Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Marcus’ countryside mobile listening post

The Düsseldorf evening skyline

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marcus Keulertz, from Düsseldorf, Germany, who writes:.

Here are some nice pics about my own special way practicing our beloved radio hobby. I was quite satisfied with my logs.

I heard Radio Taiwan’s Mandarin broadcast and All India Radio National Service in vernacular languages. I did [all  of this listening  from] my little car there.

Thank you for sharing, Marcus! Looks like you’ve found a peaceful spot to enjoy radio from the comfort of your car.

Indeed, you’re doing exactly what I tell urban listeners today who have difficulty hearing stations from home: head to the countryside and escape the radio interference! It’s simply amazing what you can hear when your receiver isn’t being overwhelmed by RFI/QRM.

Sometimes it takes very little distance from sources of urban noise–even a city park (as our friend London Shortwave routinely demonstrates) offers enough of a noise buffer.

Thanks for sharing, Marcus!

DXtreme Station Log 14

Many thanks to SWLing Post sponsor, Bob Raymond with DXtreme Software, for sharing the following press release:


Product Announcement DXtreme Station Log 14

DXtreme SoftwareTM has released a new version of its popular logging program for Amateur Radio operators: DXtreme Station Log 14TM.

New Features in DXtreme Station Log 14

  •  DX Spot Checker Now Has Two Presentation Modes — Users can switch between Rich Site Feed and Grid Feed by clicking a tab on the window. The Rich Site Feed displays the actual, continuous feed from the Telnet server, and lets users interact with the server to set options like server-side filters and to perform queries. The new Grid Feed displays 10 to 50 rows (user’s choice) of DX spots in a structured, resizable, alternating-color grid. Grid-Feed spots can be displayed on a rotating basis (erase then continue) or by overwriting spots already displayed, as selected on the DX Spot Checker toolbar. Users can set fonts and colors for both feeds.
  •  Suppress Verified Spots by Mode Per Band — When activated in DX Spot Checker Options, this client-side filter lets users suppress the display of spots for modes already verified within band plans defined on the Modes-Per-Band Plans tab.
  •  JT Log Entry Processing — Users can have DXtreme Station Log 14 manage the pre- and post-log-entry population of the WSJT-X and JTDX log files, letting users perform all logging operations on the Station Log 14 window while keeping their eyes glued to the WSJT-X or JTDX interfaces for worked-before status indications. This feature is important when using quick modes like FT8.
  •  Digital Application Assignment — When users add a JT log entry via JT Log Entry Processing, the Digital Application Used field is populated automatically with either WSJT-X or JTDX as appropriate. When using other applications, users can edit this field manually. And they can assign digital applications to pre-existing log entries by mode globally, filtered or unfiltered by date and band.
  •  Club Log Record Creation — Users can create Club Log records in a special workfile automatically when adding or modifying log entries. The workfile can be viewed and edited, if needed, and uploaded via the Club Log web site. A Batch Upload to
    Club Log function is available when Club Log does not contain all log entries.

Standard Features in DXtreme Station Log 14

DXtreme Station Log 14 lets hams log their contacts and import ADIF files from other programs. It supports major call sign subscription services, and offers the following multimedia and advanced functions:

  •  DX Spot CheckerTM — Receives DX spots from Telnet-based servers and determines whether QSOs are needed for new or verified DXCC® entities, band-entities, mode- entities, or VUCC grids. Information displays on Rich Site Feed and Grid Feed tabs.
  •  Automatic LoTW Upload — Users can set Station Log 14 so it uploads each log entry to LoTW automatically when added, capturing and saving QSO Record Status from the LoTW server as part of the process. Modified log entries can be uploaded as well. If desired, users can disable automatic uploading and can upload log entries to LoTW semiautomatically and manually in batches whenever they want to.
  •  LoTW Reporting — Users can perform searches and run reports filtered by LoTW QSO Record Status, which indicates whether log entries are On, or Not On, the LoTW server following upload or QSL-updating. Users can also perform searches and run reports filtered by LoTW QSL Record Status, which indicates the date of each LoTW QSL record processed by DXtreme’s LoTW QSL Update Utility.
  •  DX Atlas Integration — Performs Afreet DX Atlas azimuth plots from the user’s location to that of a spotted or logged station. Also creates maps for reports.
  •  Rig Control — Tunes/retrieves frequencies and modes from supported rigs through integration with Afreet Omni-Rig.
  •  QSL Processing — Creates QSL and address labels for physical QSLs, and supports the ARRL’s LoTW facility, including capturing LoTW QSL records as digital images.
  •  QSL ImagingTM — Lets users scan and capture QSL cards and electronic QSLs into their log entries for browsing and viewing any time they want to.
  •  Improv ImagingTM — Lets users associate adhoc images with their log entries separate from our popular QSL ImagingTM facility. Users can capture, scan, or paste any image and save it as a single-page .jpg, or single- or multi-page .tif. Improv images popular with users include signals on a spectrum analyzer or waterfall, QSOs conducted on ATV and data applications, and equipment used during contacts.
  •  Audio Facility — Records and plays QSOs.
  •  Reports — Provides a wide range of performance and station reports to let users see how well they’re doing. Reports can be filtered and sorted. Includes DXCC® and WAS AnalyticsTM tools for analyzing and enhancing DXCC and WAS standing.Operating System and Requirements, Pricing and Support

DXtreme Station Log 14 runs in 32- and 64-bit versions of Microsoft® Windows® 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista®, and Windows XP. It retails for $89.99 USD worldwide for Internet distribution. Reduced pricing is available for upgrading users. All prices include product support by Internet e-mail.

