Category Archives: AM

High Noon: Belka MW shootout part 2, with a review of the AFA200C active MW ferrite antenna

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High Noon: Belka MW shootout part 2, with a review of the AFA200C active MW ferrite antenna

by 13dka

When I reviewed the updated Belka (gen3, 2022) for its MW/LW performance in October last year, I just wanted to know if it’s any good with just the whip antenna and used the XHDATA D-808 as a reference radio because it’s a Jay Allen 2.5-star average performer on MW and my expectations were not high for MW reception on a short whip.  To my surprise that average bar turned out way too low for the Belka!

That was sure asking for a comparison with the most sensitive MW radio I have and gave me hope to use the Belka for ultra-portable MW DXing on the move.  The omnidirectional whip doesn’t allow me to null out unwanted co-channel interference though, therefore I wanted to find a reasonably sized loopstick antenna to pair with the Belka.  Continue reading →

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Radio Waves: New Buzzer, Remembering Virginia Norwood, More AM in Cars, and Portland Church Pirate

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Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Paul, Frank Howell, NT, and Dan Finegan for the following tips:

Russia’s New Mystery Shortwave Station (Hackaday)

The Buzzer, also known as UVB-76 or UZB-76, has been a constant companion to anyone with a shortwave radio tuned to 4625 kHz. However, [Ringway Manchester] notes that there is now a second buzzer operating near in frequency to the original. Of course, like all mysterious stations, people try to track their origin. [Ringway] shows some older sites for the Buzzer and the current speculation on the current transmitter locations.

Of course, the real question is why? The buzzing isn’t quite nonstop. There are occasional voice messages. There are also jamming attempts, including one, apparently, by Pac Man.

Some people think the new buzzer is an image, but it doesn’t seem to be the same signal. The theory is that the buzzing is just to keep the frequency clear in case it is needed. However, we wonder if it isn’t something else. Compressed data would sound like noise.  Other theories are that the buzzing studies the ionosphere or that it is part of a doomsday system that would launch nuclear missiles. Given that the signal has broken down numerous times, this doesn’t seem likely. [Continue reading…]

Remembering Virginia Norwood, the ‘mother’ of NASA’s Landsat program (Engadget)

The pioneering inventor died on March 27th at the age of 96.

If you haven’t heard of Virginia Norwood, it’s about time you did. An aerospace pioneer whose career would have been historic even without its undercurrent of triumph over misogynistic discrimination, she invented the Landsat satellite program that monitors the Earth’s surface today. Norwood passed away on March 27th at the age of 96, as reported by NASA and The New York Times.

She achieved all this despite significant pushback from the male-dominated industry before and after her rise. Despite her obvious talent, numerous employers declined to hire her after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For example, Sikorsky Aircraft told her they would never pay her requested salary, equivalent to the lowest rank in the civil service. Another food lab she applied for asked her to promise not to get pregnant as a condition of her employment. (She withdrew her application.) Finally, the gun manufacturer Remington appreciated her “brilliant” ideas in an interview but told her they were hiring a man instead. [Continue reading…]

Can The Industry And Congress Keep AM Radio In The Dashboard? (Inside Radio)

Facing an existential moment in the 100-year history of the medium, AM broadcasters are banding together, calling on allies in Congress, and enlisting listener support to preserve their place in the automobile. The heads of 10 state broadcasting associations have formed a Dashboard Subcommittee within the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations (NASBA) to slow or stop the removal of AM radio from the dashboard. The two-week old group is working on multiple fronts including fact finding, education and advocacy.

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A Review of Two Medium Wave Signal Boosters

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By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM

It was the survey that Thomas, our Maximum Leader, conducted that got me to thinking about this.

The survey revealed that portable radios were used 38.6% of the time by SWLing Post readers as their “daily driver.” I like portable radios, too, and use them frequently. Hold that thought for a moment.

I also like medium wave DXing (content DXing, really, I enjoy tuning around for unusual programs) because, as Gary DeBock once put it: “It’s a target-rich environment.” With that in mind, I was exploring the CCrane website and found a couple of items – the Terk AM Advantage and the Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster that looked like they might help portable radio listeners who want to pull in medium-wave signals better. I asked the CCrane folks if they would like to review both products, and they sent them to me without charge.

Bottom line: they both work for boosting reception of medium-wave signals.

The Terk AM Advantage is a nine-inch tunable loop encased in plastic, and it requires no power supply. Simply place it near your portable receiver and just the dial to the desired frequency, and you could get up to a 20 dB gain in the signal you want to hear. The loop of the Terk AM Advantage inductively couples with the ferrite antenna inside your portable radio, although the unit comes with a direct wire connector that can be used with some radios.

I tried the Terk AM Advantage with my CCrane Skywave SSB on an AM that was coming in with a lot of static at my location. Without the AM Advantage, I had 3 bars of signal strength. As soon as I placed the AM Advantage close to the Skywave and adjusted the tuning knob, the signal strength increase to 5 bars, and the audio was much easier to hear with less noise.

