Re: [Spooks] SWLing and portables
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list On Oct 6, 2013, at 3:57 PM, john wrote: Is it a wire that attaches directly to the built in whip? No. Does it plug into a jack then I take it? Yes, there’s an ANT jack just below where the whip is attached. What happens if you moisten your finger tips and touch the whip? does the background noise jump up some? It doesn’t appear to make any difference. What happens if you connect and disconnect the long wire antenna while you have a shortwave signal tuned in? Does the level go up and down? On most frequencies, it makes no difference. On a few frequencies, there’s a fluctuation in clarity. Nope... 5 , 10 or 15 Mhz should bring you the tick tock of WWV Right, I’ve seen vids of that on YouTube, but I’m no picking up anything on those frequencies with or without the wire, only very faint signals that I can’t really make out. (where are you located by the way...US?) Yes, the Metro Washington DC area. __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
[Spooks] HAM Stuff [was: Re: Lincolnshire poacher]
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list Is it lawful to own HAM radio gear without a license so long as you don’t use it to transmit, only to receive? __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Spooks] HAM Stuff [was: Re: Lincolnshire poacher]
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list On Oct 7, 2013, at 2:26 PM, Ted Van Beurden wrote: Wouldn't be any point. A shortwave receiver covers more freqs (unless things have changed) and should receive just as well as a ham receiver. Unless you just want to listen to hams. Just my view. I’m mostly just mulling things over. I’m new to shortwave and don’t take it very seriously, but I’m finding myself kind of annoyed at my astoundingly bad fortune in picking up number stations with my Grundig G5 with a whip antenna. I’d like to figure out whether it’s because I need a better antenna, or a better radio, or because I’m overlooking something else, or simply because I’m doing something wrong. I’d say it’s most likely the last one, but even so, I want to look at the other possibilities as well. __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Spooks] HAM Stuff [was: Re: Lincolnshire poacher]
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list The Grundig came with a wire, but I’ve tried the Grundig both with and without it, and even with both antennas attached, and haven’t had any luck picking up anything but fairly strong local stations. Thank you for the suggestions about gear, I’ll take a look at those. Hmm. If a small portable is so problematic, I wonder how it is that spies use them. Or maybe the don’t use them? Dunno. (Obviously.) On Oct 6, 2013, at 2:35 PM, john wrote: ITed, it's probably both. Even a cheapish table top used SW receiver with a random wire will pick up numbers stations , hams, SWBC stations, etc. A budget portable with a whip MAY be able to pick them up if you have experience with SW listening and are patient, but you'd do much better to get an Icom R71, or a Kenwood 2000, or something affordable like that, and run a wire as far as you can (even if it's just tacked to the ceiling down the hallway). A whip and an inexpensive portable is not going to be easy! __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Spooks] SWLing and portables
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list On Oct 6, 2013, at 2:43 PM, john wrote: If you don't notice a significant difference in background noise levels and signal strengths of stations when you attache a long wire to the receiver, there's something wrong with the radio, or the way the antenna is being attached. OK, thanks — I’ll pull the wire back out and give it another try. Is it a wire that attaches directly to the built in whip? No. Most long wires that come with receivers aren't very long. I haven’t actually measured this one, but it’s probably around forty feet. What happens if you moisten your finger tips and touch the whip? does the background noise jump up some? It doesn’t appear to make any difference. Do you hear WWV at 5/10/15 Mhz at any time? (I assume you mean Khz, not Mhz.) I’m not getting them right now, no. On 15, I’m picking up a faint sporadic “blooping” type noise, nothing more. Let me try attaching the wire again and see whether that makes any difference. Government furloughs definitely leave you with a lot of time on your hands… even with all the TV that I have to watch and the schoolwork that I have to do, I’m still a man of leisure right now, albeit an involuntary one. __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Spooks] SWLing and portables
