Many thanks to Dave Zantow (N9EWO) who notes that Universal Radio is accepting orders for the Icom IC-7300 at a price of $1499.95 US and expects to ship units by the latter part of this month (March 2016).
Several of you have asked if I anticipate reviewing the IC-7300–Icom doesn’t issue many loaners for review, but I will check with them nonetheless.
SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who hosts a radio show on WBCQ and Channel 292, writes:
My WBCQ broadcast has changed, slightly. It will be on 9330, still, but 5110 has moved to 5130 khz.
[Also] to avoid a collision with Vaitcan Radio on 6070 khz, which is on 2140-2200, my Channel 292 broadcast moves from its originally scheduled airtime of 2100-2300 UTC to 2205-0005 UTC.
Thanks for the update, Paul!
Many thanks to Mike Terry for the following news from Radio Six International:
Coming this month…..Ewan Spence takes us to Austin, Texas for a series of daily shows from the gigantic annual music festival South by South West beginning on Monday, March 14th at 20:00 GMT
We’ll be back on shortwave later this month, with a special five hour broadcast in the 49 metre band on Saturday 19th March from 12:00 to 17:00 GMT. As well as the usual programmes there will be a special two-hour live edition of Saturday Sounds hosted by Tony Currie and including live emails and messages. Listen online as usual or tune in to 6070kHz (49.39m) from a transmitter near Munich in Germany.
Great new music from a huge variety of worldwide artists every night in Random Play at 20:00 GMT.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his updated Music on Shortwave list for the B15 period.
If you love listening to music on the shortwaves, you’ll love Alan’s free guide.
CPI1000 mit Powerbank
Many thanks to Dennis at Bonito for sharing a link to an article he recently published on the Bonito blog:
Autonomous power supply of our active antennas via USB and power bank
It is getting to be more and more difficult to procure reasonably priced analogue external plug-in power supplies because just like old light bulbs they are no longer allowed to be produced due to power consumption restrictions. We are spending a lot of time to find and buy remaining stock so that we can offer our customers noise-free external power supplies. But for years, there has been an alternative.
Our MegaLoop ML200, ML052, the MegActiv MA305 as well as the GigActiv GA3005 can be operated internally with as little as 5V and so can be powered by the supplied CPI1000DP / CPI3000DP bias tee via a USB cable. In light of the annoying switching power supplies, PowerLAN and heightened mobility of listeners, this is a very practical alternative and offers much more flexibility for the customer. Unfortunately, this fact is not well known and that is why I would like to shed some light on this subject.[…]
Continue reading at the Bonito website.
Thanks, Dennis!
I should note that there are a multitude of 5 VDC powerblocks on the market. I have two made by Eton Corp (see above) that even have hand-crank power generation. I recently used one to power my Raspberry Pi (Raspberry Pirate!) for several hours.
As Dennis states, using a DC source certainly cuts down on interference from noisy power supplies.
Many thanks to Bill Tilford,who updates us on some of his upcoming Isle of Music broadcasts:
Greetings. Update for From the Isle of Music on WBCQ, 7490 KHz, 0100-0200 Tuesdays (Monday nights 8-9pm [EST] in the Americas)
The next few weeks of From the Isle of Music will feature, in addition to an eclectic selection of music from Cuba:
Feb 29: Special Guest is Juan Carlos Marín, on of Cuba’s best Jazz saxophonists
March 7: Special Guest is Ethiel Failde, director of Orquesta Miguel Failde, which preserves the Danzon, one of Cuba’s most important popular musical genres (it helped give birth to the Mambo and influenced North American Jazz)
March 14: Special Guest is Leo Garcia, leader of the group Timbalive, which plays Timba, one of Cuba’s best genres of modern dance music. Timbalive is based in Miami but regularly works with musicians on the island in its recordings.
A graphic for our Feb 29 show is attached…..
Thanks for all you do for radio……
And many thanks to you, Bill, for broadcasting the excellent tunes!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul, who shares this link to a post on Craig’s List and asks:
“Interesting shortwave tuner, designed by Dieter Rams. Anybody know anything about this?”
I was not familiar with the Braun A-301 and T-301, but I know there are a few SWLing Post readers who are big fans of Braun gear and Rams’ designs. Perhaps someone can comment? If you’re a Braun collector and live in the DC area, this may be worth checking out.
Here’s the full description from CraigsList:
This is a Braun amp/tuner combo from the 80’s in excellent condition. It includes the A-301 integrated amplifier and the T-301 AM/FM/SW tuner designed by Dieter Rams. Both units have been converted to 110 Volt, but only the amp has an American power plug. The tuner will be supplied with an adaptor. This is the last series manufactured in Germany, called “Slim-line”. The amp was recently serviced by Musical Technology in Springfield, bad capacitors were changed out and crystallized solder connections were redone.
This A-301 amp uses DIN connectors for inputs and one will be supplied with the unit. The tuner has a captive DIN connector, and if you wish to use it with other amps, you will have to get a female DIN to RCA plug adaptor. It works fine with this amp, though. This analog tuner has FM (UKW), AM (MW) and SW bands as well as 5 manual presets.
All metal construction with excellent design and ergonomics. Not a huge amount of power, only 42 watts, but very good sound, excellent extended bass and a very captivating midrange for a solid-state amp. Unusual balance control with a variable loudness contour. Tuner is also unusual, with a shortwave section as well as sensitive FM and AM bands. Overall, very good sound.
I will also supply one set of DIN speaker connectors without wires, although this amp has 2 sets of outputs. I will also supply a set of 2-prong DIN speaker plugs, but they are not capable of accepting large speaker wires. If you wish to use larger gauge wire, you will have to find larger plugs (available on Ebay).
More info on this amp can be found at Radiomuseum here:
http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/braun_a301a_30.html
Tuner info:
http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/braun_t301t_30.html
I can demo these units for any serious purchaser.