Author Archives: Thomas

Disabling transmit on the Icom IC-7300 or Kenwood TS-590 series transceivers?

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Muthu, who writes with the following inquiry after reading our Xiegu G90 review:

Very nice review. I have a question.

I’m preparing for a restricted ham license in Hong Kong and may try transmitting for a couple of months. However, in the long run I plan to use the rig just as a receiver mainly for shortwave broadcast listening once I return back to India next year.

I’m considering Icom IC-7300 or an almost new Kenwood TS 590-S[…].

You said that there is no way to completely disable the transmitter on the Xiegu G90. Is there a way to completely disable transmit on the Icom IC-7300 or Kenwood TS-590?

Thank you for your question, Muthu. My hope is that SWLing Post readers who own the IC-7300 and/or TS-590 series transceivers can confirm.

I only had the IC-7300 on loan a few weeks during my evaluation/review period. While I feel like I recall the ability to disable transmit (or perhaps lower the output power to 0 watts), I’m not sure if that also applies to the internal ATU. I have no clue if this is possible with the TS-590S as I’ve never spent meaningful time with this fine transceiver.

Post readers: If you own either of these transceivers and can you confirm if transmit can be disabled on the IC-7300 or TS-590? Please feel free to comment!

Mission RGO One Firmware update (2.10b) and pre-order form

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A number of SWLing Post readers have been asking about the pricing and availability of the Mission RGO One transceiver.

RGO One designer, Boris (LZ2JR), has informed me that he’s published a new pre-order form available via the following link. The form specifies all options and pricing and applies to a third production run of the radio:

Click here to view the Mission RGO One pre-order form.

They’ve also announced firmware version 2.10b which improves ATU performance and addresses a number of other tweaks and user requests. Click here to read details and download the update.

Note that my full review of the Mission RGO transceiver is scheduled to publish in the November 2020 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine.

I took the RGO One on another Parks On The Air activation yesterday. Look for a post about it soon!

Paul Walker to speak about DXing in remote Alaska

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who writes:

I’ve been asked by a ham radio club to do a presentation on DXing in rural central Alaska. I spent about 16 months in Galena, back in 2016 and 2017 while working as the program director for a public/community radio station.

It was a very unique situation with some special considerations one might not have to deal with elsewhere. I spent a lot of time and money experimenting there and had some pretty amazing results.

I will also briefly discuss what it was like as a radio broadcaster in Alaska and the technical challenges we faced in the course of doing business every day.

The presentation will be done using the Zoom smartphone app and website. You don’t need to have or enable the camera on your phone or computer to participate and there will also be options to simply dial in and listen by phone as well for those who don’t want to use the computer or have a smart phone.

The presentation will be on Friday October 30th at 8pm eastern time. Pre registration is required but its very simple and easy. I’d love to have you there. Please spread the word to any ham clubs, dxing clubs, email lists, facebook groups or messages boards.

Register in advance for the meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItcuGhpz8tEtHwAmriwdCX7Sv-coWdSNt2

Longtime Post readers might recall Paul’s photos and recordings from Galena, Alaska–click here to read through the archives.

Anon-Co publishes pricing and availability of Tecsun PL-990x packages

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Anon-Co has just posted pricing and availability of the Tecsun PL-990x:

The PL-990x package like the pre-production unit I received costs $235 US shipped free via the postal service or via FedEx for an additional $9.00.

This package includes the Tecsun PL-990x, Tecsun EP-20 stereo earphones, 16GB microSD card, Tecsun AN-03L wire antenna, protective carrying pouch, charging cable, USB wall charger, radio amateur world map, and an English manual.

Click here to view the product page.

In October, Anon-Co will also start shipping a PL-990x package that comes in a hardcover case and an ICR-100 recorder. This version will be $283.00 US.

Win an MFJ-8100K shortwave receiver kit!

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After posting Ron’s note about the MFK-8100K receiver kit, I touched base with MFJ and they have kindly donated a new 8100K kit to us for an SWLing Post giveaway. Thanks, MFJ!

This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere. MFJ will ship it directly to you if there are no Covid-19 shipping restrictions to your country.

Here’s how to enter the giveaway…

Simply comment on this post and tell us about your favorite kit that you’ve built. This can be your first kit, your last kit, or anything in between. Don’t just give us a model name, tell us what made it a fun or special project.

If you’ve never built a kit, but are eager to do so, tell us why you would like to build the MFJ-8100K! Do you have a soldering iron?

We simply want to make sure a kit builder or want-to-be kit builder gets this prize! We’d even invite you to share a short post about building the MFJ-8100 (no obligation–only if you wish).

Details

We will pick a winner at random from the valid comments in this post on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 16:00 UTC.

This means you must enter a valid email address in the appropriate comments field (not within the comment text itself) so that we can contact you.

Of course, the SWLing Post doesn’t sell or share emails–never have, never will–this is only so we can contact you to obtain your shipping address if you win. Feel free to use a throw-away email address if you wish.

This is all about taking us on a great kit-building nostalgia trip, so have fun!

Click here to comment with your kit story and enter the giveaway.

Many thanks again to MFJ Enterprises for sponsoring this contest!

SDR# upgrades include device sharing and spectrum slicing

The ELAD FDM-S3 is in production and shipping to distributors!

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(Source: Elad USA)

Elad USA Inc.
618 Cummings Chapel Road
Ridgeville, SC 29472 sales@elad-usa.com or call 312-320-8160 (10am-6pm)

PRESS RELEASE

Elad S.R.L. Italy and Elad USA Inc.

Elad are pleased to announce the ELAD FDM-S3 is now in production and shipping to distributors world-wide.

The ELAD FDM-S3 is a 16bit state of the art Software Defined Radio, for radio enthusiasts, shortwave listeners and radio hobbyists and test labs. The S3 contains several exciting options. It will allow for reception of up to 24Mhz of bandwidth across the frequency range of 9kHz to 108Mhz as standard. (Extended range from 9Khz- 2Ghz will be available later in the year with an optional internal downconverter.)

Oscillator features:

Standard Oscillator version with TCXO 0.1ppm lockable to GPS (included) need only GPS antenna

Optional Oscillator OCXO with less phase noise and accuracy lockable to GPS. Includes GPS Antenna.

The radio can be used with Elad’s famous SW-2 software or third-party software, like SDR- Console from Simon Brown.

The radio has Bias-T power on two of the three antenna ports, one for HF and one for VHF to enable items like powered LNA/Filters

Connects to PC via USB3.0 cable (supplied) and GPS can also be interrogated via UBlox software.

The radio is in production now and shipping, pre-order for USA/Canada via https://shop.elad-usa.com/sdr-radio/
or in the UK via Martin Lynch https://www.hamradio.co.uk/
or Germany via http://www.wimo.com/
or direct from the Elad Factory http://www.eladit.com
For Release 09/14/2020