Shortwave listening and everything radio including reviews, broadcasting, ham radio, field operation, DXing, maker kits, travel, emergency gear, events, and more
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè, who writes:
Dear Thomas,
This is Giuseppe Morlè, from Formia central Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea,
I built this “Magic Tablet. during a rainy afternoon to test various portables I have.
The tablet is composed of 2 separate circuits: one for the short waves, a single coil along the entire perimeter of the tablet, and another with 2 ferrites wrapped around 36 turns of telephone cable for the medium waves.
The heart of the system is a 1050 pf variable capacitor with its old wheel.
To listen to medium wave I have to exclude the short wave loop with a switch on the loop.
I also added another small switch to connect it to a capacitor for more or less capacity, but this I will do later.
I can test my portables like this because the tablet tunes very well from 500 kHz to 18 MHz. I spent very little to make all this as it is all recycled stuff.
You can see the first tests on the balcony of my house with a Tecsun H-501 via my YouTube channel:
Note: this video is in Italian, but you can turn on closed captions and have it translate into the language of your choice.
As I always say, I am not a technician and I have little manual skills in building things, not having a proper laboratory. When I get an idea, I put it on paper and I start to find all the materials and then see if they work. Not all of us are of the experts in electronics–what drives me is a passion for radio listening. Now being retired, I have more time to devote to it.
Thanks to you and hello to the whole SWLing Post community …
73. Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW)
I love this, Giuseppe! What a clever all-in-one portable antenna system for your shortwave radios. I especially love the fact you were able to create all of this from parts you have at your home. You’ve got a winning attitude, too: build and experiment! Thank you for sharing.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post:
The Essential Listening Post
By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM
Listening to shortwave radio (or any radio, for that matter) is just plain fun.
So what do you need to get in on the fun?
A radio. With today’s crop of portable SW radios, many of which have search and store capabilities, a newbie SWL can get started quickly without a lot fuss and bother and no extra stuff. Just hit the search and store function (it has different names on different radios), let the search function do its thing, and step through the memories to see what’s out there. If your radio doesn’t have search and store, you can just tune around to see what’s currently broadcasting or, if you have a computer or smart phone, use it to explore one of the online directories like https://shortwaveschedule.com/
What follow next are some things that I’ve found increase my enjoyment of SWLing. Continue reading →
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’sRadio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Marty, Dennis Dura, Dave Zantow, Al Holt, and Rich Cuff for the following tips:
I have an MFJ-434 voice keyer that has saved a lot of wear and tear on my vocal cords over the years. It has been a big asset during ham radio contests and when I’ve been calling CQs with reduced power (QRP) transceivers.
One of my new favorite pastimes has been operating QRP radios from remote off-the-grid locations. Most of the time, it’s important to pack only the bare essentials for these mini-DXpeditions. I have never taken the MFJ keyer, primarily due to its size. An “accessory” measuring 6-1/2 x 7 x 2-1/2 inches fills up a lot of backpack. It also weighs a pound and a half. On the other hand, I’m absolutely positive the lack of a keyer has resulted in fewer radio contacts. I always run out of voice before I run out of battery.
Last winter, I was packing a QRP “Go Box” for a trip to Florida. Since that stay was planned to last longer than my normal field trips, I decided to take my MFJ keyer for its first outing. What a difference that keyer made! In less than three months, I worked stations in 31 countries and five continents running a 10 watt transmitter and a dipole antenna!
The enormous number of contacts warranted a closer look at a keyer for shorter field trips. The MFJ-434 has 11 buttons to push, three potentiometers to turn, and two LEDs to show me the keyer is doing what I told it to do. Could I get by with fewer amenities and shrink the size, weight, and power requirements to something more backpack friendly? It was worth an investigation.
The MFJ keyer stores five messages. For field operation, I could live with a single CQ. I found a 20 second record-playback module on eBay for $2.59.
I also found a repeat-cycle timer (variable on and variable off delays) on eBay for $2.38. I could use it to “turn on” the playback message, then turn it “off” for a predetermined period of time before turning it on again.
A relay could be added to key the transmitter’s PTT circuit every time my CQ message was played. The receiver would automatically listen for any replies between messages. (This might actually work!) [Continue reading…]
Sony TFM1000 AM FM SW Vintage Radio Decrustification (YouTube)
RTHK has often set the news agenda with its aggressive coverage of the city. But a Beijing clampdown has changed that, with pro-China coverage filling the void.
HONG KONG — Not long after Patrick Li took over as the government-appointed director of Hong Kong’s public broadcaster, a digital lock pad appeared outside his office entrance.
In the past, the director’s office had been where staffers at the broadcaster, Radio Television Hong Kong, gathered to air grievances with management decisions: programming changes, labor disputes. Now, the lock pad signaled, such complaints were no longer welcome.
