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Author Topic: KMYF: Comments about new feed  (Read 15245 times)

Offline balee123

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KMYF: Comments about new feed
« on: January 21, 2010, 18:25:30 UTC »
Special notes about feed: 

The following paragraph will make more sense after reading the entire post and description of setup.

There is static on the feed that varies during different times of the day.  This is due to some kind of FM interference that fluctuates ( no interference at night, but starting around 9 am in the morning until the evening, the noise gets progressively worse........)  Haven't been able to figure this out yet.  Any suggestions?   It is not due to our recent rains in Southern California, as I was having this problem before the rains.

NOTE:  The feed IS extremely clear (in evenings) ......when the daily fluctuations in interference/noise dissipate and are at their lowest.

******************************************************
 
- I will try to keep the feed up and running for as many hours/day as I can.  Currently I have an issue with a direct hookup from the scanner to my laptop (see below).  I am waiting on an old family computer that I may be able to dedicate to the feed (may be Oct 2010 though), but for now I have a workable, but strange/convoluted set up:
 
- My antenna is located 50-60 ft from the house and computer, on top of a shed.  I cannot run antenna cable to the house for "wifey"/aesthetic reasons ;-).  In fact the scanner has been banned to the shed, and I don't want to use my computer out there.      So...........
 
- I put the scanner in the shed and feed output to a FM transmitter (for MP3 players).  The transmitter puts out a good signal up to 70 ft away.
 
- I run the feed out of the phone jack on my stereo receiver (tuned to the FM transmitter's frequency) and into the mic input on my laptop.
 
- The signal is pretty good.  However, my biggest inconvenience is the FM transmitter is not digital and there is a slow drift off the transmitting frequency.  This drift seems to be due to daily temperature changes which must be affecting the tuning mechanism.  I am keeping my eye out for a cheap digitally tuned FM transmitter to avoid the frequency drift, but for now I have to go outside and manual re-tune the transmitter every so often to keep a consistently good signal.  NOTE:  After re-tuning the FM transmitter,  the previously mentioned FM interference/noise is still there during the day time hours.

Any suggestions?



Offline bleyton

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2010, 18:59:59 UTC »
If you could dedicate a pc to the feed, then I would go with a WiFi connection and put everything out in the shed (assuming that the shed would provide adequate shelter to the equipment).  70' should be a piece of cake for wifi.

Brian
Your KBUR Feeder

Offline balee123

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2010, 19:05:09 UTC »
Thanks for your suggestion.  That's the eventual plan.  The interference/noise is an interesting situation/problem for me.  Just wondering what is causing it, since it seems to go away in the evening.

Offline Duffy

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2010, 20:21:49 UTC »
I'm a pilot,flying out of MYF.  I appreciate your efforts, and have been listening to the feed each day.  It's much better now.  I get interference on my radios, when I'm near Mt. Soledad, over SDSU, and near Cowles Mtn.  There's so much RF interference, that it breaks the squelch on my radios.  So you might be fight that too.  What area of town are you in?

Offline balee123

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2010, 15:56:17 UTC »
Hi,  I am located in Serra Mesa, north of Qualcomm Stadium.  Glad to hear the signal is much better now and someone is using it! 

I have been able to clear up the signal by doing two things:  1)  I got a DIGITAL mp3 FM transmitter, so now I don't have to go out constantly to retune the thing; and 2)  I changed the frequency that the FM transmitter broadcasts on.  I orignally chose a frequency that had the largest amount of empty bandwidth surrounding the frequency, thinking this would give me a better signal.  I'm guessing people or businesses in the surrounding area must use this frequency as well; and as the day goes on, this increased usage increases the interference I was experiencing.  Considering how clear the signal seems to be now, I may not need to dedicate a PC to the feed  :-).  I only have to leave my Audio/Visual Receiver on, tuned, and fed into the laptop.  I may have to go to another frequency if others start to use the one I'm currently on.

I'm curious do you listen for fun, or is there a practical application for pilots to "tune in" to these feeds.  I am not a pilot, but have always wanted to fly.  I just enjoy listening.

Are you a recreational pilot or commercial?

Offline knotts06

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2010, 17:22:31 UTC »
Enjoying the new Montgomery Feed! Listening to the Approach/Departure portion now :-D
Now all we need is a SAN feed again! :-(
Thanks!

Offline jonnevin

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2010, 23:33:01 UTC »
agreed.sounds great. i second the wish list for SAN

Offline dave

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2010, 20:43:13 UTC »
KSAN is in the works...hopefully only days away.

Dave

Offline uplink

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #8 on: February 15, 2010, 10:54:37 UTC »
Thanks for the feed, I'm a private pilot, and a ham.  That's a great airport to fly into and have Mexican food at the field.   Try one of these Radio Shack 900 mhz intercoms, (cat#43-3102) this model has an RCA line input jack (originally designed for a weather radio input) and great audio and RF range.  Excellent for extending the range of a base scanner around the house over 100 feet.  You can't buy them in the stores anymore, but they are still around Ebay quite regularly.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Radio-Shack-900MHz-Wireless-Intercom-two-stations_W0QQitemZ280462392818QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414cdc7df2
« Last Edit: February 15, 2010, 10:58:27 UTC by uplink »

Offline Dan CZQM

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2010, 15:42:12 UTC »
Hi,

If you get FM interference on the scanner when not plugged in to the transmitter, I suggest putting an inline FM filter between the antenna and the scanner.

I had an annoying intermittent problem with my feed and it went away when I installed the FM filter.  Just a suggestion.

Dan
CZQM/CYQM Feeder

Offline knotts06

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2010, 23:57:14 UTC »
Anything new on SAN?
Thanks everyone for all the new feeds lately 8-)

Offline dave

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #11 on: March 19, 2010, 01:32:40 UTC »
Anything new on SAN?
Thanks everyone for all the new feeds lately 8-)

No new news...but there is work in progress.  The nature of the work makes it difficult to give dates.

Offline knotts06

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #12 on: March 19, 2010, 06:02:01 UTC »
Thanks for the responce! Looking forward to the feed when everything is set up :-)

Offline aspekt

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Re: KMYF: Comments about new feed
« Reply #13 on: March 23, 2010, 23:47:52 UTC »
Thank you for providing the KMYF feed.  It's usually pretty clear when I listen to it.  I'm a couple miles northwest of KSDM, but unable to provide a feed right now.  Hopefully in the future I will be able to do something, and give back to the Liveatc community.  Can't wait for KSAN to come online. :-D