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Vol. 8, No. 6

USAF It 's ca lm skies now, but these are th e crews that challenge the tempest -p .7

The new Realistic PR0 2005 brings a world of excitement to your doorstep - p . 12

Refresh your knowledge of aero terms - p .42

New offerings from Op to-electronics - p.88

June 1989

NITORING ---T-IME-S-.. LISTENING TO THE HURRICANE HUNTERS by Larry Van Horn

How to hear -- and understand -- vital data reports provided by those intrepid Hurricane Hunters from Keesler AFB.

7

The New PR02005: A Review 12 Th e PR02005 stacks up ve1y, ve1y well against its popular predecessor. Compact, yet p owelful, there seems little to criticize.

The Russian Bear in Trouble by Kyle Henderson 15

Gorbachev has let the genie out of the bottle, and the Soviet Republics will never again be totally silent. There's no better tim e to listen!

SPORTS! by Lynn Burke 11'hat's your pleasure -- golf? racing? baseball? -- Well, here's how to "Tun e in the Good Stuff "

CPRV Showcase

20

23 A potpourri of QSLs from the Comm ittee to Preserve Radio Verifications.

DEPARTMENTS

Lette rs 3 Outer Limits 52 Communications 4 Ilelow 500 kHz 54 Shortwave Broadcasting 24 Program Guide 56 Utility World 28 Frequen cy Section 65 The Scanning Report 32 Magne Tests ... 86 What' s New? 36 Scanner Equipment 88 Uncle Skip's Corner 38 Cons umer Electronics 90 The Federal File 40 DeMaw's Wo rkl>ench 92 Plane Talk 42 Experimenter's Workshop 94 On the Ham Ilands 44 Antenna Topics 96 The QSL Report 46 "Ask Bol>" 98 Reading RTTY 47 Stock Exchange 102 Sate lli te TV 48 Convention Calen dar 103 Ameri can Bandscan 50 Clos ing Comments 104

MONITORING TIMES (ISSN 0669-5341) is published monthly for $18 per year by Grove Enterprises. Inc., PO Box 96, Brasstown, NC 26902 (ph.1 -704-837-9200). Second class postage paid at Brasstown. NC, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Monitoring Times. PO Box 96, Brasstown, NC 26902.

ON THE COVER: The new PR0-2005 appears at the Sylva, NC, fire department (Pho to by Harry Baughn)

2

Inside this Issue , "It 's like n ying into a brick wa11. .. That's how one veteran Hu rrica ne H unte r describes the trip in to the eye of a storm. C3elow, says Moni1onng Times staff writer Larry Yan Horn, the ocean churns with waves that tower over 60 feel high. T his is raw excitement , men and women living on the fine line between life and death . Fortu nately, too, it's excitement you can tune in on your shortwave radio. J oin us as we take t he wildest ride on earth with the H urricane H unters.

I T hey came fro m one end o f Tbilisi's USAF photo

main streets, hundreds of Russian soldiers, each banging loudly on thei r long me ta l s hield . A t the othe r end of the street, thousands of Soviet Georg ians, wh o for a week had been peacefully demonstra ting for more independe nce fro m Moscow. I As the two groups met, A lex Ra ley, a public school adm in istrator from Sout h Ca ro lina, stood on the fourth-fl oor balco ny o f the Hotel T bilisi and watched while one of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev's worst nightmares came true. By sunri se, nineteen 19 people lay dead or mortally wounded. I European DXpert Kyle He nderson takes us on a shortwave t ou r of t he Soviet Republics where, more and more, the most popular chant is "Russians go home! "

I The PR02004 is dead! Long live t he PR 02005! That's another chant , heard not in the Soviet R ep ublics but among sophist icated scanner enthusiasts from one e nd of North America to the ot her. The '2004 was a great scanner. But how will t he '2005 stack up? Moniloring Times dives in with both fee t and gets you the info rmation you need to k now before you buy.

I For a lm ost thi rty yea rs, t he Boeing 707 has provided transporta tion fo r presiden ts of the United States. This year, however, George Bush will inaugura te a brand new Air Force O ne, a Boeing 747. Inside is 4,000 square feet of inter ior space a nd enough food a nd water to feed 70 passengers and a 23-member crew for a week without resupply. T his is quite a p la ne a nd D ave Jones acting something like a Moni1oring Times vers io n o f R obi n Leach on Lifcs1yfes of 1he Rich and Famous __ takes us on a tou r. Going into retirement

I Also on the agenda is a review of the Cougar min i portable world receiver. East meets west with this AM, FM, LW, shortwave radio. The other Larry, Larry Miller, takes a look at t he crazy things they're doing in Houston to bring in r:itings. Wou ld you believe a "moon-in?" I And, of course, the re's much, much more! So take a few minutes. Kick your shoes off. Set a spell. And get ready to explore the world of communicat ions with America's favorite radio magazine, Moniloring Times. Y'all come back now!

June 1989 MON ITORING T IMES

~NITORING TIMES

Published by Grove Enterprises Publisher Bob Grove, WA4PYQ Managing Editor Larry Miller Technical Editor Ike Kerschner, N31K Associate Editor Rachel Baughn Frequency Manager Greg Jordan Subscriber Services Beverly Berrong Advertising Beth Leinbach Dealerships Judy Grove Contributing Editors Reading RTTY Jack Albert Uncle Skip's Corne r T.J. Arey, WB2GHA Plane Talk Jean Baker DeMaw' s Workbench Doug DeMaw Shortwave Broadcasting Glenn Hauser High Seas James R. Hay Federal File Dave Jones Scan ning Report Bob Kay On the Ham Bands Ike Kerschner, N31K Magne Tests ... Lawrence Magne America n Bandscan Larry Miller Satellite TV Ken Reitz, KC4GOA Outer Lim its Dr. John Santosuooso Program Guide Kannon Shanmugam Antenna Topic s W. Clem Small, KR6A Shortwave Broadcast Loggings QSL Corn er Gayle Van Horn Util it y World Larry Van Horn Below 500 kHz Joe Woodlock

Robert L. Rankin of Tonganoxie, Kansas, writes to say that he e njoyed Henri Walser's war time reminis-cences in the April edi tion of Monitoring Times, "especially his recollection of t he station that called itself Soldatensender Calais(" Armed Forces Radio, Calais").

The station enjoyed great success in confounding the Nazis by pre tending to be a geniune German station but Mr. Wal ser s tates tha t, as far as he knew, the story of Soldatensender Calais has "never been told." The station, he says, was "most probably operated by the British across the channel." This was indeed the case.

"Soldatensender Calais began broadcasting as a "German" station on August 24, 1943, from Crow-borough in the United Kingdom. It used a 600 kw mediumwave transmitter, formerly the prope rty of the BBC. A smalle r portable transmitter was located just across the channel and synchronized with Calais in order to confuse enemy attempts to DF [direction fi nd] the transmit location.

"Actually, the story of this and other British 'black' radio operations has been to ld in some detail in a book entitled, Black Boomerang. The author, Sefton Delme r, was a British journalist who grew up in Germany and who headed up Soldatensend Calais a nd other, s imilar, British operati ons. The book was published in 1962 by Viking Press but it should be available in libra ries. It makes fo r intriguing re ading."

"What's the real story o n the big, 10-page article about sho rtwave in Insight magazine?" asks P e ter Carag. "Listen to shortwave? Afte r reading that sleeper, I'm sure people would ratJ1e r watch paint dry.

"What really fasc ina tes me is that thi s almost intentionally dull ar ticl e would come p recisely at a ti me when so-much other pro-shortwave mater-ial was making its way into the national press. Maybe that was the point. Maybe so meo ne in Wash-

LETTERS

"Several years ago I sent you a photograph of my monitoring post. Now I would like you to see the revised version." So says a letter from H arry Abery, J r. of H artford, Connecticut.

llo/y cow! Look at that picture ! "l was lucky enough to be able to obtain the (old) radio console from the

police department where I 'm a radio dispatcher. "l use two U niden BC760 XLTs 100 channel programmable scanners, a

Yaesu Fr-747GX transceiver for amateur, util ity and world band, a Robyn 40-channel AM/SB CB transceiver plus an MFJ Computer interface fo r CW/RTIY with my Tandy JOOOTX 640K computer system. ~ M~on 35-wat.t business base station completes the transceivers. Everythmg 1s paneled- in to the console.

"I'm only using a Sony AN-1 active antenna right now but l hope to put up a 10 throuoh 160 amateur beam as soon as I get my ham ticket. l enjoy the rad io hobby n~w as much as I did when I started back in 1942. Thanks fo r a great magazine !"

ington wanted to down-play short-wave listening so no one would liste n."

I'm intrigued by your le tte r, Pete r. What I thought curiou s about the article was th at it was wri t ten like a US IA [U ni ted States Inform ation Agency, pare nt organization of the Voice of America] press release.

M arty Blaise writes to says that he wants to try and encourage those wh o may be new to mediumwave (AM) DXing.

"Because I live in Houston, Texas, whe re there are about 30 power-house AM and F M statio ns," he says, "T thought tha t they would make DXing im possibl e . Bu t A M D Xing

MON ITORING TIMES

is possibl e! Eve n in a metropoli tan area!

"Not counting the locals o r semi-locals, I've logged 95 di ffere nt sta ti ons on AM including 17 different states, Mexico, Cuba and the Netherland Antilles."