About DXtreme Software

Based in Nashua, NH, DXtreme Software produces powerful and easy-to-use logging applications for all kinds of radio enthusiasts — from short-wave and medium-wave listeners and DXers to Amateur Radio operators. For more information about DXtreme Station Log 14, visit www.dxtreme.com or contact [email protected].

Dan spots a JRC NRD-301A on eBay

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who notes:

This is the first NRD-301A seen on the used market in many years:

Click here to view on eBay.

Thanks, Dan! I would love to add an NRD-301A to my radio shack, but those commercial-grade receivers are simply outside my comfort zone in terms of budget. That and I really don’t have the space for a rack-mounted rig like this. Oh but I do admire them!

Post readers: I’m curious if anyone besides Dan owns a 301A? How to do rate its performance?

Radio Deal: Eton Mini Compact AM/FM/Shortwave Radio

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christian, who notes:

The price of the Eton Mini has dropped again to a historic low of $24.15. I’ve been watching Grundig prices on Amazon and they’ve been moving around a lot. The lowest prices only seem to last a day or two. As we all know Amazon can change them at any time.

Click here to purchase through Amazon.com (affiliate link).

Top DX Radio Club’s SWDX December contest

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John C, who writes:

I wanted to inform your readers and you of a really cool SWDX contest that’s free of charge and lasts throughout the month of December.

The attached website has all the contest rules. I participated last year and enjoyed it very much. They sent a really nice certificate suitable for framing for participating. Hopefully you will post this info on SWLing and maybe some SWDXers will participate. Thanks so much in advance, and 73!

http://www.topdx-radioclub.com/top10dx.html

Thank you for sharing details about this SWDX contest, John!

Switzerland: Museum Tinguely to host a sonic journey

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Justin Moore, who writes:

This may be of interest to your readers in Switzerland (and nearby!). From Bruce Sterlin’s Beyond the Beyond blog at Wired:

“From October 24, 2018 to January 27, 2019, Museum Tinguely will host a sonic journey giving access to works of radio art from the last hundred years in a unique way. As visitors navigate the space with headphones and specially programmed smartphones, their movements act as “human radio dials,” activating works (current and historical, well-known and unknown) by artists including Antonin Artaud, John Cage and László Moholy-Nagy through to Michaela Mélian, Milo Rau and Natascha Sadr Haghighian. The installation was designed by the artist, architect and musician Cevdet Erek and realized by Meso Digital Interiors. The resulting interplay of sound and space is both technically sophisticated and aesthetically striking, giving visitors an immersive experience of the world of radio. In the second part of the exhibition, diverse aspects of the theme of radio will be discussed in 14 themed weeks, offering visitors a chance to engage and experiment actively with this fascinating medium.

Over the hundred years since its emergence, the radio medium has been explored by musicians, composers, writers, philosophers and fine artists (and many others who do not fit into such categories). They have examined the production of programs, ways of recording, transmitting and receiving, and the possibilities for recording broadcasts. In the first exhibition of its kind, Radiophonic Spaces brings together more than 200 pieces for radio from around the world with the aim of documenting this sustained engagement with the medium by artists of all fields, and allowing visitors to hear it. Unforgettable broadcasts that existed only in obscure archives can be experienced afresh, presenting the history of a medium whose rootedness in actuality means it gives a picture of the century of its existence. The major disasters of the last hundred years are revisited here, as are the great technical and social achievements of the period—to current positions such as Documenta Radio (2017). The “sonic journey” combines artistic approaches to radio art and broadcasting with a scholarly project led by the research group on experimental radio at the Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar. The results of this creative interplay unfold in an immersive journey featuring some 200 gems of international radio art. Historical and contemporary works are related to one another: from Antonin Artaud, John Cage and László Moholy-Nagy through to Michaela Mélian, Milo Rau and Natascha Sadr Haghighian. With the help of a headphone system, visitors gain access to individual works of radio art, triggered by their movements. In a space designed in cooperation with the artist, architect and musician Cevdet Erek and realized by Meso Digital Interiors, visitors immerse themselves acoustically in this art form. This experience resembles the reality of using an actual FM radio: looking for channels until a voice, a piece of music or a sequence of sounds prompts the listener to stay a while longer, or at least to note the frequency so as to be to return to the channel and the voice later. The range of channels on offer is confusing, overwhelming, sometimes too much, but it reflects both the sprawling variety that characterizes the medium and the possibility to decide quickly what to listen to.”

https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2018/10/radiophonic-spaces-museum-tinguely/

https://www.tinguely.ch/en/ausstellungen/ausstellungen/2018/radiophonic-spaces.html

Many thanks for the tip, Justin!

All India Radio: Teaching students English via radio

(Southgate ARC via Eric McFadden)

The Hindu reports the news broadcasts from All India Radio are being used to teach students English

To make learning English interesting and interactive for high school students, the district administration has undertaken a novel initiative.

All 149 high schools, 11 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and 11 model schools in the district have been instructed to implement All India Radio (AIR) English news listening programme as part of listening enhancement programme, English learning and general awareness development activities for students of class 8 and 9.

The students are required to tune in to the five-minute English news broadcast at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. every day in their respective classrooms and note down the points.

hat is followed by simple questions and discussions for another five minutes in the class to check their IQ levels, vocabulary, general knowledge and grasp on current affairs.

Radio on phone

All schools are equipped with radios, which were produced a few years ago when the government implemented ‘Meena prapancham’ radio telecast programme on adolescent girls’ education. In case the schools don’t have a radio, teachers are asked to use cell phones for tuning in to radio news.

Read the full story at
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/they-learn-english-by-hearing-the-news-on-radio/article25431278.ece

All India Radio
http://allindiaradio.gov.in/Services/External/Pages/Default.aspx