Monthly Archives: January 2018

ETOW distributes radios to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico through amateur radio network

In November, we posted an update on the Ears To Our World website with information about our most recent work in Puerto Rico.

After Hurricane Maria left the majority of Puerto Rico without power and basic services, at ETOW we waited for the right opportunity (after food, water and medical supplies were rushed in) to send self-powered radios to those still living without power and in need of basic community information.

Once US Postal Service delivery was restored to the island, we turned to our amazing volunteer (and SWLing Post contributor) Robert Gulley (AK3Q) to coordinate the process.

Robert contacted the Lares Amateur Radio Emergency Service (LARES) in Puerto Rico and asked for their assistance. Nelson Santiago (WP3B) with LARES enthusiastically volunteered to venture out into the community and distribute radios to those who needed them the most–families still lacking mains power. The LARES club distributed the radios effectively and efficiently–they also photo-documented everything.

The whole process was simply amazing to watch unfold.

Many thanks to Universal Radio who helped us quickly procure 15 self-powered radios for our initial pilot shipment. As of December, we’ve now sent and distributed an additional 40 radios–totaling 55 units to 55 families.

This whole project became a reality through our network of radio enthusiasts. We’re so grateful to everyone involved. Thank you!

Click here to view photos and read about this project at Ears To Our World.

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CommRadio CTX-10 availability update

Alan Roe’s updated B17 season guide to music on shortwave

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who notes:

I have now updated my Music on Shortwave listing for the B17 season, and attached version 2.0.

Alan, thanks so much for keeping this excellent guide updated each broadcast season and for sharing it here with the community!

Click here to download Alan Roe’s B17 Shortwave Music Guide version 2.0 (PDF).

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Tom explores the depths of radio astronomy

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26 meter telescope at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom L, who writes:

I have been curiously surveying uses of radio in different areas of industry and Astronomy came up as a hot topic the last couple of years according to recent Google searches. Radio was a giant popular commercial success in the 1930’s and 1940’s. But Radio Astronomy was still in its infancy with military radar. A Bell Labs engineer (Karl Jansky) accidentally discovered signals coming from an unknown source. He and his mentor figured out that it was coming from the center of the Milky Way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_astronomy

Fast forward to today and it looks nothing like the early days. Computer control and very large arrays have made it possible to boost the wide-field resolution massively. We are now able to see molecules in space outside our solar system and filaments connecting star nurseries. Here are just a few recent articles that hint at major news coming from this field of study. If you have a science student interested and has the talent for Astronomy, Radio Astronomy promises to be on a variety of cutting edges of discoveries over the next few decades from local Space Weather, biological search, and how stars form.

Snatching at the cradle of life

Cosmic filament probes our galaxy’s giant black hole

Astronomers make real-time, 3-D movies of plasma tubes …

Radio telescopes are essential to discovering “Galaxy Ecosystems”: Click here to download PDF.

Enjoy!

Thanks, Tom! I’ve been fascinated with radio astronomy since my undergraduate years in the early 1990s. I’m now a volunteer at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) and have learned so much through their research. If you ever have the time, I would encourage you to visit PARI or one of the NROA sites like Green Bank or the Very Large Array. Well worth the detour! Thanks for sharing those articles!

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Al shares vintage RAE theme

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Al Quaglieri, who writes:

In the ’60s and ’70s, RAE had a really evocative theme song that opened and closed their broadcasts. For years I searched for a copy of this, even going as far as writing the station about ten years ago. They graciously obliged, sending me a recording of the LATER theme, not the one I wanted. Well, here it finally is. RAE used an edited-down version.

My clip begins with a vintage RAE open and close, and then the song! It’s an obscure composition by Argentine composer Waldo de los Rios, entitled “Sol Alegre,” from a 1957 Columbia album called “Kiss of Fire.” Hope it brings back some memories!

Click here to listen at Clyp.it.

Thanks for this stroll down Memory Lane, Al!

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From the Isle of Music and Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, Jan 14-27

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From the Isle of Music, January 14-20 and January 21-27:
January 14-20, our special guest is the award-winning Cuban jazzista Alejandro Falcón, who will talk to us about his new release Mi Monte Espiritual, and we will listen to a few selections from that album
January 21-27, in honor of Jazz Plaza, we will listen to a potpuorri of excellent Cuban Jazz from the 1970s until today
Four opportunities to listen on shortwave:
1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia and Oceania) 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 0100-0200 UTC on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EST in the US). This is running on a backup transmitter due to a recent fire.
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.

Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, January 14 and 21, 2018
Episode 45 of Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, January 14, will be a bag of surprises, a little of this and that.
Episode 46 of Uncle BIll’s, Melting Pot, January 21, will focus on Albanian folk music. We promise it will be fun.
Sundays,
2300-2330 UTC (6:00PM -6:30PM Eastern US) on
WBCQ The Planet 7490 KHz shortwave from the US to the Americas and parts of Europe

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The National HRO-5TA1: Parting is such sweet sorrow…

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m in the process of selling and giving away radio gear that I no longer use or that’s been sitting on the workbench way too long.

This is an easier process when it involves modern gear, as I have comparatively little attachment to radios I could go out and purchase once again, should I feel so moved. The only modern portables I keep, regardless, are those I must have on hand for comparison testing and reviews. And, yes, I do have a number of favorites I never intend to sell.

But when it comes to vintage gear? Letting go is hard to do.

A few years ago, I acquired a bunch of vintage gear and accessories from a friend whose father was a radio operator in WWII. Since then, I’ve been selling this equipment and giving the proceeds to our non-profit (ETOW). I’ve also donated a lot of equipment to the Hickory Aviation Museum in North Carolina––I’m a member, and have been piecing together an AN/ARC-8 system for permanent display (only now lacking a good BC-348).

The only receiver I kept for myself was a National HRO-5TA1. It’s totally original and has likely not been operated since the late 1940s.

In a sense, this is the radio equivalent of a “barn find.”

I love the HRO dial and the overall aesthetics of this vintage set. It absolutely shouts “1940s” radio––! These sets were initially manufactured during WWII under some large orders. Indeed, the “H.R.O.” acronym is said to be the National internal designation of the series…meaning, “Hellva Rush Order.” There were many variations of the National HRO; mine was the 1946 “5TA1.”

The HRO-5TA1 uses coils to change bands. My HRO has the full set of coils and even the coil box. To change coils, you simply pull out (unplug) the coil from the front of the receiver and plug in a new one.

The power supply is self-contained and connects to the HRP-5TA1 via a four conductor plug.

The back panel of the receiver couldn’t be more simple.

Inside, it’s impressively clean for its age; check this out:

If you can’t tell, letting this one go is going to be one of the toughest I’ve experienced. Parting will, indeed, be sweet sorrow. I must give someone else an opportunity to put this girl on the air, else it will sit here for many more years before I have an opportunity to do the necessary upgrades to make her airworthy again (needs at least recapping).

This weekend, my buddy, Vlado (N3CZ) and I will reserve a couple of tables at the Greenwood, SC hamfest. Unless I sell the HRO-5TA1 beforehand, you’ll find it on my table there!

On that note, readers, please comment if you have a suggestion what I should charge for this set. You can also comment if you think I’m crazy for selling it. It’s not going to be easy!

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