My WEBSDr Is Now Online.

[URL="emeraldsdr.ddns.net:8073"]emeraldsdr.ddns.net:8073[/URL]

The main Kiwi SDR Page.

http://sdr.hu/?q=kiwisdr

50 meter Loop/deltaloop connected to a Bonito FX Amp set to low gain.

Have to say I am very impressed with the signal and low noise , some noise on LW/MW due to switch mode power supplies which I will address in time.

Only one in Ireland of the Kiwi SDR but not many if any Web SDr's online in Ireland that I know of.

Let me know what ye think, there's a slight bit of overloading which I will address at some point.

Note to anyone on Three.ie, for some reason you will not be able to connect but can connect outside of the three network, I do not know if this is temporary, the SDR is using the mobile Three network.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

According to this site, http://www.mediumwaveradio.com/uk.php

I'm receiving BBC R cornwall on 630 Khz which is only 2 Kw ! not bad, they're playing good music too.

The noise on LW/MW is due to the switch mode power supplies, hopefully I'll swap them out for linears in a couple of weeks.

So has anyone got any feedback on the SDR ?

I'm trying to get 2 Linear power supplies from a chap on Ebay in China, 12 V 2 amp for the Broadband router and 5V 2.5A for the SDR, that should get rid of the tearing interference especially on Lw,MW caused by those horrid dirty switch mode power supplies.

This antenna switcher can be hooked up http://www.ebay.com/itm/MS-S7-WEB-controlled-REMOTE-ANTENNA-SWITCH-7-POSITIONS-2-KW-PEP-Ready-for-use-/192286083889?hash=item2cc524cb31:g:m6YAAOSwcLxYJ5MU so eventually might get this done.

My antenna is about 45-50 meters connected to the Bonito FX amp which is over driving the SDR a little and it probably doesn't help with noise either but SW is actually very good and quiet above 41 Meters.

For the time being I might stick an attenuator on it , the Bonito is really designed for a 10 meter loop or I might disconnect it altogether.

dxhound2005

Have a listen to the Dutch pirates just above the end of the MW band. You can hear them more clearly on the Twente receiver, but the one on 1655 kHz is stronger on yours so may not be Dutch.

They are hobby pirates very active in this part of the band.

Yes I've heard them, I usually just click on the frequency that you listen to when you log in lol

I thought you were setting up something lol.

I'd kill to get that old 500 Kw 567 Khz transmitter from RTE since they don't want it.

2 Linear power supplies ordered, 5v 2.5 A and 12V 2A. This should greatly reduce the horrid interference caused by the switch mode power supplies, particularly from Lw up to the 49 Meter band. Hopefully have them by the end of September.

A 10 DB attenuator also on the way to reduce signal strength which should also help reduce noise.

In case anyone's wondering, I disconnected the Bonito FX Amplifier because it was overdriving the SDR big time. Noise has dropped on the SW bands but the higher bands, 90 Meters all the way to LW is plagued much worse from those filthy switch mode power supplies.

I've no idea how the Bonito amp was reducing the noise so much ? normally it's the other way around with amplifiers.

Hopefully it won't be too long before my linear power supplies arrive.

dxhound2005, you should find the 49 meter band much quieter now and probably especially so at night as the amp was really driving the SDR mad.

So it's just the loop connected direct to the SDR no impedance matching of any kind which isn't so important for receiving, yes ideally a proper length dipole etc for each band but I might get a couple of antennas up if I can figure out how to hook up the antenna switcher which the user will be able to use too.

At around 18 Mhz and above in placed that you'll see regular higher pitched noises showing up, that's actually the electric car charger plugged in, I've been planning on getting another one, unfortunately it causes this RFI even when the car is plugged in and not charging. Unfortunately it's also close to the antenna and it makes the charge lead and mains wiring act as a gigantic filthy RFI transmitting antenna...... I need to email ABL-Sursum over this as it's simply unacceptable, perhaps they can ensure future models do not suffer from this disastrous level of interference.

Actually strangely, I never noticed the EV charge point interfering with the Bonito Amp connected either.....

Perhaps I'll set up the Bonito FX with it's supplied 10 meter loop next week.

It was amazingly quiet when I was using it with the SDR play and the bonito powered by battery Lw and MW was incredibly quiet.

