QSL: WMSA Massena NY 1340

Heard briefly but with a fine TOH ID during very disturbed conditions on September 21. Email response today. Massena is as "upstate New York" as you can possibly get.

QSL: WDAL Dalton GA 1430

Good conditions towards southern USA on September 20 gave us this rare station. Thanks Ole for detecting it and OJ for finding such a nice guy to respond! Kongsfjord at its best.

QSL: WBRV Boonville NY 900

OJ Sagdahl alerted me about this oldies station which came up at Smøla with a "The Blizzard 98.3 and 105.9 FM and 900 AM" ID. Email confirmation yesterday. WBRV is owned by Flack Broadcasting, which also operates "The Moose" on two FM frequencies.

QSL: WCLO Janesville WI 1230

My second QSL from the Mount Loran experimental site. It faded up from nothing during a local break, gave a promo with several IDs and faded down again into the massive signal from CFFB Iqaluit NU. Long and friendly response this afternoon. Wisconsin # 40.

KiwiSDR: First Run

OK, so here it is, the new kid in (the SDR) town, the KiwiSDR. On the top shelf, with three old blokes below, all named Perseus.

And here is how it looks, when tuned to the only daytime broadcast signal I have, NRK Ingøy on 153 kHz.

Lots of noise down there as well.

The box, described as a kit, comprises the SDR board and a BeagleBone Green computer. So it doesn't need to be connected to a specific PC. No software is required, you set it up on an HTML5 capable web browser (which excludes Internet Explorer. I have tested with Edge and Chrome, and they work fine).

Unlike other SDRs, the KiwiSDR is supplied with a GPS antenna. With GPS enabled (not yet tested here), frequency accuracy and stability will improve, especially on higher frequencies. And speaking of frequencies, the KiwiSDR is a standard HF device, capable of tuning 0 - 30 MHz.

It's a bit unfair at this stage to write a "review" of the receiver. The user interface is, I understand, a work in  progress, and I have addressed several suggestions and comments to the developer. It will be interesting to see in which direction the user interface evolves.

I did make sensitivity measurements (as I always do when I get a new receiver), but the results were inconsistent with real-life observations, so I will let that rest for now. Real-life observations, in the form of comparisons with the Perseus, did tell me that the KiwiSDR is a very good receiver. It hears what the Perseus hears, and I was not able to overload it.

In its present form, the KiwiSDR is for "live" listening only, and with the capacity of four simultaneous users, locally or as a server for external access. My 4G ISP is unable to provide an APN for me to make it available online, so that door's been shut. For now.

The KiwiSDR will set you back USD 299 + shipping.  You have to use your own ethernet cable and power supply, which should be 1.5A, 5VDC. I tested with a 1A PSU and it crashed. Well, not the PSU. The antenna input is SMA.

QSL: WKST New Castle PA 1200

Another thank-you to OJS who alerted me about this excellent catch with excellent signal a few days ago. Email response this afternoon.

QSL: WOBL Oberlin OH 1320

A few days ago WOBL faded up with a decent ID below dominant CJMR. Confirmation from the PD this afternoon. Ohio # 30.

QSL: WDLA Walton NY 1270

WDLA has been heard on a number of occasions, and with a fine signal a couple of days ago. A Facebook exchange ended with them plugging a message for me on-air this morning. As luck would have it, conditions shifted and they were nowhere near audible.

I didn't find a logo for their AM station, but here's one for their FM.

QSL: KTLO Mountain Home AR 1240

My first Mt. Loran QSL! Thanks to OJS who detected a weak signal during otherwise quite lousy conditions on Sep 9.

The KiwiSDR Has Arrived

I first wrote about this Kickstarter project in March. They met their funding goal, and scheduled delivery in November (Beaglebone + KiwiSDR combo). It arrived yesterday, so for once a project with no delays.

The SDR comes with a simple enclosure (unassembled) and is basically ready to go once the antenna, ethernet cable (no wifi) and 5VDC power is attached. A bit of fiddling with my router and PC to get it going but quite simple actually.

No need to install drivers and control software. All you need to do is to open your web browser (mostly any web browser as long as it's not Internet Explorer) and there you are.

It's possible to run this as a server for external access with up to four simultaneous users.

It will be tested with antennas the coming weekend. As usual, I will also do sensitivity measurements.

KiwiSDR unassembled. Preinstalled software on memory chip. 

KiwiSDR assembled and running. No antenna connected.

KiwiSDR on Chrome browser.