Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:
Some years ago, I urged those of us survivors in the shortwave listening community to transfer any reel or cassette tapes to digital format. In recent years we have lost many top DX’ers to illness. Collections of recordings have unfortunately also been lost because family members are not able to preserve them or have no interest in doing so.
If any SWLing Post readers have such recordings, I am able to transfer them from/to to any format — including MD, SONY Microcassette (both of these are obviously still legacy formats but many still use MD for example), and straight to solid state media such as SD, MicroSD, etc
While I realize that most people do have the knowledge and capabilities to transfer old recordings, I know many lack the time and patience to do so. So I am offering my services here, for reasonable fees to compensate for time invested. You can reach me at: [email protected]
Those who wish to simply donate recordings can send them to me (please get in touch first). Anyone who does wish to have their recording collection(s) transferred in full and to have original tapes or cassettes returned, I ask to be compensated for postage costs. If you wish to provide solid state media for the transfers that is fine, but please make sure that thumb drives or memory cards are of sufficient size. Otherwise I will obtain memory cards/sticks and add this to the cost.
In recent years I have transferred recordings of about a dozen DX’ers who have passed, and for a few who left the hobby. All of these recordings are valuable as they represent snapshots of the SW broadcasting era and of history — they should be preserved.
I can certainly vouch for Dan and his integrity, so if you would like to have your recordings transferred, he’s the guy to do it. Thanks, Dan!
Most important:
Don’t throw away the old analog tapes after transfering them to digital format, as the analog tape may live long after the digital file or media has corrupted itself…
It has happend before with videotapes.
The image of the dial on this post, it reminds me of a tube type receiver i had as a kid.
It needed repairs and a cabinet but i am sure it had the same dial face, i never got it working and after several moves with my parents i have no idea what happened to it. As I recall , there was no brand name on the radio and had come with several military style radio’s.
Barry: I was very intrigued by the receiver sporting this dial. Supposedly, this model (and I hope someone can ID it) was produced from surplus receiver parts after WWII. If I understood correctly, the owner told me it operated on 110V DC. I had never heard of a rig operating on that many volts DC, but perhaps he was mistaken. He said it could be plugged directly into a 110 AC outlet and worked without any sort of power supply. He also mentioned it was a little dangerous working on them (more so than the typical boat anchor)–if it’s 110 VDC, he’s certainly correct! 🙂 Here’s a photo of the receiver:
