| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - FRIDAY 29th MAY 2009: |
RADIO TT ON AIR AGAIN: Manx Radio has changed it's name again to RADIO TT for the annual TT motorcycle racing on the Isle of Mann. The traditional TT circuit is around the island, on public roads. Freq to check for the racing, 1368kHz MW (The old RNI frequency). The web stream at this time of year is unavailable to the public, due to being subscription only for TT fortnight. The modest sum of a fiver get's you the fortnight's racing on the live web stream if you are out of range of AM 1368.
I wonder if the Steve Gibbon's Band are still playing on the island during TT week?
MIKE SMITH'S HISTORY OF UK RADIO: I discovered a web site which is more than worthy of note the other day. It is amazing how some site's one never finds, even if they have been on the go for some time. I was looking around the web for transmitter sites, and came across a photo of the Lott's Road chimney stacks, home to various MW signals at one time or another. This image is in part three of the history of UK radio, see below. Also find photos of vintage transmitter sites and transmitters. Gives me inspiration to scan an old radio map I have here. It was found by a pal in an old building that was being renovated.
http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/ukradio.html
http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/ukradio2.html
http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/ukradio3.html
Well done to all concerned with this MDS975 project.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 28th MAY 2009: |
MORE
MW DX IN LATE MAY: As an addition to yesterday's audio clips,
I have added a few more here from this mornings 0300 recording. 0400
is for sure too late at these lattitudes now, but top of the hour at
0300 is OK. There were many other channels active that IDs could have
been pulled out of if enough time was spent, but these logs below were
easy catches. It used to be assumed that mid summer was no use for MWDX.
This I would go part of the way to agree, as all I hear are the common
regulars. But some dxers may struggle with these stations even in winter,
so I am including some 8 audio clips from 0300 this morning.
FREQ
IN BOLD shows an audio clip.
0300 TODAY:
| 600 | CBC | 090528_0300_600_cbc.mp3 |
| 660 | WFAN | |
| 680 | CFTR | 090528_0300_680_cftr.mp3 |
| 700 | WLW | 090528_0300_700_wlw.mp3 |
| 710 | VOCM | 090528_0300_710_vocm.mp3 |
| 730 | CKAC | 090528_0300_730_ckac.mp3 |
| 740 | VOCM | / TORONTO mix |
| 750 | CBC | |
| 760 | WJR | |
| 780 | KIX | |
| 830 | WCRN | |
| 860 | CBC FF | |
| 920 | CKNX | 090528_0300_920_cknx_good_for_may.mp3 |
| 930 | CFBC | |
| 940 | MONTREAL | |
| 950 | CKNB | pres. No ID. Usual low audio, mx |
| 1010 | CFRB | |
| 1020 | KDKA | 090528_0300_1020_kdka.mp3 |
| 1130 | WBBR | |
| 1140 | CBC | |
| 1250 | CJYE | (Joy 12-50) |
| 1320 | CJMR | pres. No ID today |
| 1400 | CBC | |
| 1520 | WWKB | |
| 1570 | RADIO BOOMER | |
| 1580 | CKDO | 090528_0300_1580_ckdo_good_for_may.mp3 |
| 1630 | KCJJ | |
| 1700 | KVNS |
A COUPLE OF OLDER LOGS inc 530 AND 920 FAO AB: AB continues his hard work with the Central Americal UK all time list. He asked me to include clips for 920, and 530.
081203_0200_530_r_encyclopedia_cuba.mp3
081216_0100_920_unid_mexico.mp3
081022_0629_970_radio_formula_mexico.mp3
GB250RB: I have also added an audio clip to the GB250RB special event station which was operating locally, see below.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - WEDNESDAY 27th MAY 2009: |
It is difficult to believe that we are at the end of May again. It has
been a very busy weekend here with a local Burns festival taking place,
and visitors etc. No radio logs till Monday evening.
MW DX IN LATE MAY: I was asked the other day on the Skype chat if I was still receiving North American MW stations in mid May. The answer was YES. Nothing startling, but I produced a few clips from 20th May, as samples of common stuff that comes through at the very narrow dawn window.
THE BIG SWINGER : Many years ago, I saw a short play on TV about a fictitious Irish country pirate radio station. I have been after a recording of this for some time, after not being able to find it on any of my old manky VHS recordings. Gerard Roe from Phantom FM in Dublin came up with an old VHS recording just the other day. I assume that it may be of interest to some people who remember the Irish stations with affection. Click below for an .AVI file of the play. (198 meg).
I assume after all this time there should be no copyright issues with this obscure short play being available here. I have tried to find it for sale on line, but with no success. If there are any problems, please contact me at my address above.
To save, right click, save target as etc.. VLC player will play this just fine, if there are any problems.
