Airpsy YouLoop passive antenna review on VLF & LF with an HF+ Discovery and SDR# during storms!

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In response to a user comment about the Airspy YouLoop performance on LF & VLF, I performed a real world test on a stormy night in Europe. Plenty of submarine communications were taking place!
Previous Airspy YouLoop review can be found at • $35 Airspy YouLoop Pas...
Please note that the YouLoop requires an HDR receiver such as the Airspy HF+ Discovery Software Defined Radio used in this video.
Stations were ID'd using several websites, including
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_lo...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/Catego...
www.smeter.net/stations/vlf-s...
and a cached page from MWList (webcache.googleusercontent.co...)
I'm not overly familiar with what VLF and low LF signals should be receivable in Europe, so I'll leave it for you to comment on whether you think I was getting good performance from the YouLoop or not.
I look forward to your comments :-)
Thanks for watching the Frugal Radio (FR) channel!

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26 июн 2020

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Комментарии : 99

@AsciiWolf 3 года назад

The signals around 128.5 and 138.5 kHz are DCF39 and DCF49, power-line and power-plant remote control telemetry signals broadcasting from Berlin, Germany.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Very fascinating to learn of these. Thanks for filling us in @Ascii Wolf

@LARLEY_ Год назад

What? No, they are broadcasting from Mainflingen, Germany

@SDR-DXobserver 3 года назад

Nice video. To the stations you requested info on, 129.1 kHz is DCP49, rundsteuerung Mainflingen, Germany in F1B ascii-8 200 Bd mode, 139.0 kHz is DCF39, runsteuerung Burg, Germany in the same mode. 61.8 kHz is GIZ20, marine Inskip, UK in F1B ITA-2 _ 100Bd mode. The Youloop seems to work fine. I have a Moebius loop (active) wich is a bit of family to the youloop. Also the Airspy Discovery is a very fine SDR that also runs in my SDRconsole network.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Thanks for the extra info! I've been surprised by the performance of the passive YouLoop. I hadn't expected a lot from it in the VLF range.

@RobertoPietrafesa 3 года назад

Thank you, gentleman, for your contribution to spreading the culture of radio listening. 73 de IZ7VHF, Roberto, southern Italy.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Radio is so interesting, I hope more people become interested in the hobby! Have a great day Roberto. 73.

@Radionut 3 года назад

Hey that was extremely informative and entertaining over here in the colonies. I need to check for the back and find this antenna you were using for my station here. Thank you very much new subscriber here and stay safe n

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Glad you enjoyed the video! There is just so much available to listen to out there. Thanks for subscribing 😃

@MikeNHOC 3 года назад

Very cool.. thank you for sharing!

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

You're welcome, and thanks for joining in!

@lambdaprog 3 года назад

Thank you for this review!

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Thank you for making a good antenna at such a reasonable price :-)

@AdamEbelgccengineering 3 года назад

All I would get here where I live is just NAA on 24 kHz and that other station on 25.2 kHz, but no other signals unless it's outside the apartment window. I am happy that you're receiving VLF with a $35 passive loop antenna. You must be located in another continent picking up these signals straight from Europe. I live on the East Coast of Virginia.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Thanks for your connect comment. I am in Europe right now since my flights back to North America have been cancelled a few times since lockdown happened! The antenna is inside my windowless loft. I may try some outdoor experiments with the YouLoop.

@32_bits 3 года назад

I have just found your channel and suscribed, excellent content. Will you be making SDR reviews along with loops + other antenna's? Like you I plan to remote a loop so any details how to do this would be usefull, could a RPI be used for this to drop the SDR data on to a network?

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Hi 32bits, and welcome to the channel! Yes, there will be more SDR reviews and I'll demonstrate different antennas from time to time. Raspberry Pi can be used to remote locate a loop, absolutely! Then feed the data through your network to a computer. There are actually multiple ways to do it. I have been using Spyserver, which runs on various Operating Systems (Inc Pi) as it is more efficient than rtl_tcp.

@MCruzDXer 3 года назад

Very interesting!!! Great response of Youloop..Thanks you, Sir for this testing. 73 XE1007SWL, Mr. Magdiel Cruz in Mexico.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

You're most welcome my friend. It is amazing that such a small antenna can receive wavelengths that are so long.

@stridermt2k 3 года назад

Your video made me start scanning the LW bands in my area I think I'm hearing some beacons.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Hi Michael, great discovery! Yes there are lots of aviation beacons that lie between LW & MW bands. They broadcast an identifier in Morse code. Using that you can look up a list to find out which beacons you are receiving. You will notice a dramatic difference between night & day! The aviation beacons are called NDBs (Non Directional Beacons).

