Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Jason’s solution to a false low battery indication on the Tecsun H-501x

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jason Walker, who shares the following advice:

H501x Tecsun Battery Issue – False Low Battery Indication – Solution

As a H-501x owner I have found a solution to ‘false’ low battery indications on the radio, having tried several high quality batteries to lengthen the runtime, even a high capacity 3500mAh Fenix, without much success.

Last week, I noticed that when the radio was physically moved or tapped, the battery indicator would vary to low and radio cut out. I have traced this to a poor battery terminal connection (poor spring strength primarily) on the battery bays A & B.

By using a very light sanding of the positive battery contacts in the radio with fine sandpaper and cleaning of the 18650 battery terminals, not only does the issue go away, but the radio runtime improves significantly and battery capacity indicator returns to full.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has come across this issue? This may also be a cause of low H501/x runtimes mentioned in other posts.

Stronger battery springs with higher tension would improve the battery to terminal connection, as a product improvement suggestion for Tecsun or perhaps a local mod?

Jason Walker, Christchurch, New Zealand

Thank you for sharing this, Jason! No doubt a very easy modification that produces meaningful results. Again, many thanks!

Les spots a near-mint Lowe HF-225 on eBay for $550 shipped

7 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Les (K3JTP), who writes:

Lowe HF225 with FM and AM Synchro offered on eBay at about US$500 + US$50 shipping from Netherlands. Almost mint condition,. A rare find of a highly rated receiver made in the UK.

Click here to view on eBay (partner link).

Thank you so much for sharing this, Les. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve always wanted a Lowe and I’m quite fond of the simple display on the 225. INdeed, I think one of the strong points of Lowe was a focus on audio and reception all while keeping the controls and package so incredibly simple. This seller has a perfect rating and the radio is obviously in wonderful cosmetic shape. This will make someone a happy Lowe owner.

Thanks again for sharing, Les!

Silence in the Library (please)

WRTH 2023 will be available in print and digital form under new ownership

5 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Borgnino, who shared the following via Twitter:

The next edition of the WRTH “world’s most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to broadcasting” will be published in December 2022 in a printed and a digital version. The rights have now been transferred to Radio Data Center GmbH (RDC), based in Freising, Germany.

This is fantastic news! Thank you for sharing this, Andrea.

UPDATE: WRTH has posted the following press release (click to download PDF).

Of course, we’ll post more details as they become available.

The return of the lavalamp

A photo tour of the 2022 Shelby Hamfest

5 Replies

On Friday, September 2, 2022, I had just enough time in my schedule to visit the Shelby Hamfest for a couple of hours.

The Shelby Hamfest–referred to, locally, as “The Grand-Daddy of them All”–has long been regarded as one of the largest outdoor hamfests in the southeast US.

Shelby Photo Gallery

Weather was ideal for the hamfest: clear skies, sunshine and very dry. It was quite hot, though! Attendance was much lower than I’ve ever seen at the Shelby Hamfest in the past, but then again this was also my first Friday attending; typically I visit on Saturday which is historically the busiest day.

Continue reading →

Dan reviews the new Chameleon CHA RXL Pro Wideband Magnetic Loop Antenna

9 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, for the following guest post and review:

Photo by Chameleon

The Chameleon CHA-RXL Pro: Improved Amp Board Raises the Game

by Dan Robinson

Back in 2021 I reviewed the CHA-RXL loop by Chameleon. This loop antenna is sold by major retailers such as DX Engineering, Gigaparts and Chameleon itself – the company is a well-known name in antennas and other equipment for the amateur radio world.

I compared the CHA-RXL to Wellbrook 1530 and W6LVP loops feeding into a four-position Delta antenna switcher, and then to a Raven 16 port multicoupler which maintains good steady gain.

My Wellbrook is mounted on a telescopic mast about 15 feet above ground level, with a rotor. The W6LVP (using LMR400 coax) is tripod-mounted with an overall height from ground of about 12 feet. It has special filters to prevent strong medium wave signals from bleeding into HF.

I have since added a UK-made loop (essentially a copy of a Wellbrook loop but smaller diameter and made of metal) combined with a W6LVP amp. This W6 amp does not have filtering to block strong mediumwave signals. In all, I have four loops into my Delta switcher, which feeds about two dozen receivers.

There is by the way quite robust discussion at https://groups.io/g/loopantennas about various loops, including the Chameleon. And this past July, Steve Ratzlaff posted news about the upgraded loop amp board which will ship with what is now the CHA RXL Pro, saying:

“Chameleon has completely redone their CHA RXL loop amp board from the previous poor-performing loop amp that I tested some time back, and sent me one of the new production boards to test. I’m happy to say it tests very well especially for LF sensitivity, and I can now give it my “seal of approval”. The new board is a version of the LZ1AQ loop amp.”

Photo by Chameleon

It turns out, according to an email from Don Sherman of Chameleon, that Steve is one of the engineers who helped design the new amp board for the CHA RXL Pro, and on the Loop Antenna group he provides a folder in which he placed previous test results with “new files of the new board (sweep of the new RXL Pro loop amp, and a picture of the new amp PCB).”

Continue reading →