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The video includes a tour of the van, the setup used in the 70th anniversary broadcast and an extended interview with Niels Zack, who restored the operations van:
I listened to at least an hour of the Saturday broadcast via the U Twente WebSDR. Sadly, I just discovered the audio dropped about 2 minutes into my recording.
Post readers: Anyone else listen to, record or simply log this anniversary broadcast? Please comment!
I had the pleasure of visiting the Champaign Aviation Museum recently and examining their under-restoration B-17G, “Champaign Lady”. Actually, the term “under-restoration” is incorrect. In actuality, the Champaign Aviation Museum is effectively building their B-17G nearly from scratch—quite an undertaking but one that the volunteers are performing skillfully and enthusiastically.
Being an amateur radio operator, shortwave listener, and would-be WWII-radio restorer, I was was pleased to see that Champaign Lady already has a nearly-complete radio-operator position installed, between the bomb-bay and the waist-gun section of the airplane. As a B-17G would have had during the war, Champaign Lady features a BC-348 liaison receiver and morse-code key mounted on a desk on the port (left) side of the bomber and a stack of AM/CW Command Set transmitters and receivers racked on the starboard (right) side of the bomber. In the photos, the top Command Set boxes are the transmitters and the bottom three Command Set boxes are the receivers. Of course, the BC-348 and the Command Set transmitters and receivers are fully tube-type, semiconductors having not yet been invented. During the war speedometer-type cables would connect the Command Set receivers to controls in the cockpit, allowing the pilot and co-pilot to control the Command Set receiver frequencies; electrical cables would have carried the receivers’ audio to the pilot and co-pilot and would have allowed them to change volume-level. The radio operator could transmit using the Command Set transmitters and could also switch the pilot or co-pilot intercom microphones to any of the Command Set transmitters to allow the pilot or co-pilot to broadcast to other bombers in the formation.
B-17G “Champaign Lady” radio operator position; BC-348 liaison receiver on the port (left) side and Command Set transmitters and receivers on the starboard (right) side.
B-17G “Champaign Lady” BC-348 liaison receiver and morse-code key.
B-17G “Champaign Lady” Command Set transmitters and receivers on the starboard side of the radio room
During the war, the B-17G radio operator was an enlisted man, typically a sergeant or higher in rank. If in an earlier version of the B-17G, the radio operator was also responsible for manning a .50 caliber machine gun located in his section of the airplane. In all versions of the B-17G, the radio operator assisted the navigator by providing position reports based on radio fixes of beacons or radio stations. Additional information about the role of the B-17G radio operator can be found on the B-17 Queen of the Sky website.
And, for those interested, here is what Champaign Lady’s nose-art looks like:
B-17G “Champaign Lady” nose-art, starboard side; the port side features a mirror-image version of the same design
The Champaign Aviation Museum has a beautifully restored B-25J, “Champaign Gal”, in flying condition. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to see if Champaign Gal features a restored radio operator position.
I have a BC-224, which is the 12-volt version of the BC-348 liaison receiver to put back into service as well as a BC-696A Command Set transmitter that I hope to eventually put back onto the air in the 80-meter amateur band. It would be wonderful if I had a B-17G in which to install these items—or even just room to build a replica B-17G radio operator position!
These fine, collectable receivers appear on Ebay regularly, but this one is in pristine shape:
The asking price is a cool $1,800 USD, but for the near mint condition of this T-1000 it is likely appropriate; perhaps the new owner will acquire it for a “Best Offer” price. Other T-1000s on Ebay currently are priced from $370 to $1,299.
Of course, the cost is in-line with a collectable value; functionally, it’s reception abilities are almost certainly surpassed by a modestly priced SDRPlay RSP1 or a vintage Sony ICF-2010 for instance. The radio aficionado interested in the 55 year old T-1000 is not expecting best-in-class reception, but the chance to own a recognized icon of industrial design (the T-1000 is in NYC’s Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection).
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jonathan Marks, who shares the following details about the ‘Keep in touch with the Dutch’: Symposium marking the ninetieth anniversary of international radio broadcasting in the Netherlands, 1927-2017:
Symposium marking the ninetieth anniversary of international radio broadcasting in the Netherlands, 1927-2017
Thursday 1 June 2017, 2-5pm
Doelenzaal, Singel 425 Amsterdam
On 1 June 1927 Queen Wilhelmina officially inaugurated international radio broadcasting from the Netherlands with a speech to listeners in the Dutch colonies. This transmission attracted attention from all over the world as it was one of the first times that sound had been transmitted via radio waves across such a distance. In the decades that followed Dutch radio-makers continued to play a pioneering role in international broadcasting, experimenting with new technologies and programming formats. This symposium aims to highlight several themes from this rich history and explore source-materials in order to think about a research agenda in this field and new broadcasting techniques in the digital age.
Program
2.00-2.15pm: Vincent Kuitenbrouwer (University of Amsterdam)
Introduction
2.15-2.45pm: Bas Agterberg (Beeld en Geluid)
Everybody Happy? Archiving RNW and the Heritage of Eddy Startz at Sound and Vision
2.45-3.00pm: break
3.00-3.30pm: Jonathan Marks (CEO Critical Distance)
International Radio Broadcasting in the Era of Amazon Echo
3.30-4.00pm: Rocus de Joode (Independent Consultant at JRCC)
The Importance of Shortwave, the Madagascar Relay station Now and Then
4.00-4.15pm: break
4.15-5.00pm: Panel: International radio in the digital age
– Alec Badenoch (University of Utrecht/Vrije Universiteit): Radio Garden
– Leon Willems and Suzanne Bakker (Free Press Unlimited): Radio Dabanga
5.00-6.00pm: drinks reception
Please register
Vincent Kuitenbrouwer, History Department, University of Amsterdam
Email: [email protected]
This symposium is sponsored by the Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH) and the Modern History Research Group
If I lived within a reasonable distance of Amsterdam, I would certainly attend this afternoon symposium. Impressive line-up!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gerard Koopal, who shares the following:
Below an article about the return of RNW Netherlands out of a 1958 truck on april 15.
