Ode to a small black box
Hi folks,
Up until a couple of weeks ago, a radio with shortwave reception was something that never appeared to live
up to its potential. Im thinking of the radios back in the seventies with one very common model that had all the bands layed out as I turned the dial one common "stick" moved along ALL the bands. Ofcourse you could only use one band at a time, but what a spectacle all of them made layed out like that. And the one that said aircraft really had my imagination reeling. This was a common model people most often seemd to have if they had a multi band radio in the seventies. I think Radioshack sold it too.
Over the years, even in to my twenties, if there were one around I'd fudge with it, but as before it was more a lessonin static and pandemonium and the aircraft band NEVER let me hear aircraft.
As things would have it, now fast forward and I am 49 years old. I'm in radio shack and there on the shelf is a grundigradio. Radioshack always seemed to sell grundigs and for whatever reason they were always an attractive purchase, that Isimply never made. That is until I saw the Buzz Aldrin edition. Maybe its my life long love of astronomy and my nostalgiaor the Apollo era, but I bought the radio. True to its name as well, it was the "aviation edition".
Ater some muddling around, things began to become clear. Its one thing to monkey with someone elses radioon a whim, quite another to actually sitdown and resign yourself to making it happen. And that I did.
The aircraft dilema back in the day was simply this. You dont just sit there idly going through stations as though pilots are all busy gabbing on radios like its gossip hour. I decided, that [after working at an airport too] either you know the specific frequency of the tower, ground or unicom or forget hoping fall into one of there radio exchanges. Even at the right frequency, long long moments can pass between even a glimmer of talk. Sometimes, quite a long time if its a sleepyairport. So no, the sky full of jets wasnt filling the channels with garbel like so many talking heads. But alas, with the right frequencies
I did hear the local airport [five miles away] with the familiar lingo of crosswind, downwind legs, etc etc as well as the groundchatter of aircraft taking the active. Its a busy thing actually but altogether totally elusive if you arent clued in to the specifc frequency. To date the most distant airpoirt I get barely intelligble garbel out of is 20 miles away. About the most distant I recall hearing a pilot giving his position to the local tower. Apparently beyond that the little $99 wonder doesnt pick up any more with its whip antenna. This ewas almost the end of my aircraft radio experience and it woulf have been fine too, but
while dabbling through short wave on SSB I found some typical garble sounding like Elmer Fudd on helium Attenuating SSBwas still totally new to me so I didnt quite firgure it out, but then it happened. By adjusting the dial under the right settingI removed the helium from Fudd and mu jaw dropped with what I heard. It was New York Central. New York Central likeBoston central are the navigational overlords of the skys as you move from one zone to another in the new england region.It's still terrifically cryptic to me with the chains of numbers they throw back and fourth but I desminated some of the jargon.
Mach .84 for the speed of a cargo jet for example. Vectors were given, flight levels are common, on up to 40,000 feet, though they say it a little differently. The reception on this is querky however. Its only roughly AFTER 10 pm, and lasts somewhere till around ,midnight. Maybe more I cant tell. Long silences will fill the air with this "station". Astounding to me was the distances some of the pilots reported for their jets, one mentioning being over Montauk. Thats a good 75 miles away - but I heard the
exchange quite clear.
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Then theres the local hams.... I have narrowed down a group living in Connecticut that chat with some folks out on Long Island, New Jersey,as well as Chicago. They seem a tight group thats always gentlemanly taking turns quite well so as not to stomp on each others words.
Ill be doing other things aorund the room that the radio is in happy to hear the exchanges.
The distant radio stations are off the scale....
Ive recorded nearly 20 different spanish speaking radio stations today. One is either in Cuba or Venezuela its hard to describe as the radiostation mentions both quit eoften - from what i can decipher in spanish whihc for me is pretty nil. I know Cubano is said a lot as well as Hugo Chavez and Venezuela. Then another is mexican for sure, still others though are anyones guess. One spanish shortwave station in from the next town over in a city. Fair enough. But the others, one going over 28500 Kilohertz whihc I thought was saved for sunspot cycles. The spanish stations make me sorry I dont speak the language. I'd love to know where they are broadcasting from.
Then there was one single Russian station with classy piano and a beautiful womans voice who even said the wordsphonetcaly promnounced as "dos-va-don-yah" . The classical type piano continued as the radio station played on.
Was it really russia or just someone playing russian radio in the states for russian americans.
Another station that came in clearly was canadian radio. all the news fit to hear from quebec to british columbia and so on.Many stations are religous to which i admit i tire of.
Another station was french. Clearly french, Was it from france or simply french american or french canadian for that matter?
I have questions upon questions and lists of station numbers that is actually quite long written down with time and date. My most compelling broadcast came last night after one o clock in the morning eastern time. Repeatedly a man was saying the same words over and over again as though he were paging someone out in the vastness of radio-space. The line invoilved the words " Radio "Zulu" and " Radio Zanzibar"as he repeatedly kept asking for this person along with other defining words of identification and purpose.
I couldnt believe my ears. Zanzibar is on t he other side of africa - on their east coast. I fiddled with my SSB attenuation andkept hearing him over and over again until he was answered. Finally answrred that is. There was the second party, much laughing and then a conversationthat became utterly unintelligable of my little whip antenna. But I was glad the man made contact.
I called it a night and went to sleep
I love the little black box and simply cant get enough. I hear this thing is over sensitive. If Zanzibar is a result of over sensitive - bring it on!!! What a terrifc thing to wheel through the frequency spectrum digging out some incredible finds. The spanish stations and bible thing is over the top, but
plenty exists elsewhere thats of deep interest.
Pete
Forgive my typos!!!!
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