Radio User 2019 004 - April [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

Aerials Now

A PA0RDT Mini Whip Project

April 2019 £4.50

Utility Signals

Weird Signals on the Bands

www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

Emergency Communications on Land and Sea, in the Air and in Space

Discover Radio Astronomy Exploring space with your SDR

AI Trials at Heathrow

Is the Jury Still Out?

The Voice of the Ribble Valley

A Unique Community Radio Station

5G & Network Radio | DAB & DRM | DXTV | Inmarsat-C Safety Net Humberside Airport | Joseph Henry | NDB DXing | World Radio Day April front.indd 1

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Index

Contents

Favourites

Reviews

Features

News

Cover Story 60 Software-Defined Radio

April 2019 Vol. 14 No 4 On sale: 28 March 2019 Next issue on sale: Thursday, 24 April 2019

Andrew Barron shows how you can use your SDR to pursue basic radio astronomy and monitor the Sun, Jupiter, and Meteors.

RadioUser Warners Group Publications plc The Maltings, West Street Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH www.warnersgroup.co.uk Tel 01778 391000

30 Emergency Communications In this new series, Tim Kirby explains the ways and means of disaster communications, starting with COSPAS-SARSAT.

Editor (c/o Warners Group Publications plc) Georg Wiessala [email protected]

36 DXTV

Designer

Keith Hamer and Garry Smith offer news, and vital TV and FM DX loggings for the irst quarter of 2019.

Mike Edwards [email protected]

Advertisement Manager

38 The International Radio Scene

Claire Ingram [email protected]

Chrissy Brand has news of inspiring international broadcasts on MW and SW and explores the online and podcast radio scene.

Multimedia Sales Executive Kristina Green [email protected] Tel: 01778 392096

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Advertising Production Nicola Lock [email protected]

Publisher Rob McDonnell [email protected]

Subscriptions Subscriptions are available from as little as £11. Turn to our subscriptions page for full details.

Subscription Administration Radio User Subscriptions, Warners Group Publications plc The Maltings, West Street Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH Subscriptions Hotline: 01778 395161 [email protected]

Technical Help We regret that, due to editorial time scales, replies to technical queries cannot be given over the telephone. Any technical queries by e-mail are very unlikely to receive immediate attention either. So, if you require help with problems relating to topics covered by RU, then please write to the Editorial Offices, we will do our best to help and reply by mail.

Book and back issue orders Send your completed form to: RadioUser Subscriptions Dept Warners Group Publications plc The Maltings, West Street Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH

6 Subscriptions Page Subscribe to this magazine, get your copy early and never miss a review, article or news item again.

42 Scanning Scene Tim Kirby uses an AOR AR-DV1 receiver to receive Tetra and looks ahead to the new Uniden Bearcat SDS200 wideband receiver.

46 Digital Radio 7 News & Products Handhelds and headphones, new blood at Radio 3, future short wave, and a cocktail of radio news.

Kevin Ryan shares important news regarding DRM radios and evaluates the likely impact of recent Ofcom DAB proposals.

13 Radio Book Store

50 Network Radio

This is the place to ind and buy the books we have reviewed, and many more besides.

Chris Rolinson investigates the innovative potential of 5G for Network Radio, has a tip for Inrico users and gets mobile.

14 Airband News David Smith proiles communications at Humberside Airport and looks at Artiicial Intelligence.

16 Aerials Now! Keith Rawlings focuses on a PA0RDT mini whip project and responds to readers’ suggestions.

20 Maritime Matters Robert Connolly explores both his maritime family heritage and the Inmarsat C SafetyNet System.

23 NDB DXing Robert Connolly offers seasonal NDB DXing news and beacon logs, for the irst quarter of 2019.

26 Emerging Issues in Radio Chrissy Brand celebrates initiatives around World Radio Day 2019 and suggests new podcasts.

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RadioUser April 2019

Editorial

Welcome Trusted Technologies & Promising Possibilities

H

64 54 The Voice of the Ribble Valley The editor does not travel very far to visit Ribble FM 106.7, a unique community radio broadcaster in Lancashire.

56 Utility Monitoring Nils Schiffhauer turns a little weird, looking at unusual, downright bafling, and intriguingly mysterious utility signals.

59 Book Review David Harris assesses a title by a radio host who debunks prejudice and ights ‘fake news’, delusion and hatred every day.

64 Radio Pioneers: Joseph Henry (1797-1878) The editor sheds light on the life and work of a great American radio scientist and teacher.

68 Corrections and Feedback A sample of topics touched upon in your many letters, e-mails and messages.

70 Rallies & Events The most comprehensive UK overview of rallies, conferences, club events, and other meetings.

ello and welcome to the April 2019 issue of RadioUser. I have moved in two directions, radio-wise, this month. On the one hand, I felt nostalgic, when I took the opportunity to acquire a rare Lowe HF-250 receiver, as well as a Signal Communications R532 airband radio. These two have been giving me much joy, and, in the case of the former, even some opportunities for some DXing – a rare event these days. On the other hand, I have discovered a new classical music station on DAB and experimented with SDR, taking inspiration from Andrew Barron’s column in this issue. I have also re-visited the VLF band, with the help of some software, and I have discovered some excellent podcasts from all over the world. While I did all this – often with a medium wave station happily playing away in the background – I relected that, perhaps, I am typical, after all, of many of our readers, by relying much on legacy technology but exploring new possibilities too. My aim continues to be to serve these two constituencies, and many more besides, with this magazine. You can make sure that you never miss an issue, by the way, by taking out a subscription, have a look at the offers in this issue. It is April already, and the issue offers, once again, a cornucopia of articles, columns and news on all things radio. We have a new kind of column this month, in which Tim Kirby introduces the broad area of Emergency Communications and safety radio in the UK and beyond. He begins in space, as it were. In a similar vein, Robert Connolly explores the Inmarsat-C Safety Net system, in one of his columns, and presents the irst NDB loggings for 2019 in his other one. Continuing with the theme of catches and logging, Keith Hamer and Garry Smith offer their own FM, TV and Satellite DX report, to pave the way for many exciting things to come in this area, in

later issues this year. In other parts of the magazine, you will learn more about Artiicial Intelligence at Heathrow, World Radio Day 2019, American radio pioneers, the current Medium and Short Wave scene, 5G for Network Radio, comms at Humberside Airport, and an astonishing, and necessary, book title. In terms of equipment, check out, for example, our columns on Digital Radio and Aerials Now. There is also the News & Products section to be discovered, and we have contributions on forthcoming scanners, new uses for the AOR Ar-DV10, and on Inrico Network Radios. It has been a particular pleasure for me this month, to visit my local community radio station here in the wilds of Lancashire; you can read my short report about it in this issue. My hope is that, as ever, you will enjoy what is contained in the following pages. Since it is April, and in case of a ‘nodial Brexit’, if you do ind that those radios you bought on the Continent have stopped working, please send them in to me at my editorial address….

Georg Wiessala Editor, Radio User Magazine

Why not visit our new online bookshop at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/store RadioUser April 2019

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BEAT THE PRICE RISE SAVE £1.17 EVERY ISSUE The cover price has increased to £4.50

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Review by Tim Kirby G4VXE ●

E-mail: [email protected] ● Twitter: g4vxe

The Yaesu FTM-7250DE 144/432MHz C4FM/FM Dual-Band Transceiver

coming through the radio. My first contact, as a quick test, was actually with Scott KH6AGL in Hawaii! Although, of course, it’s not the same as working Hawaii directly, it still makes for an interesting contact. Scott kindly confirmed that the rig’s audio sounded good.

Programming the FTM-7250DE

A

s part of our short series of articles revisiting the Yaesu digital voice system, System Fusion II, we thought we would review the new FTM-7250DE dualband transceiver. It was introduced about a year ago as an addition to the range of System Fusion transceivers. This, along with the FTM-3200DE (144MHz single band) and FTM-3207DE (432MHz single band) was introduced as a lower-cost entry point, allowing people the option of a digital capable rig, without features that they may not necessarily want, such as GPS or APRS. Here, we are looking at the FTM-7250DE, but Karl Brazier from Yaesu tells me that the features on the FTM-3200DE and FTM3207DE are identical – the only difference being that they are single-band radios, rather than dual-band like the FTM-7250DE. The features and specification, from Yaesu, are set out in the sidebar.

Continuing his look at Yaesu’s System Fusion, Tim Kirby G4VXE reviews the FTM-7250DE Fusion Transceiver.

First Impressions I first encountered the FTM-7250DE when I visited Yaesu UK to meet Karl Brazier to have a demonstration of the new System Fusion II features. The FTM-7250DE has a solid, simple look to it, with a nice display. I asked Karl if I could borrow one to review and he very kindly agreed. Pretty much the first thing I do with any digital transceiver these days is to try it out on my digital hotspot at home and this is exactly what I did with the FTM7250DE. When you first switch on, you have the option to set your callsign into the radio. This is what will be displayed on other people’s radios, when you are in Digital (C4FM) mode. You can enter up to ten characters so if you have a short name such as Tim, you can set your callsign and name, in my case as G4VXE-Tim. Also, I set the power to 5W (there are three power levels – 50W/25W/5W), popped a dummy load in the antenna socket and set the frequency to that of my digital hotspot. With the hotspot connected to one of the Yaesu System Fusion reflectors, America Link, I soon started to see traffic and hear voices

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The FTM-7250 in digital mode, receiving the GB3CF repeater.

Practical Wireless February 2019

Because I wanted to take the FTM-7250DE mobile, I thought I would program up some memory channels to keep an ear on while I was out and about. The first nice discovery was that programming the memories was pretty intuitive and I didn’t have to resort to the instruction manual. Having said all that, the Operating Manual is simple and concise – and written in straightforward and clear English. It runs to a modest 47 pages. There is also an Advanced Manual that covers less frequently used but useful features. This is not supplied but you can download it from the Yaesu website (click on the Files tab) at: https://tinyurl.com/y7afx5ux Anyway, back to programming the memories. I programmed a variety of 145 and 433MHz repeaters that I thought I was likely to hear on my travels. Unfortunately for testing, the area around West Oxfordshire where we are currently living does not have any nearby Fusion repeaters. Nevertheless, I programmed up some, optimistically, which I thought I might hear. I decided to program up the digital simplex calling frequencies on both 144 and 438MHz (144.6125 and 438.6125MHz) in the hope of making a simplex contact or two. Finally, to take advantage of the FTM-7250DE’s wideband receive coverage, I set up a few memories with airband and marine frequencies of interest. With all that done, I connected the rig to the V-2000 triband vertical at home to check that everything was working as it should. It all sounded promising. Fitting any rig into modern cars is always a challenge and the FTM-7250DE is too large to fit in the centre console of my car – most radios are! However, I found a way of safely mounting it and then connected it up to the 144/432MHz mobile antenna. Setting the rig scanning as I drove around suggested a couple of things. Firstly, that it was nice and sensitive – I noticed one or two weak signals that I hadn’t heard since using one of the cheaper (and great value) Chinese mobile sets. Secondly, the receiver was pretty bomb-proof and there were fewer funny noises when I passed shops, buses and other well-known noise sources.

February 2019 Practical Wireless

The rear panel of the FTM-7250 is simple, with antenna, speaker, power and data connectors.

With 50W available from the FTM-7250, transmitter performance was good with distant repeaters, or indifferent locations. The three power levels are quite sensible, although perhaps Foundation licensees would have appreciated a 10W power setting as well. When running the rig on 50W, the heatsink gets warm, but not super hot, so the cooling system seems to work very well. With conditions slightly up one day, I noticed the rig stop in digital mode on 145.600MHz, where both GB3CF and GB3WR can be heard (I’m located on the fringe of both of their coverage areas, somewhere in the middle of them) but I only got the odd word. It was promising though. I didn’t get the chance to try a digital Fusion repeater until Julie and I drove up to Warwickshire for an appointment. While I waited for Julie to return, I tuned the rig to the GB3CF frequency to find that the repeater was an excellent S7 or S8. I waited for the QSO to end and put a call through. I was delighted to find that it all worked very well and I had a series of excellent contacts, including Colin MU0FAL and Peter G7RPG.. I discovered that GB3CF was not hooked up to the Wires-X system, but instead connected to the Hubnet system, which seemed busy with lots of interesting contacts. I found that with a strong signal from GB3CF, I was able to drop power to 5W without any detrimental effect on my outgoing transmission quality.

Digital and Wires-X Features The FTM-7250DE firmware includes support for the Digital Group ID (DGID) and Digital Personal ID (DPID) capabilities that I mentioned in last month’s Reintroducing System Fusion article. The default DGID is set to 00, meaning that everyone hears everyone but, as I mentioned last month, you can change

the value as required, should this be used on your local Fusion repeater. Similarly, DPID is available and could be used, for example, to identify you as a control channel operator for a Fusion repeater. If you are connected to a Wires-X node or Wires-X enabled repeater, you can use the FTM-7250DE to select another node to connect to. Unlike the FTM-100DE and FTM-400XDE models, you cannot press the Dx button and scroll down a list. On the FTM-7250, you’ll need to enter the WiresX number of the node you want to connect to (for example GB3SP in Pembroke Dock is number 43417). You can look up whatever nodes you want to connect to at the URL below and obtain the appropriate node number. If you connect to a particular node regularly, then you can save the node number for regular use. Once you’re done with having connected to the node, you can hit the ‘*’ button and it will disconnect you. Note that you don’t have to do this each time you connect to a Fusion repeater. If the repeater you connect to is already connected to a Wires-X room, then you’ll often be content to leave it as it is, but this feature gives you the option to disconnect and connect somewhere else if you want to (and have permission to do so). Karl and I tried this feature at Yaesu HQ and it worked just fine and although it sounds a bit cumbersome, was actually pretty easy to do in practice. https://tinyurl.com/ydfdoc3b Like all System Fusion capable rigs, the FTM-7250DE has Automatic Mode Select (AMS), such that when it receives a Digital Fusion signal, it will automatically change to the appropriate narrow or wide digital mode or, of course, analogue FM. In case you’re wondering, you can’t use the FTM-7250DE in conjunction with an

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RadioUser April 2019

What’s new in the world of radio

News

What’s New SDRPLAY APPLICATIONS & SUPPORT CATALOGUE : The SDRplay Applications and Support Catalogue is your reference point for numerous Application Notes, Application Briefs, How-to Videos and much more! You can scroll through the entire list or use the category drop-down to home in on your area of interest. Or you can just look for keywords in the search box. For each entry, click on the corresponding icon for the YouTube Video or the PDF document. For more detailed information on each item, click or tap on the description (PC users can also hover over the icons). (SOURCE: SDRPlay) https://www.sdrplay.com/apps-catalogue AM RECEPTION TIPS: C.Crane, in the USA, has useful reception tips for AM radio listening. Here is an excerpt: “If you’re having trouble receiving your favourite talk radio program – determine if you get the signal at all. If the station is a 500W station across the country, no amount of reception tips will help you receive this signal. That said, if the station streams, an internet radio or combining your smartphone and a portable Bluetooth speaker may be a viable solution. If you get the signal, but it is weak, try moving near a window or outside wall. If your reception improves, then you know that the signal is having a hard time reaching where you prefer to listen, or there may be some interference. You can run an antenna over to the window (or maybe even outside). If the problem is noise, try the radio on batteries and walk around your home...”. (SOURCE: C.Crane). https://tinyurl.com/y277blc5 ENHANCED SOLAR ACTIVITY: Sunspot numbers remain very low, as Solar Minimum continues. Nevertheless, there is some big activity on the sun at present. Really big. NASA satellites and amateur astronomers are monitoring a giant filament of magnetism jutting out from the edge of the solar disk. The glowing structure is fully one-tenth of the sun’s diameter. Visit Spaceweather.com to watch a movie of the unstable prominence (8th March 2019): http://spaceweather.com

ST OP

Radio News

PR ES S!

Have you got something new to tell our readers about? If so, then drop a line to [email protected]

Low-cost handheld from Nevada CT-590s Midland Low-cost Dual Band Handheld Nevada is pleased to announce the release of the CT-590S Midland lowcost Dual Band Handheld Transceiver. Despite its entry-level price, the CT-590s is packed with features, including a three-colour LCD display, keypad control, FM broadcast receiving capability, scan and dual watch, CTCSS, emergency SOS function, Vox control and lots more. The radio is programmable from a PC with optional software and lead. The radio sells for £69.95 and is supplied with a 1,500 mAh Li-Ion battery pack, desktop fast charger, wall adaptor and belt clip. The Midland CT-590S is available direct from Midland distributors Nevada radio, or our UK dealers. Nevada Group Unit 1 Fitzherbert Spur Farlington Portsmouth PO6 1TT Tel: 02392 313 090 www.nevadaradio.co.uk

For the latest news and product reviews, visit www.radioenthusiast.co.uk RadioUser April 2019

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News

What’s new in the world of radio

AURORA AUSTRALIS & BOREALIS – A STUDY IN ASYMMETRY: For many years, scientists have assumed that the Aurora seen around the North Pole was identical to the one seen at the South Pole. The poles are connected by magnetic field lines; auroral displays are caused by charged particles streaming along these field lines. Because the charged particles follow these field lines, it would make sense that the auroras would , in fact, be ‘mirror images’ of each other. However, in 2009, scientists discovered that aurorae can look differently around the North Pole and the South Pole, including having different shapes and occurring at different locations – a phenomenon called ‘Asymmetry’. (SOURCE: EoS Scientific) https://tinyurl.com/y4472wjt [email protected] MEDIA ACQUISITIONS: Bauer Media was looking to build up its radio reach in the UK (from 18 million listeners, according to the latest RAJAR figures), by rolling out three acquisitions in the space of a week: The purchase of Wireless local stations in England and Wales (boasting a weekly reach of 850,000 listeners) was added to the acquisition of Celador Radio and Lincs FM Group at the end of February. This entails

HP-1 Wired Over-Ear Folding Stereo Headphones from bhi Graham Somerville, MD at bhi Ltd., wrote in to say that the firm recently added a low-cost pair of wired, over- ear, folding, stereo headphones to their range. The bhi HP-1 headphones are suitable for radio communications, as well as general purpose use. They are comfortable to wear, due to the lightweight design, adjustable headband and the soft, leatherettepadded, ear cups. The latter help to eliminate the uncomfortable pressure feeling that can be created by closed, ‘over-ear- type’ headphones, allowing you to listen for longer. The cable is 1.9 m long and is terminated with an integral 3.5mm stereo jack plug. The HP-1 headphones are supplied with a 1/4in stereo to 3.5mm stereo adapter. The order code is HP-1. The price is £19.95, inclusive of VAT.

an addition 1.1 million listeners. Wireless is comprised of fifteen licences across Lancashire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Staffordshire, and South Wales. Celador adds 25 licences across East Anglia, Thames Valley, Solent, and the South West. Finally, Lincs FM Group comprises of nine licences across Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Rutland. (SOURCE: The Drum) https://www.thedrum.com/topics/radio AUSTRALIAN DX REPORT : The Australian DX Report (ADXR) is a free audio broadcasting service, which features quality news and information about the world of short wave broadcasting and related themes. The service is compiled and presented by Bob Padula, OAM, of Melbourne. Victoria, Australia. Bob is a Chartered Professional Communications Engineer, holding the rank of Life Member of the Institution of Engineers (Australia). He provides many specialized technical consultancy services and has written in the field of international highfrequency broadcasting. The ADXR is a service of

S! ES PR

AMATEUR RADIO GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE TRANSPONDER NOW ACTIVE: The geostationary amateur radio narrowband transponder on the Es’hail-2 / QO-100 satellite was made available for amateur experimental use on Tuesday, 12th February 2019. The Qatar Amateur Radio Society (QARS) invites radio amateurs worldwide to use the NB transponder in a good manner and make contacts among each other. The 250kHz-bandwidth transponder uses the 2.4GHz band for the uplink, with the downlink in the 10.45GHz band, and it should provide communications over a large segment of the globe, 24 hours a day. Potentially both Brazil and Thailand might be in range from the UK. Contacts have been made by running as little as 500 milliwatts of SSB to a 1.2m dish. You can listen to the narrowband transponder from anywhere in the world by using the online WebSDR developed by members of AMSAT-UK and the BATC, which is located at Goonhilly in Cornwall, UK. https://tinyurl.com/y3z8xdpe https://tinyurl.com/y65v7wgg

OP ST

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Telephone: +44(0)1444 870333 Email: [email protected] Web: www.bhi-ltd.com

the World Short Wave Radio Association . Episode 647 of the ADXR is now available. https://tinyurl.com/y3a3cnty https://adxr.podbean.com ‘RATIONALISATION’ AND ‘LOCALNESS’: With news that Global is to introduce ‘networked ‘ breakfast shows, and is to have just a handful of local drive shows across Capital, Heart and Smooth, RadioToday has done the maths on what this means for presenter roles across commercial radio. RT’s exclusive figures show that presenter numbers could drop by more than 250, if both Global and Bauer take full advantage of recent changes in Localness Guidelines from Ofcom. After the regulator published its updated guidance (in October last year), the announcements from Leicester Square about the introduction of ‘networked breakfast shows’ come as no surprise to most in the industry. There is going to be legislation on the deregulation of commercial radio, enabling stations to ‘flip’ music formats and essentially ‘jump’ between brands. (SOURCE: Radio Today)

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JVC KENWOOD UK appoints Martin Lynch & Sons as Sole UK Distributor

BITCOIN SENT OVER NATIONAL BORDERS VIA SHORT WAVE: In January, a cryptocurrency enthusiast in an unknown location in Eastern Europe paid with bitcoin (via lightning-network) to broadcast strange messages from a blockstream satellite high up in the sky. In the most recent case, one user sent bitcoin to another one, using short wave radio. He used a free protocol for short wave communications to do the transaction. The protocol used is identified as JS8Call, which enables users to connect a short wave radio to a computer. Once they are connected, they can basically send and receive short wave-transmitted text messages to other JS8Call users without any special license. Reports suggest that the transaction was made from Toronto, Canada with the tokens sent to Michigan, USA. Since it is a brainwallet, the bearer did not need any internet connection to broadcast the transaction at the time of sending. Although brainwallets are not entirely safe, the ability to send BTC while offline is quite an achievement. The sender never prepared any signed transaction, and then sent it to the recipient for them to broadcast it to the blockchain. On the contrary, he sent his recipient a private key that enabled the recipient to transfer the funds to his wallet, using only that private key. The last picture evidence of the transaction is a visual representation of the data that came from the recipient’s radio, directed to the sender’s radio. In all cases, the short wave radios hear background electromagnetic ‘noise’ that is also referred to as ‘static’. Once they receive a recognizable signal, it can be visually represented as a ‘blip’, or interruption, found in the background noise. (SOURCE: CryptoVibes/ SWLing Post) https://www.cryptovibes.com http://tinyurl.com/y6lbaxgh

has now also opened a Ham Radio Store. In association with Amazon, this store occasionally offers bargains, which do not appear in many other places. It is surprising what you can find; there is a much bigger choice than you might think. Have a look for that elusive items you are missing or have lost from your shack. (SOURCE: Southgate Amateur Radio News) https://www.electronics-notes.com/hamstore

ELECTRONICS NOTES OPENS A HAM RADIO STORE : The website, Electronics Notes provides a large amount of useful reference material for engineers, students, radio enthusiasts and hobbyists. Within this collection of resources, there is also a significant amount of background material for radio amateurs and short wave listeners, on a wide range of subjects surrounding amateur radio. What is more, there are also noteworthy resources on radio receiver technology, RF design, antennas, radio propagation , radio waves, and more. To complement this further, Electronics Notes

BDXC PUBLICATIONS: From May, The British DX Club’s Broadcasts In English for the A-19 schedules is available, in printed format or as a PDF. Broadcasts in English is compiled by BDXC’s Dave Kenny and Alan Roe. It includes details of all known international broadcasts in English on shortwave and mediumwave for the current schedule period, as well as selected domestic English-language broadcasts on short wave. The 28-page booklet is in a handy time order throughout and covers all target areas worldwide. Transmitter sites are included, where possible, along with schedules for Media & Mailbag Programmes and Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)

Established in 1990, Martin Lynch & Sons Ltd (ML&S) is Kenwood’s largest Ham Radio distributor/retailer in the UK and from April 2019 becomes its sole UK distributor for Kenwood Amateur Radio products. The business, which has earned more ‘Kenwood Amateur Radio Dealer of the Year Awards’ than any other, invested in a new 6000sqft office and showroom centre close to Heathrow Airport and major motorway links in 2015 and has grown to become one of the largest and most dynamic names in the UK Ham Radio market. Mike Atkins, Director, Communications Division, JVCKENWOOD UK, commented: “We are committed to the Amateur Radio Market where we have been a major driver of technological and product advances since 1958. The appointment of Martin Lynch as the sole distributor for the UK reflects the continued support and commitment from Martin and his excellent team over the years, while the specific focus and increased flexibility they bring, I’m confident, will prove to be of great benefit to UK retailers and the

Ham Radio community alike”. Managing Director Martin Lynch commented: “I have been selling Kenwood transceivers since the late seventies and witnessed incredible products including the TS-830, TS-930, TS-940, TS-950, TS-990 through to their current benchmark performance transceiver, the TS-890S. Kenwood continues to design and manufacture equipment that is respected around the world by serious operators who value performance and reliability. My team and I are delighted to have achieved this appointment for sole distribution through our hard work promoting and supporting the Kenwood brand.” JVCKENWOOD U.K. Limited 12 Priestley Way, London NW2 7BA Email: [email protected] ML & S Martin Lynch & Sons Wessex House Drake Avenue, Staines Surrey TW18 2AP Tel: +44 1932 567 333 Email: [email protected]

services in English. This edition also includes a comprehensive guide to music programming available on short wave, and schedules for the World Radio Network. Broadcasts in English is sent free to all members of the British DX Club. Copies are also available to non-members at the following prices (postage included): United Kingdom - £3 (UK Pounds); Europe Airmail - £4 (UK Pounds); 6 Euros (cash/PayPal), 5 International Reply Coupons; or 6 (US Dollars-cash/PayPal); Rest of World Airmail - 6 International Reply Coupons, $8 (US Dollars-cash/PayPal) or £ 5 (UK Pounds). If you would like an electronic copy in pdf format,rather than the printed copy, this is available on request. Price for the pdf version is as per the UK rates above. The pdf document will be sent to you via e-mail. How to Pay: UK Cheque / UK postal order payable to “British DX Club”; International Reply Coupons; Cash in $US, Euros or other major currencies (but no foreign coins or foreign cheques please). Orders by post to British DX Club (BDXC), 10 Hemdean Hill, Caversham, Reading, RG4 7SB, UK. PayPal payments to: [email protected]

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THE FUTURE OF SHORT WAVE: When is the last time you heard a short wave radio transmission? And why should you put up with possibly ‘crackly’ audio and some interference, when we now have the internet, satellites, FM and all forms of digital radio? This holds true, if you are in London, Boston, Paris or Toronto. But what if you are on an island in Indonesia, or if you find yourself in west China, in Kashmir or in Brazilian Amazonia? Because, whether we like it or not, there are several remote places in this vast world, many of which still depend on short wave broadcasting. In the past (just think of the ‘Cold War’), a lot of people were able to obtain free information from a range of international short wave programmes. Many international broadcasters were running expensive, energy-guzzling, transmitters for this frequency band “without borders” that ranges from 1.7–30 MHz (176.3–10.0m) - from the high end of the medium frequency band just above the medium wave AM broadcast band, to the end of the HF band. Short wave is just short of a miracle, actually. When it is beamed at an angle, it hits the ionosphere - a mirror around the Earth - and then it falls, like a ball, at great distances, and beyond the horizon. Thus, these transmissions reach listeners over large areas, across continents and beyond. Two or three high-power transmitters can potentially cover the entire world. Short wave is used not just by international radio stations or radio amateurs, but is also essential for aviation, marine, diplomatic and emergency purposes. Short wave signals are not restricted or controlled by the receiving countries and, as frequencies change in winter and summer, they need to be coordinated internationally. This is the task of the High-Frequency Co-ordination Conference (HFCC), a non-governmental, non-profit association, and a sector member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This group meets twice a year to produce a coordinated schedule for a summer and winter season, ironing out any interference issues among countries or broadcasters. At their recent meeting last month, they also discussed — once again — the future of short wave. Nobody can deny that short wave goes beyond geographical, cultural, religious, political barriers, [that it] is free, and [that it] can be consumed anonymously, which few platforms can claim nowadays. About 20 years ago, the BBC decided to cut

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Lindars Radios News Lindars Radios will be going into their 3rd year of trading this summer, and there have been lots of exciting changes along the way. Justin stated: “We have recently taken on a Yaesu Dealership and can now offer our customers the full Yaesu Line-up.” The second-hand market is still expanding, and new stock is pouring in every month. There is now a new member of staff who will be

its short wave transmissions to countries such as the United States and other developed parts of the world, since these territories, or rather “markets” were served by FM and the internet etc. Other important international broadcasters, including Deutsche Welle, Radio Australia and Radio Exterior de Espana - rather foolishly - soon copied this model. Arguably, this entailed a significant decline in ‘soft’ diplomacy, for those who abandoned short wave. But the BBC kept short wave for its large audiences in Africa and part of Asia. At the moment, the major short wave broadcasters in the world are the BBC, the Voice of America, All India Radio, China Radio International, Radio Japan, Radio Romania International, KBS Korea, the Voice of Turkey and many more. Twenty years after the first big blow to short wave, this frequency band and its potential are being revisited. After all, not all the listeners in the world have broadband, smartphones, data plans, connected cars or enough disposable income (Source: Chrissy Brand and Georg Wiessala, from a number of news items and reports on short wave, throughout the months of February and March 2019).

responsible for maintaining the website and advertising. Justin continued, “We would like to point out that we have a small vintage radio museum in the shop as well as plenty of amateur radio equipment” Lindars Radios wishes to thank all their customers for helping make this rather unusual second-hand business succeed (Pictured: The Lindars ‘Radio Museum’).

