Category Archives: Mediumwave

The Aiwa FR-C33 AM\FM\WX portable radio

A few weeks ago, SWLing Post contributor, Ron, sent me an eBay listing for a radio with which I was not familiar: the Aiwa FR-C33.

Ron wrote:

“I know you are primarily HF but here is something rather special and unique and inexpensive:

Aiwa’s response to C-Quam in the late 90’s was “AM Wide.” Apparently all this meant was a somewhat wider Murita ceramic filter.

But…the bandwidth just matches the 10,200 cycle limit imposed on AM stations today…try a Sony SRF-42 or SRF-A1 C-Quam receiver at night on today’s band and note that they’re just too wide.

I have one of these and can tell you the build quality is great…it has a tone control and on Sony Walkman headphones stations like WSM are just flat-out unreal in sonic quality…the speaker isn’t bad, either.

A nice big ferrite bar makes it a bit of a DX machine, too.

FM is also very good; even the weather-band add-on works too.

Very much worth a go for your collection and enjoyment[.]”

Aiwa-FR-C33-Back I’ve been enjoying the FR-C33 for a few weeks now; Ron’s assessment is spot-on.

The FR-C33 produces clear audio via its internal speaker, but where it really shines is with a pair of good headphones plugged in. Though it has no “Mega Bass” feature like many radios of its era, the Aiwa produces great bass tones via a good set of “cans” (I’ve been using my Sennheiser HD 428s).

The FR-C33 has a very useful tone control with a smooth, wide spread between the full bass and treble settings.

All of the FR-C33’s controls are fluid and functional.

AM (mediumwave) reception is truly fantastic. I find that the analog tuning wheel is easy to use and there’s enough room for the needle to easily travel across the dial without skipping stations inadvertently (a problem I often find with smaller analog portables).

It really shines, however, when you can center on a local broadcaster with a quality AM signal. While the FR-C33W doesn’t receive C Quam stereo, of course, its wide AM filter offers up excellent fidelity.

FM reception is also sound. While I haven’t done a formal comparison on FM, it receives my benchmark FM stations with ease and produces great audio fidelity via headphones. Sensitivity-wise, it might lag slightly behind some of the better DSP-based radios out there, but for an inexpensive analog receiver, it must be at the lead of the pack.

Ron, I really appreciate the recommendation–thank you! The FR-C33 is a keeper for sure.

Though these don’t pop up regularily on eBay, you can search for an Aiwa FR-C33 by clicking this link.

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Obtaining QSLs from AM broadcast stations?

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SWLing Post reader, Paul Grodkowski, writes:

“Just a quick question to anyone at the SWLing Post:

Is the practice of sending a reception report to a AM broadcast station in return for a QSL card still accepted in the age of the internet ?

So many stations are broadcasting online now that I wonder if they have QSL cards at all?

I just want to keep up with the times and not bother busy people at radio stations and look out of date, yet at the same time would like to confirm report of reception.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.”

Thanks for your question, Paul! I’m no expert on AM broadcast QSLing, but I’m pretty sure many mediumwave stations still respond to listener reports. Indeed, I believe there are even radio enthusiasts who act as QSL managers of larger clear channel stations (CFZM comes to mind).

Of course, one brilliant resource for all things MW DX is the National Radio Club (NRC).

Readers: Can you help answer Paul’s question? Please comment. Also, if you have some AM broadcast QSL cards, please contact me as I would love to post some.

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Tuning in to AM broadcast history and the venerable RF-2200

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric (WD8RIF), for sharing a link to this excellent article in the Illinois Times by James Krohe Jr. Here’s an excerpt:

Tuning in: Making a small world bigger and the big one smaller

So much of happiness, I’ve realized, depends on getting tuned in. When he was a young married, my father used to tune in the console radio in the living room of the Krohe family mansion on Manor Avenue to the live broadcasts of big-band music “from the beautiful Blue Room in the Roosevelt Hotel” in downtown New Orleans. He was able to be in two places at once thanks to WWL-AM, whose 50,000-watt clear channel signal was beamed north. For all I know, while he tapped his toe on the sofa in Springfield, Inuit couples were jitterbugging on the tundra.

For Springfield teens in the 1950s and ’60s, getting a chance to listen to what kids in bigger cities had already decided they liked was important. WCVS-AM was just crawling out of its cocoon, having crawled into it as a country station and emerging as a rock station – although in the late ’50s there wasn’t that much difference. “Rock ’n’ roll” was, in stations like WVCS that catered to mostly white markets, rockabilly and pop-ish country ballads. (Geezers will recall when Brenda Lee was, briefly and laughably, marketed as a rock artist.)

For Top 40 music, as for so many other things, if you wanted to get the really good stuff you had to go to the big city. Around here that meant WLS-AM, WCFL-AM out of Chicago (whose Ron Britain made Soupy Sales look, or rather sound, like Noel Coward), and KXOK-AM out of St. Louis. George Lucas’s American Graffiti brilliantly captured the ways that car radios, transistors, radio stations blaring over PAs in drive-ins, permeated the bubble in which teenagers then lived.