For many employees, the closed room was an emblem of the broader transformation sweeping through RTHK, the 93-year-old institution venerated by residents as one of the most trusted news sources in Hong Kong’s once freewheeling media landscape.
RTHK was once compared to the BBC for its fierce editorial independence. But under a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed last year to silence dissent, many say it now more closely resembles China Central Television, the propagandistic Chinese state broadcaster.[Continue reading…]
Netflix has released its first Portuguese original series. Glória is on Netflix since November 5. Produced by the SPi production company of Grupo SP Televisão and co-produced with RTP, Glória is an intense historical spy thriller taking place during the Cold War. It is a high-quality series from Portugal with an intricate storyline.
Set in a small Portuguese village named Glória do Ribatejo in the 1960s, the ten-part series follows João Vidal (played by Miguel Nunes), a young man whose family has connections with the leaders of the Estado Novo, the authoritarian Portuguese Regime. João works as an engineer at RARET, a U.S. re-broadcasting office of Radio Free Europe. The series shows how this small village became “an unlikely Cold War stage where American and Soviet forces fought through dangerous sabotage maneuvers to achieve control of Europe,” the Netflix synopsis explains. João gets recruited by the KGB, and will find himself in the middle of the intricate webs of spy games at play in RARET.
An original series created by Pedro Lopes and directed by Tiago Guedes, Glória is a slow-burning series that is a mixture of historical drama based on real events and espionage thriller. The series paints a dark image of Portugal’s past, its violence toward women and its brutal colonial war. It is the highest budget series in the history of Portuguese production, according to The Portugal News. [Continue reading…]
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paolo Viappiani (SWL I1-11437), who shares the following guest post. Note that, as with any radio modification, perform this operation at your own risk. This is a very simple mod, but if you feel it might be beyond your skill level, consider hiring a radio technician to perform it on your behalf:
Unblocking the YAESU FRG-8800 Frequency Coverage Limitations
by Paolo Viappiani
Figure I: An unblocked FRG-8800 receiver tuned to 29.999.9 MHz.
Introduction
It is well known that some receivers produced in the last decades of the last century suffered from a limited frequency coverage due to legislative restrictions in force in some countries (Germany, Australia, etc.).
In particular, in Germany it was forbidden to listen to HF frequencies higher than 26.1 MHz, while in other Countries shortwave were not allowed to receive frequencies below 2 MHz.
These restrictions led most radio manufacturers to produce “blocked” versions of their HF receivers in order to satisfy the various national requirements; almost classical examples are the world renowned SONY ICF-2001D and the PHILIPS D-2935/D-2999 portables.
The blocking/unblocking procedure of some frequency bands was quite simple in microprocessor-governed synthesized radios: usually it was sufficient to add (or remove) proper jumpers in the vicinity of the microprocessor to perform the task, and the correct procedure was often covered in the Service Manuals or in specific Technical Bulletins; in any case plenty of information can be found on the Internet. Continue reading →
HCJB had DX-Party Line, but I don’t know if they had a segment called Mailbag. It may have been just one big mailbag!
Radio Romania still has one (I think). As does Radio Havana Cuba.
I saw one reference to a Canadian “Maple Leaf Mailbag” but I don’t recall ever hearing this.
Any other Mailbags out there?
73 Bill
I, too, have a lot of nostalgia for Mailbag shows. As you note, there are still quite a few on the air. Radio Romania International always comes to mind and also the many reader notes Jeff White addresses in Wavescan on WRMI. I was called out on the Maple Leaf Mailbag a number of times, but that was more than a decade ago now (wow–next year, RCI will have been off the air for a decade! Let that sink in!).
I’m sure there are many more.
SWLing Post readers: Can you please comment with any active Mailbag shows you know of currently on the shortwaves? Perhaps mention the broadcaster and program name and any of your favorites. Thank you in advance!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jerome van der Linden, who writes:
Hello Thomas, I have managed to break three of these flimsy PL-880 back stands, and thought, “how hard can it be to make one out of metal?”
These two photos are the result from a piece of aluminium that I had in the shed (yes I know you guys call it aluminum) . Here’s hoping it lasts longer!
I love it, Jerome. I’m willing to bet your backs tand will outlast the PL-880 now!
Thanks for sharing. I love this simple aluminium (remember, I lived in Europe–ha ha) solution! 🙂
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frank, who shares the following:
Hello Thomas,
HanRongDa has built a new mini portbale called HRD-700. Information of it is still rare, and of course it is not a professional radio. But it is interesting as it is a special analogue tuner with digital background.
I have bought one and i am really estonished about its reception quality and features. Very small, so good for camping…
Actually nowhere a manual can be found on the internet, but I have got an English document and I scanned it to share here. Perhaps it is interesting for some readers?
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè, who writes:
