Category Archives: Accessories

New Product: Tecsun AN-48x (now available)

Anon-Co just announced that Tecsun has released their new portable, active loop antenna – the AN-48x (27.99 plus shipping) – and it is available for purchase. Copied below is their announcement:

Tecsun has launched its latest antenna which is now available at Anon-Co! This active loop antenna has a portable design and aims to enhance AM (LW, MW, SW) frequencies. The antenna comes with three types of connector cable and a ferrite coupler for connecting to different types of radios.

Personally, I like my TG34 (DE31MS equivalent). Though I have *no* experience with this model – as it is new – this is the type of antenna users either love or hate. My TG34 and the equivalents will amplify everything, including noise, but it has helped me make inaudible or barely audible signals audible. It’s inexpensive, portable, easy to deploy and store (great for travel) – but it’s really geared towards the SWL hobbyist who can’t invest in, or erect, something bigger and/or more expensive.

The biggest advantage that I can see with this new model: the antenna has three types of connections including BNC & RCA sockets.

Click here for more information: Tecsun AN-48x

Guest post by Troy Riedel

Guest Post: ZIPWALL10 poles as antenna supports

4 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN), who shares the following guest post:

ZIPWALL10 poles

Recently we had a remodeling job performed at the home QTH and the workers used telescoping poles to form a dust barrier. When the job ended, they said I could have the telescoping poles, a product called ZIPWALL10, which when collapsed are four feet long but extend to ten feet. This got me pondering about how handy these could be in the radio shack, especially for indoor impromptu antennas.

Close up of the ZIPWALL telescopic pole.

Indoor antennas, especially wire antennas usually have to be secured to a wall somehow, and should be as high as possible in the room. That requires using adhesive tape to attach the wire and a ladder (most ceilings are eight feet), but using the ZIPWALL10 poles it’s easier and safer. Below is a temporary random wire antenna in my shack using 26 gauge insulated wire strung between the two poles.

Random wire in shack room is a bit hard to see but it is strung between the two poles.

What’s nice about these poles is they have rubber feet to grip the floor and plastic pads on top to avoid damage to the ceiling. The top section is spring loaded to assure a tight fit. The ZIPWALL10 model extends to ten feet in three telescopic sections. No tools are needed to set these up, and they conveniently collapse for storage.

ZIPWALL10 pair along with roll of 26 gauge wire for temporary indoor antenna installation.

These poles just happened my way due to a remodeling job, but surely other types are available on the market for those wanting to experiment with indoor antennas. The price for a ZIPWALL10 pair on Amazon is around eighty dollars. Thanks for reading.

What a great use for ZipWall poles, Mario! I’ve spent the past few days at an ocean front condo and could have used two of those supports to suspend a small, lightweight passive loop antenna safely on the balcony. That’s fantastic your contractors simply gave you those poles!

Thanks for the tip!

As you mention, Amazon sells a full line of ZipWall options (links below support the SWLing Post) but these can also be found at most home improvement stores.

Adid finds affordable AA to D cell adapters

1 Reply

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

I just ran across this adapter

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000202530136.html

I don’t know if D type is still available everywhere, but not here in Israel.

So this can be very handy if one needs to revive a D type device occasionally.

Thanks for the tip, Adid! This could be a very helpful product for radio enthusiasts who have some of the classic solid state receivers of the 1970s and 80s, like the Panny RF-2200.

It’s not difficult in the States to find D cells but rechargeables are not as commonplace and are quite pricey, often requiring their own dedicated D cell chargers. Since I almost exclusively use rechargeable batteries, I have two of these Eneloop “power packs” (affiliate link) that have AA to D cell adapters inside. Of course, your option is much less expensive and should yield better overall capacity when using standard alkaline cells.

Jack’s Mediumwave Lazy Susan Mag Loop System

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jack Blanke (WB5LVP), who writes:

I stole this idea from another SWLing Post contributor and I hope he won’t mind.

However, placing the Ferrite Antenna near the center of the loop does enhance its performance and the Lazy Susan was something I had been using long ago to quickly re-orient the radio azmuth to accommodate the signal source. But, like my mentor, minor improvements like this can really enhance performance of smaller portables on medium wave. He used cardboard and I used scrap wood from the work shop. Either way, not much money was involved in this minor enhancement.

These inexpensive additions to the listening post really make the PL380 and the AN200 combo provide hours of enjoyment from medium wave DXing. Now,if only I can find the gent’s name who came up with this little gizmo, I’d love to thank him!!

73’s!

Thanks for sharing your setup, Jack! I can assure you that Rich Stahl (WR3V) will be happy you “stole” his idea. That’s what it’s all about–helping each other! I love the little table/stand you built for the portable and how it perfectly accommodates the loop. Great job!

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An inexpensive portable radio pack with excellent features

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Fields, who writes:

Something I always appreciate on the SWLing Post are articles and comments suggesting bags and cases. A while back I wound up with an account on wish.com – a site that sells “stuff from China” for lack of a better description. Some things are junk, some are not quite what is advertised, but one area where I’ve had remarkably good luck is bags and pouches of varying sizes.

If you search wish.com for “tactical waist bag” you should see a bunch of entries for a smallish canvas bag. The prices will range from $1 to $3, with shipping varying from free to about $3. These are canvas bags with some snaps and fasteners and compartments, and they are a near perfect fit for various travel portables.

The Skywave (and Skywave SSB). Tecsun PL-310ET and PL-380, and Digitech AR-1780 all fit well in this bag. The XHData D808 would be tight as it’s slightly wider than the AR-1780 but it might go. There is plenty of room for spare batteries and a wire antenna. The bags are padded nicely.

If you want to see one of these without visiting the wish.com site, there are some Amazon resellers that have them, usually around $10 (which is not bad with free Prime shipping).

Click here for one example on Amazon.com (affiliate link).

I have several of these bags in various colors – they’re very convenient for travel, and for me they work better than hard-shell cases.

Thank you for the suggestion, James! I love the fact this pack has Molle attachments on the back. That’s huge for those of us with tactical packs!

Ed’s ultra low-cost “upcycled” radio case for the Realistic DX-440

4 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Edward Ganshirt, who writes:

I have seen some very good radio cases for carrying your radio with you with a price tag.

I needed one for my DX-440 but did not want to shell out a hundred bux for it, so I made a home brew version out of packing foam, bubble wrap, Velcro patches, hot melt glue and lots of imagination. this is what I came up with:

Thanks for sharing, Ed! I’m sure your upcycled case will serve the DX-440 quite well. Bubble and foam wrap are durable materials and it’s always get to give them a second life!

Post readers: Have you made your own radio protective cases? Please comment!

Tripp Lite dual ferrite USB cables

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I found this tip from Lorne Waters on the SDRplay Facebook page:

I was having a lot of trouble with local noise and not getting really good signal spikes. Well I took a chance after reading many articles on using better USB cables. The picture below is what I purchased from amazon. It’s a USB with dual ferrite cores mounted at each end. Well this did wonders for me. It’s like less than 10 bucks. Well worth it. Try it for yourself. Using with SDRplay RSP1a.

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

Lorne has a good point. All of my SDR USB cables have at least one in-line ferrite choke. Cables with dual chokes like the Tripp Lite are pretty rare. Note that this USB cable fits SDRs (like SDRplay models) with a USB-B port. I’ve had a difficult time in the past finding dual ferrite choke USB-A to Mini or Micro USB ports. In those cases, I often employ these inexpensive snap-on ferrite chokes.