MOONRAKER ACQUIRES SHARMAN MULTICOM BRAND: Moonraker has recently acquired the Sharman brand, and certain assets, to include all of its stock. Sharman’s is a great business, with a range of superb products, and Moonraker are looking forward to continuing the Sharman MultiCOM brand and product range. The Moonraker and Sharman brands, can now deliver one of the largest ranges of hobby radio communication equipment in the market. Moonraker stated that the firm intends to maintain the ethos of both companies. This strategy consists of a vision of delivering competitive pricing, quality ‘in-stock’ products and excellent, comprehensive, customer service, from a professional, well-trained, fun and friendly team. Moonraker is in the process of amalgamating Sharman’s stock into Moonraker’s. Radio amateurs, as well as short wave listeners, radio industry professionals and general radio enthusiasts are advised to watch out for lots of new products coming soon. (SOURCE: Moonraker)

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WILL RADIO EVENTUALLY LOOK LIKE AN APP: Every year in February the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Digital Radio Week brings together key players from the radio community to share ideas, experiences, questions, lessons learned and inspiration. The 2019 edition, taking place in February at the EBU headquarters in Geneva, was hosting a number of events, including Radio Hack, the Automotive Workshop and the Digital Radio Summit, together with thematic workshops, such as the Radio Archive Workshop, dedicated to archivists, technologists and content creators. The Automotive Workshop focused on how today’s in-car multimedia entertainment systems feature unprecedented engagement capabilities, and it highlighted how IP-based content-distribution platforms, like Spotify and Pandora are taking full advantage of the efforts (and money) that car manufacturers are investing. Logos, song titles, updated info and news on the performing artist and cover art is now available as standard through these listening platforms, enhancing the overall listening experience. In this context, today’s broadcast radio receiver, in the views of some, appears to offer a notably ‘scaled-down’ experience. There has been an ongoing debate on this between car manufacturers and broadcasters, and the discussion continued during this workshop. In an effort to offer an improved onboard media experience for drivers and passengers alike, car manufacturers have been asking broadcasters to include (or link) metadata and visual objects in their feeds. While broadcasters generally see this as a great opportunity to build a better in-car experience, they are worried about the costs associated with IP or in-band delivery of show-related images, and the publication of cover art. In addition to this, today’s radio workflows seem unfit for this mass-production or management of additional images and data, which require, for example, regular updates of program logos and promotional images. For many years, the radio industry has been discussing the possibility of enriching the audio feed, either technically or creatively, but the conversation up to now often resulted in focusing on its drawbacks, which include the need for broadcasters to fund these efforts. Each time, therefore, the process has come to a freezing point with no or little outcome. During this workshop, participants

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New Blood for BBC Radio 3 A brand new weekly programme called This Classical Life, fronted by saxophonist Jess Gillam, is just part of some schedule changes planned for BBC Radio 3. The 20-year-old former BBC Young Musician finalist will be the youngest presenter on the station, joined each week by her contemporaries to select and discuss their favourite pieces from across the musical spectrum, giving an insight into the musical influences on young performers. Confirmed guests include 22-year-old pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, double bassist Sam Becker, former BBC Introducing pianist and sound artist Belle Chen and film and television

suggested a way to potentially overcome this issue, based on the assumption that companies sponsoring radio programs should generally like the idea of integrating their logo into a showrelated picture appearing on car dashboards. Thus, instead of trying to convince broadcasters to enrich their audio feed through a straight, direct approach, the radio industry would target radio advertisers, promoting the opportunity to easily sponsor radio shows by integrating their logo within a show-related picture that appears on car dashboards. This approach, according to proponents, would

composer Ollie Howell. This Classical Life will immediately precede Radio 3’s Saturday lunchtime programme Inside Music. The first episode of This Classical Life will air on BBC Radio 3 on Saturday 6 April and will be available as a podcast on BBC Sounds. Jess Gillam said: “I’m so excited to be joining BBC Radio 3 as the presenter of This Classical Life. Music is such a huge part of my life, and I can’t wait to share all my latest and greatest discoveries with fellow musicians who will be joining me on the show, as well as with listeners at home.” Source: BBC / RadioToday

‘force’ broadcasters to produce feature-rich and appealing visual content, to be updated and synchronized with their audio feeds, in order to meet advertiser demand. Radio marketing professionals could also promote this opportunity by offering their advertisers the availability of detailed audience-metrics through the return channel of hybrid in-car radio to sponsors. The result, said participants, would be that advertisers and commercial colleagues lead the way, thus encouraging broadcasters to finally fully embrace the multimedia approach. (SOURCE: Radioworld)

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RADIO IN THE TIME OF DIGITAL TECH: YourStory.com recently made some important points about ‘radio continuity versus tradition’: To understand the history of radio, one needs to first understand the history of radio wave technology that was first used for wireless communication. Much of what defines our modern-day life is, in fact, based on the premise of the development and evolution of radio technology. From wireless connectivity to Bluetooth, and even smart homes equipped with IoT (Internet-ofThings)-enabled devices - it all started with the radio. The question is: who discovered it first? Experiments with electromagnetism began as early as in the 1700s. Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell laid the foundation in theoretical form with his Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism way back in 1873. But it was German physicist Heinrich Hertz, who proved the existence of electromagnetic waves through experimentation. However, it wasn’t until the late 1800s that the concept was utilised in telecommunication. Two names crop up when one looks at this - Serbian-American inventor Nikolai Tesla and Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi. Although Tesla is believed to have first demonstrated what would be an early version of the radio in St. Louis in 1893, the invention is usually attributed to Marconi. Why? For the simple reason that he was conferred the firstever patent for a wireless telegraphic system. While this was a monumental achievement, it continues to fuel debate over the original inventor even now. How we view the radio today is very different from its earliest counterpart. After Marconi popularised the wireless technology, radio was mostly used for communication through telegraphy. It was especially significant in terms of naval communication as ships out in the sea used it to communicate with other ships and even the land station. The true potential of radio technology, however, wasn’t realised until World War I. The military usage of radio, to send and receive critical intelligence, became quite popular during this period. Riding on this wave, radar technology, the first remotecontrolled vehicles, and various surveillance tools were also built. The post-World War II era would usher in a new age for radio. Not only did countries start integrating this technology for public use, but the way information was sent and consumed changed also drastically. Around this time, television broadcasts over radio waves became immensely popular. In fact, broadcast companies like the British Broadcasting Company or BBC in the UK and the AT&T in the US, which had cropped up between WWI and WWII, shifted gears and began

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SSTV out of this world The SSTV image, above, was received by our regular correspondent Bob Houlston, on 30th January 2019 15:37 UTC from ISS 145.800 MHz FM Mode PD120 using RX-SSTV free software with a simple folded dipole in the loft space. It celebrates SuitSat-1. When a space

incorporating entertainment. Even the content of the programming witnessed a transition from information-centric broadcast and episodic formats to music-heavy programmes. Tune in to the radio was a commonly-used phrase to the point where music and radio almost became synonymous. Contrary to popular belief, radio thrives beyond the stereo set in your car. In the current digital-heavy landscape, radio has taken a newer shape and has even entered newer platforms. It lives on the Web. It survives as content in audio files and podcasts. It continues to touch a million lives as a tech, growing with 5G networks and high-speed connectivity. Tesla and Marconi couldn’t possibly have imagined what they would bring about while tinkering with electromagnetism. Growing at a dizzying pace, wireless technology has impacted nearly every sector in one way or the other. In the field of medicine, IoT-connected healthcare devices and equipment are steadily becoming popular. IoT sensors appear to have replaced traditional methods of farming while increasing yields by ensuring precision. Even logistics and transport are no longer strangers to satellite trackers, internet-connected trackers, and wireless sensors for fleet management. Ahead of the

suit expires its sell-by date, it is now traditional to deploy it as a novel OSCAR satellite orbiting radio beacon. For example, SuitSat-1 was the first using 145.990MHz FM. tinyurl.com/suitsat-1 (Source: Bob Houlston G4PVB)

eighth World Radio Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres aptly summarises, “Even in today’s world of digital communications, radio reaches more people than any other media platform.” True, the style and shape may have changed. But the essence remains the same as agencies like the UN and broadcasters from across the world use radio to foster conversations around the theme of Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace on World Radio Day 2019. Therefore, in the midst of streaming music on your iPods, smartphones, Google Homes and Amazon Echos, do remember the humble radio that sparked this saga of technological innovation. (SOURCE: YourStory.com) CHINA DRM MOVE: Just over a year ago, China had no regular DRM presence. Today, it’s the world’s largest DRM shortwave broadcaster with the most DRM transmitters in operation in this band and the most extensive schedule. The initial broadcasts started in early 2018 from Beijing. Services continued to roll out over the years, via various transmitter sites, often on the country’s periphery. (SOURCE: Hans Johnson / Radioworld)

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Airband News

Airband, Artificial Intelligence, and Aimee David Smith reports on trials of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to reduce delays at Heathrow and on a test run for reduced separation standards over the North Atlantic. He profiles Humberside Airport. David Smith [email protected]

A

ccording to NATS, 2018 was the busiest one on record for air trafic across the UK, with higher levels of trafic than 2007, the previous peak year prior to the economic downturn. The UK broke its annual air trafic record by 0.3%, with 2,557,780 lights in 2018 compared with 2,550,102 lights in 2007, marking six consecutive years of growth since trafic started to increase again after the global inancial crisis. The summer months, in particular, saw many previous light records broken, as travel in May, June and July exceeded previous peaks. A high of 8,854 lights handled by NATS controllers on a single day in the UK was recorded on 25 May 2018. Air trafic in 2019 is forecast to increase by 1% in the UK Flight Information Region (FIR), with a fur-

ther 2% increase expected in 2020. Despite increased trafic levels, NATS delay igures have improved, with an average per-light delay of 12.5 seconds in 2018, compared with 26.8 seconds in 2007. This represents a 60% reduction in delay, attributable in part, it is claimed, to the introduction of new technology. Juliet Kennedy, NATS Operations Director, said: “Air travel has never been more popular. This increased demand on our airspace does put it under pressure though, with areas over the South East already experiencing a capacity crunch at peak times during the day. The next few years are critical, if we are to ‘futureproof’ our skies, so we are working with our industry partners now to plan, update and modernise airspace.”

AI @ Heathrow Meanwhile, at Heathrow Airport, some sources stated that Artiicial Intelligence (AI) could help to reclaim 20% of lost capacity caused by low cloud and reduced

visibility from the control tower, boosting punctuality for passengers and reducing late runners for local residents. NATS has begun a trial to understand whether Artiicial Intelligence (AI) could be used to help reduce light delays. NATS is deploying 20 ultra-high-deinition cameras at the airield, the views from which are then fed into an AI platform called Aimee, developed by the Canada-based Searidge Technologies. The Aimee platform can interpret the images, track the aircraft and inform the controller when it has successfully cleared the runway. The controller then makes the decision to clear the next arrival. Heathrow’s 87-metre tall control tower is the highest in the UK and provides commanding views of the airport and surrounding landscape. However, its very height can also mean it disappears into low cloud, even when the runways below are clear. In those conditions, where the controllers have to rely on radar to know if an arriving aircraft

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Airband News

ATC Profiles 12: Humberside Airport ICAO Code: EGNJ IATA Code: HUY Frequencies Humberside Approach/Radar Humberside Radar Humberside Tower Humberside Tower Humberside Fire ATIS Humberside Information Navaids Runways

Holds

(MHz) 119.130 129.255 124.905 119.130 121.600 (non-ATC)

Hours of Operation 0620-2115 As directed by ATC 0620-2115 As directed by ATC Fire vehicles attending aircraft on the ground

124.130 ILS CAT I on Runway 20 NDB KIM

0620-2115 (Tel: 01652 682 020) (365.000kHz)

02 20 08 26 NDB KIM

2196m x 45m 2196m x 45m 989m x 18m 989m x 18m

Notes (A-Z) CAT II/III Operations Humberside Airport is not equipped for CAT II/III operations. However, Low Visibility Procedures (LVP) are used to protect CAT I operations. Preparation for LVP will commence when the Runway Visual Range (RVR) is at 1000m and falling. Pilots will be informed by ATIS or by RT when LVPs are in operation. Departures Joining the Airways System Flight plans are to be submitted to join at GOLES or OTBED. Ground Movement Pilots of non-handled visiting aircraft are to report to the Vehicle Control Post adjacent to the apron (marked by an illuminated ‘C’). Handling Agents Handling for all aircraft above 3 tonnes MTOW (Maximum Take-Off Weight) is mandatory. Swissport (Commercial/Passenger/Cargo): All aircraft operating for hire and reward, non-based international lights: 130.600MHz. Weston Aviation (Executive/Business Aviation. Helicopter Main Routes HMRs are established between Humberside and the Southern North Sea off-shore safety area. Pilots are reminded of the close proximity of Danger Areas EG R313 (Scampton) and EG D307 (Donna Nook). There may be military aircraft performing high-energy manoeuvres, and unable to conform to the Rules of the Air. Search and Rescue (SAR) operations may occur H24, including outside the operating hours of the aerodrome and Aerodrome Trafic Zone (ATZ). Pilots are recommended to make a blind call on the Humberside Tower frequency (124.905MHz) when the aerodrome is published as ‘closed’, and they are transiting through, or close to, the ATZ. Helicopter Operations Helicopters to land as instructed by ATC. Air taxiing to be conducted with caution, due to apron congestion. Noise Abatement Procedures Aircraft should avoid overlying local villages; Kirmington, Searby, Grasby, Barnetby, and the grounds of Brocklesby House. Use of Runways Circuit direction is normally to the north. Jet aircraft to carry out right-hand circuits when landing on Runway 20. Runway 08/26 is restricted to piston-engine, non-public, transport aircraft, with an all up weight of less than 5000kg. The restriction does not apply to rotary aircraft (tiltrotor aircraft are not authorised to use Runway 08/26). Use of Runway 08/26 is available only during daylight hours. Visual Reference Points (VRP) Immingham Docks; North Tower Humber Bridge; Caistor; Brigg; Laceby Crossroads; Elsham Wolds. Warnings Instrument Approach Procedures (IAP) for this aerodrome are established outside controlled airspace. Light aircraft are warned of the possible effect of wake turbulence by preceding helicopters on approach or departure. Light aircraft should also be aware of the possible effect of rotor downwash, generated by large helicopters operating through the main apron area. Caution: Pilots are reminded that parachuting takes place at the Hibaldstow (unlicensed) Aerodrome between Flight Level 160 and ground level.

has left the runway, extra time is given between each landing to ensure its safety. The result is a 20% loss in landing capacity, which creates delays for passengers and knock-on disruption for the rest of the operation. NATS believes the new system will

help the airport reclaim lost capacity. Non-operational trials are now underway to understand the feasibility of introducing the technology into service as early as later this year. From now until March, Aimee will study the behaviour of more than 50,000

arriving aircraft, in order to ensure the accuracy of the system. The project indings will then be presented to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The same technology might also be used to (one day, perhaps) control the airport’s third runway. Andy Taylor, NATS Chief Solution Oficer, said: “Artiicial Intelligence is about supporting air trafic controllers: While they remain the decision-makers at the heart of the operation, we can use it to provide new tools that help them make the best possible decisions and improve eficiency and safety. Right now, we are focusing on when the control tower is in low cloud, where I am conident that we can make a very positive difference, but I am convinced that this technology can totally revolutionise how air trafic is managed at airports around the world.” The trial is part of a £2.5 million investment NATS has made in a ‘digital tower laboratory’, located inside the Heathrow control tower. Here, it is working with the airport to understand how technology could support air trafic operations, now and in the future.

NAT Reduced Separation Trial A trial of reduced separation standards for ADS-B-equipped aircraft in the Shanwick, Gander and Santa Maria Oceanic Control areas of the North Atlantic Track (NAT) system is scheduled to begin on or soon after 28 March. The trial program is known as the Advanced Surveillance-Enhanced Procedural Separation (ASEPS). Longitudinal separation of aircraft operating on the same track, or intersecting tracks, will be reduced to 17 nautical miles, provided that the relative angle between the tracks is less than 90 degrees and 14nm, and where the relative angle between the tracks is less than 45 degrees. Opposite-direction aircraft on reciprocal tracks might be cleared to climb or descend to or through the levels occupied by another aircraft if the aircraft have reported by ADS-B and have passed each other within 5 nm. The relevant news bulletin said that a trial implementation of lateral ASEPS will start no earlier than six months after the beginning of the longitudinal separation operational trial. My aircraft picture of the month is of the Beluga XL prototype departing from Hawarden on 16th February, after a two-day visit to try out facilities for loading wings at the Airbus factory. It was also to show the workers the new aircraft, which is about a third larger than the current Belugas.

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Aerials Now!

More Active Aerials & Mini Whips Keith Rawlings [email protected] Keith Rawlings introduces a project to remotely power the PA0RDT mini whip he built last month, using a Bias-T. He also responds to some reader feedback. Following up on last month’s description of the building of a PA0RDT mini whip, this month, I will see about powering it remotely, through the coaxial feeder, and using a Bias-T. This device applies a voltage to the coaxial feeder; in doing so, it isolates the RF (Radio Frequency) circuits from the DC supply, using blocking capacitors. It also isolates the DC supply from RF, by means of the use of inductors. The design can be used for any active device in the HF range that needs 12-15V, applied via the feeder. There are various designs for achieving this. I use a variation of one usually recommended for the PA0RDT mini Whip (Fig. 1). My version shown in the images varies, in that it is a dual-supply for two aerials (one port favours lower frequencies, while the other favours HF). Both ports have dual outputs for feeding two different receiver routes. The only real difference I have made to the circuit depicted in Fig. 1 is the transformer. Otherwise, both ports are just duplicating each other.

Circuit Explanation. The circuit depicted in Fig 1 is slightly different from the one printed last month, in that it does not have the earth jumper. DC is applied to the circuit and lows through D1; this is a Schottky device, providing reverse polarity protection. A Schottky device is popular, because of the low voltage drop across the diode. In my application, I used a BAT42, as that was all I could ind in my trays. A device capable of 1Amp is recommended. It is also possible to use a silicon diode, such as a 1N4001, but this has a higher voltage drop. This may not be a concern if you have a power supply that can still provide 12-15V when measured at the aerial, once any voltage drop in the feeder is taken into account. After this, there is a resettable fuse. In the case of a fault, and once any overload is cleared, the fuse resets and things carry on as normal. A conventional fuse may be itted here; for the mini whip, a 100ma should

1

sufice. Next is a 470uh choke, which passes DC to the feeder and so to the aerial. The choke allows DC to pass but stops RF from getting back into the DC supply. The 470nf capacitor blocks DC; it is essential, because, without it, there would be a DC short to ground through a transformer, T1. T1 has a 1:1 ratio and gives isolation between the aerial and receiver. This helps prevent noise and rubbish travelling along the feeder from getting into the receiver. To maintain this isolation, an insulated case is required to house the Bias-T. Getting back to T1, this needs 15 to 20 biilar turns on a ferrite core (Fig. 2). For LF, I have used a T50-J core. However, for general listening, a T50-43 is ine. You will see some designs using a T37 core. If you can get enough turns on one, that’s ine. When winding biilar turns, the wires have to be evenly twisted together before they are wound onto the core. I do this by cutting the wire to length as required and then twisting them together at one end, before clamping in a pin chuck and twisting the wire slowly by hand (Figs. 2 and 3). In the next step, wind the wire through the core; each pass-through is one turn. Try to spread the turns evenly around the core (Fig. 2). The transformer depicted here is actually triilar-wound (three windings together), but it indicates the technique. The wire used has to be insulated and, to make life easier, of different colours, otherwise, a multimeter (set to read Ω) will be required to identify the windings. I used 32 Standard Wire Gauge (SWG) enamelled copper wire and a multimeter. Ideally, you should keep the windings in phase; that is, the end of the wire that goes

to the 470nf capacitor should have its other end to aerial ground and its opposite wire going to the receiver output, with its other end going to the receiver ground. The two dots next to the transformer depict the orientation of the windings. You can do away with the transformer if you believe noise will not be an issue. However, in that case, connect the 470nf capacitor to your receiver input. If you do this, and the capacitor fails short circuit, this will present DC to your receiver input! I built my Bias-T into a salvaged plastic box that has been used for numerous past projects (Fig. 4). The box already had a piece of prototyping board stuck to the bottom, and I have utilised this, along with some copper tape that forms the +V and -V DC rails. For the sake of clarity, ignore the components of the second channel on the left of the interior view (Fig. 5). There is a 2.5mm DC socket itted to the box, alongside an on-off switch and LED power indicator. The BNC sockets are mounted opposite one another on each side of the box. Power is from the DC input to the switch. Diode D1 is soldered on the switch and runs down to the proto-board, where it is soldered to one of the pads on the board. Fuse F1 is soldered at this point and also to the +V copper strip. Coupling capacitor C1 and smoothing capacitor C2 are soldered between the two copper strips, observing the correct polarity for C2. The 470uh choke is connected from the +V strip to the inner of the BNC socket that goes to the aerial. The DC blocking capacitor connects to this point with the other end soldered to a pad on the board.

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Aerials Now!

ALL PICTURES: KEITH RAWLINGS

2

3

4

5

Fig. 1: The Bias-T circuit. Fig. 2: The Ferrite. Fig. 3: Winding. Fig. 4: The Case. Fig. 5: Case Interior.

Transformer T1 is now soldered into place. Take the wires from one winding and solder to the inner pin of SK2 and the other to the outer (ground) of SK2; do the same with the other winding connecting to SK3, in the same way. Without connecting anything to the unit, you can now power it up, using a clean 12V power supply. With a multimeter, check to ensure that you have a DC supply at SK2 (which goes to the aerial). After this, check SK3, which goes to your receiver; ensure that you DO NOT have any voltage at this point. If you do, DO NOT connect your receiver, but recheck your wiring. It would be highly unlikely that DC would appear at this point, due to component failure. If the 470nf capacitor were shorted, then DC would low to ground through T1, tripping the fuse (or probably burning out the transformer winding if no fuse is itted). Also, there would have to be a short

between the two windings of T1 for DC to appear at SK3. If all is well, connect your mini whip to SK2 and receiver to SK3 and start to enjoy the remarkable reception that this tiny aerial is capable of. Table 1 shows the list of parts I have used for this project.

The Right Aerial for the Job (ctd.) Last month, I touched on which aerial to use. In this context, I commented that an amateur (dual or tri-band) vertical was a good as anything for general listening on most of the VHF and UHF bands. I also pointed out that I often use an LPDA (Log Periodic Dipole Array, 100 -1300MHz), when I have an interest in a certain direction of origin of VHF and UHF signals. An LPDA is a directional broadband aerial. It allows the user to concentrate signals in one direction over a wide frequency range. This gives some gain and directivity over a similar aerial, such as a discone aerial.

Parts List 470uh choke 500 ma or more 470nf Ceramic 100nf Ceramic 100uf Electrolytic 35v D1 1 Amp Schottky F1 MF-USMF075 or 500ma conventional T1 T37-50 or T50-J (75) 32 SWG enamelled copper wire Connectors as required. One of the characteristics of an LPDA is that its input impedance and gain remain almost constant over its operating bandwidth. While it contains a large number of dipole elements, only two or three are active for any given frequency over its operating range (Fig. 5). As well as forward-gain, the LPDA can have a Front-to-Back-Ratio (FB) of some 15-20dB. FB is the ratio of maximum forward radiation, compared to the minimum rearward radiation. It can be useful for reducing unwanted signals off the back of the beam.

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Aerials Now!

Previously, I also stated that, in some ways, I did consider an LPDA to be a compromise, because a dedicated beam for a single frequency – and with a similar number of elements – should yield slightly better performance but at a much narrower bandwidth. The image in Fig. 6 demonstrates this: At the top, you can see the projected SWR plot of a 12-element LPDA (designed for the military airband). It has a reasonably lat response, from 200 to above 500MHz. Below it is the SWR plot of a 12-element Yagi for the 70cm band. Note how the SWR is only low, around 435MHz. Underneath this, you can see the theoretical polar plots. On the left, is the (narrower) 435MHz plot of the 12-element, 70cm, beam. To the right of this, you can detect a demonstrative plot of the LPDA, taken at 300MHz. Observe how much wider the radiation pattern is here, compared to the Yagi. An LPDA does not have to be ‘ultra’ wideband, they can also be constructed for smaller frequency spans, such as the milair model in the example above. Variants of the LPDA are also used for EMC and compliance testing.