Went back to the Bonito FX 10 meter Loop, turned the preamp down to min which greatly helped with the noise.

Not sure yet when the SW bands are like yet, didn't get time to listen , had to do lots of gardening.

ancl

Thanks for putting this online - sitting in work listening to some CW on 40M

Welcome, it's a work in progress.

The Linear Power Supplies are arriving today but I might not get time to connect them until next weekend, this should greatly clear up the buzzing on Lw/Mw and some of the other bands too.

I'm back using the original 10 meter loop on the Bonito FX preamp and the gain set to minimum which makes a big difference to picking up the noise from the switch mode power supplies but at the expense of signal gain. The 50 meter loop was over driving the preamp altogether but when I connected it straight to the SDR the noise was awful.

On battery only and battery radio the Bonito FX is amazingly quiet.

One thing on Lw/Mw is that you can't null out interfering stations because you can't rotate the loop as easy as you could a wellbrook for instance (mounted on a rotator), however you can get a rigid 5 meter loop for the Bonito also.

The difference with the wire loop is that you can take it pretty much anywhere.

Ideally sometime in the future I will have multiple antennas on a switch that the user can select.

Finally got the 2 Linear power supplies connected, the difference is simply amazing, see for yourselves and let me know what ye think, particularly the LW/MW and higher SW/Amateur bands, it's so quiet now that I turned the Preamp gain back up to Max and the general noise only marginally increased, the RFI didn't drive it nuts ! :-)

I got the Linear Power Supplies from Seller sep_store on Ebay from China, very good to deal with and the PSU's are very good quality !

I have the original 10 meter loop from Bonito connected , it's 10 meters, I might connect the 50 odd meter loop back without preamp at some point now that the horrid RFI from the switch mode supplies is gone.

I have just noticed some RFI, sort of sounds like a hairdryer, a high pitched ringing more noticeable from 1100 Khz on the MW band, unfortunately that's from the Electric car charge point which I hope to get rid of early next year and get a new charge point. I'm working tonight so listen in and that noise should be gone.

However, overall the difference is amazing now.

Let me know what ye think.

I'm hearing some RFI now wondering what it is, wasn't there a while ago, will need to investigate, could be something that switched on in the house.

Still not nearly as bad especially with the preamp set to max gain.

SDR offline now since rebooting it all, networking issues, need to investigate but need to sleep before night shift tonight !

Back online.

Found some more RFI tearing sound today on the MW band, funny it's not that noticeable at times but anyway turns out that the SDR is picking up the PSU from the satellite receiver and it's a good distance away !

The Satellite receiver is an Edision Optimuss OS 3 Plus.

It's really sad that there are so many filthy unfiltered power supplies these days and there's completely no regulation or quality control and all power supplies by law have to be switch mode, I expect there may be some circumstances where there is an exemption from this.

I've binned some aftermarket Iphone chargers which were unbelievably filthy and some LED light bulbs !

MW sounds fantastic during the day, at night there's far too much interference from Spanish stations , MW is really very crowded.

Though some good quality MW radios might be better at night for nulling out interfering stations by having the ability to adjust the radio's internal antenna.

...__...

That is brilliant thank you for this I get to listen to sw in my new qth till I get set up

Welcome, what are you setting up ?

...__...

I am renovating an old cottage on a few acres Once i am there full time Ill get my dipole up and long wire.
I am a bit of an old stalker on this forum not a newbie as well

I've 2 frg7700 that I love plus my kenwood ts850
The bit of land will mean I wont have any neighbors moaning like I had in my last qth.

...__...

...__... wrote: »

I am renovating an old cottage on a few acres Once i am there full time Ill get my dipole up and long wire.
I am a bit of an old stalker on this forum not a newbie as well

I've 2 frg7700 that I love plus my kenwood ts850
The bit of land will mean I wont have any neighbors moaning like I had in my last qth.

Ideally I'll have a dipole cut for 40 and 20 meters connected to antenna switch, have the Loop then for LW/MW and SW receiving. I'm rather impressed with it to be honest. It can pull in signals a lot quieter than some dipoles on other sdr's but the signal might be lower so is the noise.

I've put getting my ham license on hold for now just don't have a lot of time.

icom

Thanks for this.

