www.monitoringtimes.com Scanning - Shortwave - Ham Radio - Equipment Internet Streaming - Computers - Antique Radio ® Volume 30, No. 9 September 2011 U.S. $6.95 Can. $6.95 Printed in the United States A Publication of Grove Enterprises Micro-Broadcasting: License-Free Campus Radio In this issue: • Carey Junior High School ARC • WEFAX Reception on an iPad • MT Reviews: MFJ Mini-Frequency Counter CONTENTS Vol. 30 No. 9 September 2011 CQ DX from KC7OEK .................................................... 12 www.monitoringtimes.com By Nick Casner K7CAS, Cole Smith KF7FXW and Rayann Brown KF7KEZ Scanning - Shortwave - Ham Radio - Equipment Internet Streaming - Computers - Antique Radio Eighteen years ago Paul Crips KI7TS and Bob Mathews K7FDL wrote a grant ® Volume 30, No. 9 September 2011 U.S. $6.95 through the Wyoming Department of Education that resulted in the establishment Can. $6.95 Printed in the United States A Publication of Grove Enterprises of an amateur radio club station at Carey Junior High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, known on the air as KC7OEK. Since then some 5,000 students have been introduced to amateur radio; nearly 40 students have been licensed, and last year there were 24 students in the club, seven of whom were ready to test for their own amateur radio licenses. In this article, Carey Junior High School students Nick, Cole and Rayann, all three of whom have received their licenses, relate their experiences with amateur radio both on and off the air. While older hams many times their ages are discouraged Micro-Broadcasting: about the direction of the hobby, these students let us all know that the future of License-Free Campus Radio amateur radio is already in good hands. In this issue: • Carey Junior High School ARC • WEFAX Reception on an iPad • MT Reviews: MFJ Mini-Frequency Counter NOAA’s Radio System for All Seasons ........................ 14 By Ken Reitz KS4ZR Cover Story ........................... 8 For over 50 years one radio network has been broadcasting a single-minded Micro-Broadcasting: message to the American public: Today’s weather forecast. What started out as one License-Free Campus Radio transmitter in Chicago, broadcasting weather advisories to local aviators, is now a national network of 1,000 transmitters broadcasting a variety of weather and emer- By Bill DeFelice gency warnings to more than 95 percent of the entire U.S. It’s universal: High school stu- It’s a technology that’s being credited with saving lives, as demonstrated just dents love music and they love radio. this spring with the super outbreak of 2011 when over 450 tornadoes terrorized vast What could be better than students playing music on their own radio sta- sections of the country in two separate outbreaks. tion? But, getting a broadcast license is nearly impossible. Between the cost of an engineering study and the years Hunting Seagulls: that drag by while the FCC processes the paper work, that fantasy can turn Monitoring and Decoding WEFAX Broadcasts............. 16 into a total bummer. By Christopher Friesen VE4CWF There is a way to put a campus There’s a certain sound you may have heard before while tuning around the radio station on the air at your school shortwave bands. It sounds sort of like an old printing press with a warbley-tone that doesn’t cost too much and could coming from deep inside the machine. It’s actually an 85 year old technology called get your school on the air by the end Radiofacsimile, and what you’re hearing is a picture, chart or satellite image that of the next term. You can do it by depicts current weather conditions for a given region of the country. It’s NOAA’s taking advantage of license-free, low weather facsimile (WEFAX) broadcast to marine interests anywhere the signal can power Part 15 broadcasting, says Bill be received. You can tell it’s a NOAA broadcast by the seagull logo on the WEFAX. DeFelice, a specialist in Part 15 AM and FM micro-broadcasting. Thanks to personal computers and easily obtained software, you can watch these In this month’s cover story, Bill images appear on your own computer screen even if you’re landlocked and don’t explains how McMahon FM, the cam- know stern from bow. Chris shows how it’s done and now you too can hunt seagulls! pus radio station for Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, Connecticut, got on the air. He discusses the techni- HF FAX on an iPad: Yes, There’s an App for that! ...... 18 cal and legal issues involved in Part By Ken Reitz KS4ZR 15 broadcasting and shows you how It wasn’t too long ago that WEFAX fans had to use some pretty clunky technol- your school can join the ranks of Part ogy to enjoy chasing WEFAX DX. Laptops made this aspect of shortwave listening a 15 micro-broadcasters. lot more portable, but now there’s a newer, lighter, more extraordinary kid on the high-tech block: Apple’s iPad. On Our Cover Author Bill DeFelice with Anna Rae New- While there’s some great software for WEFAX reception out there for laptops and land (front) and John Charles Mortiz (back personal computers, nothing is easier to use than a $2.99 WEFAX APP from Black Cat left), two students from McMahon FM the Systems. Check out the WEFAX images received using the little iPad connected to a Part 15 FM radio station at Brien McMa- radio with just a set of headphones. hon High School in Norwalk, Connecticut. (Courtesy: Bill DeFelice) AR2300 “Black Box” Professional Grade Communications Receiver Discover exceptional performance, Introducing a new generation of software state of the art specifications and a receiver with a menu of optional controlled "black box" receivers! extras that can be configured to your own needs and specifications. ■ Receives AM, wide and narrow FM, upper and lower sideband, CW modes, and optional APCO-25 ■ Up to 2000 memory channels (50 channels X 40 banks) can be stored in the receiver ■ Alphanumeric channel labels ■ Fast Fourier Transform algorithms ■ Operated by a Windows XP or higher computer through a USB interface using a provided software package that controls all receiver functions ■ An I/Q output port that allows the user to capture up to 1 MHz of bandwidth onto a computer hard drive or external storage Available in professional and consumer versions, the device ■ An SD memory card port that can be used AR2300 covers 40 KHz to 3.15 GHz* to store recorded audio With the new AR2300 "black box" receiver from AOR, up to three ■ Analog composite video output connector ■ CTCSS and DCS squelch operation channels can be monitored simultaneously. 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Unblocked Torrance, CA 90501, USA version available to qualified purchasers with Authority On Radio documentation. Specifications subject to change Communications Tel: 310-787-8615 Fax: 310-787-8619 [email protected] • www.aorusa.com without notice or obligation. MONITORING TIMES (ISSN: 0889-5341; Publishers Mail Agree- ment #1253492) is TABLE OF CONTENTS published monthly by Grove Enterprises, Inc., Brasstown, North Caro- lina, USA. Departments: Milcom ............................................50 Communications ...............................6 By Larry Van Horn N5FPW Copyright © 2011 Grove Enterprises, Inc. Monitoring the Military on COTHEN Periodicals postage paid at Brasstown, Letters .............................................74 Stock Exchange ................................76 NC, and additional mailing offices. Short Micom Special .................................52 excerpts may be reprinted with appropri- Advertisers Index .............................76 ate credit. 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