Feedback Paul Hitchin from Norfolk took me right back to when I discussed aerial analysers and mentioned that one of those could be used to tune an ATU (Aerial Tuning Unit). Paul asked how this could be done using a noise bridge and what benefit there might be in doing this. Paul, the technique is easy enough, the aerial is connected to the ATU, and then the ATU connects to the noise bridge (or analyser). This, in turn, connects to a receiver. The bridge controls are set, so that R=50 Ω, and Xc/Xl = zero. The bridge is turned on, and then the ATU adjusted for a null (minimum noise) on the receiver at the operating frequency. This technique may

Fig. 6: The 12-element NEC model comparison (4NEC2 model).

be more useful to the licensed amateur, allowing the ATU to be set without transmitting. However, it has the benefit for listeners that the ATU can be set on the steady noise signal from the bridge. Furthermore, Tracey Gardner pointed out that, in the February column, I did not make mention that Roelof Bakker PA0RDT produces his mini whip to order for those people who wish to use it, but not have the time or ability to build one. Here are the contact details for Roelof, as given by Tracey: [email protected] Alan asked me whether I could cover

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shortened dipoles since the CB whip he uses seems to pick up a lot of noise. He thinks a dipole could be better, but he does not have much room to implement one. This is something I will look at in the future Alan. As always, I will reply to questions and queries via this column. Good Listening and see you all in this column next month.

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Maritime Matters

A Marine Pedigree, Inmarsat, and Noteworthy Incidents Robert Connolly gets personal, delving into his own maritime family background, before introducing the Inmarsat C SafetyNet System and reporting on some recent maritime incidents. ROBERT CONNOLLY

Robert Connolly [email protected] t is often said that those of us who love the sea and ships have the sea in our blood. That is something that I would not disagree with. My father joined the Royal Navy aged 16, prior to the outbreak of World War II, as a boy sailor, to become a wireless telegraphist serving on both ships and shore stations. In 1942, his oficial naval record showed him as having “fallen below naval itness standard”, with this entry written in pencil, probably so that it could be changed later if his circumstances changed. It was at this point he had been secretly transferred to top-secret wireless intercept tasks that provided Bletchley Park with signals for decoding. Oficial naval records then showed him as being with the RNVR (Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve). His role in the RNVR was actually a ‘cover’ for the topsecret wireless intercept service work he was involved with during the war. In essence, he was still within his naval service period, and if he had reverted back to normal naval service, the entry in his service record that was written in pencil would, no doubt, have been rubbed out. My grandfather spent his working life in shipbuilding, including working on the Titanic. My earlier ancestors on that side of the family, as far back as 1800, were all mariners, with some having become Master Mariners. Fig. 1 shows the Master Mariner’s Certiicate earned by my great-great-grandfather, back in the days of sailing ships when navigation was carried out by sextant and compass.

I

Short Wave Beginnings With that sort of pedigree, I can understand where my interest in the seas and ships stems from. My fascination for all things radio most likely developed from my father who contin-

Fig.1: The Master Mariner’s Certiicate earned by my great-great-grandfather.

ued listening to short wave radio as a hobby after he left the Royal Navy in 1946. Every Sunday morning, he would tune around his valve receiver, listening to ships, aircraft, amateurs and broadcast stations; and on New Year’s Eve every year, he would switch the receiver on and listen to the international broadcast stations welcoming in the New Year, as it progressed around the world. Since my teenage years, when I followed in his footsteps into this hobby, there have been many changes in marine communications and navigation safety. For example, in those early days, MF/HF marine communications were mainly carried out using CW or double-sideband voice transmissions. Regarding marine VHF, the sets used crystals for channelisation and were only itted with the channels required, with a total of just 28 channels available. Small

craft, including many ishing vessels, were not equipped with a marine radio. Now we have things like Digital Selective Calling (DSC) for MF/HF and VHF, the Automatic Identiication System (AIS), and satellite communications.

Vessel Identification Prior to the days of AIS, it was almost impossible, even with my 60x20 binoculars, to make out the names of vessels anchored offshore, waiting for a berth at one of our two local ports, or of the super-tankers anchoring further out to sea to transfer their load to smaller tankers. I, like many other locals interested in shipping, always wondered about the name of any ship, its size, and where it had come from. When AIS did become available, this opened up the opportunity to have these questions answered, by using COAA’ s

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ShipPlotter software and a suitable receiver. In my case, I used a Yupiteru MVT600 scanner, with a tap taken from the internal discriminator chip. Occasionally, I will still use that setup today. However, my preferred method of monitoring local shipping is by using one of the various websites that have sprung up over the years. My preference is Vesselinder.com. I also have the app for it installed on my smartphone, allowing me to quickly check local shipping without having to power up my main computer. While much of the trafic is routine commercial trafic, some surprises do pop up from time to time.

A Variety of Communications When we think of maritime communications, we tend to think of MF, HF, and VHF frequencies, used for voice, Digital Selective Calling (DSC), Narrow Band Direct Printing (NBDP), Navtex, Radiofax, and Radio Teletype (RTTY for weather data) communications. While these remain the principal form of communications in sea areas A1 and A2, in areas A3 and A4, satellites play an essential role. Satellite communications systems provide not only Maritime Safety Information (MSI) as part of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) but also data exchanges between vessels and their owners or agents, along with internet and telephone services for passengers and crew. Satellite communications may also be used in the other sea areas for this purpose. However, for vessels operating in Sea Areas A3 and A4, the provision of satellite communications is essential. Under Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations for GMDSS, vessels operating solely in Sea Area A1 must carry VHF radio equipment – along with either a UHF or satellite EPIRB distress beacon – as a minimum setup. For Sea Area A2, the minimum requirement is the same as in Sea Area A1, along with the need for the provision of MF radio equipment and satellite EPIRB. The minimum requirements for Sea Areas A3 and A4 are as per Sea Area A2, with the extra obligation to carry HF or satellite communication equipment. In addition to this, all ships must, of course, carry equipment for receiving MSI broadcasts.

Inmarsat Satellites Maritime satellite communications are provided by several companies. However, Inmarsat is probably the market leader. Its systems cater for all types of com-

mercial vessels – even small ishing vessels and yachts. I often see complaints from passengers of cruise ships and ferries who state that internet data is very slow. What many fail to realise is that their internet connection is not like broadband at home or work, which is fed through the telephone networks. Internet on ships is provided via satellite. Satellites are very expensive pieces of technology to replace, not just with regard to their development and construction costs, but also pertaining to the cost involved with launching satellites into Earth orbit. Therefore, satellites are planned to be operational for a number of years. As they are substituted, newer technology, increased bandwidth, and faster data transfer speeds all become available. Due to the very high costs involved with satellites, it would seem to the ordinary public that development is slow. With a land-based system, you can easily send maintenance crew down a tunnel, into an exchange or up a mobile phone mast to carry out upgrades to equipment. As yet, we have not yet reached the point in space travel where we could send an engineer to upgrade a satellite. I am sure that day will come. In the meantime, it is a case of ‘making do’ until scheduled satellite replacement.

The Inmarsat C SafetyNet Apart from the internet and telephones available for ships’ crews, probably the most important feature of marine satellite communication systems is the Inmarsat C SafetyNet system. It provides MSI navigation warnings, weather information, SAR (Search and Rescue) details and other urgent, safety-related, information on a worldwide basis. The system offers worldwide cover, apart from the Northern and Southern polar regions. Coverage is divided into several areas. These are Atlantic Ocean Region East (AOR-E), Atlantic Ocean Region West (AOR-W), Paciic Ocean Region (POR), and Indian Ocean Region (IOR). GMDSS navigation and weather information provided by SafetyNet is co-ordinated by the countries responsible for each Met area, as in the case of landbased GMDSS data. The list in Table 1 shows a (simpliied) schedule for SafetyNet navigation and weather data transmission, along with the satellite region used. For more detailed information on Inmarsat SafetyNet, please see the Inmarsat SafetyNet Users Handbook

that may be downloaded free from this URL: https://tinyurl.com/y28zzvme You may also consult the oficial Admiralty List of Radio Signals. Check out ALRS Vol 5: Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) here: https://tinyurl.com/y3u5cpmw The equipment for an Inmarsat C terminal comprises of a small, omnidirectional, antenna, a compact transceiver, a messaging unit and – if it is GMDSS-compliant or has a distress function – a dedicated distress button. This is held down for ive seconds, in order to activate a distress alert. Inmarsat Mini C terminals are the smallest models available, and some incorporate the antenna and transceiver in the same unit. Some models support the same communication services as Inmarsat C terminals. The Inmarsat C system uses frequencies between 1626.5 and 1646.5MHz for transmitting, and 1525.0 to 1545.0MHz for receiving. A 20kHz channel spacing is used throughout. Broadband speeds range from 125 to 432kbps, depending on which maritime package is required. Inmarsat owns and operates 13 satellites, each with an anticipated life-span of 15 years in geostationary orbit to provide world coverage for its services.

Maritime Incidents While preparing this column, I became aware of a couple of maritime incidents. One such event involved an elderly gentleman living ‘off-grid’ in a remote area of Scotland. His only direct communications link with the outside world was a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), from which a check signal was transmitted on a weekly basis to let it be known that he had no problems. However, he had become quite seriously ill and activated the emergency signal of his PLB. This was received in a control centre in Houston, Texas which immediately relayed the distress information to the UK Coastguard. They tasked a rescue helicopter to his location. This was surrounded by trees, making winching impossible. The local mountain rescue team was, therefore, also tasked to transfer the man to a suitable clearing, to be airlifted to hospital. The other incident that caught my attention could probably be described as a ‘close encounter of the naval kind’. In late January, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) announced that it has begun looking into a close encounter between a ro-ro passenger ferry crossing between Belfast and Cairnryan in Scotland and a naval submarine operating at periscope

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Maritime Matters

depth. Little information on this incident has been released into the public domain – other than that it happened in November and is the subject of an MAIB investigation. Encounters between surface vessels and submerged naval submarines operating in the Irish Sea do occur from time to time. Normally, incidents involve a submarine caught in a trawler’s ishing nets, and the ishing vessels being towed backwards until its crew cut the nets free from the trawler to save it from sinking. Following an incident from a couple of years ago, operating practices for NATO submarines in the Irish Sea were changed, to reduce the risk of future incidents. Until more details are released, regarding the latest incident with the passenger ferry, it would seem something went wrong with the safety procedures for submerged submarines and surface vessels. The fact that the MAIB launched an investigation would seem to indicate that there was a potential collision risk between the ferry Nav/Met area I II III IV V VI VI

VIII

IX X X1 XII xiii XIV

XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI

Co-ordinator / (Area) UK France Spain Greece USA Brazil Argentina South Africa (La Réunion) (Kerguelen Islands) (Mayotte) India (Réunion) (Mayotte) Pakistan Australia ***** Japan ***** USA Russia New Zealand (Nouvelle Calédonie) (Wallis & Fortuna) (Polynésie Française) Chile Peru USA Canada Canada Norway Russia Russia

and the submarine. https://tinyurl.com/y7pwdoqc

Brexit and the Irish Coast Guard With regard to Brexit, and in particular the current debates regarding the Irish border issue post-Brexit, I was recently asked if I thought it would have any effect on the current use of Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopters for marine and mountain rescues in Northern Ireland. At present, Irish Coast Guard helicopters based at Dublin and Sligo perform the majority of Northern Ireland rescue taskings. Irrespective of the inal outcome regarding Brexit and the Irish border issue, I would expect that there will be no changes to current procedures. This is because search and rescue resources from adjacent countries may be requested under international agreements, rather than EU treaties. In recent times, not only have Irish Coast Guard helicopters carried out taskings in Northern Ireland but also, on several occasions, Irish Air Corps helicopters car-

Nav times UTC 0530 & 1730 1630 1200 & 2400 ****** 1000 & 2200 0030 & 1230 0200 & 1400 1940 0040 &1240 0140 & 1340 0330 & 1530 1000 0040 &1240 0330 & 1530 0900 0700 & 1900 ***** 0005, 0805, 1205 ***** 1030 & 2230 0930 & 2130 ***** 0140 & 1340 0030 & 1230 0250 & 1450 0210 & 1410 0519, 1119, 1719, 2319, ***** 1130 & 2300 1100 & 2300 0630 & 1830 0530 & 1730 0630 & 1830

Satellite Region AOR-E AOR-E AOR-E ***** AOR-E & AOR-W AOR-E AOE-W AOR-E & IOR IOR IOR IOR IOR IOR IOR IOR POR ***** IOR/POR ***** AOR-W/POR POR ***** POR POR POR AOR-W AOR-W ***** POR AOR-W AOR-E IOR POR

ried out missions too. A few years ago, Air Corps helicopters assisted RAF helicopters in dropping food, essential medical supplies and animal fodder to remote properties that had been cut off by heavy snow. Last year, they also assisted the Northern Fire and Rescue Service, by water bombing mountain ires that were threatening property in areas the ire service was having dificulty accessing. https://tinyurl.com/y4ofhkv2 https://www.nifrs.org From my regular monitoring of marine AIS, one thing that I have noticed is a marked increase of vessels discharging at our two local commercial ports, particularly bulk carriers, and then anchoring back out at sea, to await further orders. I don’t know whether this is an indication of a general downturn in the shipping industry, or whether it is connected to the current uncertainty regarding Brexit. [see also our new Emergency Comms column in this issue - Ed.].

Met times UTC 0930 & 2130 0900 & 2100 ***** 1000 & 2200 0430, 1030, 1630, 2230 0730 & 1930 0230 & 1730 0940 & 1940 ***** ***** ***** 0900 & 1800 0130 & 1330 0130 & 1330 0700 1030 & 2330 1100 & 2300 0230, 0830, 1430, 2030 0815 & 2015 south of 0 degrees 0515, 1145, 1745, 2345 0930 & 2130 0330, 0930, 1590, 2130 ***** ***** ***** 0100, 1330, 1440, 1845 ***** 0515, 1115, 1715, 2315 1130 & 2300 1100 & 2300 0630 & 1830 0530 & 1730 0630 & 1830

Satellite Region AOR-E AOR-E & AOR-W ***** AOR-E AOE-W AOR-E AOE-W AOR-E/ IOR ***** ***** ***** IOR IOR IOR IOR IOR POR IOR/POR IOR/POR AOR-W/POR POR POR ***** ***** ***** AOR-W ***** AOR-W POR AOR-W AOR-E IOR POR

Table 1: Inmarsat C SafetyNet schedule for SafetyNet Navigation and Weather Data Transmissions.

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NDB DXing

NDB Monitoring in 2019 In spite of ongoing aerial issues, Robert Connolly offers his first overview for this year of the Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) observation scene and achieves unexpectedly impressive results with some vintage equipment. Robert Connolly [email protected]

I

always look forward to the onset of the winter NDB DX season. The longer hours of darkness, combined with greatly reduced natural noise levels caused by thunder crashes and so on, normally allow for interesting nights of DX, and then, of course, there is the potential for receiving NDBs from across the Atlantic. Unfortunately for me, I have missed a large chunk of the season, due to technical problems. My main aerial, a Datong AD370 active antenna, suffered severe damage during a late autumn storm that not only damaged the head unit case but also allowed a substantial amount of rainwater to gather inside. I am trying to restore that aerial to its former glory. However, despite having changed a number of key components, it is still out of action. Regular readers will recall from my last columns that I had installed an IP33 miniwhip on the mast that the Datong was mounted on; unfortunately, it has been suffering from severe noise across the NDB band, leaving it unable to receive local strong beacons, let alone any DX.

Lokata to the Rescue However, all was not lost, I still had my handheld Radio Direction Finder (RDF) receivers. Late one evening in midDecember 2018, I took the Lokata 7 RDF outside to see what beacons I could pick up with it. I was quite surprised when – apart from the regular daylight-NDBs it receives here – I could clearly hear several Norwegian beacons along with a few from France. However, my biggest surprise came around midnight, when I had tuned up as

far as 372kHz and there was OZN from Greenland thumping in. The image in Fig. 1 shows the North Atlantic pressure chart for that session. I used the Lokata with its internal ferrite rod aerial and a set of headphones; the unit does not have a builtin speaker. This was basically a case of ‘going back to basics’, using, essentially, a portable receiver. The thing to remember, when using equipment with its internal ferrite rod aerial, is that it is directional, so to ensure you are not missing any signals, the receiver needs to be slowly swung through 180 degrees on every frequency, and this is a little time-consuming. Although the Lokata will tune up to 450kHz, I stopped short, as my ingers had become so cold (note to self: In addition to a warm coat and hat, also use gloves)! One thing I discovered when using the Lokata 7 was the source of interference that has been wiping out a large section of the band for a considerable time but disappeared about 1130pm. I thought it was a neighbour’s television but being outside with the Lokata in the dark I found that frequencies from 325 to 415 kHz were totally wiped out, and, at the time the QRM stopped, I discovered that it was being caused by a sodium lood-light that the house behind me has mounted on the front of their garage to illuminate their driveway. It would seem that this light is on a timer, hence the 1130 pm light and instant interference switch off (see also my Maritime Matters column in this issue).

Noise Levels and Mounting Locations Using the handheld RDF was also advantageous, in that I was able to check the garden to determine a location of lower noise levels for the mini-whip, but with a

suitable mounting location. The favoured location was a galvanised steel clothesline pole, embedded in concrete underneath a layer of grass and soil. The plan was to use it as a strong ibreglass pole for the mini-whip, with the latter secured to the clothesline pole and four securing lines of ishing net repair twine to stabilise it in strong winds. However, when it came to testing, I found that frequencies below 1MHz suffered from severe noise. However, the frequencies above this were working quite well. At the time of writing this column in early January 2019, it is still work in progress although I now have 518kHz Navtex reception back online. Having had such success during my midDecember 2018 night-time ‘DX expedition’ into my garden using the Lokata, I decided at the beginning of January 2019, to wrap up, put on the gloves and have another outdoor session with the Lokata. Again, I was in for a surprise: Not only was OZN thumping in on the handheld once again, but I also logged two beacons for the irst time: 335.0kHz TON Torralba, from Spain and 343kHz Aurillac, from France. I also pulled in several beacons from Europe. Fig. 2 shows the pressure chart for Europe at the time of that session. I was amazed: After more than 20 years chasing NDBs with a decent aerial and receiver, I stepped out into the garden with, what is essentially a basic handheld and I pull in two new beacons for the irst time! Another interesting catch was 375.0kHz VM Vestman Aeyjar (Iceland). This is normally a rare signal here on my main equipment. It now makes me wonder if I should actually forget about getting my main equipment back online and just concentrate on using the Lokata RDF. At least, if my main antenna is working properly, I can DX beacons in comfort.

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NDB DXing

ROBERT CONNOLLY

Fig.1: North Atlantic pressure chart for my irst monitoring session (Mid-December 2018). Fig. 2: Pressure chart for Europe at the time of my second monitoring session (January 2019).

Simple Equipment and Logs My logs for this column are based on reception using the handheld Lokata 7 RDF receiver, and I hope that this will provide those of you who either do not have ‘stateof-the-art’ antennas or have, perhaps, just decided to have a go at NDB DXing, some incentive to try using basic equipment; the results can be quite surprising, especially during the hours of darkness. If you are using basic equipment for NDB reception, it is best to do this outdoors, and as far away from domestic noise sources as your garden will allow. Also, please remember that it is winter, so you will need to wrap up warm, as it can take a couple of hours to scan the complete NDB band. I would also suggest using a torch or, better still, one of those lights that can be strapped to your head, so that you can write down your logs and tune frequency if your receiver does not have a backlit frequency display. In many ways, using basic equipment for NDB DXing is actually more rewarding, especially when you do catch some DX beacons. My old Sangean ATS803A was an excellent receiver for this type of listening until it met its sad demise when it accidentally fell from the top of the fridge-freezer onto a tiled loor. Unfortunately, the Tecsun PL660 I purchased to replace it, is quite deaf on NDB frequencies, hence the use of one of my RDF receivers. One bonus of using a dedicated RDF receiver is that you can null the beacon signal out and take a bearing on it. This is useful if you receive an unidentiied NDB signal; it will narrow down the search area for its location. However, it is also interesting to take a bearing on any signal, just to conirm that it is what you think it is. Andy Thomsett kindly sent me a screenshot of SDR# (Fig. 3), showing packed activity in the NDB band at 0214 UTC on January 1st, 2019. As I indicated earlier in this column, and elsewhere, interference is often a major problem when trying to DX weak NDBs. Tony Stickells, who was suffering from QRM that prevented him from submitting a log for my last column, tells me that he received some interesting signals but was still experiencing RFI problems. Like many of us, Tony has found that the Christmas lights swamped the bands this year; howev-

1 ROBERT CONNOLLY

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er, he still had some fun. It can often be a case of trying to work around interference, particularly if it is not coming from within your own property. Just another of a number of challenges

we face when DXing NDBs. For an extremely comprehensive listing of the beacons that Robert has logged this quarter, please visit our website, at https://goo.gl/AQCFKP

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NDB DXing

ANDY THOMSETT

Fig. 3: SDR# screenshot by Andy Thomsett, evidencing plenty of activity in the NDB band at 0214 UTC on January 1st, 2019.

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Emerging Issues in Radio

Radio: Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace Chrissy Brand reports from one of many events held around the globe for UNESCO World Radio Day 2019. She also investigates some new and innovative podcasts you might want to listen to. 1

Chrissy Brand [email protected]

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he annual UNESCO World Radio Day, each February 13th, is a reminder for us that, in many parts of the world, radio is far more than a mere entertainment and weather service. Radio can empower, and even save, lives, especially in places prone to natural disasters, social unrest, major inequalities or war. Radio station directors and leaders in the western world fret over advertising revenues and how to engage with audiences in new and innovative ways. However, outside of that particular cosy western world bubble, radio stations in developing coun-

tries often provide lifelines (Fig. 2). With the spread of smartphone technology, individuals can listen to their stations of choice, whenever and wherever they wish. Once upon a time in developing countries, there may have been just one analogue radio in a village. People would gather round to hear news broadcasts and information. It would often be the village elder who would decide which station that radio was tuned into, which in turn could give an entire village only one point of view. The annual UNESCO World Radio Day theme this year is Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace. At UNESCO House on Avenue de Suffren in Paris, an event full of interesting workshops was held. These covered tips on writing for radio, sound recording, recording

a jingle, how to make podcasts, hosting a talk show, promoting radio on social media and – to my mind somewhat controversially – DAB+ and freedom of expression.

SOAS, So Good Once again, I attended the University of London SOAS World Radio Day event. Kudos is due to SOAS Radio (Fig. 1) for consistently putting on thought-provoking presentations and workshops to celebrate WRD. I have reported on these since 2015 when the theme was Youth and Radio. Last year it was Radio and Sports (RadioUser, May 2015: 42 and RadioUser, April 2018: 53-55) https://soasradio.org This time, SOAS joined forces with the

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Emerging Issues in Radio

ALL PICTURES: CHRISSY BRAND, EXCEPT FIG. 2: UNESCO WORLD RADIO DAY

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Communication for Development Network. The day featured interviews with organisations around dialogue, tolerance and peace (Fig. 4). These bodies included PositiveNegatives, who produce literary educational comics, animations and podcasts about contemporary social and human rights issues, using multimedia, illustrations and narratives. One Day Seyoum was also there, a group ighting for the release of unjustly imprisoned people in Eritrea. It was started in the name of Seyoum Tsehaye, a journalist imprisoned, since 2001, by his niece in Sweden. Max Graef of RadioActive was also interviewed. He has spent over a decade installing equipment and training staff at community radio stations around the world. Max designs and installs FM radio stations and recording studios. He also delivers workshops in radio production, radio drama, station management and engineering. http://positivenegatives.org http://onedayseyoum.com https://radioactive.org.uk Dr Emma Heywood (a Lecturer in Journalism, Politics and Communication at the University of Shefield) gave an insightful talk on assessing the impact of radio and women’s empowerment in Niger (Fig. 5). This was part of a project called FemmePowermentAfrique. www.femmepowermentafrique.com Emma emphasised how radio is a key medium because it transcends any problems around literacy that might prevent people from accessing newspapers or books. People can sit together and listen to the radio as a communal, interactive, ac-

tivity or while carrying out other tasks, both of these being further examples of radio’s strengths. There are currently one state-run, 60 commercial and 184 community radio stations in Niger. Although there are fundamental differences between Niger and the UK, the countries are not as far apart when it comes to media freedom as one might think. Niger is ranked 63rd on the World Press Freedom Index, and, while the UK fares better, it is still a lowly 41st. Emma spoke of how women are essential in society for peace-building, and how they need to be well-informed, in order to pass on knowledge and empowerment, gained from informative and educational radio content. The question of how radio is improving women’s roles in Nigerian society was also addressed by the project, Studio Kalangou in Niger was set up by Fondation Hirondelle (Media for Peace and Human Dignity). It makes programmes centrally, and these are fed out to stations across the country, where vox pops and regional news are added. There have been two successful series on Women and Elections and Women and Children. Another project comes from the organisation International Media Support. It brings together listening groups in the region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. The project has successfully enabled women’s associations to help change behaviours, by training them how to interact with experts, showing them how to work with radio stations to broadcast more relevant information. One positive outcome of this has been a reduction in FGM. Analysis of some of

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Fig. 1: World music and global perspectives online, on SOAS Radio. Fig. 2: Smartphones enable more people to personally choose what radio station to hear. Fig. 3: Professor Ivor Gaber addressing the role of radio in post-conflict environments.

the programme outputs has shown that – although women are portrayed actively on radio broadcasts – men are always given more time to speak. This is an issue to be addressed, although this is, indeed, still a prevalent problem on the airwaves in most countries. Emma is part of a team presenting indings and updates on the project at the EU and the UN Commission on the Status of Women this spring. Clearing the Air: The Role of the Radio in

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Emerging Issues in Radio

Fig. 4: SOAS Radio recording in the Students’ Union for World Radio Day. Fig. 5: Dr Emma Heywood assesses the impact of radio in the empowerment of women.

Conlict and Post-Conlict Environments was a talk presented by Professor Ivor Gaber (Political Journalism, University of Sussex and a freelance broadcaster and journalist). He emphasised the importance of World Radio Day, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where radio is still the most common form of media, although social media is fast catching up (Fig. 3). Ivor spoke of his work in Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda, where he helped train journalists at private and community radio stations. His approach is an eminently sensible one of sharing experiences, rather than telling the journalists what they should do. There were one hundred journalists in Nigeria who had been trained to report on elections two years ago. They said that the biggest issues they faced were the threats to their personal safety from political party thugs, soldiers and the police (and not from Boko Haram). Ivor raised the question of whether a Western-style political culture is best for Africa and admitted he does not have the answer. He cited the example of Singapore which has state-controlled media but is seen to function as a multi-party democracy. Turkey, on the other hand, was the opposite. It used to have a lively press and media opposition and now suffers from an autocratic government. For the UK, Ivor raised the question of how we can make decisions on which parts of the media to trust, citing mainstream media examples like the Daily Mail and BBC as not being reliable sources. However, despite his criticism of the BBC, he conceded that it is largely independent of the government.

