SWLing Post contributor, Mark Fahey, has just announced that his new Beaglebone-powered KiwiSDR receiver is online. Mark notes:
Please try out my multi-user 0-30MHz SDR[.] The test system is operating from my monitoring station at Freemans Reach in south east Australia (near Sydney).
Freemans Reach, Australia
[…]The test system is fully self contained and self operating. The antenna (ALA1530S+) we are using is a magnetic loop with an impedance tracking amplifier designed and manufactured by Wellbrook Communications, Llanwrth Wells in Wales. The receiver and CPU is the result of the Kickstarter funded project “KiwiSDR” which was conceived and designed by John Seamons ex Pixar and Lucas Films.
[…]You can use Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Firefox – but Internet Explorer is not supported at this stage. Tune in on this URL…
Mark’s radio shack.
[Four] simultaneous users are supported with totally independent tuning and control
Mark’s Wellbrook ALA1530S+ antenna
Many thanks for sharing your KiwiSDR, Mark! Though demand has been quite high, I have managed to claim one of the four user seats on Mark’s SDR and “listen like a local.”
Mark: you’ve done a great job making a proper listening post for your remote listeners. The KiwiSDR/Wellbrook ALA1530S+ combo is performing admirably!
Hi Mark, I don’t know if you are still reading these posts but…
I have a kiwisdr in suburban Brisbane running a W6LVP loop: http://sdrbris.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073.
I’m suffering from (RFI) noisy neighbours, most objectionably Ethernet Over Power clicking. I’m always trying to find better antenna positions, rotations and hunting downs noise sources.
I saw your KiwiSDR message regarding your recent noise problems, so I’d love to know how you’re solving them as you go.
Regards
Mark D.
Hi Mark, Are you the owner operator of the Kiwisdr receiver located in Northlakes Brisbane.?
Im a very local user living in the same suburb …im amazed how well it works with great sensitivity etc ….
I Often use your receiver to check on my 28.205 mhz Beacon that is located at my Home,which is on air most of the time..
cheers bob VK4LA
Hi Bob, Yes I am here in North Lakes! Sorry I haven’t checked this post for a long time. Always looking to improve reception/noise issues but it’s incremental at best.
Regards Mark D.
Thanks to everyone using the SDR, it’s rarely not being heavily used with the the top visiting users being from USA, Germany, UK, Russia, Spain, Japan.
New and maybe overlooked features…
5kHz Step (+ -) now replaces the previous 10kHz step.
Hold down Control & Shift while clicking in the softwave spectrum waterfall and the browser will open shortwave.info so you can identify the station.
The noise floor has been reduced and RF images now gone by putting in the RF line a couple of common mode chokes.
Currently there is a click (about every 700 miliseconds) which can be heard in the background when listening to weak signals. Sorry at the moment there is nothing I can do about this – it is almost certainly arcing from an electric fence in one of the surrounding farms. It only arrived yesterday and one day (who knows when) it will eventally go away when the stock move to another padock and the fence is repositioned – this may be some weeks. In most cases the signal you are listening to will override the click.
Thanks for the many emails from users – I will be replying to them this week! Have fun!
Mark, are you able to hear any outback comms from your location such as these folks?
http://www.vks737.on.net/
Hi Rob – Thanks for the link! I wasn’t aware of the vks737 service. I’m sure you would hear the service on the SDR – here are the frequencies… http://www.vks737.on.net Cheers, Mark
Mark, great addition to the remote receiver population out there. I am especially pleased that it’s in a part of the world that I have trouble with from my QTH. I tuned in this morning and listened to your MW broadcast frequencies for awhile and got off to give some other folks a chance when I saw all four seats filled. Thanks for sharing.
many thanks, I tried it yesterday and it worked fine. Though I still prefer DXing from my own listening site, I am using remote receivers every now and then for checking if certain stations are actually on their air. For the coming European winter DX season I will again do some portable DXing here in Central Germany using 300 m BOG antennas.
Regards
Harald
**future feature want list** DRM filter (USB, 10KHZ) and ability to either record baseband or ability to select my sound system’s virtual audio cable as a device, so i could grab DRM there, decode here. was fortunate to see not only RNZI on 9780, but Radio Romania a few KHz up from there. didn’t try for India’s DRM station. I know there would be bandwidth issues with that BUT… future. Nice to see stuff like this happening in the online SDR space. Wish i had reception like that, but i live in a city.