Category Archives: Radios

Pavel fixes a stereo lock in the Eton E1

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pavel Kraus, who shares the following guest post:

Eton E1 – fault in stereo reception

I recently became the owner of an Eton E1 receiver, which I obtained on eBay from the USA.

The receiver is great, everything worked, error-free display. The only problem was that even FM and strong local stations did not play stereo even though stereo reception was set in the menu. The stereo text on the display flashed several times when the stations were not tuned in precisely, but after the stereo tuned, the text went out. I know that stereo reception is not the most important thing for this receiver, but it bothered me that there was a defect at all.

The Sanyo 3335 stereo decoder is used in this radio. The stereo reception switching threshold can be set with a 10kohm potentiometer which is connected to terminal 4 of the integrated circuit:

I disassembled the radio by loosening the screws on the back of the radio. The receiver is divided into two parts. I removed the XM module and disconnected the part of the radio with the display from the flat wires on the second printed circuit board of the radio.

I then removed the screws on the circuit board located at the back of the radio.

I removed the printed circuit board and found a matching resistor trimmer on the other side of the circuit.

Then I connected these two points with a wire (when running on batteries) so that I could turn on the receiver:

After tuning in to a strong local transmitter, I carefully turned the trimmer until the stereo sign lit up and listening to the headphones made sure the sound matched the stereo. I repeated this at several local stations.

The receiver now plays stereo perfectly and the settings do not affect other parameters of the receiver. After assembling the radio, I was able to enjoy quality stereo reception.

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Carlos buys a vintage Wahda transistor radio

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes:

Hey Thomas, check this radio set I just bought.

Portable, MW only, working with 4 AA batteries. It’s working perfectly.

This piece was made in Japan, I don’t know the year, but the curious thing is the Arabic name on it.

Maybe a model directed to Middle East markets?

Who knows, your readers may come with some information about this model.

All the best,

Carlos Latuff

What a cool little transistor radio! Thanks for sharing the photos, Carlos.

Post Readers: Please comment if you’re familiar with this particular radio model–or the Wahda brand–and have any insight to share with Carlos.

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Guest Post: “Tinkering with History”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post:

Tinkering with History

By Bob Colegrove

One of the attractive aspects of radio as a hobby is that it has so many specialties to channel our time. Just for the sake of classification, I would group these into two categories, listening and tinkering. I think the meaning of each category is fairly intuitive. Probably few of us approach our interest in radio in the same way. Most of us have dabbled in more than one listening or tinkering specialty. Perhaps we have been drawn to one particular area of interest, or we may have bounced around from one to another over a period of time. I know the latter has been my case.

Tinkering might start with a simple curiosity about what makes the radio play, or hum, or buzz, and progress to an obsessive, compulsive disorder in making it play, hum or buzz better. Unfortunately, over the past 30 years or so, the use of proprietary integrated circuits, as well as robotically-installed, surface-mounted components have greatly short-circuited what the average radio tinker can do. For example, I have noticed a lot more interest in antennas over that period, and I think the reason is simple. The antenna is one remaining area where a committed tinker can still cobble up a length of wire and supporting structure and draw some satisfaction. But the complexity and lack of adequate documentation have largely kept newer radio cabinets intact and soldering irons cold. Bill Halligan knew you were going to tinker with his radios, so he told you how they were put together. The fun began when you took your radio out of warranty. If you did get in over your head, there was usually somebody’s cousin not far away who could help you out. The following is a sample of how one resolute tinker managed to overcome the problem of locked-down radios in the modern age. Continue reading →

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Guest Post: Comparing the Reuter Pocket and the Icom IC-705 from an SWL’s perspective

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Uli (DK5ZU), who shares the following guest post:

SWL with a Reuter Pocket and the Icom IC-705

by Uli (DK5ZU)

Some time ago I asked how the IC-705 performs on longwave and I got some great feedback. Thanks a lot again. Since the HAM bug bit me again, I wanted to do SWL and HAM Radio portable with one rig. I started with SWL some weeks ago (just before the bug bit). I acquired a second hand Reuter Pocket RDR 51 Version B2. It is a standalone SDR Receiver 0 … 30 MHz / 50 ..71 MHz, and in my B2 version it has also FM (Stereo/RDS) and Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB). You may find the detailed specs here:
https://www.reuter-elektronik.com/html/pocket.html

The Reuter Pocket could, at one point, be configured as an QRP Transceiver, but it is no longer supported. There is a new RDR 52 small tabletop models, which can be ordered as a transceiver, too. But due to Covid related supply chain problems and price changes for the components, the new model is currently postponed.

