On 10/07/2017 06:46 PM, Brent Hilpert via cctalk wrote:
SW is dead. The internet killed it. You can fix your S-40B
but there won't be much to make it fly with. There are a
couple international broadcasters left, but nothing like
it used to be. I was an SWL'er as a kid in the 70s,
learned a lot about the world. Voice of America, Armed
Forces Network, Radio Japan, Radio Hilversum Holland,
Deutsche Welle, HCJB Voice of the Andes, Radio Prague,
Radio Moscow, Radio Peking, BBC, etc., etc., etc.
Listening to the Cold War play out on the international
airwaves. Pretty much all gone. Left between the static
are a few religious broadcasters.
I used to do a lot of RTTY receiving. I copied RCC in
Washington DC. That was the Soviet embassy! They'd send
some clear test stuff for a while, then go off the air for 5
minutes and start sending 5 digit code groups.
I also figured out how to decode a binary synchronous
transmission that turned out to be a police net among the
French-speaking Caribbean islands. It was standard ITA2
(5-level teletype code, often called Baudot) with the start
and stop bits removed, and blocked into groups.
Only hams seem to use RTTY any more. There are a plethora
of digital modes used by hams, though.
Jon
