Monthly Archives: August 2017

Jeff seeks crowd funding for HAARP experiment

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Jeff Dumps (KL4IU), who writes:

I was wondering if you would be interested in sponsoring my amateur radio science experiment at HAARP. I am a new ham, and have participated in the February HAARP campaign, assisting Dr. Chris Fallen. It has inspired me to try an experiment. My experiment is designed to analyze the modulation frequencies and their effect on ionospheric cross modulation (Luxembourg Effect). Not only would this be a great opportunity for me, but also it could help the HAARP facility with more positive media coverage. It could also get other amateur radio folks interested in HAARP and the science behind it. As far as I know, there hasn’t been a crowd funding campaign for HAARP time – so that would also be a very cool first if it is successful.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could share my campaign with the SWLing Post folks. I’ve raised $100 so far from one donor, only $900 more to go!

Here is the link to my crowd funding campaign page. On the page it has more details and a link to my experiment outline which details exactly how the experiment will be conducted.

https://igg.me/at/haarpradioexperiment/x/17133291

Thanks for your time!

You are most welcome, Jeff! Good luck!

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New Mediumwave Facility for Fiji

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There’s an interesting YouTube documentary released by the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation on the refurbishment of both transmitters and antennas for the mediumwave outlets of 558 and 990 kHz. This was completed with the financial and technical assistance of the Japanese government. It will be very interesting for MW DXers to see how well the new facility will be heard beyond the Fijian borders.

https://youtu.be/VTLKeW-TmoQ

 

There is also a somewhat less interesting YouTube video of the Fijian dictator Prime Minister Bainimarama at the official launch of the revitalized service, which can be found at https://youtu.be/kOza_Ov7f48

It was fascinating to hear Prime Minister Bainimarama talking about democratic freedoms in the broadcasting media….This from a man who for many years has done his level best to suppress and control the Fijian media on countless occasions!
(My thanks to Mauno Ritola and Bruce Portzer for alerting me to the above links)

73, Rob Wagner VK3BVW

Rob Wagner, VK3BVW, is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. He also blogs at the Mount Evelyn DX Report.

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Digitech AR-1780: unboxing, photos and initial impressions

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[UPDATE: Click here to read our full review of the Digitech AR-1780.]

Yesterday, prior to heading out the door for two days of travel, I received the Digitech AR-1780 I ordered ten days ago from an Australian eBay vendor. I’m very pleased with how quickly the order was processed and delivered via the post. The radio arrived in a rugged mail pouch and was double boxed inside.
I’ve had no time to evaluate the radio’s performance yet, but I thought I’d post a few photos I took while unboxing the AR-1780.

There’s not much in the box: just the radio and an owner’s manual. There are no batteries, no charger, and no case or carry bag. That’s okay though as the AR-1780 takes standard AA cells and I have an assortment of bags that can protect it in my suitcase.

The buttons all have a responsive, tactile feel. The hard plastic chassis feels durable.

I really like the dedicated fine tune control on the right side of the radio.  Nice touch! But 7 VDC in? That’s an odd voltage for a power supply. That’s okay by me as I never use wall wart type power supplies due to inherent noise–rechargeable Enloop AA batteries are how I power all of my portables. Bonus! There’s also a dedicated external antenna jack! One odd thing, though, is the AR-1780 breaks the convention of having the volume control on the right side of the radio–it’s on the left instead. Last night, I tuned around the 31 meter band and the AM broadcast band.  I listened to the French language service of Radio Romania International from inside a noisy house–armchair copy.

The AR-1780 has an impressive 7 AM bandwidth settings: 6, 4, 3, 2.5, 2, 1.8 and 1 kHz. My radio defaulted to 2.5 kHz, so you’ll want to widen that to 4 or 6 kHz before listening to most broadcasts.

I really like the display–it’s compact, yet contains quite a lot of info and even has a dedicated line for FM RDS content.

This morning, I took a couple shots of the AR-1780 next to the venerable CC Skywave. The Skywave is slightly smaller in every dimension.

Stay tuned! Though this is a very busy week for me–with travels and total solar eclipse preparations–I plan to put the Digitech AR-1780 through the paces. I’ll try to post updates as I have time.  Follow the tag: Digitech AR-1780

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Radio: “One of history’s most important inventions”

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(Source: CNN)

There are few more important inventions in the history of the world than the radio.

While in recent years it may have become less popular than television or the internet, it could be argued that the radio was the first electronic gadget to play a prominent part in people’s lives.

Radio is where the world first heard Britain declare war on Germany, where Orson Welles accidentally fooled the public into believing a real alien invasion was under way in his “War Of The Worlds” serial and where young people first heard Billy Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock,” spreading popular music around the world.

But it is not just an aural medium. Like all important pieces of technology, design has had an essential part to play in its evolution.[…]

Continue reading the full article on CNN’s website…

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BBC to shut down 13 medium wave transmitters

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(Source: Radio Today UK)

Ten BBC local radio stations will lose at least one AM transmitter in January 2018 as part of the BBC’s Delivering Quality First plan.

BBC Radio Sussex, Surrey, Humberside, Wiltshire, Nottingham, Kent, and Lincolnshire will no longer be accessible on medium wave, whilst BBC Radio Devon, Radio Lancashire and BBC Essex will reduce their frequencies.

The BBC says it knows the changes will have an impact on some listeners but encourages them to listen on FM, DAB, Freeview or online instead.

Continue reading at Radio Today UK online…

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Lennart’s Radio FAX QSL card and letter

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lennart Weirell, who shares the following

I read the posting about Radio FAX, and I heard the station 1988-10-23, but on MW 1611 kHz a frequency they also used.

[Please see above and below] a copy of the QSL-card and stencil from Radio FAX.

Back of QSL Card

Thanks so much for sharing your report with us, Lennart!

Click here to read our previous post about Radio FAX.

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Video: HF tests from Arecibo observatory

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The Arecibo Radio Telescope, at Arecibo, Puerto Rico. At 1000 feet (305 m) across, it is the second largest dish antenna in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ivan Cholakov, who writes:

Thomas, I did not see a story on the blog about the HF atmospheric heating experiments conducted by the Arecibo observatory a couple of weeks ago.

Thomas Cholakov N1SPY made a video about it but I am also sure a bunch of other listeners were able to tune to the super-strong signal on 5125 and 5095 kHz.

Great video, Thomas!

Indeed, I did miss posting this item. The event timing conflicted with my travel schedule in a bad way. Sadly, I only had one opportunity to tune in and I did too late (by just a couple of minutes!) that day.

Did anyone else catch the on-air experiments from Arecibo?

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