Category Archives: Accessories

“Perfect Fit” Cases for the ATS-909X and D-808 Radios

I’m generally not a fan of slip-cover cases (or pouches) that are included with many portable radios. I like to have a little extra padding around radios, but I don’t like bulky cases either. My preference is to carry accessories separately and keep the case as small as possible while still offering some protection.

With that in mind, others may be interested in my choice of non-original cases for the Sangean ATS-909X and XHDATA D-808 receivers.

The Evecase brand of sleeve for the Apple iPad Mini 4 makes a close fitting case for the ATS-909X. After a day or two in this sleeve, the radio stretches the fabric a little and the result is a fit “like a glove”.

The Evecase sleeve leaves NO room for anything else, except perhaps a pair of earbuds loosely coiled on top of the radio before zipping the case shut. Protection of the ATS-909X is very good though, better than the stock Sangean slip case.

For the XHDATA D-808, I discovered that a model of the popular “Pelican” line of hard cases is an absolutely perfect fit. Model 1040 (Micro Case series) is the one to get, especially if you want the extreme protection this padded, hard-sided case provides. It’ll be right at home among your camping gear for instance, and if it happens to take a tumble from your backpack or car’s trunk, no problem!

It’s important to note that the solid color 1040 cases like mine have a sheet of thin protective foam in the lid, in addition to the molded padding in the bottom half. The clear lid versions of the 1040 case do not have this extra padding.

Let the description and photos of these two case solutions inspire you to consider other ideas for protecting your radio gear! A lot of possibilities exist, considering the wide array of protection available for tablets, laptops, GPS, hard drives, and so on. Many of these can be repurposed for portable receivers.

Guy Atkins is a Sr. Graphic Designer for T-Mobile and lives near Seattle, Washington. He’s a regular contributor to the SWLing Post.

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The Prof recommends the Sangean DAR-101

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, The Professor, who writes:

I’ve had one of these for along time, and it’s been pretty much the only way I’ve recorded radio for years. It’s an easy to use rock solid workhorse.

My biggest complaint is the lack of recording format choices, and I’ve long hoped there would be a firmware update to expand them. Sure, being able to record WAV files would be welcome, but I’m not really in need of that. What I would like is a broader range of MP3 encoding options, up to 320kbps. And of course, to be able record in mono or stereo. All MP3 options on everything are just stereo by default, because almost everybody is dealing with post 50s music in the MP3 format, and that’s always stereo. But AM and shortwave radio are of course only mono, as are phone conversations, which this device is specially outfitted to record.

It’s a waste of a channel. If it’s a mono source it’s a waste of space on the SD card just for starters. But don’t forget that the encoding rate is divided by two in a stereo format. A 160kbps mono file is equal to a 320kbps stereo file. So, a 192 mono file would be superior to a 320 stereo file. Of course, I could get into “joint stereo” and VBR and throw in more variables, but what I’m saying here is pretty much on point.

That said, AM broadcasting is rather limited in acoustical dynamics, at least as we know it. I’ve found that it’s very hard for almost anybody to hear any artifacts in a 32kbps mono recording of AM radio. It stands up to compression well. And it also stands up well to RE-compression. I often expand the MP3 files I make on this into mono WAV files and tidy them up and normalize and edit them. I never notice any artifacts in the MP3 encode I make of the resulting file(s). So, I’d like more encoding formats, but the 192kbps stereo option on the DAR-101 is fine for me in the end.

This recorder also makes a fine speaker for a laptop. When you hit record the first time the speaker monitors the audio source out loud. You press record again and it starts to lay down audio on the card. So if I want to use it as a speaker I just leave it in “ready to record” mode. Works fine.

And for you old cassette heads, it looks enough like a cassette deck, which is comforting I suppose. I think the wall wart AC power adds a little noise. I just make sure the batteries are charged when I’m going to use it. And sometimes it makes a difference to keep it a couple feet from your radio to avoid any little bit of RFI.

In general, I highly recommend the DAR-101. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for sharing your review of the DAR-101 and your recommendations for recording amplitude modulation!

The DAR-101 is currently $87.95 on Amazon (affiliate link) and $99.95 at Universal Radio. I’ve also found used ones on eBay for as little as $50.70.

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Dave’s review of the Sangean DAR-101 digital recorder

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who notes that he has updated his Sangean DAR-101 recorder:

Yes, a newly tested (latest production) sample of the [DAR-101]. My years old “lightly used” sample died back in the fall. New one seems to work less sluggish with the updated firmware as well as adding monitor speaker selection in the menu’s.

http://n9ewo.angelfire.com/dar101.html

The AC Adapter info should also be valid for the ATS-909X as well.

Nice standalone MP3 recorder with a built in amplifier and large speaker.

Thanks, Dave. This is a very tempting purchase. I do quite a lot of off-air recordings for the SWLing Post and, especially, the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. I typically use my Zoom H2N for line-in recordings, but at home would prefer something that would sit on my desktop better and with a built-in speaker. The DAR-101 might fit the bill.

I see that it’s currently $81.52 on Amazon right now (affiliate link) and $99.95 at Universal Radio.

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Guest Post: Review of the Tecsun AN-07 whip antenna extender

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Nicolás Colla, who shares the following review:

The Tecsun AN-07 is a whip antenna extender that is approximately 65 cm long. I bought mine from eBay seller Anon-co, and it arrived from Hong Kong in approximately twenty days.

The first thing I noticed with my new antenna is that it probably works only with Tecsun radios.

The antenna on my Degen DE-13 self-powered radio is too thin for the extension; the one on my Panasonic RF-3500 kitchen radio is too thick. I have another Tecsun antenna, the AN-05, which is a 6 m wire with a clip on the end that can be put on the radio’s aerial. I hung the AN-05 indoors, in the place with the least amount of RFI (just next to a window), and decided to compare the performance of my Tecsun PL-310ET with the default whip, the longwire and my new extension, on shortwave and FM.