Marty doesn't have the best eq uipment, either, bu t is able to really ma ke it sing. " J use a Radio Shac k DX-440 and a Select-A-Te nn a. l even live in an apar tment.

"Use a d ig ita l receive r," he advises. "learn abou t null s, catch multi ple statio n IDs on the hour with close listening, .. .

[See continuation on p. 100, plus the summer schedule for the Thunderbirds and IJ/ue Angels!]

June 1989 3

War of the Worlds II

Community groups have con-demned a radio hoax on Scottsdale, Arizona, station KSLX in which listeners were led to believe that a riot was in progress.

The Friday morning broadcast, by announcers Jeanne Sedello, Bob Boze Bell and David K. Jones, included reports that local Pima-Maricopa Indians had taken over the community college and torched an Abco super-market. Some listeners who were also in on the act had been told prior to 7:00 a.m. to use their imagination and call in their own fanciful reports from the field.

Apparen tly the whole thing sounded very realistic and the broad-cast quickly got out of control. Police finally became involved when Sedell o announced that a gunman had broken in to the studio and was hold ing her hostage. Those who had not heard the disclaimer jammed police 911 lines to report what they heard.

"There will be no police deter-mination of criminal responsibility," Scottsdale police officer Mark Barnett said, "but the broadcast raises serious questions of corporate responsibility."

Tribal spokesman Ivan Maki! called the broadcast "completely irre-sponsible, deeply offensive to Indians and borderline racist." T here was no comment from the station. (The Phoenix Gazette via Pat Lacey, Tempe, Arizona)

ET Is Not Coming

Investigators going over the remains of the collapsed National Radio Astronomy Obse1vatory radio-telescope say that it was "thrown together."

Tony Rothman, writing on the subject in Scienrijic American, said that the 300 foot unit was "hurriedly constructed" in 1962 because work o n a more sophisticated 150-foot tele-

June 1989

COMMUNICATIONS

scope was behind schedule. But instead of lasting for a few years, it remained in service for " two to three times its design li fe."

A three-engineer panel praised maintenance of the telescope despite a unique set of problems. One was that birds like to roost in the receiver horn, far above the surface of the dish.

To avoid climbing the antenna to clear out the nests, someone installed an electronic scarecrow that produced loud noises, some of them sounding like cosmic bleeps and whistles. Tour-ists were told that the sound, which was audible for long distances, were signals being received from deep space. (The Charleston Gazette via Rick Robinson, Charleston, WV)

Lawnmowers and Microwaves

We at Monitoring Times are often impressed by the level of expertise exhibited in the projects submitted for our "Experimenter's Workshop" column. After rece1v111g a truly impressive design, though, someone inevitably breaks the ice by asking, "But can he make a shortwave rad io out of a lawnmower?" TI1e folks at RF Design magazine did one better.

In their March issue, reader David Pacholok showed how to create a powerful 250 watt amateur television transmitter out of a microwave oven.

lator, which controls power and frequency, is placed where the food would go.

Editors at RF Design stress that this is a project to be attempted only by a skilled engineer -- not a radio amateur. Leaking microwave radia-tion can be extremely dangerous. (New York Times via Ed Hesse, North Merrick, NY)

Save The QSLs! People die. But QSLs don't have

to. In nutshell , that's the message from Jerry Berg, Chairperson of the Committee to Preseive Radio Veri-fications (CPRV).

For fifty cents, Berg and his friends will send you a sticker to affix to your QSL album or container. The sticker contains a message that, while not "legal," expresses your wishes that the QSLs be donated to CPRV when you are "no longer able to enjoy them."

The cards are then carefully archived at the Boston headquarters of the First Church of Christ, Scien-tist, publishers of The Christian Science Monitor and operators of shortwave stations WCSN, KYOI and WSHB.

Make sure that your QSLs get the treatment they deserve when you're dead and no longer able to care for

Spending less than $200 and using only parts readily available from consumer e lectronic supply houses, Pacholok showed how the

COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE RADIO VERIFICATIONS

oven power source, a magne-tron tube, could be "tamed clown" to provide power for the trans-mitter.

A circui t called a modu-

MONITORING TIMES

My QSL collection is very important to me. It is my wish that, when I am no longer able to enjoy my QSLs, my family will donate them to the Association of North American Radio Clubs "Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications," Box 54, Caledonia, NY 14423, so that my OS Ls will be preserved for the enjoyment of other radio hobbyists.

Signature Date

them. For more information on this interesting project, write CPRV, P.O. Box 54, Caledonia, NY 14423.

Jail: He Threatened Panama! Panamanian officials have

announced the arrest of a U.S. ci tizen accused of runn ing an anti-government radio station in Panama City. Officials said that Kurt Frederick Muse, a 39 year old businessman, was responsible for broadcasting "Voice of Liberty" programs over radio and TV.

Some $350,000 worth of equip-ment was con fiscated from seven different apartments from which Muse alleged ly made the transmis-sions. The programs, reported the Nat ional Department of Investiga-tions (DENI), were produced on U.S. mili tary bases in Panama. (The Houston Post via Daniel Bazan Houston, Texas) '

Radio, Meteors and Trucks

Truck drivers fo r North American Van Lines will now be keeping in touch with the home office via meteors. Fifty of its trucks will be able to bounce messages off these visitors from outer space using a technology called "meteor scatter."

As meteors pass through the earth's atmosphere, most leave behind billions of dust-sized particles. The signals are then refl ected off these trail s.

The problem is that these trails are short-lived. Signals reflected off the trail s of large meteors last only for a second or two. Those bounced off smaller ones last milliseconds. As a result, it can take up to ten minutes to receive a message, depending on the quality of the trai ls. Jn one system, messages are limited to about 32 char-acters.

GTE Corp., which has been working on meteor co mmu nications

COMMUNICATIONS

METEOR

systems for several years, acknowl-edges that the technology has its draw-backs but notes that it also has major advantages.

These include the fact that they are hard to jam, difficult to intercept and would not be disabled by a nuclear blast. (Boston Globe via D. Ed is, Dennis Pond, MA)

Saved His Life

When Fred Henning mounted his 1983 Honda Goldwing motorcycle recently, he probably wasn't even thinking about this wonderfu l hobby of radio. A short time later, however, a car made a U-turn in front of him and Henning dropped the bike, sliding some 60 feet through the intersection. Unbelievably, he escaped with only mi nor cuts and bruises.

To what does he attribute this miraculous event? Faith in God? Luck? No, when Fred Henning was able to pick himself up and pull himself together, he fou nd that his JC-u2AT handheld absorbed the majority of the impact. Yes, friends, putcha hands on the radio! ICOM saved Fred Henning's life! Yea-uh!

M ON ITORI NG TIM ES

TRAIL OF METEOR

You can communicate \\rith other Monitoring Times readers. The next t ime you see an item about radio in a magazine or newspaper, clip it out and share it with the rest of us! Send it to Communications Editor, P.O. Box 98, Brasstown, NC 28902. You'll be glad you did.

June 1989 5

uniden $12,000,000 Scanner Sale

Uniden Corporation of America has pur chased the consumer products line of Re-gency Electronics Inc. for $12,000,000. To celebrate this purchase, we're having our largest scanner sale in history! Use the coupon In this ad for big savings. H urry ... offer ends September 30, 1989.

***MONEYSAWNGCOUPON*** Get special savings on Iha scanners /Isled In this coupon. This coupon must be Included with your prepaid order. Credit cards, personal checks and quan-tity discounts are excluded from this offer. Offer valld only on prepaid orders mailed dlractly to Communications Elec-tronics Inc.. P.O. Box 1045- Depl UNl6, Ann Arbor. Mlchlgan48106 1045 U.SA Coupon expires September 30, 1989. Coupon may not be used In con/unction with any other offer from CEI. Coupon may be photocopied. Add $11.00 tor shipping in the continental U.SA Regency TS2T $259.95 Regency INF5T .......... $79.95 Regency R2060-T1 ..... $114.95 Regency UC102T ...... $109.95 Regency RH606B-T ..... $419.95 Regency RH256B T . $294.95 Bearcat 200XL T T . $249.95 Bearcat 100XLTT ...... $184.95 Bearcat 800XLTT ...... $249.95 Unlden HR2510T ...... $229.95 Un Iden PR0500D-T1 $32.95

****VALUABLE COUPON**** Bearca~ 760XLTT List price $499.95/ CE price $244.95/SPECIAL 1 Jl'-Band, 100 Chen-I Crystal,. .. AC/DC Fraquencyrange: 29-54, I I 8 I 74, 406512, 806956 MHL Excludes 823.9875849.0125 end 888.9875894.0125 MHL The Bearcat 760XLT has 100 programmable chan-nels organized as live channel banks for easy use, and 12 bands of coverage Including the 800 MHz. band. The Bearcat 760XL T mounts neatly under the dash and connects directly to fuse block or battery. The unit also has an AC adaptor, flip down stand and telescopic antenna for desk top use. 6 5/16" w x 1'19" H x 7~" 0 . Model BC 590XLTT is a similar version without the 800 MHz. band for only $194.95. Order your scanner from CEI today.

