Category Archives: How To

Vintage Radio: How to read a logging scale

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Charlie Liberto (W4MEC) for the following guest post:

Vintage receiver frequency counter…sort of

by Charlie Liberto (W4MEC)

You probably know what a log book is, and maybe a logarithm, but do you know what a ‘Logging Scale’ was meant for? If you are a modern SWL’er, and have a receiver built in the last 40 years or so, you probably don’t have that mysterious 0 to 100 range on your dial, as shown at the top of the picture of the Hallicrafters S20-R main dial, and you may not have a dial at all, peering without question at a digital display of your received frequency.

The Logging Scale on older and vintage receivers had two functions: to let you find a station you might be looking for, when you knew the frequency it would be on, and to determine the frequency of a station, but you had to have known references. How to do that on those old scales that may have had 50 kHz or even 500 kHz hash marks between whole Megahertz numbers, or in that era, KC or MC numbers? The process is fairly straight forward, but did require you to know the operating frequency of at least 2 stations on the band of interest, and the closer they were to the mystery frequency, the better.

Let’s say you are looking for WLMN that is supposed to begin its operation day on 6025 kHz. and your receiver has a mark every 250 kHz between 5 and 7 MHz, that’s pretty iffy as to setting the dial. Now, you know that station WABC is on 5500 kHz, and station GXYZ is on 6525 kHz, so, tuning in WABC you note what number the pointer on the dial is over on the logging scale, maybe it is 40. Then you tune to GXYZ and you find it on 70 on the logging scale. The known difference in frequency between WABC at 5500 kHz and GXYZ at 6525 is 1025 kHz, and the logging scale number difference is 40 to 70 or 30 divisions. Take the 1025 kHz separating your two known stations, divided by the 30 logging scale divisions and you get 34.167 kHz per division. Some more math, the station you are looking for, WLMN is on 6025 kHz, which is 525 kHz away from WABC at 5500 kHz., divide 525 kHz by the logging scale frequency versus division number of 34.167 kHz which equals approximately 16. Take that 16, add it to WABC logging scale number of 40, and you should expect to hear WLMN on logging scale 56 on the dial.

Of course you can flip this process around. If you heard WLMN, but did not know it’s frequency, the same procedure worked backwards to interpolate the logging scale 56 into kHz, added to the WABC frequency/log number, or subtracted from GXYZ numbers, and you would figure out WLMN was on 6025 kHz.

What did this process do? It ‘calibrated’ your receiver dial to known checkpoints by using known frequencies of stations, such that you had a better idea of where you were frequency wise, but it did have it’s limitations. Older receiver dials usually had the lower frequencies divisions of a band close together, and as you tuned to higher frequencies on the same band, hash marks for frequencies got farther apart, while the logging scale stayed linear. This was because builders used the simpler straight line capacitance variable capacitor for tuning, instead of the straightline wavelength or straight line frequency style which would have made the dial more linear. If you used two stations on the low end to set a logging scale reference, chances are it will be quite a bit off in the frequency versus logging scale number on the high end of the dial. So, if you could find two stations that bracketed the one you were examining, that would assure the most accuracy.

After all that, you are probably saying thank God and a lot of engineers for a digital readout.

Thank you, Charlie, for an excellent tutorial and example of using dial logging. I’ve had a number of vintage radios over the years with logging scales and it took some digging to discover how they worked. While digital radios make the process as easy as pie, vintage radios are worth the extra effort!

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Guest Post: Listening To Pirate Radio Stations from South America

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Smolinski, who shares the following guest post. Note that this post has also been published on Chris’ excellent blog, Radiohobbyist.org:

Listening To Pirate Radio Stations from South America

by Chris Smolinski

Looking for a new DX challenge? In addition to shortwave pirate stations in the USA, and Europe (Europirates as we call them), there’s a relatively new group of pirate radio stations being heard in North America, those from South America.

It’s really only been the previous year that we’ve confirmed that there’s a significant number of pirate radio stations in South America that can be received here. Radio Pirana has been known for some time, and I believe thee were a few reports of it, and at least one other station that I cannot remember the name of, but that’s about it. For years there have been logs of very weak UNID stations heard on the 43 meter band (6800-7000 kHz), presumed to be pirates of some sort, and it is possible some of these were South American pirates.

Most of these stations use homemade transmitters, often of the “Lulu” design, with a IRF510 or similar MOSET RF final stage. That means they are generally in the 15 or 20 watt carrier range, although some are higher power. That also means that unless otherwise noted, all of these stations use AM mode, and in general the frequency is highly variable, easily varying 100 Hz or more from night to night, or even during transmissions.

