Radio Flynn comments:
Anon-co just posted a pre-sale for the [Tecsun] PL-880 on Ebay: $158.74
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They estimate shipping dates from Nov 30 – Dec. 10 [2013]. Just in time for Christmas!
Thanks for the update, Radio Flynn!
On a side note, I should have a review of the PL-880 posted in enough time to help you make a purchase decision before Christmas. I will do some comparison with the Tecsun PL-660.
The Commando R-777 Self-Powered Digital World Band Radio
Mike Kitchen, a volunteer at Ears To Our World, purchases and tests radios for us. Mike does an excellent job evaluating radios and simply keeping tabs on newly introduced self-powered products.
Mike has kindly allowed me to share the assesment he sent of the Commando R-777; a radio that, performance-wise, leaves something to be desired.
Mike writes:
This thing is pretty awful, in an ugly/cute way. FM mode works quite nicely. In AM mode, LCD screen shows as much as 8 KHz off of actual frequency. SW1 and SW2 modes failed to detect anything on the shortwave bands. The WWV time signal on 10MHz, 15MHz and 20MHz was no joy.
Steady charging with crank handle for 2 minutes provided 20 minutes of low volume listening time.
From a depleted battery pack, one minute of cranking/charging will keep LED bulb lit for about 10 minutes of usable light, then dim light for few more minutes. [As a point of comparison, the Grundig FR200 could provide almost an hour of light from one minute of cranking.]
The carry handle makes for a good grip while cranking what is described as the “Shakeable Generator” handle.
This radio has roots from the Grundig FR-200, being same dimension and weight. This R-777 had a sturdy feel to it. The charging handle feels very much like any other FR-200’s while one is cranking, except this R-777 is much quieter. None of the funky whining sounds as with older versions.
I’m going to keep this R-777, as a reminder of how a good idea can be half heartedly attempted, resulting in such a poor product.
Still on the market as the Tecsun Green 88, the Grundig FR-200 is one of the best sel-powered radios I’ve ever tested.
I believe Mike and I both miss the Grundig FR-200.
With that said, we still have the Tecsun Green-88 available on eBay; a radio almost identical to the FR200.
You can click here to search eBay for the Tecsun Green-88 or the Commando R-777
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Mike, thanks for sharing your mini review!
Last week, we posted the following recording on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive; our website and podcast of current and historic shortwave radio recordings.
Indeed, our podcast is absolutely free and by subscribing (via iTunes or RSS feed), you can also help preserve these recordings. Read about the archive by clicking here.
Though I post recordings on the SWLing Post, we post many more on the shortwave archive as many of our recordings are sent in by contributors (like you!).
Pyongyang Metro Station (Original: Wikimedia Commons)
Indeed, I owe thanks to SWRAA contributor, Frank, for this recording of the Voice of Korea‘s English language service.
Frank recorded this broadcast from his home in Europe on November 13, 2013, on 11,645 kHz, starting at 16:00 UTC. Frank used a Kenwood R-5000 receiver and a Wellbrook ALA 1530+ antenna.
Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Karen Shenfeld’s radio story is the latest in our series called Listener Posts, where I will place all of your personal radio histories and memories. If you would like to add your story to the mix, simply send your story by email!
In the meantime, many thanks to Karen for sharing this radio memory from her travels in the Sahara:
“I was in fact singing ‘The Hills are Alive With The Sound of Music’ at the time…. I am on top of a hill in the Hoggar Mountains outside of Tamanrasset, in the middle of the Sahara.”
I have been doing some research about short wave radio and I wanted to tell you that I have loved reading many of your blogs/posts, here and elsewhere. I was especially moved by an article that you wrote for DXer.ca about the shutting down of Radio Canada International.
And I wanted to share this with you: About 28 years ago or so, my husband I hitchhiked across the Sahara desert through Algeria. We stayed in many remote oasis villages, including Reggane. At Reggane, the paved road ends, and from there you must follow tracks in the sand for hundreds of miles in order to reach Timbuktu in Mali (or turn east toward In Salah to follow tracks in the sand south to Niger, which we did).
Location of Reggane within Algeria
In Reggane we stayed for several days with an Algerian family. The husband was from further north in Algeria; his wife was a Tuareg. In this man’s home I remember staying up late at night with him, drinking mint tea under the stars in the courtyard of his adobe home, and listening to Radio Canada International.
Our host was a very intelligent man, who really appreciated staying current with the world’s events, and not relying upon censored Algerian papers — when they were even available in such a remote place.
Karen Shenfeld (Photo credit: Karen Shenfeld via the University of Toronto)
Karen is a poet and traveler; she has crossed the Sahara Desert from north to south through Algeria, travelled the length of the Congo River in Africa by riverboat, and voyaged through India, from Kashmir to Kerala. You can read a selection of her poetry via the University of Toronto Library website: http://www.library.utoronto.