@charleslauter5035 3 года назад

Interesting signals. Thanks. CAL

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Yes, there are loads of interesting signals out there!

@ingussilins6330 3 года назад

Interesting "travel" to VLF-LF bands :) If you replace antenna with electret mic, you can hear interesting SSB communications from bat,s and bird,s.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

I don't know if this is a serious comment or not!

@ingussilins6330 3 года назад

@@FrugalRadio I use homebrew heterodyne bat detector to hear bats and birds - sounds is interesting. I try PC software radio software on pc and bird call recordings - with ssb mode I can downconvert 13kHz band to under 1kHz and get interesting and funny bird sounds, sometimes sound,s like star war laser war,s...

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

So you were serious then. Fair enough. I've never experimented with anything like that. Sounds like you could make some good sounds effects.

@ingussilins6330 2 года назад

@@dennis8019You can use any VLF -LF receiver with CW, SSB demodulator, or use homebrew DC receiver... How to connect electrec microphone, can find in internet. In my channel can see homebrew heterodyne bat detector circuit ( DC receiver ).

@humaxf1 3 года назад

Interesting review and interesting look at VLF. Is there software available to decode the data?

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

The data traveling to subs is highly encrypted, so you wouldn't be able to read the messages.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

This isn't something I have tried. I'm sure there are others who have. It would have to be a slow mode, that's for sure! If you find out more, let us know!

@Walsh2571 3 года назад

@@pedrocompt the Wikipedia page shows somebody had displayed the signal, I'd be interested to check it out too - although as you've said they use OTPs so it is impossible to decrypt.

@564Fire 3 года назад

Hi, what app/webpage did you use to show the thunderstorms? That was awesome!

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

I don't remember I'm afraid!

@imarcus1973 3 года назад

www.blitzortung.org/en/live_lightning_maps.php You can see the url if you pause the video ;) EDIT: It's very interesting to watch, almost as if storms 1000's of Km apart all strike at the same time.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Thanks Marcus!!!

@jimsteele9261 3 года назад

I'm curious about that signal 3 to the right from the last one in the video. The waterfall looks like a braided rope.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

At what time code on the video Jim?

@jimsteele9261 3 года назад

@@FrugalRadio At 7:21looks like it might be at 85kHz.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

@@jimsteele9261 I had assumed it was a local noise source (power supply, computer, TV etc), but didn't actually investigate it so can't be sure.

@moonjockclark9491 3 года назад

What website do you use to track the location. Of the signal

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Globaltuners.com is good for identifying the origination of signals.

@spuriustadius5034 3 года назад

3:00, The submarine signals are interesting. Are these signals only received by subs, or do the subs also transmit? Also, there doesn't seem to be much data modulation in the audio. What kinds of stuff could they possibly be transmitting? What kind of bitrates?

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

The bitrate would be very low at these frequencies and with such limited bandwidth. The transmissions are probably one way - Command to Sub. I expect the Sub would have to surface to transmit an acknowledgement. There would be no audio traffic broadcast on these frequencies. Most likely general broadcast messages to subs that they have to monitor every x hours, but that is purely a guess.

@omnishambles5110 Год назад

@@FrugalRadio The very very low frequencies ones are meant to be received even slightly underwater. They are low bite rate as you said, and mostly just to page the submarine to come up to communications depth and use something else.

@FrugalRadio Год назад

That sounds very plausible. Thanks for your comment!

@charlesveres7417 9 месяцев назад

The present NATO LF signals usually carry 4 teletype circuits of 50 baud each.

@zelloToiletTalks 11 месяцев назад

Good job KO4MAX Florida

@FrugalRadio 11 месяцев назад

Thank you

@BillyNoMates1974 Год назад

Good video but I am confused. The Airspy Hf Discovery covers from 0.5Mhz upwards. even their own web site shows this. Yet your video shows low frequency coverage. Is it a case that HF Discovery does actually cover a lot lower frequency but it is outside its caimed range ?

@FrugalRadio Год назад

I made the same mistake when first viewing the specs. The HF+ Discovery works from 0.5 kHz up, not 0.5 MHz. It's easy to overlook that! Spec sheet : HF coverage between 0.5 kHz .. 31 MHz

@BillyNoMates1974 Год назад

@@FrugalRadio ah yes. that makes a lot of sense. Sorry for the dumb oversight

@FrugalRadio Год назад

Easily done!

