Author Archives: Thomas

Big changes at the SWLing Post

The past three weeks have been exceptionally busy. Not only did I log about 1,500 miles on a trip to DC and Philadelphia for a most excellent Winter SWL Fest, but the Winter Fest this year truly lived up to its name, and managed to carry on during a snowstorm and ensuing widespread power outage that left us in the dark several days running. Radio-relevant events, presentations and even our banquet continued in dark rooms, yet with no less enthusiasm.

But because I had to conserve my laptop’s power, knowing I could only log a few minutes each day, I turned my attention away from the digital world to my living and breathing companions, worthy colleagues and friends of the ‘Fest.

Growing pains

Over the years, as reader traffic has grown, here at the Post we’ve upgraded our hosting package to meet traffic demands, and our host has kindly selected the most effective and affordable option––providing us with plenty of space and freedom, not to mention, most of the server resources.

But over the past two weeks, the SWLing Post finally began pegging the limits of the shared server we have used since we published our first post, nearly 10 years ago now. When I was without power at the WinterFest, our site activity (CPU usage and entry processes) was triggering a failsafe that blocked access to the site when it was receiving too many hits at once. Thus many of you received the infamous “Resource Limits Reached” error, or noticed significantly slower load times on the site.

Obviously it wasn’t possible to fully address this while I was away from home and on limited power and Internet; I just committed to resolve the issue as soon as I could.

I pulled into my driveway late last Monday night, hit the sack for a good night’s sleep, and started sorting out server issues early Tuesday morning.

Dedicated cloud

Much discussion over the best place and care for our site ensued. In the end, our host suggested we move to our own cloud server––a dedicated, robust space to serve up the SWLing Post.

While the cloud server costs more than double what we’ve been paying for hosting in the past, it offers multiple advantages over our shared service. Speed should improve dramatically and we’ll now have a much deeper resource pool from which to pull during times of peak access.

Then, too, the new server employs data redundancy (i.e., there are at least two copies of our site on two separate servers at all times), “automatic failover” (should there be a hardware problem, the Cloud Server will automatically roll over to another physical server), and brilliant scalability––all excellent provisions for us.

Innoscale, our host, has been a great partner over the years, giving the SWLing Post 24/7 support and spending time sorting out any issues that have popped up. While they are not the cheapest service out there, their customer service and reliability are, in my humble opinion, worth the extra costs.

Many years ago, long before we even approached 1,000 posts, I had purchased third-party off-site backup service that updates a full backup of the site each time a new post is published; this service continues. Moreover, our new server also has its own backup service and multiple copies of the site available even in the event of a failure.

And knowing all this helps me sleep more soundly at night.

Would you believe: 4,146 posts and 18,147 comments––!

…the total count as of time of publishing this post. That’s a massive volume of informative guest posts, articles, photos, videos, recordings, and comments on all things radio––many of which I reference regularly myself. Readers, without you, this wouldn’t have been possible; many thanks!

And a special thank you to our Patrons!

Honestly, the choice to upgrade both our server and our backup solutions was easy because of the extra support we receive via Patreon and PayPal. If you would like to support the SWLing Post via Patreon, and are in a financial position to do so, click this link or the button below. The SWLing Post will always be free, so if you’re not in a position to support us, no worries; we still welcome your readership.

Become a Patron!

If you’d rather not give through Patreon, you can set up a monthly recurring payment through PayPal…and receive the exact same recognition and benefits as above.

PS––I should add that I’m doing my best to catch up with a mountain of email correspondence I accumulated over the past three weeks or so. If you’ve sent me a message or tip, I appreciate your patience as I catch up. Thanks, and I look forward to reading your email soon.