One important caveat: Since most of these stations use relatively low power, and due to the long distances involved, signal levels are generally weak, although occasionally when conditions are excellent (especially if there’s grayline propagation), they can put in stronger signals. I am fortunate to live in a rural area with relatively low noise/RFI levels, and have several high end receivers and large antennas. My primary setup for catching these stations is a netSDR receiver and a 670 foot Sky Loop antenna. You’re going to want to use the best receiver and antenna you can for catching these stations, you’re not likely to have good (or any) results with a portable SW radio, RTL dongle, or small/indoor antenna. Also, I record the entire 43 meter band nightly on my netSDR, and then go through the recordings each morning. This lets me catch stations that may only appear for a brief period of time. That said, you can still hear them with a reasonable HF setup, although it may take persistence, checking each night, until conditions permit reception.

It’s well worth checking the Latin American Pirate logging forum on the HF Undergroundwebsite, to see what is presently being heard. The HF Underground is the best way to keep up to date with the hobbyist radio scene in general, with dedicated forums for North American Pirates, Europirates, and of course radio in general.

And for those of you into collecting QSLs – many of these stations are reliable QSLers!

In general, the easiest station to hear is Lupo Radio from Argentina. It is on the air most evenings on 6973 kHz in AM mode. At least at my location, it puts in the strongest and most reliable signal. Usually in the SIO 222 to 333 range, sometimes stronger. There are frequent IDs. I use Lupo Radio as a “beacon” to gauge how good conditions are to South America on 43 meters.

Another station that is often on the air is RCW – Radio Compañía Worldwide from Chile. They use 6925.13 kHz, and their carrier is more stable and usually on this offset frequency, which makes it easier to determine that it’s likely you’re hearing them vs a US pirate station.

New to the scene is Radio Marcopolo on 6991 kHz.

Also new to the scene is an as yet UNID pirate from South America on 6934.9 kHz. I have received them for several weeks now in the local evenings, usually starting around the 2300-0300 UTC window. They put in a respectable signal (relatively speaking), strong enough for Shazam to ID songs. They have frequent breaks in their transmission, with the carrier often going off and on many times during a broadcast. They also occasionally transmit audio test tones, and sometimes seem to relay audio from licensed stations in Argentina such as Radio El Mundo. This could be someone testing a new transmitter? A new mystery to solve!

Radio Dontri is somewhat unique in that they use USB mode, on 6955 kHz. They also send SSTV, which is sometimes easier to receive than music, and helps to verify that you’re actually hearing them, vs a US pirate on 6955. They tend to drift a lot, however, which can make decoding the SSTV transmissions challenging.

Outside the 43 meter band, there is Rádio Casa 8000 kHz. I have only received weak carriers from this station, although partly that may be because I do not frequently check for it, and it does not turn up on my overnight SDR recordings.

Radio Triunfal Evangélica is other station outside of the 43 meter band, they use the nominal frequency of 5825 kHz, often closer to 5824.9 kHz. Again I have only received a carrier from them. As the name implies, they are a religious station, affiliated with a church.

Now that we’ve talked about the pirate stations from South America, we should probably mention things you are likely to hear that are not pirates. Specifically, what we call Peskies (or Pesky as the singular), short for pescadores, the Spanish word for fishermen. Peskies generally use LSB mode, and can be heard on many frequencies in the 43 meter band, engaging in QSOs. Years ago, pirate listeners started to call these stations pescadores, since some of them were indeed fishermen, and could be heard discussing related matters. It might be better to think of most of them as freebanders/outbanders, much in the tradition of those transmitting on 11 meters. There’s a logging forum on the HFU dedicated to Peskies, if you’re interesting in learning more about them.

Occasionally they use AM mode. We’ve logged several on 6965 kHz (+/- of course), that at first were thought to be pirates. But they never transmitted music, and after some discussions with DXers in South America, it was determined that they were more properly considered peskies.

Many thanks, Chris, for sharing this excellent guest post with us! Until the Winter SWL Fest last week, I had no idea South American pirates were on the rise–what a great opportunity to catch interesting DX!

Readers, check out this and other posts on Chris’ website Radiohobbyist.org.

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The XHDATA D-808 and longwave: how to build an effective antenna

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mad Radio DXer, who writes:

I said I would share my results for attempting to receive LW signals on the XHDATA D-808, & if I can use a longwire to improve reception on this radio. This was after posting videos when I used around 50 metres of longwire connected to the D-808 for improved Medium Wave reception & to prove it works.