Listening to some HF ATC on 5.616 USB and the narrow CW on 40 metres is fantastic.

Can't hear much below 20 metres on my 756 Pro2 because of local qrm, nice to be able to listen on 40 and 80 again.

...__...

I always wanted to go down the sdr route but I like the websdr much better than glsdr its way more easier to use.
The original Glsdr was ok but the latest version you need to be a programmer to get it going!!
Keep it simple is key to success.

Yea ill be doing similar have the dipoles cut for 20 and 40 I have amassed a lot of bits so Ill be able to have the antenna farm haha nearest neighbouurs are about a mile away

I have to figure out how the antenna switch works with the SDR and I don't have much time for it all working shift and having to mind my 1 year 8 month old and 3 year 4 month old when I'm off, I wouldn't have it any other way though great to spend time with them best thing in the world.

icom

icom wrote: »

Thanks for this.

Listening to some HF ATC on 5.616 USB and the narrow CW on 40 metres is fantastic.

Can't hear much below 20 metres on my 756 Pro2 because of local qrm, nice to be able to listen on 40 and 80 again.

You could try getting a loop antenna such as the Welbrooks or the Bonito FX 10 meter like I have, if noise is that bad it won't eliminate it but might greatly reduce it. If you need to transmit then use an antenna switch.

dxhound2005

If anyone is around in the wee small hours you could check this receiver to see if any trans Atlantic DX on medium wave is coming in. I heard a few stations last night on my JRC NRD525 with the Wellbrook loop. Conditions get better from this time of year normally, but it is very variable. Some nights nothing can be heard. I heard stations on 590, 750, 930, 1400 and 1510 kHz.

Rotating the loop does not seem to make much difference to signal levels, but it is useful if there is a strong European nearby to null some of the interference. Using LSB or USB can also help greatly. The European broadcasters are on 9 kHz spacing starting at 531 kHz and the Americas are 10 kHz channels. That puts them 4 kHz away from a European at some points of the dial. 930 kHz is good because there are no high powered stations on 927.

Mark Borthwick in Scotland has posted lots of videos with amazing reception, good enough to listen to the actual programmes. My setup would not be anywhere close to that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv8AsISh-_Y

https://www.youtube.com/user/MARKGM20877/videos

Unfortunately my 10 meter loop isn't rotatable, it would be awkward anyway because it's not a solid loop but a wire loop. But it would be cool to be able to rotate it to null out these stations.

The MW band is very crowded in Europe at night and lots of interfering stations can be heard.

I'll be in bed soon but I'll be working nights from Thursday and will have plenty of opportunity to listen in.

Even my Tecsun S-2000 doesn't null out these interfering stations too well because they're so strong.

Using my An-200 Loop also doesn't help much, but for indoor reception the AN-200 offers a cheap way to effectively boost signal.

I do live in a pretty quiet area free from electrical equipment interference, though some sources of noise still come from my house I'm working on eliminating them for the WebSdr. Worst is the power supply for the Edisson Optimuss OS3+ , this power supply is filthy !

dxhound2005

Your receiver is hearing the Canadian stations on 590 and 1400. The signals should get better later.

dxhound2005

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Your receiver is hearing the Canadian stations on 590 and 1400. The signals should get better later.

Wow amazing, how were they sounding ? I had to head to bed.

dxhound2005

VOCM on 590 was like a local at times on the JRC. Canadian station on both 750 and 1400 very clear at times. Other stations on 600, 1380, 1390 and 1500.
Around 6 to 7 in the morning can be particularly good this time of year.

If you want to try them it can help to tune to say 591, 751 kHz using Wide AM to lessen European interference.

thanks for that if I get a chance I’ll check it out tonight.

dxhound2005

Saudi is there now on 1440 kHz, subject to fading. Probably as far away as Canada but they have massive power. Region 2 stations are limited to 50 KW generally, and 5 or 10 is common.

Channels like 540, 630 and 1440 which are divisible by both 9 and 10 will be useless for any Region 2 reception. But any 10 kHz channel which is 2 kHz or more away from a 9 kHz channel is worth checking.

- IARU Region 1: Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Northern Asia

- IARU Region 2: The Americas

- IARU Region 3: Asia-Pacific

Unfortunately the satellite receiver is on and the PSU is causing a lot of noise on MW. As soon as herself goes to bed I'll switch it off.

