Category Archives: Photos

2018 Hamvention photos: Inside Exhibits

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The Flex 6600M is a handsome standalone SDR transceiver.

Saturday and Sunday were long (though fun–!) days at the 2018 Hamvention–I did have a moment to visit most of the inside exhibit tables. Most of the following photos were taken (in no particular order) in the main Hamvention buildings and tents at the Greene County Fairgrounds.

Again, it was especially fun meeting so many SWLing Post readers and contributors in person!

Note that the folling photos are in no particular order. Click here to view photos of the 2018 Hamvention flea market.

Click on the photos below to view larger images:

The SunSDR table at the 2018 Hamvention.
These large, heavy duty mag loop antennas are amazing.
The new ELAD FDM-S3.
The Begali family not only makes the best keys, but they are amazing friends.
Will demonstrating the new IC-R30.
I made Ray Novak smile!
I joined the RSGB and snagged two books I had been eyeing.
RSGB publications are my favorites.
The friendliest radio society.
HRO had two booth locations in two different buildings.
HamStudy.org now has an app!
The new 1500 watt Elecraft amp.
Dave Shoaf at the Elecraft booth.
The new Kenwood TS-890S. This rig got a lot of attention.
The Flex Radio booth at the 2018 Hamvention.
The Flex 6600M is a handsome standalone SDR transceiver.
Our booth volunteers Nate and Christine purchased their first SDR and mag loop antenna!
The tents this year were a major upgrade from last year.
The new Icom IC-R30 handheld wideband receiver at the 2018 Hamvention.
The TAPR booth is always a must.
The CommRadio CTX-10 QRP transceiver.
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Dan shares photos from journalist trip to Zanzibar in 1986

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

Here’s a blast from the past that might be interesting reading for the SWLing Post.

Back in 1986, just before ending my three year tour as VOA East Africa bureau chief, I had an opportunity to visit Zanzibar, with a group of journalists. Back then, Zanzibar was still under the socialist government in charge at the time, and was still attached to Tanzania’s socialist government.

Zanzibar town was full of old structures, and clay/stucco type buildings [see photo at top of page]–it was a wonderfully exotic place, with pristine beaches. The main hotel at the time was in poor condition — this was way before any of the extensive hotel development that the island has seen in recent decades.

One day we were traveling across the island, but I made a point of stopping at what was then still Radio Tanzania/Zanzibar. This was of course years before that station would become ZBC, which remains on the air today, and that time the power was still far lower than the station we know today that serves some fairly wide sections of East Africa and up into the Gulf region.

I hadn’t remembered snapping this photo, but found it recently while going through some old prints. This is what I believe to be Radio Tanzania/Zanzibar as it looked back in 1986 [see below].

Another photo [below] shows old Zanzibar town (shot taken from just off the shore).

Two other shots [below] show a graveyard on Grave Island, off Zanzibar, with one of the stones belonging to someone named Henry Bodley Carpenter (click here for more info) who served on the H.M.S. Briton and died in 1873.

Thanks so much, Dan, for taking the time to share these photos of Zanzibar with us. I imagine your work with the Voice of America took you to many corners of our wonderful planet!

I still get a small thrill when I put Zanzibar in the logs! Thank you again.

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A photo tour of the 2018 Greenwood, SC hamfest

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Last week, my buddy Vlado (N3CZ) informed me about a small hamfest in Greenwood, SC–I had never attended, but had heard positive comments about it.

I believe Vlado was somewhat on the fence about going, but once I expressed a strong interest in selling some gear, he did too so it quickly became a plan!

Greenwood, South Carolina, is about a 2.5 hour one-way drive from my home. Vendors were encouraged to arrive around 7:00 to set up (general public admission was at 9:00), so Vlado and I hit the road by 4:30 AM!

Notice the lack of traffic on the interstate at 4:30 AM!

We arrived as the doors opened and purchased a total of three tables to sell our gear. My goods took up most of one table and Vlado packed the other two with his gear!

By general admission time, less than half of the vendor tables were occupied, which did worry me. However, overall foot traffic wasn’t bad at all! This vendor was certainly pleased.

I sold at least 80% of the items I brought with me, no doubt due to my generous and agressive pricing scheme (i.e. nearly giving things away–!). Vlado sold some large items, too.

In the end, I didn’t purchase a single item at the hamfest. I was in selling mode, not buying mode, at this hamfest as I’ve been making an effort to downsize some of my collection and use the money to offset the costs of travel this year. With that said, I would have snagged a classic portable had one appeared.

This BC-317 is just asking to be taken home!

Mind you, I was very tempted by two BC-317 receivers being sold together for an asking price of $60, but I resisted as the whole idea of “thinning the herd” is to make room in my small radio shack.

I find that small hamfests like Greenwood actually have better vintage radio pricing than the larger ‘fests.

Greenwood Photo Gallery

Though the hamfest was modest in size, there were quite a few quality offerings among the vendors. I was very impressed with the number of transceivers–indeed, a new ham would have had a selection of affordable benchmark 90s era rigs to choose from!

Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge or comment on the photos. Most of the photos were taken prior to the doors opening but I did my best to capture price tag information if available:

I love the design of this Heathkit Signal Tracer
Though this Delco hadn’t been refinished and didn’t have original knobs, it was still a thing of beauty.
A very clean Heath SB-1400.
This Icom IC-761 was eventually sold for less than asking price–a briallint deal for a superb benchmark transceiver.
Vlado was selling this R-1000 which he recently repaired and restored. No one bought it, so if interested, you might try contacting him!
Greenwood had quite a few Drake transmitters and receiver combos for sale.
A gorgeous Collins.
The IC-7200 is a fantastic rig for $650.

Do I plan to revisit Greenwood next year? You bet!

