Our friend and contributor here on the SWLing Post and the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, Paul Walker, has been interviewed and featured on the ABC Newcastle program Drive with Paul Turton. It’s a great segment! (Congrats, Paul!)
I’ve embedded the audio from this segment below, but you can also listen via the ABC Newcastle website:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark (AE2EA) with the AWA, who writes:
Your loyal followers might be interested in this video of airchecks
recorded on aluminum discs in England of US broadcast stations in late
1933, from the Antique Wireless Museum.
From the AWA description:
These audio clips were recorded on aluminum discs using more of an embossing than cutting action. Reading an AWA Facebook post that the AWA doesn’t have the equipment or experience to digitize the very fragile audio information on these discs, [email protected] volunteered to do so. He did a great job is highly recommended for your consideration as a service for archival digitization and restoration.
The discs were in Peter R. Testan’s collection because they included recordings of station WBBC in Brooklyn, NY that his dad, Peter J, started. As well as being a broadcast owner and engineer, Peter J. Testan was also a ham operator. Pictures of his ham shack were featured in a recent issue of the AWA Journal.
While the calls are identifiable, the other programming in these recordings is difficult to listen to. The Creative Director of a New York City radio station remarked after listening: “”It’s so funny because I have DXers sending me EXACTLY the same quality audio as on these discs. Nothing has changed in nearly 100 years!!!”
The audio quality in this video has been enhanced from the original aluminum disc recordings through the use of bandpass filtering, noise reduction and compression, with the goal of removing some of the artifacts of the recording process.
The Wikipedia entry for aluminum discs is pretty succinct: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_disc
If you enjoyed this video, consider becoming a member of the Antique Wireless Association at https://antiquewireless.org/homepage/membership/
Absolutely mazing! Thank you so much for sharing this, Mark!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Charlie (W4MEC), who shares a PDF of the 1940 Sears Roebuck Co. catalog section featuring a wide array of radio gear and test equipment.
This file is hosted on the Pro Audio Design forum and can be downloaded as a PDF (15.8 MB) by clicking here.
It’s a real nostalgia trip reading through the fine Hallicrafters, Hammarlund and National HRO descriptions. Thanks so much for sharing this, Charlie!
Our friends over at the SolderSmoke Daily News recently posted this fun piece from a January 1921 issue of Radio News:
This is great! I’ve often thought a proper ground needed daily watering. And we know it must work: Mars is some serious DX! Professor Nutty T. Wyrlus was way ahead of his time.
Click here to check out the original post at the SolderSmoke Daily News.
From the Isle of Music, March 21-27:
This week our special guests are Yasser Eden and Carlos Scott Hernandez, leaders of Zona Franka, which has just released an exciting new album, Se llama sabroso, that mixes changüi with urban Cuban music. One of the songs features Omara Portuondo as guest vocalist.
Also: a new single by Havana d’Primera and other good things.
The broadcasts take place:
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 Sofia, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 on WBCQ (NEW UTC), 7490 kHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EST in the US).
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1300-1400 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 kHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
Our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/fromtheisleofmusic/
Our V-Kontakte page is https://vk.com/fromtheisleofmusic
Our Patreon page is https://www.patreon.com/tilford
Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, March 21-27:
In episode 209, we present an international tribute to the arrival of Spring.
The transmissions take place:
1.Sunday 2200-2300 (NEW UTC) (6:00PM -7:00PM EST) on WBCQ The Planet 7490 kHz from the US to the Americas and parts of Europe
2. Tuesday 2000-2100 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 kHz from Rohrbach, Germany for Europe.
3. Saturday 0800-0900 UTC on Channel 292, 9670 kHz from Rohrbach, Germany for Europe with a directional booster aimed eastward.
Our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/UncleBillsMeltingPot/
Our V-Kontakte page is https://vk.com/fromtheisleofmusic
Our Patreon page is https://www.patreon.com/tilford
I’m a child of the 1970s and I’m glad I never knew about the Sony FX-300 “Jackal 300.” It would have been the ultimate unobtainable machine of my dreams…this, even despite the lack of shortwave.
I was browsing eBay yesterday when I saw one of these pop up in the search results.
Somehow, this radio made it past my RADAR. How? I’m guessing it’s because this model was primarily sold in Japan–?
The FX-300 sports:
Other than the Panny RF-2200, I’m not sure if a radio could possibly satisfy more of my design cravings. Here are a few images I’ve unashamedly swiped from eBay:
What a Holy Grail machine, indeed! I love the tactile mechanical switches, analog dials, speaker grills, selection switches, and even (especially) the metal stand off bar at the top to protect those brilliant cassette controls.
I’m very curious if any SWLing Post readers have ever owned (or still own) a Sony FX-300. (Kei Niigata, I’ll be terribly disappointed if I learn you’ve never owned one!)
Please comment!
AO-7 (Credit: AMSAT.org)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Brandt, who shares this excellent video featuring the amazing Jean Shepherd (K2ORS):