Author Archives: Thomas

M.I.T. Radio Society: Public lectures covering all aspects of radio

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jennifer Waits, who notes that The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Radio Society (W1MX) and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) are presenting a series of radio-related lectures covering a wide array of topics, “from the design of modern wireless communications systems and 5G, to software defined radio and satellite communications, to shortwave radio propagation, space weather, Radio Astronomy and more.”

The public lectures are announced here: http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns313.html 

All lectures are streamed live and archived on YouTube.

Jennifer notes that one of the most recent lectures focuses on shortwave radio and propagation:

Click here to watch on YouTube.

Click here to view the entire lecture playlist.

Thanks for the tip, Jennifer!

Tivdio V-115/Audiomax  SRW-710S: Keith approves of everything save battery performance

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Keith Stephens, who writes:

Regarding the Audiomax  SRW-710S  radio.

I was very pleasantly surprised at more than one aspect of this radio.  First, it sounds like something with a much larger speaker.  It has the base capability of at least a 6″ speaker.  My favorite FM music station comes from a mountaintop repeater over 70 miles away.  The 710S is one of two radios I have tried through the years that brings it in clear and clean.  The other is a much bigger more expensive radio.  And of course, the voice quality of the local AM talk shows is excellent.  I lost my instruction booklet (as usual) but I do want to record the FM station for times when I am out of range.

It is a pity that I have to tell of a bad shortcoming on this wonderful radio.  Alas, I couldn’t believe it the first time it died at the end of three hours.  I thought I had a bad battery, but a fully charged new battery only lasts 3 hours!  I would pay twice the price for the same radio if it had a better battery life.  Please let me know if there is a better battery or the same radio with a larger battery.

Thanks for your mini review, Keith! Admittedly, I’ve never tested the battery performance of this set because I typically use it for short (1 hour) recording sessions.

Click here to read other reviews of the Audiomax  SRW-710S/Tivdio V-115.

Retailers:

Silicon Chip: Building a AM/FM DAB+ tuner

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

[The January 2019 issue of the Australian Silicon Chip magazine] commences a series of construction articles on building your own DAB+/AM/FM receiver. Australia was the first country to start permanent high powered DAB+ broadcasting which was in Aug 2009.

It is now extensively used in Europe but in the UK there are only 4 program streams in DAB+ the rest are in DAB which uses a less efficient audio compression and poorer error correction for noise and reflected signals.

Click here to check out a preview of this article at Silicon Chip Online.

Thanks for the tip! Readers, please note that Silicon Chip requires a subscription or you must purchase the issue in order to read the full article.

Dave notes the Icom IC-735 makes an appearance in “Pole To Pole With Michael Palin”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who writes:

Now you just just had to talk about the Icom IC-735.

In the final episode from the 1992 BBC 8 part series “Pole To Pole with Michael Palin” (Bitter End), you will see a couple of IC-735’s used.

They are located about 7:04 and 28:08 (minutes) in the video:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2iszgj

Click here to view the video in a separate window.

Thanks for sharing this, Dave. I absolutely loved this travel series and watched it many years ago.  I’m also a big fan of Michael Palin. I think it’s time to re-watch it especially knowing the IC-735 makes a cameo!

Free radio e-books for download

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(Source: Southgate ARC)

There are a number of vintage radio and amateur radio related eBooks available for free download on the Gutenberg site

Among them is the 1922 edition of The Radio Amateur’s Handbook by A. Frederick Collins.

Jarno de Haan @PA3DMI tweeted this link that will display the books available:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=radio

A. Frederick Collins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Frederick_Collins

Jeff is displeased with Sangean buttons

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jeff McMahon, who writes:

After my wife complained about our Sangean radio button problems, I made this post:

Our Sangean radios are good performers for FM reception and speaker sound. They are reasonably priced. For user-friendly radios to use throughout the house, the kind that my wife and daughters enjoy using, Sangean is the best bet.

However, for me a general use Sangean is not my first choice. Because I am an FM reception fanatic, I prefer more of a high-performance radio, the kind that has an SW port, so I can connect a wire antenna to the radio, which usually results in improved FM reception. That’s why I have a Grundig G4000A next to my bedside table. But for the rest of my family, it’s a Sangean affair.

However, I should point out a consistent flaw, one that my wife complained about this morning: Three of four of our Sangeans have button problems.[…]

Read the full article at The Herculodge.

Any reviews of the HanRongDa HRD-737 portable radio?

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jamie Anderson (KM4WYO), who writes:

I have been browsing around eBay too much and was trying to put together a do-it-all radio for camping/backpacking that is small.

It is hard to find SW/broadcast/weather/air band together (for good reason, of course). I did run across this radio that is interesting: the HRD-737 which retails around $40.

  • Internal 700mah 3.7v lithium, with 5v usb charge
  • Air 118-138 MHz
  • FM 87.5 – 108 MHz
  • AM 520-1720 kHz
  • CB 25-28 MHz
  • SW 2-30 MHz in 5 kHz steps
  • VHF narrow/wide FM – 30-223 MHz (10,6,2,220)

I’m not sure if it would pick up NOAA stations as I think they have a slightly different FM bandwidth.

It seems interesting for a do it all point of view, you could possibly monitor ham repeaters on 2 meters, just a little too short of frequency coverage for 220.

Click here to view the HDR-737 on eBay.

Have you seen one of these or something similar in your reviews?

I have never used the HDR-737, but thanks for bringing it to our attention, Jamie!

I should think, assuming the stated VHF frequency coverage is correct, that you should be able to hear weather radio on this receiver. NOAA weather frequencies are on 162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525, and 162.550 MHz.

The manufacturer isn’t clear about the frequency steps on VHF however–it’s possible tuning increments could be too coarse to get a good lock on the station. That specification is omitted altogether even though every other band has stated frequency steps.

I should mention that the original C. Crane CC Skywave meets all of your specifications save the ability to potentially tune in the 2M ham radio band.

Post readers: Is anyone familiar with the HanRongDa HRD-737?  Please comment!