Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

DXtreme Reception Log X

SWLing Post sponsor, Bob Raymond (NE1I) at DXtreme, writes:

I’m pleased to announce that the latest version of our logging software for radio and TV monitoring enthusiasts is now available:

www.dxtreme.com (Version 10.0).

Please find the full product announcement below:

DXtreme Reception Log X (Version 10.0)

DXtreme Software™ has released a new version of its popular logging program for radio monitoring enthusiasts: DXtreme Reception Log X™ (Version 10.0).

Like other logging programs, DXtreme Reception Log X lets listeners and DXers log the stations they’ve heard. But unlike other logging programs, Reception Log X provides advanced features that can add a new dimension to logging activities.

New Features in Version 10.0

Afreet Ham CAP1 Integration — Lets users run short- and long-path propagation predictions from the Schedule Checker, Reception Log, Countries, and Transmitter Sites windows. Reception Log X sends key data to Ham CAP which, in turn, displays a chart showing the signal-to-noise-ratio prediction by time and frequency and a Mercator projection showing the current propagation prediction for the path between the user and the target station.
Improv ImagingTM — A dedicated tab on the Reception Log window, Improv Imaging lets users associate ad hoc images with log entries. Users can capture from their screen, scan from their image scanner, or paste from the Clipboard any images they want to associate with a displayed log entry, such as screen captures of stations received on digital applications, waterfall displays, Amateur TV pictures, Ham CAP maps showing propagation conditions at the time of reception, etc. An Improv Image Explorer lets uses peruse their collection of Improv images, and call up the log entries with which they are associated.
Preview QSL Image Viewer — Is now larger and expandable on the Verification tab of the Reception Log window, and the new QSL Image Explorer lets uses peruse their collection of QSL images, and call up the log entries with which they are associated.
Colorful User Experience Enhancements — Lets users set the foreground and background colors of heading and data rows on grids throughout the program — one set of foreground and background colors for odd data rows, and another for even data rows — making it easier to view schedules on the Schedule Checker, log entries on the Last Log Entries grid and window, and data in Reports.

Advanced Features

Schedule CheckerTM — Lets users import schedules from Aoki, EiBi, and
FCC AM web sites and display that schedule data according to the filter criteria they specify. A list box lets users switch between the schedules at will. And, depending on the schedule type, users can filter schedule information by band, frequency, station, country, city, state, time of day, language, antenna direction, and target area. When the What’s On Now? function is activated, the schedule refreshes automatically at the top of each hour for Aoki and EiBi schedules.

For each schedule item, Schedule Checker queries the Reception Log X database to let users know – by means of user-defined, foreground and background display colors – whether they need to monitor a station for a brand- new or verified country. Schedule Checker also displays bearing and distance, runs Ham CAP propagation predictions and DX Atlas azimuth plots2, tunes supported radios to schedule frequencies when double-clicking schedule items3, and starts log entries for scheduled stations.

Last Log Entries Grid— Located on the Reception Log window, the grid shows up to 5000 of the most recent log entries added. Its records can be sorted, and double-clicking records displays detailed data on the Reception Log window.Users can resize the grid columns and scroll horizontally to columns that do not appear initially. But because the names of stations and NASWA countries can be quite long, users can also display a larger, resizable Last Log Entries window. A Properties dialog box lets users change the order of columns, the number of log entries to display, and the foreground and background colors and font attributes of grid headings and data rows system-wide.
Reception Reports — Users can create customized paper and e-mail reception reports plus club report entries for reporting catches to clubs and magazines.
Social Media Posting — When users add or display a log entry, Reception Log X prepares a post announcing their DX catch and displays it on the Social Media Post tab. From there, users can drag the post to their favorite social media web site(s) to share their catch with others.Using the Script Editor window, users can create and edit social media scripts that format social media posts to their liking. A browse button lets users select the script they want to use. Three scripts come with Reception Log X.
Direct Print SWL and Address Labels — Users can prepare SWL and Address labels for direct output to their printers, and print labels one-at-a-time or in any number up to the maximum number of labels on each page of label stock.
Rig Control — Retrieves the frequency and mode from supported radios and permits tuning from the Schedule Checker and Reception Log windows.
Multimedia Features — An embedded Audio facility lets users maintain an audio archive of stations heard. An integrated QSL ImagingTM facility lets users scan, display, and explore QSL and e-QSL images.
Performance Reporting — Produces reports that track the performance of the user’s monitoring station, and lets users FTP those reports to user-provided Web space for remote access. Reports integrate with DX Atlas to generate pin maps.
Support for Monitoring Amateur Radio Operators — Users can retrieve call sign and address information for monitored hams from optional Web services (HamQTH.com, BuckmasterTM HamCallTM, and QRZ XML Logbook Data) and send automatic eQSL requests to monitored hams via www.eQSL.cc.
Documentation — Includes on-line Help and a Getting Started Guide.

