Author Archives: Thomas

Ken’s E. H. Scott Philharmonic Beam of Light console radio

In response to an inquiry in our post about the Crosley WLW Model Super-Power Radio Receiver, SWLing Post contributor, Ken Carr, writes:

I’m not sure if my radio is a ‘benchmark’ but it sure is close to it.
It is the E. H. Scott Philharmonic Beam of Light console radio.

Mine appears to have been built in 1939 or early 1940. It has 30 tubes, most of which are covered by chrome-plated shields. The power supply/amplifier (4 6L6’s in the output stage), receiver, 15″ speaker and cabinet easily weigh over 150 pounds.

It took me two years of occasional work (I am retired so I don’t rush) to get it going and working reasonably well. I had to replace over 100 capacitors and correct some B+ voltage problems left by a previous repair person.

None of the knobs are correct (mine came without them … 9 required) and replacements are difficult to come by (and quite expensive when they do appear).

When receiving a strong station the volume is such that it would easily drown out anything within 100 yards (and with no distortion).

Some day I will post some details and photos on my WordPress site (idlenot.com). I’ll be sure to let you know, Thomas. [Note: Yes, Ken, please do!]

Oh, the first time I powered it up and received a station they were playing Light My Fire (The Doors, I think). Appropriate. I put a video of it on YouTube. The radio is all apart as I was still working on it at the time.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Now that is serendipity, Ken–I mean, the first music you hear after restoring this beauty is Light My Fire? Brilliant!

The E. H. Scott Philharmonic Beam of Light is a benchmark console by any standard. I first learned about this radio through a local classified ad–the owner was selling the internal components (and original knobs) but had no cabinet. I believe he was asking $1200. The chrome plating is such eye candy, I can see why some owner in the past removed it from the cabinet to save space. Still, it was a shame the cabinet had been discarded–as one can see from your photos, the craftsmanship is simply stunning.

Ken, thank you for taking the time to share the Beam of Light console with us!

Post readers: you should check out Ken’s blog, Idlenot.com, where you’ll find more vintage radio and classic cars!

VOA Site A antennas and towers demolished

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Helicopter view of the curtain antenna array falling.

On Friday, I spent the afternoon at the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station (a.k.a. VOA Site B) in Greenville, NC.

While there, I was told that the VOA Site A towers, which have long been abandoned, were slated to be demolished this morning. Here’s the report from local NBC TV station WITN:

(Source: WITN)

BEAUFORT COUNTY, NC (WITN) – A series of implosions is all it took to bring down 48 radio towers that have been a part of U.S. history for over 50 years.

It happened Monday morning at the old Voice of America Site A in Beaufort County.

Not used since 2006, the VOA site was sold to Beaufort County as surplus U.S. property.

Environmental Holdings Group of Morrisville teamed up with Controlled Demolition Incorporated to implode and haul off the 48 towers.

It took less than a minute for it all to come down.

Voice of America still broadcasts from Site B to Latin America, Cuba, the Caribbean, and Africa.

Click here to read the full article and watch the video at WITN.

New old stock (NOS) Grundig G3s available on eBay

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Steve Lebkuecher, who writes:

Hi Thomas

I was a little surprised to see a batch of new Grundig G3s selling for $79.99 on eBay. Given the quality issues with the G3 it may be a bit of a risk but what a great deal if you could get one that works. I have enjoy mine but ended up having to return the first one I bought due to issues with the sync.

Thanks for all you do, I always appreciate your website!

Steve

Click here to view on eBay.

Many thanks for the tip, Steve! You’re right, if this batch of new, un-opened radios is from the last production run of G3s, there could be inconsistency in quality control. The seller, hileydeals, has a 99.6% positive rating and offers, “14 days money back or item exchange, buyer pays return shipping.” So, if you purchase a G3 and feel it’s not performing up to spec, then you could return for a full refund within 14 days, but you’ll be out your return shipping.

