Yearly Archives: 2013

ERT still broadcasting while Greek Public Television (EDT) emerges

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Station name and logo of the new TV service, EDT

Station name and logo of the new TV service, EDT

I have recorded hours of the Voice of Greece on shortwave since they were supposed to shutdown weeks ago. This update, via EnetEnglish, describes a re-branded TV service; Greek Public Television (EDT):

(Source: EnetEnglish.gr)

Greek Public Television (EDT), the replacement station for ERT which was shut down last month, has commenced broadcasting a basic signal.

A screen depicting the new station’s name and somewhat uninspiring logo appeared at about 8.30am on Wednesday morning, against a backdrop depicting a globe and waves of colour.

The decision to commence the signal follows the vote on Tuesday night, at committee, of a bill establishing New Greek Radio, Internet and Television, or Nerit, the new national broadcaster.

The bill received only the support of the coalition parties, New Democracy and Pasok, with all other parties against. Debate on the new legislation will be completed on Thursday.

Despite the move, ERT staff at the station have entered their second month of continuous broadcasting via a livestream hosted by the European Broadcasting Union, which has demanded that the station reopen.

[…]ERT staff are asking whether EDT has been approved by the state’s broadcasting regulator, the Greek National Council for Radio and Television (ESR). They also ask who is paying the staff working in EDT and on what kind of contracts.

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Using the RTL2832U $20 SDR for HF & trunk-tracker scanning?

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DE_DVB_T_1In response to our post on inexpensive SDRs based on the RTL2832U, Jeff Benedict writes:

Here’s a website that has a lot of info on cheap SDR gear.  They have a write-up on an external board which adds HF capabilities.  I have one but haven’t done anything with it yet.

http://www.hamradioscience.com

Jeff  KB7AIL  CN88

Thanks, Jeff! Has anyone tried HF with any success? I’m curious how well this über-cheap receiver will cope with adjacent signals and blowtorch stations within the HF spectrum.

Meanwhile Neil, blogger on Fofio, commented:

I have an RTL-SDR system up and running.  I have done 2 demonstrations for my local Ham Radio club.  One on the basic setup and use of the dongle, using both SDR# and HDSDR.  The other presentation showed the remote receiver capability using a Raspberry Pi as the receiver with the dongle attached and a remote SDR# computer decoding the stream over a network connection.  Once I compensate for some minor frequency discrepancies it’s a pretty good receiver.  The only issue I have noticed with mine (one of the early E4000-based models) is a tendency to overload in the presence of a strong signal.  We have a pretty powerful 2 Meter repeater less than a 1/4 mile from our home, and when it’s active it causes some strange results with the RTL-SDR setup.

I have yet to try one of the HF converters they make for these.  I hope to do that soon.

Another project I was reading about today that I may try out is using 2 of the dongles at once to create a trunk-tracker scanner.

Wow! Two $20 USB SDRs and a little PC magic could yield a trunking scanner? I want to hear more about this. Trunking scanners tend to be both expensive and complicated. If a web-updated database could be downloaded and used to control this sort of rig, the possibilities would be most impressive!

Neil, keep us informed!

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KVOH test today on 17,775 kHz

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Retro Microphone(Source: KVOH)

KVOH – Voice of Hope, Los Angeles, would like to thank all those who responded to last Saturday’s test broadcast.  It was unfortunate that the time chosen for the test happened to coincide with a geomagnetic storm, but in spite of that, reports have so far been received from 13 U.S. states, as well as from Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Indonesia.

The station will be testing again tomorrow, Sunday 7th, from 1700-1900 UTC (1-3pm Eastern).  As before, the frequency is 17775 kHz, with 50 kW on a beam of 100 degrees (towards Cuba).  The same test program will be used as last week, with announcements in English and Spanish, which hopefully will be easier to copy since atmospheric conditions are better this weekend.  Reports will be very much appreciated to either [email protected] or P.O. Box 102, Los Angeles, CA 90078.  If reporting by email, please attach a short mp3 recording of your reception if possible.  If reporting by mail and requesting a QSL, please enclose return postage.  In all reports, please be sure to describe your receiver and antenna used.  Reception comparisons using handheld portable radios with telescopic antennas (outdoors) will be especially helpful.

KVOH currently expects to be able to launch a preliminary 2-hour daily schedule around the end of this month (July), and will build from there.

Ray Robinson
Los Angeles

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A very inexpensive Software Defined Radio based on the RTL2832U

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DE_DVB_T_1Many thanks to Benn (AK4AV) for passing along this article from the IEEE which describes how a $20 USB digital TV antenna tuner can be transformed into an impressive, flexible software defined radio:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/a-40-softwaredefined-radio

The article incldes the following embedded video from the IEEE:

Here is another informative video via YouTube:

This year at the SWL Winterfest we had a presentation on the topic of $20 SDRs configured like those above. Some scanner enthusiasts had used them to receive satellite and many other VHF/UHF communications. I’ve heard of some devices being nearly plug-and-play easy to install and configure; others may take some minor tweaking. All of the SDR applications and drivers are either open source or free.

This page contains a wealth of information on the topic of RTL2832U based SDRs–it makes for a great starting point.

If you have experimented with thRTL2832U USB SDR, please comment below.