@marcosmza1962 Месяц назад

🙋‍♂️ suscribed

@FrugalRadio Месяц назад

Welcome!

@soares82894 3 года назад

thank you for sharing ! I'm from Brazil

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Good to have you on the channel. Thanks for joining in!

@HE9JSD 3 года назад

Hi, 129.100 (and 139KHz) is EFR Teleswitch (Germany)

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Yes, someone else mentioned that in the comments. Very interesting!

@AmazingVidsWorldwide 3 года назад

I’m curious as to how you found out what these signals are?

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Most are well-known and publicised frequencies. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_VLF-transmitters is one example, but there are many online sources to work out what certain frequencies are. Often, typing an VLF, LF, MF, or HF frequency in a search engine like Duckduckgo is a great place to start.

@AmazingVidsWorldwide 3 года назад

@@FrugalRadio thanks for the info!!

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

No problem!

@Cabinet83 3 года назад

Hello, you can also go to the WebSDR from the University of Twente. There are Markers on the Bottom of the Spectrum with the Names of the Signals.

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Yes, the integration with the web lookup on that WebSDR is great. You can also use the database sites directly in another tab / window.

@jeff420sparky8 2 года назад

hi is there an app for android that allows you to tune others sdr if you dont have actual sdr?im new to sdr but not to swl. also the horizontal lines on waterfall hf.. ive seen mostly blue but seen a red yellow horizontal one. i use a remote sdr in ottawa canada but i live in hamilton. also the more red the line on waterfall stronger signal right?

@FrugalRadio 2 года назад

Hi. I'm not aware of an SDR app right now. However the browser app on my phone runs the websdr sites just fine. That won't work for SDR# remote units though. And yes, dark blue is weaker on the waterfall. You want the noise floor to be that colour. Brighter (often yellow) means higher noise floor and stronger signals shows in brighter colours.

@Exceedvictory 2 года назад

Someone is spying on me using these frequencies at my next door neighbor to hear my throat at very low frequency, it would seem to be mind reading and very well maybe something like it. How can I combat such a thing? Please and thank you

@FrugalRadio 2 года назад

Wear a tin foil hat. That will stop any leakage of electrical signals from your brain. And stop talking. Just carry a note pad with you to write down what you would otherwise say to people. SDRs and antennas cannot intercept such messages.

@rtcy2008 3 года назад

WOW that antenna is amazing. so small too. wonder what my OCF 132 foot long will do ?

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Only 1 way to find out!

@plumbus8363 3 года назад

what is the point to listen to those VLF signals?

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

It's just an interest thing. Different people enjoy monitoring different parts of the radio spectrum. We are entertained and amused by capturing such long wavelength signals on a short loop of wire. It's also fun knowing that certain signals are actually carrying live military communications, even if we can't understand them.

@fjs1111 2 года назад

I didn't know LORAN still operated. In the US they shut down the LORAN systems back in the late 90s I believe.

@FrugalRadio 2 года назад

Yeah, it's funny what's still transmitting!

@fjs1111 2 года назад

@@FrugalRadio Sure is.

@user-wg3fe3ij2o 8 месяцев назад

Dude what is your ethnicity, you have a unique look

@FrugalRadio 8 месяцев назад

Lol! Indian / Irish.

@backcra 2 года назад

how can i connect this loop antenna to a tecsun pl880?

@FrugalRadio 2 года назад

What type of external antenna input does your Tecsun have?

@backcra 2 года назад

@@FrugalRadio it has the regular whip antenna and the internal connector for the outside antenna.i sincerely appreciate your response and help.thanks alot.

@FrugalRadio 2 года назад

Looks like you would need a 1/8 inch to SMA adapter of some kind. None of the gear I own has an external connector like that, but I would look on eBay or Amazon and see if anything pops up.

@backcra 2 года назад

@@FrugalRadio thanks alot..

@generalawareness101 3 года назад

YEOW, please normalize your audio as this was -23.5dB from RU-vid's -14LFTS

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Sorry about that! Have been running normalisation, but still getting used to making these clips 😮

@generalawareness101 3 года назад

@@FrugalRadio Tell me about it as I spent two weeks at 8+ hours per day to figure it out. I finally figured it out.

@FabioSpelta 3 года назад

Mate the airspy ain't that frugal 😔

@FrugalRadio 3 года назад

Ha ha...compared to a $25 RTL-SDR, that's certainly true! However it is in the same league with the ELAD and Perseus units that cost over 3 times more :-O