I had all Mt Dowe ABCs clearly except 101.5, which is was blocked by Great Lakes FM, and also last night, Triple J Canberra.
That meant hearing for the first time here Triple J on 99.9 when nulling out SWR. Also had all Tamworth ABCs, including Triple J 94.7 when nulling out News Taree. That is another first timer for me here. Still no FM92.9 though, Classic FM too hard to null out enough.
Also had Canberra strong enough to get RDS on all stations where available. 98.3 2XX had to be in a tight null of ABC RN to snag that.
There was just one frequency I couldn’t get a station on at all last night (107.5).
Good Tropo this morning, Goulburn Eagle Fm just below RDS on the peaks. BTW they have changed their positioner to “Goulburn’s Best Music” sounds very ARN!!!
Canberra nationals in, at weak levels.
Orange nationals enhanced enough to allow a very weak HIT CT to be received.
Middle Brother in at moderate levels. Strong enough for Triple J to dominate Coast fm on 96.3.
Just arrived in the mail today. Came fully charge with V2 software, not sure if it needs an update.
So far I have just set BS to auto and plugged in antenna. Shown receiving Triple M Fraser Coast and triple J Mt Dowe. Seems to do pretty well on Rebel 99.4 and Breeze 100.6 that are sandwiched between stations.
Welcome! You’re getting good signal levels with 103.5 at 32db, since roughly 240-250 km from you, and 99.9 at 22db at roughly 430 km.
Noice… hard to get a reading on true signal levels with just one use though, I’m still trying to get a sense of “normality” with my TEF radio, harder at this time of the year when signals are more variable.
Yellow button - mono / stereo
Grey button - changes the tuning mode from Manual, Auto, Preset.
Blue button - changes the band.
Blue button (long press) - on FM, gives you the detailed RDS info.
The red knob is squelch, I haven’t found this much use.
If you press the (top) tuning knob IN, it changes the tuning intervals on FM.
You will see a green dot above one of the frequency digits.
This indicates what tuning step it’s in.
The FM default is 0.1 mhz intervals, but if you press the tuning knob in it can be at 10, 1, 0.1 or 0.01 intervals and the green dot will move to the left/right to indicate the tuning interval selected (hope that makes sense)
It’ll be interesting to hear how you get on! I’m actually using something like that for the server I’ve got running now, I didn’t build it myself but bought it second hand from another DXer ages ago without having much use for it until now.
I know that currently some of the guys involved in the hardware side are trying to get a working part list and schematics together for another DIY TEF module designed for server use - it will have two SW switchable antenna ports and onboard sound to output the audio over USB rather than needing an audio cable and soundcard input on the host PC. I’m hoping to have a go at that once the details are ironed out.
That sounds great. Audio over USB is really the missing piece of the puzzle, and would further improve the sound quality of the project.
I don’t plan to stream 24/7, but I am very interested to try it. And even if I were planning to stream 24/7, I wouldn’t want to use one of those receivers with the USB always connected, constantly charging the battery, as it could cause it to expand over time, which could be dangerous. Though, I imagine disconnecting the battery wouldn’t be an issue, if all you planned to use it for was streaming.
I came across a YouTube video using the parts I listed, and it looks promising. I also plan to compare that against the blue-case receivers everyone here is buying.
I don’t know if audio over USB would simply be some sort of “add on” to the project, or an entirely different module, but definitely do keep us updated with progress.
Thats not actually 100% correct
your allow to exceed 100% by 0.5% for every 1% injection of a subcarriers and must not exceed 110% (82.5kHz)
Also there is a license condition that you cannot exceed 100% mod regardless of subcarriers 200 miles from the Mexico border.
Pushing your modulation past 75kHz is a stupid excerise… 1 db is 10% modulation so no great benefit for loudness, and on the fringe you’ll find that keeping to 100% is easier to listen to.
and of course if you push it over 110% your really doing more damage then good to your listeners.
