Serendipity of the week
- Thread starter ban-all-sheds
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Steam radio those were the days?
I always felt although side band reduced the band width required most short wave receivers lacked the beat frequency oscillator required to receive it. As a young lad my dads HiFi had Long, Medium and Short Wave and I could sit there tuning into both radio hams and stations like VOA and BBC World Services.
Today although I have a receiver with a BFO it just sits there gathering dust. Even my VHF and UHF transceivers are rarely used and never with AM and rarely even on side band. It is just FM today and if it were not for RAYNET I don't think they would ever be fired up.
I wonder if the short wave listener still exists? As VP8BKM in the late 1980's I had many QSL cards from SWL but today the internet has taken over.
I remember my first email address GW7MGW@GB7OAR back in the days of packet radio. Baud rate of 1200 it was really slow. I remember digi-peating to Australia it was a case of "How are you Bill" then make a cup of coffee and drink it before getting the reply.
How many remember making crystal sets? Today kids can't do that. They can make the radio but there is nothing to listen to.
"what hath god wrought"
I always felt although side band reduced the band width required most short wave receivers lacked the beat frequency oscillator required to receive it. As a young lad my dads HiFi had Long, Medium and Short Wave and I could sit there tuning into both radio hams and stations like VOA and BBC World Services.
Today although I have a receiver with a BFO it just sits there gathering dust. Even my VHF and UHF transceivers are rarely used and never with AM and rarely even on side band. It is just FM today and if it were not for RAYNET I don't think they would ever be fired up.
I wonder if the short wave listener still exists? As VP8BKM in the late 1980's I had many QSL cards from SWL but today the internet has taken over.
I remember my first email address GW7MGW@GB7OAR back in the days of packet radio. Baud rate of 1200 it was really slow. I remember digi-peating to Australia it was a case of "How are you Bill" then make a cup of coffee and drink it before getting the reply.
How many remember making crystal sets? Today kids can't do that. They can make the radio but there is nothing to listen to.
"what hath god wrought"
A bit less flamboyant write up but WSM was (is) just as important and influential in the history of AM broadcasting in the USA
http://www.wsmonline.com/about/
( Other AM stations are available )
With the large distances and small isolated communities high power AM radio was a very important part of daily life in the USA.
http://www.wsmonline.com/about/
( Other AM stations are available )
With the large distances and small isolated communities high power AM radio was a very important part of daily life in the USA.
- Joined
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Ay up Eric, I think I was over by your way last year - when it snowed, we were lucky to get out - nearly had to call a tractor out.
The linked station has a tour of it now it's closed, certainly put out a lot of oomfh! but then it had to cover a big area.
I'd love a valve radio on my desk but er indoors (and lack of space) won't allow it & I have to make do with an obsolete Kenwood
Still, FM is useless - 20-40m LSB all the way
The linked station has a tour of it now it's closed, certainly put out a lot of oomfh! but then it had to cover a big area.
I'd love a valve radio on my desk but er indoors (and lack of space) won't allow it & I have to make do with an obsolete Kenwood
Still, FM is useless - 20-40m LSB all the way
- Joined
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I have had a contact out of this world with FM 2 meter. When the English school teacher was in the Russian space station with packet radio. Rather an embarrassment as I had not realised what is was and thought some one had mixed up 144.825 and 145.825 so sent message do you realise what frequency you are one this is normally reserved for satellite use. To which she answered we are a satellite. Ups jumped in with both feet.
Digital does get further than voice most of the time I have seen mill-watts used with QRP and Morse but I personally never learnt Morse. Of course as we ramp you the baud rate be it Morse, Packet or any other digital format so the errors get greater.
What I was surprised at was how good the human brain is at decoding with SSB even when slightly off frequency one can still work out what is being said. I think Donald Duck was a radio ham?
But today we seem to have lost the point with Ham Radio where the RAYNET controller phones you to say what frequency to use. Hardly good practice for setting up emergency coms. Whole idea is to practice for when phones don't work.
Digital does get further than voice most of the time I have seen mill-watts used with QRP and Morse but I personally never learnt Morse. Of course as we ramp you the baud rate be it Morse, Packet or any other digital format so the errors get greater.
What I was surprised at was how good the human brain is at decoding with SSB even when slightly off frequency one can still work out what is being said. I think Donald Duck was a radio ham?
But today we seem to have lost the point with Ham Radio where the RAYNET controller phones you to say what frequency to use. Hardly good practice for setting up emergency coms. Whole idea is to practice for when phones don't work.
I think it has largely been overtaken by the times (aka mobile phones, "IT", the Internet etc.). It's a little over 50 years since I got my licence, and I would say that very few of the things that attracted the likes of me to the hobby back then (and kept me very interested for a decade or so) are truly still applicable.
Kind Regards, John
There's a regular in my local station carpark who's a Raynet chap. Or chapess - only ever seen the car.
The need for Raynet has also essentially been "overtaken by the times".
Kind Regards, John
G4WQB apparently
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The sticker is still on my car. Last year I think just 4 events when I started it was a case of every weekend something going one. The idea of events is to practice for real emergency and there have been times like the Prestatyn floods when it has helped were all phones failed.
But as to if today the team left could actually help is another matter.
But as to if today the team left could actually help is another matter.
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