Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

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.

Radio Northern Europe International Show #26 Announcement

Radio Northern Europe International Show #26 Announcement!

Hei alle sammen,

RNEI #26 will be our two year anniversary .. it’s crazy to think that it’s already been two years since the first episode of RNEI back in February 2020!
I’ve put together a packed show full of lesser known music and artists and worked extra hard to make this show a good one and we’ve now got a new weekly slot on 15770KHz WRMI for our European listeners!
Some of the goodies you’ll hear in RNEI 26 are:

Some little known artists like Svea S, LAOISE and Vök
TATYANA wanting to lock us down
Little known Samí artist Inna Marja Amindsen brings us a fantastic joik
Our Song of the Month chosen by Karl from Scandipop.co.uk
Our most edited dance mix ever complete with MFSK 64 data!
On WRMI 5850, 7780 & some 15770 broadcasts or our On-Demand shows you’ll also hear:
- Mamma’s Mest Metal (there are some fantastic choices this show!)
- Stephen’s Feature on the Swedish-Samí artist Sofia Jannok
- Daz’s EasyDRF Playlist (Decoder here – WRMI only)
On Channel 292 & some 15770 broadcasts you’ll also hear :
- You will hear a fantastic episode of This is an Express Music Show (There are some production delays so the 292 version might be just RNEI 26 repeated or a shorter 30 minute broadcast)
- You’ll also have a chance to receive Daz’s EasyDRF Playlist (Decoder here) just before TIAEMS starts

RNEI Winter 2022 Target Map (v2)

ND = non directional. The colour of AZ matches the map prediction.
For our schedule on other frequencies please see rnei.org/listen.

We’ve recently added 15770KHz as a testing main frequency for our European listeners and we are really looking forward to hearing your feedback about this change!

Note: 15770KHz at this time has interference on the lower side band.
For radios we recommend using USB mode or tuning between 15772 – 15774KHz to eliminate the noise. For SDRs we recommend using a notch filter or dragging the lower side of the filter in.

If you miss the show or are unable to hear it you can always catch up on demand and, if you prefer to only hear our music, we have Spotify Playlists of each show which are usually published shortly after the first broadcast of the show on WRMI!

We really hope you enjoy this show and look forward to receiving your feedback and reception reports,
Til vi møtes igjen,
Roseanna

Click here to read full announcement and additional details at RNEI.org.

Radio Waves: BBC License Fee Frozen, Battling RFI, Warning to RTL-SDR Users in Ukraine, and WRD Special Broadcast

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Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

BBC’s funding system under fire (Marketplace)

In the United Kingdom, you need a license to drive a car, fly a plane, practice medicine and watch TV.

The “TV license” is what Brits call their system for funding their world-famous broadcaster, the BBC. Currently, it costs the equivalent of $216 a year and is compulsory. Anyone in the U.K. caught watching or recording programs broadcast on any television channel or livestreamed on an online platform without a license is likely to be prosecuted.

The BBC — the Beeb, as it’s known — derives around $5 billion a year from this source. That’s 75% of the total revenue it needs to run a vast media empire, comprising 10 national TV channels and 10 national and 40 local radio stations as well as its World Service broadcasts and a global news website.

Full disclosure: The Beeb is a content partner for Marketplace.

But the license fee is under attack. The government just announced that it’s freezing the fee at the current level for two years and not increasing it in line with inflation — a decision that could cost the corporation nearly $400 million. The government has also hinted that it would like to eventually scrap the license fee altogether. [Continue reading at Marketplace…]

RF Interference (Nuts and Volts)

It’s everywhere! It’s everywhere! Fortunately, you can take a bite out of RFI.

RF interference — is it interference to you? Is it interference by you? Possibly both! What does this interference consist of? And how can you tell what type is present? A topic that starts off with so many questions is bound to cover a lot of ground, so let’s get started. Continue reading →

Giuseppe’s portable multi-loop homemade shoe rack antenna

8 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè, who writes:

Dear Thomas,

I’m Giuseppe Morlè iz0gzw from central Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea, Formia.

I am sending you this umpteenth project of mine built with poor materials…it is a test bench, loops / capacitors to find the best tuning.

The frame is a shoe rack in beech wood, very light, to take anywhere or to try out at home.
On the frame, there are 4 different loops of different sizes and 3 variable capacitors with different capacities. Only one signal transfer link to the receiver for all loops.

With alligator plugs I can use the different combinations of loop / variable to find the best tune

This test rig can tune the whole HF frequency range and medium wave.

I’ve attached 3 videos where you can see from the beginning to the last test on the balcony of my house.

Videos

Note that the following videos are in Italian, but you can turn on closed captioning and in the settings of the video have it auto-translate into the language of choice:

Click here to view on YouTube.

All, as always, spending very little and employing used materials!

Thanks to you and a warm greeting to the whole SWLing Post community.

I remain available for any clarification.

Greetings to all and good experimentation!

Thank you for sharing this Giuseppe! I love your ingenuity and spirit of experimentation! What a fun project that obviously yields excellent results!

Presentation: Crystal Radio History, Construction, and Contesting

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Many thanks to SWLing Post Contributor, David Day (N1DAY), who shares the video presentation below, offering even more insight into his most recent guest post on the topic of crystal radio DXing.

David has also posted this presentation on his website and notes that he’s happy to share the presentation slides without copyright. David notes:

[…]I have purposely not copyrighted this work so that anyone is free to modify it as they see fit. The only thing I ask is that if you make changes that you do not copyright the derivative work as your own intellectual property so that others can benefit from your knowledge and build upon it as well.

That’s brilliant, David! Thank you.

Presentation:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Click here to check out N1DAY’s website.

February 2, 2022: A low-hazard CME could bring auroras to low latitudes and affect HF propagation

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who shares the following news from Spaceweather.com:

GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: A coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading for Earth. Estimated time of arrival: Feb. 2nd. This movie from SOHO shows the halo CME leaving the sun:

It was hurled into space during the early hours of Jan. 30th by an M1-class solar flare. Big sunspot AR2936 was the source of the blast. The long duration flare lasted more than 4 hours, so it put plenty of power into the CME.

A newly-released forecast model from NOAA shows the likely timing of impact:

Continue reading and follow updates at Spaceweather.com.

Denis wins an incredibly rare ZOE (Tristan Da Cuhna) QSL at auction

3 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Denis, who writes:

Dear Thomas,

Following the article about the ZOE QSL card a few years ago, I came across another QSL at an Australian auction house.
I bought it. Still waiting for it.

I enclose the picture of the lot I obtained. Names have been erased.

As Dan wrote, it is quite possible that other cards may surface one day.

best 73’s from Paris
Denis

Thank you for sharing this, Denis. I agree with Dan as well–perhaps more ZOE QSL cards will eventually surface. With that said, I believe it’ll remain one of the rarest QSL cards out there. By the way, it’s a nice bonus that the auction included a ham radio QSL card as well!