Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adi, who writes:
i just finished watching this BBC piece:
In the background are two “blurred” receivers, they are unrelated to the story as far as being told or shown.
They look as top $$$$ type but what are they?
Post Readers: Can you ID the commercial-grade rigs in the background? Please comment!
In January, András Retzler–owner of the SDR.hu KiwiSDR portal–started requiring registration and a ham radio license in order to access their extensive online database of SDRs.
Today, we learned of the site’s closure. Here’s the message posted at SDR.hu:
The SDR.hu project has been finished
I’d like to say a big thanks to everyone who joined my journey with this project!
I hope you had a good time listening on the site, and learnt some things about SDR. The purpose of this site was to provide a technological demonstration for amateur radio operators about Software Defined Radio, and I hope this goal has been reached. As this website was a one-person hobby project, with my tasks and responsibilities growing, and my focus moving to other projects at which I hope to make a greater positive impact, I’m unable to further develop SDR.hu and protect it from abuse.
Furthermore, I think this site has some good alternatives now. Nevertheless, in my opinion amateur radio receivers should be shared with strict access control in the future.
If you have more questions, feel free to consult the FAQ.
73!
Andras, HA7ILM
SWLing Post contributor, Mark Fahey, shared the following message sent by Andras to all KiwiSDR owners in the database this morning:
Hello,
You are receiving this e-mail because you were listing a receiver on SDR.hu in the last 3 months.
I wanted to let you know that the SDR.hu project is discontinued.
This is because I have to focus on my PhD and unfortunately I don’t have enough time anymore to maintain the website and protect it from abuse.
If you have questions, there’s a FAQ on the front page: https://sdr.hu/
For KiwiSDR users there is another listing service available on the KiwiSDR website: http://kiwisdr.com/public (I’m not involved with this one.)
Thank you very much for having participated in the project!VY 73!
Andras, HA7ILM
Fortunately, there are a number of other KiwiSDR portals that do not require registration or a call sign. Here’s a list:
If you prefer another KiwiSDR portal, please comment with a link. I’ll try to update this post with any new additions!
Photo credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Yesterday, my family watched the successful launch of the NASA Demo-2 SpaceX Dragon via YouTube.
As astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley communicated with Mission Control, we heard PTT confirmation beeps after each transmission.
Those beeps, of course, reminded me of past NASA missions and those iconic confirmation tones we heard in audio from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo days all the way into Space Shuttle missions.
Source: honeysucklecreek.net
Last year, after spending a couple of days at the US Space and Rocket Center (and attending the Huntsville Hamfest), I heard numerous NASA audio clips and that lead me down the path of researching those PTT confirmation tones.
Turns out, they’re called “Quindar Tones.”
I couldn’t find any information about Quindar Tones at the US Space and Rocket Center–although, admittedly, the place is massive and I could have easily overlooked it–so I did a little research when I returned home.
I found this archived post on the NASA’s Apollo Lunar Surface Journal wesbite:
Re: Apollo beeps
Journal Contributor Mark Burckhard writes:
“I’ve always wondered what purpose the ‘beeps’ served that one heard intermittently during the voice communications with the Command and Lunar Modules during the Apollo missions, as well as other space missions.”
Journal Contributor Mike Dinn provides an MP3 clip ( 123k ) from a network audio check that includes numerous quindar tones.
Journal Contributor Markus Mehring replies:
“‘Other space missions’ is quite an accurate observation, since the ‘beeps’, in fact, are still in use today on Shuttle flights, at least on the UHF frequencies.”
“These beeps are called ‘Quindar-Tones’. Their purpose is to trigger the ground station transmitters when there is an outgoing transmission from Earth. The CapCom in the Mission Control Center, who is taking care of communications with the crew, uses his communication gear in a PTT mode exclusively. ‘PTT’ is short for Push-To-Talk, which means that the CapCom presses a button every time and as long as he wants to talk. (The crews back during Apollo – and also today – usually communicate via PTT as well, but they also have the so-called ‘VOX mode’ at their disposal, in which their microphones are voice-triggered by a certain adjustable threshold volume levels. VOX is used when they don’t necessarily have their hands free.)
When the CapCom presses his PTT button to start a transmission, an intro tone (2.525KHz sine wave with a length of 250ms) is generated and triggers the ground station transmitters to send. And when he is finished talking and releases the button again, a slightly lower outro tone (2.475KHz, sine, 250ms) is generated to trigger the ground station transmitters to turn off. So in short, these are remote control trigger tones.