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list I was starting to experiment with your suggestions below, but I noticed that the batteries are almost dead, so I stopped. Let me replace them and get back to you again in a little bit. Yes, the long antenna goes into a separate jack on the side… my radio is a Grundig G5 if you care to look up the specs. On Oct 6, 2013, at 3:57 PM, john wrote: Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list At 02:50 PM 10/7/2013, you wrote: Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list On Oct 6, 2013, at 2:43 PM, john wrote: If you don't notice a significant difference in background noise levels and signal strengths of stations when you attache a long wire to the receiver, there's something wrong with the radio, or the way the antenna is being attached. OK, thanks — I’ll pull the wire back out and give it another try. Is it a wire that attaches directly to the built in whip? No. Does it plug into a jack then I take it? Most long wires that come with receivers aren't very long. I haven’t actually measured this one, but it’s probably around forty feet. That should be plenty long enough What happens if you moisten your finger tips and touch the whip? does the background noise jump up some? It doesn’t appear to make any difference. What happens if you connect and disconnect the long wire antenna while you have a shortwave signal tuned in? Does the level go up and down? Do you hear WWV at 5/10/15 Mhz at any time? (I assume you mean Khz, not Mhz.) I’m not getting them right now, no. On 15, I’m picking up a faint sporadic “blooping” type noise, nothing more. Let me try attaching the wire again and see whether that makes any difference. Nope... 5 , 10 or 15 Mhz should bring you the tick tock of WWV (where are you located by the way...US?) John Government furloughs definitely leave you with a lot of time on your hands… even with all the TV that I have to watch and the schoolwork that I have to do, I’m still a man of leisure right now, albeit an involuntary one. __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html III __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Spooks] HAM Stuff [was: Re: Lincolnshire poacher]
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list Thanks! On Oct 7, 2013, at 4:10 PM, Martin G Choquette wrote: Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list Nobody mentioned it but the WebSDR net works well, especially the Netherlands radio...and it's all free, google it. On 2013-10-07 3:58 PM, john joh...@nc.rr.com wrote: Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list Sure! www.eham.net has a lot of them! ( it's a ham site ) :-) John At 03:38 PM 10/7/2013, you wrote: Visit http://mailman.qth.net/**mailman/listinfo/spookshttp://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooksto unsubscribe from this list Thank you for the information. This is a lot more involved than I would have thought. Do you know of any good web sites or other resources that give reviews for radios and antennas (and any other important items that would go along with them)? I don't think I'll be able to afford any major purchases until the government decides to let me go back to work *growl* but I can at least take some time to read up on the subject. On Oct 7, 2013, at 3:11 PM, Brooke Clarke wrote: Visit http://mailman.qth.net/**mailman/listinfo/spookshttp://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooksto unsubscribe from this list Hi Parrish: The antenna is just as important as the radio. For receive applications the T2FD is hard to beat (and also for many transmit applications). http://www.prc68.com/I/RCS-5A.**shtml#T2FDhttp://www.prc68.com/I/RCS-5A.shtml#T2FD I claim that using a chirp receiver is the best way to evaluate a receive antenna. A key radio specification is the IF bandwidth, the narrower the better for detecting a signal. Of course the IF needs to be as wide as the signal to hear the modulation. For example the HP 4395A spectrum analyzer has a true 1Hz RBW, it's my most sensitive instrument. http://www.prc68.com/I/4395A.**shtml#SAhttp://www.prc68.com/I/4395A.shtml#SA The NRD545 has a 10 Hz IF BW, which is the narrowest receiver I have. http://www.prc68.com/I/NRD545.**shtmlhttp://www.prc68.com/I/NRD545.shtml Have Fun, Brooke Clarke, N6GCE http://www.PRC68.com http://www.**end2partygovernment.com/** 2012Issues.html http://www.end2partygovernment.com/2012Issues.html Parrish S. Knight wrote: Visit http://mailman.qth.net/** mailman/listinfo/spooks http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooksto unsubscribe from this list On Oct 7, 2013, at 2:26 PM, Ted Van Beurden wrote: Wouldn't be any point. A shortwave receiver covers more freqs (unless things have changed) and should receive just as well as a ham receiver. Unless you just want to listen to hams. Just my view. I'm mostly just mulling things over. I'm new to shortwave and don't take it very seriously, but I'm finding myself kind of annoyed at my astoundingly bad fortune in picking up number stations with my Grundig G5 with a whip antenna. I'd like to figure out whether it's because I need a better antenna, or a better radio, or because I'm overlooking something else, or simply because I'm doing something wrong. I'd say it's most likely the last one, but even so, I want to look at the other possibilities as well. __**__**__ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/** mailman/listinfo/spooks http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.