Planet Podcast The Google podcast app, which launched in 2018, has been a game-changer for Android users, and this includes me. I have used many podcast apps on my netbook, laptop, tablet and smartphone. It’s a case of inding the one you feel is the most userfriendly. The Podcast Insights Review from this URL might help. https://tinyurl.com/yxnsdj6o Podcast apps allow you to ind fascinating audio. Discussion, news on topics that the mainstream media ignore, drama, comedy, music – it’s all there. History is well represented too.

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A recent newcomer is Radio GDR East Germany Podcast. This is an innovative approach to history. Thirty years ago, in the last days of short wave stalwart Radio Berlin International, who would have thought such technological advances would come to pass? The background information states that, “Life in the former East Germany holds an ongoing fascination for many people. Join us as we learn more about the former East Germany. Photos, news items, podcast reports, blog posts and more! We discuss life in and share photos and news of the former German Democratic Republic. This is a historical site and does not support the former GDR […] Radio GDR is hosted and produced by Rostock native Anke Holst and Brit Shane Whaley.” http://radiogdr.com The History of Germany podcast might also be of interest. It commenced in the summer of 2014 and covered East Germany in Episode 28. https://tinyurl.com/y6fagekx The Deca Tapes is an eight-part mystery podcast that is released this spring, while Your Three Stories is, according to the writeup available, a “Comedic audio drama. A mysterious host guides you through a series of short radio plays that are connected by a strange theme.” www.thedecatapes.com https://yourthreestories.com

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Radio Events PUBLIC RADIO ENGINEERS CONFERENCE, LAS VEGAS, April 4th to 6th www.apre.us BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS, LONDON, May 18th www.britishpodcastawards.com RADIODAYS EUROPE PODCAST DAY, LONDON, June 13th www.radiodayseuropepodcastday.com WORLDDAB AUTOMOTIVE 2019, TURIN, ITALY, June 20th www.worlddab.org

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We take a look at this new network radio

Radio in History The Volksempfänger’s role in Nazi radio propaganda ISSN 1748-8117

Georg Wiessala [email protected] Frequency Listings Review: Your Guides to the Bands Active Aerials Open-Source Software and SDR

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Emergency Comms

COSPAS – SARSAT Emergency Communications Tim Kirby G4VXE [email protected]

COSPAS-SARSAT System Overview

Our Scanning Scene Columnist, Tim Kirby, offers the first instalment in a new RadioUser section. In it, he introduces us to Emergency Communications in the UK, beginning with the COSPAS-SARSAT system.

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Search & Rescue Satellites

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A few months ago, I was walking around the Science Museum in London, and I spotted the ‘Apollo Survival Radio’ by the Lunar Module exhibit. That led to an interesting discussion on Twitter about how the radios were planned to be used, and I included some details in my Scanning Scene column at the time. That, in turn, led to a chat with our editor along the lines of “Tim, you could write something about Emergency Communications, couldn’t you?” So, here we are.

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1

Mission Control Centre

Distress Call utilising Emergency Beacon

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Introduction In this irst part of our short series on Emergency Communications, I want to look at the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB for short), Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLB). These all transmit on 406MHz, and they are triggered, often automatically, in a distress situation. The beacons’ signals are detected by satellites, monitored by an international consortium of rescue services, known as ‘COSPAS-SARSAT’. COSPAS stands for COsmicheskaya Systyema Poiska Aariynyich Sudov (Космическая Система Поиска Аарийныч Судов). This, I am reliably informed translates loosely to The Space System for the Search of Vessels in Distress. SARSAT – perhaps more predictably – stands for ‘Search and Rescue SatelliteAided Tracking’.

COSPAS-SARSAT COSPAS-SARSAT is an international organisation, deined by treaty and organised as a non-proit, intergovernmental and humanitarian body of 44 nations and agencies (Fig. 1). It was established in 1988, following a prior agreement of 1984 and, prior to this, after the irst rescue using the technology occurred in

Local User Terminal

Rescue Coordination 1

September 1982. The system uses a network of satellites, which covers the whole of the Earth’s surface. Any alerts detected by the satellites are forwarded to over 200 countries, without any cost to the owners of the beacons or to the receiving government agencies. The system has several distinct components: First, the distress beacons (EPIRBs, ELTs and PLBs) themselves, which are to be activated in a life-threatening situation. Second, the Search and Rescue Repeaters (SARR) and the Search and Rescue Signal Processors (SARP), which are carried on board satellites. Third, the Satellite downlink receivers at ground stations. These process the received signals and they are known as Local User Terminals (LUTs). Forth, the Mission Control Centres, which distribute the received information to Rescue Co-ordination Centres – most importantly the position data received from beacons. At the end of 2018, there were 34 Mission Control Centres in operation, with three more under development. The UKMCC is at Fareham in Hampshire.

And Finally, there are Rescue Co-ordination Centres (MCC), which call on the required agencies, for example, the Coastguard, to provide an appropriate rescue response to the emergency in question.

The Beacons The EPIRB (Fig. 2), ELT and PLB beacons are all digital radio transmitters on 406MHz (406.025 or 406.028MHz). Beacons are manufactured by a variety of vendors worldwide. ELT systems are meant to be used in aircraft. EPIRBs (Fig. 2) are designed to be used aboard a marine vessel and inally, the PLB is designed to be carried by an individual. Sometimes, PLBs are carried aboard aircraft or vessels. However, depending on local regulations, this may or may not satisfy regulatory requirements. Any of the beacon types does not transmit until activated in an emergency. There are, however, facilities which allow the beacons to be tested. Some beacons have to be activated manually by the user, whereas an ELT might be automatically activated by the shock of an aircraft crash. An EPIRB may also be automatically activated by con-

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Emergency Comms

DAVID RYAN

Fig.1: An overview of the COSPAS-SARSAT system. Fig. 2: An EPIRB mounted on a hydrostatic release.

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tact with water. EPIRBs are divided into two categories: Category 1 EPIRBs can be activated either manually or automatically. Automatic activation takes place when the EPIRB is released from its bracket, which will be equipped with a hydrostatic release. The mechanism releases the EPIRB in a water depth of between 1 and 3m. The EPIRB is buoyant, loats to the surface and starts transmitting its message. It is important that the EPIRB is mounted somewhere that it can loat free of a sinking vessel. Category 2 EPIRBs (Figs. 3 to 5) have to be manually activated, so they do need to be accessible, in the event of an emergency. COSPAS-SARSAT do not levy subscriptions for use of the service, although some countries charge licence fees for beacon ownership – and some may charge for the cost of rescue operations.

The Space Segment The part of the system in Space consists of SARR and SARP components on board the host satellite. There are ive satellites in (polar) low-altitude Earth orbits; these are known

as LEOSARs. Six more satellites are to be found in geostationary Earth orbits; they are called GEOSARs. And more than 30 satellites are located in a medium-altitude Earth orbit; these are known as MEOSARs. The SARR or SARP are always secondary payloads on the satellite – for example, the geostationary satellites’ primary mission is likely to be meteorological. This is also true for LEOSAR satellites The primary mission of the MEOSAR satellites is navigation. The SARR, when it receives a distress signal from a beacon, will retransmit it to a ground station in real-time. The SARP will record the data from the distress signal for later re-transmission, in the event that the satellite is not in range of a ground station when it receives the distress signal.

LEOSAR Satellites When the COSPAS-SARSAT system was irst launched, it comprised solely of Low-EarthOrbit satellites. Although the orbits of the series of satellites were arranged to cover the entire surface of the globe (because each satellite has a relatively low orbit), there will be periods of time when a LEOSAR satellite

may not be over a particular geographic location. Therefore, a distress beacon may be undetected until the next satellite comes into range; there will then be a delay in relaying the distress signal back to the ground. Because this may not happen in real-time, LEOSAR spacecraft have ‘store-and-forward’ functionality. This ensures that a signal detected when the spacecraft is out of range of a ground station can be successfully retransmitted, once the ground station comes into the footprint of the LEOSAR. The ive satellites of this type orbit around every 100 minutes. Even if the distress beacon is not transmitting a GPS position, it is possible for the ground stations receiving the signal from the LEOSAR to determine the bearing and range of the beacon, with respect to the satellite. This is done by means of calculations of the Doppler shift of the signal (at a known frequency), as the satellite passes over the beacon. Range and bearing are measured from the rate of change of the received frequency. This will vary, according to where the satellite is along its orbit, and due to the rotation of the Earth. If the frequency of the beacon is varying rapidly, this suggests that the satellite is nearly overhead the beacon’s position. If you’ve ever tried to track a satellite’s signals, you’ll know that, on overhead passes, as the satellite climbs high in the sky above you, the Doppler shift of the signal is very rapid indeed. You could try with one of the amateur satellites or an NOAA weather satellite on 137MHz if you fancy a practical experiment. In fact, the NOAA weather satellites form part of the COSPAS-SARSAT system, so it will be an authentic test!

GEOSAR Satellites Because these satellites are in geostationary orbit, this means, of course, that they are turning at the same speed as the earth – so there is no relative motion between the distress beacon and the satellite, and thus no doppler shift. The GEOSAR satellites can only relay the message received from the distress beacon, rather than augment the message with any positional information. However, if the beacon’s data payload includes a GPS position then, of course, this can be relayed directly to the SAR agencies. The existing constellation (series) of GEOSARs covers all area of the Earth. Therefore, as soon as a distress beacon

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Emergency Comms

DAVID RYAN

is activated, it should be detected by one of these satellites (with the exception of the polar regions, which are out of range of the GEOSARs).

MEOSAR Satellites These satellites are the latest addition to the COSPAS-SARSAT system. They combine the advantages of the LEOSAR (ability to detect the beacon position from Doppler shift) and GEOSAR (coverage). It is planned that there will be over 70 of the MEOSAR satellites – which will form the majority of the space segment of the COSPAS-SARSAT system. MEOSAR satellites will consist of SARR transponders as secondary payloads on a variety of navigation satellite constellations, including Galileo, GLONASS, BEIDOU and, of course, GPS. The location of a distress beacon can be calculated by the ground station, by analysing the Doppler signals with respect to the satellite’s path. This can also be achieved by measuring the time difference of arrival of a beacon’s transmission, due to the distance between the beacon and each MEOSAR satellite in view. Data from the MEOSAR satellites started to be distributed on December 13th, 2016. However, data from the MEOSAR constellation was used prior to the oficial implementation of the system. This was done, in order to establish the location of EgyptAir Flight 804, which crashed in the Mediterranean. A particularly interesting feature of the MEOSAR system is that – when using the Galileo navigation satellites – the MEOSAR system will be able to download data back to the distress beacon, using the ‘Return Link Service’ of the Galileo system. It’s anticipated that this will be used to conirm that the distress beacon has been received by the SAR authorities. 3

Ground Stations Ground stations monitor the satellites, using either satellite dishes or phased arrays. These Local User Terminals (LUT) are established by individual national administrations or agencies. Signals received are transferred to the appropriate Mission Control Centre (MCC). At the end of December 2016, the LEOSAR satellites were tracked and monitored by 53 LEOLUTs (Low Earth Orbit Local User Terminals), the GEOSAR satellites were checked by 21 GEOLUTs and the MEOSAR satellites were watched from 17 MEOLUTs.

Evolution of the COSPAS-SARSAT System When this system was irst introduced in

1982, the satellites monitored the two original types of distress beacons: EPIRBs and ELTs. By the early 2000s, the PLBs became available for individuals engaged in recreational activities beyond the reach of normal telephone systems – or perhaps small aircraft pilots or mariners, where regulations permitted. Before COSPAS-SARSAT came into operation, the civilian aviation community had been using the 121.5MHz frequency for distress, and the military had been using 43MHz (with 121.5MHz as a backup). Initially, ELTs for commercial aircraft were built to transmit on 121.5MHz, a frequency well monitored worldwide. Military beacons were built to transmit on 243MHz.

When COSPAS-SARSAT irst came into being, satellites monitored the beacon alerts on 406MHz, 121.5 and 243MHz. However, it was found that both the 121.5 and 243MHz frequencies generated a high number of false alerts (the false alert rate for the 121.5MHz units was an astonishing 97%). It became all but impossible to uniquely identify such systems. So, in 2009, the COSPAS-SARSAT stopped receiving signals from 121.5 and 243MHz, and just processed digital signals on 406MHz. However, many ELTs do still include a 121.5MHz transmitter, which can be received by local search crews, using simple direction-inding equipment. Beacon technology has evolved since these transmitters were

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Emergency Comms

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DAVID RYAN

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Fig.3: Close up of a manually activated EPIRB. Fig. 4: The activation mechanism of a manually activated EPIRB. Fig.5: Further detail of a manually-activated EPIRB.

irst used in 1982. At that time, positional information was calculated by ground stations based on Doppler shift calculations. Now, GPS technology is ubiquitous, and many beacons incorporate GPS receivers.

Registration and Testing Beacons have to be registered to be used on the COSPAS-SARSAT system, using a hexadecimal identiier, unique to each beacon. In the event of an alert being received, the authorities can irst try to contact the owner, to rule out a false alert. Most beacons also provide a switch allowing for testing. Even a very short transmission with a beacon in ‘distress’ mode will cause a distress alert to be sent. Therefore, it is very important that test mode is engaged when and where appropriate. In the case of EPIRBs automatically activated on immersion in water, if this happens inadvertently, it is important for the beacon’s owner to contact one of the relevant co-ordination centres in order to have the distress alert cancelled. The RNLI has a useful page about EPIRB and PLBs including details of how to register your beacon: https://tinyurl.com/y32tf3k9

Can I Listen to 406MHz Transmissions? You can! Of course, the signals are meant to be decoded by satellite. Unless you are in an elevated position close to the sea, or in a very remote part of the world, it is, perhaps, less likely that you will hear anything.

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Intriguingly, the AOR AR-DV10 (RadioUser, February 2019: 14-18) has an option for a COSPAS-SARSAT decoder. This decodes the GPS information from the digital transmission and also listens on 121.500MHz for any analogue transmission. You can see a very brief video of this in action here: https://youtu.be/xAlXjd5waC0 COAA, who produce an interesting range of software including PlanePlotter and ShipPlotter, which readers may be familiar with, has a program called EPIRBPlotter. As you might expect, this decodes transmissions from any EPIRBs that you can hear. You need a UHF scanner tuned to 406.025 or 406.0275MHz, with the audio output of the scanner fed into a computer’s soundcard

EPIRBPlotter is marketed for those wishing to test their EPIRBs – and there are cautionary words on the website about doing this and taking up important airtime. More details are here: https://www.coaa.co.uk/epirbplotter.htm You may also enjoy a video of receiving the 1.5GHz transponder of COSPAS-SARSAT signals, using a simple WorldSpace patch antenna and an RTL-SDR type receiver. You can see, among other things, data bursts from EPIRBs, which are repeated from the 406MHz band: https://tinyurl.com/y2fzbsu9 I hope you have found this initial column interesting – I certainly enjoyed researching the subject! Join me again soon for another aspect of Emergency Communications.

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DXTV

Noteworthy Satellite, TV and FM DX Loggings for Q1/2019 Keith Hamer [email protected] Garry Smith [email protected]

ALL PICTURES: KEITH HAMER + GARRY SMITH ARCHIVE COLLECTION, EXCEPT FIG. 3: ROGER BUNNEY.

Keith Hamer and Garry Smith offer a quarterly rundown of long-distance TV and FM reception and report on anniversaries, disasters, and other TVevents that have occurred recently. Sporadic-E activity in Band I continued well into September 2018, with ten openings encountered by Gösta van der Linden (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and Niels van der Linden (Épinal, France). Captures included 1TV (Russia) on Channels R1 (49.75MHz) from St. Petersburg (150kW) and R2 (59.25MHz) from Tver (10kW), Россия-1 (Russia) on R1 (Glubokoye 90kW) and R2 (Proletarly 25kW), 2Canal (Moldova) R1 (Cahul 15kW), M1 (Moldova) R2 (Mindrestii Noi 30kW), and 1+1 Ukraine R1 (L’viv 110kW). Russian signals on R1 were received by Wesley Colaers in Vancouver (Canada) from the Vladivostok region on September 24th and 25th, 2018. On November 26th, at 0930 UTC, Tom Crane (Hawkwell) noticed weak images on R1, tentatively logged as Россия-1 from Russia. From 1530 UTC, on December 19th, Chris Howles (Lichield) received Russian video on R1 from Sovestk. The FM band became active between 1700 and 1800 UTC, producing Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, with the MUF (maximum usable frequency) reaching 107MHz. Other DXTV enthusiasts in the UK have received FM signals from Rumania, Poland and Germany. Fig.1: Off-screen photo of the Tyne Tees graphics, aired during the 1950s and 1960s. Fig. 2: The Tyne Tees clock shown during the black-andwhite era. Fig. 3: After almost ive years of transmitting local content from Rowridge on Channel 54 (2kW), Solent TV closed on May 24th, 2007. Fig. 4: The TV7 (Slovakia) test card received by Sándor Rottenbacher (Hungary) via the Hispasat craft at 30° West. Fig. 5: One of the 16 new BBC-2 Identiication Symbols being introduced over the coming months. Fig. 6: One of the new ITV offerings aired for a week during 2019. Fig. 7: One of the three BBC-1 Identiication Symbols used during Christmas, 2018.

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By December, the Sporadic-E season in the Southern Hemisphere was well underway. On the 15th, Tony Mann (Perth) identiied Indonesian FM signals on 89.2MHz and 102.1MHz from East Java, a distance approaching 3,000km. There have also been several 6m contacts between eastern Australia and southern South America.

Tropospheric TV DX On September 27th, 2018, Tom Crane (Hawkwell, Essex) identiied TV multiplexes from The Netherlands on channel D24H, Belgium D56H (RTBF multiplex) and France on D24V, D27V and D36V (Grand Lille TV). French signals were also evident on October 5th and 21st. Only weak northern French outlets were detected. The Czech Republic was logged on October 8th by Niels van der Linden, who received two multiplexes on D33H (DVB-T2) and D50H (HEVC), both from Ústi nad Labem (100kW ERP).

FM Reception Whilst parked at the University of Bath on September 26th and 28th, Irish, French and Dutch FM stations were identiied by Simon Hockenhull (Bristol). French stations were also present on December 26th from Lille on 105.20MHz (France Info) and 103.70MHz (France Inter). French stations were also heard by Andrew Jackson (Birkenhead) on October 20th and 21st. On the 24th, Stephen Michie (Bristol) logged RTÉ Radio 1 on 87.8MHz at around midday, with French stations on 87.7MHz and 87.9MHz surfacing during the evening. The same period produced Dutch and German captures for Chris Howles. George Garden (Gourdon, Scotland) logged a wealth of UK transmitters including Tacolneston (5kW) on 101.5MHz.

Terrestrial Closures As Internet technology progresses, digital terrestrial transmissions are further curtailed. This phenomenon is already happening in Continental Europe. In Belgium, VRT (Flemish-language) terrestrial TV transmitters switched off on December 1st, 2018. Only an estimated 45,000 viewers were receiving programmes from digital terrestrial transmitters; others were using cable or the Internet. Switzerland plans to switch off its free-to-air digital terrestrial TV service by the end of 2019. Other countries are adopting the HEVC (High Eficiency Video Coding) compression standard, which makes more eficient use of the UHF spectrum. This helps with the 700MHz clearance project. In Germany, the HEVC roll-out is already well underway. In the state of Saarland, all

the old DVB-T transmitters have now been taken out of service. The Czech Republic has also adopted the HEVC standard. In the Netherlands, on October 2nd, 2018, the irst two new HEVC transmitters entered service at Groningen (D40V 20kW) and Hoogersmilde (D22V 40kW). Conversion of the whole network is expected to be completed by April 2019, but the old DVB-T transmitters will remain on-air until 2020.

More Mast Fires On Friday August 31st, 2018, there was a ire in the top section of the old KPN communications mast at Breda, Netherlands, which was being dismantled at the time. Fires have occurred at other masts too: In the early hours of May 24th, 2014, a serious ire broke out at the Wavre transmitter, Belgium, disrupting the main, French-speaking, RTBF TV, DAB and FM services. Two hours later, another ire damaged the Flemish-speaking VRT radio and television installation at Velten, near Leuven. The scenarios are eerily similar to the incidents in The Netherlands on July 15th, 2011, when a ire destroyed the Smilde mast and a second blaze damaged the Lopik installation on the same afternoon. The UK is not without its own drama. On May 13th, 2010, at the Oxford mast at Beckley, a ire engulfed a brand-new antenna that had just been activated in advance of the area’s digital switchover in 2011.

TV & Radio Anniversaries Tyne Tees was the seventh ITV region to commence broadcasting (Fig. 1). It launched on January 15th, 1959, from Burnhope on Channel 8 (189.75MHz vision, 186.25MHz sound), using horizontal polarization with 100kW ERP (Fig. 2). Meanwhile, BBC Radio Wales recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. The national station for Wales, airing in English, commenced on 13th November 1978. Until the expansion into FM last October, many listeners were only able to listen to the station on 882kHz , from a highpower transmitter at Washford, Somerset. During the early hours of October 24th, BBC Radio Wales began taking over frequencies at thirty-two transmitter sites previously occupied by BBC Radio 3. The World’s irst, digital, terrestrial TV began on November 15th, 1998: ONdigital was a part-subscription service intended to rival Sky.

Local TV Gloom and NECR In the light of signiicant inancial challenges many local TV companies are facing, Ofcom have scrapped the roll-out of further sta-

tions in 13 areas of the UK. More than 30 local stations have been set up since 2013, but several faced dificulties and struggled for an audience, after the initial curiosity and interest waned (Fig. 3). Today, some local TV stations are resorting to transmitting static ‘cam-shots’ of their studios to ill the time between commercials! In other news, North East Community Radio (NECR), based in Kintore, Scotland, closed on August 16th, 2018, blaming the effect of local businesses moving advertising to the Internet. The radio station was launched in 1994 and covered most of Aberdeenshire.

Satellite News Two German digital bouquets, which were previously only available in Standard Deinition (SD), are now also available in parallel using High Deinition (HD). Programmes are broadcast via the Astra satellite at 19.2° East from transponder 39 on 11.053GHz – with horizontal polarisation, 22.000 SR (Symbol Rate) and 2/3 FEC (Forward Error Correction) in MPEG-4 HD DVB S-2 8PSK. The two platforms are ARD-alpha HD and Radio Bremen HD. The packets include tagesschau24 HD, ONE HD and SR Fernsehen HD (from the Saarland state of Germany). All the broadcasts are currently unscrambled. Sándor Rottenbacher in Hungary has been monitoring transmissions from the Hispasat craft at 30° West and was rewarded with reception of the TV7 test card from Slovakia (Fig. 4).

New BBC-2 Idents BBC-2 introduced a new set of on-screen graphics (or ‘Identiication Symbols’ as they are oficially known) on September 27th, 2018. The BBC, incorrectly, announced that this was their irst ‘re-branding’ in 20 years (Fig. 5). Not to be outdone, ITV launched their own collection on January 1st, 2019. A different animation will be shown for a week throughout 2019 (Fig. 6). The previous graphics ran for almost six years. Meanwhile, BBC-1 used three different festive Idents last Christmas (Fig. 7). Two of those featured a seaside pier and ‘dodgem’ cars at a funfair.

Keep in Touch! Please keep sending your TV and FM reception reports, news, comments and photographs to Garry Smith 17 Collingham Gardens, Derby DE22 4FS. Our e-mail addresses are at the head of the column.

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International Radio Scene

CHRISSY BRAND

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Palestine, Supreme Master Ching Hai & New Love Alexa Chrissy Brand focuses on Palestine and tunes into a mind-blowing range of radio stations around the world, from Albania to Alaska, and from the Middle East to Vietnam. Chrissy Brand [email protected]

T

here are probably two main reasons for why DXers enjoy the world of radio; first, the thrill of chasing and identifying an exotic signal from far away; and second, the programme content, from news to music, always in languages both familiar and unknown. There is an extra frisson of excitement when pulling in those elusive transatlantic medium wave stations from across the pond. While most eastern seaboard stations in Canada and the US use English as a first language, many others also broadcast for

the diverse local populations, including in French, Spanish, and in a host of Asian languages. Less so in the voices of indigenous communities, but I wrote about that in the past (RadioUser, September 2017: 43) and will, no doubt, return to a similar topic later this year when I visit The Navajo Nation in Utah and Arizona.

Short Wave Graham Smith logged the Voice of Palestine, broadcasting in Arabic from Tehran in Iran, on 6070kHz at 0325 UTC. The Voice of Palestine is listed under Iran in the World Radio TV Handbook (WRTH 2019: 476-477). It is on the air in Arabic from 0230 to 0420 UTC on 7380kHz, and from

1930 to 2030 on 1161kHz. Incidentally, the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is the external service of the state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, is rebranding to become known as Pars Today. http://parstoday.com/en The BDXC Guide to Medium Wave and Short Wave Broadcasting in the Middle East, East Mediterranean and the Caucasus, Including a Complete List of Medium Wave Radio Stations in the Region (of January 2019) states that the Voice of the Islamic Palestinian Revolution (to give it its full name) originates from Iran and broadcasts in support of Palestinian groups (Fig. 4). It uses IRIB transmitters at Chabahar,

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CHRISSY BRAND

CHRISSY BRAND

2 Sistan and Baluchistan (600kW), Qasr-e Shirin (600kW) Sirjan (500kW) and Zahedan (500kW). It airs from 0320 to 0420 daily in Arabic on 6070 and 6085kHz from Sirjan; also, from 1930-2030 on 765 and 1161kHz from Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchistan, and on 6060kHz from Zahedan. Although recognised as a nation state by 136 of the 193 United Nations member states, the WRTH does not yet afford Palestine a separate listing. However, the ITU does include Palestine in its list of geographical codes as ‘PSE’. The Voice of Palestine is part of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation which was established in July 1994. The radio station was originally known as the Voice of Palestinian Revolution, before the 1993 Oslo Accords. The station was launched on 17 October 1998. The BDXC Guide notes that the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation is the state broadcasting station for the Palestinian Territories of West Bank and Gaza and broadcasts on FM only. Several other private broadcasting stations also operate on FM in the territories. Audio from Al-Quds TV is broadcast to Palestine (West Bank & Gaza). This satellite channel broadcast began transmitting in November 2008. The station is Palestinian and licensed in London. An audio feed of Al-Quds TV was first heard in late January 2009, and Arabic is broadcast between 0230 and 0530 UTC via the 500kW short wave transmitter of IRIB at Zahedan. bdxc.org.uk/mideast.pdf There are other support groups and radio stations around the world that campaign for international recognition, human rights and a voice for Palestine (Fig. 1). CKUT Radio in Montreal has hosted a programme, with participation by the International Middle East Media Center, in Beit Sahour in the West Bank of Palestine, and involving a number of radio stations. Another station, which also went by the name the Voice of Palestine, was first aired in the 1970s on Co-op Radio in Vancouver; it continued until 2012. Under the Olive Tree

3 CHRISSY BRAND

was broadcast on CKUT radio in Montreal since 2005, and on CFRC Radio in Kingston since 2009. These Palestinian radio programmes are another example of the long history of community broadcasting in North America, by and for indigenous peoples. You can also listen to stations from Palestine online, playing a wide range of music. 7Ria 92.7 is my current favourite from that part of the world. https://tinyurl.com/y6o2ldgf https://ckut.ca https://tinyurl.com/yxeexe8f Lionel Clyne heard one of Radio Romania International’s many transmissions at 1523 UTC on 9810kHz. It was broadcasting in Romanian from Galbeni, with a SINPO of 54555. Lionel commented that, when he entered it into his well-worn log book and single-purpose Jornada HP computer, he counted 120 earlier entries for RRI station over the past 22 years, ranging from 5910 to 21580kHz. In early April 2019, I contacted Radio Romania International regarding the station’s new series of QSL cards and was told that, “The 2019 QSL cards will be about garments for celebration, chains made of coins and adornments from the western part of Romania. Due to the fact that the state budget for 2019 is far from being approved, and due to the public procurements procedure, we will have huge delays in producing the QSL cards. We will try to ind a solution to produce them irst in an online version.” You can send reception reports by snail mail, email or through an online form: www.rri.ro/en_gb/pages/receptie

4 Fig. 1: A pro-Palestine march and rally in London, 2017. Fig. 2: KNLS 2013 QSL card celebrating its 30th anniversary. Fig. 3: A Radio Tirana QSL from its 75th Anniversary year in 2013. Fig. 4: The BDXC publishes many free guides on its website, including one for Middle East radio.