NEW! Regency Products R4030-T Regency 200 ch. hendheld scanner .... $254.95 R4020-T Regency 100 ch. handheld scanner .. .. S 189.95 R4010-T Regency 1 O channel hendheld scanner. .. $114.95 R1600-T Regency 100 channel mobile scanner . . . $244. 95 P200-T Regency 40 channel CB Mobile ........... $38.95 P210-T Regency 40 channol CB Mobile ........ .. . $56.95 P220-T Regency 40 channel CB Mobile .. .. . .... .. $79.95 PJOC>T Regency 40 channel SSB CB Mobile .. . .. $137.95 P400-T Regency 40 channel SSB CB Base .... . .. $174.95 PR100-T Regency visor mount radar detector ... . . $54.95 PR110-T Regency"Peasport" size radar detector . .. $114.95 PR120-T Regency "micro" elze radar detector. ... $144.95 MP51 OOXL T Regency40 Ch. marine transceiver. . . S 13a95 MP551 OXL T Regency60 Ch. marine transceiver . . . $159.95 MPeOOOXL T R119ency60 Ch. marine transceiver . . . $209.95 MP2000XLT Regency handhold marine trans. .. .. $189.95 Regency RH256BT List price $799.95/CE price $299.95/ SPECIAL 18 C,,.nnI 25 Wrt Transceiver Priority The Regency RH2 56 B Is a sixteen-channel VHF land mobile transceiver designed to cover any frequency between 1 50 to 1 62 MHz. Since this radio is synthesized, no expensive crystals are needed to store up to 16 lrequencies w ithout battery backup. All radios come with CTCSS tone and scanning capabilities. A monitor and nighVday switch is also standard. This transceiver even has a priority func-tion. The RH256 makes an Ideal radio for any police or fire department volunteer because of its low cost and high performance. A 60 Watt VHF 150-162 MHz. version called the RH606BT is available for $429.95. A UHF 15 watt, 16 channel version of this radio called the RU156BT Is also available and covers 450482 MHz. but the cost is $454.95.

*** Uniden CB Radios *** The Uniden line ol Citizens Band Radio transceivers Is styled to compliment other mobile audio equipment. Unlden CB radios are so reliable that they have a two year limited warranty. From the feature packed PRO 810E to the 310E handheld, there Is no better Citizens Band radio on the market today. PR0310ET Uniden 40 Ch. Ponablo/Mobile CB .. . $83.95 PR0330ET Un/den 40 Ch. Remote mount CB . .. $104.95 PR05001> T Un/den 40 Channel CB Mobile ... .... $38.95 KARATET Un/den 40 channel rescue radio ... . .. . $53.95 GRANTT Unlden 40 channel SSB CB mobile .. . . $166.95 MADISONT Un/den 40 channel SSB CB base ... $244.95 PC122T Un/den 40 channel SSB CB mobile .... . $119.95 PR0510XLT Un/den 40 channel CB Mobile .... ... $38.95 PR0520XLT Uniden 40 channel CB Mobile .. ... . . $56.95 PR0530XLT Uniden 40 channel CB Mobila ... . ... $79.95 PR0540ET Un/den 40 channel CB Mobile . ... .... $97.95 PR0640E T Un/don 40 channel SSB CB Mobile ... $137 .95 PR071 OET Un/den 40 channel CB Base .. . ... .. $119.95 PR0810ET Un/den 40 channel SSB CB Base . .. $174.95 *** Unlden Radar Detectors*** Buy the finest Un/den radar detectors from CEI today. TALKERT Un/den talking radar detector ......... $184.95 RD7T Uniden visor mount radar detector .. .. ... .. $99.95 RDll-T Un/den "Passport" size radar detector .... $114.95 RD9XLT Un/den "micro" size radar detector . . . .. $144.95 RD25 T Uniden visor mount radar detector ........ $54.95 RD5CIO-T Unlden visor mount radar deleclor ....... $7 4.95

Bearcat 200XLTT List price $509.95/ CE price $254.95/SPECIAL 11'-e.nd, 1100 Channa/ BOO Hz. Hsndheld .. erch Limit Hold Prlorltr Lockout Froquencyrange: 2954. 118174, 406512, 806956 MHL Excludes 823.9875849.0125 end 868.9875894.0125 MHz. The Bearcat 200XL T sets a new standard for hand-held scanners In performance and dependability. This lull featured unit has 200 programmable channels with 10 scanning banks and 12 band coverage. If you want a very similar model without the 800 MHz. band and 100 channels, order the BC 100XLTT for only $189.95. Includes antenna, carrying case with belt loop, nicad battery pack, AC adapter and earphone. Order your scanner now.

Bearcat SOOXL T T List price $549.95/CE prlce$259.95/SPECIA L 12-Band, 40 ChnnI No-cryatl acenner Priority control rcll/Scn AC/DC Bands: 2954, 118174, 406512, 806912 MHz. The Unlden 800XL T receives 40 channels In two banks. Scans 15 channels per second. Size 9v.'' x 4Y2" x 12Y2." If you do not need the 800 MHz. band, a similar model called the BC 210XLTT is available for $178.95. Bearcat 145XLT List price $189.95/CE price $94.95/SPECIAL 10-S.nd, 18 Chnnel No-c,.,ar.l acnner Priority control Wether aerch AC/DC Bands: 2954, 136 174, 406512 MHz. The Bearcat 145XL is a 16 channel. programmable scanner covering ten frequency bands. The unit features a built in delay function that adds a three second delay on all channels to prevent missed transmissions. A mobile version called the BC560XLTT featuring pr~ ority, weather search. channel lockout and more is available for $94.95. CEl's package price includes mobile mounting bracket and mobile power cord. President HR251 OT List price $499.95/CE price $239.95/SPECIAL 10 lleter llobll Trnaceltfer DlgltI 'IFO Full Band Colfrfl All-llod Oprflon Bacldlf liquid crytI dlapley Auto llquelch AIT PreprOflrmmed 10 KHz. ChnnI Frequency Coverage: 28.0000 MHz. lo 29.6999 MHz. The President HR2510 Mobile 1 O Meter Transceiver made by Uniden, has every1hlng you need for amateur radio communications. Up to 25 Watt PEP USB/LSB and 25 Watt CW mode. Noise Blanker. PA mode. Digital VFO. Builtin S/RF/MOD/SWR meter. Channel switch on the microphone, and much more! The HR2510 lets you operate AM, FM, USB. LSB or CW. The digitally synthesized lrequen cy control gives you maximum stability and you may choose either pre-programmed 1 O KHz. chan-nel steps, or use the built In VFO for steps down to 100 Hz. There's also RIT (Receiver Incremental Tuning) to give you perfectly tuned signals. With receive scanning, you can scan 50 channels in any one of four band segments to find out where the action is. Order your HR2510 from CEI today. NEW! President HR2600T List price $599.95/CE price $299.95/SPECIAL 1 O lleter llobll Trnchtr New Feture Delivery for I his new product is scheduled for June, 1989. The new President H R2600 Mobile 10 Meter Trans-ceiver is similar to the Uniden HR2510 but now has repeater offsets (100 KHz.) and CTCSS encode.

BC760XLT 800 MHz.

mobile scanner SPECIAL!

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Listening Hurricane

to the Bunters

U.S. Ai r Force

by Larry Van Horn

It usually sta rts ou t as a ripple on the weat her charts, an area of brigh ter clouds on the sate ll ite p hotos. To trained forecasters at the Nat io na l H urricane Center (NHC) in Coral Gables, Flori da, it represents the beginning of one of nature's most destructive st orms.

More data is needed t o confirm what sat ell ite imagery shows. Th e area under investigation is an isolated sector of t he middle Atlantic Ocean. T here arc not a lot of weat her stations here . Ship reports, however, indicate freshening winds in the area. Computer chart s of air pressure and ot her meteorological paramete rs poin t to the formation of a t ropical depression .

But st ill the N HC wants more informat ion wind, t emperature, pressure, hu mi di ty, a nd the "sta te of the sky" data -- so t hat a valid fo recast can be made. The Hurricane Center calls for the services of the U.S. A ir Force (USAF) and the Nat ional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ra-tion (NOAA) Hu rricane H unters.

T here arc only two U.S. Air Force

Super Hurricane Gilbert on a crash course with Mexico (above) . Below, a WC-130 on the ramp at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi, from the 53rd WRS, radio cal/sign "Gull"

U.S. Air Force

units t hat will fly into a hurricane. malliLolii Bot h of these squadrons a re based out _.,.-.i=-- of Keesle r AFO in 13iloxi, Mississippi.

Known as t he "Hu rricane Hunters," Kccslcr's 53 rd Weat her Reconna is-sance Squadron (WRS) is part of t he M il itary Airl ift Command's 23rd Ai r Force. F lying a mod ified vers ion of

MONITO RI NG TI MES J1111e 1989 7

8

HURRICANE HUNTER FREQUENCIES TABLE 1

NOAA Aircraft to Miami Monito r (KJY74}: 3-107 5562 6673 8876 10015 13354 17901 21937

AIR-TO-AIR COMMUN I CA 110NS: 123.050 MHz Primary VHF 304.800 MHz Secondary UHF 470 I kl lz Back-up IIF

USAF GCCS Stations (commonly heard working hurricane hunters):

Albrook AFll, Pa nama: 3137 6683 8993 11176 15015 18019

Ascension Attx AF: Lajes Field, Azores:

6753 8993 t 1176 13244 15015 3081 4746 6750 8967 1U71 132.J.4

Loring AFB, ME: 3074 6738 89CH 11179 13214 MacDill AFll, FL:

McClellan AFll, CA:

4746 6750 180t9 3067 6738 18002

8993 1U46 13244

8989 11239 t 320!