NOT ONLY MW DXING: Some people reading these pages perhaps like to read them because they are about their hobby of MW DXing. That is true, but these pages are also like my own diary of various events as they happen. EG The special event station below is not connected to MW dxing, and neither is a walk in the Scottish hills. But it is hoped that the diversification of these pages, especially in the summer months when there is no real MW DX being heard, will be of some interest to the casual reader. Last summer was rolled into one small page, mainly due to lack of time and enthusiasm for writing. Maybe this year I will include some images of my travels, or more recordings of FMDX, and photos of the "hoped for" TVDX season.
ILR AYR - 1035: My strong local station is a pain in the neck here due to it's signal strength and direction. This past season I was lucky enough to have my first ever log of WHO 1040 from Des Moines Iowa, during a very rare brief silence of the audio. They just never seem to have any breaks in the audio at all. I often pass the MF site of ILR AYR, and every time I pass by, I think that one day I should bring the camera and take a few shots. The other day I finally did. The QTH is near Dundonald, and in one of the shots with the mast behind me, you can see the Castle up on the hill just to the left of the nearest electric pole. (right bottom). Apologies for the large dates and times on the images. I use this for TVDX at this time of year, and forgot to turn it off. You may notice that the mast sits behind a hill, which is Dundonald Hill, and is between the tower and the target area of AYR.
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The hi res version should show the actual wire antenna.
GB250RB SPECIAL EVENT STATION: There was a local Burns event in the next village from me at the weekend, and the special event 250th anniversary of Robert Burns ham radio station was operating from the Burns Tower. I took a few photos and whipped a QSL card.
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GB250RB, and right, the Magnum 2009 Rally!
SPORADIC E: I came back from a day out to find a sporadic e opening in progress. Iceland was coming in well on E4, with a symbol on the top right resembling an 8 with extra legs coming out the sides!! Spain was also seen on E2 with it's new logo bottom right, as was NOVA (Czech) on R1, and RTL (Hungary) also on R1 from memory. RAI and E21 were seen around E3 from Italy, and Slovakia on R2 I think it was. I was not really in the right frame of mind for making accurate observations when I came in!! So I am working from memory!!
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Iceland on E4 25/5/09 AROUND 1715utc
TVE inc new logo btm right
I also had the MACRO message on my DVD recorder again, this time during RUV Iceland reception, see below. I set the country setting to IS I think it was, to see if it would help. I guess I won't be able to tell properly what the story on this is till we have an intense opening. This was feeding the video out from a JVC portable, into the front AV3 IN on the LG recorder. I once had this problem with the same recorder, while trying to create a DVD of a VHS tape recorded off the telly of a LED ZEPPELIN concert. It just didn't like it!!
SCOTTISH COUNTRYSIDE - AN EMBARRASSING DISGRACE: Sometimes I feel I am very negative in some of the reporting in these pages, such as the last item this month at the bottom, to do with DRM. But in this case, I really cant help myself from being negative. I was off for a walk in the hills on Monday to Scotland's Leadhills area, famous for its Lead Mining Museum, and the area also boasts the highest village and pub in Scotland at Wanlockhead. It is also well known for gold panning, and many folks are to be seen guddling around in the burns and streams, hoping for that large nugget!! We never found anything.. surprise surprise!!
What I did see that was quite disturbing was a mess of litter, beer cans, plastic bottles, broken glass and the likes blatantly discarded in the rivers, and roadsides. I would like to be able to say that it must be the visitors coming from the cities, or that it was foreign tourists that were responsible. But I know fine that this is not the case, and that my own countrymen have made this mess of their own countryside. It is exactly this kind of ignorant disregard for the countryside that makes land owners reluctant to open up their lands. It is exactly this loutish behaviour that has made Scotland look such an unfriendly nation to visiting tourists. You don't have to travel too far to see signs in roadside parking areas stating NO OVERNIGHT PARKING. You can even see this rude unwelcoming style of sign in the middle of the highlands, miles from anywhere. In the Wanlockhead area downstream, there are no public litter bins in the wide open spaces at the side of the river. But this can in no way be offered as an excuse by those animals who make such a mess of the Scottish Countryside. Litter bins are not needed here. A little bit of common courtesy is all that is required, and follow the basic country codes. The mess in the Leadhills really has to be seen to be believed.
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Wanlockhead May 2009.
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Lowther Hill in 2003
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - TUESDAY 19th MAY 2009: |
BBC ENGINEERING WEBSITE: I was looking at this web page tonight, and ended up spending ages on it. The site has so much archive material, as well as books, videos, personal recollections, links to other great nostalgia pages, and external sites etc.