This first video shows that it is not possible for LW, no matter if I connect the 50 metres longwire to the 3.5mm input or the whip antenna. I also compare reception of the same station with the Degen DE1103 PLL using the 3.5mm input. The Degen DE1103 still had better reception even when I used the whip antenna extended at the very minimum when using the LW/MW external antenna trick. I know I should have used the internal ferrite antenna of the Degen compared to the D-808, but in any case I did try off camera & reception was about the same. So unfortunately the D-808 was never going to win this round.

However, there is a solution.

The answer? Build yourself a Long Wave induction antenna as shown in the second video [below]. I made one some time ago, as I grew frustrated at how poor the Tecsun radios were on this part of the band & that there were no LW induction antennas available to buy. I tried a signal on 207 kHz which is RÚV Rás 2 from Iceland. Either a radio with a very good internal antenna or a good external antenna is needed to receive this station at my QTH in southern England.

Placing the D-808 on the induction antenna resulted in a very pleasing result, which was it did get reception of Iceland on 207 kHz. So this shows that it is possible to DX on the LW bands with the D-808 with some “external help”.

For anyone interested making a LW induction antenna as shown above, here is a link to a video that has basic instructions & further results. It may be a very simple build & finish what I did, but for me the most important thing is that it works.

I hope my comments & videos will be a great help to all. Happy DXing.

Regards,

Mad Radio DXer.

Excellent–your comments and videos are most welcome! There are quite a number of SWLing Post readers who are avid longwave DXers. I love the simplicity and efficacy of your longwave antenna–something anyone could build. A clever upgrade to the affordable D-808. Thank you for sharing!

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Video: How to calibrate the Tecsun PL-660 frequency offset

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Mander, who writes:

I’ve recently really been enjoying swling.com. Thanks for having such a great resource online with shortwave radio and hardware reviews, tips and more! I started listening to shortwave on an old Philips portable receiver back in the late 70’s as a teenager. Recently, after decades of not listening to shortwave, I decided to buy an Eton ‘Grundig Edition’ Satellit radio and in no time at all, I had also acquired a C.Crane Skywave SSB and now, within the last week, a Tecsun PL-660.

[…]I thought I’d record a video showing how one can calibrate AM, FM, SW wide-bandwidth as well as SW narrow-bandwidth independently, and how to reset those calibrations back to factory default. I have not heard it mentioned anywhere that one can calibrate both wide and narrow bandwidth SW modes independently.

Online, I have read about many people being disappointed in their PL-660’s wide-bandwidth frequency calibration, where often being on-station results in the frequency being up to 5 kHz too low, and it seems many simply return their radios as defective, not realizing how easy it is to recalibrate. This is the first “instructional” video of this sort that I’ve ever posted online, so you’ll have to pardon if I am perhaps not explaining things clearly enough:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Excellent video, Mike! You’ve done a fine job making the explanation clear and easy to follow. Thank you for sharing!

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Guest Post: Backpack Shack 2.0 – a homebrew wideband magnetic loop antenna

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares the following guest post:

Backpack Shack 2.0

by TomL

Like Audiophile speakers, it could be said that “antennas are forever”. They tend to not become obsolete like all of our favorite electronic gear (a good one is worth the trouble). And antennas don’t care if the signals are digital or analog formats. They are “Digital Ready” (LOL)!

The flimsy “Backpack Shack” prototype broadband loop antenna created over a year ago had found a permanent home on the porch for general listening. I started itching to make a new one that was even more portable. To paraphrase an old saying, “The best antenna is the one you have with you!”

The new design criteria were:

Retain the broadband design of the amplified loop on a sturdy form
Shrink the size to fit into a backpack without heavy stand or long pole
Build a modular platform that would allow quick setup
Be something durable that can last me 20+ years of use
Allow the loop to be rotated and tilted by hand
Be easy to hook up to any kind of radio
and later on, Enhance the design as a true Ferrite Sleeve Loop

The Backpack: The existing photo backpack was slightly too bulky. Found on Amazon was an Adidas Excel II XXL backpack on special sale with plenty of tall compartments and minimal padding. It is surprisingly roomy and comfortable to wear with springy shoulder straps and padded mesh backside!