CENTER/VORTEX MESSAGES TABLE 2

Due to the importance o r the Center/ Vortex mcss:ige, very li ll le encoding is done by the Weather Officer aboard the aircraft. This 011e is very easy to figure o ut and provides the li~tener with some very inlcresting information.

The message is divided into sections preceded by a mission identifier (Gull JO, Teal 32. 1'0AA 42, etc) and observation number.

SccUoofDala to be p:isscd: A Date and Time or ftx (UTC) ll Lati tude or the vortex (degrees, minutes no rth and south)

Longitude or vortex (degrees, minules cast and west) C Minimum height (millibars a nd meters) D ~faximum surface wind (degrees and na utical miles) F !\laximum flight level wind near center (degrees a nd knots} G Bearing and range from center o f maximum surface wind

(degrees and nautical miles) II Minimum sea level pressure (mill ibars) I Ma.ximum flight level temperature (degrees C)/Pressu re alti-

tude (mcters)/Absolute altitude o utside the eye (meters) J Maximum fl ight level temperature (degrees C)/Pressurc alti-

tude (metcrs)/1\bsolute altitude inside the eye (meters) K Dcwpoinl lempcrMurc (degrees C)/Sea surface lempcrnlure

inside eye (degrees C) I. Eye character (closed wall. poor defined, open SW, etc) M Eye shape/orientatio n/diameter:

Eye shape (C-circular: E-clliptic.11) Orientation of the major axis in tenth of degrees

(OJ = Oto lo 190; 17 = 170 to 350) Transmit diameter in nautical miles.

Examples: C8 (Circular eye; eight miles in diameter); E09/15/5 (Elliptical eye major axis 090-270 degrees); length o f the major axis 15 nm, len&ih of minor axis 5 nm; C08-14 (Concentric eye d iameter inner eye 8 nm; o ulcr eye 14 nm

N Confirmation of ftx (coordinates and time) 0 Fi.x determination by: Fix level:

t = penetration 0 = surface 2 = radar J = 1500 feet 3 = wind 2 = 200 mb 4 = pressure 5 = temperature

3 = 300 mb 4 = 400 mb 5 = 500 mb 7 = 700 mb 8 = 850 mb 9 = other

I' Navigation ftx accumcy/metcorologkal accuracy (nautical miles)

Q Remarks

the C-130 Hercules (WC-130), the Hu rricane Hunte rs have been collect-ing data on the atmosphere for 44 years, covering millions of square miles of the Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific.

Hu rricane Hunters also fly storm missions o n the G ulf of A laska and along the U.S. eastern seaboard during winter months. Each can save count-less lives a nd millions of dollars in property. Bui what is truly amazing is tha t the squadron has amassed some 112,000 accident-free hours in support of these missions.

Vi rtua lly unknown to the public is the unit's work in support of America's space program. A specia l camera mounted aboard one of the WC-130s film s the space shull lc from takeoff t o solid rocket booster separation and then tracks one of the two boosters t o splashdown .

The Hurricane Hunters also have a reserve counterpart at Keesler. The 815th Weather Reconnaissance Squ ad-ron (WRS) is known as the "Storm Trackers." The 815t h averaged 820 flying hours into trop ical storms fro m 1976 to 1984.

The 1985 storm season, however, was not an average year. There were four tropica l sto rms and seven hurricanes. Six hurricanes and 1wo t ropica l storms made landfall on the U.S. main land. The 8 !5th logged 1,265 flying hours.

D ue t o gove rnment budget cuts, one of the long ti me wca1hcr rccon squadrons covering the Pacific has quit flying weather missions. The 'Typhoon

June 1989 MONITORING TIMES

One of the antenna arrays at Elk Horn, Nebraska, for the Air Force Air Weather SeNice, HF Regional Broadcast station. US Air Fo rce

Chasers" out of Andersen AFil, Guam, no longer fly into tropical SIOrms. The same story is now happening t o the 53rd WRS.

Pentagon o fficial s say they no longer need the hurri ca ne hun ting miss ions because of advances in weather sa1ell it e technology. The folks at the Nat ional Hurrica ne Center disagree. They fee l that the satelli1e informat io n compliments 1hc aircraft recon informat ion, but not enough to replace them.

St ill , as time goes on, familia r call signs have faded from the weather rccon scene. The Typhoon Chasers' ca ll sign of "Swan" is no longer in pursuil of Paci fic storms. The H urri-cane Hunt ers fa milia r "Gull" ca ll sign might a lso become a th ing of the past very soon. T he Storm Trackers use 1he call sig n "Teal."

The re is ano1her group of storm tracke rs tha t is operat ed by NOAA. This group flies two P-3 O rion fou r turboprop engine a ircra ft. These P-3 aircrafl are about Ihe size of a Boeing 737 jetliner. Thei r ca ll sign is "NOAA" ("**" in dicates numbers).

NOAA is most oft en heard in voice contact with 1h e "Miami Monitor." T able I lists some of the mo re act ive frequencies. Listeners should keep in mind that these arc ut ility transmissions and t he frequ en-cies listed in Table l have no pall em in their use. It 's catch as caich ca n.

The transmitter at Elk Horn, Nebraska.

US Air Force

Into the Eye, Looking At Death Exactly what is it that Hurricane

Hunters do that makes it worth sending men and machines into the jaws of death?

According to the National Hurri-cane Center, there are certa in mete-orological parameters important for the formation of a tropical depression and its future development. The Hurricane Hunters fly into the storm, sometimes as low as 500 feel above the churning ocean, taking vital measure-ments. The data is t ransmitted in coded (not e ncrypted) on shortwave radio back to the forecasters at the NHC .

When the storm is fa r from land or shipping la nes, a penetra tion to the very center, or "eye," is made every 12 hours. The closer the sto rm comes to landfall, the more frequent these "fixes" are made. Finally, they become hourly until the storm dissipates over la nd or swerves out into the colde r waters to die.

Although each storm is different , most will have m oderate t o severe turbulence and thunderstorms with large amounts of hail and lig htning. The spira l bands of the thunderstorm merge in a circle around the eye, forming a unique phenomena called the wall cloud or "eye wall." This is the focus of the hurricane hu nter's mission, to find the most severe weather of th e storm.

It is the penetration through thi s formidable rampa rt of thunderstorms that is the most hazardous part o f the mission. The aircraft must be taken right through thi s wall to reach the center of the storm.

The eye itself -- anywhere from 5 to 50 miles in diameter -- is cloud free, calm and serene compared to the periphery of the storm. Most hurri-cane hunt e r missions penetrate the eye at between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. From 10,000 fee t, the view of the ocean below is spectacular. Observers have clearly seen waves to 60 feet chu ming on the ocean su rface below.

One television meteoro logist who had a cha nce to ride into Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 said that calm is a relative term in the eye of the storm. Riding in the eye of the sto rm is not as bad as going into the st orm; however, the plane st ill bounces around like a ping po ng bal l due to verti ca l winds that measure up to 60 mph. But even that "calm" is short lived as you leave the eye wall. As one observer said, "It 's like slamming into a b ri ck wall."

Surface pressure is dete rmined by the release of an instrument known as a "dropsonde," a small metal cylinder packed with met eorological measuring equipment. The dropsonde is coupled to a small UHF radio tra nsmitter. Released at 19,000 feet, it falls to the water below a l 5,000 feel per minut e, radioing back to a receiver on the aircraft such information as tempera-ture, humidity, a nd ui r pressure. This provides the N HC with a vertical profile of the storm al a particular point within the storm.

Data around the storm is as valu-ab le as tha t taken fro m within the eye. Fo r this reason the hurricane hunting aircraft fly la rge X-shaped patterns across the whole storm. A mature hurricane ca n involve more than one m illio n cubic mi les of a tm osphere . It 's a lo t of sky to fly even under good

RECCO WEATHER CODE FORMAT TABLE 3

l will allempt to describe the format in AWS Fo rm 35, which is used by the hurricane hunter a ircrnft when they transmit reports (encoded) back to NHC via SSU/1 IF radio-pho ne patch usually via MacDill AFB in Florida.

The "format" is five number groups each having a specific meaning. 111c infomiation is no t classified, but just put into this format for convenience in sending the dala.

First, I will give the "positions" o r the data in the live number groups with a descriptor and reference lo a "LIST", if required. Next, I will give the "LISTs" referred to for further breakdown of data. Aller you "decode" a transmission or lwo it will become clear what the personnel on the aircraft are trying to lrnnsmit back to NWS.

Group 1 "9X.XX9" - sec LIST t.

Group 2 "GGGGid" GGGG GMT time of observation, id =dew poinl indicator sec LIST 2.

Group 3 "YQLaL1L1" Y=day o r week (Sunday= 1), Q=octanl -sec LIST 3, LaL1L1 = lA1ti1Ude degrees and tenths.

Group 4 "Lo LoLoBfc" LoLoLo Lo ngitude degrees and tenths, B =turbulence sec LIST 4, fc = Oight condilions - sec LIST 5.

