Category Archives: Portable Radio

The Sony ICF-SW100: a miniture DX marvel, never likely to be repeated

Hi there, I’ve owned my Sony ICF-SW100S for about a year now and in that time it has demonstrated a level of performance way beyond my expectations. Notwithstanding it’s incredibly small size (about the same as a packet of cigarettes, give-or-take), the DX results I have obtained with it are simply incredible. A fully featured ultra-portable receiver, complete with synchronous detection, selectable side bands, SSB, CW and coupled with sensitivity that has my (wonderful) Sony ICF-SW55 beat – and knocks on the door of the legendary ICF2001D. I simply can’t recommend it highly enough. Plug in some headphones or connect an external speaker such as the Bose SoundLink Mini 2 and you effectively have table-top receiver performance and audio in a very compact package.

Originally introduced into the market in 1993 and discontinued in 2005, this little radio covers the broadcast FM band from 76 to 108 MHz and AM from 150 to 29999 kHz, continuously. There are numerous other features that I won’t list here as they’re available on the web, but suffice to say, this (now vintage) ultra-portable DXer’s box of tricks is likely never to be repeated. They are available on eBay and prices remain robust for a radio that will be one to two decades old. Of course there’s also the issue on the first generation models with the ribbon cable connecting the lid of the set with the LCD display etc. to the base, which would fracture after some time, but this was rectified in later models with a notch cut out of the hinge to reduce the stress on the cable – see photo. They are also repairable and in fact I believe Thomas has a posting on here detailing how the ribbon cable on his example was replaced. In my opinion, this receiver is worth the hassle of a repair, because it’s quite simply unique.

Below are selected reception videos from my youtube channel Oxford Shortwave Log using the Sony ICF-SW100, which I believe epitomise the performance of this great little portable. Thanks for watching/ listening.

Direct link to reception video on Oxford Shortwave Log YouTube channel

Direct link to reception video on Oxford Shortwave Log youTube channel

Direct link to reception video on Oxford Shortwave Log Youtube channel

Direct link to reception video on Oxford Shortwave Log YouTube channel

Direct Link to reception video on Oxford Shortwave Log reception video

Direct link to reception video on Oxford Shortwave Log YouTube channel

Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.

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NPOTA: Photos from weekend “two-fer” activation

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As seen from the Overmountain Victory Trail: The Revolutionary War encampment at the Museum of North Carolina Minerals.

As I mentioned in a previous post, what I love about the National Parks On The Air program is that it combines two of my favorite things: national parks and ham radio. My family visits national parks regularly, so it’s easy for me to pack a small radio, do a quick NPOTA activation all while incorporating non-radio activities that the family loves.

npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-2

On Saturday, I activated both the Blue Ridge Parkway (PK01) and Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (TR10)–a “two-fer” activation.

Normally, I would set up my station somewhere close to the Museum of North Carolina Minerals which is situated at the junction of these two National Park entities. Saturday, however, was a special event at the museum: a Revolutionary War Encampment.

Blue Ridge Natural Heritage describes the annual event:

The Museum is located at Gillespie Gap, an important stop for Revolutionary War fighters on their way to the Battle of Kings Mountain. Each September the Museum hosts an encampment of re-enactors who assume the role of the Overmountain Men, primarily Scots-Irish settlers from Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina who came “over the mountains” and ultimately defeated the left wing of Cornwallis’ army at Kings Mountain, South Carolina. Many historians mark this victory as the turning point in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War.

npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-encampment2

My family loves living history events.

Radio time!

The Park Ranger kindly gave me permission to do the NPOTA activation, but not at the museum itself. She was trying to keep the site set in the Revolutionary War period–a ham radio operator using a portable transceiver doesn’t exactly fit that description. Instead, around 15:30 UTC, I hiked up the Overmountain Victory Trail in search of an operation site near the Blue Ridge Parkway road.

npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-overmountain-trail-head

The trailhead was a little rough and overgrown. I didn’t have to trail-blaze, but I did have to wade through a lot of weeds with my gear and my canine companion, Hazel, on leash. It’s times like this I truly appreciate such a compact, lightweight, and packable station.

Can you find the trail in this photo?

Once we entered the woods, though, the trail improved. I found a fantastic spot to operate between the museum and the parkway.

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Hazel the dog is a welcome companion does a wonderful job keeping my site free of black bears. She’s patient, too. I typically tie her leash to a small stake or tree next to me and she promptly takes a nap. Here she is admiring my new REI Camping Stool:

npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-rei-trail-stool

You can see part of the EFT Trail-Friendly antenna hanging in this photo.

