mtcovnext July 2008  Vol 27 No 7

 

 

 

WMonitoring the Heart of Dixie

By Gayle Van Horn, W4GVH

 If you travel below the Mason-Dixon line, you'll soon learn that no breakfast comes without grits and biscuits. So, it should come as no surprise that the minor league baseball team in Montgomery, Alabama (Heart of Dixie) bears the proud title, the Montgomery Biscuits.

 Our intrepid scanner team is off on another working vacation. This time they ended up in Alabama's capitol city, checking out the Metro EDACS communications system shared by Montgomery's police, fire and rescue, and sheriff's departments.

 Y'all come down and see us now, hear? And bring your scanner!

 Scanning Lake Lanier

By John Mayson

 What do scanning and poetry have in common? Maybe not much, but drifting in your boat on a warm summer day while listening to communications from four counties might come close enough to heaven to awake the muse!

 Why not give it a try on Georgia's beautiful Lake Lanier, named in honor of native poet Sidney Lanier? We'll get you started on the scanning; you're on your own when it comes to writing poetry!

Reliving World War II via Radio

By Eric Beheim

 Between 1939 and 1945, most Americans relied on radio to stay informed about the latest developments of World War II. Even today, hearing the war unfold in near-real time is quite a different experience from reading about it! One can sense some of the tension and apprehension that came from not knowing for certain what the final cost of victory would be.

 Many recordings are available for purchase at a very reasonable price. The author lists several recommended collections. To add an additional level of authenticity, he likes to rebroadcast the audio for playback on a WW II era radio like his Zenith TransOceanic.

Reviews:

 Sangean's WFR-20 Wifi Radio is another entry in the new class of "radio" that gets its signals via the internet instead of the airwaves. True to Sangean's well-earned reputation, the "little radio with the big sound" provides all a savvy internet listener could want. (See page 66.)

 MT wraps up two other reviews begun in the June issue. We last left you with Diamond Cut 7, having removed static pops and hisses from a recording made from an old vinyl record using the DC7 software. This month we raise the stakes by tackling a live transmission in which the desired signal is barely audible above the noise floor. (See page 67 for the results.)

 Last month we were also playing with WorldStation, a sophisticated radio control program. This month we test one of its most intriguing features: the ability to control up to 10 radios in a variety of configurations. Radios can even be controlled and linked via the internet for remote monitoring (see page 72).

Departments:

  • AM Bandscan by Doug Smith, W9WI - even months
  • Antenna Topics by Clem Small, KR6A - Portable, Non-Directional Antenna for VHF-UHF
  • Ask Bob by Bob Grove
  • Beginner's Corner by Ken Reitz, KS4ZR - Off-the-Shelf Antenna Building Supplies
  • Below 500 kHz by Kevin Carey, WB2QMY - Digging Deeper
  • Boats, Planes, and Trains by Ron Walsh, Iden Rogers, Ernest Robl - Radio, Cruises, and Photographs
  • Broadcast Logs by Gayle Van Horn
  • Communications by Ken Reitz KS4ZR
  • Computers & Radio by John Catalano - Dxtra WorldStation, Part II
  • Digital Digest by Mike Chace - Brazilian Navy Stations
  • Letters by Rachel Baughn KE4OPD
  • English Lang SW Guide compiled by the MT Monitoring Team: Gayle Van Horn, Frequency Manager
  • First Look - Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Radio
  • GlobalNet by Larry Van Horn - Monitoring the Aero Bands via the Net
  • Global Forum by Glenn Hauser - Remember to call her Deborah
  • Milcom by Larry Van Horn, N5FPW - Monitoring Montgomery Military
  • MT Review - Diamond Cut Seven Audio, Part II
  • On the Bench - Bluetooth Headphonest
  • On the Ham Bands by Skip Arey, WB2GHA - Make Your Fest a Festival
  • Outer Limits by George Zeller - Strom Gets 23 Months in Prison
  • Programming Spotlight - Sounds from “Downunder”
  • QSL Report by Gayle Van Horn - Hot July QSLing
  • Radio Restorations by Marc Ellis - Power for the BC-221
  • Scanning Report by Dan Veeneman - The Pros and Cons of Older Scanners
  • The Fed Files by Chris Parris - More on Federal Interoperability
  • Utility World and Logs by Hugh Stegman, NV6H - CAPS: Fly Through the Ionosphere
  • What's New? by Larry Van Horn N5FPW