NHK WORLD expands and rebrands as NHK WORLD-JAPAN

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following announcement from NHK WORLD:

Expansion under a new brand
– NHK WORLD-JAPAN Launches in April –

NHK WORLD, the international broadcasting service of NHK, makes a fresh start as NHK WORLD-JAPAN in April. The new name is intended to establish wider global recognition for the service’s Japanese roots in advance of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. NHK WORLD-JAPAN will provide a Japanese perspective in trustworthy news coverage and programming in this part of the world. Closer coordination with NHK’s domestic services will supply even more content to satisfy the interests of the global audience.

Check out NHK’s announcement and expanded programs on their website.

RRI 2018 Summer Broadcast Frequencies

GatesAir halts production of AM transmitters

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GatesAir FLEXIVA 3DX AM transmitter (Source: GatesAir)

(Source: Radio World via Bill Patalon)

GatesAir is suspending the sale of new AM transmitters.

When a prominent radio engineer passed along word to Radio World that he’d sought a quote from the manufacturer on a new transmitter but was told the company had discontinued the model and was assessing its AM line, we sought to learn more.

Chief Product Officer Rich Redmond replied: “Recent changes in the long-term availability of critical components from our suppliers, including several last-time buy notices, have caused us to take proactive steps to ensure we can meet our continued support obligation of our AM products,” he said.

“To safeguard our ability to offer an ample supply of spare components — and to secure the ongoing field support of our AM transmitters — GatesAir has taken the responsible step of suspending new AM transmitter sales, and will instead focus on supporting existing customers’ transmitters with our available components.”[…]

Click here to read the full story at Radio World.

Tom praises Anon-Co’s “first-rate” customer service

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Adams (W9LBB), who left the following comment on our Tecsun PL-880 review:

Just a note re. kudos to Anon-co re. customer support.

I got a PL880 late last year, and LOVED it; so much so that I ordered a second one, the “special edition” version, both radios from Anon-co.

While waiting for the second radio to be delivered, my first one developed a bug; the AM broadcast band was dead at turn-on. Sometimes switching to FM and back to AM made it work… not good.

The second radio arrived, and it worked on short wave for about 5 minutes, and went dead. Turning it off and waiting a while brought it back… but it would die in 5 – 10 minutes again.

I wrote Anon-co about the problems, and Anna addressed the problems. After the usual fixes (reset, pulling the battery for a half hour and reinserting to reboot the processor) failed, she had me send both radios back for factory service. Anon-co covered the cost of the FedEx to get them back to Hong Kong.

A half hour ago I got a note from Anna.

The newest radio is confirmed dead; they’re replacing it.

The older radio (sent for repairs under warranty) seems to have developed a bug that the technicians have never seen before. They say that diagnosis and repair could be very difficult… therefore they are replacing THAT radio too!

I’m a happy camper with that solution… and I can’t praise Anon-co and Anna too highly! FIRST RATE customer service!!!

Thanks for sharing this feedback, Tom. I’ve had the same experience with Anon-Co over the many years I’ve done business with them. Anna is an amazing customer-focused agent and they stand by their products each and every time.

There are so few companies who retail shortwave radios these days it’s nice to know that Tecsun’s primary distributor in Hong Kong is one of the best in the business! We can buy from Anon-Co with confidence.

Click here to check out Anon-Co’s website.

Click here to check out Anon-Co’s listings on eBay.

Radio Survivor: Exploring and Preserving the Brooklyn Pirate Radio Scene

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Check out this brilliant episode of the Radio Survivor podcast which features our Shortwaveologist friend, David Goren along with John Anderson of Brooklyn College:

(Source: Radio Survivor)

There are more unlicensed pirate radio stations in New York City than licensed stations. The borough of Brooklyn is a particular hotspot. Producer and journalist David Goren has been researching and recording these stations so that their ephemeral nature isn’t lost to history. To help preserve this legacy and make it accessible to a wider audience he’s constructing an interactive map of Brooklyn pirates, due to be released later this year.