Setup was quick. I managed to raise the EFT Trail-Friendly antenna in record time. I connected the antenna to the Elecraft KX2 and was on the air, calling CQ on 20 meters in a matter of minutes. npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-elecraft-kx2-clipboard In the space of 15-20 minutes, I only managed to work a few stations on the 20 meter band even though I had been spotted several times on the DX Cluster.

I moved to the 40 meter band and logged contacts quickly, however.

My full station and my ferocious guard dog, Hazel.

Hazel, as I mentioned, is a great companion that’s sweet to everyone she meets. She’s happy to hang with me even if I’m just sitting there operating radio for an hour. She’s quiet and doesn’t bark unless she notices a true disturbance.

Still, Hazel does get bored. After I had logged about 20 stations, I heard her gnawing on something. I turned around and discovered that she found the reel of fishing line I use to hang my antennas.

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Note to self: next time pack Hazel a bone.

She didn’t even look apologetic or guilty! Oh well…fishing line is pretty cheap to replace and I’m sure she assumed it was a chew toy I had placed there for her.

All in all, it was a very successful activation. In less than one hour, I put 22 stations in the log. The weather was perfect and the whole family had a blast.

A photo I took prior to watching a reenactment of the Battle of King’s Mountain.

What a wonderful day to play radio, take in our national parks and re-live some of our history!

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South American shortwave catches, rarely heard in Europe

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Hi there, I thought I would share some DX catches, all of which are rarely reported in Europe and yet I was fortunate enough to catch in Oxford UK, using a couple of different set-ups. The first is Radio Chaski Red Integridad from Urubamba Cusco, Peru, heard using an Elad FDM DUO and Wellbrook ALA1530 active loop antenna (indoors). The two subsequent receptions originate from Brazil; Radio 9 de Julho, Sao Paulo and Radio Transmundial,Santa-maria Camobi, both of which were caught using the venerable Sony ICF-2001D portable receiver and my 200 metre longwire antenna. In all three cases, persistence was necessary whilst optimum conditions of propagation aligned with my listening schedule at home and my less frequent, but regular DX’peditions.

I am soon to deploy a 200 metre Beverage with adjustable termination resistance for nulling ‘rearward’ signals and matching transformers suitable for 75 and 50 Ohm receiver antenna inputs. I hope this will further improve my reception capability on both the MW and SW bands. Another post specific to that project is in the pipeline, but in the meantime, thanks for reading/ watching and I wish you all very good DX.

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log for Radio Chaski Red Integridad reception video

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log for Radio 9 de Julho reception video

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log for Radio Transmundial reception video

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A quick recap of yesterday’s Carl Sandburg Home NPOTA activation

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Yesterday, I fit in yet another activation of the Carl Sandburg Home (NS01) for the ARRL National Parks on the Air. You might recall, I activated the same site last Sunday.

The lake at the trail head.

Second time’s a charm!

Since I had already scoped out the site and the trail where I operated last time, I took a minimum of supplies: My Elecraft KX2, EFT Trail-Friendly antenna and the accessories in my go kit:

I didn’t even need a folding chair as I hiked further into the trail system and found a bench in an ideal shady location where I could hang the EFT antenna without any part of the wire being close to the trail itself.

The only negative was that I had to fight off a few mosquitoes–par for the course!

After firing up the KX2, I found that both frequencies I announced (14,286 and 7,286 kHz) were occupied. I tuned around and found clear frequencies then posted the changes on Twitter and the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page. Fortunately, I was spotted on the DX clusters after my first contacts (thanks, Mike and others!).

In short: this was about the busiest I’ve ever been on the radio.

In 43 minutes, I logged 41 stations: many stations here in the southeast US, and stations from New Mexico to Italy! Propagation and timing were certainly in my favor.

The rubber band held my KX2 to the clipboard, but I hope to sort out an even better way of securing it.

This red rubber band held my KX2 to the clipboard, but I hope to sort out an even better way of securing it in the future.

The pileups were heavy enough that I didn’t even have time to properly pull log sheets once I had completed them–instead, I folded them over the KX2 and continued writing.

I was very pleased that I logged at least one SWLing Post reader: Randy (KS4L). Thanks for the contact, Randy!

Not all portable operations go so well…but when they do, it’s energizing!

I might be able to squeeze in a 30 minute activation on the Blue Ridge Parkway (PK01) this afternoon. Listen for me (K4SWL) around 14,286 kHz SSB sometime between 20:30-21:30 UTC. That is, if propagation and my schedule cooperate again!

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NPOTA activation on the Blue Ridge Parkway

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A crowd gathers as Vlado (N3CZ) works station after station in CW!

I’m not sure what I’m going to do after the National Parks On The Air event is over at the end of this year. I hope the ARRL organizes something equally as fun for 2017.