Lionel also heard the Voice of Turkey at 2002 UTC on 6050kHz from Emirler. This English programme (Letterbox) acknowledged reception reports from around the world. The programme is currently scheduled as parts of its Friday broadcasts and can be heard at 1345 UTC on 12035kHz, 1745 UTC on 11730kHz, 1945 UTC on 6050kHz, 2145 UTC on 9610kHz, and 2315 UTC on 5960kHz.

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39

International Radio Scene

Short Wave Logs UTC

kHz

Station and Location

Language

Voice of Palestine, Tehran

Arabic

35554

GS

13680

Voice of Hope Africa, Lusaka

English

35233

LC

1530

15770

Supreme Master TV, Okeechobee, FL

English

35333

LC, OR

1539

7570

Voice of Korea, Kujang

English

25234

LC

1548

7440

Channel 292, Rohrbach

English

35333

LC

1600

15580

Voice of America, Botswana

English

45434

LC, OR

1817

11975

BBC World Service, Ascension Island

English

35334

LC, OR

1822

9445

All India Radio, Bengaluru

English

45233

LC, OR LC

0325

6070

1527

SINPO

Initials

1829

9690

1900

12160

Radio Exterior de España, Noblejas

Spanish

35222

World Wide Christian Radio, Nashville, TN

English

35333

1902

3875

LC, OR

Shortwave Radio, Winsen

English

25333

LC

1911

12095

BBC World Service, Ascension Island

English

45344

LC, OR

1918

11985

Adventist World Radio, Talata-Volonondry

Arabic

45344

LC LC

1919

6180

Radio Romania International, Ţigăneşti- Saftica

German

45554

1923

6135

Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sirjan

French

35344

LC

1924

11965

KNLS Alaska, Mahajanga

Arabic

45444

LC

1930

6120

TRT Voice of Turkey, Emirler

Turkish

35344

LC

1930

6050

TRT Voice of Turkey, Emirler

English

45444

LC

1940

6040

Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sirjan

English

35334

LC

2014

5990

Radio Romania International, Galbeni

Romanian

55455

LC

2026

5950

KBS World, Issoudun

French

54555

LC, OR

2031

5940

Radio Algérienne, Issoudun

Arabic

55344

LC

2046

9690

Radio Exterior de España, Noblejas

Spanish

45333

LC

2050

9420

Voice of Greece, Avlis

Greek

55434

LC, OR

2106

6195

Voice of America, Botswana

English

35323

LC

SUPREME MASTER TV

Fig. 5: Supreme Master TV from Vietnam airs on short wave radio too.

It’s great to have Radio Exterior de España back in English on short wave (RadioUser, January 2019: 48). The national Spanish service never left the band and puts out a powerful signal. Lionel logged it at 1530 UTC on 9690kHz with a football commentary. KNLS, the Alaskan-based Christian station, was logged by Lionel in Arabic via the Mahajanga transmitter in Madagascar on 11985kHz at 1924 UTC (Fig. 2). Timm Breyel is an active DXer in Malaysia with a very fine blog. He sent a recep-

tion report to KNLS in 2014, after hearing an hour-long English transmission from Anchor Point, Alaska on 9920kHz from 1500 UTC. In a blog post, Timm wrote, “Reception report was emailed on 28 July 2014. Subsequent emails were sent as late as 2015, then again in early 2016. Finally! On 26 April, a QSL card arrived in the mail. This QSL must have travelled by dog sledge, then a tug boat around the world, before reaching Malaysia. It took nearly two years My irst QSL from KNLS (back in 2011) has a storied life as well.” http://shortwavedxer.blogspot.com Radio Tirana celebrated its 80th Anniversary late last year. A well-written overview of the station’s history can be found online. With Italian intergovernmental help, Albanian Radio launched in 1937. Radio Tirana started in November 1938, with foreign language services a year later. The station has been housed in its current building since 1965. The online history states that, “with the exception of some older recording equipment, from the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union, all the studios and equipment were new. They came from China and were installed together with Chinese experts. This created the possibility for Radio Tirana to launch a daily programme of 18 hours, from 5 am to

LOG CONTRIBUTORS GS = Graham Smith, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Sony ICF-SW600 and a telescopic antenna. LC = Lionel Clyne, Faversham, Kent. Lowe HF-150, random wire or homemade loop. OR = Owen Rutherford, London. Lowe HF-150 and a Wellbrook loop. SC = Scott Caldwell, Warrington, Cheshire. Realistic DX394, Sony ICF2001D, Lowe HF225, Wellbrook loop. TS = Tony Stickells, Wrexham. SDRplay RSP2, AOR AR7030 and a 250ft-long wire.

11 pm.” Radio Tirana was a dominant voice on short wave for many years, peaking in the 1980s, with 21 language services and 83 hours of programmes a week. Today, it is one of over sixty stations in Albania. Medium and short wave services have been decimated and yet, there has been an unlikely increase in the station’s audience numbers, through online listening. According to the website, “technological development has helped us to be listened to around the world. With the reduction of medium and short wave broadcasts, we were afraid that we might lose our traditional listeners – radio enthusiasts; but a survey showed us that we now have more listeners than before.” Thanks to relays, Radio Tirana is still on short wave (Fig. 3). You can hear it in Europe from Kall in Germany on 6005kHz at 1330 UTC Mondays to Saturdays.

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International Radio Scene

Medium Wave Logs kHz

531 540 558 570 580 590 600 621 670 670 675 680 680 700 710 740 750 760 790 830 864 900 950 1010 1010 1020 1062 1062 1071 1130 1140 1200 1200 1377 1386 1390 1400 1430 1500 1540 1580 1593

UTC

1152 1153 2310 0432 0416 2314 2316 0110 0117 0532 0119 0119 0516 0700 2354 0526 0001 0446 0148 0300 0121 1043 0125 0118 2154 0410 2157 2157 2157 0414 0106 0050 0140 2201 2202 2202 2205 0055 0431 0005 0645 0013

Station

Location

Country

SINPO

Initials

Kringvarp Føroya MR1 Kossuth Rádió Radio Slovenija 1 CFCB CFRA VOCM CBNA ERTU Sawt al-Arab WSCR WSCR Qatar Media Corp WRKO CFTR WLW Radio Rebelde CHCM CBGY WJR WAXY WCRN ERTU Al-Quran al-Karim RAI Radio1 CKNB CFRB WINS KDKA Country Radio RAI Radio1 Al Nour Radio WBBR CBI WXKS CFGO CNR 1 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty WEGP CBG CHKT WFED WNWR WFME Bretagne 5

Akraberg Solt Murska Sobota/Nemčavci Corner Brook, NL Ottawa, ON St. John’s, NL St. Anthony, NL Batrah Chicago, IL Chicago, IL Al-Arish Boston, MA Toronto, ON Cincinnati, OH Chambas Marystown, NL Bonavista Bay, NL Detroit, MI Miami, FL Worcester, MA Santah Milan Campbelltown, NB Toronto, ON New York, NY Pittsburgh, PA Praha/Zbraslav Cagliari/Decimoputzu Tartus/Amrit New York, NY Sydney, NS Newton, MA Ottawa, ON Xinyang Viešintos Presque Isle, ME Gander, NL Toronto Island, ON Washington, DC Philadelphia, PA New York, NY Saint-Gouéno

Faroe Isles Hungary Slovenia Canada Canada Canada Canada Egypt USA USA Qatar USA Canada USA Cuba Canada Canada USA USA USA Egypt Italy Canada Canada USA USA Czech Republic Italy Syria USA Canada USA Canada China Lithuania USA Canada Canada USA USA USA France

44424 45555 52533 33333 33333 43354 43333 53343 54243 33222 54334 45233 33333 33333 42343 33333 55454 32222 22222 22222 52343 35333 33222 32222 42243 22222 53433 53433 52333 33333 32222 45333 32222 53333 54444 45243 45233 44243 22222 44344 33333 55555

TS TS TS SC SC SC, TS SC TS TS SC TS TS SC SC TS SC SC, TS SC, TS SC SC TS TS SC SC SC, TS SC TS TS TS SC SC TS SC TS TS TS TS TS SC TS SC TS

It is aired to the Americas on 5950 and 9395kHz at 0230 UTC daily. If you can’t hear it that way, listen to English, German, Turkish and other languages online. https://tinyurl.com/ya5fr6ld A newcomer to short wave was Supreme Master TV, Constructive Programming for a Peaceful World (Fig. 5). It is based in Vietnam and broadcasts in several languages including Hungarian and Mongolian. Lionel logged it in English on WRMI (15770kHz) from Okeechobee, Florida at 1548 UTC. The full schedule for Supreme Master TV, via WRMI, is from 1100 to 1400 UTC on 7570kHz, from 1400 to 2000 UTC on 15770kHz, and from 2100 to 0000 UTC on 9455kHz. The latter time slot also sees 4980kHz beamed towards the Caribbean and Latin America. WRMI stated that the programmes consist of news about global warming, animal rights, peace news, na-

ture’s beauty, the cinema scene, healthy living, science and spirituality, literature, being vegan and green, secrets of the universe and lectures by Supreme Master Ching Hai. Programme comments can be emailed to [email protected], and reception reports should go to WRMI at [email protected] I have enjoyed the Supreme Master TV Channel online at this URL: www.suprememastertv.com

Medium Wave There are some good transatlantic logs this month from Scott Caldwell and Tony Stickells, relecting what was heard by other UK DXers in January. You should also check out the February issue of the British DX Club’s newsletter Communication. Tony had a problem with his 500ft-long

wire, due to water ingress, but the 250ft dipole that is a lot noisier, still brought in the results, He heard 13 transatlantic stations and commented that he now has, “a super way to identify many stations, I use my Amazon Echo! What a great accessory for station ID! You can get nearly all MW stations from across the world on it via Tunein and other sources. There is also a short wave for ID. I listen to the station through the headphones and then say Alexa ‘access radio player’; then, ‘Alexa play WINS from New York’ – and it plays! A time-saving method. The best for me for the month was CNR1 on 1377kHz identiied with my new love, Alexa.” Graham Smith found pages at Radio NL that tell the history of Dutch medium wave broadcasting, and another that shows the end to the Flevoland transmitter masts. https://tinyurl.com/yy6wq2bj https://tinyurl.com/y26h6cac

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Scanning Scene

Tetra on the AOR AR-DV1 TIM KIRBY

Tim Kirby [email protected] Tim Kirby has a go at Tetra reception with the AOR AR-DV1, previews the Uniden Bearcat SDS200, tries ADS-B with a dongle, and marvels at what can be received with the rtl_433 software. In late December 2018, Mike B wrote in, with the news that AOR had just released a BETA version of the irmware for the AOR AR-DV1 digital receiver, which now receives TETRA. Mike had tested it by setting up a search of the Airwave base frequencies, from 390 to 395MHz, in 12.5khz steps. Of course, the transmissions in this band are encrypted, so you will not be able to listen to content. It’s either that or, as Mike says, the Police speak Klingon! At the time of writing, the irmware is still in BETA. However, if you have an AOR AR-DV1 and would like to try this, you can read about the irmware at this URL: https://tinyurl.com/y26sses7

Uniden Bearcat SDS-200 Base Scanner On Its Way I hope that you have enjoyed my review of the Uniden Bearcat SDS-100 scanner in Scanning Scene last month (RadioUser, March 2019: 39-41). Meanwhile, Karl H spotted that the Uniden SDS-200 was getting ready for release. The SDS-200 is essentially a base version of the SDS-100. Uniden says there are some enhancements. By peering at the photographs of the set, I can see there is an RJ-45 (network) connector on the back of the scanner. Reading around, it looks like there will be remote-control and remote-listening functions. Therefore, you should be able to leave your SDS-200 connected at home and listen to it on your laptop or even mobile phone, on the go. What we know so far is that, according to Uniden, “the SDS200 incorporates the latest True I/Q receiver technology, which provides the best digital decode performance in the industry, even in challenging receive environments. Highlights include: True I/Q™ Receiver, TrunkTracker X, Direct Ethernet Connectivity for Streaming and Control, Complete USA/Canada Radio Database, Location Control for Simple Operation and 3.5” Customizable Display. The SDS200 offers TrunkTracker X technology and sup-

Fig. 1: The RTL-SDR dongle and antenna I used for the experiments detailed in this column.

ports  APCO P25 Phase I and II, Motorola, EDACS, LTR Trunking, MotoTRBO Capacity + and Connect +**, DMR Tier III**, Hytera XPT**, Single-Channel DMR**, NXDN 4800 and 9600** and EDACS ProVoice**. The Sentinel database only works within North America, and digital mode updates will cost you extra. [Additional or third-party software may be required, and the ’**’ means that paid upgrades will be required for DMR, NXDN, and ProVoice monitoring – Ed.]. All of which does sound pretty similar to the SDS-100 in a base package! If you’re looking seriously at the SDS-200, you’ll most likely want the upgrade to allow decoding of DMR, which looks likely to be an extra £50. On January 2nd 2019, Uniden stated that the receiver was FCC-approved. Therefore, by the time you read this, it should be reaching retailers. [We’re hoping to get hold a model to review and share more details with you very soon TK/GW.].

Plotting Aircraft Positions on a Map I was idly listening to the air trafic over the West Country at the weekend – mostly commercial trafic, heading to North America or to Ireland. For me, and many

others, it may be interesting to see where the aircraft you are hearing is actually located. There are some websites, which you can use to track aircraft around you, for example, Flightradar24.com. I use the 360radar site, which – although you pay a small subscription fee – does cover military and police trafic, as well as civil aviation. Of course, you can also track aircraft by receiving ADS-B transmissions from them. You have probably read about ADS-B elsewhere, but if you need a quick catch-up, take a look at this resource: https://tinyurl.com/otn5yt7 ADS-B transmissions are on 1090MHz. Receiving them takes a simple USB stick (Fig. 1), a small aerial, and some software for your computer. Some of the advertisers in RadioUser carry adverts for the FlightAware dongles, which work really well with a RaspberryPi computer (see below). Alternatively, you can search eBay for an ‘RTL-SDR dongle’ (Fig. 1). Look for ‘R820T2’ (the tuner) in the description. You can get them for around £6. Rather than ill the column up with instructions of how to set things up, I’ll point you at the Quick Start Guide on the excellent RTLSDR.COM website. It is well worth a look for an idea of the sorts of things that you

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Scanning Scene

TIM KIRBY

can try. There are instructions for how to set up a dongle on Windows, Linux and Macintosh computers. A very popular option is to use a RaspberryPi as the computer to receive and decode the signals from aircraft. You can ind the ‘Quick Start Guide’ here: https://tinyurl.com/y8crp25o Assuming that you are using Windows, there is a tutorial on how to use the ADSB# decoder to receive data from aircraft, at this address: https://tinyurl.com/ycee7rl4 Although it’s not ideal, you can easily use the aerial which comes with the dongle to receive the aircraft ADS-B transmissions. This works even indoors, although you should try and place the antenna near a window. You should be able to receive aircraft from around 50-70 miles away. Once you get hooked – as you surely will – then there are some designs for making your own aerial. This will probably prove more effective than the basic antenna. If like me, you use a Mac, you can easily set up an ADS-B decoder using an RTL-SDR dongle. You can install Macports and then install the rtl_sdr software. Once you have done that, you can follow instructions similar to those for the Raspberry Pi, to install the dump1090 ADS-B decoder (Fig. 2). You should look for the ‘Malcolm Robb’ version. There are also some commercial units such as the Airspy and the SDRPlay units. These can be considerably more sensitive than the simple RTL-SDR dongles. If you install an ADS-B receiver and run it regularly, you should consider feeding your data into the various plotting networks. It’s a way of giving back to the hobby in some respects. The networks are always looking for people to run receiving stations, especially if you are in an out-of-the-way place, such as a far-flung island or coastal spot in the Highlands or on the Irish coast. And if you are not, your data is still welcome. Although you will probably see the same high altitude aircraft as everyone else, aircraft at lower altitudes will only be detected over a fairly small area of ground.

It’s Not Just Aircraft Either There’s plenty of other things that you can do with your RTL-SDR dongle once it’s installed. You can install a bit of SDR software – depending on which operating system you are using – and use it as a receiver. For example, I installed a bit of software called rtl_433. This allows you to monitor the unlicensed bands around 433, 868, 315 and 915MHz. I tried this out on the 433MHz

2 KEVIN HEWITT

3

Fig. 2: An example of the output from dump1090, receiving ADS-B signals from the RTL-SDR dongle with indoor aerial. Fig.3: The control desk of the OB vehicle of the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation.

band, and I was able to see data from our wireless thermometers and those of our neighbours! There is a myriad of other sensors transmitting on 433MHz, and rtl_433 is able to decode many of them and display the data. If you want more information about this, you can obtain the software from this source: https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433 There is a post on using the rtl_433 software at this URL: https://tinyurl.com/y2lokn7g I told my friend Mike about the rtl_433 utility, and he attached the dongle to his 70cm amateur band beam, pointed at a local centre of population and received all sorts of signals including cars’ tyre pressure monitoring systems, oil tank level monitors for houses, smart electricity meters, as well as multiple types of weather

stations! As he said, there is no need to buy a weather station, with all those data being transmitted. To give you an idea of how busy the band is, Mike recorded almost 3,000 transmissions in around an hour on the 433MHz band. Intrigued by this, I popped my computer and RTL_SDR dongle in the car when I was travelling to the local supermarket. Once parked up, I started the rtl_433 program. Rather than outputting the data of the program to the screen, I saved it as a Comma Separated Variable (.csv) ile. After a few minutes, I halted the program and imported the .csv ile into Microsoft Excel (you can use any spreadsheet program). I could now see the information that I had captured. It was mostly tyre pressure management systems on Citroen, Renault, Ford and Toyota vehicles. I could see the

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Scanning Scene

DAVID S.

various tyre pressure readings for different vehicles. Having the data in a spreadsheet means you can analyse it and get a good sense of what signals you are seeing. If – like one person that I saw talking about rtl_433 – you live close to a major trunk road or motorway, you will discover a lot of data on 433MHz coming from cars travelling past you. If you have not yet had a play with one of the RTL-SDR dongles – and if you enjoy playing around the boundaries of radio and computers – I can recommend it as an interesting and rewarding experiment. In terms of ‘bang for your buck,’ there’s a lot of fun to be had, for a very small outlay, with an RTL-SDR dongle and software. If you have not tried using an SDR before, this may well enthuse you to look at the subject in some more depth – with a better quality receiver. However, the cheap dongles are a great place to start. [Check out our column on SoftwareDeined Radio, by Andrew Barron – Ed.].

Talking Rubbish A couple of weeks ago, there was some tropospheric enhancement on VHF/UHF, and I was delighted to be hearing marine band transmissions here in landlocked Oxfordshire. The accents were Liverpudlian; when I got home, I was searching around to see if I could get any sense of what I’d heard. Googling VHF in the Liverpool area, I found a very humorous entry on one forum, saying that all they heard on VHF was radio hams ‘talking rubbish’ So, a gentle reminder to all of us who have amateur licences that we are being listened to by more people than we may think!

Listening Post From Gibraltar, our reader Kevin heard local air trafic control giving US Marine Osprey aircraft permission to fly over Runway 09 at a low level. Kevin reported, “The Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation hosted an Open Day on the 12th December 2018, to raise money for local charities on the Rock. The satellite uplink truck was parked in the alleyway beside John Macintosh Hall, it was plain white, with no company logos, and the dish was not deployed. The truck was being used as an audio/video mixing suite, and also, by the director, to instruct the sound and camera crew (Fig. 3).” https://www.gbc.gi Russian cosmonauts conducted an EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity), common-

Fig. 4: SSTV image from the ISS, received by David S with his portable scanner and mobile phone.

ly referred to as a ‘Spacewalk’, on the 11th December, between 1600 and 2200 UTC. Kevin monitored communications between the cosmonauts (on 121.100 and 121.275MHz FM) and the ISS (130.167MHz FM) during a 13° pass over the Rock, from the Bay of Gibraltar. Using an Alinco DJ-X3, with a 2-element ‘rabbit-ears’ aerial, he heard nothing. However, 5 minutes later, as the pass continued over Europe, a station in Greece reported receiving one minute of audio from the ISS on 130.167MHz, using an RTLSDR dongle with a turnstile antenna. Roger B also received audio from the ISS on 130.167MHz, and the cosmonaut on 121.100MHz was breaking through the squelch a few times. Roger used an Icom IC-R7000 and a Diamond discone aerial. David S from Yorkshire was listening to

the downlink of the ISS when it was transmitting Slow Scan Television (SSTV). On January 31st (Fig. 4) David listened with a Uniden Bearcat UBC-125XLT scanner and a telescopic whip antenna, feeding the audio to an SSTV decoder on his iPhone. The following day, February 1st, David listened to a schools contact between an astronaut on the ISS and a school in Portugal. David had great reception and used his Uniden UBC-125XLT scanner and a SkyScan magnetic mount antenna on his car. If you have been thinking of getting in touch but haven’t done so, please do! It will be great to hear from you and it will ensure that I include a wide variety of topics in the column. [Next month, look out for our review of the FlightAware Pro Stick/ Raspberry Pi ADS-B receiving combination - Ed.].

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On opening the box of the Icom IC-7610 not only will you be radiotoday guide to HF data on FT8 & PSK starts by explaining Fully revised to reflect the changes introduced in Syllabus 2019 the Full Licence Manual contains all of the information required to excited but perhaps you will surprised by how many settings how to set up a modern digital modes station using just a PC and move to the final stage of amateur radio licensing. Written to match the Full licence syllabus the book is broken down into logical and controls there are to learn. This should not deter you as a transceiver. Detailed and very practical discussions then explain sections. Licence conditions are covered in detail as are operating techniques and amateur radio safety. As you would expect, there this is where this book comes in. From the first steps with the the monitoring and operating procedures required. Covering the are sections covering technical matters such as circuits, semi-conductors and more. The Transmitter and Receiver are covered in panadapter display and its ‘FIX’ spectrum display mode where WSJT-X 2.0 software including FT8 contest modes for weak detail along with the material required for understanding the Software Defined Radio section of the syllabus. Feeders, Antennas you can see the whole band or just a section of the band such as signals, the book also includes the Fldigi 4.0 freeware for the and Propagation all get chapters of their own, as do Electromagnetic Compatibility and Measurements, All this means that the the CW segment, this book guides you. The biggest advantage myriad of other HF digital modes available. The book even details Licence Manual is the ideal companion to a formal training course. The book is also a useful reference source and many amateurs that the IC-7610 offers over its rivals at a similar price level is the new Fox and Hounds mode. You will find an in-depth discussion the two completely independent receivers, so Andrew explains of modern digital modes from the very practical side but also goes the changes this makes to the way you operate the radio. The on to discuss the technology itself. Concepts such as Forward Error Full Licence Manual is for everyone progressing from the Intermediate licence to the Full licence and is the best route to touchscreen controls are explained so you get to know the radio Correction (FEC), Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRC) and Fourier through using it and through delving into every control and menu analysis that at first appear complex are explained. radio radiotoday setting. There are tips on troubleshooting and guides to particular guide to HF data on FT8 & PSK ensures that the requirement of advanced mathematical skills before you can decipher this technology been (3rd removed. The book explains in a simplified Advance The Full Licencehas Book Edition) The IC-7610 is a truly exceptional radio and if you are interested in purchasing one orPrice: even already have one this guide provides RSGB Members’ invaluable reading. (25% OFF) £8.99Many features are also applicable to other If you are interested in using FT8 or other HF digital modes or even is thewith thirdthe course-book in in thethe RSGB series for2.0 software then radiotoday Icom SDR radios and the insight into the art This of thebook possible possibilities new WSJT-X those interested in obtaining a full amateur radio licence for guide to HF data on FT8 & PSK provides the ideal starting point.