Here are a few links within the BBC site, and also a vintage RTE link.
http://www.bbceng.info/Books/dx-world/dx-world.htm (Download the book about the Daventry TX site)
http://www.bbceng.info/Operations/transmitter_ops/Reminiscences/et4336/et4336.htm (Memories of the ET transmitter)
http://www.bbceng.info/Reference.htm
http://www.bbceng.info/Operations/transmitter_ops/specific_tx_sites.htm
http://www.bbceng.info/Operations/transmitter_ops/Reminiscences/Reminiscences.htm
http://www.bbceng.info/videos.htm (Inc an amazing demolition of a BBC Radio 3 mf mast!!)
http://www.rtenl.ie/videos.php
I began to gather up some old vintage bits and pieces years ago, but last year I found quite a number of items on ebay. Vintage enthusiasts may tell me my collection is tiny, and it may be, but they are interesting and historical pieces none the less.
BBC HANDBOOK 1929
BBC YEAR BOOK 1931
25 YEARS OF BRITISH BROADCASTING 1922 - 1947
BBC 50 YEARS LP 1922 - 1972
WORLD RADIO & TELEVISION ANNUAL 1946
THE LISTENER (BBC MAGAZINE) 4 FROM 1934
I have upload
some photos here of the above items and more.
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| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - MONDAY 18th MAY 2009: |
RTE
6220 AND ANOTHER SW LOG: A
couple of logs here today for SW for a change. This morning I was drawn
to SSB traffic on 6910 USB unencrypted, of NIW1 calling ANN2 for a radio
check. (No I wasn't checking for a return of Radio Dublin..hi)
Tonight I heard a broadcast of RTE1 on 6220kHz. The very freq which
LASER used for many long years, and were eventually raided on. By the
looks of the RTE web site, this transmission may come from South Africa,
and is heard every weeknight on 6220 from 1930 - 2030.
http://www.rte.ie/radio/worldwide.html
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - SUNDAY 17th MAY 2009: |
SKYWAVES
- AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE ??:
I see the Skywaves web page is back on line. I am unsure what the status of the group is, but I shall keep the links on this site live for the time being. It would be a shame to see such an on line resource disappear.
TVDX NOTES: I have been rummaging through my old photo albums for a look back at my oldest photos. Sadly I never had any camera capable of photographing TVDX years ago, and I recall that I sent to DDR TV for a QSL with a hand sketch of a test card. I was a little surprised to see both the Swedish TV and DDR TV replies were from back in 1979. I Never took my first photos till 1988, when I got an old ZENITH camera which had a slow shutter speed of 1/30th, enough to make some decent images. The photo below caught my attention. In the mix of a traditional extreme opening, I had a strange test card on either R1 or E2A area of the band. Does anyone recognise this?? I should really scan many of my old test card photos from years ago. Some are really historic now of course.
The UNID from R2/ E2A 5/6/88 1130
Have a look below for one of my only two QSLs that I wrote for. This is Swedish TV, from 1979. My other QSL comes from DDR TV. Again this would have been a hand drawn image of the test card I sent to them!!
QRM FROM 50mHz HAMS: I have noticed for a long time the lines which appear in band 1 during tvdx openings. I never ever had a receiver that could pick up 50mHz SSB till last summer. That was when I first verified that the QRM was in fact from amateur operators in the 50mHz band. This QRM is not limited to local operators, but rather from all over Europe. This surely must cause a little grief on "normal" viewers' televisions at certain locations?? Of course probably no more than co channel sporadic e television stations would. The amateur stations are also making the best of the sporadic e, so are no doubt much less active during flat conditions.
AVG 7.5 NO LONGER SUPPORTED: I notice AVG 7.5 has stopped updating now. I guess this means that they have withdrawn support. My old web PC is deliberately kept running windows ME, and old browsers. This is so I can use the simple methods of web design, which should look the same in most browsers, including older ones.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - SATURDAY 16th MAY 2009: |
SKYWAVES
- AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE ??: I am not sure what is happening over
at Skywaves. There seems to be some kind of a split between former owners
and new owners if owners is the right word. At the time of typing this
page up, the Skywaves web site has been dramatically seized by the former
owner in a heated moment of whatever it was a heated moment of...!!
I will leave the links on my links pages for the time being, but if
it is going to be a dead link, and only bickering on the news group
section and not dx tips, I will remove them by the start of the week.
I had some unexpected grief from the Skywaves group a few weeks ago
because we were discussing FM and TVDX on our own mwdx chat, and not
using their Skywaves chat!!! That's the first time anyone has ever attempted
to control what me and my dx buddies discuss in our own chatroom!!!
Amazing!!! In actual fact anything and everything is discussed on our
skype chat, not only dxing. I failed to see what their problem was.
I have since logged out of the Skywaves Skype chat. (Maybe at the right time, as it seems to have fallen into chaos, with some kind of a question mark over who is in charge, if anyone. They have also moved their chat again.)
I seem to recall the boot was on the other foot when Skywaves started up their own MW newsgroup, and received a similar frosty reaction from some MW enthusiasts.