Group S "HaHaHaDIDa" HnHal-fo=nltitudc or aircraft to ncarcsl dccamctcr, Dt type of wind see UST 6, Da= mclhod or obtaining wind see LIST 7.

Group 6 "DDFFF" DD=wind direction at Oight level (tens or degrees true), FFFwind speed at Oight level in knots.

Group 7 "TITdTdW" 1T=lempcraturc whole degrees C .. TdTddew point whole degrees C. W=prescnt wcalbcr sec UST 8.

Group 8 "/ J lll lll" /="indicator." J=indcx to 111-lH see

Group 9

LIST 9, I II II I geopotcolial height/ d vale or SLP per index J .

1KnNsNsNs" l "indicator," Kn= number o f cloud layers. NsNsNs amount or clouds see LIST 10.

Group 10 "CHsHsHtHt" Ccloud type sec LIST 11, HsHs=allilude o fbnsc -sec LIST 12. HtHt =altilude or top sec LIST 12. (This gro up may be repeated several times until nc~1 "I," "4," "6." "7," "8," or 9 indicator.)

Group U "4DDFF" 4 "indicator," DDdireclion o f surface wind tens o r degrees true, fF=surfacc wind speed in knots.

Groups using 6. 7, 8, 9 indicators arc seldom if ever wed, and will no t be delved into. (exccplio n is group I above)

usr l 222 scc o ne observation without rndar. 555 =scc t hree observation with/wilhoul radar. 777=scc one observa-lio n with mdar.

usr 2 o = no dew point capability/ncn below 10,000 me1ers I = no dew point capabilily at or above 10.000 meters. 2 = s.1me as 0 with lcmpcralurc below -50 degrees C. 3 same as I with tempcralure belo w -50 d egrees C. 4 dew point capability, acfl below 10.000 meters. 5 = dew point capability, acrt at o r above 10,000 mclcrs 6 = same as 4, temperature -50 degrees C. o r less. 7 = same as 5, temperature -50 degrees C. or less.

LIS r 3 0 = O degree 90 degree W, Northern hemisphere. 1 = 90 degree W lo l80 degree W. Northern hemi-sphere. 2 = 180 degree - 90 degree E, Northern hemisphere. 3 = 90 degree E 0 degree E. Northern he misphere. 4 = not used. 5 = S3mc as O. So111hern hemisphere 6 = same as I. Soulhcrn hemisphere 7 u same as 2, Southern hcmi!.phere 8 u same as 3, Southern hemisphere

LIST 4 0 = no ne I = light turbulence 2 a moderate in clcM air. infreq ucnl 3 D moderate in clear air, frcqucnl 4 = moderate in cloud, inrrcqucnt 5 ~ modcralc in cloud, freq uent 6 = severe in clcnr ni r, infrequent 7 = severe in clear nir, freq uent 8 = severe In doud, infreque nt 9 = severe in d o ud, frcqucnl

MONITORING T IMES June 1989 9

TAUW 3 cont'd

UST 5

LIST 6

LIST 7

LI ST 8

LI ST 9

LIST IO

LIST IL

10

0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7

clear clouds, tops < 10,000 rce t clouds, tops 10.000-18,000 feel clouds, tops over 18,000 feel clouds, bnscs < 10,000 feet clouds, bases 10,000-18,000 feet cloud,, bnscs above 18,000 feet

8 = between layers, no clouds al night level in and out of clouds

9 clouds au the time I impossible to determine d ue to darkness 0 = spot wind

average wind / = no wind reported

O = winds obtained using dopplcr radar o r inertial systems 1 = winds obtained using other navigation equip ment/ techniques / navigator unable to determine wind

0 clear 1 scattered 2 broken 3 overcast/undercast 4 = fog/ dust/ haze 5 drizzle 6 rain 7 snow or rain o r mixture 8 = showers (cont inuous o r intermittent) 9 thunderstorms / = unknown for a ny cause ( i.e. = darkness)

0 = sea level press in whole mill ibars 1 = altitude 200 rub surface in geopotential decameters 2 same for 850 mb 3 same fo r 700 mb 4 same for 500 mb 5 same for 400 mb 6 same for 300 mb 7 same for 250 mb 8 = D-valuc in geopotcntial decameters; if negat ive 500 is adllcd to Ill!!! 9 = no absolute altit ude available or geopotential data not '"'ithin accuracy requirements

0 zero l 1 Okla or less 2 2 Okins 3 3 Okins 4 4 Oktas 5 5 O ktas 6 6 Oktas 7 7 Oktas 8 = 8 Oktas or sky completely covered 9 = Sh) obscured or cloud a mount cannot be esti mated

0 cirrus I cirrocumulus 2 cirroslratus 3 altocumulu.' 4 a ltostratus 5 nimbostratus 6 straiocumulus 7 = strnl us 8 cumulus 9 cumulonimbus / = clow.l type unknown due to darkness or other Ca l LCiCS

conditions but during a hu rricane it has been described as similar to "a thun-derous train ride."

Storm reconnaissance missions ca n last anywhere from e ight to 16 hou rs, depending on how fa r t he crew must n y to reach t he tempest. These arc extremely fat igu ing missions, but afte r fifteen hours of rest on the ground, t he crew is called upon 10 do it again.

Do they realize t he risk? J an Zysko, C hief Engineer o f a NOAA hurricane hunter says, "Certa inly there a rc risks involved in doing th is. There arc calcu lated risks and we weigh the options and the risk."

T o offset those risks, Jan says, "We are get ti ng data underneat h the storm that th e sa1clli1 c doesn't see and that lesse ns the risk to the public, which is w hat our missions arc a ll about."

Why d o they do it'! Jeff Masters, NOAA Flight Meteorologist, says, "The storm is a very spectacula r sight an cl it is an experience l ha t cannot be equaled on this planet. It is amazing what I sec when 1 am up there."

The USAF hurrica ne hunter crew aboard the WC- 130 consists of six people the pilot ( t he a ircra ft commander), copi lot , naviga tor, fl igh t engineer, weal her officer, and clrop-sondc syste m opera tor.

T he weather o fficer. a professio na l Air Force mc1eorologis1, a long w it h

June 1989 MONITORING T IMES

Close-in shot of one antenna base at Elk Horn Air Weather Service US Air Force

the navigato r, di rects the course of the night du ring the penetration to remain clear of thunde rstorms. It is the weather officer who computes the weathe r data, encodes the observations in a special format a nd t ra nsmits the data 10 the N H C in Coral Gables.

The types and formals of observa-t ions arc set fo rt h in the Nat iona l H urricane Opera t ions Plan (NH OP) t hat is issue d each year. T he codes that th e missions used is a lso contained in th is publication. T o increase the mo nit or ent husiast's e njoyment of the hobby, an understanding of the codes used by the hu rricane hunters can help. Tables 2 and 3 give t he most frequently heard coded messages passed by USAF and NOAA hurricane hunt ing crews.

M onito rs ca n use these codes to t ra nsla te messages hea rd from these ai rcraft 10 get a unique picture of a storm . T he most in terest ing to monitor is the cente r/vortex message which is passed w he n the a ircraft penetrates the eye of the storm . This formal is lis ted in Table 2.

Tab le 3 gives the most commonly used message you will hear b eing passed between M iami M onito r and the hurricane hu nting aircraft. This message is the RECCO symbolic message fo rm. T hese arc rou t ine observa ti ons made at selected po ints in the a ircra ft' s mission int o the hurri-ca ne.

Why do Hurricane Hunters risk such

hazardous dufy? One reason is an

experience that cannot be equaled

anywhere else. US Air Force

According to the NHOP, USAF and NOAA aircraft will normally transmit recon observations through USAG GCCS stations via phone patch to Miami. These GCCS stations will often provide a discrete frequency for the aircraft to operate with their stati on during the flight. A good watch on the GCCS frequencies listed in Table 1 will assist the monitor in tracking the progress of the flight .

Tables 4 and 5 give some addit ional information about not only this year's storm names but the classes of warn-ings that the National Hurricane Center will issue.

This article will help the listener follow the progress of the storm long before the National Hurricane Center passes its next bulletin. When these violent storms come this season, you can follow the daring exploits of the Hurricane Hunters.

TABLE 3 rom'd

00 te:;s tli:in 100 CH 100 feel 02 200 fcet 03 300 feet etc. 49 4900 feet 50 .5000 feet 51 55 not used 56

-6000 feel

57 7000 feel etc. 79 29,000. feet 80 30,000 feel 81 35,000 feel 82 40,000 feel etc. 89 greater than .70,000 feet 11 = unknown

NOTE: Some sections may be passed over or skipped depending on type of observation . You will have to decode a few limes to get the 'hang o f it.

1989 TROPICAL STORM/HURRICANE NAMES . (ATLANTIC/CARIBBEAN/GULF OJ." MEXICO

TABLE 4

Allison Barry Clialltal Dean Erin Felix Gabrielle Hugo Iris ~cny Karen Luis Marilyn Noel Opal ,Pab lo Roxanne Seba$!ian Tanya Van Wendy NOAA aircraft also use discrete

frequencies listed in Table 1 to communicate directly to Miami. Don't be surprised by what you will hear on these channels. While the Air Force qu it the practice, NOAA still offers rides during hurricane missions in their aircraft for the media. It is not uncommon to hear a television or rad io station's chief weatherman talking to the studio live during a news-cast from a NOAA plane about the storm he is riding out. These can provide some very interesting details about life aboard a Hurricane Hunter in a storm.

