Excalibur Pro Update

The new Winradio Excalibur Pro is now listed in the Grove catalog for a price of $1,649.95 US. The entry states that advance orders are being taken.

More Details on Winradio Excalibur Pro

Well, it looks like the Winradio WR-G33DDC Excalibur Pro is considerably closer to market. As we know, it has been vapor for quite some time, but now one has been shown at the recent Dayton Hamvention.

Winradio has also updated the spec sheet. As promised, this is indeed the high-end version of its digital down-conversion design for a software defined radio (SDR).

The specs, though not verified by any independent testing yet, are quite remarkable. But, since it's a DDC design, so is the demand on computing resources. A 2 GHz dual-core processor is the absolute minimum, and a 2.4 gig quad-core is required for full features. I would also imagine that, when you're in full rock and roll processing the 4-MHz RF bandwidth in real time, that your desktop supercomputer is not good for much else.

The software appears to offer some powerful features. Winradio claims that its spectrum analyzer can display up to the radio's entire 9 kHz to 49.99 MHz bandwidth simultaneously in real time, while you also receive three simultaneous and completely independent signals.

No US prices or availability dates are known here. A price of 1800 Euros has been published by a foreign dealer. At the current exchange rate, that works out to a cool $2600 American.

Netherlands WebSDR Update Nov. 29

Here's the latest from the ham radio club at the U. of Twente, Netherlands, concerning the return of their WebSDR to service:

Update 26 November:

We're back -- well, somewhat.
Over the past couple of weeks, we have moved all our stuff to our new club room (although much of it still has to be unpacked), and since yesterday, we have an internet connection there.
Unfortunately though, we do not yet have any possibilities for feeding an antenna cable through the wall. It is also still very unclear how long it will take until it this will be arranged.

Background:

Since Wednesday November 3, this WebSDR receiver has been offline. This is because the radio club at the University of Twente, where this receiver is hosted, had to move to a new building, along with the entire department of electrical engineering. We knew this was coming and we were busy preparing the move (dismantling our antennas, packing our equipment, etc.). On October 29 we were told that we had to empty the old room by November 4, which is earlier than we expected. That's why we could not announce this more in advance, and could not make the transition smooth by first preparing the new room.

73, Pieter-Tjerk, PA3FWM (e-mail about this topic: qrt AT websdr.org)

WebSDR Hits, Mostly Utility: #2

WebSDR, U of Twente, Netherlands

147.3 DDH47, Deutsche Wetterdienst, ID and WX from Hamburg Meteo. RTTY 50/85, in German, good copy. 06/02/09 2114

153.0 Deutschlandfunk, Donebach, AM longwave broadcasting station 500/250 kW, cfd via match with Internet stream. Also has a low buzz like some kind of data signal @60-80 Hz 01/11/10 2131

162.0 TDF, French longwave broadcast, in French. Identified in-mode. Has a low growly subchannel which is the French time standard station. 06/01/09 2200

198.0 BBC Radio 4, Droitwich, UK, EE AM nx & tx programmes, identified in-mode. (Same XMTR used in WWII to broadcast famous D-Day poem.) ~20-Hz subcarrier pulses for UK electrical load control. 06/01/09 1727

298.5 MSK DGPS? No decode 06/14/09 2019

302.0 MSK DGPS, 200 baud 06/14/09
Preamble : 102
Message Type : 9 GPS Partial Correction Set
Station Number : 426 (Gilze Rijen, Netherlands)

303.5 MSK DGPS, 100 baud 06/14/09 2030
Preamble : 102
Message Type : 9 GPS Partial Correction Set
Station Number : 763 (Zeven, Germany)

307.0 MSK DGPS? weak 06/19/09 2227

308.0 MSK DGPS? 06/19/09 2227

-end part 2-

WebSDR Hits, Mostly Utility: #1

In honor of the WebSDR going back to 7 bands.

All frequencies kHz, all dates US style, all times UTC.

