Category Archives: Nostalgia

Radio Fax: Christopher seeks more information about “Britain’s Number Two Short Wave Station”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christopher Brennen, who writes:

I hope you’re keeping well. I stumbled across this site and thought you might be interested:

http://radiofax.org

I am a little too young to know anything about this; not only was I five / six when they first started but I also had no idea about shortwave radio at the time! 🙂

Do any of your readers know anything more about it (it is fairly detailed on this site, but perhaps someone reading was involved in some way?)

It seems to be a shortwave combination of the IBA Engineering Broadcasts for the trade that were shown on TV and something akin to the current InRadio (inrad.io).

Click here to view on YouTube.

Incidentally, the little IBA jingle at the start of that clip was also used – in a higher key – by Granada Television in the North West of England for some of their idents:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Granada was my ‘home’ ITV region so I’m very familiar with that jingle.

Thanks again for the SWLing Post!

Many thanks, Christopher!

I’m willing to bet SWLing Post readers can comment with more details about the Radio Fax service.

eBay seller posting a number of vintage Panasonic portables

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares a link to this eBay seller who has recently posted a number of vintage solid state radios from his collection. Many of the radios have BuyItNow prices and auction dates nine days out. Many of these are Panasonic models and only a couple have shortwave.

Still, Dan knew how to tug on my heart strings (and enable me!) by pointing out the Panasonic RF-1170. It has a BuyItNow price of $119.95 plus shipping, I love the bold design from that era of radio–plus I know the ‘1170 has brilliant audio. While the ‘1170 lacks shortwave, it does have AM/MW and a dedicated, rotatable ferrite bar antenna much like my RF-2200.

Please, someone buy it before I do!

National Panasonic RF-1170

Click here to view on eBay.

Here are a few other notable radios from this seller’s offerings. I’ve included links with each image. To see all of this seller’s offerings, check out his eBay store.

National Panasonic RF-951

Click here to view on eBay.

National Panasonic RF-1090

Click here to view on eBay.

National Panasonic RF-100

Click here to view on eBay.

Panasonic RF-3100

Click here to view on eBay.

Can you identify Elvis’ radio?

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bud Glass, who writes:

I am attempting to find out more information about this particular radio [see above]. The photo is from around 1959–no idea how old the radio is.

Thanks, Bud. I did a little research and it appears this photo was taken of Elvis while he was traveling in Germany. The radio has a familiar design from the era with a large speaker and round, front-facing tuning dial. I can’t make out the manufacturer’s name in the image.

Post readers: Please comment if you can help Bud ID this portable radio!

Ed’s Homebrew Fruitcake Tin Radio

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

I had an old car radio from the 1940’s I salvaged the parts from, and a rudimentary schematic to build by. I decided to re-assemble in the container I stowed away the parts in. Nothing special just another AM broadcast radio in an unusual cabinet (fruitcake tin.)

I love it, Ed! It’s like a broadcast band version of Rex’s Tuna Tin QRP radios!

It must have been a challenge to mount all of the components on that tin. So how does she play?

Post readers: please comment and consider sharing your homebrew project!

VOA museum marks 75th anniversary with gala

A birthday message from Ian McFarland

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Many thanks to Colin Newell who forwards the following birthday message from Ian McFarland:

Ian McFarland receiving his birthday card filled with your messages. (Photo: Colin Newell at DXer.ca)

To all my SWL friends & colleagues,

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading all your birthday wishes & comments that Colin so kindly collected & transcribed from all your e-mails. For this old man it was a most enjoyable exercise in pure nostalgia. Thank you all so very much! There were lots of familiar names on those messages, and of course, to be truthful, lots of names that weren’t familiar after so many years. Memory loss is, after all, one of the unfortunate drawbacks of getting to the age that people refer to as “elderly”!

I find it hard to believe that I retired from RCI over a quarter century ago now, mercifully, some years before its impending virtual destruction over the next few years. I’m just grateful that I was at RCI during almost 25 years of RCI’s heyday. I’m also grateful for all the opportunities I had to travel to Europe, the U.S. and other parts of Canada to attend a variety of SWL gatherings and have the opportunity to talk with so many of my listeners. I’m sure that over my years at RCI I met many times more listeners than the rest of RCI staff and management combined.

Attending all those events, including the three ANARC conventions that were hosted by RCI, gave me many useful insights into what our listeners liked to hear about, and the determined efforts they made, especially in the noisy interference ridden listening environment in Europe, to tune in to my SWL Digest program. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. Many thanks again for all your wonderful birthday wishes & comments.

Cheers for now & Good Listening everyone.

Kind regards.

Ian.

Mike spots the RCA AR-88 in series “Prime Suspect: Tennison”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Hansgen (K8RAT), who adds the following to our growing archive of radios in film. Mike writes:

Near the end of the current episode of “Prime Suspect: Tennison” [the radio operator mentions] he was listening on “the RCA 88”.

“Tennison” is set around the early ’70’s.

Great catch, Mike (and thanks to Eric WD8RIF for the screen cap).

According to the Crypto Museum:

The AR-88 was a valve-based shortwave general coverage communications receiver, developed and built by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in the early 1940s. Although the receiver was initially intended as the successor to the AR-77 amateur receiver, the outbreak of WWII made it evolve into a professional high-end military-grade receiver for which cost was no object.

The AR-88 is a 14-valve (tube) receiver, which covers a frequency range of 535 kHz to 32 MHz. Unlike the National HRO receiver, which had pluggable coil packs for each frequency band, the AR-88 uses a six-position band selector. A special version of the receiver, the AR-88LF, was suitable for LF and MF, covering 70 to 550 kHz (continuously) and 1.5 to 30 MHz (continuously).

Continue reading at the Crypto Museum online…

The Crypto Museum photo of the AR-88 jogged my memory…

Last year, I visited the Musée de la Défense Aérienne at the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Bagotville (a museum I wholeheartedly recommend, by the way).

I snapped this shot of this display:

I’m sure I actually have a close up of this receiver somewhere. It also appears to be an RCA AR-88 based on dial and control configuration, though I certainly could be wrong.

Do any SWLing Post readers have an AR-88? Please comment!