G8JNJ

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G8JNJ
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  • Whats the trick to decoding FSK?

    You will have difficulty decoding anything from that signal, it is US Navy, 850Hz shift 50bd KW-46 Encrypted, Lualualei, Hawaii.

    Try using some of the KiWi's preset stations in the FSK extension, to get a better "feel" for the different shifts and baud rates.

    The most common FSK signals tend to be Russian 200Hz (or near) shift "BEE" format.

    https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/CIS-36-50

    https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/CIS-50-50

    Regards,

    Martin

    smg
  • What are each of the two SNR measurements?

    If you click on the column headers Internal / HF / External on the http://rx.linkfanel.net/ webpage, it will sort that column in descending order.

    Personally, I like to sort by the HF value, as that is often a better indicator of actual performance.

    However, the whole SNR measurement process can only really be used as a rough guide, and unfortunately the majority of KiWi installations are badly let down by poor antennas, often in very noisy urban locations.

    The KiWi's in the top 10% (70 out of approx 700) SNR scores, are generally OK, but some of the rest are really awful, which is a great pity, and IMHO a great waste of resource.

    Purchasing a receiver is only a very small part in the overall process of receiving signals. Although you can't really do without one, even a top of the range model, isn't going to make up for a poor antenna.

    Signal to Noise Ratio is what matters, not absolute signal strength. Good transmit antennas don't always make good receive antennas, as they are required to do different things.

    I'll keep on repeating this mantra until things improve, but I suspect I'll die first...

    Regards,

    Martin

    studentkra
  • Where is Port 8073?

    The port is defined in the actual device configuration file.

    Some port numbers are used for specific purposes, like 80 for web pages or 22 for SSH, others are chosen and sometimes become a defacto standard, but the can be changed if required.

    Imagine your IP is like a street address for an apartment block. The port number defines which apartment within the block is the actual address to send and receive mail.

    With SDR++, you simply use the same url format you would use to connect to any other SDR+++ server, bur with your IP details instead, followed by the port number :5259.

    You should be able to connect to your own server if both devices are using the same local network.

    If you wish to connect outside of this, over the internet, you will need to add a port forwarding rule to your router.

    The KiWi makes this easy, by offering a number if options to configure this function.

    Regards,

    Martin

    Nate_R
  • Cuban Number Station

    Which KiWi is your own KiWi, where is it located, and is it public ?

    Thinking about this, as this forum only allows limited information to be included in our profiles, it would probably be a good idea for folks to include their KiWi URL(s) in relevant posts.

    Regards,

    Martin

    http://wessex.zapto.org:8074

    http://websdr.uk:8060

    Nate_R
  • News Talk ZB Napier / Broadcasting in 80m Amateur / Nothing listed on http://www.short-wave.info

    Two or three times an actual MW broadcast frequency is often observed when very strong local transmitting stations are present.

    In this case 3 x 1278kHz = 3834kHz

    Sometimes these are actual harmonics being radiated by the transmitter, sometimes they are externally generated by objects such rusty wire fencing, that is rectifying and re-radiating signals, and sometimes they are produced somewhere in the reception chain.

    Many times it can be a combination of all of the above.

    Placing some attenuation, or better still an amplitude / frequency slope equaliser ahead of the affected KiWi can often help to minimise such problems.

    Regards,

    Martin

    smg
  • Wonder what this is at 5300Khz? - its always there.

    Hi Philippe,

    That looks like a switching supply to me, probably more than one.

    See if the bands of interference repeat at regular intervals, typically at harmonics of the actual switching frequency, 60, 100, 160kHz.

    Unfortunately, if carried by the mains supply they are connected to, the radiated noise can be propagated over a large area, and you will find peaks and troughs in the radiation pattern, depending on the length of wire that are attached to.

    I have recently been trying to locate some broadband VDSL interference centred on 3MHz, that is emanating from houses at least 0.5km away from the KiWi site, but fed with overhead copper phone lines.

    I've been using SDR Angel and its "heat mapping" option, to perform "drive by" surveys of the area.

    I use a magnetic mount active whip and GPS antennas, connected to an RTL SDR V4 dongle and laptop.

    The more orange / red or brighter the "blob" plotted on the map, the stronger the signal level.



    The KiWi probably has most of the required hardware to be able to do this, but KiWi recorder may be more suited.

    Regards,

    Martin

    HB9TMC
  • Wonder what this is at 5300Khz? - its always there.

    I use 75 ohm, foam filled, all copper satellite TV coax, with braid and foil for my active antennas.

    Low loss and effective screening, don't worry about the slight impedance mismatch to 50 ohms.

    Something like WF100 costs around £30 for 50m.

    Don't use stuff with air spacing, or aluminium foil, or copper clad steel.

    Regards,

    Martin

    smg
  • 5Mhz Aero / licence required?

    They are most likely pirates, probably fishermen.

    They often like to find "private" frequencies in order to conduct their "private" conversations, and these tend to be on frequencies with number sequences that are easily remembered.

    There tend to be lots of them speaking all sorts of Asian languages, and frequently performing lots of chanting.

    5 to 12MHz seems to be the most used frequency ranges, but they can pop up almost anywhere.

    Regards,

    Martin

    smg
  • Wonder what this is at 5300Khz? - its always there.

    As I said previously, the majority of Bias Tees have very poor filtering between the DC line and the RF path.

    Nearly all the circuits you find on the internet tend to be outlining theoretical designs, that concentrate on providing the least attenuation and impedance "bumps" in the direct RF path, but don't worry about what happens with RF entering via the DC path.

    The better designs for our reception purposes, incorporate additional filtering components in the DC path, in order to reduce this problem. But very large values of L and C are required in order to be effective at the low frequencies, especially at less than 100kHz.


    Regards,

    Martin

    smg
  • Wonder what this is at 5300Khz? - its always there.

    Check the antenna Bias Tee first.

    Many don't have enough filtering built into them.

    Regards,

    Martin

    smg