RAE Antenna farm (Source: RAE)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Borgnino, who shares a link to this photo gallery of Radiofusión Argentina al Exterior’s historic transmitter site.
Note that the photos on the RAE site are rather large and may take patience to download depending on your Internet speed. On the plus side, the images are high resolution!
SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, is not only a shortwave listener, he’s also a broadcaster.
Paul works at community radio station KIYU in Galena, Alaska. At my request, Paul has kindly shared a few photos of his workplace with us.
Paul also sent this short video at the mic of KIYU:
http://youtu.be/VjTWKpXIHGU
Very cool, Paul! You certainly have a lot of translators to list in your station ID–no doubt, these are the many sites that serve your communities.
Thanks for sharing a little of your world at KIYU!
If you’d like to try hear Paul on the air, check out the KIYU home page.
The listening post and ham radio shack of Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW) from Ponza Island, Italy.
Several months ago, we conducted a shack photo contest sponsored by Universal Radio. At the time, I promised to post all of your excellent photos soon–apologies to all for the extended delay!
The following is the first set of ten photos along with any notes that were included.I plan to post these photos in sets of 10 and tag your names in each post. These actually take time to format for the blog, but I hope to post new sets of shack photos in the coming days.
Click on images to enlarge and enjoy:
Stu McLeod
Notes:
Lower is my tweaked Icom IC-R71. Most fun is with the 1936 Philips P626 Radioplayer–for its age , its tuning sensitivity and selectivity is simply amazing.
Stephen Morshead
Notes: An Icom R71E and CommRadio CR-1a and a transmatch tuner running a sloping dipole longwire. My favourite rig at the momemnt is my Icom–maybe older but quite sensitive compared to the CommRadio–but the CommRadio is quite good on CW decoding. SWL callsign is MA3087swl.
John Magee (W4GLX)
Notes: My favorite gear to use is The Kenwood TS 2000. I also have an Kenwood R2000 for my short wave listening …
Robin Gist (K4VU)
Notes: Elecraft K3 transceiver, Alpha 78 amplifier, Vibroplex Iambic Deluxe paddle
Matt Champion (AC0TW)
Notes: My shack is simply a bedside table connected to a homebrew multiband dipole. I use the Radio Shack DX-394 for most of my DXing and the Grundig Aviator G6 Buzz Aldrin edition for local FM and shortwave during outdoor excursions.
Ken Carr (KE1RI)
Notes: My ham shack is my favorite listening post. Since all the children are now adults I am able to dedicate this second floor bedroom to radio.
From left to right: Ten-Tec Omni VI transceiver (with all Plus upgrades), Collins 302C-3 wattmeter, Yaesu FTDX-3000 transceiver,Ameriton AL-811H amplifier, Hammarlund HQ-OneSeventy receiver, Hallicrafters HT-37 transmitter, and, National HRO-Sixty receiver. To the far right can be seen part of a Grundig 8080 / USA.
Unseen are an additional 4 consoles, several Trans-Oceanics, and many others.
Vance Thompson (K7VNZ)
Notes: Attached is a photo of probably one of the smallest, most cluttered/disorganized (to the naked eye) listening station ever. Then again, maybe not… But seriously, I read your latest post, and just immediately took a picture. No cleaning up, staging, adding or removing things, or photoshop used. It is what it is and I like it.
My name is Vance Thompson and my callsign is K7VNZ, and this is where I listen.
Some highlights starting from top to bottom:
Top shelf: An old Griffen “Radio Shark” (1st gen) nestled in a homemade loop antenna made with an old Roi-Tan cigar box as the base, a lava lamp, a Colonial Viper, a Buddha box that looks like a weird radio.
Middle shelf: WWII blackout lantern, toy safe to hold all my secret spy number decoder books in :-), misc. vaseline glass and ‘glowy’ stuff, and a mask my daughter made. Dixie Cannonball crystal radio headset hanging on left, unnamed headset on right with cool radioactive stickers I put on it.
Monitor shelf: Viewing SWLing Post, of course. Raspberry Pi on left running ADS-B software when I turn it on, green laser pointer I used to tease my dog with, stack of misc. papers with a homemade crystal radio made on an expired plastic gift card on top.
Bottom shelf: Baofeng BF-F8+ with diamond antenna, recent hand-wound coil connected to breadboard prototype crystal radio I’m currently working on (tuning capacitor seen below next to the keyboard), digital audio recorder in there somewhere, Radio Shack DSP processor I found at a junk store for $4 with various alligator clip jumpers on top, round tin for small radio parts, moleskin logbook, Yaesu FT-60, my grandfather’s D-4 flight computer from WWII.