44.2 RTTY? 50?/85 06/05/09 2021
46.0 Mode? Like 68.6 06/05/09 2017
54.0 Mode? Slow multi-tone 06/05/09 2016
57.5 Mode? Like 81.0 06/05/09 2015

60.0 CW MSF, Anthorn, UK, time signals and codes. Successful time/date decode at 1845. 05/30/09 1826

62.6 Mode? Like 68.6 06/05/09 2000 2014

66.6 MCW RBU, Moscow, Russia, standard time/frequency beeps 05/31/09 2212

68.0 Mode? 150-Hz shift stream 06/05/09 2000
68.6 Mode? Multi-tone stream 06/05/09 2000

75.0 CW HBG, Geneva, Switzerland, standard time/frequency beeps. UPDATE: Decoded successfully on 01/13/10 using Clock program that comes with Multipsk.

77.5 AM/PM DCF77, Mainflingen, Germany, time signals and codes. UPDATE: Decoded successfully on 01/13/10 using Clock.

81.0 MSK? Unknown continuous stream, like DGPS. 05/31/09 2156

100.00 Pulse Unk Loran-C, sdr loose timing doesn't permit ID by GRI. 05/30/09 1850

129.1 DCF49-European power grid "ripple control," Mainflingen, Germany, ASCII (7E1?) 200 baud. Idle on 1 tone w/data bursts. FSK, shift 340 Hz. 05/30/09 1930
Station : EFR Berlin
Callsign : DCF49
Transmission site: LW-facility Mainflingen
Radiated Power : 60 kW
Frequencies : 129.1 and 139.0 kHz
Transmission mode: 200 bps ASCII
Modulation : FSK
Control protocol : DIN 19244
Message format : FT 1.2
Service : Long wave Teleswitching

[Basically, a couple of user datagram protocols are used. Subscribers connect to computers, messages queue and automatically go out, for purpose of load management, control of attached devices, etc etc.]

133.2 FSK 85-Hz shift, marker pip in middle, regular cyclic sound, Datatrak vehicle location 06/19/09 2152

135.6 HGA22-European power grid control, Lahihegy, Hungary, ASCII. Idle on one tone w/FSK data bursts. Same purpose as 129.1 and 138.8. Not synced to others. 05/30/09 1930

138.8 DCF39-European power grid control, Burg, Germany, 300-baud ASCII. Idle on 1 tone, FSK data bursts. Same purpose as 129.1 and 135.6. Not synced to others. Possible FSK. 05/30/09 1930

146.5 FSK-Identical to 133.2 06/19/09 2208

-end part 1-

WebSDR Temporarily Has More Bands

The Web Software Defined Radio site that I have written about before is running a special wideband setup in which a lot more bands are available. Especially fun for listeners on the US West Coast is the VLF/LF/MF band, from essentially DC to 600 kHz. Along with some utilities that I've never heard personally, it's also a chance to hear the European longwave broadcast band.

Other bands usually not available are amateur 160, 30, 20, 18, and 15 meters. Some weak CW was coming through on 15, despite the non-resonant antenna for this band. 160 was hopping due to the contest. 30 is wide enough to hear some adjacent utilities, notably New York VOLMET, which comes blasting in.

This will end soon. It was supposed to go back to normal on May 27, but this was extended due probably to a major ham radio contest this weekend.

As we've mentioned before, the SDR is at a university campus in the Netherlands, and maintained by a student amateur radio club.

Here are some catches I made this morning (local time):

60.0 kHz CW
MSF, Anthorn, UK; standard time signals and codes. The CW timing deviates slightly from the expected 1 interruption per second in such a way as to send a time code that can be decoded for time and date. A successful decode was made here at 1845 UTC. 05/30/09 1826

77.0 AM/PM
DCF77, Mainflingen, Germany;, time signals and codes. This is a more complex encoding scheme than MSF, and decode was not achieved due to SDR link latency/instability. 05/30/09 1904