~~-'-'-~-------'-'-~---~~~......:..~...,.,-.,--......:..,

NNNN ::)l l~ SA,< X77 118

TROI'ICAL CYCLONE General .lerm .for cyclones o riginating ovcr "lropical oceans; These may include tropical depressions, tropkal storms and hurricanes.

'lROPIC.AL DEPRESSION' T ropical cyclone with winds less than

39 mph (34 knots)

TROPICAL STORM -

HURRICANE -

A tropical cyclone with sust.ained winds of39 to 73 mph (er to 63 kno ts). Stomis are named when they. reach !his strength.

A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 74 mph ( 64 knots) or greater.

MAJ.OR IIURRIO\NE - A !ropical cyclone witb sustained winds o f 10 I to 135 mph (88 knots to 107 knots).

MONITORING TIMES June 1989 11

A Compact Powerhouse

The New PR02oos Years ago, we considered ourselves

lucky if our scanner covered more than one band of frequencies. Today, wide fre-quency coverage is routine and opt io ns literally undreamed of just a few short years ago arc ava ilable today at very affordable prices.

One of 1 hese very advanced a nd very affordable scanner radios was the Radio Shack PR0200-l . The '200-l. often touted as "the most popular high-performance

scanner ever made," dominated the ma rket with its "incredible" 300 channel memory, rapid 16-channcl-pcr-second scan ning and superior interference rejection .

Now, however, the PR02004 is go ne, replaced by the Radio Shack PR02005. How docs the '2005 stack up'J Very , very well.

The new PR02005 is functionally iden-t ical 10 its predecesso r, but with a total of .JOO memory chann els. And it can accu-rately described as a compact version of the PR02004. Measuring only 8-J/2"W x 3" 1-1 x S"D, and weighing a scant 4-3 /4 pounds, the '2005 offers a more refined layo ut of the original circuitry, complete with s1a1c-of-t hc-an surface mount components.

With a more vertical fro nt panel than its predecessor and wrapped in a plastic jacket rather than the '200-l 's metal cabinet, the '2005 has full-stroke, rubberized keys -- a

12 J1111e 1989

great improvement over the membrane keypad on the earlier version. Hinged front fee t allow the unit to lie flush on a desk top or t ilt up for better viewing.

Frequency range is very wide: 25-520, 760-823.945, 851 -868.945 and 896-1300 MHz, any mode (Atvl , narrowband FM, wideband FM). As with its predecessor, cellu la r frequency coverage has been deleted at the fac tory but may be restored by clipping one lead of a diode (D502,

fou nd on th e inside corner of the front panel).

Up-conversion design, using a 610 MHz first IF stage , virt u;Jlly eliminates images from appearing in the receiver's li stening range, a common problem with most ot her scanners.

A telescoping whip is provided for indoor use; the sca nner is also equipped with a DNC connector for the at tachment of an ou tdoor antenna. A to p-cover-mountcd speaker de livers plenty of audi o.

Powering Up As with all Realistic desktop scanners,

the PR02005 has a 120V AC cord perma-nent ly wired 10 it; wrapping it up inconspicuously for mobile installation may be inconvenient, but at least vou'll never lose it. A rear-panel jack allows direct

1\ION ITORING TIMES

connection of 12-volt power for mobile applications, bu1 no mounting accessories are included.

Se ns itivity

Readers will be happy to learn that the sens i1ivity of the new PR02005 is improved, a t least in our random sample. We compared the PR02005 with two PR0200-ls, a Bearcat BC200XLT and an ICOM R7000. The '2005 trounced the '2004s in virtually every frequency range and was essentially equal to the 200 and 7000.

The published specifications show narrowband FM as 0 .5 microvolts from 25-1100 MHz, increasing t o 3 microvolts at higher frequencies. AM and wideband FM arc less impressive, increasing to 2-5 microvolts (AM) and 3- JO microvolt s (WFM).

The tradcoff for high sens1t1v11y is greater susceptibi lity to intermod interfer-ence from strong signal overload, the Achilles' heel of all competitively-p riced consu mer receiving equ ipment. A 10 dB attenuator switch on the rear panel should be engaged for dense signal e nvironments.

Selectiv ity

The 2005 has approximately the same abi lity to reject adjacent channel interfer-ence as the ICOM R7000. Since VHF / UHF channel a llocati ons are not nearly as close spaced as on shortwave, scanner select ivity is rarely a problem .

Sea rch ini.: a nd Scann ing

Scan/search speed is still 16 channels per second (8 if slow speed is se lected) . Since it was easily increased to 30 on the 2004 by replacing the microprocessor time-base crysta l and installing a diode (provided for in t hat model), we assumed it would be faster on this latest version.

To get to t he ceramic resonator on the 2005, you must remove the front panel (four screws). remove the logic board (several wires and a half-dozen sc rews) and unsolder a shield plate. I t's fa r easier 10

enter your favorite frequencies in channels 1-20 once again into channels 21 -40 so they arc rescanned twice as often, a trick which effectively doubles your scanning speed.

A two-second scan delay feature is selectable for any channel, allowing the receiver to wait for a reply after stopping on a t ransmission.

When searching between two upper and lower limi t frequencies for new signals, up to ten search-located channels may be stored for later recal l or monito ring. Search increments of 5, 12.5 or 50 kHz may be selected by the user to match frequency allocat ions on a ny band.

"Zeromatic Tu ning," a Tandy term for window detection, assures that the unit will stop dead center on a detected signal, displaying it s actua l frequency, rather than stopping early on the edge of the signal which is strong enough to break squelch, a characterist ic of many other scanners.

"Birdies," or fa lse signals produced by the scanner's own circuitry, lock up the search rout ine periodically on any scanne r. A list o f the more promin ent frequencies on which thi s occurs is printed in the instruct ion m anual. A "sound squelch" button on the PR02005 prohibits the scanner from stopping on any signal that has no sound associate d with it .

BUGGED??? Find Hidden radio transmitters (bugs) in your home, office or car. The TD-17 is designed to locate the most common type of electronic bug -the miniaturized radio transmitter - wh ich can be planted by anyone, almost anywhere.

The TD-1 7 warns of the presence of nearby RF transmitters, within the frequency range of 1 MHz to 1,000 MHz, when the RF ALERT LED turns on. The flashing RANGE LED and audio tone give an indication of the distance to the bug. The SENSITIVITY control, used in conjunction with the two LEDs helps you quickly zero in on hidden bugs.

The handheld TD-17 weighs less than 7 oz. and is housed in a high-impact plastic case. Furnished complete with battery, antenna, instruction manual and one year Limited Warranty. Save $100 to $200 and order at our factory direct price of only $98 + $2 shipping. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. Catalog $1 or FREE with order.

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400 Memory Channels ARE YOU ACTIVE IN Frequencies, modes and scan delay may

be stored in ten forty-channe l mem ory banks which may be brought up in any combination for up to 400 channels of seque ntial scanning. Any one channel may be designate d priority (the scanner automat ica lly de faults to channel 1 priority at turn-on) . Temporari ly-undes ired chan-nels may be locked out by a front-panel key.

That Annoying Beep Tone Some people like it, but we are driven

to d istraction by a promine nt "beep" emanating from the speaker every time a key is pressed. It can be disabled or reduced easily on the PR02005.

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The Bottom Line

A look ins ide the top front will reveal a 15 pin connecto r with a center gray wire . The wire may be cut midway, leaving room for t he insertion of a resistor Lo quie ten the tone , a miniature switch to choose beep/ no beep , o r resolde ring la te r if you change your mind.

T he PR02005 is a compact powerhouse.

Alterna tively, to avoid cutt ing anyth ing, the plug may be ca refu lly removed from its socket and the gray wire's connector pin (number eight) may be bent down so that whe n the socke t is reattached the to ne circuit will not connect. Ir may be stra ight-ened up later if you change your mind, but

1 don't do that too often!

MONITORING TIMES

Its 400 mem ory cha nnels, wide frequency coverage, good se nsit ivity, up-co nve rsion design and reasonab le cost make it an excellent choice fo r virtually any applica-tion, mobile or base.

The PR02005 is now available for $419.95 from Ra dio Shack out lets, o r for $389 p lus SS shipping from G rove E nter-prises (PO Box 98, Brasstown, NC 28902; MC/ VISA/ COD phone orders toll-free, 1-800-438-8155).

l une 1989 13

The Grove Hidden Antenna For improved indoor scanner reception!

Although designed to attach to the powerfu l Grove PRE-3 signal booster, the Hidden Antenna may be used alone with your scanner, replacing the plug-in whip, for improved signal reception.

This five-foot, thin-profile, flexible wire antenna can be hung in a corner, behind a drape -- just about anywhere out of sight.

Comes fully assembled with 20 feet of coax and F male connector (NOTE: We will substitute the connector of your choice for $5.00).

ANT-6 Only $9.95 Free shipping In U.S. and Canada

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Power Ant 111 Wideband Preamplifier

The Grove PR E-3 Power Ant is a powerful signal booster for scanners. Equ ipped with a high ga in (up to 25 dB) , low noise (2 dB nominal) , solid state ampl ifier stage, the PRE-3's front panel control allows custom selection of amplification.

