Monthly Archives: January 2019

Inside the HanRongDa HDR-737 wide frequency receiver

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

I bought an HRD-737 a few weeks ago off AliExpress. Was going to write a review but now feel there is no point because it has so many major and minor problems beyond those already reported.

Decided to take mine apart. The photo is attached.

Click to enlarge.

It appears to me that the HRD-737 could be the first attempt at an SDR-based pocket sized receiver. Wondering if you or someone the experts at SWLing Post can offer any insight in this regard. Identifying marks on the ICs have been removed. The metal can in the middle could be a wideband programable oscillator of some kind?

Thank you for sharing, Nad!

Readers: can you shed some light on the HDR-737 receiver design based on this internal photo? Please comment!

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Former RCI Sackville transmitter site’s “slow transformation”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who writes:

[Here’s] an interesting article about former RCI transmitter site (Sackville):

Former RCI transmitter site – slow transformation
By Marc Montgomery

The former RCI transmitter site near Sackville New Brunswick, sold to a First Nations group, is now in the process of being absorbed into native reserve land and some as yet undetermined use.

During the Second World War as Canada was working towards creating a shortwave service, an ideal site for the transmission of radio signals was found in New Brunswick. Located on the Tantramar marshes, it was ideal ground for propagation of signals from the complex array of antenna wires and towers.

The service was ended over six decades later as a result of severe budget cuts in 2012. The site was later purchased by Mi’kmaq First Nations in 2017 and plans are slowly taking shape to transform the 90 acre site into reserve land. That process involves consultations with neighbouring municipalities, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the New Brunswick provincial government and other indigenous communities. It’s expected to take two years, during which time the Mi’kmaq will decide the use for the land, whether cultural or economic or a combination.[…]

Click here to read the full article and view photos at RCI.

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Robert discovers radio station lucite artifacts

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Robert Yowell, who writes:

I walked into an awesome store today in Manhattan which specializes in vintage radios and ephemera. He had these two small lucite paperweights which I bought – one from KDKA the other from WOWO – two historic AM stations. The WOWO one contains a piece of the “world famous fire escape” [see above] which was from the original studio building on Washington Blvd in Ft Wayne Indiana.

The other lucite is a mystery that I hope your readers might help with. It was issued in 1995 for the 75th anniversary of KDKA. It appears to be a silver disc sandwiched with something orange colored in the center. Could it be from the transmitter site? I have attached photos here.

Thanks so much for maintaining such a great Blog site for SWL and other radio listeners ! I hope someone out there can help with my question – thank you!

A few hours later, Robert wrote this follow-up message:

Thomas – I just found the answer to my question. I now own a piece of the original KDKA transmitter tower!

http://www.antiqueradio.com/KDKA_3-96.html

What a great piece of history you have there, Robert. Both WOWO and KDKA are legendary! Thanks for sharing!

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Cap spots an Icom and Yaesu in Netflix Sci-Fi film IO

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Cap Tux, who spotted two ham radio rigs in IO. Cap notes:

ICOM IC-740, Yaesu FT-901DM and Shortwave make an appearance in Netflix Sci-Fi film IO:
Mentions “transmitting on frequency 9043kHz and listening on frequency 9560kHz daily, that’s the 31m band”.

https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80134721

Thanks for sharing, Cap! I’ll add this post to our ever growing archive of radios in film!

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Balázs spots a wide variety of radios in film

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who shares the following radio sightings and notes:

The Priest’s rig from the last episode of “The Walking Dead“

A Yaesu in “Jurassic World – Fallen Kingdom“

Some emergency/weather radios in the “The Darkest Minds“

The Last Ship S05E01
After a cyber attack a backup comm solution for the US Navy.

Night of the Living Dead (1968/1990)
In the original a radio broadcast was the first information source, in the remake only a small one was used at the end.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
In a remote shack.

+1: The “Álmodozások kora” (Age of Illusions (US) / The Age of Daydreaming (Int)) was the first (Hungarian) feature film of the director István Szabó (winner of an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1981 (Mephisto), English language films: Meeting Venus (1991), Sunshine (1999), Taking Sides (2001), the Oscar nominated Being Julia (2004) and The Door (2012)) in 1965 about a group of young electrical engineers. Two scenes from it about the radios, unfortunately I found the hungarian speaking version only online, but I think maybe it can be still interesting: https://ok.ru/video/228250552961

33:58-35: A custom rig receiving 4 european stations (Paris, London, Rome, Prague) on different speakers at the same time

1:05:43-1:07:20: “How radio works” animation

(and there was a short scene also where they talk about the The Pioneer Railway and how they learned the morse code there)

I found another (splited) version of the movie now with english subtitles, the new links and timings:

https://ok.ru/video/904027376280
33:58-35:28: A custom rig receiving 4 European stations (Paris, London, Rome, Prague) on different speakers at the same time

https://ok.ru/video/904028097176
20:00-21:39 “How radio works” animation

The same actor (András Bálint) 13 years later have a short ham radio scene (new year greetings in english) in another movie (BUÉK, 1978). I checked the callsign from the wall (HA5FA) and probably it was already a real one, belongs to Jen? Matzon, active member of the radio amateur community (DXCC Honor Roll, etc.) now a Silent Key.

Wow! Many thanks for sharing all of these radio spots, Balazs! Funny thing is I remember so well those shots from Night of the Living Dead even though I likely watched it 40 years ago! I guess I never forget a Zenith!

Of course, I’ll add this post to our ever growing archive of radios in film!

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VORW Radio Int. Changes & Schedule for Early 2019

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Hello SWLing Post readers – I would like to provide an updated broadcast schedule for my radio program. A few changes have been made including resumption of broadcasts to Europe via Channel 292.

VORW Radio International is a light-entertainment program which consists of listener requested music of all genres and eras, as well as miscellaneous commentary on various topics.

Thursday 1000 UTC – 5950 kHz – To Mexico
Thursday 1000 UTC – 6070 kHz, 7440 kHz – To Western & Central Europe (New)
Thursday 2000 UTC – 7780 kHz – To Eastern North America
Thursday 2100 UTC – 7780 kHz – To North America and Europe (New)
Thursday 2300 UTC – 9955 kHz – To South America
Friday 0000 UTC – 7730 kHz – To Western North America
Friday 0100 UTC – 5850 kHz, 7780 kHz, 9395 kHz – To Europe and North America
Friday 0400 UTC – 7730 kHz – To Western North America
Friday 2200 UTC – 9955 kHz – To South America
Saturday 2300 UTC – 9395 kHz to North America
Sunday 0100 UTC – 4840 kHz – To North America
Sunday 2200 UTC – 7570 kHz – To North America

If you have the opportunity to hear my show on any of these frequencies, please send in a reception report and let me know how conditions are in your area! You can write to me at [email protected]

Happy Listening!

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