Monthly Archives: December 2021

Guest Post: An Introduction to DXing the MF Marine Bands

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Don Moore–author of Following Ghosts in Northern Peru–for the following guest post:

Monitoring the MF Marine Bands

By Don Moore

For me, DXing has always been about the challenge of receiving difficult-to-hear radio stations, regardless of the type of station or frequency range. In my five decades in the radio hobby I’ve logged a lot of different kinds of stations – shortwave broadcast, medium wave, shortwave utility, longwave beacons, etc. But some of my favorite catches have been in the upper end of the medium frequency range.

Technically speaking, medium frequency (MF) is the range from 300 to 3000 kHz and includes the standard medium wave (AM) broadcast band. The upper end of the MF band, from 1600 to 3000 kHz (except for a small portion reserved for amateur radio), has always been assigned to various types of utility uses including broadcasts and other voice communications from regional maritime stations. And while digital modes and satellites have done a lot to change the nature of communication with ships at sea, there is still a lot of good human-voice DX to be heard.

Several dozen stations, mostly in Europe and North America, broadcast regularly scheduled marine information broadcasts in the MF range. These broadcasts are usually between five to ten minutes in length and include weather forecasts, navigational warnings, and other notices to keep ships at sea safe. On occasion it’s possible to hear two-way voice communication here between ships and shore stations, although that’s much less common today.

The Equipment

Nothing special is needed to DX the marine MF band other than a receiver that covers the frequency range and can receive USB mode (which all these broadcasts are in). However, for reasons explained below, I highly recommend using an SDR to make spectrum recordings of the entire band to go through later. Continue reading →

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Ulrich seeks advice with Tecsun PL-365/PL-368 ferrite bar issues

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ulrich Ruch, who writes:

Hi Thomas

Wondering if you’ve heard of similar experiences: since receipt on 4th
November I have been using the new gadget (Firmware 3684E) almost daily
until yesterday when the ferrite bar antenna suddenly did not work any
longer. I became aware of the fault when I put the rod into the antenna
jack noticing that the field strength reading drops to zero so that the
radio becomes deaf!

I somehow suspect that the fault lies in the socket. As a matter of
fact, I had/have the same problem with the old 365 with its green design
ferrite rod. What seems rather odd to me however, is the fact that if I
plug in an external active antenna (Wellbrook, Bonito, RF Systems
DX-one) both units work properly, furthermore, the 368 ferrite bar
miraculously works on the 365 whereas the 365 rod doesn’t on either
model!? So, with the best of will, I cannot blame the socket for sure –
or is it that the rod-plugs are too thin to give proper contact – I
don’t know.

Since I was unable to find any pertaining findings in the net, I do hope
that you may have further information from your worldwide reader feedbacks!?

SWLing Post readers: If you have experienced this same issue or can diagnose what might be happening with Ulrich’s PL-365 and PL-368, please comment!

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Radio Waves: Pocket SSB Transceiver, Radio On The Bay Event, New Book on History of Spaceweather, and PSK31 on 437 MHz from the Moon

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The uSDX/uSDR QRP transceiver (Chinese version)

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Ham Radio SSB Transceiver Fits in Pocket (Hackaday)

Talking about this Chinese ham radio transceiver requires a veritable flurry of acronyms: HF, SSB, QRP, and SDR to start with. [Paul] does a nice job of unboxing the rig and checking it out. The radio is a clone of a German project and provides a low-power radio with a rechargeable battery. You can see his video about the gear below.

SSB is an odd choice for low power operation, although we wonder if you couldn’t feed digital data in using a mode like PSK31 that has good performance at low power. There are several variations of the radio available and they cost generally less than $200 — sometimes quite a bit less.

There isn’t much on the front of the radio. There are a few buttons, a rotary encoder, and an LCD along with a speaker and microphone built-in. There are ports for power to run the radio if you want to not use the battery and a separate port for battery charging. There are also ports for a key, external microphone and speakers, and audio connections that look like they’d work for digital modes. According to commenters, the radio doesn’t have an internal charging circuit, so you have to be careful what you plug into the charging port. [Continue reading…]

(SIDE NOTE: I have been testing one of the USDX / USDR transceivers (a Chinese version–not the open source homebrew project) over at QRPer.com and have been very displeased with performance. So much so, I returned it for a refund. One of the biggest issues being spurious emissions that were produced in harmonics, but also the receiver is one of the worst I’ve ever tested. -Thomas) Continue reading →

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Marwan admires his cousin’s Crosley receiver/phonograph console

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

Happy Holidays Thomas And To All Subscribers To SWLing Post Website!

Last October I visited a relative in California. My cousin Imad is into collecting various antiques items. One of the items that welcomed us at front door and that caught my eyes is this old radio turntable combo system. With his permission I took a few photos and I told him I liked to share it with other SWLing Post subscribers. It looks like it is a shortwave radio made by Crosley. It had various European and Asian cities preset on the dial as well as Police.

I hope someone has owned one of these in the past and can share memories of it.

Cheers, And Happy Holidays!!

Marwan

Happy Holidays to you too, Marwan! What a beautiful console radio! I’m willing to best some here int he SWLing Post community know this very model! Thank you for sharing!

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Carlos’ Shortwave Art and Recording of Dimtse Wegahta

Alan Roe’s 2021 Guide to Holiday Programming on Shortwave!

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares the following note and PDF:

I have been collating a list of programming on shortwave over the forthcoming holiday period, covering Saturday 18 December 2021 to 2 January 2022.

The programmes listed are not necessarily seasonal. Here is the first edition of this compilation, which will be updated and redistributed if and when more information becomes available.

Regular weekly music programming, where no special advance programme information has been provided, are not included in this list, but please refer to my Music on Shortwave list already uploaded to the files section.
I hope that you find it useful.

Additions and corrections are most welcome to [email protected]

Best wishes for Christmas and a Happy New Year
Alan Roe, Teddington, UK

Click here to download this guide as a PDF (updated December 22, 2021).

Thank you so much for sharing this, Alan! So many great choices over the holidays!

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CTRN Returns Monday, December 20, 2021

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fastradioburst23, who shares the flier above and notes that CTRN will return for a 5th broadcast on December 20, 2021 at 00:00 UTC via WRMI on 9395 kHz.

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