Using the so called freedom of the press term rather loosely, no one has any right whatsoever to try and demand that we do not discuss a certain subject in a semi private chat that they are guests in, in this case FM or TV. On the web, ANYONE is free to start a new dx group at any time. At any rate, I am sure The Danish SW Clubs do not have any problems of "professional jealousy" if some of their members belong another dx club, for example the BDXC, or even many other dx clubs!! It's a free choice. DXers are not like flocks of sheep. They are not owned by any one group.
FM/ TVDX SKYPE CHAT: With the future of Skywaves unknown today, this may be a good time to mention that David H has started an FM chat room on Skype, side by side with his DX CLUSTER. It has been very busy of late. Search Skype for David as "tvdxrools" to be vetted and invited in. This chat is moderated and rogue IP's will be banned.
The normal MW1 chatroom we have been using for many months is still operational but it became hectic during the sporadic e openings this last week or so. This was the reason for the slight changes.
MACRO IN BAND 1: A strange one. I have a DVD recorder connected to the JVC Band 1 TV. I had a short opening to NOVA TV, Prague the other day, and I thought I would record the first dx of the season. Twice during the recording it switched itself off, and a message about copyright protection came up on the screen. During a fade, the recorder was happily recording snow.. (One of the few that allow weak signals to record without going into a silly pause mode, LG RC-1000.) Was there some kind of Macro broadcast along side the TV programmes on NOVA TV???
TLA TV: I was on the FM/TVDX chat, and someone mentioned TLA. I for some reason thought it was a programme or something on RAI, but it seems it is a private station like the powerful E21. Below is a photo from 2007. Incidentally the old TV in the photo still works fine, and is the same as a Philips X12T 740/94, but this one has a PYE badge. I have a scrap one for spares which is a Philips.
MY HAM RADIO CALL LETTERS REVOKED: I have had my amateur radio call sign taken away!!!! No not for anything naughty. This is a cracker. A letter came through the door this morning asking me to ring the UK licence people asap. Seems my call sign GM8HSV has been mistakenly allocated to me, when it was already in use...lol. So it is not just the local "cooncil" that are bungling fools!!!! I have been using this callsign since January!!! It now seems I am allocated MM0HSV after the mix up. What a pity they couldn't give me the traditional GM call. I always felt it would be easy to add another digit, and for example all new calls in 2009 could become GM09XXX.
BRAZILIAN PIRATES: I have heard of these guys before, but never actually heard them. The other day for whatever reason, I tuned past 255.550 and heard strange chatter. Signals were very strong and clear. Seems this is the downlink of a redundant American Satellite that Brazilian radio buffs have clocked on to being able to use. I wonder what the uplink freq is??
I have also heard it said that it is a mobile radio network in Brazil that just happens to use the uplink frequency of the satellite. Whatever the truth, I logged loads of these guys chatting away on Friday for the first time. What a shame they weren't in English.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 14th MAY 2009: |
THE SUNSPOT MINIMUM: See my links page under space weather for some interesting articles about the now openly admitted prolonged solar minimum. For us MW dxers, does this mean that winter this year may be even better than last year?? Can I afford the hard drives this would take?? Or will the sun suddenly burst back into life. I think the truth is that no one really knows. I found a very interesting article on the subject in the 1977 WRTH. Click on the images to read the hi res version.
Thought: Was there not a CD/DVD version of very old WRTH's from the past at one time?? Anyone know where this can be obtained?.
Answer: Tnx to Guy Atkins in Seattle, he provided a link for the back issues. 1947 - 1970.. $99.
WRTH in PDF format 1947 - 1970 from NASWA
........... 
..............
Thanks
to THE WORLD RADIO AND TV HANDBOOK.
Click for their own WRTH current web site
DXTV - 1st LOGS OF THE SEASON:
I
had a few brief weak and noisy pictures the other day, but on Wed 13th
May I identified two signals. E2 produced NRK (Norway) , while on R2
the familiar RTL KLUB was seen from Hungary. A 50mHz ham was also heard
from Norway, with some very respectable signals. A few brief and sporadic
signals were heard from Croatia on Band 2 as well. A welcome first dx
from sporadic E this season.
MWDX: I recorded 0400 the other morning but had only
what would be classed as the common stations. WBBR, Newfoundlanders
etc. Nothing very exciting and nothing exciting enough to hold my interest.
There are still strong TADX signals around at this narrow window. WWKB
1520 was booming in.
UK RADIO CLUB GOES PUBLIC:
Even though I am nothing to do with any dx organisation, I know opinions were asked for recently regarding web only dx clubs. So a few scribbles of my own views and ideas are written below.
RADIO CLUB GOES PUBLIC: Maybe this future sounding headline will some day come to pass. Maybe not. If I was a gambler, I would say for the people concerned, it is ten years or more too early for such a headline. But I hear there have been thoughts and rumblings from within one radio club in the UK, that maybe it is time to move on and become a web based club, very like the Worldwide DX Club, or Skywaves who have had their regular publications on line for many years now.
