Monthly Archives: May 2024

Raddy RF-919: First New Portable to Feature Recording?

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

SWLing Post readers have no doubt seen the appearance of the Raddy RF-919, which is manufactured by Hanrongda in China. I have generally not been impressed by some receivers from this company, notably the HRD-747/757 and the reviews seem to support this.

However, from first appearances the RF-919 may be an exception. I am expecting a RF-919 soon, but one of the more recent reviews was by the very popular YouTuber NotaRubicon, and I was surprised to see that according to this review, the RF-919 actually is capable of recording to microSD.

Indeed, when checking the manual available online (Section 8.3) this feature is confirmed. This is an extraordinary development in the portable receiver market and it makes one wonder again why other manufacturers chose not to add this feature. Though we are lacking information about production decisions, it does seem like Tecsun in particular, with its otherwise excellent 990/501 portables, could have implemented recording to microSD.

As of the time I am writing this, there seems to have been surprisingly little discussion by those who have obtained a RF-919 about the recording feature, but I expect there to be more about this when users discover it. As for performance, I hope to have my 919 in hand in coming days and will review it for SWLing. From observing initial user videos, this radio is packed with some impressive features and coverage.

Thank you, Dan! I look forward to checking out the recording function. It would, indeed, be wonderful to finally have a capable portable with proper built-in recording.

Radioddity Discount: In the spirit of full transparency, Radioddity is a sponsor of the SWLing Post and they also offer us an affiliate code and link that will save you $15 off the purchase of an RF-919. Click here to save $15 off your purchase at Radioditty.

In addition, the RF-919 is also available on Amazon.com (affiliate link).

If you’ve purchased an RF-919 and would like to share your review, please let us know in the comments!

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Dan’s digital archive of QSL Cards

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who writes:

Hi Thomas

In addition to digitizing many of my old SW and BCB audio files, I have begun setting up some of my QSL galleries on the internet archive in order to help preserve radio history. I am sending along a few links that perhaps old timers and newcomers alike might find of interest.

SWBC stations (sorry, only scanned one side so far)

https://archive.org/details/radio-tampa-tokyo-japan-1987

Utility stations

https://archive.org/details/zhh-st.-helena-inside-view

Time signal stations

https://archive.org/details/vng-australia-1971

BCB stations (mostly my own except for a few very old historic ones that I bought from eBay)

https://archive.org/details/ckoc-hamilton-on-1983

Small Sample from Dan’s QSL Collection:

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Do not adjust your set

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FastRadioBurst 23 here letting you know of our shortwave outings this week. On Sunday 5th May 2024 at 0900/1300 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then at 2000 UTC on 6160 kHz and 3975 kHz we have a show called Test Cards on Radio which is beamed to Europe via Shortwave Gold.

This show is a must for fans of test cards and TV trade test transmissions alike and will feature all kinds of frequency tones for screen calibration purposes, an exclusive interview with Stooky Bill (*subject to availability) and test card related music from around the world. So rotate your rooftop antenna, adjust your brightness and vertical hold and tune in on Sunday.

Our second show is a special WRMI edition of Test Cards on Radio (2) on our new day of Wednesday 8th May 2024 at 0200 UTC on 9395 kHz. We’re talking more test card musical classics and the worldwide exclusive play of the debut single from the band Horizontal Polarization called “Take me back to the good old days of 525 line Television” (*subject to availability). It’ll be an exciting show so tune in. If you want to know more about both shows and see some great test cards see the trailer below.

For more information on all our shows please email [email protected] and check out our Mixcloud page here.

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Frans puts his new KiwiSDR2 on the air and online

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frans Goddijn, who writes:

Dear Thomas,

Last week I bought & installed the new KiwiSDR receiver and shared it on the web so anyone can use my setup.

I posted a blog about it:

https://kostverlorenvaart.blogspot.com/2024/04/kiwisdr2-radio.html

Excellent, Frans! Thanks for sharing!

Readers, you can check out and use Frans’ KiwiSDR 2 online by clicking here. As you can see in the photos above, he is in an urban area and uses indoor loop antennas.

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