Digital Radio

Multiplex Changes Kevin Ryan reports on DAB changes in the UK, evaluates recent Ofcom proposals that might bring more DAB+, and previews DRM receivers on display at BES 2019. Kevin Ryan [email protected]

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n the 4th February 2019, Absolute Radio 90s moved from the Digital 1 (D1) multiplex to the Sound Digital (D2) multiplex. This is the second coverage boost for Absolute Radio 90s. In 2016, it joined the D2 multiplex having previously been only on local multiplexes. The SDL (D2) multiplex is consistently reported as being full. I checked this out, and all the 864 Capacity Units (CU) are allocated. This is the first time I have seen exactly 864 CUs being used. Bauer, the owner of the stations, removed Heat Radio making 80kb/s available for Absolute Radio 90s. Following this change, the multiplex is back at full capacity again but other changes are underway. On the 11th of February, sister station KISSTORY moved in the opposite direction, to reach even more listeners via the Digital 1 multiplex, where it will sit alongside the main KISS station. Magic Chilled is replacing Absolute Radio 90s on a number (Ofcom lists 15) of local multiplexes. Magic Soul is expanding in the north of England on the Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire and South Yorkshire multiplexes. https://tinyurl.com/y3o3hrng

Scala Radio On March 4th, Bauer successfully launched a new classical music station in stereo, Scala Radio (Fig. 1), featuring the former Radio 2 DJ, Simon Mayo. There will 80 kb/s data capacity available after KISSTORY moves. The January 2019 Broadcast Update from Ofcom noted the removal of Magic Chilled from the SDL multiplex making a further 32 kb/s capacity available for reuse.There is now a total of 112kbs/s available for Scala Radio. If Scala actually opts to use DAB+ I think it will need a minimum data rate of 48kb/s. I base this estimate on the configuration used by RTE Lyric FM on the Dublin small

scale DAB multiplex. To get nearer to FM quality Scala should aim for 80-96 kits/s but I doubt they will secure all of it. I wondered if Bauer would opt for a joint stereo DAB at 112 kb/s. I certainly hope not but with about 50% of digital radio receivers only able to decode DAB, it could happen until the station is established. My prediction came true, and Scala Radio started testing on the 19th of February in DAB at 112kbits/s. The Bauer website states that Scala Radio will offer ‘classical music for modern life’, with a promise that, ‘Scala Radio is set to be the biggest launch in UK classical music radio in nearly thirty years’. Bauer goes on to predict that ‘Scala Radio anticipates explosive growth in the genre and an ever-growing cross-over into the mainstream - the new station will break the mould of classical music in the UK’. Only time will tell what this means in practice. I listened to a bonus podcast from the BBC’s The Media Show, in which Bauer Media’s Steve Parkinson explained the strategy behind Scala Radio. I found the podcast high on marketing jargon but low of actual information. To be fair to Steve Parkinson, I thought that the BBC presenter treated him like the ‘upstart kid on the block’! Scala Radio aims to position the station between BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Like Virgin Radio, with Chris Evans as their leading presenter, Scala’s ‘flagshippresenter’ is Simon Mayo who also left BBC Radio 2. Reading the promotional material in some recent Sunday newspapers, it seems that Scala wants to attract listeners who like the music from Simon Mayo’s old BBC Radio 2 show and also listen to Classic FM. I don’t think they can hope to win a big share of the BBC Radio 3’s listenership. www.scalaradio.co.uk If you want to learn more about the extensive Bauer radio portfolio, visit their website. On it, you will find ‘mediapacks’ and potted descriptions of each radio station. Bauer continues to grow,

Fig.1: Scala Radio plans to win listeners from both the BBC and Classic FM.

and they recently acquired the Wireless Group’s portfolio of local radio stations. The Wireless Group plans to focus on their national radio brands of TalkSport and Virgin networks. The Wireless Group owns SwitchDigital, which operates six local multiplexes. https://tinyurl.com/y66l4xln https://www.wirelessgroup.co.uk/home http://www.switchdigital.com

RAJAR Figures The listening figures for the last quarter of 2018 shifted significantly, for some stations, from those for the third quarter. BBC 6 Music remains the most listened to digital-only station, even though listeners dropped by 2% over the year. This reflects a 3.5% decline in the total hours that we listen to the radio and a 1% decline in the number of people listening to the radio. BBC Radio 4 Extra is back to the number 2 spot after KISSTORY’s listenership dropped by over 16% on its Q3/2018 peak. Have listeners moved to Smooth, Heart and Heat, which are due to become online stations? The Magic network (Fig. 2) is attracting more listeners to all its niche stations. The biggest loser (down over 37%) that I spotted is BBC Radio 5 Live Extra, and

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PICTURES: KEVIN RYAN

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the biggest increase is in Absolute Radio 90s listenership, up 30%. Other stations have bigger swings, but they broadcast on several bands, so I don’t feature them in my Top 10. https://tinyurl.com/yb8y7g4z

News from Europe Many EU countries are ramping up their deployment of DAB. Here are two of the many developments: At the end of 2018, the French regulator, (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, CSA) announced that - with the successful launch of DAB+ services in Lyon and Strasbourg, Paris, Nice, Marseille and Lille - 21.3% of the French population is now covered by digital radio broadcasts. You might think that this is a fair start, but the real significance is in passing the 20% threshold, which triggers a law requiring all new radios sold in France to include DAB+. Consumer radios will need to be digital within 12 months, and automotive radios will need to comply within 18 months. Existing DAB or DMB devices need to be upgraded to DAB+ in three months. DAB+ coverage is planned to reach 50% of the population by the end of 2019 and 70% of the population by the end of 2020. Meanwhile, Austria launches a nationwide DAB+ service in three phases starting on 28th May 28, 2019, and completing in September 2020. It is run by ORS, the national transmitter operator. Almost 85 per cent of the Austrian population will be able to receive up to 14 broadcasting stations, but only eight seem definite signups at the moment.

An Ofcom Consultation Ofcom issued a consultation early February 2019. It proposes wide-ranging changes in three areas of the Digital Radio Technical Code and Guidance documents that were last revised in 2014. All three come under the umbrella of DAB planning because they cover potential interference to other stations and use of DAB+.

Some New Transmitters Ofcom is looking ahead to the rollout of small-scale DAB, where a large number of what they term ‘modestlypowered’ transmitter sites will be

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built, possibly affecting existing DAB transmissions. The 2014 regulations are not suited to the needs or the budgets of the small DAB community requiring interference calculations, Ofcom calls this Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI). Ofcom proposes ‘receiver-blocking’, using specialist computer software; it put forward proposals to mitigate any effects including building additional DAB transmitters. You can imagine how much time and effort this could take; current regulations have no timescales within which affected will broadcasters need to respond. In summary, the regulations are more suited to the big multiplex operators such as Muxco and Arqiva. Ofcom also suggests that theoretical calculations be replaced by a ‘Drive-Test’ (Fig. 3). With this, actual measurements are made, in the immediate vicinity of the proposed transmitter site, before and after the new transmitter is switched on. A small-scale DAB operator would carry out a simple, non-mathematical, selfassessment and rate the ACI risk as Red, Amber or Green.They then would have to liaise with existing operators who need to respond in an agreed time. Ofcom recommends that multiplex operators should erect temporary transmission sites to carry out such tests. I welcome the move from theoreticalonly to more practical measurements, but these will be carried out by broadcast

Fig. 2: The stations in the Magic network: RAJAR figures confirm their popularity. Fig. 3: An Ofcom ‘Drive Test’ contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence (v3.0). Extracted from the Consultation: Revision to Digital Radio Technical Code 2019.

engineers using expensive test receivers in the main. Domestic type receivers may produce quite different results. Blocking occurs in receivers where a strong, unwanted, signal affects the AGC, reducing the gain of the RF stages. This makes the reception of the wanted signal difficult or even impossible.

Spectral Masks Ideally, a DAB transmitter should not radiate any power outside its 1.536MHz bandwidth, but in the real world, it does. A ‘spectral mask’ is a plot of RF energy that defines how much power can be radiated into adjacent frequencies containing other multiplexes. In shape, it is like a bandpass filter. There are two versions of the DAB spectral mask, called ‘critical’ and ‘noncritical’ (Fig. 4). The critical mask limits most unwanted radiated power to within +/- 0.97MHz of the channel centre frequency. The non-critical variety allows for more power to be radiated into adjacent frequencies, between 0.97 and 3MHz from the centre of the DAB signal. Ofcom is inviting views on whether it

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Digital Radio

should allow more widespread use of the non-critical spectral mask, especially where DAB multiplexes are adjacent to Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) stations. Permitting use of a less stringent mask could allow simpler, lowercost, filters to be used by broadcasters.

More DAB+ Currently, the Technical Code states that DAB+ can only be used when specifically permitted by Ofcom because the default is that conventional DAB audio encoding will normally be used. However, DAB+ compatible receivers have become increasingly widespread in recent years and DAB+ is now used more widely. Ofcom also proposes to remove the 30% limited for DAB+ usage set for the D2 multiplex. In the future, multiplex operators and station owners will decide when to use DAB+, as they are best placed to decide if it makes commercial sense. The proposal includes other changes that bring the 2014 Code in line with the EN 300 401 ETSI standard. These include the removal of monitoring points (directional coupler) at single multiplex transmitter sites, and changes to how the allocation of Service ID (SID) and Transmitter Identification (TII) codes is handled in the future. https://tinyurl.com/yxvgrk2h

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BES 2019 India has the most extensive DRM network in the world, so I am always keen to see what might appear in the DRM booth at the Broadcast Engineering Society (BES) exhibition in India. Some of the regular suppliers were there, such as Gospell (GR216) and Avion Electronics (AV-1401). The AV-1401 receiver has been redesigned, and the new variant sells for about £70 (Rs 6599 + taxes). However, the company only sells within India for the moment. The Avion Electronics website says the price is about £77 (Rs 7200). However, this is aimed at re-sellers wanting to buy in bulk. Reportedly, the model will be available to buy online in the future but who knows what that means other than a rise in price. The designers of the Starwave radio are seeking third parties to order their receiver in large quantities, to make tooling up their production lines worthwhile. The magic figure seems to be about 10,000 units, although Starwave quotes a $50/unit price for a run of 1,000 units. https://tinyurl.com/y2cqe2px The kit that really caught my eye was the first real output from a startup called

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Inntot. They showcased two products from their Echo range, one for DRM 30 (AM bands) and one for DRM+ (Band I/II/ III). These are SDR implementations using the familiar ARM processor, and they can be integrated into all sorts of devices, such as receivers and mobile phone adapters (Fig. 5). http://www.inntot.com/drm_ip_.html I am also excited about GeekSynergy, which aims to produce DRM decoders for the radio enthusiast. Their website shop lists a DRM software decoder for £1 (Rs100), out of stock, but that just seems too cheap. Other sources quote $5. https://shop.geeksynergy.com/

Fig. 4: The non-critical mask allows more energy to leak into the adjacent channels. Fig. 5: Can you imagine DRM reception on a mobile device? Possible, but perhaps unlikely, in practice...

Summary It seems DAB is going to be ‘unshackled’ by Ofcom who need to get their small-scale DAB plans in motion with the minimum of technical obstacles. Once again there is excitement in the world of DRM, but will anyone start manufacturing receivers in large numbers? Will China step in, now the country is the world’s leading Short Wave DRM broadcaster?

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Network Radio

Getting Out and About The clocks are going forward, and Spring is arriving! This is always a good time to be thinking of using the radio outdoors. Network radio (NR) lends itself particularly well to portable operation. ROY BLAKEMORE G1IKF

Chris Rolinson [email protected] ince NR is ‘QRPp-radio’ (very low power), it has many advantages, of which battery life is just one. In the UK nowadays, we are increasingly in a position where at least one cell network, and probably more, will have some kind of data coverage in most areas. For outdoors, you could consider a provider like Anywhere SIM. https://anywheresim.com This will let you roam between UK networks, getting the best signal, wherever you are. Expensive though! You may end up ‘offgrid’ in some of the remoter parts of the UK. However, as Roy G1IKF discovered last year (RadioUser, October 2018: ) 4G coverage around Loch Ness was much better than VHF/UHF amateur coverage (Fig. 1). It is, nonetheless, worth thinking through a few issues before going outdoors. Many NR units have removable batteries, just like traditional ones. Iinvesting in a spare battery might be useful. Power banks are also cheap these days and can supply power for a variety of devices, for a long day out. Replacement antennas can be sourced, and a few hardy souls (like ‘Hairy Paul’ NR707) have even been known to play with Yagi antennas for the cell phone bands, plugging them into an NR’s antenna socket. One cannot underestimate the coverage boost you will get to your signal in a remote area if you can have gain on both transmit and receive! I am hopeful we might hear more on this in a future column, by the way. But perhaps the easiest thing about using NR outdoors is that you probably already have it on whatever device you normally carry with you. Just load up Zello or Teamspeak or whatever is your favourite platform and off you go! If the 21st Century is about anything, it is convenience, and NR has that in spades!

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Complaints! One of Ofcom’s jobs is to keep track of

Fig.1: Working best on Loch Lomond.

complaints about Mobile Network operators. The latest set of figures are revealing (Fig. 2). For those of us using Wi-Fi to connect to a Network, clearly, Sky is doing a lot to keep folk happy. When it comes to mobile networks, Tesco takes some beating, though EE, O2 and Three perform well too. Bearing in mind that these are the number of complaints per 100,000 users though, figures remain reassuringly small for all companies.

Supporting Innovation In a recent publication, Ofcom outlines how the radio spectrum is being managed to help supporting wireless innovation. The key points and recommendations in this document are as follows:

1. Recognising that access to the RF spectrum is critical to enable further wireless connectivity 2. Ensuring that the spectrum is not an inhibitor to innovation 3. Making more spectrum available for licence-exempt use 4. Looking at greater shared access to RF 5. Driving investment in Fibre-Optic networks https://tinyurl.com/y573sgw6 This is linked with the roll-out of the forthcoming 5G spectrum. One advantage of this could well be a reduction in network latency. The Internet of Things (IoT) will need high reliability, as well as a virtually instant response. Whether or not this will find its way into our hobby, we will have to wait and

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OFCOM

OFCOM

Fig. 3: Will this have Android Soon?

for every button, add a Broadcast Intent to either single tap (assuming you don’t use this device for dialling numbers), double tap or long press.  3. In the field “action” add “com.dfl.knob” (without inverted commas!) 4. In the field “key:value” add “frequencyNum:XX” where XX is the number of the channel (01, 02...) 5. Save it and check if it works!  Filip says he only uses it for a few channels, but you can add more. Users who have tried this, report that it works really well. Fig. 2: Ofcom Complaints Table for Q3/18.

see. In any case, it is great to be alive in this age of network-driven RF.

An Inrico T320 Tip (which might work elsewhere!) I recently came across a useful snippet of information on the T320 Facebook Group from Android enthusiast Filip Everaert NR001. Apparently, you can map the 0-9 hardware buttons on the radio to go directly to a channel in Zello (and possibly even also individual contacts) – now that’s nifty! You do this, by using the ‘donated’ (paid) version of the Button Mapper software as follows: 1. Rename the channels you want to add to 01 ‘name’, 02 ‘name’ and so on 2. Add the buttons in Button Mapper and

Zello in the News The Techigem website named Zello their number 1 PTT app for 2019, something which pleased the company, who posted about it on their blog. As Techigem said, “…occupying the first position… Zello is not only the best walkie-talkie app available on (the) market but is also the most popular amongst its contenders.” Check out the full list here: https://tinyurl.com/y6a49nzr What is interesting from this link is the sheer number of PTT apps there are available. Remember these are just neutral platforms on which we as NR hobbyists can build our systems, so there is nothing to stop us using any or indeed all of them. It also goes some way to allaying the fears of those who say, ‘What happens if

Zello goes bust?’ I suspect there is always going to be one platform or another available to us hobbyists…

Zello Expanding On the ‘going bust myth’, a recent Zello press release informed us that they were actually still expanding! In addition to CEO Bill Moore and Founder Alexey Gavrilov, they have now hired 4 new executive members to ‘round out’ their top team. Enter a Vice-President of Marketing, a Director of Engineering, and Head of Sales & Customer Operations and a Director of Operations. The official line is that Zello is, “scaling its leadership and company structure and is poised to accelerate growth and take advantage of market traction.” The press release was at pains to point out that Zello remains a profitable business. Current customers include such big guns as Honda, Restoration Hardware, Starwood/ Marriott, Uniqlo, Waste Management, and YRC Freight. As hobbyists, we don’t see much of the commercial side of Zello, so it is reassuring to hear such news.

A Tiger in your Trunk? Adam Lowery posted news of a new PoC Trunking radio on Facebook recently. The TID (Tiger International Developments) M5 (Fig. 3) is a fascinating device, but cur-

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Network Radio

NIKO CAIGNIE NR515

4 NIKO CAIGNIE NR515

Fig. 4: An Impressive TM7+ Installation. Fig. 5: The Switch between battery and radio is well-positioned.

rently runs on the professional ‘Real PTT’ platform on Linux. However, Adam informs us that there is some talk of an Androidderivative for other markets!

New Website Niko Caignie NR515 from Belgium has posted a professional-looking website about Network Radio. Beautifully designed, it is already filling up with really useful material for the hobbyist: www.nr515.be There’s a very useful repository of selfpenned ‘Manuals for Beginners’, useful articles on how to use the devices and some links to other places on the web where further help can be found. One article that particularly took my attention addressed how Niko installed his TM-7+ into the roof console of his Isuzu pick-up truck. You can read it here: https://tinyurl.com/yxj6tdp5 There is even some video too! As you can see from the photos in Figs. 4 and 5, he did an excellent job!

Awards Corner! Regular correspondent Dave Lees G0PDL has won an award for a talk he gave on Network Radio to the Solihull Amateur Radio Society. Each year, the club awards the ‘Frank Bridges Trophy’ to the person they think

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gives the best talk. Dave reports that his presentation, ‘Network Radio, an introduction to the concept, equipment and the NR Suite of channels on Zello’, was voted best of 2018 by the members. Cue a return visit, to pick up the trophy (Fig. 6). Read more on Dave’s blog: https://tinyurl.com/y34ahpu8

Network Radios and the Visually Impaired I frequently find myself listening in to conversations on Network Radio and I never fail to be amazed at how users are grasping the possibilities of the system. Only today, I happened upon a chat between a visually-impaired operator and his friend. The former wanted advice on how to set up his screen-based Network Radio.

The ‘expected’ conversation took place - along the lines of the Inrico T199 being more ‘suitable’ for him as it didn’t have a screen. But then I learned something new (to me at least). The blind operator stated he would actually prefer a screen-based radio as he could use something called ‘TalkBack’ with it. What was that? Surely someone with visual impairment wouldn’t want an NR with a screen? Well, a little research and it seems ‘TalkBack’ is something baked-in to most recent Android versions. It facilitates ‘eyesfree’ operation of any Android device. Furthermore, it offers vibration and audio feedback to the user and can even read your screen to you. Now I was beginning to understand what the operator was getting at.

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G0PDL

TalkBack, it transpires, has been subsumed into something called the ‘Android Accessibility Suite’ – which ironically doesn’t sound a very ‘accessible’ name for the technology, does it? There is more about this at the following URL: https://tinyurl.com/y2bgehzj To be fair, you probably need Android 7 or higher to take full advantage of this. Table 1 is a list of features included in the suite. The Android Accessibility Suite can be downloaded from here: https://tinyurl.com/yxf7jf45 It is fun to play with, whether you have a sight-related issue or not. What particularly strikes me is that normal PTT radios, due to the less sophisticated software they inevitably use, struggle to make this kind of impact or inroads into working for sight-impaired folk. We probably all know a few sight-impaired friends in our hobby, and it is great to see Google providing fully-fledged tools to allow them to interact better with their Network devices. One final thought - the sight-impaired user made one very salient point – the physical PTT button on Network Radios is of the hugest importance to people like him. Pushing an on-screen PTT button can be fraught with problems - a physical one is much easier to use (Fig. 7). Can we all perhaps remember this, especially when faced with ill thought-through arguments people sometimes throw at NR users along the likes of ‘it’s just a phone’…

6 Fig. 6: Dave G0PDL receives his trophy from Roger G4BBT. Fig. 7: The PTT is what we really, really, like! G7DDN

• The aforementioned TalkBack Screen Reader – which allows you to interact with your device by touch and spoken feedback – it describes your actions and tells you about alerts and notifications • Display Tools - these make the display size and font sizes larger – this can be done on a temporary or permanent basis. There are contrast and colour options too such as high-contrast text, colour inversion and colour correction. • Interaction controls such as Voice Access let you control your device with spoken commands – you can even edit text hands-free! Switch-Access lets you interact with Android using switches or a keyboard. • BrailleBack allows for a refreshable braille display to be connected via Bluetooth and it works in tandem with TalkBack for a combined braille/speech experience • Captions – these can be turned on for Closed Captioning • RTT – Real-time texting – where you can use text to communicate during a call.

And That’s All Folks… While it is foolish to predict anything with 100% certainty, I am very hopeful next month of having an interview with one of the leading lights in the International Radio Network (IRN) – well worth looking forward to. In the meantime, if you have any news, please get in touch via the email address at the top of the column. I am always interested to hear what you have been up to in this exciting and growing part of the hobby. And finally, on that point, did I forget to mention that the Network Radios Zello Channel 00 exceeded 5,000 trusted users at the turn of the year and are now well over halfway towards the 6,000? [As regards matters of safety and accessibility, please check out our new Emergency Communications column in this issue of RadioUser - Ed.].

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Table 1: The Key Features of the Android Accessibility Suite.

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Local Radio

Giving a Voice to the Ribble Valley The editor reports back from a recent visit to his local community radio station, Ribble FM 106.7FM. The station is three years young and has become a news hub and creator of local identity for the Ribble Valley. 1

Georg Wiessala [email protected] t was not the first time I had made the short trip from my home to beautiful Clitheroe, in order to pay a visit to a most remarkable local radio station. A short while ago, I had introduced RadioUser to the region’s radio enthusiasts, during one of the shows on Ribble FM 106.7. This time, however, my visit was more about the station, rather than this magazine, and this short article is the result of my tour of the premises and my chat with the station manager and presenters. Ribble FM 106.7 CIC is a multi-platform community radio station, broadcasting to the Ribble Valley, the UK and the World on FM, through an app, via social media and by

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streaming. The station went ‘live’ on 25th July 2016. Nearly three years later, it has grown into a Community Media Association multi-award winning local broadcaster with a difference. https://www.commedia.org.uk The station is the brainchild of founder and owner Kath Lord-Green, who, in leading Ribble FM in its initial period, truly fulfilled her vision of radio ‘giving a voice to the Ribble Valley’. Two-and-a-half years later, current station manager Lee Roe develops this vision of ‘giving back to the region’ further. For Lee, the station is about the right balance between community orientation and commercial profile. The former is evident in the very strong recognition the station has earned among the approximately 68,000 people who have made the Ribble Valley their home. It is

also clear that Ribble FM 106.7 has grown an ever-expanding network of involvement with schools and art groups, relevant charities such as the Horse and Pony Protection Association, the WI, and with The Grand Venue, on whose premises the station has its HQ. https://www.thegrandvenue.co.uk Lee was proud of the fact that, in conjunction with the station’s founder, he has managed to find a balance between public success, community spirit, and a professional approach to everything the station does, from presentation to social media presence, and from business relations to education. Among the 280 CR stations in the UK, Ribble FM has been further recognised through an award as a Social Enterprise of the Year. It has built a sustainable model of combining business with public ap-

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Fig. 1: Sophie Ahmed, presenting the Ribble FM Brunch Show. Fig. 2: Jonny Green and Katie Green, presenting the Ribble FM Breakfast Show. Fig. 3: Kath Lord Green – station founder and owner and Lee Roe – station manager.

peal ever since. I was very interested to hear that the station has its own, in-house training programme for new presenters, designed for newcomers to this world and providing people of all ages with a host of interpersonal, networking, outreach and presentational skills to be used on radio, and to be carried back to the communities where they are needed. The circle between communities and radio station is, therefore, complete; ‘giving-back’ works. I looked around the studio and learned that the station employs a microwave-link between its main transmitter, one-quarter of a mile away, and the studio, and that – given the geography of the Ribble Valley – ‘siting’ and ‘height’ are, naturally, very important issues. Ribble FM offers shows on a wide array of topics, from music and business, news and traffic updates to agriculture, gardening and culture. Above all, the station has become the ‘news-hub’ for the Ribble Valley. Lee explained that – in a world of nationalised news, it was important to him to offer regional and local topics of interest. For me, this connects with local ‘identities’ – some-

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thing Ribble FM is strong at – and with producing, in the manager’s words, “real radio and real news for real people”. Living in these parts, I can see (or hear, rather) how this works on a daily basis. Future plans for the station include bringing community radio to other parts of Lancashire, and to other communities, and the acquisition of a SS DAB mux to be set up collaboratively in the region with 20 channels. I left Ribble FM with a sense of pride in living here, and with a deeper understanding

of what it takes to run community radio successfully. My thanks go to Ribble FM 106.7 and the team for hosting me. I feel certain that readers will join me in wishing the team all the very best for the future. Please get in touch with the station in Clitheroe, at: Lee Roe (Station Manager) Tel.: 01200 407 373 E-mail: [email protected] www.ribblefm.com

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Utility Monitoring

Nils Schiffhauer, DK8OK [email protected] f you regularly tune over the HF bands, you will have bumped into some strange and enigmatic signals. You may consider ignoring them, but most of them have a specific meaning. Let’s have a look at some of them:

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Ionosondes: Analogue and Digital In the old days of ‘legacy-receivers’, you may occasionally have heard a sharp ‘whistle’ – rising in USB, falling in LSB; or first falling, then rising – tuning into a broadcast station in AM. These signals can still be heard today, and they originate in analogue ionosondes. Their history is rooted in the pioneering years of propagation science in the mid-1920s. They basically consist of a transmitter, continuously tuned across a wide band of HF at a speed of, 100kHz per second or more. Most transmitting antennas force this signal directly overhead. A synchronized receiver analyses the bounced-back signals to write a so-called ionogram. On its way through the ionosphere, and up to the highest frequency being just about refracted, the once-clear signal undergoes a couple of changes, like shifts in frequency and time, and is often split up into different traces, representing different ways of propagation. Robert Hunsucker has provided an overview of all aspects of this technology in his book on Radio Techniques for Probing the Terrestrial Ionosphere (Springer, 1991). There still are several analogue ionosondes around; they are active at different speeds, mostly at 100kHz/second. They draw an oblique line on the spectrograms of your SDRs (Fig. 1). Peter Martinez, G3PLX, has written software, which extracts the information from such echoes and converts it into an ionogram. This technique requires GPSsynchronisation of its 1pps signal. PieterTjerk de Boer at Twente University has implemented this technology in his Web-SDR. Digital ionosondes have been on the air since the late 1960s. The most recent version of a pioneering device, the Digisonde 4D, now steps through its range with short digital pulses of 30kHz width, 16x33,3s length, and with just 2x150W power. The image in Fig. 2 shows an example. Besides Digisonde, there are also other

Ionosondes, Nostradamus & Japanese Slot Machines In this month’s column, Nils Schiffhauer DK8OK tunes into signals and stations, which sound as if they might be are coming from other worlds. Some of them retain their secrets, and some yield them. digital ionosondes, among them INGV-AIS from Italy, CADI from Canada, Dyansonde of NOAA/USA and VIPIR/USA. The latter one has visualized how the Space Shuttle modifies the ionosphere. Take a further look at the resources at the following URLs: https://tinyurl.com/y5svve6u https://tinyurl.com/yxw28aja All ionosondes – analogue as well as digital – show some particularities, in that they have ‘start’ and ‘stop’ frequencies. The stop frequency in incident sounders is lower, whereas oblique sounders often cover the whole HF band and more. This is because the lower the vertical beam angle of the antenna is, the higher will be the frequency that is just bounced back to Earth. Furthermore, many ionosounders omit specific frequencies, for instance, those used for time signals. The Leibniz Institute at Juliusruh, on Rügen Island in Germany, is using such a digital ionosonde but also probes the Mesosphere – at a height from 50 to 90km – with an impulse sounder at around 3180kHz. Thanks to a transmit power of 64kW, it is widely heard with pulses at different kinds of distances: http://tinyurl.com/y473lv5q

Number Stations It has also been proposed to use ionosondes to transmit intelligence messages. HF is an ideal medium for broadcasting in-

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formation for spies. They are often transmitted in five-figure groups of numbers in a variety of languages – as we have seen in this magazine last year (RadioUser May 2018: 47; June 2018: 46; July 2018: 12). Some of them transmit a special ‘signature tune’ or ‘’channel indicator. They have been given nicknames, such as Squeaky Wheel (now changed to a two-tone signal, 3828/ night, 5473kHz/ day), The Pip (3756 kHz/ night – Fig. 3 – and 5448 kHz/ day) or the notorious Buzzer on 4625 and 6998kHz. Locations, purpose and content of those stations are often shrouded in some mystery, and this has produced a rich literature. Among the more serious sources is Ary Boender’s page on Numbers and Oddities. More recently, direction-finding has unveiled at least some secrets. With the help of the TDoA Module of the KiwiSDR Net,

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the Buzzer has been pinpointed to a location south-west of Moscow; you can search Google Maps for ‘UVB-76 near Naro-Fominsk’. www.numbersoddities.nl https://tinyurl.com/yxz2nacg

The Dispatcher Who Came in from the Cold Even many avid SWLs are not aware of a busy HF net of the Russian Railways, mainly on 2130kHz with male and female voices and some signalling. Signals are specified as NFM, but some look more like AM. At a time when most other railways communicate on VHF and UHF, Russian Railways still uses this channel (and 2150kHz), with a power of up to 10W over a range of ‘typically 10km’, mainly for dispatchers’ communications. For listeners in Western Europe, 2130 kHz sounds crowded during the hours of dawn and dusk. Only rarely will you manage to pick up some distinctive words of Russian, like names of cities.

