STREAM 1 ..live EAST Coast HF Radio

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*** Note: STREAM 2 is currently pointed to

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Choose the stream for your device when you see the Menu

ENJOY the STREAMS

*****

Disclaimer: The views represented by amateur radio operators you hear on these streams do not necessarily represent the views of the Owner, Webmaster or Sponsors of this site.

Welcome Aboard - Jay - W4BSB

"Sunrise in Virginia Beach"

"Sunset in Venus, Texas"

From Atop the W4BSB Tower

*** During severe weather in the <VAB> or the <VTX> areas HF live stream feeds will NOT be available ***

About Remote Controlled Stations:

Ever since the early days of two-way radio engineers have sought and found ways to control transmitters and receivers using remote control. Back in the 50's and 60's control of remote stations were done using: 1) point to point dedicated telephone lines sometimes leased by the month from your friendly Ma-Bell, or 2) a microwave or radio link from your console, dispatch or broadcast studio point to a transmitter located several miles away from the source.

In the 70's and 80's we still had 1) point to point dedicated telephone lines leased by the month from your friendly Ma-Bell, or 2) a microwave or radio link from your console, dispatch or broadcast studio point to a transmitter located several miles away from the business or the broadcast studio but now using a tone to activate the transmitter and sometimes to prevent other stations on the same frequency from accessing your radio or being heard. ( i.e. CG, DTMF, PL and QC )

Along about 1982 we we begin to hear about something called BBS's using dial up modem services that allowed us to connect to something called AOL, Compuserve and local Internet Service Providers ( ISP's ) that could take us out to something called the World Wide Web.

The Internet as we know it Today:

Worldwide communications : Point to Point in milliseconds: Data transfer : Audio and Video transfer and well suited for remote access to any radio system worldwide with computers using program software or smart device Apps :

Rule 1) the formost rule is that you MUST have reliable Broadband Access or point to point radio gear in place ... without these ... you might as well forget about remote access. I strongly suggest Fiber, FIOS or High Speed ISP connections.

Rule 2) never expect wireless remotes to be perfect all of the time.

Rule 3) ENJOY your project and HAVE FUN !

Software considerations for Remote Stations : ( example - the W4BSB stations )

1) Primary control is the N4PY software that supports many models of radios as well as my Tentec Omni VII tranceivers.

2) For heightened security I run a secondary software called GoToMyPc that basicly gives me a "backbone" for security and system maintenance.

3) To accommodate Internet listeners I use BroadWave Streaming Audio Server software for stream, archive and play back logs.

About the W4BSB Streams:

These stream(s) of Amateur HF radio are compliments of Jay James - W4BSB .. At the present time audio is streamed to the Internet 24 / 7 so listeners who are traveling, in the hospital, or away from their "Shack" can listen-in. The current 3-7 second Internet audio delay can be very useful for checking to see how your rig sounds.

Both sites: Virginia Beach, Virginia and Venus, Texas use Tentec Omni VII transceivers that operate in a fully automatic mode using software developed by Carl - N4PY and BroadWave Streaming Audio Server software for stream, archive and play back logs. Comments, reception reports, suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. These should be directed to Jay James - W4BSB.

STREAM 1: is a Tentec Omni VII radio supported by three separate homemade inverted Vee's for 20, 40 and 80 meters located at my tower site in the Kempsville area of the City of Virginia Beach, Va.

STREAM 2: is an identical Tentec Omni VII connected to homemade dipoles for 20, 40 and 80 meters and additionally to what is best described as a "True Delta Loop" antenna - ( Center-Fed from the APEX at 97 feet with 509' of 12 gauge, solid copper wire, sky-blue, vinyl coated in the air ) cut exclusively for 1:1 SWR on 1990Khz Top Band. All <VTX> antennas are located at the WA5FWC tower site in Venus, Texas.

Both stations: are 19" rack mounted equipment that can be remotely operated from anywhere in the world with high speed Broadband access. Both streams can be accessed using Driods, iPads, iPhones, Laptops, Netbooks and PC's using today's Microsoft technology, Smartphones an Apple APP's. ( see pictures of the gear below )

Station AMPS: <VTX> has two Ameritron ALS-500 solid state AMPS in place, ( 1 ) for use on 20, 40 and 80 meters and ( 1 ) for use on 160 meters ( top band )

<VAB> has one remote controlled Ameritron ALS-1300 for use on all bands and by using Green Heron Engineering LLC technology to control remote auto switching of the DX Engineering CC-8A Control Console. The CC-8A is mounted in a weatherproof box with a 4X16 copper BUSS bar from Georgia Copper and nine PolyPhaser devices in the weatherproof box. Local <VAB> in "Shack" control of the ALS-1300 and the CC-8A is via local switches for each device.

Disclaimer: The views represented by amateur radio operators you hear on these streams do not necessarily represent the views of the Owner, Webmaster or Sponsors of this site.

Welcome Aboard and Enjoy ... Jay - W4BSB

My < VTX > Venus, Texas Remote Site

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Josh Berry, AE5FN - who always has a smile - working with Dave D'arcy, KF5LKG - spent about five hours on the W4BSB tower at the ranch

to do major antenna repair and maintenance to this installation. 16-MARCH-2012

( the W4BSB tower is on left side and just East of the cell phone tower in photo below )

WA5FWC tower site in Venus, Texas

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...Listen live to Dallas Amateur HF Radio

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Thanks to Gary's antenna engineering expertise and Dave and Josh as a professional tower crew

My <VTX> remote project came to fruition on March 27th of 2010

Gary Pannell, WA5FWC - Dave D'arcy, KF5LKG and Josh Berry, AE5FN

*****

" <VTX> has truly been a pleasure "

WA5FWC.Net

W4BSB - For Sale Radio Gear - Page ...

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The Farm

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Visiting Uncle Hugh at the farm after Sunday services at Zoar's Church near Bristersburg, VA.

"It was Monday, November 2nd, 1949 ... I was 8 years old and getting to stay up late to "play radio" as Uncle called it, with a funny looking thing he said was a " key". Over in the corner of the room was some military surplus equipment with tubes that glowed in the dark. Everything was inside a wooden cage covered with chicken wire and a High Voltage sign hanging on the outside of the cage. ... I was simply fascinated with what my Uncle Hugh said the strange noises (CW) were saying coming out of that old Bendix speaker"

By the way the hit song of the day was - Frankie Laine's - " That Lucky Old Sun "

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I am currently 71 years young and came back to the amateur radio hobby in 2007 after 40 years of being away. Over the past 54 years I have been active mostly in Public Safety Radio Communications starting with my first installer / tech job in 1958 at Gately Communications in Hampton, Virginia.

In 1962, I began a career in Law Enforcement / Public Safety as a City of Hampton Police Officer, Virginia State Trooper ... and later as Owner of Colonial Communications and Electronics Inc., Commercial Two-way Radio Service Centers serving Southside Virginia and Northern North Carolina.

I retired for the 3rd time in 2001 and still work 40 plus hours a week as an IT / Network Operations Manager. That keeps me active, gives me a reason to get out of the house every day, and a chance to stay up to date with what is happening in the radio communications and electronics industry. I enjoy experimenting with antennas, wireless devices, building PC's and computer networks. .

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My mobile SUV installation is complete with all the necessary toys to make any Ham Operator proud. At my age if I'm going to have a mobile toy box then it's "Gonna" have. ALL the toys. Hi Hi. See my QRZ listing for the equipment lineup.

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01 MAY 2012