of a lot easier to find and purchase than the LPB filter parts.
I may be willing to part with one of the C-Cuff boards which is fully assembled and in an enclosure. I can't remember what frequency the unit is running at, I think 1500Khz but the crystals are 4 times the broadcast frequency and are easily obtained, relatively inexpensive. DigiKey also makes a programmable oscillator module that plugs right into the 8 pin DIN socket where the crystal goes. Chris made that modification to his later units and the programmable oscillator module is cheaper than the crystals!
There is also a modification to use a PLL on them as well. A bit more complex than putting a PLL onto an LPB because you need the PLL oscillator to produce a 0 and 90 degree phased carrier from the oscillator. But that can be accomplished by using the on-board IC's already there. Like the LPB units, replacing the crystal circuit with an LC/Varactor circuit, you can use the same oscillator circuit already there in the unit and control it with the PLL.
RFB
Actually there was a part 15 station on 1610 in the 90s that Skywaved about 100 miles to be picked up a dxer.
Well it's not impossible for a 100mW signal to propagate for miles..given that the conditions for that to happen would have to be so good as to be beyond normal atmospheric circumstances.
But the timing is about right...the early 90's were also a "hot" year for skywave activity across the spectrum due to the cycling of solar activity during that period.
My FM station is adjusted precisely for 250uV at 3 meters from the outdoor ground plane antenna, verified and documented on the last inspection. Sometimes when the conditions are just right, I can pick up my FM station 3 miles across town on the vehicle radio. Recently my friend living in Glenrock, about 15 miles away, picked up my CC station clearly around 2 am in the morning during the recent CME activity. Was strange because that CME activity was dampening my station's coverage in town quite a bit, but she picked it up 15 miles away in another town on her home stereo.
Radio propagation...gotta love its unpredictability! Forget numbers on paper or theory on paper, the real world often tends to prove them wrong.
RFB
RFB, I wanted to contact you through email. Should I use your station website contact info?
Brian
thats how i emailed him just today. haven't heard back yet but i have yet to find any other email for him so i would guess that is how to get him via email. yep. confirmed his station email is how to contact him.
I can be contacted at my station's email address which is [email protected].
Robert, I did reply to your email, it should be in your inbox by now.
I always keep my email program running so it never misses any messages. I get contacted by a lot of independent bands and artists as well as program producers and hosts, so the station's email is constantly monitored.
RFB
Just emailed you RFB
Got it. There should be a reply in your inbox.
RFB
I didn't think much of the CME. My AM shuts off at night and the FM is well, FM. Who knows how far that FM could've jumped in that time.
(Anxiously waits for Japanese QSL)
Although this is not our "thing," Part 15 DX has
occurred many times. But, unfortunately, not with
the AM mode.
The guys that run morse code (and some other digital
modes) on the Long Wave, Medium Wave, and 13.560 MHz
ranges have obtained ionospheric skip. The receiving set-ups
in use were very very sophisticated, though.
Years ago, Monitoring Times made mention of a 13.560 MHz
Part 15 AM mode station that had been heard across hundreds of miles
in several different directions. HOWEVER, the rumor mill later
revealed that the guy was running a lot more power than Part 15.
The station was called "Radio Orion" ????? Or something like that.
I'd love to know the real story.
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2