Later I learned I could hear WBZ out of Boston if I acted as the antenna on my transistor. (“Turn on, tune in, drop out” to me meant losing the signal when I lighted a smoke.) WBZ was one of the first stations with the newest 45s from Britain, which allowed us yokels to hear The Yardbirds while the records were still on their way to Midwest stations by stagecoach from Boston harbor.

Continue reading…

Krohe also mentions the virtues of the Panasonic RF-2200 which is, in my opinion, one of the best AM broadcast portable receivers ever.

Click here to read the full article at the Illinois Times website.

Side note: The Panasonic RF-2200 still has a loyal following among mediumwave DXers of the world. The RF-2200 can be found on sites like eBay (click here to search), but make sure you’re purchasing from a reputable seller and not over-paying.

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Radio France: mediumwave and longwave broadcasts to end

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Marc, who sends this news from France Inter.

The article (in French) states that Radio France, in a cost-cutting measure, will end mediumwave transmissions by the end of this year (2015) and longwave transmissions by the end of 2016. It’s estimated that this will save 13 million Euros annually.

Though I haven’t listened to Radio France on mediumwave since I actually lived in France, I have been attempting to log France Inter on long wave from here in the States. This will certainly motivate me to put them in the books as soon as conditions are favorable.

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CBK transmitter building to be demolished

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The CBK transmitter building in Watrous 1939 (Source: Dwight Kornelsen/ Watrousheritage.ca via CBC)

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Chris, who shares a link to this article from the CBC:

Historic CBK transmitter building in Watrous to be demolished

Most people who have grown up in the prairie provinces will have received their news via the CBC broadcast tower in Watrous.

The massive CBK building was established in 1939 as part of an overall CBC plan to bring programming to all parts of Canada. This was done with several well-placed 50,000 watt transmitters.

CBK was designed to serve all the prairie provinces, which is why Watrous was chosen as the site.

It is located in the centre of the populated portion of the prairies, and as a bonus it is located on a potash vein, making its ground conductivity one of the best on the continent.

In those days the technology for a single transmitter took up two floors of the building.

About 371 square metres was for the transmitter. That amount of equipment required a staff of six to maintain.

There was also a manager and living quarters for the staff.

During the Cold War, nuclear threat was a very real concern.

“The site was deemed important enough for communications that there was an armed guard protecting the transmitter,” said Stephen Tomchuk, transmitter supervisor for Saskatchewan.

“There was a fallout shelter built in the basement of the building that contained full facilities to be able to broadcast in the event of nuclear war,” added Tomchuk.[…]

Continue reading online…

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WRTH update to A15 schedule

In the field with the Panasonic RF-2200

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I’ve had the Panasonic RF-2200 for just one week, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this classic solid-state portable. Without a doubt I’ve been very pleased with the RF-2200, and I only have good things to say about the eBay seller, volodymyry123 from whom I bought it. Eventually I’ll take the time to calibrate the analog dial, which is about 100 kHz off-frequency. (I’m obviously in no rush, but if readers with these rigs have suggestions for doing so, feel free to comment.)

The RF-2200 is surely one of the largest, heaviest portables in my collection…still, it begs to be taken outdoors!

Last week, I drove with some friends to the highest point in eastern North America, Mount Mitchell State Park. As I left for our drive, picnic supplies and backpacks in tow, I took a glance at the RF-2200 in my office–and couldn’t resist taking it along.

During our mountain picnic, I turned the RF-2200 on; immediately I heard Radio Exterior de España‘s interval signal on 17,715 kHz. It was loud and clear, at times pegging S9 on the signal meter.

I also tuned to the medium wave band and was instantly amazed by all of the signals it drew in. I was able to hear one of my favorites, WAIZ, on 630 kHz–the signal was very stable and sounded local, although the transmitter was easily 60 miles away.

In general, medium wave performance on the RF-2200 has been nothing short of incredible. But this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Indeed, just prior to purchasing the RF-2200, I consulted my buddy, Jeff McMahon (the fellow behind The Herculodge); here’s what he says about the ‘2200:

“I borrowed my friends’ RF-2200 for a month in 2008 and I loved it. It picked up stations effortlessly and had a magisterial quality about it, especially the AM sound. It reminded me of why I fell in love with radios.”

But why is it that when I look at the RF-2200, I feel like I should be taking it to the field? Perhaps it’s the staunch, beefy look of the chassis, or the controls that could easily be worked even with winter gloves? Or perhaps it’s that woven carry strap?

Or perhaps the RF-2200 offers something I miss in the age of compact portables with digital displays: a radio with presence, one that lends itself to pure listening discovery. The RF-2200 demands your attention, and does so with a clear, deep voice…

Yep, the RF-2200 is a true field companion. But don’t take my word for it: find one, take it along, and see–or rather, hear–for yourself.

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