For that, I made a quick scan of the bands with the Easy Tuning Mode (ETM) function of this radio, between 1330 and 1355 UTC. The results were the following:

Shortwave

With the default aerial: 3 stations found.

With the AN-07 antenna extension: 9 stations found.

With the AN-05 longwire antenna: 23 stations found.

As you can see, the AN-05, which is 6 times longer than the AN-05 (the aerial’s height is 1 meter with the added extension), gives by far the best results. Ironically, another scan with the AN-05 AND the AN-07 at the same time, with the clip adjusted on the extension, gives 29 different stations. I don’t know why, but it works better!

FM

With the default aerial: 42 stations found.

With the AN-07 antenna extension: 57 stations found.

With the AN-05 longwire antenna: 35 stations found.

The AN-07 seems specifically designed for FM reception, and it really shines on this band. The signal of a local station increases approximately +12 dbµV on this set’s signal meter.

In short, if you would like to get outstanding FM reception, or if you want to increase your shortwave signal quality JUST A BIT and don’t want to mess with wires, the Tecsun AN-07 is ideal.

Click here to view the Tecsun AN-07 on eBay.

Thank you, Nicolás, for the quick review! As you say, that’s impressive performance on FM especially. What I like about the AN-07 is that it’s passive and requires no power supply or batteries. It’s also compact and easy to pack for travels. Many thanks for sharing your evaluation!

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New release of Win4K3Suite includes broadcast EIBI schedules

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,Randy (KS4L), who shares the following update via Tom Blahovici of Win4K3Suite:

There is a new release of Win4K3Suite.

This release adds a number of new features. One of these is bound to bring you back in time…Win4K3Suite now includes the ability to search and display Shortwave radio stations if you have the general coverage option in your radio. This is made possible by supporting the EiBi database (eibispace.de) which is published 4 times a year. Here is an example of this in use with the built in Panadapter of Win4K3:

In addition, there are a number of additional new features and improvements such as a 1kHz snap in the spectrum and quicker resets of the ClubLog window.

You can find out more about Win4K3SUite here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=win4k3suite and at the website va2fsq.com.

There is a free 30 day fully functional trial.
73 Tom

Thanks for sharing this, Randy! Since the KX3 and KX2 are some of my favorite portable broadcast receivers, this is a most welcome development. I may have to give Win4K3Suite a try!

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An external battery pack for the Sony ICF-SW35?

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

Hi Thomas I enjoy reading your blog and often when I put a question in Google yours is the first on the list so I wonder if you’d mind if I ask you a question about the Sony SW35.

I’m interested to try powering it from a power bank but I have no idea what DC plug to buy for it as I bought it second-hand without an adaptor.

I thought about taking a couple of wires out of the battery compartment but it wouldn’t look as nice so any help you could give me would be much appreciated.

Great question, Adam!

You can certainly find a DC plug that will work with the ICF-SW35. I believe this same plug was used with a number of Sony Walkman type players back in the day. You might be able to find one at the local charity/thrift shop in their power cord jumble.

I do know that the coaxial type plug needs to have positive tip polarity (click here to read about this in the owner’s manual) and the radio requires 4.5 VDC . The OEM power adapter (Model AC-E45HG) provided 700 mAh, but I don’t know what the ‘SW35 actually requires (other than something equal to or less than 700 mAh).

One option would be to find a 12VDC to 4.5 VDC converter like the Sony DCC-E345 and plug it into a 12VDC source (there are a number of high capacity 12V battery packs on the market).

Of course, you could also build your own external source by purchasing an appropriately sized external battery holder. I would use a D cell holder (I assume one to hold 3 cells at 1.5VDC x 3 = 4.5 VDC) which would provide much better capacity than a AA cell holder. (Something like this.)

I haven’t been able to determine the +/- voltage tolerance of the ICF-SW35, so I would keep the supply voltage figure at or below 4.5 volts.

One crucial number I’m missing is the coaxial plug size. I can’t seem to find a spec for OEM Sony AC-E45HG. I hope a reader might be able to help us here.

Post readers: Can anyone confirm the DC plug size for the Sony ICF-SW35? If you have any other advice or tips for Adam, please comment!

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More info about Eneloops and avoiding counterfeits

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Following our post yesterday regarding Eneloop rechargeable cells, SWLing Post contribtors Guy Atkins and Ivan Cholakov both warned of numerous fake and counterfeit batteries available from sellers on eBay and elsewhere. Ivan notes:

Please be aware Eneloop batteries are widely copied and there are many many fakes out there. You should only buy them from a reputable source.

Thank you for that warning, Ivan!

Guy also comments:

I use Eneloop Pro AA batteries in small portables. The newest version of the “Pro” comes in a 2500 maH size and retains 85% of the charge for one year. The downsize is that this model is “only” good for 500 recharges. A useful comparison chart is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eneloop

[…]Here is a FAR more comprehensive page of Eneloop model & version comparisons, charts, FAQs, tips, warnings, etc.: https://eneloop101.com/batteries/complete-lineup/. This web site also contains warnings about Ebay fake Eneloops, and other useful details…probably more than most people want to know but if you want to make the most informed choice, check it out!

Many thanks to both of you for sharing. I agree that purchasing Eneloops from a reputable seller is incredibly important. For one thing, if you plan to invest in Eneloops, there is no rationale to buy something sub-standard. Additionally, I do worry about counterfeit cells having an unstable chemistry which could result in overheating or fire.

Click here to read our original Eneloop article with links to reputable sellers.

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