Anyone still there?
 

Are there any real people still here? Should we have a roll call? So many of the old guard gone. I'm not sure what keeps bringing me back here unless it's the odd hope of reading about someone's latest DX catch, homebrewing exploit or DXpedition adventure.

I admit, my SWL activity has decreased since I went berzerk over ham radio, but recently I've started building regenerative receivers, Manhattan style, on copper clad circuit boards, and you can build a damn good receiver that way. I still have some excellent shortwave rigs (AOR 7030+, Lowe HF-150, etc.), but they aren't seeing much use these days. There are only so many hours in the day (24, I'm told, though that figure sounds exaggerated to me)..

I'm thinking a good direct conversion receiver might be a good project for the future.

So what's up out there?

Anyone still there?
 

On 9/9/2015 2:31 PM, Steve wrote:
Are there any real people still here? Should we have a roll call? So many of the old guard gone. I'm not sure what keeps bringing me back here unless it's the odd hope of reading about someone's latest DX catch, homebrewing exploit or DXpedition adventure.

I admit, my SWL activity has decreased since I went berzerk over ham radio, but recently I've started building regenerative receivers, Manhattan style, on copper clad circuit boards, and you can build a damn good receiver that way. I still have some excellent shortwave rigs (AOR 7030+, Lowe HF-150, etc.), but they aren't seeing much use these days. There are only so many hours in the day (24, I'm told, though that figure sounds exaggerated to me).

I'm thinking a good direct conversion receiver might be a good project for the future.

So what's up out there?


I still see an occasional post of interest, and I read through the
Google News everyday. Not much, but it doesn't take much effort, either.

Anyone still there?
 

On Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 4:41:16 PM UTC-4, Travis McGee wrote:
On 9/9/2015 2:31 PM, Steve wrote:
Are there any real people still here? Should we have a roll call? So many of the old guard gone. I'm not sure what keeps bringing me back here unless it's the odd hope of reading about someone's latest DX catch, homebrewing exploit or DXpedition adventure.

I admit, my SWL activity has decreased since I went berzerk over ham radio, but recently I've started building regenerative receivers, Manhattan style, on copper clad circuit boards, and you can build a damn good receiver that way. I still have some excellent shortwave rigs (AOR 7030+, Lowe HF-150, etc.), but they aren't seeing much use these days. There are only so many hours in the day (24, I'm told, though that figure sounds exaggerated to me).

I'm thinking a good direct conversion receiver might be a good project for the future.

So what's up out there?


I still see an occasional post of interest, and I read through the
Google News everyday. Not much, but it doesn't take much effort, either.

Most of the diehards are still around. But (very long pause) the present solar cycle is really the worst according to the astronomers ... since 1750.

Anyone still there?
 

On Wednesday, 9 September 2015 19:31:12 UTC+1, Steve wrote:
Are there any real people still here? Should we have a roll call? So many of the old guard gone. I'm not sure what keeps bringing me back here unless it's the odd hope of reading about someone's latest DX catch, homebrewing exploit or DXpedition adventure.

I admit, my SWL activity has decreased since I went berzerk over ham radio, but recently I've started building regenerative receivers, Manhattan style, on copper clad circuit boards, and you can build a damn good receiver that way. I still have some excellent shortwave rigs (AOR 7030+, Lowe HF-150, etc.), but they aren't seeing much use these days. There are only so many hours in the day (24, I'm told, though that figure sounds exaggerated to me).

I'm thinking a good direct conversion receiver might be a good project for the future.

So what's up out there?

I still use my NRD525, Grunding Sat800 and Icom ICR20 every day and even listen to Radio Romania on DRM. Not impressed by my SDR though - seems deaf on SW.

Anyone still there?
 

On 9/9/2015 7:35 PM, wrote:

Most of the diehards are still around. But (very long pause) the
present solar cycle is really the worst according to the astronomers
... since 1750.

Yes, poor conditions that got even worse yesterday (9 Sept). The K index
was 6, a G2 radio blackout, some classified this as a "major storm".

With the sun so quiet, no coronal mass ejections, no sunspots, how could
radio conditions be so bad?

The quote from spaceweather.com below seems to have the answer:

Powered by fusion, the sun is a 1027-ton nuclear explosion contained
in one place only by the awesome force of its own gravity. How quiet
can such a thing be? Very. According to NOAA, solar activity has
been very low all week long. No sunspots are flaring, and the sun's
X-ray output has flatlined. The chance of a strong solar flare on
Sept. 10th is no more than 1%.

How can such a display [referring to auroral displays in the article but obviously affecting radio propagation] occur while solar activity is so low? The
answer has to do with the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). On
Sept. 7th, the IMF tilted south, opening a crack in Earth's
magnetosphere. Solar wind (which exists even during times of quiet)
poured in to fuel the auroras [and mostly killed HF propagation].

The 20 meter ham band was marginally decent on the 7th and 8th (at least
for the digital modes, PSK and JT) but the bottom dropped out on the
9th. It was so quiet that my first thought was that the antenna fell
down. :-)

Anyone still there?
 