Operating Systems, Pricing, Contact Information

DXtreme Reception Log X runs in 32- and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows® 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista®, and XP. It retails for $89.95 USD worldwide for electronic distribution. Pricing for CD versions and upgrading users is available on our Web site. All prices include product support by Internet e-mail. For more information, visit www.dxtreme.com or contact Bob Raymond at [email protected].

Bob, thanks for sharing your product announcement and thank you for sponsoring the SLWing Post!

Click here to visit DXtreme or here to download the PDF of this product announcement.

Alan logs shortwave stations while camping

1 Reply

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Alan, who writes:

I really appreciate your site. It has been my favorite since I got back into shortwave listening and DXing…great enough that I actually subscribe to posts via e-mail so I don’t miss anything.

In case you are interested, I did a post about what I was able to hear using my Kaito KA1103 and a Sangean antenna while camped in a tent in the back yard. Nothing amazing by many people’s standards…but I enjoyed it enough to stay up too late!

http://strasburg.rocks/2015/10/late-night-dxingswling/

Either way, thanks again for SWLing.com.

Alan, there are few pleasures in life better than SWLing while camping–even if it’s in your own back yard! Thanks for sharing your experience and thanks for the kind comments. This weekend I hope to log a few stations from my tent at the SWLing Post DXpedition.

Dan spots an extremely rare HRO-600 on eBay

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SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, writes:

Wow . . . a huge, amazing rarity…this is perhaps the rarest of radios, the HRO-600.

It is almost never seen on the used market and when it is, it is usually in non-operational condition. In its day it was quite advanced, though now, a Tecsun could run rings around it, and it uses NIXIE tubes…good luck obtaining those…anyway for anyone who has never seen one in this condition, and for everybody, here it is…

Click here to view on eBay.

Wow–I thought that receiver might sit on eBay for a while, but it sold for $3,895 US only moments after Dan spotted it.

Assuming this listing will eventually disappear from eBay, I downloaded a few more photos:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I really enjoy tips like this from Dan. While rare radios like the HRO 600 are well beyond my budget, it’s so much fun to learn about them. Indeed, I had no idea HRO made a receiver that used Nixie tubes!

What is a Nixie tube you ask? Per Wikipedia:

“A Nixie tube, or cold cathode display, is an electronic device for displaying numerals or other information using glow discharge.

The glass tube contains a wire-mesh anode and multiple cathodes, shaped like numerals or other symbols. Applying power to one cathode surrounds it with an orange glow discharge. The tube is filled with a gas at low pressure, usually mostly neon and often a little mercury or argon, in a Penning mixture.

Although it resembles a vacuum tube in appearance, its operation does not depend on thermionic emission of electrons from a heated cathode. It is therefore called a cold-cathode tube (a form of gas-filled tube), or a variant of neon lamp. Such tubes rarely exceed 40 °C (104 °F) even under the most severe of operating conditions in a room at ambient temperature. Vacuum fluorescent displays from the same era use completely different technology—they have a heated cathode together with a control grid and shaped phosphor anodes; Nixies have no heater or control grid, typically a single anode, and shaped bare metal cathodes.”

As Dan states, Nixie tubes can be very difficult to source these days. I’m sure the radio collector that purchased this HRO 600 is well aware.

Update: While I don’t know what Nixie tubes the HRO-600 takes, Leeds Radio, has a substantial collection of Nixie tubes at reasonable prices. Click here to browse through the collection. Leeds, by the way, is a fantastic resource for pretty much any sort of tube/valve you may need. Check out this piece on Leeds Radio from WNYC.

I hope someone uploads a video of the HRO-600 in operation; I’ve never seen one in action.

Dan, thanks again for sharing your eBay finds!

Share a photo of your shack or listening post for a chance to win a Grundig G2

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The listening post and ham radio shack of Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW) from Ponza Island, Italy.

[UPDATE: We have a winner! If you didn’t win, fear not! Follow this link for future contests.]

Want to share your shack or listening post with the world on the SWLing Post? Want a chance to win a Grundig G2? If so, keep reading…!

