The Eton Traveler III
I just discovered that SWLing Post reader, Tom Stiles, has made a video review of the new Eton Traveller III:
Tom is a great fellow (usually posts as “Another Tom” in our comments!) and has an extensive collection of radio related videos on his YouTube channel. Thanks, Tom!
SWLing Post reader, Chris, writes:
“After reading your piece on Peter Gabriel it reminded me of Joe Strummer and the Clash and the Mescaleros… The album and song London Calling was written from a huge influence from the BBC World Service…. Need I say more about the song?
Shortly before his death in 2002, Joe recorded an album called at Global A Go-Go along with a song of that title track. The first line in the song is “World Service Bulletin” and references many cities around the world wanting great rock and roll music…
I know there are also interviews with him stating that growing up his father was a diplomat and he lived in various countries. He would tune in to the BBC World Service to get rock music from home!
The Clash ended up taking on a worldly sound in their later recordings. During Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, it was all world music!
The latter is still one of my top three albums of all times!
Shortwave radio is the reason why I love world music.”
Same here, Chris–shortwave radio is directly responsible for my interest in any and all forms of music. Growing up, the variety I could hear on shortwave was beyond anything I could hear locally. I think many SWLs share this global connection.
After receiving Chris’ message, I did a little more research because I vaguely recalled a program on the BBC World Service that was hosted by Joe Strummer, though I never had the opportunity to hear it live.
Fortunately, I uncovered the original Joe Strummer’s London Calling via PRX. SCORE!
I’ve embedded the first episode below: an introduction to the series where you’ll hear a little about Joe in the first half hour and in the second half, the first episode of the original Joe Strummer’s London Calling.
This is an amazing collection–actually, that’s an understatement. I’m already on the third episode and will probably listen to the whole series by the end of the week (if not end of day).
Click here for the full list of shows via PRX.
This has all prompted me to order Rock Art & The X-Ray Style by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros. Thanks, Chris: amazing stuff…
CountyComm GP5/DSP (Click to enlarge)
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Jim, who points out that the new CountyComm GP-5/SSB is available for pre-order at Universal Radio. Universal expects to ship the GP5/SSB in late November.
I have the CountyComm GP-5/DSP (a.k.a. Tecsun PL-360) and recommend it in my radio travel guide. I especially like the unique external ferrite bar antenna that attaches (and rotates) on top of the radio. Medium wave sensitivity is quite good when the external antenna is attached; best part is you can rotate the antenna to null out unwanted signals.
If the new GP5/SSB has similar receiver performance, this will be an excellent, low-cost portable with SSB mode.
With availability in late November, the GP-5/SSB could be a great radio to give as a gift this holiday season. If time allows, I’ll try to review one in early December.
The GP-5/SSB has been added to the Shortwave Radio Index.
I recently discovered an article on the excellent blog, LifeHacker, which describes the contents of the CIA’s Escape and Evasion Survival Kit.
The kit’s contents currently include:
Lifehacker believes the small bag used is the Maxpedition M-2 Waistpack. I like Maxpedition packs: they’re very durable, typically military grade, and reasonably affordable. But the M-2 is small–quite small.
This led me to thinking about über-portable shortwave radios I would carry in such a small pack for survival purposes. If I were a foreign operative, ideally, I’d want a shortwave radio that has SSB mode, in case my home country’s numbers station broadcast in SSB.
In reality, there are very few good radios that are so compact they could fit in the M-2 Waistpack.
A few that came to mind were the Tecsun PL-310ET or Tecsun PL-380, but the fit would be very tight, if at all; both radios are slightly wider and taller than the M2’s main pocket, which measures 5 x 3 x 1.5 inches. I then remembered the Kaito KA1102 that I owned a few years ago–a very portable radio, but it, too, would be too large at 143 x 88 x 28.50 mm.
But then, it hit me: there is one radio, which, though no longer on the market, would fit the bill (and the pocket)…
I have never owned an ICF-SW100, but I’d love to. Occasionally they show up on eBay, but prices range from $300-$800 depending on condition. That’s simply too pricey for my budget. Universal Radio has acquired used units in the past on rare occasions; these have sold between $200-400.
Then there are the lucky few, like my radio-listener buddy, The Professor. Remarkably, he tracked down (and knows I’ll never forgive him for it) an ICF-SW100 on Craig’s List for about $50! That was a steal.
Performance is superb for a radio this size. Not only does it have SSB mode, but selectable sideband sync detection.
