Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fastburstradio23, who shares the flyer above for the next KMTS broadcast. Looks like another fun show scheduled for January 10, 2021 at 01:00 UTC (20:00 EST January 9) on 7780 kHz.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, April TimeLady, who shares her latest collection of Japanese language WebSDR recordings–this time, for December 2020. April notes:
Please find in this email a link to another batch of SDR recordings I have uploaded on archive.org that I made over the course of December.
I concentrated mostly on mediumwave stations to get Christmas music, and I also have New Year’s recordings in it too. I also have shortwave recordings too, but not as much as I have in the past few months.
Feel free to listen to her recordings via the clickable playlist below, or on her Archive.org page.
Thank you, April for once again uploading and sharing your recordings!
Click here for a link to this and all of April’s archived recordings.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:
Appearing on the Japanese Buyee website is this RF-9000, which was the “King of Radios” of the heavy multiband “portable” era.
In recent years, RF-9000s in excellent to LNIB condition have sold for $10,000 or more.
A tour d’force of technology in its day, the 9000 featured room-filling main speakers and PLL technology that was advanced for its time.
The shortwave receiver section of the 9000 was plagued by PLL artifacts which prevented the radio from achieving what it could have had this problem not been solved in advance by Panasonic engineers.
A LNIB RF-9000 that I purchased for near $5,000 sold to a Hong Kong collector for $10,000 a few years ago. While I do miss its amazing FM quality and looks, the receiver ultimately lagged behind others, such as the SONY CRF-330K and 320 in performance.
The asking price for this 9000, which appears to have cosmetic issues, is in my view high.
Click here to view the RF-9000 auction.
Thank you for your insights, Dan!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frank, who writes:
Hi there,
I have written a manual for the Tecsun PL-330 in German after getting only a Chinese one. Perhaps it is helpful for somebody?
With friendly regards
Frank from Germany
Click here to download Tecsun PL-330 Deutsche Bedienungsanleitung (PDF 1.8 MB)
Thanks so much for sharing this, Frank!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his latest update to his B20 season guide to music on shortwave.
Last August, SWLing Post contributor, Andy (G7UHN), shared his homebrew project with us: a genius companion control display for the venerable Yaesu FT-817 general coverage QRP transceiver.
Andy’s article caused me (yes, I blame him) to wax nostalgic about the popular FT-817 transceiver. You see, I owned one of the first production models of the FT-817 in 2001 when I lived in the UK.
At the time, there was nothing like it on the market: a very portable and efficient HF, VHF, UHF, multi-mode general coverage QRP transceiver…all for $670 US.
In fact, they knocked it out of the ballpark so hard, the radio is still in production two decades later and in demand under the model FT-818.
I sold my FT-817 in 2008 to raise funds for the purchase of an Elecraft KX1, if memory serves. My reasoning? The one thing I disliked about my FT-817 was its tiny front-facing display. When combined with the embedded menus and lack of controls, it could get frustrating at home and in the field.
I mentioned in a previous post that I purchased a used FT-817ND from my buddy, Don, in October, 2020. I do blame Andy for this purchase. Indeed, I hereby declare him an FT-817 enabler!
When I told Andy about my ‘817ND purchase, he asked if I’d like to help him test the FT-817 Buddy board versions. How could I refuse?
Andy sent me a prototype of his Version 2 Buddy board which arrived in late November. I had to source out a few bits (an Arduino board, Nokia display, and multi-conductor CAT cable). Andy kindly pre-populated all of the SMD components so I only needed to solder the Arduino board and configure/solder the cable. I did take a lot of care preparing and soldering the cable, making sure there was no unintentional short between the voltage and ground conductors.
Overall, I found the construction and programming pretty straight-forward. It helped that Andy did a remote session with me during the programming process (thanks, OM!). Andy is doing an amazing job with the documentation.
I do love how the board makes it easier to read the frequency and have direct access to important functions without digging through embedded menus. While there’s nothing stopping you from changing the program to suit you, Andy’s done a brilliant job with this since he’s an experienced FT-817 user.
The Nokia display is very well backlit, high contrast, and easy very to read.
I mentioned on Twitter that, with the backlight on, the FT-817 Buddy makes my ‘817ND look like it was recently assimilated by The Borg.
Don’t tell any Star Trek captains, but I’m good with that.
Andy has a rev3 board in the works and it sports something that will be a game-changer for me in the field: K1EL’s keyer chip!
For more information about the FT-817 Buddy, check out Andy’s website. At time of posting, it’s not available yet, but as Andy says, “it’s nearly there!”
Of course, we’ll keep you updated here as well. Many thanks to Andy for taking this project to the next level. No doubt a lot of FT-817 users will benefit from this brilliant project!
This morning, I’m catching up with email and posts as I’ve had less online time these past few days (not a bad thing). I’m also trying to sort out and organize some of the gear in my compact shack/office.
As I do this, I can’t help but think through some of the radio projects that await me in 2021–so I started making a list.
It’s time for the remote tuner box to get a rennovation!
In truth? I’ve more goals than this, but I’m trying to be somewhat realistic. The top priority is investing time in my antenna situation at home. All of the coax lines are aging and I know are no longer up to spec. I see cable and even connectors as long-term consumables and it’s definitely time to reinvest!
Also been modding the FT-817ND with a Buddy Board prototype by Andy (G7UHN). Installing version 3 in a few weeks!
Please comment and let us know what you’re plotting and planning! Inquiring minds want to know!