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Jonathan remembers Radio Netherlands Worldwide one year on

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RNW's final broadcast schedule (Source: Jonathan Marks)

RNW’s final broadcast schedule (Source: Jonathan Marks)

A few days ago, former RNW employee, Jonathan Marks, was sorting out some papers in his office when something “spooky” happened:

“one sheet [of paper] fell out of a pile and onto the floor. It was the page of the last day of transmission from Radio Netherlands, English department.”

“What was weird was that this happened exactly one year ago to the day they pulled the switch. It was 2253 local time on a Friday when Jonathan Groubert, above, made the last announcement from Continuity Studio 4.”

Jonathan’s full post on his blog, Critical Distance, has some fantastic photos, notes, an interview and recording from the final moments of RNW’s final shortwave broadcast. Click here to read his post.

Jonathan’s post reminded me that one year ago, I was on a six week vacation with my family in the Canadian Maritimes.  I listened to and recorded all of the final RNW shortwave broadcasts in an off-grid cabin on the eastern coast of lovely Prince Edward Island. An SWLing memory I will never forget. You can listen to these field recordings and read my post, “RNW says farewell in style” via this link.

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Russian spies used shortwave numbers stations and satellites inside Germany

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towersThanks to Andrea Borgnino for sharing this article:

(Source: Der Spiegel)

A pair of Russian agents was convicted on Tuesday of spying in Germany for more than 20 years. Russian President Vladimir Putin is personally conducting the negotiations for a potential exchange, but now a new case is straining German-Russian relations.

A treasure in the exhibit room at the German Federal Criminal Police Office in the western city of Wiesbaden has aroused a great deal of curiosity among the world’s intelligence agencies. It looks like an ordinary, black laptop bag. It contains a Siemens hard drive, or at least it looks that way. But a notch reveals that it is not an off-the-shelf product. It’s a high-frequency satellite transmitter, with an antenna hidden in the flap of the bag.

The device is state-of-the-art military technology, a “top quality intelligence product,” raves an expert. In the spy wars, German authorities haven’t gotten their hands on anything this important in years. The significance of this high-tech device, however, approaches that of the legendary Enigma code machine from World War II. Domestic intelligence officials at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) in Cologne are eager to examine the device. The American intelligence agencies, the CIA and the NSA, as well as Israel’s Mossad have also asked for permission to inspect the miraculous piece of equipment.

The satellite device served Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag as a connection back home. They were Russian spies who lived as agents in Germany for more than 20 years, until they were arrested in October 2011.

[…]In their dispatches, which the couple received with a shortwave radio, the agent controllers in Directorate S of the SWR referred to the Anschlags as “Pit” and “Tina.” They were given the state-of-the-art satellite equipment during a trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow. They also attended a course on the use of a decoding program called “Sepal” and an encoding program called “Parabola.”

This enabled “Pit” and “Tina” to establish a secure connection to Moscow. All they had to do was pay attention to the times when one of the six to eight satellites sent into space by Russian intelligence for spying activities came into range. A red light on their radio device signaled to the Anschlags that the satellite was approaching, while a blue light indicated the transmission of encoded messages.

Sometimes, when the equipment failed, the Anschlags placed the transmitter below one of their attic windows, among the fruit trees in the garden or on a nearby hill. The hills directly behind the house proved to be unsuitable, because nearby wind turbines apparently interrupted communication with the satellite.[…]

Read the full article “In the ‘Land of the Enemy’: Spies Strain German-Russian Ties” at Der Spiegel Online International.

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WWVB celebrates 50 years of quietly keeping time

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WWV building in Fort Collins, Colorado (photo courtesy: NIST)

WWV building in Fort Collins, Colorado (photo courtesy: NIST)

Thanks, David, for sharing a link to this brilliant article on the history and future of WWVB:

(Source: Wired)

Every night, while millions of Americans are fast asleep, clocks and wristwatches across the country wake up and lock on to a radio signal beamed from the base of the Rocky Mountains. The signal contains a message that keeps the devices on time, helping to make sure their owners keep to their schedules and aren’t late for work the next day.

The broadcast comes from WWVB, a station run by the National Institute for Standards and Technology. WWVB marks half a century as the nation’s official time broadcaster on July 5. Together with its sister station, WWV, which is about to hit 90 years in service, NIST radio has been an invisible piece of American infrastructure that has advanced industries from entertainment to telecommunications. (WWV’s broadcast includes a wider range of information, including maritime weather warnings and solar storm alerts).

Most people aren’t even aware that these stations exist, but they have a rich and fascinating history. Their future is uncertain, however, as newer technologies threaten to make them obsolete.

[…]WWV began broadcasting reference frequencies for signal calibration using equipment not that different from the chunk of quartz in a modern wristwatch. These days, though, a bit of quantum physics keeps the nation’s signals in sync. Cesium-133 atoms within the NIST-F1 atomic clock oscillate a frantic 9,192,631,770 times per second, acting like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. By tuning into that oscillation, NIST defines the basic unit of time, and by extension, frequency. Over the years, the reference frequencies have been so finely calibrated that they are accurate to beyond a single cycle in a trillion.

[…]WWVB’s value might have a lot to do with the type of signal it broadcasts and its location. While most commercial radio waves measure only a few meters between peaks, WWVB’s low frequency signal results in a whopping five kilometer wavelength. These long-wavelength signals can reach around the curvature of the planet by clinging to the semi-conductive surface of the Earth. On a clear night, a radio-controlled watch can pick up WWVB’s 60 kHz signal as far away as Patagonia or New Zealand.[…]

Read the full article at Wired.com.

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