**htm http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html __ **__**__ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/**mailman/listinfo/spookshttp://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.**htm http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html __** __**__ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/**mailman/listinfo/spookshttp://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooksHelp: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.**htm http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htmPost: mailto: Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html III __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mail... __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http
Re: [Spooks] Lincolnshire poacher active
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list No love in Silver Spring, MD. :-( On Oct 6, 2013, at 6:32 PM, robertlewis2000 wrote: Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list Lincolnshire poacher active on 03.767@ 23.36 6/ 10/13 SW. TX Numbers Woman's voice QTH RAF Cyprus prox. Sent from Samsung Mobile __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Spooks] S32
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list On Jan 30, 2013, at 1:40 PM, jakon hays jakonh...@yahoo.com wrote: For those of you on Facebook, The Americans premiers tonight. FX on their Facebook page posted this clip entitled Shortwave. Sounds pretty familiar! Already got my TiVo set to record it. At least I'll be able to get that... I've been having horrible luck trying to pick up a station, haven't eve heard one yet. You'd think there would be quite a few that would come in clearly in the Metro DC area. *grumble* __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Spooks] WWII encoded message found
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list On Nov 24, 2012, at 12:38 PM, Rick Mills wrote: Interesting story on CNN: British homeowner finds a WW-II encoded message attached to a skeleton of a carrier pigeon. Link within the story points to a PDF of the message: 5 letter code groups. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/23/world/europe/uk-wwii-pigeon-mystery/index.html?hpt=hp_c2 Yeah, I saw that the other day. Looks like a one-time pad thing… if it is, we’ll almost certainly never know what the message says. __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Spooks] V13 new star
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list On Jun 3, 2012, at 9:35 AM, russell0...@yahoo.com.au wrote: V13 new star 11.430 MHz USB at 12.00utc and 13.00utc on the 3rd of June 2012 low signal Sydney au OK, I’m still pretty much of a newbie as regards numbers stations, so can anyone explain — or possibly give me a link to an explanation — on how to read this type of report? Most of it is clear enough, but I don’t understand the terms “V13”, “new star” and “USB” (which, to me, is a type of computer connection, since I work in Information Technology). I assume “au” is Australia. __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Spooks] V13 new star
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list Thank you for the information. Looks like I still have a fair amount to learn about all this stuff. But then, that’s part of the fun. :-) On Jun 3, 2012, at 10:15 AM, Andrew Wiggin wrote: V13 is the Enigma ID for the station (see more here: http://www.blackcatsystems.com/numbers/numberTypes.html ), where V means other language and 13 is the identifier for the station, New Star Broadcasting. USB means Upper Side Band, which is when you broadcast in AM without a carrier wave (the lower side band is suppressed [see more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-sideband_modulation ]). Single Side Band broadcasting is used due to it requiring less power, as no carrier wave is generated, although not all receivers support the function. On 6/3/2012 9:45 AM, Parrish S. Knight wrote: On Jun 3, 2012, at 9:35 AM, russell0...@yahoo.com.au wrote: V13 new star 11.430 MHz USB at 12.00utc and 13.00utc on the 3rd of June 2012 low signal Sydney au OK, I’m still pretty much of a newbie as regards numbers stations, so can anyone explain — or possibly give me a link to an explanation — on how to read this type of report? Most of it is clear enough, but I don’t understand the terms “V13”, “new star” and “USB” (which, to me, is a type of computer connection, since I work in Information Technology). I assume “au” is Australia. __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
[Spooks] Hi
Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from this list Hello, all: Just joined the list and thought I’d introduce myself. I have an interest in numbers stations, but I’ve never been able to pick one up despite the information I’ve found on the various websites I’ve found dedicated to the topic, so I thought joining a discussion list might be helpful. I live in the Metro Washington DC area. __ Spooks mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Spooks@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