With my Tecsun PL-880, which has a numerical signal strength meter, signal strength was 11 without the AM Advantage, but with the AM Advantage, signal strength increased to 14, and it was much easier to hear. The Terk AM Advantage definitely provides a modest boost in signal strength and clarity, is easy to use, and requires no batteries or external power supply.

The Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster is more complicated. It consists of an antenna element that measures 8.5″ W x 2.5″ H x 1.25″D, a tuner unit that measures 3.25″ W x 4.25″ H x 1.25″ D, a small ferrite stick, and some patch cords. It comes with an AC adaptor and can also be powered by a 9-volt battery. For radios with external antenna connectors, package also includes a RCA female patch cord to two bare wire ends.

Set up is pretty easy: connect the tuner unit to the antenna element with a patch cord; connect the tune to the ferrite stick with another patch, and provide power through either the AC adaptor or 9-volt battery. (I used a battery).

Here are C.Crane’s directions for how to use The Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster with a portable radio:

  • Place the Tuner Control in a comfortable location relative to your radio. Place the Antenna Element a few feet away. If the Antenna Element is placed too close to the radio, it will cause noise on your radio.
  • Place the Ferrite Stick on top of the radio near the center. Placement will vary depending on where the internal AM antenna of the radio is located.
  • For testing purposes, tune your radio to any weak AM station. It is important that the station be weak so you can clearly detect the improvement in reception.
  • Rotate the Fine Tune control, it will click on and the red LED indicator light will come on. Turn the Coarse Tune control knob slowly and you will likely notice a change in reception at some point on the dial. Adjust the control knob until you notice the most improvement on your signal. Now you can use the Fine Tune control for further refinement.
  • Move the Ferrite Stick around the radio to find the position that affects the signal the most. This position is the “sweet spot”, or the best position. Again, adjust the Fine Tune on the Tuner Control for the best reception possible. (I used rubber band to hold the Ferrite Stick in place, but the unit comes with some double-stick foam tape to hold it in place.)
  • Now you can orientate the Antenna Element for best reception. In most cases, the Antenna Element does not have to be adjusted again. When radio noise is a problem, try rotating the Antenna Element in the direction which reduces noise to a minimum.

And The Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster works like crazy! With same station on my CCrane Skywave SSB, it boosted signal strength from 3 bars to full scale. With my Tecsun PL-880, it increased signal strength from 11 to 38.

In my view, although The Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster costs twice as much as the Terk AM Advantage and is more complicated to use, it is more than twice as effective in boosting medium-wave signals.

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PSA: Your (new) radio’s filters may be wider than you think

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AM bandwidth confusion: IF Filters today vs. yesterday

by 13dka

Whether or not a radio is a joy to listen to, or apt for difficult DX is decided to a large part by the last IF filter stage. Most radios of the past didn’t come with many IF filters to begin with, their quality varied a lot and harsh compromises had to be made in multi-purpose radios. With the advent of digital filtering and inexpensive DSP portables, we got spoiled by a rich choice of selectivity settings that came with an idiosyncrasy I had to wrap my head around first, namely a shift in how some (digital) filters are labeled now.

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Radio Waves: AM in Ford Commercial Vehicles, History of Hornby Site, A23 DRM Broadcast Schedule, and AM Radio Importance and Action

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Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Paul, and Dennis Dura for the following tips:

Ford to drop AM radio in new models, except commercial vehicles (Detroit Free Press)

Ford Motor Co. plans to stop putting AM radio in new gas-powered and electric vehicles beginning in 2024, including the all-electric Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning pickup, the Detroit Free Press has confirmed.

“We are transitioning from AM radio for most new and updated 2024 models,” Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood told the Free Press. “A majority of U.S. AM stations, as well as a number of countries and automakers globally, are modernizing radio by offering internet streaming through mobile apps, FM, digital and satellite radio options. Ford will continue to offer these alternatives for customers to hear their favorite AM radio music, news and podcasts as we remove amplitude modulation — the definition of AM in this case — from most new and updated models we bring to market.”

Commercial vehicles will continue to offer AM radio because of longstanding contract language, Sherwood said.

Drivers often turn to AM radio for live traffic updates and weather reports, as well as emergency communication. [Continue reading…]

The history of the Hornby AM radio site, our oldest operational transmission site (CBC/Radio-Canada)

Did you know that one of our AM radio stations can also be used as a bunker? What’s more, the opening of this station was of such importance that King George VI addressed the nation during its inaugural broadcast in December 1937? Considered an engineering feat in its time, the Hornby AM radio site is the oldest transmission site owned and operated by CBC/Radio-Canada. Here are some interesting facts.

Listen to the King’s First Empire Christmas Greeting:

Audio Player

A little bit of history

Located in Hornby, Ontario, this AM radio site was built in 1937 for the CBL radio service (the ancestor of CBC Radio One) one year after the creation of CBC/Radio-Canada. The station contained a 50-kilowatt transmitter and a 640-foot tower, making it the tallest structure in Canada from 1937 to 1954. That’s more than twice the height of Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower, London).