100.00 Pulse Unk Loran-C. 05/30/09 1850

129.1 FSK ASCII
DCF49-European power grid control, Mainflingen, Germany. Continuous idle on mark with ASCII bursts. I've never heard this here via the air. Usually only Ary Boender reports it. 05/30/09 1930

Here's some more details from the web:

Agcy : EFR Berlin
Callsign : DCF49
Transmission site: LW-facility Mainflingen
Radiated Power : 60 kW
Frequencies : 129.1 and 139.0 kHz
Transmission mode: 200 bps ASCII
Modulation : FSK
Control protocol : DIN 19244
Message format : FT 1.2
Service : Long wave Teleswitching

135.6 FSK ASCII
HGA22-European power grid control, Lahihegy, Hungary. 05/30/09 1930

138.8 FSK ASCII
DCF39-European power grid control, Burg, Germany, 300-baud ASCII. Carrier w/data bursts. Not synced to others. Possible FSK. 05/30/09 1930

The Great WebSDR Tour - Part 4 (40m)

We conclude The Great WebSDR Tour with some stuff found on 40 meters.

7033.3 (listed 7037.9)
I probably should have switched to LSB before getting a frequency on this one. It's TA2BBS-4, node #4 of a packet/Pactor mailbox and bulletin board system. The transmitter is in Ankara, Turkey.

7034.0 (see above, listed freq is much higher)
This is also packet, but I couldn't get an ID

7038.7
This is the infamous 40 meter SLHFB cluster that European hams have been serenaded by for decades now. Like 80m and the others, it's a cluster of propagation beacons (?) used by the Russian Navy. They bang away in CW, with single-letter IDs spaced 100 Hz that are consistent from cluster to cluster. That's why you'll remember some of these from 80.

Here's what I have so far:

7038.7 "D" Sevastopol 01/30/09 0650
7038.8 "P" Kaliningrad 01/30/09 0659
7038.9 "S" Severomorsk 01/30/09 0650
7039.0 "C" Moscow 01/30/09 0650
7039.1 "A" Astrakhan? 02/03/09 2050

(Again, thanks to Ary Boender.)

Quite the racket when these are all coming in at once, with different letters fading up and down at different rates.

7054.0
Indicated center frequency of what sounds like a loud teleprinting idler. May be an image, I don't know. It's REALLY loud, and it appears (much weaker) the same distance from the other side of the IQ mixer center frequency. Appears to be 75/200 and sounds like some military and diplo stuff but I have no way of knowing if I'm right. Fades in and out with the night time skip. ?????????????

Happy SDR'ing!

The Great WebSDR Tour - Part 3

3589.7 (Dial, listed 3588.0)
This is an output frequency for an interesting European data network called PSKmail. Those who have used "packet" mailboxes get the concept, except that this one is in PSK250. This is a much faster, and much wider, version of the PSK31 that everyone's probably heard on 14070 kHz. It works better than HF packet, and you don't need a US $1500 modem to receive it, like you do for Pactor-II and III. The shareware MultiPSK program does it just fine, even over the grungy webSDR.

The station on this frequency identifies as DK4XI-8. It seems to dump large files of amateur callsigns and coordinates on the hour. I don't know if these are APRS or obtained in other ways. Many of the stations are afloat. At hour +15, it dumps an even larger file of Deutscher Wetterdienst WX and NAVTEX Hamburg, both in German. This contains weather observations and maritime safety information from the German weather and hydromet offices.

I've also copied another PSK250 station, DA5UWG, on 3588.5. This is also PSKmail.

3592.6 (listed, dial can vary all over)
This is an interesting world propagation spotting net using a semi-automated amateur mode called WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter, aka "whisper"). WSPR is implemented in another small computer program resembling WSJT. Look and feel are similar, since both are written by K1JT, but WSPR is even less intuitive if that's possible.

This mode is designed for very bad HF circuits. It is precisely timed, with transmissions beginning exactly 2 seconds into each even UTC minute and lasting around 110 seconds. DEFINITELY sync your computer to an Internet time server if you're going to use THIS mode.