David joins us on this episode along with Prof. John Anderson of Brooklyn College, who has been tracking and researching unlicensed radio for two decades. We discuss the unique qualities of Brooklyn pirates, and how they fulfill the needs of communities that are underserved by other media, why it’s important to preserve their legacies, and why the expansion of low-power FM failed to provide sufficient opportunities in cities like New York.

https://soundcloud.com/radio-survivor/133-preserving-brooklyn-pirate-radio

Click here to listen on SoundCloud.

Also, check out the Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map funding page!

Guest Post: Radios I Have Known #2

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Neil Goldstein, who shares the following guest post which originally appeared on his blog, Fofio:

Radios I Have Known #2 The old, the new, and the Select-A-Tenna

by Neil Goldstein

L-R: Select-A-Tenna, Tivdio V-115, Sony ICF-5500W

After promising this series a year and a half ago, I finally have started digging through the collection, and will start posting about once a week. The radios, and accessories may not have anything in common (as seen in this post), but were all acquired because they were in some way interesting, or sentimental to me. Here’s the first three:

Select-A-Tenna
One of the original air-core tunable AM antennas. You just put this near the radio and peak it for reception. I was watching for one of these in good shape, and not overpriced, and they have been in and out of production over the years. This one is from a later production run as can be seen by the extended AM range (1700). Jay Allen reviewed the S.A.T by comparing the the TERK Air Core antenna not long ago here: https://radiojayallen.com/select-a-tenna-vs-terk-am-advantage/ The TERK reviewed well, and looks more modern, but I wanted the classic cheesy art-deco looking S.A.T.

Tivdio V-115
I won’t post a long, boring review here. Many have already reviewed this radio. All I can say is that if you like small, decent-sounding transistor radios, you will not be disappointed. If you are expecting top-shelf performance, and perfect ergonomics, then you you may not be happy, but for around $19 you really should be happy with this little gem. A great little radio at a great price and the most impressive thing here is the sound. The radio has a small passive radiator like the Meloson M8, and M7, and really surprises me. It can also be used as an amplified speaker, and has a micro SD slot for using it as a standalone MP3 player. Grab one!

Sony ICF-5500W
Most transistor radio collectors know this radio. It’s a classic for sure, but I have to give a little background on why I wanted one. When I was about 12 years old, I had a few analog SW portables, but nothing with direct frequency readout. Panasonic had introduced it’s series of direct-readout radios, the RF-2200, 2800, and 4800, and Sony was competing with the ICF-5900W. Dad acknowledged the quality and technology of these radios, and told me that if I saved most of the money by working for him, he may help me get one. The 2800, and 4800 were way out of reach, but one Sunday in the local paper, a department store in Kingston (Britt’s, which was Newberry’s answer to Macy’s) had the 2200 advertised for $138.88. I had been flip-flopping between the Sony and the Panasonic for weeks, but that was the clincher.

The radio is still in use. My sister in law has it. I had given it to my late brother Paul at some point and she still uses it as her main radio.

Why this Sony though? I still want a 5900W. When I saw this one come up at an auction, I recognized the shape it was in. The ICF-5500W was the companion radio to the 5900W. AM/FM and VHF Hi (with a basic, but functional squelch control). The 5500 and 5900 are a monument to Sony design at the time. The pop-up antenna (which still works flawlessly), The separate Bass, Treble, and Loudness controls, The overall quality of sound and function, all of this is an example of what Sony was producing at the time. I think their modern small electronics are a shadow of what they were capable of years ago. This thing still sounds great and performs well next to my modern DSP radios. I still would love to get a pristine 5900W but they usually fetch premium dollars. Maybe someday.

Bravo Sony, but where did you go?

More to come!!

Thanks for sharing, Neil! I, too, have the Tivdio V-115 and the Sony ICF-5900W.

The ‘5900W is a gem of a solid state receiver. It has brilliant AM broadcast band reception and rich audio. I need to open my ‘5900W and clean all of the contacts since some of the sliders are scratchy. It’ll make for a nice rainy day project!

We look forward to your next installment! Post Readers: be sure to check out Neil’s blog, Fofio!