Already a technological feat in itself, the site then added a second radio service (CJBC) in 1944 and became one of the rare AM sites to broadcast two services from one tower. The joint CBL-CJBC signal was so powerful that people could hear the program simply by putting an ear on nearby wire fences.

All about the bunker

Between 1946 and 1948, Canadians were seeing the beginning of the Cold War and, with it, the threat of nuclear attacks. As a result, the site underwent a “wartime expansion” during which the existing underground bunker, a reinforced underground shelter built for protection, was installed. Continue reading →

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Radio Waves: G4 Solar Storm, AM for Car Safety, AI DJs Next Month, and NYC Pirate Fined $2 Million

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Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Troy Riedel, Dennis Dura, and Richard Cuff for the following tips:

Strongest solar storm in nearly 6 years slams into Earth catching forecasters by surprise (Space.com)

The powerful solar storm supercharged auroras as far south as Colorado and New Mexico.

The most powerful solar storm in nearly six years slammed Earth today (March 24), but strangely, space weather forecasters didn’t see it coming.

The geomagnetic storm peaked as a severe G4 on the 5-grade scale used by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to assess the severity of space weather events. The storm’s unexpected ferocity not only made auroras visible as far south as New Mexico in the U.S., but it also forced spaceflight company Rocket Lab to delay a launch by 90 minutes.

Geomagnetic storms are disturbances to Earth’s magnetic field caused by solar material from coronal mass ejections (CME) — large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun’s atmosphere. It turns out that this particular geomagnetic storm was triggered by a “stealth” CME which — as the name suggests — is rather tricky to detect. [Continue reading…]

Congressman Says Make AM a Mandatory Car Safety Feature (Radio World)

Gottheimer also supports federal spending on AM infrastructure to assure continuity of service

A congressman from New Jersey wants the government to add AM radio to the list of safety equipment that carmakers must include in their vehicles.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer has called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to “add AM radio to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to require that all automakers, including EV manufacturers, include AM radio as a stock feature in their vehicles. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards are the minimum safety standards that a manufacturer must meet when making a vehicle — including requirements related to airbags, brakes, seatbelts, tires, controls and displays.”

The National Association of Broadcasters welcomed his effort.

Gottheimer, a Democrat who represents a district along the state’s northern border, held a news event next to a Tesla dealership in Paramus, N.J., along with New Jersey Broadcasters Association Executive Director Jordan Walton. [Continue reading…]

AI-generated DJs are coming to radio stations in the US and Canada next month (Business Insider)

An AI-generated radio DJ could be coming to your local radio station.

RadioGPT, a GPT-4-powered radio content generator from media company Futuri, is set to debut next month in radio stations in the US and Canada, Axios Cleveland reported.

Powered by the same tech that ChatGPT draws upon, RadioGPT aims to man radio airtime spots with AI-generated scripts and voices, as well as tailored local news content.

You can listen to a demo from the company that gives you a preview of what the AI-generated DJ voices sound like — which tell listeners that they are, in fact, fully AI — sprinkled between curated songs. The page includes snippets of RadioGPT-generated voices presenting news, weather, and traffic updates.

“Anything a radio human can do, I can do better,” one of the AI hosts can be heard saying in between songs. “Every voice you hear is 100% AI.” [Continue reading…]

FCC Fines 15 Year-Old Pirate Radio Station in NYC $2 Million (Vice)

The FCC is using its new powers to ask from the maximum fine from an Ecuadorian pirate radio station that’s run for more than 15 years.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is using a new law to fine a pirate radio station operating in New York City for more than $2 million. For 15 years, Impacto 2, which has been operated by two brothers, has broadcast Ecuadorian news, culture, sports, and talk-radio on 105.5 FM in Queens. The feds have tried to shut it down repeatedly, but have never succeeded.

The FCC announced the fine in a press release last week. “The Commission proposed the maximum penalty allowable, $2,316,034, against brothers César Ayora and Luis Angel Ayora for pirate radio broadcasting in Queens, New York,” the release said. The FCC also said it was trying to seize $80,000 in equipment from a man broadcasting pirate radio in Eastern Oregon.

The Ayoras have been on the FCC’s radar since 2008 when they started broadcasting Impacto 2 for the Ecuadorian community in Queens: “The brothers César and [Luis] Angel Ayora in September 2008 founded the first Ecuadorian FM radio station in New York City. . . The station never sleeps, because a team of communication professionals are working for you 24 hours a day,” their website, which is currently down, said. The station is broadcast over the internet and has moved around the FM spectrum several times over the years. [Continue reading…]

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Survey results: What type of radio is your daily driver?

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Last week, I published a post asking SWLing Post readers what type of radio their “daily driver” is at present. Click here to read that post.

I created a survey form and left it open for about five days. In that time, we received 639 responses! If you’d like to read the results, continue scrolling or click on continue reading below.
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