So after all these years as a secretive and almost cloak and dagger style club, why go public now?? What are the benefits? What are the negative aspects? I personally have for many years now felt that public web sites were the way forward for DX clubs. But it is surprising how many of the old style paper dx clubs still hammer away with publications and deadlines.
On line I feel the paper dx clubs are poorly represented. Most clubs like to hide behind secret passwords, and members only non public areas, sometimes under the pretence of safety and security. What does this mean? Do you have to wear a yellow jacket and crash helmet or lock your doors and draw the curtains to read public pages?? I don't think it is in any way illegal to listen to radio stations from outside the country. I don't think we live in fear of our doors being kicked in at dawn because we are listening to American MW stations on a banned wireless set!! So if there are no legal issues whatsoever about the content of a MWDX public web site, there is no need to hide behind passwords and members areas. What's the point of having a web site to promote/ keep alive a flagging hobby, if you don't want anyone to see it??
I don't ever feel I have seen much content on the web sites of most dx clubs. They are geared up to "sell" or "subscribe" or "buy". Get the picture?? I guess that tells you that there is money to be made running a dx club. Well if that is the case, so be it. Maybe yes, maybe no. I don't know the answer to that. I don't really care. .
I never counted the number of dx clubs I found that work this way even today, but there are many. Short Wave Magazine, and Practical Wireless were always traditional newsagent style glossy publications, who were always assumed to be part of someone's daytime job. Hobby publications were always assumed to be hobby only, and all members work for the good of the club funds, and continuity.
I am only on line with these humble but very public web pages to share logs and dx recordings with like minded dxers. I am not interested in charging anyone for viewing these pages. Yes, I could do with the money, but I hardly think it could be classed as "playing the white man". The information itself is a little "geeky", or to make us dxers sound a little more intelligent, "it is a very specialist subject".
(Bill Gates gave a lecture to school kids last year (here in the UK I think it was). One very amusing part of his speech was a warning to the students not to be rude to the geeky guys. "One day you will probably end up working for them", he said!!!!!!!)
I think this "MW DXING IN SW SCOTLAND" web site is the only public web site in the UK (or certainly one of the few) with dedicated up to date MW logs and bits and pieces published mainly during the traditional Transatlantic DX season. I have hoards of logs, scribbles, and audio clips here, in public, for all to see. None of the traditional DX clubs can say that about their web pages. Yet it was never my intention to produce anything more than a few logs, and throw up a few unid recordings for other dxers to view/ hear. But even these pages have grown into a rather large archive!!
Sometimes I still find it difficult to source certain Transatlantic news items even in these days of the world wide web. One MW specialist dx site, the IRCA has a good news group which thankfully is in the public domain. But they don't always accept questions from Europe. Less than half of the dx tips or questions I have sent simply do not show up in their newsgroup, as though dismissed as junk. So much so that I don't even bother trying anymore. I have to e-mail other members and ask them to post tips on my behalf. But my point is, the benefits of a truly public dx web site would be to have up to the minute news and tips in the public domain, and hopefully easier to access.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF WEB ONLY? :
Think how much more up to date a public web dx club would be.
There could be live chat on a public site, but guarded by the "members", so that rogue IP's can be easily banned. I know what the SKYPE CHAT has done this winter for our MW DXing, to keep up to date. It is almost like a mini dx club in itself which has it's origins here on this web site. The SKYPE chat itself is not public, and requires third party software.
There may not be the huge nightmare of logs to arrange once a month, if these can be uploaded weekly or even daily during dx hot months.
Would there be a desire to have a monthly pdf compiled as there is now, or would members be content with a section for all the subjects completely separate, and simply print say the logs to read off line?? Much of these questions would have to be addressed.
My own personal way of producing logs and clips of news and gossip is simply on a per month page, as you obviously are aware if you are reading this. This is in much the same way as the freebie blog sites, with the most recent entry at the top of the page. OK sometimes my interest is content, and not layout. I don't tend to take much time to log stations nowadays, with all the care and attention to SINPO and programme details that I perhaps once did. So the logs are often scribbled out in rough form, to save time. Better to have a list of scribbles for one day than to have nothing at all.
ARCHIVES:
Think about the archives that could be made public. The web is a great place to store historical information. I have been using the archival capabilities of the web for a local history project since about 1998. Look at the benefits of an open and public MWDX web site with real content.
1) All back issues and reprints of the former paper publication available in the public domain as pdf files.
2) Audio archives are easily stored here as MP3s. How about recordings of all the UK first known logs for a start. Older recordings from the dusty archives, full recordings of radio stations from the past. This is such a great opportunity to share old worn cassettes and reels of tapes. I have been archiving long audio recordings here on this site for some time now. Again something none of the paper dx clubs even seem to consider.
3)
The web is a better place to publish photos than any paper magazine.
Much higher res images need only be a click away. Look down this page
to see my images of a switch box, and click for a hi res version as
an example.
