Re: [IRCA] Morning TP Methodology?

[Chuck Hutton <charlesh3@xxxxxxx>]

In addition to Bruce's fine list:


- SDR recordings facilitate searches for parallels, which is one of the most useful techniques for difficult foreign DX.

- SDR recordings help a lot with linguistic skills. The more chances you have to hear a language, the better you get in being able to differentiate between Amoy and Mandarin for example.

- While you can make a single channel analog recording, you're better off with an SDR file if you want to replay a muddy ID with different radio settings (LSB, SAM, USB, filter widths).

- If you are interested in propagation studies, it's better to have an SDR file.

- If you need great filtering, you'll find SDR filtering to be better than any analog radio.


If you cant handle the time requirement for listening to SDR files, throw out most of them out. You won't be any worse off than with an analog radio.

If you have to listen live, listen live and maybe record also.


As for the Fish Barrel: what's the value to SDR owners? I'm not seeing it.


For doing checks to see if a channel is strong enough to bother listening to, I'd suggest the Data File Analyzer in SDR Console. That;s it's job. But I don't think that is much of a problem. Advancing a perseus file playback a minute or so at a time will catch most anything.



Chuck


________________________________
From: IRCA <irca-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Bruce Portzer <bportzer@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2018 4:19 PM
To: ken brookner; Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Morning TP Methodology?

Ken

My morning listening is usually done by programming the SDR to record
the AM band from about an hour before to a half hour after local sunrise
(sometimes longer).  I can then either listen in real time or play back
the recording later in the day   The main advantages of this approach:
- I don't miss anything if I oversleep or have to leave before the DX
fades out (the latter is less relevant now that I'm retired)
- If conditions are rotten, I haven't wasted much time
- I can listen at my own speed and find the stations that fade up for
only a short amount of time
- I can check many frequencies for IDs at the top of the hour
- I can multitask while the recording is being made and not worry about
missing an ID because I was only half-listening while exercising,
reading the news, or eating breakfast

I keep forgetting to check the fish barrel in the morning, but I agree
it's a valuable tool.  That's a habit I should start.

When I play back the files, I usually setup the SDR software to display
200-300 kHz (such as 531-830 , 830-1030, etc) worth of spectrum and then
look for 9 kHz carriers on the display.  I'll check the signals one at a
time and gradually move through the files in chronological order until
the DX fades out or the recording ends.  Then I move onto the next chunk
of spectrum and repeat the process.  Eventually I reach then end of the
AM band and can then get on with my life again.  All the while, I'm
jotting my notes into an email which is eventually cleaned up and sent.

Bruce

On 9/20/2018 13:09, ken brookner wrote:
> Hi Everybody...
>
> I enjoy reading everyone's logs during the week and I've been curious
> about what your routine is...   Are you up and doing this real time,
> SDR catches?
>
> Are you scanning up the band from the bottom or tuning the splits? How
> much time are you spending?
>
> When I was a kid, I used to turn my days and nights around during the
> summer school breaks so I could tune for stations during darkness.
> Not possible for me now and I don't expect anyone does that here,
> though maybe you guys are very early risers..
>
> Thanks!
>
> Ken
> Lummi Island, WA
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