Posted on 10/19/2010 4:13:05 AM PDT by djf
They have a website - http://www.3840khz.net
“The R-390/A is also especially useful in the winter as a space heater, and in mobile homes as a preventative of being blown away in a tornado.”
I never owned a R-390, but I had a number of R-392s
(mobile version of the R-390}
http://users.erols.com/mdinolfo/r-392.htm
along with a few t-195 transmitters.
http://www.rigpix.com/military/t195grc19.htm
Collins was noted for great selectivity and stability, but never too hot on sensitivity.
Yea, they are that.
My hamshack as a kid had the following: A Hammarlund HX-50A, Collins 75A1, a homebrew 813 amp, a National receiver from a USN contract (it sorta looked like a HRO-60) and various other stuff.
In the summer, I could operate only very early in the AM or late at night. It heated up the house too fast otherwise.
Still, I think the audio (both transmitted and received) on some of the old tube boat anchors is far better than the modern stuff. Especially on AM.
No kidding. Not exactly a boat anchor and certainly not high end, my first SWL receiver was a Hallicrafters 5R10A (very similar to a S-38D). That little 5 tube receiver sounded great, and it was quiet and had great sensitivity - though it drifted some as i recall.
My grandpa had an old Magnavox console radio (probably from the '40s). This one was for listening to music. The bottom half of the cabinet contained a 16" speaker and a huge steerable loop antenna.
None of the modern stuff I have had has come close to the sound of tubes and analog together. The new digital stuff does some nice things but most of the old tube gear is just easier to listen to, ya know?
So you're not a DSP fan either I'd guess?
Short wave radio would be a good way to listen to broadcasts. To communicate would require a transceiver capable of transmitting and receiving.
Now some will tell you that a few watts, a long wire and a morse code key is all you need to get out around the world and to a large extend they'd be right. Morse code always works.
Me though, I prefer my Mosley TA-33 50' up in the air, my Kenwood 940SAT rig, and my Ameritron legal-limit amp to do the talking.
Now THAT'S how you communicate.
Excellent advice. Ham Radio is enjoying quite a renaissance now that morse code is no longer required. Some of the older hams think it's "ruined the hobby" as a result but it you really look at who's getting into the hobby and what they're doing now, many of the newcomers to the hobby are experimenting more in the digital modes of communications, over the air networks, packet radio, echolink (which I contend isn't really ham radio...) and other modes of communication as well.
I got into the hobby about 3 years ago now and in that time have worked all 50 States, all Canadian provinces and about 50 countries outside the U.S. A few weeks ago I managed to make a contact in Moscow and have a conversation that lasted over an hour on 20 Meters (14.285) before the band fell out. I've talked as far as Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa for example on a simple wire and 100 watts when conditions were right.
My first rig cost me a few hundred bucks, I did the work to re-condition it myself with some help from a ham friend ("elmer") and my first antenna was a long wire between the peak of my roof and a tree 100 feet away. I think I worked almost every state with that setup by itself.
You'd be amazed at the people you can talk to all over the world and they know english really well. It's a great hobby with something for everyone I think. My 12 year old son is testing for his first license in another week or two, he's looking forward to being able to use Dad's radio's.
Well, it depends the purpose of the processing, where it's applied, and how heavily.
Overdo it and the sound quality is destroyed.
Make sure that you get a “full coverage” radio. That means it can receive a station anywhere on the shortwave radio spectrum, not just a few pre-defined bands.
Before the internet, I used to listen to several stations located inside the USA like WWCR in Nashville, TN for the truth outside the government controlled media. Several cheaper shortwave radios I had did not cover some of the frequencies of WWCR.
I was a big-time Shortwave enthusiast back in the day, but it seems now the only things I hear on SW are religion stations. All of the old big broadcasters have moved on to satellite and Internet.
And you haven’t lived until you listened to a Radio Tirana broadcast back in the day.
I was shocked at the deadness of the sw bands last night and this morning. Scanning the DE1103 picked up a total of 2 commercial stations and one CB. No SSB in the 7M area like I used to get in the morning. Tried the whip, the loop and a 50’ random wire although not all three on each band. Are things really that dead or do I have a problem with the radio?
Oh, and it picked up the shortwave time service at 9999 or 10000, sounding the same as it ever did, so I doubt the radio’s sensitivity is down. This is really the death of a technology. Not one dinosaur media I wanted to see go! Where are all these HAMs I’m hearing about? Can’t even get anything at sunrise or sunset!
The guys working DX you'll hear mostly between about 7128 & 7175 (because a lot of the DX can't go above that). Listen right at 7:00 AM Eastern right at 7133 LSB - the same two guys in Florida are always there and they have strong signals. A few KHz above them there are a couple other regulars, one in Maryland and one in NY.
I don't have a super good antenna at my temporary location so it is not often I hear the DX but sometime during the day & night just about anywhere in North America is workable barefoot, and there is usually a fair amount of activity. But just about anything should hear those guys stateside running legal limit down in the aforementioned DX window.
I was hearing plenty of stuff. had a french pirate in the 16m band and had hams in 40, 20, 17 and 15m bands.
Well, I’m having much better luck this evening on the 31m and 41m bands. Several commercial stations — China, Japan (I think), CBC, and one or two others. Don’t know if I was just missing the broadcast slots last night or better conditions or both. Appreciate the tips. Thanks.
I think that a lot of them are getting up into the 6, 2, and 1.25 meter bands and using repeaters. I'm just studying the subject myself, and I need to get a receiver that covers an appropriate range.
Trunews is in the 49 meter band in the early evening.
http://www.trunews.com/listen_now.htm
Although the affiliated station is religious, Trunews is very good at reporting straight news.
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