4) Members may wish to add their own pages to the site, with shack photos
etc. It is always interesting to see other people's layouts and dxing
techniques, aerials etc. Again because it is the web, there are no limits
on the number of photos and images published. (within reason)
5) Even movies can be uploaded of dx peditions or dx shacks or visits to transmitter sites etc.
6) New as yet unthought of ideas could be integrated in a proper web site. How about for example, members around the country photographing their local MW transmitter sites and beacon sites for the archives??
SAVED WORKLOAD:
Think of the work that is saved in an instant by making a dx club web only.
1)
No printing
2) No mailing
3) No addressing envelopes
4) No handling large sums/ any sums of money (Often the source of trouble
& strife too often in clubs)
5) Save millions of lives because you don't have to cut the rainforests
down to print the mag.
(OK that's taking the global warming myth a little too far I know!!)
6) There is really no need for so called membership lists either in a full public web site. So often the complaints are that it is the same old names month after month that are making contributions to the dx logs, and from the most of the members - silence. So the club would really become web pages run by a handful of serious and experienced dxers. The idea of going public really could produce a rip snorter of a web site though, with the best mw dx content in the whole of Europe.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST:
So just how much would it cost to make the club web only.
£10....PER YEAR TOTAL (NOT PER MEMBER) !!!!
That is per year for 3 gig of web space!! The company I use for this site charged me a tenner for the first year to set up. This was after the last company I was dealing with simply vanished overnight. Next year I expect to pay about £20 for the year. For 10 gig the price is only slightly higher, so very affordable for even one man to sponsor the subscription for one year!!.
If a tenner or twenty quid is required per year to produce a web based DX club, where will the rest of the money go?? Well the funds could pay for the "PRO" versions of chat boxes and newsgroups. That wouldn't itself take up that much more of the funds, but it saves using the likes of Yahoo Groups which are generally full of ads and flashing lights.
WEB SITE DESIGN: The above price is for a real web site, and not for an on line freebie/ get what you take sort of design that these free on line blogspot pages give you. With a real web site, you are limited only by your imagination. I like to keep these pages like books. Black text and white or very light backgrounds. Many web pages you can see on line have some incredible designs of multicoloured text that you can barely read. Many have pages which are designed in such a pointless and over complicated fashion that they slow down loading to such an extent that you begin to feel you are back to a 386 PC, and dial up.
I once had the offer of a site design for another project by a web designer to trade. Such was the pointless complexity of the design that I was even unable to edit on my local PC properly. The server based technology used made the whole episode a complete nightmare. The final look of the site was fine, but I could have made a site look the same using simple code and editable pages.
I personally like to make the design simple, plain and straight forward. This site is about reading text, and is designed for those that have the gift of being able to read. It is not meant for catching the eyes of kids who have barely a handle on the English language and only want to see flashing lights, hear 30 seconds of tinny sounding music from tiny junk speakers, or click on dubious pop up ads for dating, gambling or viagra. Neither will I ever have log in nonsense, or registration required to read any of these web pages.
I
am not saying for a moment that this web site is a perfect design. Far
from it. There are so many tricks and so much hard code that I just
don't know, but in a bid to keep it simple and clean looking and viewable
on most screens, this is the design I choose. There is nothing worse
than untidy scroll bars at the bottom of the screen, common on the web,
or unnecessary clutter you have on the freebie bebo and facebook style
sites. A lot of the local rock bands, and venues here in SW Scotland
use these bebo things, and navigation is a nightmare. One is reluctant
to click on anything, because you end up on some weird unconnected page.
NEGATIVE ISSUES:
Some guys may say that they like to have a printed version of a dx magazine for reading sitting out in the garden, on a train to work, or even sitting on the cludgie in the morning after breakfast and coffee!! So be it. Most people with a PC have a printer. If they haven't, they are not very expensive.
"I DON'T HAVE A PC, OR I DON'T HAVE WEB ACCESS", some may bleat. Very few of us nowadays do not have web access. If someone doesn't have access at home, their friends or relatives mostly will have, or even public libraries. This "almost everyone" having web access surely especially applies to dxers anyway.
There may be one grumpy old stick in the mud who just wont buy a PC and never will, who will miss out on any web based dx club. (Hypothetical stick in the mud that is, but I do know they exist from listening to top band). But there were the guys who would not buy a radio with a digital counter years ago, or the guys in modern times who won't use wideband recording techniques for MW dxing for reasons best known to themselves.
Ain't life tough.
Leave them out, and forget them!!!!
SUMMARY: I spent some time looking through web pages of a multitude of DX CLUBS from across the globe, and find that most of the ones I saw are very similar, and of the sales drive style rather than a public dx web site. From where I sit typing my logs and adding audio archives, I see the world wide web as an opportunity missed for so many years by these clubs with their secret members areas etc. The web is such an easy platform to use as an archive. But this requires a group of people forming some kind of organisation that can easily ensure continuity. With a one man operation such my own pages, it becomes more difficult to keep the archive on line. If I get run over by a bus tomorrow, I guess the show is over, and this archive would die with me. I am not being deliberately morbid. These things can happen. An old school friend, and in recent years drinking buddy, passed away the other week, well before his three score years and ten. With that went his own projects, of which he had many.
