Yearly Archives: 2017

Gospell GR-216 DRM receiver price and availability

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Sandipan Basu Mallick, who writes:

In reference to the post about the review of Gospell GR-216 DRM Receiver, [I enquired] about availability and price.

Received response within few hours.

Yes, Gospell is now shipping the GR-216 DRM Receiver.

They are selling it directly. Not available via online shopping portals.

Most importantly Price $200 + Intl. Shipping (FedEx/DHL) $100 = $300

Payment via PayPal.

Anyone interested can contact Mr Jerry Luoy

GOSPELL Digital Technology Co., Ltd.
Mob/Whatsapp: +86-136 7909 3866
Skype: luo-jerry;
Wechat: luo-yunjun
Email: [email protected]
http://www.gospell.com

Attaching product brochure, mail and product snaps as received from Gospell.

[Click here to download product brochure (PDF).]

Appreciate if the information can shared over your blog for the benefit of the radio enthusiast.

Warm Regards,
Sandipan Basu Mallick.
DXer, Radio Enthusiast from India.

Many thanks, Sandipan, for sharing this info!

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From the Isle of Music & Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, Aug 20-26

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From the Isle of Music, August 20-26
This week our special guests are Feliciano Arango of Los Hermanos Arango, whose album The Arangos World was nominated for a Cubadisco Award in the Afrocuban Tradition category; Gizelxanath Rodríguez of the Afro Yaquí Music Collective and Albertico Lescay of Formas. You’ll hear some excellent Fusion in this episode.
Four opportunities to listen on shortwave:
1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in all directions with 100Kw, Sunday 1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UTC on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EDT in the US)
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
From the Isle of Music is not available for listening on demand but some broadcasts can be heard online during the time of the broadcast using Web SDRs or the WBCQ website (during their broadcast) if you are not receiving the radio signal.

FOOD FIGHT! Episode 26 of Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, a musical variety program that features a little bit of everything from around the planet, will air on WBCQ the Planet, 7490 KHz, Thursday, August 24 from 2300-2330 UTC (7:00pm-7:30pm EDT in the Americas). This week we honor the mighty pierogi, the subject of a nasty court battle by two festivals, with various songs about food. Also, another contest.
WBCQ’s signal has been reaching the Americas, East to West, down at least as far as Sao Paolo, Brasil, and well into Central Europe of late.

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KGEI’s role in WWII

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(Source: The Daily Journal via Richard Cuff)

KGEI: A forgotten WWII radio story

Sometimes history is hidden in plain sight or site — as is the case of a blockhouse-shaped building located, appropriately, on Radio Road in the Redwood Shores area of Redwood City.

There is no plaque to remind the few visitors to the area that the two-story building played an important role in World War II: It housed the transmitter for shortwave radio station KGEI, which was the only voice from home for GIs fighting from island to island in the Pacific.

Among other accomplishments, the station broadcast Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s “I have returned” speech that fulfilled his promise to return with victorious American troops to the Philippines, occupied by Japanese forces since 1942.

Today, the building of about 7,000 square feet is owned by Silicon Valley Clean Water, the wastewater plant operated jointly by Redwood City, San Carlos and Belmont. The plant is adjacent to the KGEI building, which itself is right next to a much larger transmitter building used by KNBR. Ground was broken in late 1940 for the KGEI structure made of reinforced 3-foot thick concrete walls designed to withstand bombing.[…]

Continue reading the full article at The Daily Journal…

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Practical Wireless and RadioUser magazines have new owner

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(Source: Southgate ARC)

New owner for Practical Wireless and RadioUser magazines

Roger Hall & Steve Hunt have made the following announcement on the PW Publishing website:

We are very pleased to announce that Practical Wireless and RadioUsermagazines have been bought by Warners Group Publications, a Lincolnshire-based multi-million-pound turnover publishing company that specialises in producing magazines, websites and events for niche hobbies.

They believe that both Practical Wireless and RadioUser are an ideal fit with their business and have assured us they plan to use their publishing expertise and size to help develop both titles, giving them an assured long-term future.

