Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark (AE2EA), who writes:
One of our AWA Members recently made this video on the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service (FBMS) and the Radio Intelligence Division (RID) during World War 2. I think it might be of interest to your SWLing enthusiasts:
Click here to watch on YouTube.
Brilliant presentation! Thank you for sharing this, Mark!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who writes:
Dear Thomas and Friends of the SWLing Post,
I’m Giuseppe Morlè from central Italy, Formia on the Tyrrhenian Sea…
My Cassette Loop experiment this time shows how induction takes place on short waves after medium waves.
I used a smaller box as the primary antenna which, however, is pushed by the secondary one due to the induction effect generated between the two windings brought closer together.
This way, the larger loop “captures” more of the signal and sends it to the smaller cassette…
I really like working on induction… I hope you like it:
Click here to view on YouTube.
Thanks and greetings from central Italy.
73. Giuseppe Morlè iz0gzw.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Giuseppe!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who shares the following:
Dear Thomas and Friends of SWLing Post,
This is Giuseppe Morlè from Formia, central Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
I want to share with you this test with 4 old receivers with 3 different antennas:
I tuned the 7,390 kHz frequency of Radio New Zealand at 14:10 UTC on November 16 on the 4 receivers. I used the narrow and wide filter on each receiver.
I state that a storm was in progress in the area, the afternoon signal was very discontinuous with a difference on the 3 different antennas.
Surprising the result of the internal cross loops which I use a lot when there are thunderstorms in the area to listen to anyway; their behavior is definitely very good despite being inside my shack.
The Mini Whip is excellent on long and medium waves but gets worse above 7 MHz. In fact I only use this antenna for medium and long waves.
A good signal also from the external naval vertical of 8 meters with a “soft” listening on the Yaesu FRG-8800.
Judge dear friends your comments are welcome!
I wanted to compare these 4 “glories” that have accompanied most of my life and that I still consider excellent.
Attached the link tot he video on my Youtube channel:
Click here to view on YouTube.
I wish everyone a good listening …
73. Giuseppe Morlè iz0gzw.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Giuseppe! We love your videos and demonstrations especially since they so often involve antennas that you have home brewed. Your cross loop antenna is truly amazing!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following video:
Click here to view on YouTube.
Dan, I’m not sure how you find these things, but wow! I know you had a lot of fun unboxing this NIB WJ 8711A! How amazing it is to turn on a radio like this that’s been in the original box for two decades! I hope you have a lot of fun with it on the air. Thank you for sharing!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Nick Booras, who writes:
Hi Thomas
I just picked up a new to me radio that [is] very rare in the US.
I loved it so much I did a comparison to an 8711 and a FTDX101MP. The Skanti presented very well.
Click here to view on YouTube.
Excellent Nick! Thank you so much for sharing this and for demonstrating some weak signal work. You were certainly pitting the Skanti against some benchmark performers!
Earhart and Noonan by the Lockheed L10 Electra at Darwin, Australia on June 28, 1937 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark (AE2EA), who shares the following video presentation by the Antique Wireless Association:
Today, when GPS provides astounding levels of absolute position accuracy, it can be hard to appreciate the navigational challenges that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan experienced on their around the world flight in 1937. Radio played an important part in in their success, and possibly in their failure. AWA member Brian Harrison, KN4R, takes a deep dive into the role of radio in Earhart’s last flight, it’s possible role in her disappearance and how a group of dedicated researchers are recreating Earhart’s and Noonan’s original transmissions using the same type equipment to help solve the mystery of their disappearance, and possibly locate their Lockheed Electra 10E.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor extraordinaire, 13dka, who brings us a three part series about the new SULA homebrew antenna project. This first article describes this affordable antenna and demonstrates its unique reception properties. The second article will focus on construction notes. The third and final article will essentially be a Q&A about the SULA antenna. All articles will eventually link to each other once published.
This wideband unidirectional antenna is an outstanding and innovative development for the portable DXer. I love the fact that it came to fruition via a collaboration between Grayhat and 13dka: two amazing gents and radio ambassadors on our SWLing.net discussion board and here on the SWLing Post. So many thanks to both of them!
Please enjoy and share SULA Part 1:
by 13dka
In early June, Andrew (grayhat), SWLing Post‘s resident antenna wizard suggested a variation of the “cardioid loop” on the SWLing Post message board: The original “cardioid loop” is a small loop receiving antenna deriving its name from a cardioid shaped (unidirectional) radiation footprint. The design is strikingly simple but it has a few downsides: It relies on a custom preamp, it needs a ground rod to work and it is unidirectional only up to 8 MHz.
Andrew’s version had the components all shuffled around and it did not only lose the ground rod, it also promised a nice cardioid pattern over the entire shortwave, from a small, diamond shaped loop. Wait…what? It can be made using parts available on Amazon and your DIY store:
You need some 3m wire and PVC tubes to create a support structure to hold the wire, a 530 Ohm resistor and a 9:1 balun like the popular “NooElec One Nine”. Since it’s a “lossy” design, adding a generic LNA like the NooElec “LANA HF” would help getting most out of it. When you put that all together you have what sounds like an old shortwave listener’s dream: a small, portable, tangible, and completely practical allband shortwave reception beam antenna with some more convenient properties on top, for example, it is a bit afraid of heights.
That sounded both interesting and plain crazy, but the .nec files Andrew posted were clearly saying that this antenna is a thing now. Unfortunately Andrew suffered a little injury that kept him from making one of those right away, I on the other hand had almost all the needed parts in a drawer so I ended up making a prototype and putting it through some of its paces, with Andrew changing the design and me changing the actual antenna accordingly, then mounting it upside down. Let me show you around:
A functional small beam antenna for shortwave reception that’s just as small and possibly even more lightweight (prototype:~250g/9oz) than your regular SML, that can be easily made out of easy to obtain parts and easily carried around for mobile/portable DXing and due to its cardioid shaped directional pattern also for direction finding, a “tactical” antenna that’s also doing DX? Unlike conventional, Yagi-Uda or wire beams it can achieve a low takeoff angle at only 3m/10ft height or less, the front/back ratio is typically better than that of a 3-element Yagi, with a particularly useful horizontal pattern shape. That it’s rather indifferent to soil quality could mean that more people get to reproduce the good results and being a real wideband antenna is making the SULA an interesting companion for multiband radios and SDRs. Really? A miracle antenna? Is it that time of year again? If I had a dollar for every….