Sturdy Basic Form: The Backpack Shack loop was originally built on 14-inch quilters loops (three of them) in a parallel configuration. I thought to simplify the whole thing and just use one wide loop. But what should I use for a sturdy form? The quilters loops were too flimsy and PVC pipe was too heavy. I stumbled upon a nice company called FlexPVC which allows sales to the public of various kinds of PVC pipe. Their Thinwalled Air Duct PVC looked promising. It is thinner than regular PVC but having standard inside dimensions and comes in custom-cut lengths. I decided 10-inch diameter would fit best inside the Backpack. FlexPVC even sends you a small booklet of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights with your order!

Thinwalled PVC form

The “length” as they call it would be my form width for the copper strip. I thought 3-inch would be nice but decided 4-inch was better. Supposedly, the aperture + the width of the “radiant element” is the main design consideration for loop performance. So, I figured that as wide an element as I could get away with was better.

Stable Mounting: Now, how to mount this thing! I eventually went back to my photographic web links and found nice rig equipment for video cameras. The typical construct is made of 15mm tubes of aluminum or carbon fiber (CF) and fit into adapters that allow attachment to other adapters or clamps. Non-metallic CF seemed ideal, so, I ordered a whole bunch of items from eBay to experiment piecing together two 10-inch CF tubes mounted inside the PVC form. Then, I attached two 15-inch CF tubes to the bottom of the PVC with something called a “Cheese Rod” that has multiple holes. Those two tubes are attached to another “Cheese Bar” which is attached to a second Cheese Bar on a cheap two-axis tripod head. This is a simpler photo version with quick release plate that locks pan-tilt separately and only cost $16.

Cheese Rod attached to bottom of PVC

Pan-tilt head assembly with Quick Release plate

For the base, I had an unused Sirui T-2005X 5-Section Aluminum Travel Tripod going to waste, so it was pressed into service. Very good tripod: can hold 26 lbs. (forged aluminum, not cast aluminum), legs can flare out for stability, and folds to 14.5-inches. Now, everything could come apart and fit into the Excel II Backpack!

Critically, the video rig standardization in the DSLR industry allows me to pick and choose parts from any cheap manufacturer but end up with a system that looks and feels coherent, is both sturdy and light, and can come apart if needed. Also, the pan-tilt photo head is really easy to work to get maximum peak or null out of the loop when mounted to a camera tripod.

CF Problem: CF tubes have no internal threads like that of aluminum tubes. So, I attached two, small 3/8-1/4 inch tripod adapters to the ends of a 3/8-inch oak dowel inside each CF tube destined for the inside of the PVC (ridiculously, I used up almost a whole bottle of super glue to get these 4 tiny pieces to attach to the oak dowels). This is definitely a weakness of my design but I could not figure out any other way to get the CF to mount inside the PVC form. Then, added to this is something wonderful I found at Ace Hardware called “speed nuts” to help push ipwards against the incoming stainless steel socket head screws of exact length. With jam nuts, internal lock washers, wing nuts, and strategic use of Thread Locker Blue, I finally had enough confidence that this thing would hold together!!

Speed Nuts pushing upward against incoming screws

Super-glued 3/8-1/4 inch adapter on end of oak dowel inside CF tube

Bottom assembly (Cheese Rod, Cheese Bar, and 15mm Clamp screwed together + wires to a BNC connector)

Ferrite Sleeve Loop: Halfway through this project, I became determined to use the ferrite bars and rods I had purchased from eBay mid-summer 2017 to turn this antenna into a real Ferrite Sleeve Loop but with a broadband design (At that time, I ended up purchasing the very last quantities of 62x12x4mm ferrite bars from the Lithuanian eBay seller, just because they were becoming scarce plus some other 8mm ferrite rods). The Thinwalled PVC is 5mm thick, perfect for this type of application. The video equipment could handle the extra weight. I had just enough ferrites to line the inside of this PVC form with two bars side-by-side all the way around the inside (plus some shorter ferrite rods at the top and bottom). Some quick setting JB WELD Kwik Weld epoxy made quick (and permanent) attachment of these ferrites to the inside of the PVC. Now, the bars stick out from the PVC form by about ½-inch on each side, so I do have to be careful it does not get abused and chip off any of the exposed ferrite.

Soviet ferrite bars and rods, 400 ui (initial permeability).

Note: Using Gary DeBock’s Performance estimate (diameter * length), this calculation predicts that this FSL 10.75-inch loop should perform similarly to Gary’s 10-inch models using 140mm long Russian ferrite bars (mine probably performs less than his since I am not using carefully tuned (to Mediumwave) litz wire on higher permeability 1500 ui ferrites like he does).