I'll order a clean linear supply from the same chap in china in the next couple of weeks. I'm still amazed as to how far it is away from the SDR and it still creates such noise !!!

dxhound2005

Have you any links for those power supplies?

Just had a thought. Would you not be able to hear the same as me on your own online receiver. No interference here, none there?

dxhound2005

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Have you any links for those power supplies?

Just had a thought. Would you not be able to hear the same as me on your own online receiver. No interference here, none there?

I thought you were listening to mine ?

dxhound2005

CBG Gander Newfoundland can be heard on your receiver even this early. 1400 kHz with only 4 KW power listed. Stay on the frequency for a while to allow for fading. It will get stronger overnight. It was carrying the same CBC programme as the station on 750 kHz I think last night. AMN is the best mode at present.

thelordgod

I had a brief listen this evening - nice job.

Satellite Receiver is off a while now which will get rid of most of the noise on MW. The EV is plugged in so this will cause some noise until I plug it out.

dxhound2005

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Have you any links for those power supplies?

Here's the person on Ebay I got the power supplies from. ( sep_store168 )

Just email him with what you're looking for , for instance I asked for quote for 2 Linear power supplies 1x 12v 2 amp for the broadband modem and 1 x 5v 3 amp for the SDR.

Of course you need to find out what other dirty switch mode power supplies you have and replace them also. I'm fortunate that the power supply for the satellite receiver is external so I can easily replace it, it needs 12v 3.5 amp supply.

Also be aware that he uses DHL and DHL pay the customs which can be a lot, I don't know how they base these figures on but anyway try to get him to use a different courier and if customs catch it at the Airport then they will contact you and you have a better chance to deal with them directly but DHL could couldn't care less.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/15W-Regulated-PSU-DC-Linear-power-supply-LPS-5V-6V-7V-9V-12V-15V-18V-24V-L165-83-/112007718135

This is his store.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/sepstore168/

I didn't hear any U.S/Canadian stations but I did see carriers on 1380, 1390 Khz but they were too weak.

There's a huge amount of very strong Spanish stations causing a lot of interference to British stations. I never remember Spanish stations being that strong before.

dxhound2005

If you get the chance again concentrate on 590, 750 and 1400. They were all very weak last night and like I said earlier there will be nights with no reception. You need to stay on the frequency for 10 minutes or so. They can go from nothing to very clear due to fading.

Cheers, I'm working the next 4 nights starting tonight so I'll get plenty of opportunity to check it out.

All the noise on MW now and some other bands is the electric car plugged in, the charge point is the clear issue hear and I will not be able to replace it until I get the new EV next February and maybe a bit after.

dxhound2005

Deleted User wrote: »

Cheers, I'm working the next 4 nights starting tonight so I'll get plenty of opportunity to check it out.

Since about 20 years ago the MW band in the US and some other countries was extended to 1700 kHz, the so called X Band. Worth checking out the 10 kHz channels there. They tend to be lower power but are free from European QRM except for the occasional pirates. I could only hear a couple of very faint signals over the last few nights.

I always use headphones for this type of listening.

I hear a station on 15030 Khz, very strong at times but as usual an interfering station. I don't know what station, seems to be talk radio in the USA, amazing.

dxhound2005

Conditions were bad this last couple of nights. The only reception was on 1400 kHz, very weak. A lot stronger this evening. If you keep listening there you will hear Canada at some stage.

I am getting used to the controls. Increase the Manual Gain for weak signals but there is a compromise between signal and noise. It will overload the receiver if the same setting is used for a strong signal. Adjust the Waterfall (WF) controls to show clear evidence of carriers at 10 kHz intervals.

1530 is a European as well as an Americas channel, divides by 9 and 10.

Yep I've heard some stations, on 1530 I think it was I heard a strong signal the other night , seemed like an American talk radio station.

dxhound2005

Best signal for a while tonight on 1400 kHz from Canada. But the signal can fade out and back in again.

dxhound2005

1400 is strong again and the same programme is running on 750 weaker. There is a station also on 1390. It could be worth checking other 10 kHz channels as well. Everything subject to fading.

Yep hear them now and again.