It seems to me there are a few out there claiming to be shortwave and longwave but are they truly p15 compliant?
It seems to me there are a few out there claiming to be shortwave and longwave but are they truly p15 compliant?
If i had it my way i would buy a ham rig and do whatever was necessary to make them work for my needs and still remain legal.
Ramsey has a few qrp rigs for use in the ham bands but i havent read the forums there at ramsey to see if they can operate in the p15 area of shortwave. Longwave as we all know is below 550 khz so some am transmitters can be modified for longwave.
Im considering converting my sstran for use in longwave area and im pretty certain it cannot be converted for shortwave.
My reasons for doing this is:
One, i dont see any good coming out of the future of digital radio on am or fm. I would do this to get away from the frying noise we are about to hear on both bands.
Two, the nostalgic reasons. I have always been impressed with the history of shortwave and longwave radio. I used to sit in awe as I tuned into some amateur stations on AM running converted broadcast transmitters. Some of those rigs sound better than station on 530 to 1700.
Three, ive always been a dx’er on ssb/am on 11 meters and would like to branch out into different bands. Maybe print a few qsl cards just in case. 🙂
Anyways, ill keep looking around.
Perhaps You Should Get a Ham License
The days of “rolling your own” radio equipment are pretty much gone except for a determined few who maintain a well stocked “junk box” and can find parts. Kit providers such as SSTRAN and Ramsey continue a fine tradition. The magazines which one could buy at any newstand such as Popular Electronics, Radio-TV Experimenter, Electronics Illustrated, and others which I don’t at the moment recall have disappeared. Traditional parts such as “baloney slicer” variable caps., vacuum tubes, and high voltage power transformers are hard to find but they are still out there. There is a good volume of solid state components available.
Even ham radio is pretty much an appliance operator’s activity now with relaxed theory testing and no code for a license and about any type of “rig” is available for a reasonable price. An Amateur Radio license is relatively easy to get with a bit of effort. This is not necessarily bad because without the numbers the ham bands would be gone and those who just want to get on the air reinforce those who want to dig deeper into the hobby by building their own. It is the best of both worlds.
Be that as it may, there is still a lot of opportunity for an interested individual to sink their teeth into theory and construction of equipment for use on the amateur radio bands. Imagine being able to run a kilowatt with any antenna you choose with almost any modulation mode! You can put a milliwatt beacon on the air and with a simple digital code ID generator (computer or hardware) you can transmit your call and receive reception reports from who knows where. If you participate in nets you are guaranteed contacts.
Check out amateur radio. It has provided me with many hours of fun, uncountable chances for community service, and life long friends whom I met on the air and to this day visit and treasure.
No, you cannot “broadcast” on the ham bands but you can do almost anything else which would excite the imagination of the experimenter and the DX SWLer. Imagine a two way QSL card. Done every minute of every day on the ham bands.
Check out the American Radio Radio League national and local sites for more info. Judging by your post here and elsewhere on this board, I think you are a prime candidate to pursue this.
Neil
The SSTRAN will work on longwave if modified
If you do a search, you’ll find a previous conversation here on converting the SSTRAN to work on longwave. Provided that you operate in the small part of the band that is designated for Part 15 operation, you’ll be fine. I can’t say how well it works because I haven’t tried it, but one of the other board members did.
Instead of griping about IBOC hiss-o-matic technology, you should be actively trying to help get rid of this garbage by writing letters to your local stations that are broadcasting it, and by filing comments with the FCC.
I will personally help carry the exciter to the dumpster for any station that will pull it out of the rack and put a clean signal on the air once again!
no stations here have iboc
And i think it would be a long time before they do. I Hope!
I may have to stop into a few of them here in town and ask them if they plan to add it in the near future. Clear Channel owns a cluster of stations in near-by Somerset so I almost certain some of them will throw the switch soon. Lexington has a few already, some of them are offering a stream online to help promote hd.
To me those streams sound like the digital music channels offered by my cable provider.
None of wich are worth listening to. The sound quality is there and its good. But as far as programming (format wise) it isnt worth listening to.
Yes gone are the days where dj’s were dj’s and they played what we wanted to hear.
As for ham radio,
Ive been exposed to it on several occasions and enjoyed it, i was operating a friends station while he stood by as damage control, it was fun.
I have been kicking around the idea of getting my ticket, just havent gone much further than that. I have always dx’d on ssb with much less power than the allowed 12 pep and have built several antennas for use in the 11 meter band.
In fact my favorite antenna has to be the dipole built for 11 meteres out of copper wire and plexiglas for insulators. Inverted V was my choice for dx’ing on ssb.
Not the most effecient antenna out there but certainly the quietest.
Letter to IBOC Broadcasters
WEAK-AM wrote:
Instead of griping about IBOC hiss-o-matic technology, you should be actively trying to help get rid of this garbage by writing letters to your local stations that are broadcasting it, and ….
Not sure what such a letter would contain. Maybe:
Dear Broadcaster, Your IBOC signal is preventing me from listening to other stations. If you don’t cease IBOC I will not listen to other stations! Er…ummm…nevermind.
Something like that?
Your other suggestion about writing the FCC may be more productive, but I doubt it.
Neil