Arie van Bezooijen (PE1AJ)
Notes: I’m using a Kenwood 950s and an Icom IC7400 for HF. For 2m i’m using a Yeasu FT-7800 and other SW listening I can do with a Kenwood R2000.
Mitul Kansal (VU3MCN)
Notes: Recently, I visited RRI- Voice of Indonesia & Republic of Indonesia in September 2015 as a winner of International Quiz, “Wonderful Indonesia 2015.” I visited the RRI- Voice Of Indonesia Broadcasting Station .
There, I went on air, shared my views about RRI- Voice of Indonesia. It was an unforgettable moment for me. With other winners , I enjoyed listening on radio.
Jackie LaVaque (KC0ODY)
Notes: Here’s my humble listening post! Right now it consists of a Kaito KA1102, a Tecsun PL310, a Baofeng UV5R, and not seen because it’s not up and running yet, an RTL-SDR USB dongle which I plan to make into my winter project. My favorite rig is the Tecsun PL310 because not only is it a great performer on SW and MW, it also does pretty well with longwave using an added homemade cake form antenna.
Again, many thanks to all who sent in their listening post photos. I absolutely love the variety!
Follow the tag Shack Photos for more!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Moshe Zaharia, who recently made my day by sending the photo above (click to enlarge).
I told Moshe that I’m pretty certain, he’s the first SWL in Israel to snag both an SWLing Post coffee mug and tee shirt!
Check out that Ben-Gal “Duet-Stereo” console radio–the same one he recently cleaned and repaired. What a classic! Love that backlit dial..
Thanks again for sharing, Moshe!
If you’re looking for some SWLing Post swag, check out our CafePress store!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Andrea Borgnino who, as a follow-up to his post yesterday, is sharing the following photos of the Radio Nacional de España (RNE) Casa de la Radio in Pozuelo, Madrid, Spain. Andrea also includes some excellent interior shots of the Radio Exterior de España studios. Click on the images below to enlarge:
Again, thanks so much for sharing these, Andrea!
SWLing Post readers may remember a post I recently published in which I believed I’d identified a familiar shortwave time signal station in the Battle of Hoth scene from The Empire Strikes Back. If you haven’t read this post, feel free to do so and listen to the embedded video/audio clips.
Upon hearing this, I went so far as to muse that the Star Wars sound designer might be a radio listener. I asked our readers if anyone could confirm this–?
Well, we’ve got our answer! I’m truly indebted to an SWLing Post reader who passed my post along to his friend, Ben, who could provide this definitive response:
“This is Ben Burtt, sound designer of the Star Wars films. A friend sent me a link to this blog thinking I would like to comment.
Ben Burtt with his recording gear, circa 1980. The mike on the stand at Ben’s feet is one from his grandfather’s ham radio station in the 1950s, or possibly earlier.
“The answer is yes, I have always been a ham radio enthusiast.”
“My grandfather, Harold Burtt, operated W8CD out of his home in Columbus, Ohio 1930s-1960s. I was enthralled as a kid listening to the sounds on his receiver. I heard alien worlds and cosmic ‘voices.’
Harold Burtt, W8CD. (Chairman of the Psychology Dept Ohio State) with his attic gear, approximately 1935
“So not only did I record his radio, but continued to do so on the Star Wars series and Star Trek as well.
My memory of the Hoth transmission was that it was WWV but it could have been CHU since I was recording all that interested me on the dial.”
Terrific! Thank you, Ben, for taking the time to respond. As I said, you’ve certainly started off this radio enthusiast’s year on the right wavelength…no doubt some of our readers will agree.
Indeed, the powerful sonic experience of the Star Wars and Star Trek films has, in my estimation, helped shape many of us into the radio/sound enthusiasts we’ve become–myself certainly included. Thank you, Ben, for this! You’ve sharpened my ear to a greater appreciation of sound, especially filmic sound, and your work in particular.
For readers who are less familiar with Ben Burtt’s work, check out his Wikipedia page and IMDB profile–you’ll find he’s been the sound designer on numerous influential films including the recently released Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
A special thanks to Ben Burtt for sharing these wonderful photos and kindly giving me permission to use them here on the SWLing Post. I must say, considering my love of radio in the thirties, I especially like that photo of Harold Burtt (W8CD) in his shack.
SWLing Post contributor, James Patterson, has recently restored a Sony ICF-5800H. James sent me a few photos and I decided to post them here.
I absolutely love the design of Japanese analog radios from this era. They have signal meters, large backlit dials, carry straps, and proper large controls–buttons, switches and knobs–that can even be operated when wearing gloves in the winter.
Great receiver you have there, James!
