I just noticed that my buddy Rob Wagner has posted Michael Stevenson’s review of the Wellbrook ALA1530S+ antenna.
Michael does an excellent job describing the Wellbrook, its performance, and even includes comparison audio clips. Click here to read the full review.
If you haven’t already, make sure you bookmark Rob’s excellent site!
SWLing Post reader, George, recently asked about the new Radio Australia antenna settings accompanying the modified (trimmed) broadcast schedule.
The following are the new azimuth settings for the antennas at the Shepparton transmitter site:
Many thanks to my friend, David (K2WNW), for sharing the following link to a RadioShack Corporation document which lists all retail store closures.
I recorded Radio Santa Cruz early this morning around 05:00 UTC on 6,135 kHz using the TitanSDR I currently have under review.
Radio Santa Cruz‘s 10 kW signal from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was very much audible here in North America, though RSC was competing with another station on-frequency at the time. Actually, Radio Santa Cruz was broadcasting slightly off-frequency–6134.8 kHz instead of 6,135 kHz. In this case, the fact that RSC was slightly below frequency helped me delineate the station’s audio from that of a competing station.
In the screen-grab of the narrowband channel from the Titan SDR (above–click to enlarge) you can see two distinct carriers spaced only .2 kHz apart (represented by the two peaks in the spectrum display and two parallel vertical lines in the waterfall display).
Here is what the audio sounds like in normal AM mode when we center on the Radio Santa Cruz frequency of 6,134.8 kHz:
You hear a hetrodyne and garbled noise from a competing station. Not pleasant audio.
If we change from the AM mode to eLSB mode (essentially, the TitanSDR’s version of synchronous detection on the lower sideband) we are ignoring all of the noise in the upper sideband, allowing the desired signal of RSC to pop out.
You can see in the screen-grab above that now only the lower sideband of the RSC signal is highlighted. Here’s a 21 minute recording:
Makes quite a difference!
It’s easy to see competing signals and interference on an SDR’s spectrum display, but if you hear something similar on your portable, try the techniques above to see if it clears up the signal.
If your receiver lacks a selectable synchronous detector, much of the same results can be gained by zero-beating (tuning in) the desired signal in lower sideband mode. Of course, if you have a receiver that lacks SSB mode, the best you can do is tune slightly below frequency in AM, in which case the results will not be as dramatic.
Conclusion? Listening in single-sideband or with a selectable sync detector might be all you need to dig a signal out of the interference.
Check out this video of Dan Robinson comparing his Sony ICF-6800 with the JRC NRD-301A, Eddystone 1650/9, RFT EKD-515, Drake R7A, and the WJ8718A/MFP:
Thanks for sharing, Dan! Impressive lineup!
SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, writes:
“Your recent post sent me to my archives and I’ve found my QSL from Radio Demerara, the predecessor of the Voice of Guyana. Copies of the front and back of the QSL letter I received are attached.
The QSL was for reception on 13 December 1966 at 01:00 UTC at my home in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto. This was in the same year that Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom.
In addition to a commercial for Ovaltine, I heard a program of announcements including births, birthdays, deaths, and personal messages. I used a two-tube Knight-Kit Span Master regenerative receiver, which I built a couple of years earlier when I was in Grade 10, along with a 43-foot inverted-L antenna attached to the top of my mother’s clothesline.
Along with a friend, I had established the Intercontinental DX Club, which we ran for a few years until it came time to go to university. But that’s another story.”
The Intercontinental DX Club? What a great name! You’ll have to share that story sometime, Richard!
Many thanks for scanning this QSL from Radio Demerara. I love the fact that they noted “Temporary QSL” at the top of the letter and apologized for the delay in response. What a great piece of radio history and so relevant as we hear the Voice of Guyana return to the shortwaves.
I’ve received a number of messages and comments regarding close-out and clearance deals at RadioShack retail stores. While this varies by market and the type of store (some are corporate, others are RS franchises), there’s no question: now is the time to check for deals.
My good friend and SWLing Post reader, Mike Hansgen (K8RAT), discovered that his local RS in Ohio has marked everything 25% off. Everything.
Another reader recently commented that his RS store had a similar deal–25% off everything–but even increased the percentage of savings as you purchased more items.
While RadioShack has few shortwave radios of note these days, they do have a lot of essential items for your home radio shack: cables, connectors, components, soldering equipment, batteries, scanners, DeoxIT and even Arduino products to name a few.
If you find that your local RS is liquidating stock, please comment with details. Let’s compare notes!
If you’d like to read more about the state of RadioShack, check out the following news articles sent in by readers:
Richard Cuff also shares this blog post from Allen Loudell at WDEL and this brilliant overview of the collapse of RadioShack via Bloomberg.