Truth is, I love playing radio outdoors and I love National Parks. The two are a perfect combo.

Vlado (N3CZ) on left, and me (K4SWL) on right.

My buddy, Vlado (N3CZ), and I decided to do an NPOTA activation on Sunday. The weather was fantastic–a little foggy with mild temperatures and the HF bands were open!

We arrived at our site–the Craggy Gardens Picnic Area (PK01)–at 14:30 UTC or so.

We brought the following antennas and supports:

a self-contained 20 meter band telescopic fiberglass vertical (I recently purchased at the WCARS Hamfest for $40–!) and
a 31 foot fiberglass Jackite pole (the fluorescent orange on in the photos) which we used to suspend a homemade 40 meter doublet Vlado built the day before.

Setup was quick. We were both especially pleased the 20 meter vertical. It was so easy to install, even considering it was the first time either of us had used it.

I powered the LD-11 and the KX3 with my QRP Ranger.

The 20 meter vertical antenna (in foreground).

I operated SSB from a picnic table using the LnR Precision LD-11 transceiver, connected to the doublet on 40 meters, and the mono-band vertical on 20 meters.

Vlado started by operating CW with his Icom IC-7000 which was installed in his car, but later moved to the picnic table and logged a number of contacts with the Elecraft KX3.

We easily logged the number of stations needed to activate the site.

The 40 meter band was hopping and a good path was open into Ohio, Virginia and other surrounding states. The 20 meter band was serving up some excellent QRP DX.

Vlado operating CW on the 40 meter band.

When I moved to the 20 meter band, the noise floor was so low on the LD-11, I thought perhaps the band was dead. Not so!

It’s hard to believe that with a mere eight watts in SSB I worked Rhode Island, Texas, Montana, Manitoba, Washington, California and Slovenia from a picnic table on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Reports on the LD-11 audio were all very positive. I’ve used the LD-11 for eight NPOTA activations this year and can say with confidence that it’s a brilliant & fun little field radio. (FYI: I’ll be publishing a full review of the LD-11 in the October 2016 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine.)

Vlado and I are planning on several more activations together this year. Our next one will most likely be at the Carl Sandburg Home-. I can’t wait!

Any other post readers participating as an activator or chaser in the National Parks on the Air event?

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Max’s impressive vintage radio collection

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Max Youle, who writes:

I thought I would send you a link to my radio collection.

Many of these are unique to New Zealand, and could be of interest to your readers.

I saved many of these radios from being trashed, by searching junk sales and second hand stores, over a period of the last 25 years

Click her to view Max’s collection via DropBox.

Wow! That is an impressive collection of radios, Max. It’s interesting to see so many New Zealand brands–I’m glad you’ve rescued these!

Max’s collection is so large I couldn’t possibly share them all here on the SWLing Post, so I asked Max if he could tell us which models are his favorites. Max replied:

My favorite radios would be:

Barlow Wadley XCR-30

1. Barlow Wadley XCR-30 featured here before https://swling.com/blog/2016/02/maxs-barlow-wadley-receiver-is-a-keeper/

Philips D2999

2. Philips D2999 for its good looks, ease of use , sound from the two speakers 3″ and 7″ and sharp MW DX

Sanyo Transworld 17h-815

3. Sanyo Transworld 17h-815 A beautiful looking classic with lots of chrome and a good performer

National Panasonic R-021

4. National Panasonic R-021 because it was my first radio, and a fairly rare collectible (article at the bottom of page) http://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/history/chronicle/1977.html

Its hard to choose a favorite, as every one of my radios has a story ,i.e where I found it, who gave it to me, how much I paid for it, how collectible it is, etc, etc!!

Yes indeed, Max! It is difficult to pick a favorite–especially from such a large collection.

Thanks again for taking the time to share these with us!

Click her to view Max’s collection via DropBox.

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London Shortwave’s portable “spectrum capture lab”

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SWLing Post contributor, London Shortwave, just posted a photo of his portable SDR setup on Twitter and noted:

“Portable spectrum capture lab back in operation. Grabbing the grey line hour on the 49 mb. Listening to Radio Fana!”

Wow! I love this go kit!

Looks like London Shortwave is running an AirSpy with Spyverter via SDR# on his Windows tablet.

Having played a lot of radio in the field, I think what’s great about this setup is the fact it’s all contained and properly laid-out inside the padded case. Simply open the case, deploy an antenna, and you’re in business! With all components inside the case, there’s much less chance a connector, battery, cable or SDR will be left in the field accidently. Quick deployment and quick pack-up time; that’s what it’s all about!

Great job, London Shortwave! I’m happy to see you’re back in the park capturing spectrum and logging DX!

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