The information rate is very slow, around 1 baud. The signal is only about 6 Hz wide. It uses a very narrow 4PSK modulation and a lot of redundancy (FEC, etc). Therefore the dedicated WSPR software decoder can extract very weak signals, well below the noise.

Even when it's audible, WSPR is easy to confuse with just another dirty carrier or more local computer grunge. This makes it easy to miss, but if you park WSPR on the SDR at or near 3592.6 USB, you'll hear it eventually. At home, try this one and 10138.6 USB.

So far my only successfully decoded hit is:

0622 -4 1.7 3.594074 0 OE1SMC JN88 30

and yes, the actual transmitted frequencies are between 3594 and 3594.2 kHz.

3595.7
Our tour comes to an end with the Russian Navy SLHFB Single-Letter HF Beacon cluster. Like all these clusters, this one consists of several CW Morse beacons spaced 0.1 kHz repeating one letter forever. These have been on the air for a very long time, and they are thought to be propagation beacons. It's possible to tune in the whole range at once and see where the band's open to.

So far, on 80, we have nailed:

3593.7 "D" Sevastopol 02/04/09 0431
3593.8 "P" Kaliningrad 02/08/09 2142
3593.9 "S" Severomorsk 02/04/09 0431

(Thanks to Ary Boender for the locations).

There should at least be "C" (3594.0, Moscow) audible at some point, and also an "A" on 3594.1 and maybe a "K."

Well, that's the 80 meter part of our tour. Sure a lot more to hear than around here.

For those who want to do the WebSDR thing, there's a list of these here. Note that K7UEB has just brought up a new one at his US location near Walla Walla, WA. It covers 14000-14095 kHz (or most of the 20 meter digital band).

Happy decoding!

The Great WebSDR Tour - Part 2

We continue our tour of 80 meters on the Dutch WebSDR.

3582.1 (dial; listed is 3581.5)
This is W1AW, the ARRL Headquarters superstation in Newington, CT. Code practice and bulletins are audible nightly. I wish I could get it as well here.

~3585
One of several weather FAX stations in this range. These are very weak. This and the SDR's woozy timing guarantee poor reception of these faxes, but they are identifiable as weather charts sent at 120/576.

3585.5 (listed 3584.5)
One of several ALE frequencies. It might be worthwhile to park on these, but I hate to tie up their server. By the time I can tune them in, it's too late to sync up and get an ID. I would guess this one is amateur, since it's a listed ALE calling frequency for Regions II and III.

Other ALE frequencies include, but are not limited to, 3587.6 and 3618.2.

3585.0
Unknown STANAG 4285, that jet-plane noise made by a NATO data communications mode about 3 kHz wide. Started and stopped. Also voice in a language other than English, using military-sounding procedures and NATO phonetics. STANAG 4285 has also been heard on 3614.4.

3586.5
VERY approximate frequency of NATO tactical data linking in Link-11 mode. There's Link-11 all through this part of 80 at night. That's what it is. Hams have nothing similar. It's the military.

Other Link-11 frequencies include, but are not limited to, 3590.5, 3607.0, and 3610.0 kHz.

--------
Break, more to follow

The Great WebSDR Tour - Part 1

The WebSDR in the Netherlands just keeps getting more popular. Maybe it's too popular. The server is getting pretty hammered.

It's easy to see why, because this box gets everything. Maybe it's the full size antenna. 20 is dead, but 80 and 40 sound like old times, with stations from one end to the other of the SDR's little segments. Back here in The Land That Shortwave Forgot, I haven't heard the low bands this active since I was a small boy with a big antenna.

Let's begin our tour on 80 meters. This band is shared in Europe. Amateurs co-exist with military utilities and even weather faxes.

The SDR coverage begins around 3576.0 kHz. Frequencies are corrected to documented listed ones where available, otherwise it's the reading of the SDR "dial."

