Author Archives: Thomas

Will Green Bank soon become a little less radio quiet?

(Source: BBC News via Richard Langley)

Disturbing the peace: Can America’s quietest town be saved?

There’s a town in West Virginia where there are tight restrictions on mobile signal, wifi and other parts of what most of us know as simply: modern life. It means Green Bank is a place unlike anywhere else in the world. But that could be set to change.

“Do you ever sit awake at night and wonder, what if?” I asked.

Mike Holstine’s eyes twinkled like the stars he had spent his life’s work observing.

“The universe is so huge,” he began.

“On the off chance we do get that hugely lucky signal, when we look in the right place, at the right frequency. When we get that… can you imagine what that’s going to do to humankind?”

Holstine is business manager at the Green Bank Observatory, the centrepiece of which is the colossal Green Bank Telescope. On a foggy Tuesday morning, I’m standing in the middle of it, looking up, feeling small.

Though the GBT has many research tasks, the one everyone talks about is the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. The GBT listens out for signs of communication or activity by species that are not from Earth.

[…]Green Bank sits at the heart of the National Radio Quiet Zone, a 13,000 square mile (33,669 sq km) area where certain types of transmissions are restricted so as not to create interference to the variety of instruments set up in the hills – as well as the Green Bank Observatory, there is also Sugar Grove, a US intelligence agency outpost.

For those in the immediate vicinity of the GBT, the rules are more strict. Your mobile phone is useless here, you will not get a TV signal and you can’t have strong wi-fi? -?though they admit this is a losing battle. Modern life is winning, gradually. And newer wi-fi standards do not interfere with the same frequencies as before.[…]

Read the full article on the BBC News website.

Additionally, if you have access to the BBC iPlayer, click here to watch the Click episode featuring Green Bank.

Brian FM: a post-disaster FM radio station in New Zealand

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(Source: Radio New Zealand via London Shortwave)

Radio ‘nutters’ move in to help shaken Kaikoura

A fortnight after the Kaikoura earthquake, most of the businesses along West End, the town’s main street, are still closed – the interiors darkened, some shopfronts cordoned off.

But the door of one of those shopfronts is open, and from it, the strains of Brian FM come floating out.

Who’s Brian?

“I have no idea,” Chris Diack says.

“People are wanting to walk in and talk to Brian all the time and there’s no Brian – there’s Chris and Robert.”

Mr Diack and his offsider, Robert Jeffares, have been broadcasting from their makeshift studio for a week now, after convincing the owner of a local frequency that was not being used to let them take over.

The content is mostly “parish pump information”, says Mr Diack – the level of detail the rest of the country might not need to hear but which is invaluable to locals trying to find out where their next hot shower might be coming from.

“The water’s off, you can’t use the toilets, if you need to use the toilets use the portaloos, and where are they … Four Square’s open at midday, get along there and get some milk, bread and butter… You couldn’t buy butter for love nor money in Kaikoura.”

In between broadcasting the minutiae of post-quake life, they conduct interviews with the district mayor, civil defence, the Salvation Army, and errant RNZ reporters who wander in to the studio.[…]

Continue reading on Radio New Zealand’s website.

Radios With Rotatable AM Antennas?

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The Panasonic RF-2200 sports a rotatable AM/MW antenna

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN), who writes:

With your broad knowledge of radios, wondering if you can add anything to this list of portable radios, past and present, that have 360 degree rotatable directional AM ferrite antennas. Reason is I am looking for an AM portable for the nightstand for nulling out unwanted AM stations while also doing a little DXing.

The list I have from data mining the ‘Net is:

New models with rotatable AM antennas:

CountyCom GP5/SSB,

Tecsun PL-360,

Grundig Satellite 750,

Older (vintage) models:

Panasonic RF-2200,

Panasonic RF-1150,

Panasonic RF-877,

Panasonic RF-1180

most RDF (Radio Direction Finder) radios that were used on boats

“Boom Box” variety:

Radio Shack 12- 795,

Emerson MBR-1,

Rhapsody RY-610.

[RDF radios] are kind of big, however Raytheon, Ray Jefferson, and Nova-Tech did have smaller model RDFs that could be considered table-tops).

The alternative is to build or buy a passive indoor antenna.

Maybe readers know of other models?

Thank you for your inquiry, Mario! I will do a little research of my own because you listed every model (and more) I could think of off the top of my head.

Post readers: Please comment with any models we could add to this list.

I will take all of the suggestions and make a master list to post here on the SWLing Post so it’ll be easier for others to research in the future. I’m pretty sure this question has come up before.

DX-Philately: Stamps of Radio Stations by Continents and Countries

Holiday Deals: C.Crane Cyber Monday 10% off

TX Factor Episode 13

ShopGoodwill finds: Icom IC-R75 and JRC NRD-525

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Fillippi (N2HUN), who writes:

ShopGoodWill has an Icom R75 going off auction tomorrow:

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/ICOM-Communications-Receiver-34886788.html

Thanks for the tip, Mario!

As with most (if not all) ShopGoodwill.com auctions, this IC-R75 come with no warranty, is untested and sold “as-is.” I suppose you could receive it only to find that it doesn’t function–that is the risk with Goodwill over, say, eBay.

I’ve purchased from ShopGoodwill before knowing this and was very pleased my item worked.

Still, it’s most encouraging that the receiver comes complete with box, manual and power supply. Those are all good signs. The current price is $378.78 at time of posting. Someone may get a good deal for a spare receiver.

While looking at the IC-R75 listing, the ShopGoodwill screen also pointed out a JRC NRD-525 with an auction end date of November 29.