Tag Archives: antique radios

Radio Waves: Splinter Cell Audio Drama, On-The-Go Antenna Mount, Antique Radio Collection, and HAARP to Asteroid Bounce

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!


Splinter Cell: Audio drama, gaming’s next frontier? (BBC)

Whether it’s World of Warcraft, Uncharted or the upcoming Super Mario movie – games characters have been all over our cinemas in recent years.

The Last of Us is coming to television screens, where shows based on Resident Evil and Halo have found audiences.

Now, BBC Radio 4 is getting in on the act.

Sam Fisher, leading man from the Splinter Cell game series, can call the radio station home, thanks to a first-of-its-kind adaptation that producers say no-one had thought possible.

Radio 1 film critic Ali Plumb says that with so much competition for audiences these days it’s no surprise that commissioners are giving the green-light to projects with a “built-in audience”.

He argues that we live in a world that is dominated by content: “From podcasts to music, TV, movies, games and audiobooks – frankly its tricky for anyone to cut through the noise.

“The art of finding intellectual property, using the built-in fan base of that property and engaging with them in something you want to say about the world is the trick that many creative people are trying to do.”

Splinter Cell: Firewall is an eight part dramatisation of a novel based on the famous video game franchise. Sam Fisher, the series’ main protagonist, is a covert special agent who excels at sneaking around military bases at night, silently killing terrorist guards and generally saving the world.

Listen to Splinter Cell: Firewall on BBC Sounds

Bringing the gaming revolution to audio drama makes perfect sense to actor Andonis Anthony, who plays Sam in the Radio 4 drama, which is also available on BBC Sounds. He argues that with more people turning to “non-music audio”, it’s a good time for BBC radio to tell stories that offer a “cinematic experience”.

“Given the rise in podcasts, and audiobooks being so popular – more and more people are getting used to listening to audio as a story experience. Everyone’s going out and about with their air pods on these days and listening in a different way to before.” [Continue reading…]

Antenna Mount Designed For On-The-Go SDR (Hackaday)

Software-defined radio is all the rage these days, and for good reason. It eliminates or drastically reduces the amount of otherwise pricey equipment needed to transmit or even just receive, and can pack many more features than most affordable radio setups otherwise would have. It also makes it possible to go mobile much more easily. [Rostislav Persion] uses a laptop for on-the-go SDR activities, and designed this 3D printed antenna mount to make his radio adventures much easier.

The antenna mount is a small 3D printed enclosure for his NESDR Smart Dongle with a wide base to attach to the back of his laptop lid with Velcro so it can easily be removed or attached. This allows him to run a single USB cable to the dongle and have it oriented properly for maximum antenna effectiveness without something cumbersome like a dedicated antenna stand. [Rostislav] even modeled the entire assembly so that he could run a stress analysis on it, and from that data ended up filling it with epoxy to ensure maximum lifespan with minimal wear on the components. [Continue reading…]

Tour of a Spectacular Antique Radio Collection….Primarily Majestic Radios from the 1930’s (YouTube)

Click here to view on YouTube.

HAARP to bounce signal off asteroid in NASA experiment (University of Alaska Fairbanks)

An experiment to bounce a radio signal off an asteroid on Dec. 27 will serve as a test for probing a larger asteroid that in 2029 will pass closer to Earth than the many geostationary satellites that orbit our planet.

The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program research site in Gakona will transmit radio signals to asteroid 2010 XC15, which could be about 500 feet across. The University of New Mexico Long Wavelength Array near Socorro, New Mexico, and the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array near Bishop, California, will receive the signal.

This will be the first use of HAARP to probe an asteroid.

“What’s new and what we are trying to do is probe asteroid interiors with long wavelength radars and radio telescopes from the ground,” said Mark Haynes, lead investigator on the project and a radar systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Longer wavelengths can penetrate the interior of an object much better than the radio wavelengths used for communication.”

Knowing more about an asteroid’s interior, especially of an asteroid large enough to cause major damage on Earth, is important for determining how to defend against it.

“If you know the distribution of mass, you can make an impactor more effective, because you’ll know where to hit the asteroid a little better,” Haynes said.

Many programs exist to quickly detect asteroids, determine their orbit and shape and image their surface, either with optical telescopes or the planetary radar of the Deep Space Network, NASA’s network of large and highly senstive radio antennas in California, Spain and Australia.

Those radar-imaging programs use signals of short wavelengths, which bounce off the surface and provide high-quality external images but don’t penetrate an object.

HAARP will transmit a continually chirping signal to asteroid 2010 XC15 at slightly above and below 9.6 megahertz (9.6 million times per second). The chirp will repeat at two-second intervals. Distance will be a challenge, Haynes said, because the asteroid will be twice as far from Earth as the moon is.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks operates HAARP under an agreement with the Air Force, which developed and owned HAARP but transferred the research instruments to UAF in August 2015.

The test on 2010 XC15 is yet another step toward the globally anticipated 2029 encounter with asteroid Apophis. It follows tests in January and October in which the moon was the target of a HAARP signal bounce.

Apophis was discovered in 2004 and will make its closest approach to Earth on April 13, 2029, when it comes within 20,000 miles. Geostationary satellites orbit Earth at about 23,000 miles. The asteroid, which NASA estimated to be about 1,100 feet across, was initially thought to pose a risk to Earth in 2068, but its orbit has since been better projected by researchers.

The test on 2010 XC15 and the 2029 Apophis encounter are of general interest to scientists who study near-Earth objects. But planetary defense is also a key research driver.

“The more time there is before a potential impact, the more options there are to try to deflect it,” Haynes said.

NASA says an automobile-sized asteroid hits Earth’s atmosphere about once a year, creating a fireball and burning up before reaching the surface.

About every 2,000 years a meteoroid the size of a football field hits Earth. Those can cause a lot of damage. And as for wiping out civilization, NASA says an object large enough to do that strikes the planet once every few million years.

NASA first successfully redirected an asteroid on Sept. 26, when its Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, or DART, collided with Dimorphos. That asteroid is an orbiting moonlet of the larger Didymos asteroid.

The DART collision altered the moonlet’s orbit time by 32 minutes.

The Dec. 27 test could reveal great potential for the use of asteroid sensing by long wavelength radio signals. Approximately 80 known near-Earth asteroids passed between the moon and Earth in 2019, most of them small and discovered near closest approach.

“If we can get the ground-based systems up and running, then that will give us a lot of chances to try to do interior sensing of these objects,” Haynes said.

The National Science Foundation is funding the work through its award to the Geophysical Institute for establishing the Subauroral Geophysical Observatory for Space Physics and Radio Science in Gakona

“HAARP is excited to partner with NASA and JPL to advance our knowledge of near-Earth objects,” said Jessica Matthews, HAARP’s program manager.


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Travel discovery: the Telefunken Superheterodyn Caprice 5451W

I’ve been traveling along the coast of South Carolina this week, and on Thursday, I found myself in the historic town of Conway, South Carolina. I parked downtown and strolled into the past via Papa’s General Store, a small local store with a lot of merchandise––and a lot of charm.

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While browsing a display of antiques, I happened to notice a vintage radio perched on a high shelf. Here’s what caught my eye:

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I asked, was the radio was for sale? And, indeed, it was. One of the sales clerks pulled it from the shelf, dusted off the top, and read the price: $74. I noted that it was a West German Telefunken receiver.  I asked the clerk, Chris,  if it worked, and he confirmed that it did; it belonged to his uncle, who had clearly taken very good care of it.

Chris allowed me to plug it in, turn it on, and tune in a couple of local stations…The Telefunken produced beautiful audio without even the slightest hint of a hum. Chris was pleased that I appreciated the radio, and sincerely wanted me to take it home, so he lowered the price a bit further.  I agreed, and purchased it without hesitation. Just couldn’t help it…

That's Chris behind the counter.

Chris behind the counter with his uncle’s classic Telefunken.

The Telefunken Superheterodyn Caprice 5451W covers the AM/mediumwave band and FM. It’s a tube radio produced in the early 1960s in West Germany, and is now the only tube-based radio I own that covers the FM band.

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Of course, I was very eager to get the Telefunken on the air, so that afternoon I headed to our balcony overlooking the Atlantic, tuned around a bit on the mediumwave band…and was simply amazed at all it could receive.  I picked up my smart phone, and with it made a very short recording of the Cuban station, Radio Reloj, on 820 kHz:

My smart phone’s microphone doesn’t begin to do the Telefunken’s rich audio justice, but you can clearly hear Radio Reloj’s ticks and “RR” in Morse Code at the top of the minute (indeed, if you’re listening with headphones, you may also hear crashing waves in the background). Something nearby generated a lot of RFI right on frequency, too , but the rest of the broadcast band had a surprisingly low noise floor.

I also spent some time with the Telefunken on the FM broadcast band; with a simple wire antenna, this worked wonders.

In my humble op, the audio the Telefunken produces is simply beautiful.  And so, I’ve got to add, is this vintage radio. See for yourself.

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The New York Times: breaking news and antique radios

NYTimes-AntiqueRadios

Many thanks to my buddy, David Goren, who recently discovered that the New York Times Store is now selling fully-restored antique radios.

Pricing is not for the faint of heart–at time of posting, prices ranged from $395 to $23,000 US.  Each radio is beautifully presented, with a full description, and carries a one year restoration warranty. For an additional $95, many models can be modified with an AUX in audio jack.

While these radios are well outside my meager vintage radio budget, I must say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed looking at the photos and reading the descriptions.

Click here to view on the NY Times Store.

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SWLing with heavy metal: my Signal Corps BC-348-Q

SignalCorps-BC-348-Q

I write a great deal about DSP portables, SDRs, and modern ham radio transceivers, but truth be known, my passion is for older rigs–ahem, much older–the antique “boat anchors” of the radio world.

Tuesday afternoon, I had a rather involved soldering project to do on behalf of my organization, Ears To Our World.  While I worked, I decided to fire up my Signal Corps BC-348-Q to hear what was on the air. I promptly discovered Radio Exterior de España on 17,850 kHz–starting with their interval signal; REE, care of my BC-348-Q, kept me company while I soldered almost three hundred connections.