Both Steve and I are aware that we were only the most recent custodians of two historic titles, Practical Wireless dating from 1932 and the RadioUser with its roots in Short Wave Magazine from 1937.
That’s why, when we decided to retire after being in publishing for almost 40 years, first with IPC and then with PW Publishing, we felt it was important to find a reputable company with the expertise and resources to make sure they will continue to be published for many years to come. In Warners, we believe we have found just such a company and both PW and RU will continue to be the country’s best-selling radio magazines.

Over the next few weeks we will be handing over all aspect of our business to Warners and they will be publishing both titles from the October issues onwards.

The new Publisher will be Rob McDonnell ([email protected]) and the new Group Advertising Manager will be Claire Ingram ([email protected]).

Our existing Editors, Don Field and Georg Wiessala, will remain with their respective magazines. In addition, I will be staying on in a consultancy role to help with the transition and to assist Warners going forwards.

We’d both like to thank all of you for the support you’ve given us and the magazines in the past; it’s been an interesting few decades.

For the next three months, Webscribe will continue to administer subscriptions, to assure a seamless handover, and new contact details will be forthcoming in due course.

Roger Hall & Steve Hunt
PW Publishing Limited
http://www.pwpublishing.ltd.uk

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Reminder: 2017 Eclipse Experiment

Review of the Gospell GR-216 portable DRM multi-band radio

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who writes:

Here’s a review on a Swedish Hobby Radio website of the GOSPELL GR-216 MULTI-BAND AM / FM /Shortwave / DRM receiver, which you reported about on 9/6/2016 and is now is reportedly about to go into production:

http://www.hobbyradio.se/en/drm/gospell_en.html

The latest Mediumwave / Shortwave / VHF-FM receiver GR-216 from Gospell can receive both digital and analogue mediumwave and shortwave signals as well as VHF FM broadcasts. The software-defined receiver is based on a NXP chipset. The firmware may easily be updated over the USB connector on the front.

The size of the radio is 240 mm (w) x 120 mm (h) x 150 mm (d) (without the knobs). It is supplied with a 230 VAC power cord, a 230 VAC / 9 VDC power supply and a user’s manual. Its retail price is about xx USD.

The radio has a pleasant design like your favorite kitchen radio but it is also fit for any livingroom. Unlike other products the GR-216 has a soft and clean design and all buttons and controls are easy to operate. It weighs about 2 kg and sits firmly on a table or a shelf. Much of the weight comes from its large loudspeaker (77 mm diameter) and the mains transformer. The two strips on the bottom of the cabinet prevents the GR-216 from slipping around when tuning or pressing the pushbuttons. The AF output power amplifier is 4 W.

There is also a 12 or 24 hour clock and a dual alarm clock (radio or buzzer) and a sleep timer. In addition to the built-in AC/DC power supply there is a DC jack on the rear panel for an external 9 Volt DC power supply if so required.

Continue reading…

Thanks for the tip, Ed! Reading this, it’s most encouraging to see that Gospell reached out to radio enthusiasts and used their input for firmware and hardware upgrades prior to production.

This may be the most encouraging portable DRM receiver yet. Indeed, Paul Walker, has been enjoying his Gospell GR-216 tremendously and–using an external antenna–has captured a number of DRM broadcasts from Pennsylvania. He might produce a review of his own to post here soon.

If anyone else has notes about the Gospell GR-216’s performance, please comment! Could this finally be a DRM portable for the DXer?

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ABC scolded for cutting shortwave service

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(Source: news.com.au via Trevor R)

The ABC has been slammed by all sides of politics over its “foolish” decision to cut the transmission of shortwave radio to remote Australia and the Pacific Islands.

The Senate debated a private bill on Thursday by crossbench senator Nick Xenophon to force the ABC to restore transmission after it was cut earlier this year.

“It seems a terrible decision that’s been made by the ABC board,” Senator Xenophon told parliament, accusing the public broadcaster of ignoring the bush and Australia’s neighbours.
The ABC insists listeners can still tune in via FM and AM frequencies, the viewer access satellite television (VAST) service and online.

But senators say the ABC fails to understand those alternative methods are not available to everyone in the bush and the information people are missing out on can be life threatening, such as weather warnings.

Senator Xenophon said the ABC had miscalculated how many people relied on the service.
“There are some question marks over the methodology used by the ABC in relation to this.”

Continue reading the full article at news.com.au…

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