CU! Markus”
I then discovered this article via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, which gave more detail about the Quindar Tones’ name and some of the idiosyncrasies of the system:
The story behind the “Beep”
Steve Schindler, an engineer with voice systems engineering at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, offers the following history of [Quindar Tones] origins.
“Quindar tones, named after the manufacturer of the tone generation and detection equipment, are actually used to turn on and off, or “key,” the remote transmitters at the various tracking stations (Merritt Island Launch Area–now Kennedy Space Center, Bermuda, Australia, etc.) that were used to communicate with the Mercury through Apollo spacecraft and, in some cases, are still used with the Space Shuttle.”
[…]”Although it usually worked well, there were a couple of peculiarities with this system. If the transmitter was keyed and the telephone line connection broken, the transmitter would never get the tone to turn off. To prevent this there was a “transmitter on” light at each remote site that would come on when the transmitter was keyed. Someone was supposed to monitor the circuit and if the audio dropped, but the “transmitter on” light was still on, they would have to manually unkey the transmitter. Also, just before communications was handed over to a new tracking station, the key-unkey tone pair was sent 10 times to ensure that everything was functioning correctly. This was done before the audio was patched to the tracking station’s line so it wasn’t heard in the control room or on NASA Select audio.
The Quindar system was actually built from a piece of equipment that was used to put multiple teletype circuits on a single phone line by means of frequency domain multiplexing. Because replacement parts are no longer available, an “out-of-band signaling” system was installed in 1998 for the transmitters located in the U.S. This system uses a continuous tone that is below the normal audio frequency range. When the tone is present, the transmitters are keyed. When the tone is not present, the transmitters are unkeyed. It worked fine, but the Astronaut Office complained about the lack of tones which everyone had become accustomed to as an alert that a transmission was about to start. So, the Quindar tone generator, which was still installed in case it was necessary to key the transmitters at an overseas site, was re-enabled.
Even though you won’t hear the same Quindar tones in present-day space missions, you can listen until your heart is content at the website Apollo In Real Time.
The Internet Archive also has a massive collection of Apollo audio free to stream and download.
If you’re fascinated with the NASA audio soundscape in general, you might check out the electronic music duo Quindar featuring longtime Wilco member Mikael Jorgensen, and art historian-curator James Merle Thomas.
Quindar: Mikael Jorgensen & James Merle Thomas. Photo by Chad Ress, Spacesuits by Cassandra C. Jones
Science Friday featured an extended interview with the group in 2017. If you love electronic music–especially if you’re a fan of Wilco, it’s well worth a listen:
Check out their latest video, Choco Hilton:
Speaking of Mikael Jorgensen and Wilco, I should note here that their album yankee hotel foxtrot has a deep shortwave motif.
Anyone else fascinated with Quindar Tones and NASA audio? Feel free to comment and share any other resources or projects you’ve found.
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Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marwan Baayoun, who writes in response to our recent post about radio regrets:
For me, my biggest regret was when in November 2018 I sold my well-protected Sony ICF-SW77.
I bought it brand new over the phone from Universal Radio. My ICF-SW77 was my side kick and went with me everywhere. I remember working the second shift at a publishing company, I would always eat my lunch outside while listening to any international broadcasters I could catch like the BBC, Radio Havana Cuba, Deutsche Welle, or the VOA.
I remember how my co-workers reworded the saying “Life Without A Wife, Is Like A Kitchen Without A Knife” to “Life Without A Wife, Is Like Marwan Without His Shortwave Radio.”
When I got married, my best friend invited us to visit with his wife and children at their house in Upstate New York. He even bought one of the tickets as his way in helping me paying for the fares. I remember the night we arrived at his house me pulling my ICF-SW77 and tuning it to the BBC World Service because we all wanted to get the latest on a sad piece of news that was just breaking that made us, and almost everyone in North America and around the world, stare at TV sets hoping for the best. Then Tom Brokaw came on to announced something that we, and others who were listening to the BBC World Service, had already knew 15 minutes earlier: the sad news the Lady Dianna did not survive the car crash.
My friend was impressed with what shortwave radios could bring to the table.
In the last month I went on a binge and bought a used Realistic DX-440 (love this radio BTW, very nice), and all new XHDATA D-808, Tecsun PL-880, and Tecsun PL-680. I also bought but then returned a Sangean ATS-909X.
