Hi all,
Tony was very kind and sent me his Softrock LF receiver.? It seems to be working very well, except for ONE thing.? Here is a breakdown of what I've seen on the overnight recordings I made using HDSDR (my program of choice).? It's been a few years since I've last used a Softrock, so I might be missing something.
1.? On the night of 9 October I made recordings for the full night with an LO frequency of 220KHz.? Everything went well, except for a strong spur on the LO frequency.? I seem to remember that can be due to not using isolation transformers between the receiver and computer sound card.? Like I said, it's been awhile, and that wasn't a great concern at the moment.? I logged a number of beacons and all were on the proper frequencies.
2.? On the night of 10 October I again did an overnight recording, this time using an LO frequency of 250KHz.? Again, everything went well, everything on frequency and I logged a number of beacons (their number is rapidly diminishing).
3.? Last night I made an overnight recording using an LO frequency of 380KHz so I could cover the upper range of the NDB band.? This time everything is messed up frequency wise.? The frequency of all NDB's read exactly 10KHz high, this from well known and stable ones like MOG on 404KHz.?? NOTE:? I DID try using both installs of HDSDR (V2.76 & V2.80) to make sure that wasn't the problem, but both read the same.
As I no longer have any NDBs within daytime range I can't check things out until night falls.
--
<>< 73 From "The Beaconeer's Lair" ><>
Specializing in DXing NDBs (Longwave Beacons)
Phil, KO6BB,
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EQUIPMENT:
YAESU: FTDX-101MP Xceiver, Dual SDR Receivers (~2020)
YAESU: FTDX-3000 Xceiver, DSP IF, 300Hz Roofing filter (~2019).
Portables: Eton Elite 750 (2), AKA Grundig Satelite 750 (2020)
Sangean ATS-909X2 (2021), Tecsun PL-990 (2021)
SDRs: Airspy Discovery HF+, SDRplay RSPdx, Softrock LF
Scanner: Uniden SDS200
ACC: MFJ-993B Auto Antenna Matcher.
HOMEBREW 4 Port Antenna Multicoupler, Feeds 4 RX's.
HOMEBREW Tunable LF-MF Pre-Amp.
Ratzlaff 440Hz, 6.5Hz BW Audio Filter
Autec Research QF1 Audio Filter.
ANTENNAS: 88 foot Long Ladder-line fed dipole, ~35 feet AGL for MW/HF.
Top Loaded Tee (Dipole fed as single element).
Butternut HF-6V 6 Band Vertical, ~12 Feet AGL for 75-10M
Ratzlaff Active whip, 5 Foot Long, ~22 Feet AGL For LF/MW/HF.
Wellbrook ALA1530LN Loop For LF/MW/HF at ~17 Feet AGL
Discone at ~35 Feet AGL For Scanner
QTH: Merced, California, 37, 18, 37N 120, 30, 6W CM97rh
