A few more additions to my 80s pirate archive have been uploaded: KPLU – time/date/frequency unknown – circa 1990 Short 2 minute clip of KPLU (?) broadcasting in SSB. Radio Free Euphoria / WREC – time/date/frequency unknown – circa 1990 30 second clip with nice ID “Broadcasting to the world, or at least some small part of it…” WLIS – unknown date/time/frequency – circa 1990 Short sample of “We Love Interval Signals” in this clip broadcasting in SSB. WPN – unknown date/time/frequency – circa 1989 Zeppelin Radio Worldwide – 7416 Khz – July 11th, 1987 – 0100 UTC I had...
Here’s a (admittedly incomplete) daytime AM bandscan from the Outer Banks of North Carolina that might interest other medium wave DXers. We camped at the Cape Point Campground August 10th-11th, 2010. I hauled my radio gear including a DX-440 portable / Quantum Loop combo and my Perseus SDR and an 800 foot beverage antenna. I was able to do a little DXing between other family activities. Here’s what I caught using the DX-440 and loop around solar noon. It’ll take me some time to go through the spectrum recordings taken during the pre & post sunset hours. Unfortunately I wasn’t...
As part of our family summer vacation, we tent camped at the Cape Point Campground located on Hatteras Island at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The campground features a grassy open flat area and nice views of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Though very scenic, this is an operational lighthouse that illuminated the tent during darkness when the beacon’s light rotated towards the direction of the campground. The kids loved it! All three of the National Park Service campgrounds were considered on OBX: Oregon Inlet Campground, Cape Point Campground, and Frisco Campground. Reservations cannot be had for any of these three...
All logs from June 20th, 2010. Of particular interest is 700 KHSE which has been creeping in under powerhouse WLW lately. VLF Bandscan: kHz UTC ITU Program + Location Details Remarks km 24 0300 USA NAA, Cutler (ME) Presumed NAA w/ 5 second tones spaced 5 seconds apart (marker?) 942 km 25 0300 USA NML4, Lamoure (ND) 60 0300 USA WWVB, Fort Collins (CO) 984 km 74 0300 CAN CFH, Halifax (NS) MW Logs: kHz UTC ITU Program + Location Details Remarks km 700 0300 USA KHSE, Wylie (TX) Presumed under WLW w/ Asian music & programming, strong at times....
Below are long wave and medium wave North American receptions for the month of April, 2010. Many of these have been logged before, but they are new to my mwlist.org logbook that has now replaced my traditional spreadsheet log. April 2nd, 2010: kHz UTC ITU Program + Location Details Remarks km 1070 1400 USA WTSO-ESPN, Madison (WI) Poor, just above noise floor, TOH ID 160 km 1090 0249 USA WCAR, Livonia (MI) EWTN Global Catholic Network programming 153 km 1110 1400 USA WUNN, Mason (MI) Slogan: Family Life Radio, religious 99 km 1140 1359 USA WVEL, Pekin...
Since I’ve taken up the antenna for the summer season, I continue to DX “in the past” thanks to the spectrum recording feature on the Perseus. Typically I record 100khz to 1700khz and usually discard the recording once I’ve gone through the whole MW band unless there’s something interesting worth archiving. I decided on this particular recording to check for activity on the 600 meter experimental amateur band and was pleased to log WD2XSH/6 from Mississippi on 508.8 khz sending out a CW holiday greeting: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD5Qa8gj8sw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1] According to a report read on 500kc.com, station WD2XSH/6 has a calculated ERP of...
Work continues digitizing old cassette tapes of shortwave pirate recordings. It’s a nasty job but someone has to do it. Originally I thought I had about 70 tapes total, but the number is well over 100 as I keep stumbling upon more, not to mention other recorded shortwave oddities. Here are the most recently added recordings with short commentaries: Action Radio – 7416 Khz – December 25th, 1990 – 2320 UTC Noted as the last entry in my pirate logbook, Action Radio’s Christmas Eve broadcast started out with a nice clear signal in this recording and gradually faded down by...
Prior to ordering the Perseus I was conflicted with what kind of computer I would need to successfully DX with the SDR. None of the computers I use at home run Windows (I prefer linux), and none are modern enough to successfully utilize the Perseus to its full potential (full bandwidth recording). Not wanting to spend a lot of money on a new computer just for this purpose, I decided to buy a MSI Wind U100 netbook strictly for using with the Perseus. My decision was based on a favorable review by Guy Atkins using the U100 with the Perseus....
During the 1980s, I recorded many American pirate radio stations on cassette tape and actively traded tapes with other DXers. A slow and long process of transferring these cassettes to MP3 was undertaken a few years ago with many more tapes left to convert. Below is the start of a list of stations that I have recorded and archived, with more to follow as time permits to process them. The quality varies from decent to down right horrible (depending on band conditions at the time, recording media, etc.), but nonetheless they are presented here for historical purposes. All recordings were...
I have been using the Perseus for a few months now and thoroughly enjoy it. The spectrum recording capability of the Perseus came into good use during an auroral opening last month. From my Michigan location, the medium wave band was not recognizable the night of the April 7th, 2010, thanks to this event. Signals from the South replaced those more familiar to my ears and it made for some interesting DX to say the least! Two Perseus recordings were made of the MW band on the night of the 7th at both 8pm & 9pm EST to capture and...