http://kiwisdr.com/

Remote HF receivers are now available free of charge to anyone with an Internet connection. There are hundreds of these receivers around the world raising interesting possibilities for amateur radio operators and short wave listeners.

 Kiwi Radio is one such network. I’ve explored a few of its features over the past month and found them impressive. I can check out the HF bands using a phone or tablet, without going to the shack and turning on a radio. I can follow a net and hear stations that I would normally have missed; for example, with the BC Public Service Net, I can switch to a remote receive in Alberta and clearly hear most BC Stations when the band has gone long during the winter evenings. Another great example is the Trans Canada Pow Wow Club; from my QTH I can usually hear one of the controllers in Saskatchewan and a few Ontario or Alberta Stations but that’s it. A remote receive in Alberta allowed me to hear Maritime Stations for the first time and controllers in Ontario - that enhances the whole net experience.

 My station typically has an S9+ noise level in the evening because of a neighbour’s plasma TV so a remote receive really helps. However, there is one significant problem; there is a delay of 1 to 2 seconds due to signal processing and Internet connections.  This can be problematic in a QSO unless the other operator is aware you are operating with remote receive. Remote HF stations (TX and RX) also have this issue.

 Selecting a receive station in a different part of the world provides a fascinating insight into amateur activity elsewhere. To hear yourself via another continent a few seconds after you transmitted is also a little sublime!

 

Try It for Free

 The Kiwi Radio system allows four simultaneous users with full control. The user sees a selectable chunk of the HF spectrum with signals on a waterfall. Selecting a signal is done by a mouse click or direct numerical entry. Signal modes and bandwidths are selectable. The best way to find out more is to go to kiwisdr.com and get started. There is no sign up or log in. Stations can be selected from a table or from a global map.

  

Remote Receive in Vernon?

 Many of these remote receive stations are provided by amateurs. To be really useful they need to be in a rural location with low noise and matched to a good antenna with broadband characteristics. Having a receiver in Vernon would allow those of us operating in high noise environments to have a better chance of working HF. If we can hear a CQ locally then there is a good chance there is a viable propagation path from our home-based transmitter.

 On a recent visit to the EGO site we briefly checked out the HF bands for RFI and found it was fairly quiet. There is an Internet connection to the EGO shack and we would need a broadband receive antenna connected to an SDR receiver. The Kiwi SDR is currently 300USD and realistically we would probably need a few hundred more dollars to make it fully operational.

 If there is enough interest we could pursue this further. Please email me at (David Skelhon) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.