3576.0-3578.0
This is a JT65 working frequency range. Stations pick frequencies plus or minus QRM. JT65 is part of a computer program named WSJT which has several digital modes designed for EME (Earth-Moon-Earth communication, aka "moon bounce"). This is done on VHF and UHF, making 80 meters an unlikely place to find these extremely slow polytone-like transmissions. However, a quick session with WSJT decodes them, proving that's what it is.

Here's one morning's decoding done here. It's right off the Internet, rubbery timing and distortion and all:

1836 CQ UT0TV KN39
1843 CQ UA1ZFL KP67
2024 CQ TF3HZ HP94
2025 TF3HZ UA1ZFL KP67
2027 TF3HZ UA1ZFL R-20
2032 UA0AET RA4NCX RRR
2033 GM0AXY
2034 GM0AXY UT0TV -06
2036 CQ RA4NCX LO49

JT65 has three submodes, A through C, depending on the amount of frequency shift made by the single sine wave tone. On receive, WSJT can pick the right one. The sound in your speaker really does slightly resemble the slow preamble sent by the Russian polytone numbers stations (XP and XPH). It's a steady beep changing frequency at regular intervals.

This net sounds weird, which might explain why it seems to have picked up some jamming. Maybe the jammers don't know what it is, or maybe they want them to do it somewhere else. Since the jamming (manually swept carriers) follows the stations around, we know there are people sitting at radios turning knobs. It's definitely a ham turf battle.

3577.0 IZ3DVW Italian Propagation beacon, ~1 watt. Always loud and right in the middle of all the JT65 fuss. Sends long carriers and the callsign plus "BEACON" in CW Morse.

-----
Break, more to follow.

WebSDR Utility Hits

WebSDR is a remote Software Defined Radio at the University of Twente, Netherlands (grid locator JO32KF). It runs a Java applet that displays three waterfalls for amateur band segments, and allows multiple Internet users worldwide to listen to different parts of these at the same time.

While the amateur signals are interesting enough, the real fun is the utility reception at this location. It gives those of us trapped here on the US West Coast (aka The Land That Shortwave Forgot) a chance to hear some of those utilities that Europeans keep reporting on UDXF.

Here's a short log of some recent stuff I heard. Keep in mind that some of the frequencies are offset from where you'd hear them on your own equipment. Others are not (because I looked them up).

3589.7 (Indicated on WebSDR)
Unid - BPSK250 Weather obs in GG 01/30/09 0636
This unidentified station appears to dump files from various sources on a regular schedule. At 250 baud, it's pushing the limit of what the rubbery Internet timing can pass undistorted. Garbled characters are common. However, there's never been anything resembling an ID.

One file included many amateur callsigns and sets of coordinates, perhaps an APRS dump. Another one, passed frequently at hour +15, contains Deutscher Wetterdienst (German Weather Office) warnings and formatted marine safety bulletins from "NAVTEX-Hamburg."

80 meter Russian single-letter HF beacon cluster:
3593.7 CW SLHFB "D" Sevastopol 02/04/09 0431
3593.8 CW SLHFB "P" Kaliningrad 02/08/09 2142
3593.9 CW SLHFB "S" Severomorsk 02/04/09 0431
(frequencies are actual, from records)

3607.0 Unid Link-11 (idling) 01/04/09 0427
3610.0 Unid Link-11 (busy) 01/04/09 0427
(On pretty much nightly. Unknown NATO. Other Link-11 comes and goes. Frequencies are WebSDR readings.)

Other utilities abound in the band 3500-3700, which by the way is legal for their use in region 1. There are several very strange fax-like digital signals. Also, several old fashioned analog weather fax stations can be copied here, though the SDR's timing makes sync difficult.

40 meter Russian single-letter HF beacon cluster:
7038.7 CW SLHFB "D" Sevastopol 01/30/09 0650
7038.8 CW SLHFB "P" Kaliningrad 01/30/09 0659
7038.9 CW SLHFB "S" Severomorsk 01/30/09 0650
7039.0 CW SLHFB "C" Moscow 01/30/09 0650
7039.1 CW SLHFB "A" Astrakhan? 02/03/09 2050
(Actual freqs, from lists.)