Before anybody says … keep away from sideband suppression, Pilot clipping these are cause nothing but dramas with radios
Inland tropo towards Canberra should be possible tonight. We have a weak easterly with a huge inversion setting up; 20 in Braidwood but 24 at Cabramurra. @Radiohead , if you’re able, try Braidwood FM from now until 1900
Going by the Hepburn forecast late tonight into Friday morning looks to be the best chance for Canberra Tropo into Sydney. The unstable signals first up is the afternoon / evening Thunderstorms around Sydney.
That Hepburn map looks promising for some rare NZ tropo into Bungendore. My LOS and noise is pretty good in that direction so I might try with the Yagi early Monday.
I’ve now had enough of a play with the TEF radio to get a good feel for what stations I can receive reliably in normal conditions that are not as impacted by tropo as much/often (thus excludes anything south of Sydney/north of Taree area).
So I decided to make a list of those with a typical signal strength reading and in stereo (ST) and with RDS as noted below. Taken a short while ago with the rabbit ears in the position of best signal for each station in my dedicated DX chair outside.
88.1 2RDJ Burwood 6db
88.5 2RRR Ryde 3db
88.7 2MWM Bilgola Plateau 20db
88.9 2RE Taree 18db ST / RDS
89.1 2BLU Katoomba 3db
89.7 2RES Waverley 17db
90.1 2NBC Oatley 1db
90.5 2HD Belmont North 64db ST
91.3 2MAC Campbelltown 12db ST / RDS
92.1 2MFM Sydney 32db ST / RDS
92.5 2BL Gosford 50db
92.9 2ABC Sydney 45db ST / RDS
93.3 2SNR Gosford 54db ST / RDS
93.7 2LND Sydney 41db ST / RDS
94.1 2CCM Gosford 52db ST / RDS
94.5 2FBI Sydney 41db ST / RDS
94.9 2GCB Gosford 53db ST / RDS
95.1 2PNN Nelson Bay 11db
95.3 2PTV Sydney 47db ST / RDS
95.5 2MRR Taree 13db
95.9 2NC Nelson Bay 25db
96.1 2ONE Katoomba 35db ST / RDS
96.3 2CCC Gosford 54db ST / RDS
96.9 2SYD Sydney 47db ST / RDS
97.1 2ABCRN Taree 23db
97.3 2OLD Lake Macquarie 53db
97.5 2HD Nelson Bay 20db ST
97.7 2SBS Sydney 48db ST / RDS
98.1 2PNN Gosford 44db
98.3 2ABCRN Nelson Bay 23db
98.5 2OOO Sydney 40db ST / RDS
98.7 2ABC Taree 21db ST
99.1 2UUU Winmalee 15db ST
99.3 2NSB Chatswood 19db ST / RDS
99.5 2ICE Katoomba 25db ST
99.7 2RFM Newcastle 74db ST / RDS
99.9 2SWR Blacktown 8db (stereo flickers, no RDS in normal conditions sadly)
100.1 2HHH Hornsby 18db ST
100.3 2MCR Campbelltown 15db ST
100.5 2RPH Newcastle 59db
100.9 2PSR Nelson Bay 31db ST / RDS
101.1 2LT Katoomba 21db ST
101.3 2CFM Gosford 65db ST / RDS
101.5 2GLA Forster 35db ST / RDS
101.7 2UUS Sydney 52db ST / RDS
102.1 2JJJ Newcastle 71db ST
102.5 2MBS Sydney 37db ST / RDS
102.9 2KKO Newcastle 60db ST / RDS
103.2 2CBA Sydney 39db ST / RDS
103.7 2NUR Newcastle 66db ST / RDS
104.1 2DAY Sydney 52db ST / RDS
104.5 2GOS Gosford 69db ST / RDS
104.9 2MMM Sydney 52db ST / RDS
105.3 2NEW Newcastle 62db ST / RDS
105.7 2JJJ Sydney 48db ST / RDS
106.1 2ABC Newcastle 71db ST
106.5 2WFM Sydney 52db ST / RDS
106.9 2XXX Newcastle 66db ST / RDS
107.3 2SER Sydney 20db ST / RDS - does get interference from MAX FM Taree quite a bit, only just strong enough to appear with RDS.
107.7 2GGO Gosford 68db ST / RDS
107.9 2ICE Katoomba 13db ST