The rubberized coating on the G3 is also prone to develop a sticky residue with time. We’ve posted a number of cleaning solutions–click here to read.

I’ve owned a total of three Grundig G3s over the years and have never been displeased with one. I may have simply been lucky. In fact, the G3 was my go-to travel portable for quite a few years. I gave two G3s away and still have one here in my collection. It’s a sensitive little radio and certainly worth the $79.99 price (if not one of the faulty units).

If you have any questions about this offer, and are considering biting the bullet, you should contact the seller prior to purchasing. It appears they have a number of units in stock.

Update: From the Isle of Music

LRN Precision introduces two new QRP transceivers: the LD-11 and MTR5B

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LNR-MountainTopper-LD11-Announcement

LNR Precision announced two new QRP transceivers this weekend: the MTR5B and LD-11. Below, you can find details I pulled from LNR’s press release and website for both units:

LNR-Precision-LD-11

The LD-11

The LD-11 is a new 11-band QRP transceiver based on the LNR’s LD-5 transceiver. The LD-11 covers from the 6 meter band down to the 160 meter band. A new feature on this model is a built-in panadapter. AM/FM/SSB and CW modes are all included.

Here is the description from LNR’s website:

The new LD-11 is Digital Direct Conversion, SDR type, build-in CPU (SM32a) DSP radio in which RF signals are directly converted to a digital data via differential and balanced A/D converters. This enables direct sampling with extremely low phase and floor noise.

The DSP is unique and features two independent channels. It also employs a unique differential algorithm within the software which is applied for IQ processing of the channels with phase suppression of the unwanted side-band channel.

The balanced ADC and DAC gives additional noise floor reduction and the receiver can handle interfering signals that are 100 dB stronger than the desired signal at a frequency separation of 10 kHz, and is about 130 dB stronger at 50 kHz separation. As the receiver and transmitter are using the same DSP channel, there is no gap between the receiver performance and the transmitter performance. Thus, there is a clean neighborhood on the bands. At the development stage, our intentions were motivated by the TX side-band noise of existing SDR manufacturers, so our aim was to fully equalize our transmitter to have noise performance that is compatible with the best modern receivers, or even better. After a arduous year of development , we think we achieved it!

This 11+ band radio is based on the LD-5, which has proven to be one of the most exciting QRP transceivers introduced in the last few years. Quite frankly, the performance rivals high end units offered by other manufactures at a much lower price point. Our motto is that we make QRP transceivers that you will want to take out in the field (without fear of breaking the bank).

Price is $774.99 US

LNR-Precision-LD-11-L-Side LNR-Precision-LD-11-R-Side

Note: Larry Draughn (AE4LD), President of LNR Precision, will be issuing an LD-11 transceiver to me on loan for review. I’m looking forward to putting it on the air.

What fascinates me about the LD-11 is that, although it’s designed as a ham band-only transceiver, the band edges of the 30 meter ham band can be expanded to include the full 31 meter broadcast band. There are, perhaps, other ham bands that can include nearby broadcast bands as well. I will plan to experiment with the band edges.

The MTR5B

The new MTR5B 5-Band Mountain Topper is a fully-assembled 5-band CW transceiver KD1JV designs “Steve Weber” kit. The following are specifications/features from the LNR website:

40M, 30M, 20M, 17M, 15M
Size: 4.337″L x 3.153″W x 1.008″T
Weight: approx 6.4 OZ.

Features:

Switch selected 40/30/20/17/15 meter bands (no band modules to lose or change out)
Wide operating voltage range, 6 to 12 volts 15 ma Rx current at 12V supply
Efficient transmitter. Low current with 4W output
LCD display
Push button or Optional rotary tuning
24 hour clock built in, with battery back up
Three 63 character programmable message memories
Message beacon mode with adjustable pause time

MTR5B-1

Price is $379.99 US

Steve Weber’s QRP transceivers are amazing and incredibly portable. His MTR-3B trail radio has received very favorable reviews over the past year; I expect the same from the new MTR-5B.