The IC-705 is available, though. And for portable HAM operations it is a no brainer; obviously with a high price tag, but comparable with a new Reuter RDR 52 tabletop. And since my budget for the hobby is limited, I thought about funding part of the IC-705 price by selling the Reuter Pocket. But I wanted to do a side-by-side comparison so I ordered the 705 and was able to check them both on one antenna. The goal was to compare their sensitivity and selectivity on the lower bands: BC on AM and HAM bands for SSB. I did not compare CW since I am not a CW operator.

The antenna is a MiniWhip from PA0RDT which works quite well on the lower bands.

This comparison is not at all scientific and reflects just my opinion and what I heard. But anyway, there may be some people out there interested in this. So much for the intro.

Let’s start with my overall findings. Continue reading →

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Guest Post: Crystal Radios – Construction, Listening, and Contesting

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Day (N1DAY), for sharing the following guest post:

Crystal Radios – Construction, Listening, and Contesting

By David Day – N1DAY

The date was November 2, 1920 and the world was about to change forever when radio station KDKA out of Pittsburgh PA made its first broadcast of election results from the 1920 presidential election. For the first time in history people knew who won the election before reading about it the next day in the newspaper. Radio had arrived!

However, hearing the election results was not as easy as powering up an AM radio receiver because radio electron tubes had only been invented a few years earlier and they were still too expensive for most people to afford in a radio set. After KDKA’s historic broadcast, large 50,000 watt stations began popping up in all major cities around the world. Even though a tube-driven radio was not yet commonplace, many people listened to these stations on their crystal radios. The frenzy around radio in the 1920’s was not unlike the excitement around cell phones and the internet today. If you didn’t have one, you were simply living in the past.

A family listening to a crystal radio in the 1920’s

Fortunately, in the early 1920’s the crystal radio had been around for a while and it was easy to make or purchase a completed set on a limited budget. The beauty of the radio was that it was a passive device needing no power source other than the radio station’s broadcast that was received by a good antenna about 50 feet long and 15 or so feet above the ground. Crystal radios derived their name from use of galena crystals as detectors. Continue reading →

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Anyone recognize this “DEER” Chinese transistor radio?

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes:

I just bought this fully operational AM-only pocket radio made in China at the traditional flea market of Praça XV, in Rio de Janeiro, for only 25 reais (around US$ 4.39). It looks more like a response from the Chinese market to pocket radios manufactured in Japan in the 70s.

Maybe one of your readers has more information about this model.

If you have more info about this small AM transistor radio, please comment! Thanks for sharing, Carlos!

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The Gift That Keeps On Giving: Pavel’s Amazing Upcycled Hombrew Radios!

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pavel Kraus, who shares the following guest post:

Inspiration for gifts

by Pavel Kraus

This article should be just an inspiration for how to make a gift for our wives and neighbors so that they are not upset that we are still sitting at the radio, but rather they also have something to do with it.

When I see a nice box, I get the thought of building a radio in it.

Iomega ZIP Drive Radio

For the production of the first two radios, I used boxes from Iomega ZIP floppy disk drives, which were previously widely used in DTP studios before the advent of USB flash drives and can certainly be found as discarded in warehouses.

Used electronic components can be purchased on eBay, Amazon, Aliexpress – they are radio modules, batteries, charging module, other components can be found in our amateur stocks.

After removing the inside of the Iomega ZIP drive, there is room for the module to be built in and the transparent window prompts you to place the module with the display.

I desoldered the encoders from the motherboard and placed them on the side of the radio. The fingerboard of the button from the drive can also be used as a power switch.

At the same time, the original LEDs can be used as an indication of charging the built-in battery.

In the second type of radio using the same box, a button control module is used, where the buttons have been desoldered and connected to a separate board inside the radio.

Russian Enclosure Radio

The third type of radio uses a box from Russian radio by wire, where an AM / FM radio module with a clock was built in.

Commodor C 64 Power Supply Radio

The last type uses half of the box from the Commodor C 64 power supply. It has a built-in radio module with IO SI 4732 (radio from the Commodore C64 power supply box with SI4732 radio module .jpg).