The BC-348-Q frequency dial

The BC-348-Q frequency dial (Click to enlarge)

I listen to my BC-348-Q nearly every week. Usually, she’s tuned to 9,580 kHz for my morning dose of Radio Australia.  In the winter, the ‘348’s tubes keep my little radio room a little warmer than the rest of my house. In the summer–well, I just sweat a little more.

I love this radio, and my other “boat anchors,” because when I listen to these rigs I can’t help but hear the past.  I wonder about the others who have listened to the same radio, and what was happening in their lives as they listened…

The BC-348 series, for example, is well-known for its use in WWII allied bombers–these rigs were mounted in the likes of the B-17, B-24, B25, and others of the era. Indeed, mine still has the original clips on the base that anchored it to the radio operator’s onboard work table. The ‘348 was used as a long-distance liaison receiver during WWII. 

The B-17 radio operator's position (Source: AZ Commemorative Air Force)

The B-17 radio operator’s position (Source: AZ Commemorative Air Force Base)

The BC-348 series was built with simplicity, functionality, and serviceability in mind. It was built to withstand life on a B-17 bomber–the extreme vibration on start up, the extremely low temps in the upper atmosphere; it could be serviced by the radio operator in flight, if necessary. Its controls are simple, bare-bones, even. The tuning knob and analog dial are beautifully engineered and precise.

The ‘348 has a power switch, volume control (switchable from auto to manual gain), crystal filter, CW switch, beat frequency control, tuning knob, and a band switch (located just below the dial). The antenna and ground terminals are mounted on the front of the radio for easy accessibility. All controls are spaced so that the radio operator could use the ‘348 even while wearing thick cold-weather gloves.

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You can’t do any medium wave DXing on the ‘348, however: this receiver was intentionally designed with the medium wave band omitted. Evidently, Uncle Sam wanted radio ops to be focused on communications instead of entertainment (but that’s okay; the government also made morale radios for the latter).

When I go to the Dayton Hamvention–or any hamfest, for that matter–it’s radios like the BC-348-Q I seek. Tube/valve radios sometimes lack the sensitivity and (digital) accuracy of modern tabletop shortwave receivers, but they make up for this in audio fidelity. As long as you have a properly-matched speaker, the sound can be…nothing short of amazing. Even though the ‘348 was never designed for robust audio, it still sounds richer and fuller than most modern tabletop radios. The sound is so warm it literally glows. Moreover, I’d be willing to wager that there are few modern receivers that can stand the test of time like these rigs.

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If you buy one of these old beauties, you must be ready to service them; inevitably, a capacitor or tube will fail in time.  But they just…keep…going.

I’m very much in debt to my good friend and radio elmer, Charlie (W4MEC) who kindly teaches me everything I need to know about these great rigs. He’s exceedingly patient, and that counts for much, as I’m not by nature technically inclined. But I do enjoy learning about these radios and how to service them; the romance of their history draws me in, and I simply can’t get enough.

Note: It’s important to work with a knowledgeable elmer/mentor or a professional repair technician when servicing these boat anchors, because, unlike with our modern radios, their high voltages can severely injure (or even kill) you if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing inside the chassis.  This is repair work for the professional.

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My BC-348-Q turns 71 this year–and I’m sure it has at least that many more years to go. I know that I’ll give it as much TLC as it can take. We must keep these still functioning pieces of history on the air.

If you, too, have boat anchors or antique radios alongside your modern rigs, please comment! I’d love to learn about your favorites. In other words, what heavy metal is in your shack?

Resources:

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WAMU Metro Connection visits the Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club

MAARC-ClubMany thanks to SWLing Post reader, Paul, who points out this episode of WAMU’s Metro Connection where reporter Rebecca Sheir visits the Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club (MAARC).

You can listen the report on Metro Connection, or simply click here to download the whole podcast (MAARC is the first piece).

Click here to check out the MAARC website.

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Gizmodo: “shortwave radio deserves a place of prominence in the home of any audiophile”

(Source: Gizmodo)

Classic turntables may get all the glamour, but the shortwave radio deserves a place of prominence in the home of any audiophile. For a stylish way to surf the airwaves, try this stunning late 1950s Trans-World T-9, produced by Philco (that’s the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company, for those who don’t like to abbreviate).

[…]Its four-foot antenna can pick up tunes, blast right-wing talk radio, or catch up on the endless, mysterious recitation of Russian numbers.[…]

Though this article points to eBay auctions–which, in truth, tends to favor the seller, price-wise–they make a point: classic radios deliver audio fidelity that, in my opinion, surpasses all modern portables.

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“Boatanchors” and antique wireless at the Dayon Hamvention

I’ve always found the Dayton Hamvention flea market to be a great place to find antique radios, but this year, the selection (along with the weather) seems to be exceptional.

I’ve attached a few photos I took yesterday morning as a gallery below. Simply click on a thumbnail to enlarge.  Enjoy

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