Author Archives: Thomas

Richard sheds light on Cold War clandestine Radio Vltava

Many thanks to Richard Cummings of the website, Cold War Radio Vignettes, who writes:

I am putting together a series of blog posts about Radio Free Europe and Czechoslovakia, 1968.

In doing so so, I came across a clandestine radio station called Radio Vltava that broadcast
from East Germany into Czechoslovakia in support of the Soviet invasion and occupation.
There is little coverage in English about Radio Vltava but some information in German and Czech.

I also was able to come up with an audio of one of the first broadcasts as the station signed on.

I thought, and perhaps others, might find the blog interesting.

Click here to view this post.

Of course, if you (or others) see a need for corrections in the blog post, or have comments, please let me know.

Fascinating, Richard! Thank you for sharing–I really enjoyed the off-air recording of the Radio Vltava sign-on and interval signal.

Inside Radio: “Sale of Border Station Raises Chinese Propaganda Worry”

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(Source: Inside Radio via Dennis Dura)

The proposed sale of an AM station along the Mexico-U.S. border to a group of Chinese investors has stoked fears that the 50,000-watt station will be used to infiltrate the U.S. with Chinese propaganda. Spanish news-talk “W-Radio 690” XEWW (690), which blankets Southern California from Tijuana, is being sold by Mexican broadcaster GLR to Chinese investment group H&H Group USA, owned by Vivian Huo, a U.S. citizen who runs the investment firm H&H Capital Partners.[…]

Click here to read the full article.

WAGM features WBCQ’s multi-million dollar shortwave station installation

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(Source: Ampegon)

(Source: WAGM via Richard Cuff)

MONTICELLO, Maine – The town of Monticello will soon be home to one of the largest short wave radio stations in the world, according to those involved. In this week’s Aroostook 2020, Newssource 8’s Ashley Blackford finds out what this major project could mean for the area.

Click here to view this video at WAGM.

Click here for archived posts about WBCQ.

[Note: the embedded video function with WAGM does not seem to be functioning properly–click here to view at WAGM.]

Bill tweaks his AM loop antenna for optimal mediumwave performance

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD), who writes with the following update to his previous post:

As you may remember, back in May, I picked up a beautiful home-made loop antenna. It was 25 inches on a side with 23 turns of wire. My initial testing showed that it would tune from 280 kHz to 880 kHz. While I was familiar with loop antennas, I had never tried using one.

My initial tests were disappointing. So I spent some time on the internet reviewing AM loop antenna designs. I came across a reference to an AM Loop Antenna Calculator by Bruce Carter:

http://www.earmark.net/gesr/loop/umr_emc_calc.htm

I first measured the tuning capacitor and found that it tuned from 25 to 400 pF. Entering the data into the calculator:

This matches closely to what I was experiencing.

I then proceeded to calculate various Number of Turns to see the effect on tuning range. My goal was to tune the entire AM broadcast band.

I settled on ten turns which gives the following from the calculator:

Perfect. I removed 13 turns (which left ten turns) and then added a two turn secondary loop which would be connected to the radio. The results were fantastic.

I have created three short videos showing the difference between using the Tecsun S-8800 without the loop on a weak station and then using it with the loop.

[Note: If you’re viewing this post via our email newsletter you might need to view this post via a web browser to see the following embedded videos.]

Without the loop

With Loop

As you can hear, a very noticeable difference.

[After making these videos] I tested the of reception of 1510 kHz on the Panasonic RF-2200:

The results are amazing.

I have logged three stations on one frequency. Just peak the one station, then tune the loop and peak the second, then turn the loop some more and peak a third station.

I’m having a lot of fun with the loop. When it gets a little cooler, I plan to take it to the park where there is zero noise and really put it through its paces.

Excellent job, Bill! You’ve proven that doing a little research and making small adjustments to an antenna design can yield impressive results! Thank you for sharing!