Over the Horizon: HF Radars Even with fleets of spying satellites flying over our heads each second, there still seems the need for a radar looking ‘over the horizon’ – hence OTHR. One big installation in Europa is NOSTRADAMUS, located 80km west of Paris. The operators have produced

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a video to show its general function. Like many OTHRs, this one is of the ‘sweeping’ type; the signal goes from the lower to the upper limit of the channel, or vice versa. NOSTRADAMUS features a sweep rate of 30ms. An OTHR system analyses the reflected signals and compares them with the transmitted signal. Smart algorithms separate propagation effects and sea clutter out from the intended targets, which are planes and vessels. The 3D pictures produced are the result of massive PC power and ingenious design work. All military OTHRs change their frequency and other parameters according to their needs. NOSTRADAMUS operates within a zone of one hop, or nearly 3,000km. Other countries, like the UK (PLUTO, from the Akrotiri Base on Cyprus), the USA, Russia (‘29B6’), China, and even Australia, have their own OTHR systems. Down Under, the JINDLAEE system explicitly detects immigrant vessels, thanks to its unique transmission format of 16 blocks with a falling sweep rate, separated by a carrier of 200ms duration (Fig. 4). While we find military OTHRs on many (and ever-changing) frequencies, this is not the case with (mostly) civilian OTHRs situated on sea shores to measure the height of waves and the strength/direction of currents. CODAR is the leading producer of sophisticated equipment in this area. The

Fig.1: Two analogue ionosondes running diagonally through the HF range around 14MHz. Fig. 2: A digital ionosonde works with discrete steps of pulses and a specific structure. Fig. 3: ‘The Pip’ is a signal, which attracts conspiracy theories. Fig. 4: The unique 16 blocks of different sweep rates for the Australian Jindalee HF Radar are separated by a carrier of 200ms in length – on the left, a sweep rate of 10Hz; on the right, one of 4Hz.

technical data reveal usage from 4300 to 5400, 11500 to 14000kHz and from 24 to 27MHz on HF. Despite their small antennas and their relatively low power, of rarely more than a 100W, their sweeping signal is a real pain to listeners in the 60m band. http://tinyurl.com/yy48afk7 https://tinyurl.com/y5fb5d9n https://tinyurl.com/y62m8kwn

Short Signals: Frequency-Hopping Frequency hopping is a technique employed to render communications more secure. It separates any digital content into small chunks of only a few milliseconds in duration and then scatters the pieces, like rice at a wedding, over a wide range of channels. The receiver knows this pattern and is assembling all the pieces back together. This technique has many fathers, Marconi and Tesla among them, and one glorious mother, Hedy Lamarr. SWLs will

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notice of this technique only by its characteristic short blips. One exception is the eight distinctive double-pulses to synchronize Panther-H equipment of Racal-Thales. If you see 2 x 8 bursts at about 100kHz distance, you are witness to a duplex connection (Fig. 5). https://tinyurl.com/ydhdn3n

And There is More There are so many ‘weird’ signals out there, that one could easily write two books about them – a bigger one, describing the signals, and a smaller tome revealing organisations, codes and locations. You will encounter signals which look funny like the Japanese Slot Machine on 6250kHz, South African’s Navy with the Multi-Mode SAAB-Grintek Modem (6340 and 8603kHz), and many multi-frequency-shift-keyed signals (MFSK). You may also hear some scrambled voice from the Austrian Federal Army at UNIFIL Headquarters, in Lebanon or – combined with an FSK signal – from other points of the world. One example is shown in Fig. 6. Here, an analogue speech scrambler is combined with clear voice and FSK data, both carrying the code. There are mysteriously channel markers of companies like Kierans & Associates LLC, recently heard on 16985kHz. “Each signal is information”, as Roland Proesch, the renowned technical author, says. And some may be even produced by yourself or your neighbours.

There are so many ‘weird’ signals out there, that one could easily write two books about them fences. Most of those sources just add to the usual background of noise, raising it by a few decibels. Some of them may be identified, such as Power Line Communications (PLC). PLC technology transmits the internet via the mains cables – not least on HF – making it into a good antenna. Even most certified devices can block some amateur radio bands and cover large parts of the entire spectrum with nasty noise. To address this, first, trace all sources of interference in your own house. Remember, a device in ‘standby’ mode may well be a source of interference too. Change your PLC network to WLAN, where repeaters might give you the coverage you want.

Help your neighbours to install WLAN too, if possible. Moreover, there are – of all things – industrial plastic welding machines around. These may also transmit on HF, centred around 6780, 13567, and 27120kHz. They are perfectly legal and can be received from nearly everywhere on the globe, thanks to their HF power of tens of kW, propagation permitting. However, these are restricted to a few dedicated ISM Channels, for industrial, scientific and medical purposes on HF. All in all, it seems that, yet again, HF presents us with more things between Ionosphere and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy. Apologies to Shakespeare, for adapting Hamlet.

HF from your Neighbourhood All electronic devices are HF transmitters. From your flat screen to its switching power supply, to PCs and the controls for someone’s solar power devices; even the countryside is not a silent place any more, with the ‘click-click’ emanating from electric

Fig. 5: Two CODAR transmitters of different sweep directions and pulse lengths (left) are crossing out other signals.

Fig. 6: Scrambled voice is mixed with FSK data and a clear, computerised, voice (October 2018, 2406kHz).

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Book Review

Taking on Hate, Delusion and Prejudice on Talk Radio David Harris mydogisfi[email protected] This month, David Harris evaluates an important book reflecting contemporary levels of hate and prejudice in British society. It was written by an author who encounters extremist views in his everyday talk radio work. This is a ‘state-of-the-nation’ book, which holds up a mirror to contemporary British society. What is reflected back is a disturbing picture of racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, misogyny, prejudice and ignorance. The man holding up the mirror is radio talk show host, James O’Brien (b. 1972) who, for the last 14 years, has hosted phone-in programmes on LBC. The station broadcasts on 97.3MHz FM in the London area, and on DAB to most of the UK. James is a person of liberal views, who – on a daily basis – confronts callers, many of whom have offensive opinions. He sees his role as to try to understand why people hold extreme views and to defuse some of the - frequently very irrational - viewpoints put to him He suggests that certain parts of the tabloid press are responsible for the scaremongering that stokes up such hatred, particularly amongst the ignorant. He also suggests that some people actually enjoy being frightened and need some minority group to vent their prejudice against. He likens this to the fact that “it has always been easier and more lucrative to sell tickets for the ghost train than for the speak-your-weight machine”. Each chapter of the book addresses a particular form of prejudice, and the author uses transcripts from phone-ins to demonstrate the irrational, poorly thought-out, views of many of his callers. He begins with Islam, which, since ‘9/11’, has become the main target of prejudice in the UK. Many callers see all Muslims as somehow being complicit in Islamic-inspired terrorism. This situation, along with most other bias, is inflamed through the media and the unregulated internet. O’Brien suggests that people have lost the desire to question what they are being told. Anyone can post untruths on the internet and create a ‘following’, which

James O’Brien How to be Right - In a World Gone Wrong W.H. Allen 2018. 224 pp. hbk. £12.99 ISBN 9780753553091 www.penguin.co.uk further fans the fires of hatred. The defining issue of today in the UK is ‘Brexit’: For the last two years, this has been a big topic on his radio show. O’Brien continually questions ‘pro-Brexit’ callers about what it was that they thought they were voting for, and which aspects of the EU they wanted the UK to abandon. He suggests that racism was behind the motivation of many Brexit voters whose hatred is directed at people of Asian origin, and not just those who are EU co-citizens. He makes the very valid point that, over the last few decades, there has always been a ‘hate group’ in the UK. At one stage, these were, for instance, single parents, welfare benefit claimants and gays. One could extend this argument back into the twentieth century when Jews, Irish and black people all were victims of prejudice and hatred. He then moves on to the subject of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBT). The author reports that many callers see homosexuality as a lifestylechoice, and that some cite Biblical references

to reinforce their moral positions. Another chapter is devoted to what O’Brien calls ‘political correctness’ – a concept, which is largely undefinable, yet exists in the minds of his numerous bigoted callers. He attempts to get callers to define what they mean; however, in each case, no one can come up with a rational explanation about what they oppose. The author then examine feminism, looking at the fact that women continue to be victims of sexual harassment, of both a physical and a verbal nature. Many callers seem to think that some women are not bothered by this sort of behaviour, which was once common but is now less frequent, but just as offensive. Perhaps the most thought-provoking chapter is devoted to ‘nanny states’ and ‘classical liberals.’ Here, the author cites the growing problems caused by free-market policies, as opposed to state intervention. According to the argument here, fixed-odds betting terminals and sugar tax are two examples where the state has had to rein back an unfettered market, for the sake of the health and welfare of citizens. O’Brien also looks at the age gap in society and examines how ‘Millennials’ (those born between 1981 and 2000) will struggle to buy a house or achieve the level of prosperity achieved by their parents. Partly, this is due to the rise of the ‘gigeconomy’ in which many people have a rather dubious ‘self-employed’ status, which gives them no employment rights and no minimum wage. It is also owing to the fact that the ratio of average house prices to average wages has doubled within a generation. This fact seems not to have been grasped by many callers who see young people as ‘self-obsessed snowflakes’, who spend their money on smartphones. In the final chapter, O’Brien examines what is, arguably, the most controversial figure of the Twenty-First Century: US President Donald Trump. The way in which any critical statement about him can be dismissed as ‘fake news’ leads the author to suggest that “the liars have the loudest voices”. This book is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in talk radio, contemporary politics, and to those learning how to reason with the prejudiced – something we all need to do.

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59

Software-Defined Radio

Using SDR for Amateur Radio Astronomy Andrew Barron looks into the fascinating world of amateur radio astronomy, discovering how you can use an SDR receiver to explore the ‘radio sky’. WIKIPEDIA

Andrew Barron [email protected]

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esigning a ‘backyard’ radio astronomy telescope around a software-deined radio receiver is a bit like saying “right I’ve got the wheels, what else do I need to complete my new car?” Sure, an SDR is a useful component, but you need a lot more. However, SDR receivers can contribute many useful features to the radio astronomy hobby. The waterfall display, for example, can reveal weak signals, the wide bandwidth can be helpful, and the integration of the SDR software with spectrum analysis tools and data logging software is easier than using cables. Some SDR receivers can cover all the common radio astronomy frequencies from the VLF (very low frequency) observations up to ‘Hydrogen Line’ observations at 1420.405 MHz.

Size Matters It is true that, in radio astronomy, size really does matter. Most people associate radio astronomy with huge dishes, such as the 305-metre dish at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, or the 64-metre Parkes dish in Australia (Figs. 1 and 2). However, you can have a lot of fun with a small backyard radio telescope, and you can contribute to scientiic discovery using one. With a small dish, you won’t be able to ‘see’ distant galaxies and stars, but there are some studies that you can make. You don’t necessarily need a dish antenna either. Some astronomy work can be done using simple wire HF (high frequency) antennas or VLF (very low-frequency) loop antennas. One advantage of radio astronomy, over observing using optical telescopes, is that measurements do not have to be done on clear nights. At microwave frequencies, radio waves penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere, irrespective of clouds or the time of

Fig.1: The 305-metre Arecibo Observatory Radio Telescope; the world’s second biggest single-aperture telescope.

day. Microwave radio frequencies can also penetrate the large clouds of interstellar cosmic dust that are opaque to visible light.

Patience Required Radio astronomy is not for those who want ‘instant’ results. Generally speaking, it involves recording radio signal levels continuously, or at regular intervals, for long periods of time, waiting for a solar lare, a storm on Jupiter or the transit of the Sun or the Milky Way (Galactic Plane) across the sky as the Earth rotates. And, if you are a ‘Flat-Earth’ believer, then radio astronomy is not for you either! Many in the hobby community use the well-known Radio-Sky Pipe II software by Radio Sky Publishing for this part of the hobby. This is a data logger that can display your received signal level – or other data – accumulated over a long time period: Hours or even days. www.radiosky.com/skypipeishere.html PowerSDR mRX, used with Apache Labs and Open HPSDR radios, also has a radio astronomy data capture mode.

https://tinyurl.com/yxutpcop Almost all amateurs begin their radio astronomy activities by detecting the Sun. This is easy to do. The next goal might be to detect Jupiter. Access to larger and more sophisticated radio telescopes may well lead to observing a supernova remnant, such as Cassiopeia. It is possible for the amateur to make observations using an old C band (4–8GHz) satellite TV antenna with a diameter of a few meters. These old dishes are obsolete now; if you see one, there is a good chance that the owner might give it away or sell it to you cheap. You might even have one in your back garden that needs ‘re-purposing’.

An ‘Itty Bitty’ Little Telescope You can get away with using an even smaller Sky TV dish. The Itty Bitty Telescope Project is based around phenomena, such as detecting the Sun, which you can observe with a very small dish. This project uses a cheap ‘satellite inder’. It simply measures the down-converted signal

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Software-Defined Radio

ATNF

Fig. 2: The Parkes Radio Telescope, Star of the Movie The Dish.

level from the standard 12.2GHz TV LNB, mounted on the dish. However, you could substitute an SDR receiver tuned to a frequency within the 950–1450MHz band of the LNB output, which would create an easy way of getting the data into the PC for analysis (Fig. 3). The SDR waterfall shows the increase in noise as the dish is panned across the Sun (Fig. 4).

The Hydrogen Line Hydrogen atoms randomly emit photons at a wavelength of 21cm (1420.4058MHz). Normally, a single hydrogen atom will rarely emit a photon. However, since space and the galaxy is illed with many hydrogen atoms, the average effect is an observable RF power spike at 1420.4058MHz. By pointing a radio telescope at the night sky, a power spike indicating the hydrogen line can be observed in a frequency spectrum plot. Because of the ‘unwanted noise’ at 1420.405MHz, commercial satellite operators have always avoided using it. In fact,

nobody is allowed to transmit on that frequency, as it is reserved for scientiic observation. If you point your dish antenna, or 21cm Yagi array, at the Milky Way, you will see an increase in the 1420.405MHz signal, as the antenna moves from cold intergalactic space across the Galactic Plane (Fig. 5).

By Jove! Radio Astronomy on the 15m Ham Band? The Radio Jove Project monitors the storms of Jupiter, solar activity, and the galactic background noise. The measurements can be done between approximately 15 and 39.5 MHz; most observers listen in at around 20MHz. This frequency is close to the 15m amateur band. Therefore, if you have an amateur band Yagi aerial, it is ideal. You could also use a CB antenna at 27MHz, or a ham band 10m antenna at 28-29MHz. Many people use a phased wire dipole array, which can easily be constructed for a few pounds. It consists of two 7.09m

(23’ 3”) dipoles, spaced 6.1m (20’) apart. The Radio Jove Project antenna and ‘radio telescope’ can be purchased as a kit for about $125USD, or you can order it pre-assembled. NASA started the Radio Jove Project to monitor the Jovian system, and it is still gathering and analysing the data from hundreds of sites around the world, to try to have a detailed understanding of the source of the radio waves. You can receive two kinds of signal from Jupiter: ‘L-bursts’ sound like waves (of static) crashing on a beach, and ‘S-bursts’ are a fast series of ‘scratches’ or ‘pops’ on an otherwise quiet background. If you listen to the HF bands regularly, it is quite likely that you will have heard these signals before and just assumed that they were of terrestrial origin. The S-bursts sound a little like car ignition interference from a car that is only idling. You can listen to the sounds of Jupiter by clicking the links under the charts on the website here: https://tinyurl.com/y64c43e6

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Solar Observations Using the same equipment, you can observe solar noise bursts, caused by solar lares and storms. These are indicated by a fairly sudden increase in the background noise level. This takes ive seconds or so, and then slowly decays over thirty or forty seconds. Again, if you didn’t know what you were listening to, you would probably just consider it to be some random increase in ‘noise.’ Galactic background noise is the ‘hiss’ you hear when your receiver is connected to an antenna but not tuned to a station. Radio astronomy was born when Karl Jansky (1905-1950) discovered that the background noise peaked when the antenna was oriented in the direction of the centre of our galaxy. Radio noise storms from Jupiter sometimes last a couple of hours. The occurrence of storms that can be detected from the Earth is related to which part of Jupiter’s surface is facing Earth, as well as the location of the moon Io in its orbit around Jupiter. The Radio Jupiter Pro software, available from the link at the end of this article, calculates of these factors for you and predicts when Jupiter storms are likely to be observable on Earth. How do you know if the signal is coming from Jupiter? Jovian signals are wideband signals. Tune your receiver a little. If the noise is local, it will disappear as you tune. Regarding the wider context of these signals, Jon Wallace and Richard Flagg wrote in 2010: “In 1955, mysterious signals from space were discovered by radio astronomers at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC. Some thought the signals were local interference, perhaps a noisy ignition system of a pickup truck, whose driver was returning home from a late night date. However, the analysis revealed that the planet Jupiter was in the beam of the Mills Cross antenna each time that the signals were heard. Unlike many radio astronomy dish antennas, the huge Mills Cross comprised over 100 dipoles strung between wooden poles planted in a Maryland ield. The dipoles were phased, to produce a narrow, steerable, pencil-thin beam some 2.5º in width. That is an amazingly narrow beam, considering the operating frequency was 22.2MHz. Ever since this accidental discovery, researchers have aimed shortwave antennas at Jupiter as they attempted to understand the source of these powerful signals.” [From: Amateur Radio Astronomy Projects—Radio Signals from Jupiter’, by Jon Wallace and Richard Flagg, QEX Magazine May/June 2010.]

Telescope

Automatic control, timing and data recording system

Sat inder

3 STARGAZING.NET

Radio Astronomy Using Signals for Submarines. The SuperSID Monitor allows observers to collect real data, measuring disturbances in the ionosphere resulting from solar activity. ‘SID’ stands for Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance. This is a great project if you have limited space, as the antenna does not have to be very large. SuperSID takes signal measurements from VLF transmitters at very low frequencies between 15 and 3 kHz. It observes the effect that any changes in the Ionosphere have on the propagation between the VLF signal transmitter and your location. At its most basic, an LF loop antenna made from around 40 turns of insulated single conductor or heavy transformer wire, wound around a 1m wooden frame, is connected to a preampliier and then linked directly to a standard PC soundcard, which performs the analogue-to-digital conversion. The output is captured using Spectrum Lab, Spectran or Radio-Sky Pipe software. For more versatility, you could use an SDR like the SDRplay RSP-1A or RSPduo; these will work down to 1kHz, and they will dis-

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Fig. 3: Joachim Köppen from Strasbourg carrying out observation of the sun with his 80cm dish and a SatFinder. Fig. 4: The yellow band in the bottom blue spectrogram window is the 6dB rise in signal strength as the radio dish is panned across the Sun.

play a spectrum and waterfall display, as well as piping the data to a data logger. You can send your captured data to the University of Stanford database at this URL: http://www.radio-astronomy.org/node/210 The SID network focuses on the detection of solar-induced ionospheric disturbances. A centralized database gives access to all participants. On the website, the science is described like this: “Earth’s ionosphere reacts strongly to the intense X-ray and ultraviolet radiation released by

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DAVID MORGAN

Signal Level dB (0.1 dB/div)

FCD 1420.4MHz Signal strength recording

Start

Time

End

Fig. 5: Increase in noise at 1420.4MHz, as the antenna passes through the Galactic Plane.

the Sun during solar events, and by lightning during thunderstorms. Students track these sudden ionospheric disturbances by using a pre-amp and sound card to monitor the signal strength from distant very low frequency (VLF) transmitters, signals sent by nations to communicate with their submarines. Data show unusual changes as the waves bounce off the ionosphere during these disturbances.” https://tinyurl.com/y2jq3k38 The problem with this technique – at least in my part of the world (New Zealand) is that we don’t have any VLF beacons to use as a reference for the measurements.

E.T. - Phone Home! Another use for your radio telescope is the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI). There are billions of galaxies and hundreds of billions of stars and planets. Perhaps one of them is sending signals our way. However, with so many directions to search, a large team is needed to listen to even the most likely regions of the sky. In addition to this, interstellar signals will be so weak that our eyes and ears will never recognize them. The most we can hope for is to detect some order in the cosmic chaos. Therefore, SETI looks for patterns, which could not have been produced by any natural mechanism. These hallmarks of artiiciality are evident to computers, and your home computer can be used to sift through the cosmic static in search of E.T. Many microwave frequencies are in use, either on Earth or between satellites and Earth. We don’t want to mistake these

signals for E.T. Therefore, to detect very weak signals from deep space, we need a quiet band. Most SETI seekers choose to listen on the 1420MHz Hydrogen Line frequency. You will need a fairly large, 3-5m dish – bigger is better. Old C-band satellite TV dishes are ideal. Since these dishes were designed for 3-8GHz, you will need to make your own ‘feed’ and downconverter. Some SDRs can cover 1420MHz. In that case, you need a ‘feed’ and a low noise ampliier with a very low noise igure. The ‘feed’ is the antenna that goes to the focal point of the dish. The dish itself is only a relector, designed to focus received signals onto the ‘feed point,’ (focal point). The purpose of the PC is to run the SETI software, which recognizes ET amid the cosmic din. The software uses DSP noise reduction techniques to isolate periodic repeating signals, like speech or data, and reject non-periodic, incoherent, signals such as noise. All radio astronomy is a waiting game, but this one requires even more patience. https://tinyurl.com/jf6squ7

signals off them to achieve long distance communication (see Practical Wireless, March 2019: 18-19). Distances of more than 2,000 km are achievable in this way. The radio signal is not actually relected off the meteor. It is relected off the ionised trail left behind, as the meteor disturbs the air while travelling at thousands of kilometres per hour. Depending on the size and speed of the meteor, the frequency of the radio signal, and several other factors, the trail left by a typical meteor can relect radio waves for a few seconds up to a few minutes. The duration is very frequency dependent. At frequencies between 28 and 50 MHz, an active meteor trail can sustain propagation for thirty seconds to several minutes. At 144 MHz, the same meteor will only allow communication for a maximum of sixty seconds and most ‘pings’ last less than ive seconds. At 400 MHz, the propagation will only last a second or two. Because the communication period available is usually only a few seconds, fast data modes, such as MSK144 developed by Joe Taylor K1JT, are used in this area. If you are listening for meteor scatter signals, the short bursts of signal from remote stations often sound like ‘pings.’ The morning hours are usually the best for meteor-scatter work because the velocity of the Earth’s rotation increases the effective velocity of inbound meteors, and they leave a stronger trail of ionised particles. During meteor showers such as the Leonids (17th to 19th November), Geminids (13th to 15th December), Perseids (12th August), and so on, there may be many meteors. On the trails of these, sustained communications with modes like SSB can be attained. Amateur radio astronomers can use their stations to detect meteors, by listening for ‘meteor pings’ of signals from stations that are well outside of normal range. These are, most commonly, FM broadcast stations, at a distance of 1,000km or more.

Meteor Pings Every November, the Earth passes through the orbital path of Comet 55P/TempelTuttle. Like many comets, Tempel-Tuttle litters its orbit with bits of debris. When this comet matter enters Earth’s atmosphere and vaporises, we see the Leonid meteor shower. These few days, around November 18th, are the best time for detecting meteors, but meteors are striking the Earth all the time. Amateur radio operators bounce VHF

Resources • Radio Jove Project: https://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov • Graham-Smith, F. (2020): Unseen Cosmos: The Universe in Radio (Oxford: OUP) • Lashley J. (2010): The Radio Sky and How to Observe It (Springer) • Oliver, K. (2015) Discovering Creation (Sky at Night Magazine, May 2015) • O’Sullivan, S. (2014) Monitoring the Sun Using VLF (RadioUser, April 2014: 54-57)

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Radio History

Joseph Henry The editor sheds some light on the life and work of the US electrical pioneer and science communicator Joseph Henry (1797-1878), a contemporary of Michael Faraday. Georg Wiessala [email protected]

J

oseph Henry lived and worked approximately at the same time as Michael Faraday (1791- 1867, RadioUser, January 2019: 46). However, it seems that Henry is, by and large, the lesser-known igure in the history of radio.

Like Faraday, Henry was working against the background of the big philosophical debates and the milestone electromagnetic discoveries of the time. Joseph Henry was a ‘natural philosopher’ – we would refer to him as a ‘scientist’ today – an avid experimenter, and gifted lecturer, educator of the young, and a science-communicator. In his insightful writings on Joseph Henry, Bodanis (2005; 15-20) has placed a

strong emphasis on the American’s ‘interactive’ skills, in particular, his abilities to teach, instruct and communicate. The author even goes as far as claiming that the instruction methodologies Henry employed with his students would not be out of place in modern science classrooms. He may well be correct. A very short, and, by necessity incomplete, picture of the era in which men like

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Radio History

Henry lived is framed by wider debates about what ‘electromagnetism’ and ‘electricity’ actually were (a ‘wave’, a ‘ield’, a ‘vital force’, a ‘nervous luid’?) by speculations about ‘empty’ space and ‘actions at a distance’, and by the concomitant religious, metaphysical, medical, cultural and political currents, which both inlamed and accompanied those disputes. Perhaps the most signiicant development of the times was the overall paradigmshift in science, from metaphysical speculation to the scientiic method and managed experiments (Szydło, 2017: 50).