To close on a happy note, today I received an almost brand new Sony ICF-SW77 that I bought from a very kind gentleman on eBay–he was willing to accept my fifty dollars less than his asking price offer.
My happiness is beyond expression. I would have never thought I would be able to re-unite again with one of these radios in a condition that is identical to the one I sold. He kept it very well. I tried to find a scratch or a piece of dust on this radio but couldn’t. Not only that, it also came with it the original box, very well kept manual and “Catch the Waves” booklet, (I gave mine to the gentleman who bought my radio, so it was sweet that they were replaced with this purchase). My new ICF-SW77 seller just did not have the power adapter that came with this radio, which is fine with me. I can always find a third party power adapter to buy.
I feel so lucky I am once again an owner of one of these awesome radios.
What an amazing story, Marwan, and I’m so glad you’ve been reunited with an IC-SW77!
Radio love is a funny thing and hard to compare with any fondness one might have of other consumer electronics. For example, I’ve never lamented over the loss of a laptop, iPhone, or iPod–but, like you, I have indeed regretted parting with radios. I know many of you feel the same way.
To me, radios feel much more like companions who share the world with you–through travels and over the air.
I’m happy to hear you’ve got your companion back, Marwan!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Shawn Bliss (KB7WYO), who writes:
Hi, Thomas! I love the blog and check in every day or two to get my SWL fix. I recently purchased a PL-310ET on your recommendation (and those of many other radio people) and absolutely love it. My previous porch radio was a well-worn and filthy Grundig G8 Traveler II which of course suffered a broken kickstand soon after its purchase many years ago. Wanting to avoid the same problem with the 310, I figured I might be able to improvise a stand out of some household item, and a trip to a local big box store today proved extremely fruitful in that respect!
As I wandered through the kitchen accessories at Walmart, I spotted a little black sink caddy, typically used to hold a dish sponge and hang on a sink or faucet. I grabbed it, paid a little under four bucks for it, and took it home. It’s a cheap, lightweight, and adjustable stand for small to midsize radios.
The caddy is essentially a loop of flexible, bendable rubber-coated wire with a perforated rubber cradle for the sponge. Because it can be bent and shaped, it’s ideal for adjusting to different sized portables. In its default shape from the store, it held the 310ET, the G8, my Tivdio V-115, and other smaller items like my phone and e-reader.
I’m sure it could be bent to fit a PL-660, PL-880, Eton Satellit, XHDATA D-808, and other larger portables, all at adjustable back angles.
Best of all, the caddy can be bent down to fit into a go-bag or piece of travel luggage. I figure a fellow pack-nut like yourself would find this to be useful indeed!
These things are cheap and readily available at pretty much every Walmart, but I’ll post a link to the webpage for the Mainstays Flexible Sink Caddy. I hope this info is useful to other SWLs and hams. I instantly thought of the Post and your gear/accessory posts in the past when I saw it.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Flexible-Sink-Caddy/480104340
What a great idea, Shawn! Since this soap bar holder is so flexible, it could be bent to hold radios at pretty much any angle. Next time I’m at Walmart, I’ll pick one up. Perhaps this is even available at Walmart stores in other countries since it’s sold under the Mainstays brand name.
I believe this holder could also serve as a stand for numerous portable QRP transceivers.
Thanks again for the amazing tip, Shawn!
(Source: Jim Salmon)
Ways to listen… Radio Emma Toc World Service – programme no. 2 – June 2020
You can listen online – www.emmatoc.com – visit the ‘World Service’ page.
You can listen to our shortwave or FM broadcasts via our relay partners as follows:
Happy listening! If you are outside the transmitter coverage areas, why not listen via the broadcasters’ online services. Website details for the above stations are listed on our own website here – www.emmatoc.org/worldserviceschedule
If you don’t have access to receivers & aerials you can try using an online SDR receiver – ve3sun.com/KiwiSDR – experience the enjoyment of tuning around shortwave from worldwide locations online.
We are happy to issue eQSLs for reception reports sent to – [email protected] – & will gladly include for online reports. If using an online SDR, please give us the SDR location.
Finally if any stations wish to relay our programme a download link is available on our website. Please advise us of times & dates so we can publicise in our schedule.
Thank you!
Jim Salmon – Radio Emma Toc
