Author Archives: Thomas

Hungary conducts low-power DRM tests

Budapest, Hungary (Photo by @DNovac)

(Source: Radio World via Michael Bird)

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Digital Radio Mondiale transmissions began from Budapest, Hungary, last June. Although two Hungarian broadcasters previously tested DRM on medium wave, the transmissions are the country’s first DRM trials on shortwave.

The Department of Broadcast Info-Communications and Electronic Theory at the Budapest University of Technology is conducting these latest trials. Csaba Szombathy, head of the broadcasting laboratory, is also head of the project, which will last for at least 12 months.

While the 11-meter 26,060 kHz frequency is well known for use in local broadcasting, it’s rarely implemented for international broadcasting. […] Researchers have also performed tests in this frequency to measure coverage and determine optimal mode and bandwidth on various occasions in Mexico and Brazil. The new Hungarian trials will add to this research.

Szombathy initially operated the transmitter with just 10 W of power into a 5/8-inch vertical monopole. Radio Maria, a Catholic station, is providing a 25-hour program loop, while a Dream DRM software-based encoder broadcasts the signal using AAC encoding. In spite of the low power, the program was reportedly received in the Netherlands.

In early September, Szombathy moved the antenna and transmitter to a slightly different location to improve coverage. He increased the power to 100 W.[…]

Click here to read the full article at Radio World.

Radio Deal: HRO Black Friday sale Yaesu FT-891 $589.95

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Robert Gulley (K4PKM), who notes that HRO’s Black Friday sale also features one of his favorite full-featured mobile HF rigs: the Yaesu FT-891 for $589.95.

Click here to view this deal at Ham Radio Outlet.

Check out all of our holiday sales tips by bookmarking the tag Black Friday Radios 2019.

Do you have a deal tip? Please share them via email, or simply leave a comment!

Radio Deal: HRO 2019 Black Friday sale Icom IC-7300 $899.95 after rebates

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans (W4/VP9KF), who notes that HRO’s Black Friday sale features the Icom IC-7300 for $899.95 after rebates. That’s the lowest price I’ve seen on the IC-7300! Thanks for the tip, Paul!

Click here to view this deal at Ham Radio Outlet.

Check out all of our holiday sales tips by bookmarking the tag Black Friday Radios 2019.

Do you have a deal tip? Please share them via email, or simply leave a comment!

Radio Deal: Retekess V115 $14.00 shipped on Amazon

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After looking at the Eton Elite Mini sale Christian shared, I discovered that the Retekess V115 is currently $14.00 shipped on Amazon “for a limited time.”

Click here to read our previous reviews of this radio. The V-115 makes for a great portable broadcast receiver/recorder and has very pleasant audio–certainly a benchmark performer in the sub $25 category. It’s a great little backup radio to keep in the car glove compartment or go-bag. This is the lowest prices for the V-115 I’ve ever seen. This receiver typically floats around the $23-25 range.

Click here to view on Amazon.com (affiliate link supports the SWLing Post).

Check out all of our holiday sales tips by bookmarking the tag Black Friday Radios 2019.

Do you have a deal tip? Please share them via email, or simply leave a comment!

Radio Deal: Eton Elite Mini $19.99 shipped

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

Thomas: the new Eton Elite Mini is on sale for $19.99 plus free shipping from Amazon.com. This is the latest in Eton’s series of “mini” radios. If you’re looking for a nice stocking stuffer radio, this is a great one! If you already own a previous mini I wouldn’t bother buying because I feel like this might just be an updated body design. Internals are probably the same. Still while the Elite Mini is on sale, it’s actually cheaper than the discounted previous version which is currently $21.

Click here to view on Amazon (affiliate link supports the SWLing Post).

Thanks for the tip, Christian!

Radio Deal: AirSpy 30% off Black Friday Sale

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The AirSpy HF+ SDR

Just discovered through the AirSpy Twitter account that they’re offering 30% off all of their products via their authorized retail outlets.

This morning, I posted an article featuring their $169 HF+ Discovery. Another AirSpy SDR I highly recommend is the $199 HF+ SDR. This deal would give you 30% off those prices.

According to AirSpy, the coupon code AWARDWINNING2019 will be activated “within a few hours.” I believe this might mean at midnight UTC because they had mentioned a November 26th activation date. Although the sale extends until December 2, 2019, AirSpy states that supplies are limited.

If you’ve been considering an AirSpy product, now would be a good time to grab one!

Click here for a list of participating retailers in your region.

Note that we’re posting all of the holiday radio deals we discover with the tag: Black Friday Radios 2019

Coastal DXing with the AirSpy HF+ Discovery and a homebrew passive loop antenna

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Last week, we packed the car and headed to coast of South Carolina.

The trip was a bit impromptu but through the creative use of hotel points, we scored a two bedroom ocean front unit with a fantastic little balcony.

The vacation gave me an excuse to test the new passive loop antenna my buddy Vlado (N3CZ) helped me build recently.

The loop design came from AirSpy’s engineer and president, Youssef Touil.

This passive mag loop takes advantage of the new AirSpy HF+ Discovery‘s exceptionally high dynamic range. Youssef had reported impressive results, so I had to build one.

Vlado had a length of Wireman Flexi 4XL that was ideal for this project. The only tricky part was penetrating the shielding and dielectric core at the bottom of the loop, then tapping into both sides of the center conductor for the balun connections. Being Vlado, he used several lengths of heat shrink tubing to make a nice, clean and snag-free design.

The results were truly exceptional. I spent most of my time on mediumwave from the hotel balcony because I was determined to catch a transatlantic signal.

Check out the spectrum display from my Microsoft Surface Go tablet:

Our ocean front hotel was inundated with noise, but I still managed to null out most of it and maximize reception using the passive loop. I simply suspended the loop on the balcony rocking chair–not ideal, but effective and low-profile.

Want to take a test drive?

If you’d like to experience this portable SDR setup, why not tune through one of the spectrum recordings I made?

Click here to download the spectrum file [1.7GB .wav].

The recording was made on November 17, 2019 starting around 01:55 UTC–I chose it at random and have yet to listen to it myself. You’ll need to open this file in AirSpy’s application SDR# or a third party SDR app that can read AirSpy .wav files.

Stay tuned…

I’m writing an in-depth report of the HF+ Discovery, my experiments with this setup and AirSpy’s soon-to-be-released passive loop antenna for the January 2020 issue The Spectrum Monitor magazine. Spoiler alert: I am truly impressed with the wee little AirSpy HF+ Discovery. It’s a powerhouse!