Two output connect ions (type F) allow you to use two receivers on one antenna at the same time! Requires 12 voe, 40 ;na power source.

Recommended Accessories : ACC-20 Universal Power Adaptor; ANT-SB Omni Antenna or ANT-6 Hidden Antenna; ACC-60 receiver cable (you specify connector or receiver model, one for each receiver); ACC-90 Mobile DC cord.

Order PRE-3 Only $49.0Q $2 UPS/$3 U.S. Parcel Post $4 Canadian Air P.P.

Bearcat BC760XL T , Bearcat BC200XL T i~,~ The optimum 2 high by 7" wide and deep, ideal J 5pec1a ~ for mobile or base installations. ~ sale~ Jhand-held scanner! User-programmable search 1~ ~ ranges, five priority channels, \ individual channel lockout and delay, direct channel access,

external antenna 1ack, optional CTCSS tone-squelch decoder. Mobile mounting kit, DC cord, AC wall adaptor, plug-in whip, and operating manual included.

29-54, 11 8-17 4, 406-512, 806-952 pre-programmed search --just push a button to find active police, fire, aircraft, maritime, emergency, and weather channels!

One hundred memory channels; backlighted controls for night use.

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Covers 29-54 MHz, 116-174 MHz, 406-512 MHz and 806-960 MHz (cellu lar omitted at the factory, but instructions supplied for restoration) .

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DXing the Soviet Republics

The Russian Bear Trouble lll

"A Soviet sausage," says Insight author Henrik Bering-Jensen, "is a curious object to behold. Small and shriveled to begin with, the poor thing turns limp and grayish after a couple of days in the fridge. "

As the result of such complaints, the weekly magazine Litera111111aya Gazeta launched an investigation. What the staff found was that the sausages contained bits of cowhide and bones with plenty of salt added to cover the nasty taste. In some instances, nails, sand and glass had been added for extra nourishment.

In response to what is evidently a conspiracy among consumers, Soviet sausage makers then barred state in-spectors from entering t he processing plants.

Anxious to avo id any charges of polit-ical b ias, t he magazine responded by hiring a panel of 30 cats to taste-test the sausages "since cats are generally con-sidered neutral in the debate over restructuring the Soviet economy."

"Cats have always loved sausage ever since people invented them," stated the magazine. ''So why, for God's sake, wouldn't they eat this sausage? And why in the world should we?"

Clearly, the Soviet public has lost patience -- and gained courage.

But not all of Russia's debates are nearly so amusing. In Moscow and Leni ngrad, demonstrators demanding a multi-party democracy in the Soviet Union were met by 2,000 police backed up with dogs.

Perhaps the biggest challenge to Mikhail Gorbachcv's perestroika began in the republics. In Armenia and Azer-baijan, long-simmering religious/ ethnic tensions boiled over into massive riots, leavina scores of dead. In the Baltic, Estonian legislators stopped just short .of declaring independence from the Soviet Union. And in Georgia, hundreds clashed with police while demanding a multi-party democracy.

Whether major or minor demands, they all add up to a problem of immense importance to the USSR. Surely the

USSR cannot and will not grant full inde-pendence to such republics as Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania -- the ones which seem to have gone furthest along that road. Yet the Kremlin cannot clamp down and return things to the way they once were, either.

The bottom line, however, is that the gen ie is out of the bottle. Finding a satis-factory middle ground is one of the great questions now facing Gorbachev. All of which makes for on-going drama in our nightly news and a natural draw for the shortw:we listener.

So here is a review of the Soviet Republics from a broadcast ing viewpoint, exclusive oft he Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic itse lf and Moldavia, which has no shortwave out lets t hat we know of, though apparently it did at one time.

Some of the republics have some sort of foreign service on shortwave, usually aired over the transmitters of Radio Moscow -- and likely as not to be sited outside of the particular republic. Even so, these arc the most easily received from a program standpoint, assuming one can oct a fix on at least one current frcqu

0

cncy s ince, like those of Radio Moscow, they tend to cha nge with the changing shortwave seasons.

Other repub lics use shortwave only for national or local coverage and arc thus usua lly much ha rder to hear. Some trans-mitters arc used for Radio Moscow, Radio Mayak, and Radio Peace and Progress, but these change frequently and arc hard to keep up with. Even QSLs from R adio Moscow which give the site may not be accurate.

Speaking of QSLs, the DXcr will find it is possible to obtain these for all of the republics, allhough it is no e asy task. Most , if not all of the republics can be QSLcd directly, though it may take several attempts for some of them.

One thing we might watch for in the future is an improved reply rate from some or these tougher stat ions as repub-lics gain more breathing room. English language reports will usu ally work.

MONITORING TIMES

by Kyle Henderson

ARMENIAN SSR Armenia, long ago a part of the Ki ngdom

of Asia Minor, is the smallest of the repub-lics. Nearly 80 people died in riots last year over t he question of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave within neighboring Azerbaijan. which has a predomina ntly Armenian popu-lation that was the target of discrimination. Moscow turned down Armenia's request to annex the region.

Radio Yerevan has a foreign service aired over Radio Moscow's facilities. There is a daily half hour broadcast to North America aired at 0330-0400, with the last five minutes or so in English.

Except in highe r su nspot years, this broadcast, wh ich airs on higher band frequencies a t late evening hours, is heard poorly, if al all. I n the last yea r o r two there have been quite a number of reports on it. Check 13645, 15180, and 15455. Local home service broadcasts a rc a t 0200-2200 on 4040 and 4990 a nd 1300-2000 on 4810. 4040 is a real DX catch, but il has been heard in North America.

Yerevan is a fair QSLcr. Reports go to 5 Mravian St., Yerevan 375025, Armenian SSR.

AZERBAIJAN SSR Riots occurred here over the Nagorno-

Karabakha question, too. The Azcrbaijanis are main ly Shitite Muslims and, for centuries, were ru led by the Mongols and Persians.

There's no foreign service from Radio Baku but the home service can so metimes be heard. It' s scheduled at 0200-2200 on 4785 and 4958. There were a few logs on 4785 around 0200 th is past winter. Radio Baku's address is Ul. M . Guzcira J, Baku 370011 , Azerbaij an SSR.

BYELORUSSIA Also known as White Russia, this cent ral

European USSR republic is more et hnically in tune with the Soviet mainstream th;in most.

The foreign service of R nd io Minsk is not heard well in North America. It airs in Byelorussian at 1830-1900 on 6010, 6090,

Ju11e 1989 JS

mfmID>ll ~ll~V ~!ITTIDll ~ll~W

WOllEHHI OEPEllA~I YKPAI HCbKOIO .\\OBOIO DAILY ENGLISH LANGUAG E PROGRA,\\S

TAG LIC H E SE.NO UNGE.N IN DE UTSCHER SPRl\CHE

Pou.u . ..1. nporp.i ,_. 9tCHl - .1lrn 1987

Sprini( - Summer 1987 SchcJuJe

Senl.Jcpl.in fr Uh linsr - Somm"r 19~7

6165, and 7330; and 2 130-2200 o n 6085, 6165, 6185. On some Satu rdays these a rc in German instead. The home service airs fro m 0200-2200 on 72 LO, 9645, 9795, a nd 11995 in Ilyelorussian and Russian and in Byclo-russian at 0600-1100 on 9545 and 9725. Radio Moscow a lso makes use of the Minsk transmitter site.

QSLs from this one a rc o ften tough. Write UL Kras naya 4, Minsk 220807, Ilyclorussian SSR.

ESTONIA This republic, along with Lithu an ia and

Latvia, ha\'e never been recognized by the U.S. as being part of the Soviet Union and Washington quiet ly hopes a ll three wi ll one day achieve fu ll independence. An indepen-dent popular front political pa rt y has been declared in Est onia , and the legislature has d.cclared the repl~blic's sovereignty and its right to veto Soviet laws.

E stonia, with its access to Finnis h TV reception is one o f the more weste rn lcanino of the republ ics. The Finns and Est onian~ arc a lso ethnically and linguist ically close.

Radio T a ll in is one of the touohcr republic broadcasters to hear. Its 50 kilo~att transmit ter on 5925 is in use (in Swedis h) from 0800-0900 and 1600-1 630 weekdays a nd

16 J1111c 1989

in Swedish and Estonia n fro m 2105-2205. Home service programs in E stonian air from 0930-2100.

As you' ll sec in this month 's edition of the Inte rnational DX Report on page 24, Esto nia has just added a once-a-week English broadcast, Mondays at 2030 UTC on 5925 kHz. Occasional QSLs a re received from Eesti R adio, Lomonossovi 21, 200100 T allin 1, Eston ian SSR.

GEORGIA As thi s is written, Soviet leaders must be

s inging "Georgia on My Mind" but not about the land of peach tree s and Ted Turner. Eighteen were killed during nat io n-a list demonstra tions in Georgia last Apri l.

Radio Tbilisi's limited foreign se rvice is a imed at the middle cast and ai rs Tuesday/Thursday at 0600-0730 and Saturday/ Sunday at 1600-1730 on 5930. Home service broadcasts arc at 0200-2100 in Geo rgia n, Russian, and other local languages on 5040 which is heard on very rare occasions, though not in a long time.