It makes you think.
Maybe I do need to try and form some kind of a continuity group myself, not just for this radio archive, but for my local historical collections. A group of say 6 - 10 people can surely provide continuity, and as one "board member" drops out, another can take his place.
STEVE CONWAY'S BOOK AT LAST!!! SHIPROCKED HAS ARRIVED:
It took about 3 weeks to arrive but I took delivery yesterday of Steve Conway's much anticipated book. It has the unfortunate title of SHIPROCKED. It seems that every new book and anything in fact to do with offshore radio nostalgia is now going to be called something "rocked", after the movie "THE BOAT THAT ROCKED".
But the reason for the name obviously is publicity, and how it works. I saw a friends kid's face yesterday when he saw the book, and asked me excitedly,
"Is that the book tae that film youz saw Kenny??".
"Aye", I said quietly.
How could I explain to a 12 year old who has ipods, broadband and mobile phones exactly what Radio Caroline was and what it stood for even in the 80's, never mind the 60's and 70's. I can imagine some of his questions. Why did they broadcast from the high seas. Why? What was the point? Imagine a 12 year olds perception of the isolation. There were no mobile phones, internet access, DVD players, I-PODS, etc and living in some very heavy seas, some of which are pictured in the book. I will save my history lesson for a time when he will be more interested in listening to a two day sermon!!
Steve's book is based around the time when the squeeze was on the station in the late 1980's. Euroseige had just ended as the book starts. SHIPROCKED is a superb read, and includes the chapter published on Steve's Newstide web site some years ago initially as "Candle in the Wind", later renamed to "Surrender At Dawn", after Candle in the Wind became popular again after the "Diana" affair. Have a look on the book's web site, link below. Steve has included dramatic videos from youtube of the grounding, and other videos.
The original title for the book was to be "These Dreams".
From the front of the original Newstide web site.
The Ross Revenge was more than just a floating radio station with the
tallest mast of any ship in Europe. It was home and an entire island
world for those who worked on Radio Caroline, a focal point for dreams
of freedom, and a friend to many thousands of listeners across Europe.
Seen in daylight, the ship looks impressive
At night, lying in a pool of silver water under a full moon
She was magical beyond belief
The mast fell in November 1987, and was replaced
The station fell silent in 1990 and can never be replaced
"In a wood, full of princes freedom is the kiss
The full moon it shines over these dreams in the mist"
Heart
- These Dreams
.. 
Photos Steve Conway
 |
I bought the book from the Radio Caroline Web Shop. This money from the book goes towards the upkeep of the station, and to the Ross Revenge support group, so I don't mind if it may have been a long wait for delivery. It is a real worthy charitable cause, close to my heart.
Some of my own lengthy recordings on this site are from reel to reel tapes made off SW at the time Steve was on board the Ross Revenge. Incidentally, Steve is currently heard on Phantom FM in Dublin 105.2.
One interesting story about the movie, THE BOAT THAT ROCKED, is that the Dutch hospital ship, De Hoop was the boat used in the film. De Hoop used to broadcast religious services on a sunday morning from wherever the ship was. Freq was on the 2mHz shipping band. Check out some old WRTH's for the INTERNATIONAL WATERS section. This one from 1976 for example.
LATINS
ON MW IN THE 80's - AERIALS OR SUNSPOT CYCLE:
I have serious doubts about my antenna system and it's capabilities
as far as Latin dx goes for MW. I have a multitude of antennas, but
I don't seem to be getting the Latins that my dx neighbour Paul picks
up on the coast. I used to have a lot of latins in the logs in the 80's.
O yes I have heard them in recent times, the common ones anyway, but
I seem to recall I used to have great signals from Brazil sometimes,
eg Globo 1100 and 1220, and Radio Reloj on 1100 from Columbia. Venezuelans
are also logged in vast numbers in old log books. Check my recordings
folder, where there are a few clips of old TADX from Monte Carlo 920,
Globo etc. So what is wrong now. Are the signals absent because we are
at the bottom of the solar cycle? Do I need a rethink on the antennas??
Or is the concentration on MW during the summer months not there after
a long dx winter?? Maybe I am too easily distracted elsewhere during
the summer months, a traditional window for latins here in Europe. Watch
this space.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 7th MAY 2009: |
COAX THAT WON'T SOLDER!!! - DID YOU EVER HEAR OF IT? :
I wondered the other day why a soldered joint on a patch lead was dodgy. It was leads in and out of the RPA1 preamp. I decided to cable the amp into my switch bank on a more permanent basis today.