Somewhat of an Early Spark Any wire loop carrying a current produces a magnetic ield, acting through the loop. As many radio enthusiasts know, the number of units of electromotive force generated in the loop, when the current changes at a rate of one unit per second, is called the self-inductance of the loop. It is measured in henry (H) and named after Michael Faraday’s contemporary Joseph Henry (Moyer, 1997). http://tinyurl.com/y7zd2boo Joseph Henry, the American physicist, teacher, irst director of the Smithsonian Institution and Secretary of its predecessor (the National Institute for the Promotion of Science) did, in fact, discover induction a few months before Faraday. However, in one of the ironies of radio history, he chose not to go public at the time (Mahon, 2004: 199, Fn. 2 to Ch. 8). Henry, born in Albany, New York, on 17th December 1797, became world-famous as a pioneering researcher in magnetism, electromagnetism and many other areas. The story goes that one of the tenants in his mother’s house gave young Joseph a book with the catchy title: Lectures on Experimental Philosophy, Astronomy and Chemistry, Intended Chiely for the Use of Young People. It appears that this got him hooked and in 1837, he annotated the volume with the following comments: “This book, although Benjamin Franklin Luigi Galvani Alessandro Volta Hans Christian Ørsted Michael Faraday Joseph Henry Heinrich Rühmkorff Heinrich Geissler Mahlon Loomis James Clerk Maxwell

1706-1790 1737-1798 1745-1827 1777-1851 1791-1867 1797-1878 1803-1877 1814-1879 1826-1886 1831-1879

by no means a profound work, has, under Providence, exerted a remarkable inluence on my life. It accidentally fell into my hands when I was about sixteen years old and was the irst book that I ever read with attention. It opened to me a new world of thought and enjoyment; invested things before almost unnoticed with the highest interest; ixed my mind on the study of nature and caused me to resolve at the time of reading it that I would immediately commence devoting my life to the acquisition of knowledge.” http://tinyurl.com/y49s3x23

Daring to Deviate from Scientific Orthodoxy For much of the second half of the 1800s, Henry was easily America’s most renowned scientist. In 1832, he built one of the irst machines to employ the force of electromagnetism for the purposes of motion. He investigated the temperature of sunspots and became a forerunner of space weather studies. These considerable achievements aside, Henry frequently worked at the very cut-

Positive and Negative Electric Charge Animal Electricity, Medical Electricity Electric Battery Voltaic Pile Electromagnetism Mutual Induction, Electric Motor, Magnetic Field Induction, Electro-Magnets Induction Coils The Rühmkorff-Coil Gas Discharge Tube Aerial Telegraph Radio Transmission Theory of Radio Waves

Édouart Branly Oliver Lodge Joseph John Thomson Nikola Tesla Heinrich Hertz Jagadish Chandra Bose Alexander Popov Reginald Fessenden Guglielmo Marconi Ernst Alexanderson

ting edge of scientiic progress: As the irst Secretary of the newly-formed Smithsonian Institution (from 1846) he was called upon almost daily to screen and evaluate scientiic and technical proposals from outside investigators. Many of these investigators came from the ‘fringes’ of the scientiic community, or beyond, and many favoured ideas which deviated from the orthodoxy of the time. Signiicantly, Henry uncovered the laws upon which the transformer is based. He discovered self-induction, and it is said that he designed the world’s irst powerful electromagnet, by winding a coil of wire around an iron bar. He went on to pioneer electromechanical relays in 1835, making telegraphy over long distances more practical (Mahon, 2004: 116, 199). This allowed Samuel Morse (1791-1872), who Henry was in regular touch with, to devise the telegraph. Many others argue that it was Henry himself, who, in fact, was the inventor of the telegraph (Bodanis, 2005: 19; Hochfelder, 2010). Perhaps most famously, Henry built 1844-1940 1851-1940 1856-1940 1856-1943 1857-1894 1858-1937 1859-1906 1866-1932 1874-1937 1878-1975

Radio Conductor/ Coherer Electromagnetic Waves Electron AC Motor, Tesla Coil, Radio Transmission Radio Transmission Microwaves, Semiconductors, Crystal Detector Radio Transmission Radio, voice transmission, sonar Radio Transmission Alexanderson Alternator/ VLF Transmitter

Table 1: The RadioUser Timeline of Electrical Pioneers and Inventions (simpliied, in order of DOB).

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Radio History

an electromagnet for Yale College, which was able to support 2,063 pounds – a world record at the time http://tinyurl.com/y68txe3l

High-Profile Appointments and Discoveries Henry was appointed to the Chair of Natural Philosophy at the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) and his tour of Europe in 1837 further extended his international reputation in science. Like Faraday, Henry actively participated – and often led – prestigious American scientiic societies, including the National Academy of Science and the US Lighthouse Board. The Smithsonian Institution describes Henry as follows: “Henry was a pioneer in the study of electromagnetism and its use in a variety of technologies and was a tireless advocate for American science at home and abroad. For 32 years Henry focused his energies on establishing the Smithsonian as a great research centre, despite the challenges of the Civil War. Today, his efforts are marked with a statue outside of the Smithsonian Castle, the irst building in the Institution he helped create.”

The Legacy of Henry While Michael Faraday buttressed Henry’s appointment as the irst Smithsonian Secretary, the American strode out conidently by himself and achieved high fame. He did so, despite a disadvantaged upbringing, poverty and challenging family background. Lacking a formal education, he was taken into an apprenticeship when young. From humble beginnings, he became an eminent scholar, with a strong religious background. Remind you of someone? Michael Faraday’s background exhibits many of the same features. Glenn S. Smith (2017: 16) has argued that the work of these two geniuses will always be linked because of their (co-) discovery of electromagnetic induction. http://tinyurl.com/ydfvmu22 The two met during Henry’s research visit to Europe in 1837 and corresponded, occasionally, from this time onwards. The letters, which passed between the two men of science can now be seen at the Royal Institution, in the Smithsonian Institution Archives and, of course, online. http://tinyurl.com/yxslwr7u http://tinyurl.com/yxmojer7 Freeman points out, in The Age of Edison (2013: 17), that the invention, by Faraday and Henry, of the principle of generating

electricity through induction (relying on magnetism, rather than the chemical action of batteries) had far-reaching consequences for the electriication and public lighting in many American and European cities. As to the characters, achievements and different working preferences of the two men, G.S. Smith shall have the inal word for now: “In a comparison of their work in the same ield, it cannot be doubted that, while they were both industrious and successful in devising experiments and in the collection of facts, Faraday had the higher order of the scientiic mind. His thoughts ran naturally to generalisation. Henry was no generaliser. “There is nothing in his work similar to Faraday’s laws of electrochemistry or to his description of the magnetic or electric ield lines of force. Neither in quantity or quality does Henry’s work rank equal to that of Faraday. Yet he was an investigator of pronounced ability and deserves a distinguished place among the experimental philosophers by whom the science of electricity and magnetism advanced.” Henry has earned his place in history.

Further Reading Bodanis, D. (2005) Electric Universe (New York: Three Rivers Press) Cantor, G. Gooding, D.; James, F.R.J.L. Michael Faraday (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991) Cantor, G. (2016) Michael Faraday: Sandemanian and Scientist […] (Palgrave Macmillan, 1993) Coulson, Thomas (1950) Joseph Henry: His Life and Work (Princeton University Press) Forbes, N. and Mahon, B. (2014) Faraday, Maxwell and the Electromagnetic Field […] (Prometheus Books) Freeberg, E. (2013) The Age of Edison (Penguin) Hamilton, J. (2002) Faraday: The Life (Harper Collins) Hochfelder, D. (2000) Joseph Henry – Inventor of the Telegraph? (Smithsonian Institution Archives) James, F.A.J.L. (2010) Michael Faraday: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press) -- (1991-2012) The Correspondence of M Faraday (6 vols., Institution of Engineering and Technology) Moyer, A.E. (1997) Joseph Henry – The Rise of an American Scientist (Studies in the History of Film and TV) .

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Feedback

Your letters to the editor

Feedback Have you got something new to tell our readers about? If so, then drop a line to [email protected] SOURCE: CLIVE KILGALLEN, EI2HHB

Our reader Clive Kilgallen, EI2HHB, wrote in to Utility Monitoring columnist Nils Schiffhauer and said, “ Dear Nils, thank you for your article in this recent issues of RadioUser. I live close to the north-western seaboard, near Sligo In Ireland. Listening to marine MF is one of my most enjoyable pastimes, especially in the cold and windy winter, with the ire on. Particularly when the amateur radio bands are dead. I mainly get Ireland, the UK, France, Spain, Belgium, in terms of MF Coastguard stations. However, last night, I picked up Canada on 2538khz. I have not heard many of the UK or Belfast stations in a while, but Aberdeen and Humber I can receive well. Sometimes, I have emailed the coast guard stations with my signal reception report and have had some very nice replies. A sad loss to marine MF is the loss of the Arklow shipping company that used to call on 2311kHz. I did not hear of them for a while, and I rang the ofice in Arklow. They have moved to satellite e-mail. Valentia and Malin Head stations do send out weather reports and warnings for vessels, but they seem to be variable from day to day. I listen with an end fed vertical antenna and my ICOM 7700, which clears up noise very well. Here is my personal list with local stations and some transmission times:” Nils Schiffhauer replied as follows: “ Dear Clive - thank you very much for your email, which I appreciated very much! Congratulation on you Canadian reception! You should have a by far better shot at them than me from near Hanover, in the lowlands of Germany. Their signals are somewhat weak here. Thanks for your list of stations heard. Yes, operation times, and the operation itself can be somewhat erratic. At least, winter is a good time to go for more of those frequencies! Good luck, good DX and 73: Nils, DK8OK.” Reader John Yarnall, M1AUN NR 345, wrote to our Network Radio columnist, Chris Rolinson, asking, “Good afternoon, I was just wondering whether there is going to be a review of the Telo M5 network radio. I have owned one, and I was not impressed at all. It would be nice to see what other

people’s opinions are. Having owned the Inrico TM7 and the SenHaix N60, which seem to me to be superior to the TeloM5. Obviously, this is just my opinion but having owned three network radios, I think I can be a little judgmental. If you need any information on the Telo M5 I will be more than willing to assist.” Chris Rolison replied as follows: “Hello John, I am very pleased to let you know that there is indeed going to be a review on the Telo M5 in RadioUser - I am actually writing it this very week after living with it for a while. With luck, it should hit the May edition [yes, it will – Ed.]. I also own the TM7 so have a reference point to compare it. I wonder what it was speciically that you were not impressed with? I have a few caveats about it, but in general, I ind it a very capable radio and am sure it would be a great addition to a shack especially. Pick up the May edition to read my thoughts and that of our testing team!” Paulo T Castro, PU2RDX, from Brazil, wrote to Keith Rawlings, our Aerials Now contributor, with the following suggestion: “Hello Keith, how are things? I wish everything and everyone there is very well. Just to complete the previous e-mail, another thing that you, with your knowledge and experience, can perhaps help us with: Maybe you will want to, one day, unlock the secrets behind isolation transformers, galvanic isolators and common mode chokes, to help us ight against interference. Just an idea for your future columns.” Many thanks for your e-mail to Keith, Paulo, and for the previous ones too. I am happy that you are enjoying the magazine and its balance of articles, for novice and advanced user alike. The battle against interference is an ongoing one, and Keith aims to devote space to this topic in my forthcoming columns. In the meantime, please enjoy the radio hobby, tell all your radio friends over there about RadioUser; stay in touch with us – Ed./KR. Roger Burchell wrote to Chrissy Brand to say, “Hello Chrissy, my name is Roger Burchell and I e-mailed you some time

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ago about short wave radio in my tractor. I have just read your International Radio Scene column in the January 2019 issue of RadioUser, and I may be able to shed a bit of light on the “slight mystery”. I believe Lionel heard communication on the HF Oceanic airband frequencies. The number that immediately jumped out at me was 5649kHz, which various ground stations, notably Shanwick, use to speak to aircraft lying across the Atlantic Ocean. The ‘beep’, ‘beep’ noises heard could well be the Selcall tones which are allotted to each aircraft and another clue is the comment “higher level available, is that correct...?” I assume that Lionel heard this between 4650 and 4700kHz, which is in the civil aeronautical band. Funnily enough, I heard Icelandic Radio on 4675kHz only this last Sunday (6th January 2019) I have listened to HF Oceanic trafic for many years now, and I feel certain that the communications heard here were from aircraft. Other useful airband frequencies you could try are 5598, 5616, 8879, 8891, and 8864kHz, as well as RAF Volmet on 5450kHz, and Shannon Volmet on 5505kHz. These contain basically weather forecasts for various airields and airports. Finally, I must say I do enjoy your columns in RadioUser. Best regards Roger Burchell.” Dear Roger, many thanks for your e-mail and for those frequencies, they form a staple of my HF airband listening too. Thank you also for the kind words about Chrissy’s column and RadioUser – [Ed./ CB.].

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Trading TradingPost FOR SALE ANAN-10 as new. ICOM 897 batteries need replacing, ICOM 746 HF and 2m 100W, ICOM R7000 plus remote control., ICOM R7100 all above MINT. All to specification and unscratched. Codar AT5 plus PSU and connectors. Good valves, pristine. DX100U mint good valves and SSB adapter. Both like new. Tel/sms: 07549160011 Ipswich FUTRONICS MK1 GMDSS TEST SET £750, ETON 750 £150, ICOM IC-R2500 £250, Grecom PSR-800 scanner £200, ICOM IC-M31 marine transceiver £150, ICOM UA-1 Audioamp £50, Startrack 2004 Satellite RX £25 Brian [email protected] Tel: 07968 229345 Blackpool RADIO AMATEUR GIVING UP. B29, National HRO with 11 coils, Eddystone 680X, Marconi V2 receivers and 31 other items. please e-mail [email protected] for list. sorry but buyer must arrange collection Tel: Harry G3MFW 01872 858648 Truro

DX100U good valves 100% duty cycle AM 100W (built for rag chewing, and weighs a lot because of transformers PSU and Modulator) . Mint. offers please. Including SSB adapter. Valves alone worth a lot. This is a collectors item. But is a working rig. Tel: 07549 160011 G3WRT ICOM 718HF TRANCEIVER with hand mic, full working condition, with manual. Clean, no marks or scratches. Selling due to upgrade £350 including p&p. Tel: Gordon 01724 734742 M0GIQ

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ANAN-10 as new never used and as new. Offers. Excellent transverter driver. Tel/sms: 07549 160011 G3WRT

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Rallies & Events

Rallies & Events

Plan your visits with our wide-ranging list of forthcoming events. Warners (RadioUser & Practical Wireless) will be attending events marked with an asterisk.* Club secretaries/event organisers: Please send full and accurate details of your events, affiliations and clubs as early as possible, if you would like to be mentioned here: [email protected] March 3rd (Sunday) EXETER RADIO & ELECTRONICS RALLY: The Exeter Radio & Electronics Rally will be held at America Hall, De La Rue Way, Pinhoe, Exeter EX4 8PW. The doors will open at 10.30am (10.15am for disabled visitors). Admission is £2 (under 16’s free). There will be trade stands and a bring-and-buy (book-in is from 10.15am). Catering will be available. [email protected] March 10th (Sunday) GRANTHAM ARC RADIO AND ELECTRONICS RALLY: The rally is at the Grantham West Community Center, Trent Road, Grantham, Lincs NG31 7XW. The doors open 9.30am to 3pm, and admittance costs £3. There will be trade stands, an RSGB bookstall, and special interest groups. Catering is available on site. [email protected] March 16th (Saturday) LAUGHARNE RALLY: The Laugharne Rally of the UK Microwave Group will take place, from 10 am to 1 pm, at Laugharne Millennium Memorial Hall, Clifton Street, Laugharne, Wales SA33 4QG. https://tinyurl.com/y9jwxgz3 March 16th (Saturday) MICROWAVE ROUNDTABLE: The Cardiff University ARS will be hosting a meeting of the UK Microwave Group at its campus in Cardiff. This one-day event is a mix of talks, measurements, and socializing about activities in the GHz frequencies. http://www.sbarc.co.uk http://twitter.com/G4WAW March 17th (Sunday) WHYTHALL RADIO CLUB HAMFEST: The 34th Wythall Radio Club Hamfest will be held at The Club HQ, Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ. Doors will open at 9.45am, with access for disabled visitors from approximately 9.30am. Free on-site parking will be available. Admission costs £4. There will be four halls of traders, including a bring-and-buy, and the club stand. A selection of refreshments will be available all day, and bar facilities are open within Wythall House from noon onwards. [email protected] www.wythallradioclub.co.uk

March 24th (Sunday) CALLINGTON RADIO RALLY: The Callington Radio Rally is organised jointly by the Devon and Cornwall Repeater Group and the Callington ARS. It will be held at Callington Town Hall, New Road, Callington, Cornwall PL17 7BD. The doors will open at 10am, and admission is £2; those under 14 years of age are going free. There is ample free car parking adjacent to the venue, trade stands, amateur radio sellers, a bring-and-buy, and on-site catering. E-mail: [email protected] March 24th (Sunday) CAUSEWAY COAST GLENS ARC RADIO RALLY: The rally takes place at the Bushmills Community Centre, 14 Dunluce Road, Bushmills, Co. Antrim BT57 8QG. Doors are open from 11am. Admittance is £3. [email protected] March 24th (Sunday) HAMZILLA RADIO FEST AND ELECTRONICS FAIR: The Hamzilla Radio Fest and Electronics Fair, hosted by the Dover ARC, will take place at the Discovery Science Park, Gateway House, Ramsgate Road, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 9FF. Open 10am to 4pm. Online ticket entrance £3; Limited early bird tickets £5. Tables cost £10. Online purchase/bookings are now available; bring-and-buy sale, catering, lectures/seminars, RSGB bookstall, special interest groups, trade stands, guest speakers, digital village, demos. Icom, SDRPlay and many more exhibitors. Disabled facilities. Plenty of free parking. RSGB examinations will be held. www.hamzilla.uk March 31st (Sunday) BATC REGIONAL CONVENTION: The British Amateur Television Club (BATC, see RadioUser, March 2019) will hold a number of “mini-conventions” in various regions of the country during 2019. The Club is pleased to announce the irst of these in Bristol on 31st March 2019. The event will take place from 10 am to 4 pm at the premises of the North Bristol ARC, SHE7 building, Braemar Crescent, Filton, Bristol BS7 0TD. These are not regular rallies involving traders but technical meetings for ATV enthusiasts, and for those thinking of making a start in this aspect of the hobby. There will be a full

day of talks and demonstrations, and the opportunity to meet some of the most active ATV enthusiasts. There will also be test equipment on hand to test and align visitors’ projects. Full details are on the BATC Forum before the event. [email protected] https://forum.batc.org.uk March 31st (Sunday) PENCOED RADIO CLUB TABLE TOP SALE: Doors are open 9.30am, and stall holders have admittance from 8am. Refreshments are available on site. Tel: 0773 837 5775 April 6th (Saturday) GMDX CONVENTION: The GMDX Convention 2019 – Scotland’s only annual DX Convention – will take place at the King Robert Hotel in Stirling. Booking/ payment details and information about the conference programme and the DX Dinner can be found on the website. Don Field, editor of Practical Wireless, will be one of the guest speakers. www.gmdx.org.uk April 7th (Sunday) CAMBRIDGESHIRE REPEATER GROUP RALLY: The CRG Rally is taking place at the Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambridge CB22 6RN. Car parking is free. Doors open 9.30am for public entry and 7.30am for traders. Entry is £2. There will also be a talk-in station, traders, a bring-and-buy table, and an RSGB bookstall. Catering is available on site – the burger van has been booked. [email protected] www.cambridgerepeaters.net April 7th (Sunday) YEOVIL ARC 35TH QRP CONVENTION: The 35th Yeovil ARC QRP Convention will take place at Digby Hall, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3AA. Doors are open 9.30am to 3.30pm. Admission is £3. The venue is wheelchair-friendly. The rally is supported by RSGB RAFARS and BYLARA. There will be refreshments and parking, club stands, and new and second-hand stalls. The two talks on the day will be about (1) A Remarkable Very Young Lady Radio Amateur, and (2) An introduction to MAP Loops. Regrettably, only guide dogs can be admitted. [email protected] [email protected]

http://yeovil-arc.com FB: Yeovil Amateur Radio Club April 12th to 14th (Friday to Sunday) INTERNATIONAL DX CONVENTION (IDXC) : The 70th International DX Convention, sponsored by the Northern California DX Club, will be held at the Visalia Conference Center in downtown Visalia, California, USA. If you are a DXer, or interested in any aspect of amateur radio, then IDXC is the place to be. Top DX operators and contesters from around the world will be there. You’ll match those familiar callsigns with new faces and shake hands with the person you have had a sched with for the past 10 years, but whom you have never met. https://tinyurl.com/ybudjrbz April 14th (Sunday) HACK GREEN BUNKER RALLY : The Hack Green Bunker Rally will take place at the Hack Green Nuclear Bunker, French Lane, Hack Green, Nr Nantwich, Baddington, Cheshire CW5 8AL. There will be sales of electronic equipment, amateur gear, components, military radio items and vehicle spares. Doors are open from 10 am, and refreshments are available on site. [email protected] www.hackgreen.co.uk April 14th (Sunday) RIPON RADIO RALLY: The rally takes place at Hugh Ripley Hall, Ripon, HG4 2PT. Doors are open at 10am. Refreshments will be available on site. Information and table booking form on the website. [email protected] www.ripon.org.uk April 14th (Sunday) WEST LONDON RADIO & ELECTRONICS SHOW (KEMPTON RALLY): The Kempton Rally will take place at the Kempton Park Racecourse, Staines Road East, Sunbury on Thames, TW16 5AQ. A talk-in station will be on the air. Car parking is free, and the doors open at 10 am; disabled visitors will gain access 10 minutes earlier. There will be trade stands and a bring-and-buy, as well as special interest groups and lectures. Catering is available on site. [email protected] www.radiofairs.co.uk

For the latest news and product reviews, visit www.radioenthusiast.co.uk 70

RadioUser April 2019

Rallies & Events

April 28th (Sunday) NARSA – NORTHERN AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETIES ASSOCIATION EXHIBITION (BLACKPOOL RALLY): The 2019 Northern Amateur Radio Society Association’s Blackpool Rally will take place at the Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre, Blackpool FY2 9AA. There will be a talk-in station, plenty of car parking, trade stands, a bring-and-buy stall, special interest groups, and an RSGB bookstall. Doors open at 10.30am (10.15am for disabled visitors). [email protected] www.narsa.org.uk May 5th THORPE CAMP HAMFEST: The Thorpe Camp Hamfest is open for traders who camp over to set up from 29th April. More information: Tel: 0795 665 4481 May 6th (Bank Holiday Monday) DARTMOOR RADIO CLUB RALLY: The 35th Dartmoor Radio Club Rally is taking place at the Butchers Hall, Pannier Market, Tavistock. Entrance to the rally will be from the square, and doors open at 10am. Admission is £2. There will be traders, a bring-and-buy table, and an RSGB bookstall. Refreshments will be available. [email protected] May 11th (Saturday) CDXC CONVENTION: CDXC is changing the format of its social programme this year, by merging the annual dinner and summer social into a single event, a miniConvention. This will be held at the Link Hotel in Loughborough. The AGM (voting limited to members but all welcome to attend) will take place at 11.30am, while the afternoon programme of talks (one of them, on Contesting with a Suitcase, by PW’s editor G3XTT) and evening dinner will be open to all comers (£7.50 for day visitors, and £37.50 to include dinner). Tony G4LDL on [email protected] http://cdxc.org.uk

May 12th (Sunday) LOUGH ERNE RALLY: The Lough Erne ARC will host the Lough Erne Rally in the SHARE Centre, Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh, BT92 0EQ. Doors are open at 1130, free parking, bar, café, cooked lunch, free tables for trade, special interest, shack clearance etc. RSGB sales stall. All in hall pay same door fee £5.00 or €5.00. The raffle is included in the door- entry price, and the bring-and-buy is free. SHARE is disability-friendly. Traditionally, this event beneit from a strong attendance from both Northern Ireland and the Republic. [email protected] www.learc.eu May 17th to 19th (Friday to Sunday) DAYTON HAMVENTION: Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA. https://hamvention.org 19th May (Sundy) DUNSTABLE DOWNS RADIO CLUB: The Annual National Amateur Radio Car Boot Sale at Stockwood Park in Luton. This is the 36th year without a break that this event has been run. www.ddrcbootsale.org May 26th (Sunday) DURHAM DISTRICT ARS RADIO RALLY: The rally is at the Bowburn Community Association, Durham Road, Bowburn, Co. Durham DH6 5AT. The doors open 10.10am to 2.30pm, with disabled visitors gaining access at 10am. Admittance is £2. There will be traders, a bring-andbuy table, an RSGB bookstall and special interest groups. [email protected] June 2nd (Sunday) SPALDING & DISTRICT ARS (SDARS) RALLY: Organised by the Spalding & District ARS, this long-established event takes place at the Holbeach Community Sports Academy, PE127PR (event will be signposted from the A17). Entrance is £3 per person. Inside trader tables cost

£10 (pre-booked and paid, £8). The outside traders are always a popular aspect of this rally. With the new venue, we have plenty of space to accommodate visitors; outside pitch free of charge, £3 per person applies. There will be disabled access to the hall, as well as catering and car parking. [email protected] https://tinyurl.com/y2za5gwe June 9th (Sunday) EAST SUFFOLK WIRELESS REVIVAL (IPSWICH RADIO RALLY): The Ipswich Radio Rally will be at the Kirton Recreation Ground, Back Road, Kirton IP10 0PW (just off the A14). Doors are open at 9.30am, and the entry fee for visitors is £2. The venue has free car parking. Trade tables cost from £10. There will be trade stands, a car boot sale, a bring-and-buy, special interests groups, GB4SWR HF station, and an RSGB bookstall. www.eswr.org.uk June 9th (Sunday) JUNCTION 28 RADIO RALLY: The Junction 28 Radio Rally will be held at the Alfreton Leisure Centre, Alfreton, Derbyshire. Doors are open at 10.15am (traders’ setup is from 7.30am). The event is run by the South Normanton & Alfreton & District ARC. There will be full disabled facilities, a bar selling alcoholic drinks, hot and cold beverages, and a selection of cobs. Free parking on the day. [email protected] June 15th (Saturday) ROCHDALE & DISTRICT ARS SUMMER RALLY: The RADARS Rally takes place at St Vincent de Paul’s, Caldershaw Road, off Edenield Road (A680), Norden, Rochdale OL12 7QR. Proceeds from this rally ensure the continued operation of the DMR repeater GB7MR. Doors open to the public at 10.15am. Admission is £2.50, with those under 12 years free. £5 per pitch (for traders with own tables) or £10 for a pitch, with a table provided. [email protected] https://g0roc.co.uk

 June 16th (Sunday) GMDX SCOTTISH RADIO RALLY: Details can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/y9eknee3 June 16th (Sunday) WEST OF ENGLAND RADIO RALLY: The 16th West of England Radio Rally will take place at the Cheese & Grain venue, Market Yard, Bridge Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1BE. Doors are open from 10 am to 2 pm. The event will feature inside & outside trade stands, an RSGB bookstall, cafe, disabled access & facilities, and car parking. [email protected] www.westrally.org.uk June 21st to 23rd (Friday to Sunday) HAM RADIO FRIEDRICHSHAFEN: The 44th Amateur Radio Exhibition will take place in Friedrichshafen, Germany. “In staging the event during the penultimate weekend in June, we have responded in particular to the wishes of exhibitors and visitors whose needs naturally play a major role for us, as the event organisers,” said project manager Petra Rathgeber. https://tinyurl.com/yc9jls2o June 22nd (Saturday) BANGOR & DISTRICT ARS RALLY: The Bangor and District ARS Rally will be held at The Hub, Hamilton Road, Bangor. Doors are open at 10am. [email protected] June 23rd (Sunday) NEWBURY RADIO RALLY AND BOOT SALE: The Newbury Rally will take place at the Newbury Showground, next to M4 J13. A talk-in station will be on S22 (V44). There is free car parking. Traders can gain access at 8 am and visitors at 9 am. Admissions will be £2.50. Car boot sale pitches are £12.50. The show will have a huge radio, electronics & computing boot sale area, and a demonstration marquee with a display of amateur radio on the air. There are also clubs and national society stands. Catering is available on site. [email protected]

In next month’s ■ Review: CCW Indoor Loop & FlightAware ADS-B Receiver

Radio e-Defineduipment Softwarthe Right Eq

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■ Feature: How to Receive Signals from Space ■ DXTV: The History of the Telstar Satellite (Part Two) Plus all your favourite regular features and columns

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