Yearly Archives: 2018

On Remembrance Day…

Today, November 11, 2018, marks the 100th anniversary of the end of The First World War.

The First World War–also known as World War I and the Great War–was a global war that originated in Europe and lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918.

It’s estimated that nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a direct result of the war.

Source: The National Archives

Please take a little time today to pause and reflect.

The Great War Project

If you like to learn more about about WWI history, I would also highly recommend following The Great War Project blog.

The Great War Project follows WWI as it unfolded and reads like a daily dispatch. Its archives are deep–follow the timeline through the dated links in the right sidebar. The Great War Project has a number of contributors and is hosted by journalist and blogger, Mike Shuster.

Click here to read through our WWI archives on the SWLing Post.

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Radio Deal: Midland WR120 weather radios on clearance at Walgreens

Last week, we posted an article about weather radios and Aaron’s assessment of the Midland WR120.

Shortly after publishing Aaron’s post, Nicholas Pospishil commented (on Facebook) that the US pharmacy chain Walgreens has the Midland WR120 on clearance. In fact, his local Walgreens priced the WR120 at $3.50–a phenomenally low price!

I had to investigate this so I stopped by my local Walgreens and searched for the WR120 on the clearance shelf, but there wasn’t one unit to be found. I flagged down the manager at this store–a fantastic guy who’s helped me in the past–and asked if he could check inventory.  He discovered two units tucked away and looked up the clearance price. It was $18.99 in their system. Evidently, store managers have a lot of latitude with clearance pricing and he kindly halved that and set the price to $9.99 each for the two remaining units. I felt like this was a fantastic bargain, so I bought both as Christmas gifts.

If you have a Walgreens near you, I would encourage you to stop by and see if they have any WR120s in stock! These units are only available in Walgreens stores–not on their website. Please report back and comment with pricing!

Click here to find a Walgreens near you.

 

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Dan spots a JRC NRD-301A on eBay

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who notes:

This is the first NRD-301A seen on the used market in many years:

Click here to view on eBay.

Thanks, Dan! I would love to add an NRD-301A to my radio shack, but those commercial-grade receivers are simply outside my comfort zone in terms of budget. That and I really don’t have the space for a rack-mounted rig like this. Oh but I do admire them!

Post readers: I’m curious if anyone besides Dan owns a 301A? How to do rate its performance?

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WSJ: AM radio and electric cars don’t mix

(Source: Wall Street Journal via Bob LaRose W6ACU

Cars and AM radio go back a long way, but there’s a rough road ahead for the old travel buddies.

The same types of electric-powered motors that propel Teslas past 150 mph and the Chevy Bolt as far as 238 miles on a charge, are a total buzz kill for AM reception. Instead of sports, oldies or news, it’s more like all-static, all-the-time radio.

As auto makers race headlong into an electrified future, AM radios are getting kicked to the curb, joining cassette decks, eight-track players and ashtrays.

Daniel Rich is a fan of both San Francisco’s KNBR-AM 680 and his Chevy Bolt. That means his commute isn’t as easygoing as it used to be. “All my other cars over the years could receive that station just fine, despite the distance,” the 58-year-old eye surgeon said. “Not the Bolt.”

A General Motors Co. spokeswoman said GM was aware of the issue in the Bolt and has “taken steps,” but declined to say exactly what they are.[…]

Click here to read the full article at the Wall Street Journal.

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Radio Deal: Eton Mini Compact AM/FM/Shortwave Radio

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christian, who notes:

The price of the Eton Mini has dropped again to a historic low of $24.15. I’ve been watching Grundig prices on Amazon and they’ve been moving around a lot. The lowest prices only seem to last a day or two. As we all know Amazon can change them at any time.

Click here to purchase through Amazon.com (affiliate link).

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Top DX Radio Club’s SWDX December contest

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John C, who writes:

I wanted to inform your readers and you of a really cool SWDX contest that’s free of charge and lasts throughout the month of December.

The attached website has all the contest rules. I participated last year and enjoyed it very much. They sent a really nice certificate suitable for framing for participating. Hopefully you will post this info on SWLing and maybe some SWDXers will participate. Thanks so much in advance, and 73!

http://www.topdx-radioclub.com/top10dx.html

Thank you for sharing details about this SWDX contest, John!

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Switzerland: Museum Tinguely to host a sonic journey

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Justin Moore, who writes:

This may be of interest to your readers in Switzerland (and nearby!). From Bruce Sterlin’s Beyond the Beyond blog at Wired:

“From October 24, 2018 to January 27, 2019, Museum Tinguely will host a sonic journey giving access to works of radio art from the last hundred years in a unique way. As visitors navigate the space with headphones and specially programmed smartphones, their movements act as “human radio dials,” activating works (current and historical, well-known and unknown) by artists including Antonin Artaud, John Cage and László Moholy-Nagy through to Michaela Mélian, Milo Rau and Natascha Sadr Haghighian. The installation was designed by the artist, architect and musician Cevdet Erek and realized by Meso Digital Interiors. The resulting interplay of sound and space is both technically sophisticated and aesthetically striking, giving visitors an immersive experience of the world of radio. In the second part of the exhibition, diverse aspects of the theme of radio will be discussed in 14 themed weeks, offering visitors a chance to engage and experiment actively with this fascinating medium.

Over the hundred years since its emergence, the radio medium has been explored by musicians, composers, writers, philosophers and fine artists (and many others who do not fit into such categories). They have examined the production of programs, ways of recording, transmitting and receiving, and the possibilities for recording broadcasts. In the first exhibition of its kind, Radiophonic Spaces brings together more than 200 pieces for radio from around the world with the aim of documenting this sustained engagement with the medium by artists of all fields, and allowing visitors to hear it. Unforgettable broadcasts that existed only in obscure archives can be experienced afresh, presenting the history of a medium whose rootedness in actuality means it gives a picture of the century of its existence. The major disasters of the last hundred years are revisited here, as are the great technical and social achievements of the period—to current positions such as Documenta Radio (2017). The “sonic journey” combines artistic approaches to radio art and broadcasting with a scholarly project led by the research group on experimental radio at the Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar. The results of this creative interplay unfold in an immersive journey featuring some 200 gems of international radio art. Historical and contemporary works are related to one another: from Antonin Artaud, John Cage and László Moholy-Nagy through to Michaela Mélian, Milo Rau and Natascha Sadr Haghighian. With the help of a headphone system, visitors gain access to individual works of radio art, triggered by their movements. In a space designed in cooperation with the artist, architect and musician Cevdet Erek and realized by Meso Digital Interiors, visitors immerse themselves acoustically in this art form. This experience resembles the reality of using an actual FM radio: looking for channels until a voice, a piece of music or a sequence of sounds prompts the listener to stay a while longer, or at least to note the frequency so as to be to return to the channel and the voice later. The range of channels on offer is confusing, overwhelming, sometimes too much, but it reflects both the sprawling variety that characterizes the medium and the possibility to decide quickly what to listen to.”

https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2018/10/radiophonic-spaces-museum-tinguely/

https://www.tinguely.ch/en/ausstellungen/ausstellungen/2018/radiophonic-spaces.html

Many thanks for the tip, Justin!

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