When I was soldering coax to a switch I have wired for a complete bypass/ isolate of the amp, I couldn't get it to stick. The inner was copper coloured, but the shield was a silver colour. I took the piece of wire to another soldering iron and different solder. And amazingly, I have my first coax that solder won't stick to!!! I wonder what kind of metal this is. AL it says on the label, so I guess Aluminum!!! Obviously this must have been cheap stuff. It has a double screen, like what we call nowadays "satellite" coax. It is probably OK for average jobs that don't require soldering, but in all the years I have been using coax in both work situations and through the dxing hobby, I have never came across such junk!! The next thing will be audio jacks which won't solder...but they will be cheap!! I was beginning to doubt my soldering abilities for a second.
Below are a couple of photos of a switch box I made earlier in the year, which is really too small to house the preamp as well. Maybe one day I shall change the lot to a bigger box. And maybe not. It is always the case. If I tidy up the shelves in the shack and lay out the receivers nicely, I always end up with an add on that won't fit in!!
The amp
and by pass/ isolate switch as an add on to my aerial switch.
A close
up of the rat's nest. Click to enlarge.
MONKEY'S AUDIO COMPRESSION:
I
have been trying out Monkey's Audio on Perseus files. Thanks to a detailed
pdf file by Elio Corbolante on the Perseus group.
I have tested one of my own files which I have on line. The original
file size is 273meg. WINZIP took it only to 211meg at max compression.
Monkey's audio reduces the file size to took it down to 109 meg using "Extra High" compression.
"Insane" takes it down further to 97meg!!
Bjarne's
929 meg file was reduced to 226 meg!!!! Dare I use the phrase amazing
again?? I may be easily impressed, but such a compression ratio is surely
a great benefit to wideband file sharing.
Incidentally, I have also tried recording a normal .wav file. This was
a single source of the station on 1512. I left it running about 3 hours.
The original .wav was over a gig. Monkey's Audio made a .ape file of
about 230 meg, while an old MP3 programme called Audio Catalyst I use
(set at flat out variable bitrate) produced a final file of only 56
meg. So clearly Monkey's Audio is better suited to the Perseus wideband
audio files!!
Check
it out at <www.monkeysaudio.com>
NB: A .ape file requires the software to be installed to decompress.
It is only a small piece of safe software, and the compression rate
really helps us guys out in the sticks with slower broadband speeds.
The .wav file is rebuilt exactly as it was when it was compressed.
RADIO RALLY - SW Scotland: I am off to a radio rally at the MAGNUM in Irvine on 24th of this month. They are not really the same as what they used to be, with regards the volume of junk and stalls. Last year, I couldn't even have bought a WRTH believe it or not. Neither could I have bought new 2N3866'S, or 1N5408.
I remember one year I launched a scathing verbal attack on a book dealer who was selling the previous years WRTH at new prices. lol. This was also in MAY, 5 or 6 months after the new WRTH was out!!
Last year, many spaces existed, where once would have been stalls. Perhaps a sign of the times?? Maybe, but it is still worth a visit. I shall be going with Davie from up the road, to see what old junk we can find. Last year, I found an old box with WRTH'S from 1976, 1973, and 1969. Maybe there will be some more similar gems this year.
DRM
STOPPED ON 1575 - YEEEEEHAH: What a waste of money this ego
trip was. Half a dozen listeners hardly justifies jamming an AM broadcast
band with white noise. I wonder how much this physically cost? Especially
worked out per head of listener??
I still fail to understand the mentality of any qualified rf engineer
who thinks that white noise transmitted in an officially allocated AM
broadcast band is acceptable. The two formats are hardly compatible
bedfellows.
I can remember back to the crybabies at the Western European government broadcasters in the 70's moaning that the Eastern block governments broadcast white noise on top of their own propaganda broadcasts to the East. This included the jamming of Radio Free Europe on 720. Now I ask you, who is doing the jamming now and getting away with it???
Can't the ITU simply allocate a part of the spectrum where they can carry on without bothering anyone?? Especially on the SW bands, this shouldn't be much of a problem.
It makes you wonder if the real reason that this jamming is allowed to continue is simply money and back handers and corruption?? After all we have an example of this here in the UK. BT seem to have given themselves the right to jam AM and SW bands with rf noisy devices used for their "BT VISION". What if a radio ham (or heaven forbid, a naughty pirate) was operating with faulty equipment and causing rf noise all over the band. What would happen to them??
BT have a lot to answer to. But a large corporation like the afore mentioned BT seem to be above the law, when it comes to causing interference that can be classed as deliberate. They are aware of their dodgy equipment, and still use it, thus the interference must be classed as willful.
Should they be simply called "T" now, since they seem to prefer their call centres to be abroad now, and prefer not to employ a British work force. A BT sales caller was a little taken aback a couple of years ago when I told her that for the reason above, our telephone provider was no longer BT, and that I was surprised they still had the cheek to call it "B"T... Well she did ask why we had left BT !!!!