Listen! Secrets of the Airwaves

by M L Shannon and Steve Uhrig

© 2008 by M L Shannon
ISBN 1-884451-93-2

Greetings and welcome to detailed description of Listen! Secrets of the Airwaves .

This Ebook started life as the cover article 'The Ear' which appeared in Monitoring Times ^TM a few years ago, and I have worked on it ever since, along with Steve. This is not just a collection of things that can be found on the Internet.

Although a large number of frequencies are included, Listen! is not just another 'frequency guide'. It is all about scanning and short-wave listening (And amateur radio) written by two people with many years experience who are passing on some of the things they have learned. For example, the ad in National Communications asks what can you do if something is happening (you know it is or can see it going down) but the usual radio sources are encrypted. Here you can learn about alternative radio signals that may fill in the details. The idea is to learn to listen, to think quickly- not only to get the information you seek- but to know when you have found it.

Listen! can be ordered exclusively from National Communications as either a download, or the CD version, which will be shipped by the author.

Price has not yet been determined, but will be less than the printed version. Am considering $15 plus first class postage $1.50) on CD, depending on response.

If in print, (8 ½ x 11) it would be about 180 pages with some 60 photos and estimated at $30.00 plus S&H. The Ebook will have additional information and more pictures, mostly 'action' shots, rather than stock photos from equipment manufacturers.

Like my other books, Listen has a few stories to tell, which I believe makes it more enjoyable to read, rather than just another text-book.

There will also be included a number of audio captures- examples of different types of data transmissions. Am working on permission to use them. And, maybe, the sanitized real-life recording of a hysterical woman calling 911 to report someone is spying upon her!

Also, there it may be possible to set up a database of these many transmissions, where readers can post comments and suggestions, corrections, and additions- If someone might volunteer to take this on. It could be online to share with the entire scanning community.

Contents

What's Inside
Why Listen?
Disclaimer of Liability
Radios and the Law
Carrying a "Concealed" Radio
Civil Liability
Decoding Transmissions

How I Got Started

Many years of listening from the crystal set to the present, and a few stories to tell.

History and Development of Radio
The (Many) Inventors- some you likelt haven't heard of
Types of Radios
The Crystal Set
The Super-Regenerative
TRF
Superheterodyne
The Transistor
Larger and Smaller and…
The Spectrum and Frequency Allocations
Transmission Modes
Frequency Allocations
Bandwidth

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Part One: Listen! Learning to identify what you are tuned to

 A Head Start in Listening and the many factors that will help identify what you are tuned to. For example, duplex or full duplex, terminology, background sounds, and lots more.Lastly, An Exercise: Put It All Together

 

Part Two: Hear! The Many Transmissions on the Airwaves

This is a long list (about 150 entries so far) of things you might hear. In addition to the usual Police and Fire, it is a mix of agencies and types/modes of transmissions. A few examples:Aircraft- in addition to the tower and ground control and security, you might hear interesting traffic from cab and shuttle van drivers, baggage handlers, etc. Auditoriums that use wireless, SCADA, MT63, LDP, Hellschriber, blimps and balloons, cable TV leakage, end Yosemite Sam!

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Part Three: New Age Monitoring

CAS: Computer Aided Scanning
The Computer
The Interface
Software
RadioMax
Delta-Comm
ScanStar
It's a Digital World!
WinRadio
Online Scanners
The Trunked Radio System
Nearfield Monitoring
Repeaters and Input Frequencies

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Part Four: Short-wave Listening

 Modes
 Monitoring
 What is there to listen to?
 Reception
 Interference, QRM, QRN and QSB
Digital Radio Mondiale
Spy Numbers Stations
Encryption: Simple Letter Substitution
 The One-Time Pad

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Part Five: What You Might Not Hear

There are many signals that your radios might pass over, and without you even knowing they are there- unless you are fortunate enough to have a spectrum analyzer.This chapter is also about encrypted signals, most of which, unfortunately, you will never be able to unscramble. But, maybe a few you can!

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Part Six: A Virtual Radio Field Trip

A day spent wandering the streets of San Francisco with several radios and other 'Urban Survival gear': The many signals I might have heard and things I  might have seen.

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Part Seven: The Last Word- The Future of Monitoring

This country and indeed the world, is changing at a faster pace than ever before. More and more laws are being passed, in the name of or threat of terrorism. There are restrictions on where we may or may not take photographs (Have you heard of the guy who was arrested on a ferry boat for taking pictures of a plate of French fries?
Similar laws concerning radios will eventually be passed, and by having the information in this book, you will be in a better position to deal with them. Remember: much of what this publication is about is learning not just to listen, but to learn about alternative sources of information that otherwise may not be available to you.

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Part Eight: Tech Stuff

Amplification
Repeater Offset
Simplex
Superheterodyne: Dual and Triple Conversion
The Discriminator Output
Wavelength and Frequency
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
What is Intermod?
Deviation: What is it?
Two Radios in One?
What is PL?
What is 800 MHz Rebanding?
Ducting
Basic Electronics 101: Ohms Law

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Article: How Far will it transmit?

A long article about just that- the many factors that determine the distances at which a transmitter can be heard. Semi-technical, it contains a great deal of useful information.
Written by Steve Uhrig.

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Part Nine: On Buying and mastering a Radio

Scanner Modifications
Recording Transmissions
Antennas
Antenna Connections
Antenna Accessories
Article: Grounding radio installations

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Part Ten: Sources- Equipment and Information

Not everyone who reads this book has full-time Internet access. Some will have to share dial-up with the family telephone. So, I have included these listings, as well as the many URLs throughout the text, to save them searching time.

Ham Radio field Day
A Well Equipped Ham Shack, courtesy of K6JEB
Building a Copper-Cactus J-Pole for 2 meters and 440

TigerTronics radio-computer interface and decoder for packet radio
Sangean ATS 818cs All band portable short-wave receiver

07 February 08: Listen! Will be available in about one week.

Questions and comments are always welcome and I will try to answer them all. An alternative address is seeker17@softhome.net It will be updated periodically and posted here on www.fusionsites.com for all readers.

M L Shannon