I agree with Joe....it was so dismal on the 9th, I went outside to see if my antennas had been damaged. Thank goodness HF is recovering today.

73 Don

Icom IC-7200
CommRadio CR-1a

Anyone still there?
 

On Wed, 09 Sep 2015 11:31:09 -0700, Steve wrote:

Are there any real people still here? Should we have a roll call? So
many of the old guard gone. I'm not sure what keeps bringing me back
here unless it's the odd hope of reading about someone's latest DX
catch, homebrewing exploit or DXpedition adventure.

I admit, my SWL activity has decreased since I went berzerk over ham
radio, but recently I've started building regenerative receivers,
Manhattan style, on copper clad circuit boards, and you can build a damn
good receiver that way. I still have some excellent shortwave rigs (AOR
7030+, Lowe HF-150, etc.), but they aren't seeing much use these days.
There are only so many hours in the day (24, I'm told, though that
figure sounds exaggerated to me).

I'm thinking a good direct conversion receiver might be a good project
for the future.

So what's up out there?

I lurk in here occasionally to see if anyone still active. My AR7030+
also rarely sees any action now. HF broadcasting has declined steeply in
the last few years. That said; enjoyed hearing plenty of South American
HF locals (mainly Brazilian) this summer here in Scotland.

Obtained a Tecsun PL-660 recently, out of curiosity, and so far very
impressed by the performance you get for such a modest price.

AM DXing seems to be alive and well these days, even though broadcasting
has declined somewhat in Europe (but still fairly busy). Planning to re-
build my tuneable loop in preparation for coming winter conditions; for
trans-Atlantic DX. I used to run an amplifier from it and fed the output
back through a ferrite bar mounted in the centre. This applied positive
feedback and produced an astoundingly selective tuning peak.

Also bought a Sony ICF-EX5MK2; an unusual AM-DX portable from the
domestic Japanese market which is totally analogue yet has a type of sync
detection which (usually) works a treat.

Anyone still there?
 

Steve wrote:

Are there any real people still here?
Should we have a roll call? So many of
the old guard gone.

My 8 element active MW array has fallen
into disrepair since internet streaming
has made Imus available without going
to 500-mile distant AM stations.

And also IBOC has made nulling away
interference pretty impossible.

On SW, Radio Japan long ago stopped doing
adult programming, in particular the
interviews with various experts who could
be enjoyed for wild English accents that
only the Japanese can produce.

Now it's all happy-talk aimed at sub-teens.

I listen to ham CW on my bike commutes,
mostly 20m, or 40m if 20m is dead.
--


On the internet, nobody knows you're a
jerk.

Anyone still there?
 

I still check the traffic here from time to time, but sadly it's mostly useless drivel. SWBC bands are not as teeming with activity as they used to be.. As for the overall decline of rec.radio.shortwave, it was compounded by the high volume of non-radio traffic and the emergence of more focused, often moderated, alternatives like Yahoo groups. The latter migration was rather unfortunate in that it Balkanized the hobbyist chatter among many groups of specific interest areas. Oh well...

Speaking for myself, I'm still doing swling, with some UTE and ham band monitoring, using my Drakes and other receivers, among which is a '7030+, which I bought new in its final production year. Steve, it was in part due to the glowing comments by you and Joe Analssandrini that I finally bought that one! There are any number of good folks who silently disappeared from rec.radio.shortwave: Joe A., Telamon, Eric F. Richards, just to name a few. Hope they're doing well, and still enjoying the hobby in some way or another.

Sorry to hear that your MW antenna arrangement has fallen into disrepair, Ron. On any number of occasions when engaging my ANC-4, I thought of your antenna project out there in the Midwest...wishing that I had the space to execute antenna projects on such a scale!

Anyone still there?
 

On Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 9:29:34 AM UTC-4, junius wrote:
I still check the traffic here from time to time, but sadly it's mostly useless drivel. SWBC bands are not as teeming with activity as they used to be. As for the overall decline of rec.radio.shortwave, it was compounded by the high volume of non-radio traffic and the emergence of more focused, often moderated, alternatives like Yahoo groups. The latter migration was rather unfortunate in that it Balkanized the hobbyist chatter among many groups of specific interest areas. Oh well...

Speaking for myself, I'm still doing swling, with some UTE and ham band monitoring, using my Drakes and other receivers, among which is a '7030+, which I bought new in its final production year. Steve, it was in part due to the glowing comments by you and Joe Analssandrini that I finally bought that one! There are any number of good folks who silently disappeared from rec.radio.shortwave: Joe A., Telamon, Eric F. Richards, just to name a few. Hope they're doing well, and still enjoying the hobby in some way or another..

Sorry to hear that your MW antenna arrangement has fallen into disrepair, Ron. On any number of occasions when engaging my ANC-4, I thought of your antenna project out there in the Midwest...wishing that I had the space to execute antenna projects on such a scale!

I have the AOR 7030 (not the plus) version. The controls are getting hard to turn, believe this was a common problem in the original production run (for a few years). Hard to beat its performance - anything else pales in comparison with just a few exceptions: R-390 (non A),Harris RF-550,Racal R-2174(P),Drake R-7,Palstar R30CC ...