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A photo tour of the 2017 Shelby Hamfest

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My Labor Day weekend was free of travel again this year, so I was able to make another pilgrimage to the Shelby (North Carolina) hamfest with my good buddy, Vlado (N3CZ).

The Shelby Hamfest–referred to, locally, as “The Grand-Daddy of them All”–has long been regarded as one of the largest hamfests in the southeast US. This is the third year I’ve made a concerted effort to publish a photo tour of the event.

I sold both my Hammarlund SP-600 and Hallicrafters SX-99.

Like last year, we set up a table in the flea market to sell a few items along with other good friends from the NCDXCC. In other words, once again, I was in selling mode, not buying mode, as I need to downsize some of my collection and use the money to offset costs of review radios, and some of the conferences I’m attending this year (including the Radio Preservation Task Force Meeting in Washington DC on behalf of our Shortwave Radio Audio Archive).

Overall turnout was a little less than last year, I believe. No doubt, this was due to the possibility of rain that never materialized. By lunch time the sun was out and the foot traffic increased.

Shelby Photo Gallery

Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge or comment on the photos:

Note that if you’re viewing this post via our email newsletter, the embedded gallery (above) might not be viewable. Click here to view via web browser.

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2017 Hamvention photos: Saturday Flea Market

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While looking through photos I had backed up on my laptop, I discovered a set I took at the Hamvention Flea Market on Saturday morning (May 20, 2017). I’ve gotten tremendous positive feedback from the photos I posted of Hamvention Setup, the Friday Flea Market and Inside Exhibits, so I thought I’d post these as well.

Below, you’ll find 84 additional flea market photos. Click on the thumbnail to expand each photo. I’ve tried to include price tags when possible. I’m sure some of these items are also featured in my Friday flea market photo album. Enjoy:

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2017 Hamvention photos: Friday Flea Market

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We had a rather long day here at the 2017 Hamvention, but we had a fantastic time. It was especially fun meeting so many SWLing Post readers and contributors in person! Thank you for stopping by our booth at 6508.

Below, I’ve posted well over one hundred photos I took at the Hamvention Flea Market this morning. Click on the thumbnail to expand each photo. I’ve tried to include price tags when available! I plan to post inside exhibit photos tomorrow.

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Guest Post: Shortwave Recordings from Mount Kilimanjaro

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Mount Kilimanjaro (Photo: Chris Johnson)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Johnson, for sharing the following guest post:

Shortwave Recordings from Kilimanjaro

by Chris Johnson

Last month, I took a trip of a lifetime to Tanzania Africa to Climb Mount Kilimanjaro: Africa’s highest point and the world’s highest free standing mountain. It is also known as the “Rooftop of Africa” its summit stands at 19,341 feet or 5895 meters.

With this high elevation I figured that I could pick up a multitude of shortwave signals that I would normally not receive at lower altitudes. So I packed my Sony ICF- SW7600G to capture recordings of various signals, some common, others not so common.

Each night I unpacked my radio and extended the reel-wire antenna and scanned the bands. I came across an assortment of stations that I normally do not hear back home in the USA, but some were quite familiar such as the BBC, Radio Romania, and DW which had Africa as their target. In some cases their broadcast was targeted for Asia.

Below is a map of our trek along the Lemosho route and the camps where we stayed are listed with the recordings and the elevation (in meters) of each camp. The higher we climbed, the signals received were sometimes stronger but the surrounding mountains also limited the reception of others. I did find that the bands were congested with signals from stations that spoke Arabic, Swahili and Chinese, not surprising considering my location. For the purpose of this blog I only included the English speaking stations except for a few.

Unfortunately, the critical weight in our day packs was closely monitored and we could carry only the essentials on our climb from Barafu to the summit so I could not record at the summit of Uhuru Peak. Additionally, our time up there was limited to 15 minutes due to the lack of oxygen at that altitude. Below are selected recordings at each of the camps on the Lemosho route. Enjoy.

Click to enlarge

Mkubwa Camp Elevation 2650 meters 8 January 2017

Mkubwa Camp Elevation 2650 Meters BBC 7445 khz 1840Z 8 January 2017:

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 meters 9 January 2017

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 Meters SW Africa Radio League 4895 Khz 9 January 2017 1645z:

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 Meters DW 9820 KHZ 1600z 9 January 2017:

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 Meters 1 9 2017 1538z Channel Africa 9625 kHz:

Shira Camp II Elevation 3850 Meters All India Radio 13695 khz 1835z 9 January 2017:

Baranco Camp Elevation 3900 meters 10 January 2017

Baranco Camp NBC Zambia Radio 11 January 2017 5915 KHZ 0317z:

Baranco Camp 3900 Meters Voice Of Nigeria 7255 Khz 1 10 2017 1915z:

Karanga Camp Elevation 3995 meters 11 January 2017

Karanga Camp Elevation 3995 Meters All India Radio 13695 Khz 11 January 2017 1753 Z:

Karanga Camp 3995 Meters Voice Of Nigeria 7255 Khz 1812 GMT 11 January 2017:

Karanga Camp 3995 Meters Channel Africa 9625 Khz 11 January 2017 1735z:

Barafu Camp Elevation 4673 meters 12 January 2017

Barafu Camp 4673 Meters BBC Asia Target 7465 Khz 1429z:

Barafu Camp 4673 Meters All India Radio 13695 Khz 1 12 2017 1044 Z:

Barafu Camp 4673 Meters Radio Romania 15150 Khz 1210 Z:

Chris: thank you so much for taking the time to write up this guest post and share your excellent recordings and photos. Amazing!

Post readers: I don’t know about you, but I’m inspired and ready to pack my bags and do some shortwave travel!

Click here to check out other posts by Chris.

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