This month, we’ll be collecting photos of our readers’ listening posts, radio shacks or favorite listening spot. And we don’t care if your listening post or shack is filled with gear or consists only of one radio in a public park; we’re just glad you’re listening, and we’d love to see how.

The fact is, I’ve always been interested to learn what sorts of receivers, transceivers, and accessories our readers––many of whom are also shortwave listeners and/or ham radio operators––have in their shacks or use at their favorite listening spots. After some consideration, the notion to show other readers how we listen became the basis for a fun contest. Fred Osterman at Universal Radio championed the idea, offering his encouragement in the form of a prize.

In exchange for a photo of your favorite listening post, along with a brief description of your equipment––see details below––you’ll be entered for a chance to win a Grundig G2 portable radio/recorder and player by random selection.

Again, many thanks to our good friends at Universal Radio, who will kindly make this excellent prize available to anyone in the world. That’s right; excepting applicable import taxes or duties, for which you’re responsible, Universal will ship your prize to you for free, no matter where you live!

This contest is open to everyone, save Universal Radio employees, their families, and those of us here at the Post.

How to enter…

Simply send an email to [email protected] that includes:

a photo of your listening post or shack,
your name, as you’d like it to appear in the SWLing Post,
your call sign (if applicable),
your shipping address, and
a brief description of your favorite shack gear as seen in your photo. You, too, can make an appearance in this photo if you like.

Again, the winner will be chosen at random, which means that everyone will have an equal chance of winning. By submitting an entry, you’re consenting to have your name and photo posted on the SWLing Post; after all, that’s the idea. Of course, your information stays with us and will never be sold or used for any purpose other than this contest.

Your entry must be submitted by November 1, 2015…Can’t wait to see (and share with our readers) how you’re listening!

Alternative sites for Dayton Hamvention proposed

6 Replies

Yesterday, the Dayton Daily News published an article about the problems with the aging Hara Arena, home of the Dayton Hamvention.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Fears about Hamvention leaving town because of Hara Arena’s economic struggles has local officials scrambling to propose alternative sites for the economy-boosting event.

Hamvention, the world’s largest gathering of amateur radio enthusiasts, injects millions of dollars into the local economy each year. It has been held at Hara Arena since 1964.

But the arena has struggled financially, and an Iowa-based consultant firm recently asked the city of Trotwood to buy the venue, which Trotwood officials declined. The venue’s owner says the arena is on better financial footing today.

A series of emails obtained by this newspaper through public records requests show that local officials fear Hamvention could pack up and move out of the region and highlight their efforts to keep the event in the Dayton region.

The Dayton/Montgomery County Convention & Visitors Bureau has worked with city of Dayton staff on a Plan B to ensure the event remains in the county if it needs to relocate, said Jacquelyn Powell, the bureau’s president and CEO.

“I want to make it clear that this isn’t the first year that we’ve looked at Plan B options,” she said. “There have been other years where we’ve had this conversation as well.”

The Hamvention board has no intentions of leaving Hara Arena, said Jim Tiderman, general chairman of the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, which hosts the event.

“We do not have any plans whatsoever for relocating,” Tiderman said.

News of Hamvention’s possible relocation was mentioned in an email dated July 7 that was obtained by this newspaper through a public records request.

Continue reading at the Dayton Daily News…

As mentioned in the article, the thought of the Hamvention leaving Hara is not a new one. The Arena leaves much to be desired cosmetically and even functionally–it’s an old venue that requires a sizable investment to maintain.

The Hamvention flea market is, without a doubt, my favorite part of the event.

Earlier this year, I spoke to a long-time DARA representative who assured me that the club wants to keep the Hamvention at Hara for obvious reasons. He did admit, though, that they’ve always had a “Plan B” and even “Plan C” in place, should Hara close its doors.

He mentioned that, each year, Hamvention attendees urge DARA to find a new home, but the fact is Hara is not only the largest venue around, but is the only one on one level. With an aging ham radio population, accessibility becomes a higher priority every year. Those using scooters and wheelchairs would find it frustrating to compete for elevators and lifts in multi-level venues.

As the Dayton Daily News notes, one alternative would be to have two separate locations: one for the inside exhibits and one for the flea market. Selfishly, since I host an inside exhibit table, I appreciate the fact that the flea market is within easy walking distance. It would upset me if they decided to split the venues.

The fact is, no decision has been made yet. DARA still plans to host the 2016 Hamvention at Hara Arena and has no intention of moving anytime soon. That is, as long as the owners of Hara Arena can keep it afloat.