One note of caution, should you be lucky enough to acquire one: the ribbon cable that connects the lower portion of the radio with the display (especially in the mark 1 production units) is known to fail. Fortunately, there are a number of videos (like this one) which walk you through replacement.
Click here to search eBay for a used Sony ICF-SW100.
The ICF-SW100 predecessor, the ICF-SW1S (above), would easily fit in the M-2 Waistpack–it measures a mere 4.75 x 2.785 x 1 inches. Like its younger brother, it is highly sought after on the used radio market, and usually fetches $300+. The ICF-SW1S does not have a sync detector and lacks SSB mode. Still, as a broadcast receiver, it is truly superb for its size.
If you purchase a used ICF-SW1S, do ask the seller if all 6 original electrolytic capacitors have been replaced. If not, you may have to replace them in short order as the originals were known to fail. While not a repair for the faint of heart (as parts are quite small), there are several instructional sites and videos to help you. Alternatively, you can send your ICF-SW1S to Kiwa to be professionally re-capped.
Click here to search eBay for a used Sony ICF-SW1S.
Do you know of any other high-quality shortwave portables out there compact enough to fit in the M-2 Waistpack? Let us know!
The hunt is on…!
Global 24 just sent the following message (also posted on their website):
Dear Global 24 Listeners,
Thank you for a remarkable 12 hours.
Over 2,500 of you (confirmed unique) visited our website in just a few short hours last night and thousands more have visited the website since then.
A big thank you to the over 500 reception reports we have received so far. More are coming in every minute and we are very grateful for all of them. Please keep them coming. We are very interested in reports from the US West Coast as we plan any possible configuration changes. However, we still need reports from everywhere – so please send them to [email protected] or fill out the web form here.
We are also experiencing some technical difficulties with the internet. We are currently having issues moving the massive amount of programs from our producers to our transmitter via FTP connections. These slow internet connections are preventing us right now from getting new programs loaded for on-the-air broadcasts. Bear with us as we get this working correctly this weekend. In the near term, you may hear a few more program repeats that we had planned.
It should also be noted that these same bandwith challenges are preventing us from posting content on the website. We will have this sorted shortly as fast as possible.
Again, thank you very much from all of us for your feedback, questions and comments. We value your support tremendously.
Sincerely,
The Global 24 Team
![Peter Gabriel Photo by By Skoll World Forum (Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship Ceremony) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://swling.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Peter-Gabriel-2011I2.jpg)
Peter Gabriel Photo by By Skoll World Forum (Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship Ceremony) via Wikimedia Commons
Your recent post about John Lennon triggered my memory about an interview I heard years ago with Peter Gabriel. He too had a fascination with Shortwave Radio listening and it inspired some of his music.
Chris then shared a link to the following promotional video for the Real World 25 music collection with Peter Gabriel’s introduction:
“I was listening to shortwave radio in a village about seven miles away from here. As night came, you’d suddenly pick up all sorts of radio stations that you couldn’t in daylight. So that was quite mysterious to me and beguiling…and I would explore all sorts of strange sounds, noises and music.”
Real World Records is Peter Gabriel’s label–and Real World 25, a three-disc collection, is the story of their first 25 Years. I listened to samples of songs and purchased my own copy. At $17 US, it was a no-brainer; I love world music (as well as Peter Gabriel’s music) and appreciate anything that Gabriel would consider for his label. (Note: the CD set is actually less expensive than the MP3 album at time of posting.)
Chris also noted this quote from Peter Gabriel, which describes his “obsession” with shortwave radio and its influence on his hit song, “Here Comes The Flood.” Via the website Planet Jeffro:
“When I wrote this song [Here Comes The Flood] I had an obsession with short-wave radio and I was always amazed at the way in which the radio signals would become stronger as daylight faded. I felt as if psychic energy levels would also increase in the night. I had had an apocalyptic dream in which the psychic barriers which normally prevent us from seeing into each others’ thoughts had been completely eroded producing a mental flood. Those that had been used to having their innermost thoughts exposed would handle this torrent and those inclined to concealment would drown in it. (‘Peter Gabriel’ by Armando Gallo, Omnibus Press, 1986.)”
Fascinating! I particularly like this live version of “Here Comes The Flood:”
Chris, I owe you a debt of gratitude: while I’ve been a fan of Peter Gabriel for well over two decades, I never knew about his connection with shortwave radio. Time to revisit some of his tunes with that in mind…
The new B14 shortwave broadcast schedule started on Sunday, 26 October 2014. You might have noticed that many online resources are in the process of updating schedules.
If you need up-to-date schedules in the meantime:
Happy listening!