Karen is currently writing a poem about shortwave radio for a friend–the process has rekindled her interest in this magic medium.
Happy listening, Karen!
Click here to read our growing collection of Listener Posts, and consider submitting your own!
This Voice of Greece broadcast begins with a piece by Burhan Öcal, with the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble (Photo: National Geographic)
I never know what to expect when I tune around on one of my shortwave radios. Perhaps that’s one of the things I find captivating about the medium; there’s no playlist, no app, no content controls, other than the tuning knob.
Sometimes, I tune to a station, and it’s as though I’ve just opened a door and walked in on a party–one in full swing, with dancing and incredible live music.
That’s exactly what I felt when I tuned to the Voice of Greece last night. I walked in on a party. And I needed no invitation; I was welcomed there.
Hear it, just as I did, starting right in the middle of this party:
Listen above, or click here to download three hours and 31 minutes of musical bliss (until they turned the transmitter off).
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Dominik, who points us to the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters’ latest newsletter, which mentions Radio Slovakia International’s intentions to, once again, broadcast on shortwave from Slovakia.
“The NASB organized the B13 Conference in cooperation with Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) and its international service, Radio Slovakia International (RSI). RSI stopped broadcasting on shortwave from Slovakia at the end of 2010, but NASB member WRMI in Miami has continued to relay the station’s English and Spanish broadcasts to the Americas since January of 2011. And RSI would like to resume shortwave broadcasts from Slovakia in the near future if funding can be restored.”
The NASB newsletter summarizes the full B13 HFCC Conference. The following is an excerpt from the NASB Newsletter newsletter, featuring Maria Mikusova, Chief of Radio Slovakia International:
[…]Tuesday morning, August 27, the HFCC Conference began with some words of welcome from Maria Mikusova, Chief of Radio Slovakia International. “As the General Director of Radio and Television Slovakia pointed out yesterday,” she said, “the fact that this conference is taking place in Bratislava is a great inspiration and impulse for us. It broadens the horizons of us — journalists and professionals from the foreign broadcast of Radio Slovakia International, on behalf of whom I’d like to welcome you to Bratislava as well.”
Mrs. Mikusova noted that RSI has received feedback from listeners in 130 countries. “The core of this feedback,” she said, “comes from broadcasting our programs via short waves. We left shortwave broadcasting only recently, at the beginning of the year 2011, and not fully.” She noted that RSI remains on shortwave via WRMI in the Americas.
Mrs. Mikusova said that RSI is busy developing a new website. “In regards to the variety of languages we broadcast in, you can listen to RSI in six languages, which is the same number as Radio Prague, our Czech colleagues and closest partners, broadcast in. This says a lot about the power of tradition and our efforts and ability to preserve this kind of a broadcast at a time of such a vast choice of communication channels opening on the internet and social networks.”
Mikusova said that RSI still receives good listener feedback from areas such as Russia, and the station still sends QSL cards to listeners. “We consider this to be a very important form of communicating with our listeners, although we know that QSLs are traditionally a shortwave communication.”
“Let me wish all the best to this coordination meeting,” she continued. “Your conference allows us to get to know better your work, and makes us feel that we are still part of the world network of shortwavers. For us, this conference is a firsthand, live encounter with the shortwave network and its significance for broadcasting. But at the same time it unveils what strategies of radio broadcasting and shortwave transmission are out there in the modern world. After all, the outlook and future strategy of Radio and Television of Slovakia is to bring RSI back to shortwave broadcasting. Although this issue has not been resolved yet, it shows just how important the HFCC Conference in Bratislava is, and why we, RSI, are so very interested in it.”
Dominik also pointed to the HFCC schedule where RSI already has a slate of broadcasts listed from the RSI Rimavska Sobota transmitter site:
Again, thanks to Dominik for sharing this hopeful news!
Typhoon Haiyan aftermath (Source: VOA News)
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Alex, who writes:
The Philippines disaster has prompted the BBC World Service to put on a short wave service to the Philippines.
[The BBC notes:]
“We have extended the hours until next Tuesday to give a longer run in the evening, so on SW the following hours are heard.
09:00 – 11:00 GMT
11825 kHz – 25 Metre Band
12010 kHz – 25 Metre Band
17790 kHz – 16 Metre BandThere is also existing SW which is not necessarily targeting the Philippines but which they should be able to pick up as follows:
11:00 – 15:00 GMT
6195 kHz – 49 Metre Band
9740 kHz – 31 Metre Band00:00 – 02:00 GMT
6195 kHz – 49 Metre Band
9740 kHz – 31 Metre Band
11955 kHz – 25 Metre Band
[UPDATE: Frequencies and times have been updated as of 15:30 UTC, November 13, 2013]
In Alex’s message he also noted that the info from the BBC is presently a bit vague. He will keep us updated as he receives more information.