If you were lucky enough to grab a first production unit of either of these radios, I would love to post your overview/review! I’m looking forward to checking out the LD-11 soon. I’ll post updates with the tag: LD-11

Radio Canada International back on shortwave via Radio 700

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who shares the following message:

Only a barely-detectable carrier [of Radio Canada International] on 7310 kHz from Radio 700 Kurzwellendienst (or Radio 700 Shortwave Service using the web-interfaced University of Twente SDR receiver at 15:00 UTC. However, the online streaming of Radio 700’s 7310 kHz transmission came through clearly 😉 and, indeed, an RCI program is being transmitted. In fact, it’s this week’s “The LINK Online”!

So, finally, RCI is back on shortwave. Too bad the signal for the English program isn’t stronger. I was waiting for the scheduled start of the French RCI program at 14:30 UTC on 6005 kHz but when I tuned in via Twente at 14:15 UTC it was already in progress with a good signal! So, obviously it starts at an earlier time. Perhaps 14:00 UTC? What’s the point of having the English and French programs on at the same time? Some of us might want to listen to both.

[…]The French-language RCI program was the weekly program “Tam-Tam Canada” (with the familiar tam-tam drum signature music) and it was today’s edition that was broadcast. Good reception via Twente. It ended at about 14:52 UTC with then a switch briefly to Radio 700 programming. I have queries out to both Radio 700 and RCI about these programs and will report back if I get further information.

[…]I wonder if there’s an active collaboration of RCI in this effort?

Please let us know what you discover, Richard! Though I imagine this broadcast of The Link and Tam-Tam Canada may be a limited broadcast run, it would be incredibly cool to hear RCI on shortwave once again.

German regulators prohibit digital modes on broadcast bands

5 Replies

(Source: Kim Elliott via Richard Langley)

VOA Radiogram, 2-3 April 2016: BNetzA sagt nein!

New this weekend is the elimination of the digital text modes from shortwave transmitters in Germany.

The German regulator Bundesnetzagentur has ruled that the digital modes are not allowed in the broadcast bands. Because of this, there will be no MFSK32 on The Mighty KBC this weekend, because it uses a transmitter in Nauen, Germany. And, for the time being, there will be no DigiDX MFSK broadcasts on Channel 292, 6070 kHz, and Radio 700, 3985 kHz.

Listeners in Germany might want to note these arguments for the digital modes on the shortwave broadcast bands:
1) It is broadcasting, not point-to-point communication.
2) It can be received on any shortwave radio, even inexpensive portables with no SSB capability. (Software is required to decode the text and images, but this can be included in future shortwave radios.)
3) DRM is legal on the shortwave broadcast bands, and DRM can transmit text and images.
4) Text and images via analog radio requires less spectrum (bandwidth) than DRM.
5) Text and images via analog radio are a useful new application for underutilized shortwave transmitters and frequencies.
6) Text and images via analog radio extend the range of a shortwave transmitter, resulting in accurate content in conditions where voice transmissions may be unintelligible.
7) Digital modes via shortwave can be a useful alternative when the Internet is not available due to disasters or to net censorship by dictators.

On the same note, SWLing Post contributor, Harald Kuhl, also comments with a news release from DigiDX:

“DigiDX transmissions via Channel 292 (6070kHz) and suspended until further notice. This is due to action by the German regulator Bundesnetzagentur against digital mode transmissions and is beyond our control. Broadcasts via WRMI will continue and we hope to find another outlet to use for transmissions to Europe.”

[later:]·

“Good news – Thanks to Jeff White we have another frequency for this Sunday’s broadcast which should be better for Europe. 15770kHz at 2130. Please can anyone in Europe, North America and elsewhere please send reception reports to [email protected] for this extra broadcast.”

Sources: DigiDX website & FB