Shortwave listening and everything radio including reviews, broadcasting, ham radio, field operation, DXing, maker kits, travel, emergency gear, events, and more
Yesterday, I attended the WCARS hamfest in Waynesville, North Carolina, with my friend Sébastien (VA2SLW) who is currently on vacation in the area.
The WCARS hamfest is a smaller regional hamfest, but it attracts a lot of folks from the mountain regions of north Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and beyond.
The WCARS hamfest flea market always has quite a variety of radios, including a number of great vintage models. I’ve been very lucky in the past finding excellent deals, too. This year, I (reluctantly) passed up a few deals knowing I’m also attending the Huntsville Hamfest in August and the Shelby Hamfest in September.
Below, you’ll find a selection of photos from the hamfest. Note that you can click on the image to enlarge it and I attempted to include price tags when possible:
If you’ve been looking for a super-basic, AM/FM portable radio, the RF-2400D is worth considering. The RF-2400D reminds me of the Sony ICF-38: slide rule dial, few controls and a power cord that plugs directly into the back (no “wall wart” style power supply needed). Like most modern portables, the 2400D is a DSP receiver, thus subject to “steps” as you band scan across the analog dial. It’s all pretty smooth, though and feels like an analog radio. I have spent a little time with the RF-2400D and thought it to be a pleasant, little simple radio. It’s not a DX machine, but can easily receive all of your local stations and night time flame throwers.
I often receive inquiries from readers who are seeking a simple radio for an elderly friend or relative–one that’s tactile, easy to operate, and affordable. The Panasonic RF-2400D fits the bill!
If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend a visit to it.
The Swap Meet was held outdoors and it was a hot humid morning – 80 degrees at 6 am with 90 percent humidity. By 9 am it was 90 degrees. But it was worth the hour trip.
I acquired one new radio – the Nova-Tech Pilot II Direction Finding 4 Band transistor radio. It’s in great condition and is working. It’s an interesting radio.
The four bands are Beacon (190-400 kHz), Broadcast (550-1600 kHz), Marine (1.6-4.5 MHz) and VHF (108-136 MHz).
There is a rotatable antenna on the top that is used to get your bearing. The top of the radio has the Bearing in degrees. It includes Squelch and DF Level controls; both can be switched off. The DF Level is the RF Gain and I read somewhere that when it is activated the AGC is switched off.
I was very fortunate in that the radio came with the three telescoping antennas – all in perfect condition. It also included the original AC Power Adapter.
All for only $25. A great bargain.
The radio seems very sensitive on the Broadcast Band.
I tuned it to my standard test weak station – WALK, 1370, in Patchogue, NY. This station is a 500 watt repeater station to WHLI, 1100 in Hamstead, NY. With most of my radios, I can barely hear a station in the noise. The exception is the Panasonic RF-2200 which can pick it up the best. The Pilot II could pick up a readable signal of WALK.
Thanks for sharing this, Bill! No doubt, you snagged a fantastic deal on the Nova Tech Pilot II. My dear friend Michael Pool (who passed away earlier this year) acquired one and loved it. Here’s a link to his guest post about this cool DF receiver.
Thanks for sharing the photos and links to the NJARC swap meet. Looks like an event I’d certainly love to attend!
Post readers: Have you attended any swap meets recently? Any good finds? Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Doug Hunsinger, who notes that Universal Radio is now shipping the Sangean PR-D17.
The PR-D17 has a unique design to make operation easier for those who are visually impaired. Per Universal Radio:
It has high-contrast, large yellow rotary tuning and volume control knobs, preset buttons with raised symbols to aid in identification and thoughtful voice prompts of all controls that announce all functions in English or Spanish.
It has a large and easy-to-read backlit LCD display that highlights RDS information, frequency, signal strength, battery status and alarm symbols. It has a 200 mm ferrite AM antenna for the best possible AM reception. The controls are very easy to use and you get 5 presets for AM and 5 for FM. And you can auto scan stations. The RDS technology can display station name, call sign, song title or other transmitted information, plus it can set the clock automatically. There is a stereo mono switch. There is a built in clock timer with sleep function and humane wake up system to buzzer or radio. The left side of the radio has an auxiliary input and a stereo earphone jack. The perfect solution for the radio enthusiast who is visually impaired.
Doug notes that he may purchase the PR-D17 and share a review here on the SWLing Post. He is especially interested in how it might compare with similar voice prompt radio models.
Post readers: If you’re visually impaired, what radio models do you prefer? PLease share your thoughts and comments by clicking here.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christian, who writes:
Although I fear I sound like a broken record, your readers should be aware that this is a good time to buy Eton Executive series radios. On Amazon the prices are edging lower everyday while supplies last. Obviously Eton is making way for their new Elite series.