See: Summary of Gary DeBock Ferrite Sleeve Loop designs

But, “*WHY* do FSL antennas work?!?!” is still the very intriguing question….

See: Graham Maynard report on Ferrite Sleeve Loop antennas

Preamplifier: I believe one advantage of building a portable, table-top loop antenna like this is that all the connections are short. This allows me to use a Preamp right at the connection point of the loop. Indeed, this was critical since passive testing (no Preamp, nor ferrites) found that this loop is somewhat deaf at the MW frequencies and uninspiring on the SW bands. This was true even when connected to Antenna A of my SDRPlay RSP-2 and the internal Low Noise Amp cranked all the way up. So, I ordered the DX Engineering RPA-2 Preamp. This adds to the weight somewhat since I also needed a 12V battery supply using a 10-cell holder of NiMH AA batteries and 2.1mm plug.

See: Short discussion about Preamp placement to antenna

The question arises that I “should” impedence-match the output of the loop before anything else to increase “maximum gain”. Well, for one thing, a tuner or matching balun would just introduce loss as soon as the wire comes out at the base of the antenna. The slight net increase in gain does not seem worth it; the signal/noise ratio rarely changes when introducing a device that is meant specifically for matching a transmitter to a load. Receiver circuits don’t care as long as there is enough signal to process. That is what the Preamp is for. The Preselector is for rejecting out-of-band (i.e., increasing signal/noise ratio + eliminate overloading the electronics).

See: Good discussion why antenna tuners don’t matter

Preselector: Now that the signal level was satisfactory, I added on the Cross Country Preselector, which I like very much since it is passive, lightweight, and well made. I had looked at other amplified preselectors but found the schematics showing the preselector came first in the path. I needed the preamp first, so that is how I ended up with separate units. In fact, the reverse configuration performs with worse signal/noise ratio because of the loss inherent in the preselector. In this case, it is definitely needed to amp the loop first with a high quality preamp (high IP3 rating)!

Automatic Bypass: The Cross Country unit has a great feature in the “off” position as an automatic bypass. This feature is very important since I do not need a Preselector in the circuit all the time. The bypass feature also allows the RSP-2 to monitor a large swath of spectrum without having the Preselector cut the bandwidth. The DX Engineering RPA-2 Preamp also has a circuit bypass when the power is off – very nice feature! So, I can keep all the antenna wires connected if I don’t want to use either device on a certain band – necessary for my broadband antenna design and use with an SDR.

Modular Portability: Another advantage of a table top loop is portability. Because of the modular design, I can put this into checked baggage (except for the AA batteries and laptop) and have it available for DXing in unexpected places. It could be useful when traveling and I cannot string wire into a tree but want something better than a whip antenna on a small radio. Everything fits into the bag and can be setup on a balcony, inside a car with a sunroof, or on a park picnic table.

A third advantage is that a short antenna could be clamped to one of the tubes and then connected directly to Antenna B of the RSP-2 for listening to higher frequencies (like a Comet W100RX). This expands the usefulness of this project as a platform for multiple antennas!

Finished Loop and accessories assembled together

Performance: Good on MW and very good on Shortwave. It is not in the league of Wellbrook antennas but it is useful as long as the RSP-2 LNA is kept down around -7 on MW and -4 on SW, else it overloads. The photo gear makes it easier to use than the original loop. I found that one side has a slightly larger receiving lobe than the other which is OK in practice. The null is very sharp and takes a little finesse to null out an offending station by almost 20 dB on MW and 15 dB on SW (the photo head can lock in place). It is handy to have the pan-tilt arm point directly at a station to maximize the null since the arm is mounted perpendicular to the loop. I will look for a clear plastic bag to cover the antenna and electronics to use in wet environments.

A larger loop would work better but this one is to use wherever I can. Also, my work laptop is noisey and shows birdies and spikes here and there on the bands, so I added a large ferrite bead to the USB computer end which helps. But I don’t have to use an SDR, I just have to change a connector and radio. It was expensive and fun to build – I guess I am just LOOPY!

Happy Listening,

Tom Lebryk

Appendix I, Field Recordings 27-Jan. 2018 between 21.26-22.36 UTC:

Note 1: All Transmitter locations referenced from web site short-wave.info at time of recordings

Note 2: My location in a shelter at Dick Young Forest Preserve (41.84334, -88.38133)

Note 3: Moderate but declining solar wind with no flares, Kp Index = Calm (1)

9.420 MHz – Voice of Greece booming in like it was next door:

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