Although i suppose you can’t read German, the times and freq’s should be clear.
… zwar nur für einen Tag aber immerhin:
Am 15. April, also diesen Samstag, gibt es eine Sondersendung aus dem
Automuseum Schagen im Norden der Niederlande. Die ehemaligen Mitarbeiter
Dick Klees, Hans Hogendoorn, Pieter Damave und Ruud Poeze werden aus einem
originalen Ü-Wagen des RNW aus dem Jahr 1958 eine 7-stündige Live-Sendung fahren.
Die Sendung wird über Stream, Mittelwelle van Radio Paradijs auf 1584, 1332 und 1224 kHz und im DAB Kanal 8A in Randstad ausgestrahlt.
Ach ja: Kurzwelle gibt’s auch, von diesen bösen Menschen beim
Schortwääävsörvizzz:
… auf 3985 kHz zw. 11-18 CEST … auf 6005 kHz zw. 11-15 CEST … auf 7310 kHz zw. 11-12 und 16-17 CEST … auf 15560 kHz zw. 14-17 CEST
Hi there, back in 1990 I was given a Panasonic RF-B40 for my birthday (I think it was my birthday…1990 was a long time ago!). I found that radio to be very sensitive on shortwave, more so perhaps than my Sangean ATS-803A, but ultimately it didn’t really add much value to any serious DXing because it would only tune on shortwave in 5 kHz steps. This rather course tuning arrangement was very limiting in terms of tuning out adjacent noise and copying tropical band – and other signals that weren’t quite on-frequency etc. Frustrated, I lent my RF-B40 to my brother a few years ago and serves me right; following a house move, he managed to lose it! Quite a shame really because almost three decades later, I would have been very interested to put the RF-B40 through it’s paces on a DXpedition or two. You really don’t see them in action very often at all these days.
Above: the Panasonic RF-B40 (not mine – unfortunately) and the RF-B60, mid-DXpedition!
At that time, which was around the beginning of the 1990s, I read a review somewhere and it became clear that the better receiver was quite obviously the RF-B65. Upon it’s introduction into the market, the RF-B65 was immediately recognised as an excellent receiver, however, in the intervening years it’s reputation has continued to grow to the point today where it enjoys legendary status amongst DXers and bit of a cult following. There’s a lot of information on the RF-B65 to be found on the internet, so I won’t go into huge detail, but the obvious question is: what makes thsi receiver so special? Well, it’s a quite compact PPL double conversion receiver, covering 153 kHz to 29,999 kHz AM and 87.5 to 108 MHz, FM. It has a keypad for direct frequency input, although you have to press either the ‘FREQ’ or ‘METER’ buttons prior to punching in the numbers to define whether you wish to access a particular frequency, or band. I actually find that slightly annoying, but you easily learn to live with such trivial matters when using a radio of this quality and performance.
Furthermore, there’s an electronic signal strength meter, a DX/local attenuation switch, external antenna jack, SSB reception mode, 1 kHz tuning steps on shortwave (unlike it’s little brother the RF-B40) and fine tuning. The single bandwidth filter is 6 kHz wide and thus limits selectivity a little, although the SSB option and fine tune helps offset that somewhat. It would have been nice to have a couple more filtering options, particularly narrower for serious DXing in crowded bands, to combat adjacent channel QRM. Build quality is generally excellent as you would have expected from a high-end Panasonic portable and with a very compact form-factor – roughly the size of a paperback book and weighing in at just 1.4 Ibs, it is eminently more portable than a Sony ICF-SW77 or the iconic ICF-2001D/2010.
Ultimately, the RF-B65 continues to enjoy an excellent reputation today, nearly 30 years after it was introduced because it is a wonderfully sensitive receiver and arguably the best-ever performing shortwave portable in the paperback book size category – often touted as ‘travel portables’. I managed to acquire an example in as-new condition from eBay, although mind you, I paid through the nose for it lol – that cult following ensures prices remain very robust! I have tested my example against the equally legendary Sony ICF-2001D, still considered by many to be the benchmark for shortwave portables, and in my experience the Panasonic is right up there with it. There’s virtually no difference whatsoever in sensitivity. Where the Panasonic comes a little unstuck is the lack of bandwidth filtering and SYNC, leading to lower selectivity. However, clever use of SSB and fine tuning does provide quite good compensation for these shortcomings. Overall though, given it’s size, sensitivity, build quality and audio, as a complete package, in my opinion, the RF-B65 is equal to the ICF-2001D, and this is why today, it remains so highly sought after.
Below are embedded reception videos and text links to the Oxford Shortwave Log YouTube channel, with various DX catches on the RF-B65. Some of these are considered quite rare in Europe, for example EXPPM Radio Educación’s 1 kW signal from Mexico City, the now defunct ABC Northern Territories on 120 metres and Radio Bandeirantes from Sao Paolo, Brazil, amongst others. Please note; right at the bottom of this post is a link to some very recent comparisons with the brilliant Eton Satellit – one of the very best portables currently on the market today. The vintage Panasonic holds its own, despite 30 years of supposed technical innovation in electronics. Thanks for reading/watching/listening and I wish you all great DX.
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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