Reception report s to 6L Lenin Str., T bilisi 3800 LS , Georgian SSR.

KAZAKH Second largest of the republics, Kazakh

was under Mongol rule fo r some five ce nturies. One-thi rd of the populat ion is Muslim. The region is a majo r su pplier of wool, cattle, a nd wheat. Nationalist riot s killed two a nd injured 200 back in 1986.

Radio Alma Ala has no fore ign service but the home service can sometimes be heard. It's schedu led a t 0100-2000 on 4610 5970, 9780, and 11950 and OOOO-l800 o~ 5035, 5260, 5960, and 9505. Forget the high frequencies. Best bet a re 4610, 5035, and 5260 in our ea rly morning hours.

KIRGHIZ This mounta inous central Asian republic

has been part of the Soviet Union since I 924. T he population is abou t 50 percent Muslim.

Frunze R adio has no fore ign service and th e home service is very diffi cu lt to hear. It is scheduled a t 0000-2000 on 4010 and 4050. From the standpoint of just wan ting to get this republic QSLed, it's probably easiest to chase down the Radio M oscow trans mitter site at F runze . This has recently used such frequ encie s as 155 10, I 5585, a nd 17635, though those can change any t ime.

F runze seldom verifies direct ly. Write Dom R adio, Pr. !Vlolodoy Gavardii 63, 720885 Frunze 10, Kirghiz SSR

MON ITORING T IMES

LATVIA A popular front party now exists here,

too. Latvia was Christianized by the Livonian Knights in the th irteenth cent ury and has been dominated by the Poles, Swedes, Russians, and Germans at various times since. Like its two sister republics, it enj oyed a few years of independence prior to World War II.

Radio Riga's fo reign service is on in Latvian at 0830-0925 and 2 100-2200 Sundays, 2020-2050 and 2130-2200 Wed-nesdays. In Swedish on Tuesday / Thursday from 2020-2050 and 0800-0830 Sunday and Russian 1500-1600, all on 5935. Various Soviet radio services air on this channel at other times between 0300-2000.

Radio Riga is a pretty good QSL prospect. The address is just Box 266, R iga, Latvian SSR.

LITHUANIA A nationalist party, the Sajudis, founded

last year, had its candidates get the vast majority of votes in elections last spring. In medieval times, Lithua nia was one of the largest states in Europe.

Radio Vilnius' programs arc fai rly easi ly hea rd since it has a service to North America, though over Radio Moscow's facilities. Currently, this a irs at 2200-2230 (2300-2330 in winter mo nths) on 9765, 9860, 15240, 15455, and 17665. The rarely reported home service is on 9710 at 0300-2200.

Mineral water gallery at the Jermuk spa, Armenian SSR

The Hotel Tbilisi in Sikhumi, Georgian SSR

TADZHIK The Tadzhik majority in this central

As ian republic are Sunni Muslims. T adzhik has been a part of the USSR since 1924.

Home service programs from Tadzhik Radio in Dus hambe air at 0000-2000 on 4635 and 0000-1300 on 4975. Frequent checks of 4635 in the 0000-0300 time block should turn this up eventually.

The address is Tadzhik Radio, U. C ha panevla 25, 734025 Dushambe, Tadzhik SSR.

TURKMEN Another republic with a Sunni Muslim

majority, it' s large ly desert a nd was once part of Pers ia .

Ashkhabad Radio operates a home service on 4825 from 0000-2000 a nd was heard by some U.S. and Canadian DXers th is p ast winter around 0200. P rograms are in Turkmen and Russian.

Address: Dom Radio, A shkhabad, Turkmen SSR .

UKRAINE Nationa list c leme nt s appear to b e

increa sing in stre ngth he re, still spurred in part by the Chernobyl nuclear incident, a m ong other t hi ngs. The U kraine supplies a qua rte r of the USSR's foodstuff.

The Radio Kiev foreign service via Radio Moscow facil it ies is heard quite well most of the time. Curre ntly at 0030-0100 and 0300-0330 on 7165, 7335, 7400, 9800, 13645, 15180, a nd 15455 in E nglish. H o me service broad-casts in Russian and Ukrain ia n ru n f ro m

0200-2200 on 4940 and a re hea rd only on occasion. Major R adio Moscow transmitter sites a re located at Lvov and Simfe ropol.

Radio Kiev is a very reliable verifier. Write to the stat ion at R adio Center, Kiev, Ukrainian SSR.

UZBEKISTAN Muslim demonst rations demanding

more representation in the government took place ea rlier th is year. Uzbek has been a part of the USSR since 1918. The people are largely Sun ni Muslim.

Although Radio T ashkent's fore ign service is di rected to Southeast A sia, it can be we ll heard in North America a t t imes. It is schedul ed at 1200-1230 (best) and 1330-1400 on 5945, 7275, 9540, 9600, and 11785 (latter two best) . The home service is on 4850 at 0000-1830 but is almost never heard in North America.

Radio Tashke nt is a good verifie r. Address: Khorczmskaya 490, 700047 Tashke nt, Uzbek SSR.

Note: Be sure to add "USSR" as the fina l line in each of the addresses.

Certainly the increasing demands for more a nd more national freedom, ethnic recognition, and personal rights counts as one of the major trends of t he late twentieth century. Keeping a close eye (and car) o n developments in this a rea wi ll provide important clues as t o how far Moscow is willing to carry its new, more enlightened approach to domest ic a nd foreign affairs.

[fil!]

MON ITORING TIMES

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Th e Grove Scanner Beam

The best scanner antenna money can buy!

Orde r ANT -1 B

6 -9 dB gain over other antennas. Continuous 30-512,

800-1300 M Hz reception. Transmit up to 25

watts on 144, 220 and 420 MH z bands. 50/ 75 ohms

nominal impedance. Balun transformer, offset

pipe and all mounting hardware included.

Only $52.95 $3 UPS o r $6 U .S. Parcel Posl $9 Canadian Air P. P.

Premium Low-Loss RG-6/U Cable

with Connectors Simply tell us what connectors you want installed, or what antenna and radio you will be using. We wi ll provide you with a cable which is ready to attach between your antenna and receiver!

Cable loss per 100 n: 1.6 d B @ 50 MHZ 2.5 dB @ 170 Mtiz 4.6 dB @ 450 MHZ

Order CB-50 Only $19.95 (50 feet w/ connectors) $2 Ship ping

Order CB-100 Only $29.95 (100 fee t w/connectors) $3 Shipping

Bearcat BC800XL T Wid e frequen c y cove r age: 29-54, 118 136(AM ), 136-174, 406-512, and 806-912 MHz FM with 40 memory channels.

Other Features: 15-channels-per-second scan, 1.5 watt audio amplifier, high sensitivity, sharp selectivity, instant weather reception, brilliant flourescent display, AC/ DC operation, direct channel access, individual channel delay, priority channel, keyboard entry.

Order SCN -11 Retail $499.95

Only $249 $ 5 U PS o r $10 U .S. Parcel Post $1 5 Canadian Parcel Post

Professional Wideband Discone

,/ \, . \ \

I '

O rder ANT-3

Used by government and military agencies worldwide -- 25-2000 MHz continuous coverage ! the AH7000 d iscone consis ts of 16 rugged, stainless stee l e lements and is capable of transmitting up to 200 watts in the amateu r 50, 144 , 220, 432, 900, and 1200 MH z bands.

24- inch support p ipe, two st rong mounting brackets, 50 feet of low loss 50 ohm coaxial cable with N connectors included.

Only $94 $3.50 UPS or $ 6.50 U.S. Parce l Post $ 10 Canadian Air P.P.

0 d T. d I Gro\'e Enterprises Call 1-70-1-837-9200 or for r er I 0 ay. 1-10 Dog Branch Road MC. Visa and COD orders Brasstown. NC 28902 onlv: 1-800--138-8155

SPORTS!

Tuning in "1-he Good Stuff"

11111~ I

,

by Lynn Burke

Us omething looks strange on your left side. Better figure on a p it

stop in the next couple of laps."

"Smith is a dead pull hitter. Move Johnson abou t five steps closer to the foul line in left field ."

"We need secu rity in section 203 on the loge level ... quick!"

The first time I used my sca nner to follow action at an athletic event, I came away convinced of the value of marrying scanners a nd sports.

A friend and I spent a day at a professional golf tournament not long ago with the express purpose of figuring out what could be heard.

So what did we hear? Lots. Probably the biggest benefit was the ability to know what was going on around the course, almost as it happens.

For example, this tournament was held at Kingsmi ll , near Williamsburg, Virginia, the home course of 1988 money leader Curtis Strange. As we stood in the shade around the sixteenth green, a huge roar erupted from somewhere back on the course. As everyone else looked at each other, we heard one of the scorers radio back to their base, "Strange eagled 14." Several minutes la ter, the leaderboards up-dated Strange's score.

When rain began to fall, we listened to PGA Tour officials discussing the option of stopping play. And we heard the tele-vision announcers' play-by-play that went out throughout the country, plus their off-camera comments during commercial breaks.

Fina lly, we used the scanner to find the best route to work our way through the throng of cars a nd get back on the highway.

Armed with a list of frequencies or an idea of ranges o f frequencies to scan, you can be in the know before everyone else. You'll monitor information that simply won 't appear on the 6 p.m . news