Here are the current prices. Many are all time low prices…
Please note that I changed the links above to Amazon affiliate links. If you use these links to purchase on Amazon, it will support the SWLing Post at no extra cost to you. If you’d rather not use affiliate links, simply go to Amazon and do a manual search using the model names above and search for those prices.
I agree with you, Christian: Eton is obviously liquidating their “Executive” models to make way for the new Elite series.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Vlad, who shares some images and a video of a new QRP transceiver in development: the Discovery TX-500 by a company called lab599.
Specifications have not been published yet, but we have confirmed a few details from the manufacturer:
10 watts PEP
HF plus 6 meters
Weight 570 grams (1.25 pounds)
Voltage 9 – 14 VDC
105 milliamps at 13.8 VDC and with backlit display on
CAT control via USB and using Kenwood codes
I/Q outputs
Weatherized
Expected availability autumn 2019
Target retail price is $700 US
Product website is forthcoming
All of the following images came from the Discovery TX-500 gallery on Instagram:
For someone, like me, who loves playing radio in the field (Parks On The Air and Summits On The Air) this looks like an ideal rig. It’s one of the only ham radio transceivers I’ve seen that is weatherized to some degree (how much, we don’t know yet).
I don’t see a speaker on the TX-500, so I’m guessing it might require a mic/speaker combo or an external speaker of some sort? I also don’t see a built-in ATU, but at $700, I certainly wouldn’t expect one.
With a power consumption of 110 milliamps at 13.8 VDC, this little transceiver should run for ages on a modest battery pack.
This is certainly a fascinating prototype QRP transceiver. If the Discovery TX-500 transceiver can be produced and marketed at $700 with all of the features mentioned so far, it should certainly fly off the shelves. They can certainly take my money!
Of course, I will plan to grab one of these for review. I’m also eager to see how this little SDR transceiver might perform on the broadcast bands.
We will post post TX-500 updates and details as they become available. Bookmark the tag Discovery TX-500 and stay tuned!
The GE 7-2990A (left) and Panasonic RF-B65 (right)
This has been a very crazy and radio-active weekend!
It started with a busy Friday that was capped off with the BBC Midwinter Broadcast and then continued into Saturday with a Parks On The Air activation and Field Day at Mount Mitchell State Park.
The Midwinter Broadcast has never been an easy catch here in North America–after all, the BBC aim their signals to Antarctica–but I always manage to receive the program with only a portable and I’m almost always travelling on the day of the broadcast.
This year, I was actually at home and could have used one of my SDRs at home to snag the broadcast, but it’s become a bit of a tradition to listen in the field, so that’s what I did.
Knowing how difficult it would be to receive the broadcast–especially given the poor propagation–I reached for one of my “Holy Grail” portables: the Panasonic RF-B65.
The Panny RF-B65 is a portable DX hound!
I never take only one radio to the field, though, so I decided it was time to give the hefty GE 7-2990A a little outdoor time on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The GE 7-2990A
I’ve only had the GE 7-2990A for a few months. It came from the estate of my dear friend Michael Pool (The Professor) who passed away earlier this year.
This particular radio has quite an amazing history–remind me to share the story someday–but I’ll always cherish the 7-2990A because it was one of Michael’s favorites.
I knew the GE was one of Michael’s favorite mediumwave receivers, but I wasn’t sure how well it would perform on the shortwaves. Turns out, it’s quite an amazing HF receiver!
Out of the the three Midwinter Broadcast frequencies (5875, 7360, and 9455 kHz), I could receive the 7,360 kHz signal from Ascension Island best.
I was quite surprised with the 7-2990A’s ability to pluck this weak signal from the ether. Although the video doesn’t do it justice, the GE’s excellent audio fidelity made listening more enjoyable compared with the much smaller RF-B65.
And, yes, that’s my faithful brown and white listening companion, Hazel, in the background. In truth, she was less interested in the broadcast and more interested in finding squirrels!
Your Midwinter recordings–stay tuned!
Halley VI Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica (Source: British Antarctic Survey)
I’ve already received about twenty emails from SWLing Post readers with audio and video recordings of the Midwinter Broadcast. Thank you!
If you would like to submit your recording, and you haven’t yet, please do so by email (thomas *at* swling.com) so I don’t overlook it. Remember to link to your video so that I can easily embed it on the upcoming post. Please don’t send me duplicate emails as it makes the sorting process more difficult.
I’ll try to find recordings linked via Twitter and Facebook, but it’s much more difficult to sort those in comments and know for sure that I’ve discovered them all.
Please note that, due to my schedule, it will likely be two weeks before the final post is published. I appreciate your patience and understanding!
