It doesn’t matter that propagation is rather poor this morning: I have a Sony ICF-SW100, a good cup of coffee, a beautiful sunrise and Radio Australia is loud and clear on 9,580 kHz.
All is well.
Sunrise and shortwave
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Category Archives: Shortwave Radio
AFVN: The GI’s Companion — A Tribute To Our Vietnam Veterans
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley for the following guest post:
AFVN: The GI’s Companion — A Tribute To Our Vietnam Veterans
Radio station WEBY on 1330 kHz in Milton, Florida (near Pensacola and Elgin Air Force Base), has produced a 10-hour documentary on the American Forces Vietnam Network. This documentary aired in two-hour segments in the afternoons of 26 through 30 October 2015. But it is being repeated in its entirety between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. CST (14:00 to 24:00 UTC) on Veterans Day (known as Remembrance Day in Canada and elsewhere), 11 November.
The WEBY website is http://www.1330weby.com/ and a backgrounder on the documentary can be found here: http://www.1330weby.com/images/afvn/AFVN_Documentary_on_WEBY.pdf and a timeline of U.S. broadcasting in South Vietnam here:
https://www.afvnvets.net/hist—timeline.html
WEBY runs 25 kW during daytime hours (and a puny 79 watts at night) and can be heard in parts of four states (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana) but it also streams its programs on the Internet and so can be heard around the world. I’ll try to record some of the streamed audio in case the documentary is not available after the broadcast.
I was alerted to this documentary by a recent episode of PCJ Radio International’s Media Network Plus (24 October) during which Keith Perron interviewed the producer. That interview is worth listening to, too.
AFVN transmitted on AM and FM throughout South Vietnam. I never had the opportunity to listen to AFVN personally, but as a high school student, I did use to listen to the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) on shortwave from time to time. AFVN received some of their broadcast material via AFRTS broadcasts from Voice of America transmitters in Delano, California, and the Philippines. A scan of a QSL card I received for a broadcast from AFRTS Los Angeles via Delano in April 1964 [see below].
Shortwave Radio Recording: “The Buzzer” on 6,998 kHz
Screen capture of the Web SDR waterfall tuned to 6,998 kHz.
On Friday, Andrea Borgnino, tweeted that he could once again hear “The Buzzer” on 6,998 kHz. Of course, during the day, I couldn’t hear the signal from my home in North America.
I could, however, easily hear the signal via the University Twente Web SDR in the Netherlands.
Here’s my recording:
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m pretty sure this is simply a pirate having a little fun relaying UVB-76 audio on 6,998 kHz.
Tudor confirms: a new version of the Degen DE1103
After publishing our previous post about a potentially redesigned Degen DE1103 with DSP, SWLing Post reader, Tudor, comments:
Yes, the DE1103 looks like it’s been redesigned. You can see it dissected here:
http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/0002.asp?open=724665
Photo source: http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/ via Tudor. Click to enlarge.
And, if I’m not mistaken, the SiLabs DSP chip can be seen in this picture:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5417175/2015102316185240911.jpg
Photo source: http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/ via Tudor. Click to enlarge.
Wow–thanks so much for confirming this, Tudor! This is obviously a redesigned Degen DE1103. I also noticed “NEW-DE1103-MAIN-1.2” silk-screened on the board:
Photo source: http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/ via Tudor. Click to enlarge.
The Hong Kong-based eBay vendor Bigbargainonline is selling the new Degen DE1103 for $79.00 US shipped. I’ve purchased from them several times before and was pleased with the experience.
There are other vendors selling the new Degen DE1103 as well (click here to search eBay) but make sure you’re purchasing the 2015 version of the Degen DE1103 since you can still find the cosmetically-identical legacy DE1103 new in box.
Tudor, thanks again for sharing a link to the discussion on tecsun.com.cn–while I can’t read Chinese (and the Google translation leaves something to be desired!) the photos certainly tell the story.
A DSP version of the Degen DE1103?
[Click here to read our update to this post.]
SWLing Post reader, Dan, recently sent me this link to the Degen DE1103 on AliBexxpress: http://m.aliexpress.com/item/32521065066.html
The vendor notes a “USA DSP chip” in this unit.
The Degen DE1103 has been around for many years; a testament to its popularity. I’m pretty sure it never had DSP receiver components, though.
I told Dan that this was most likely an error of 
the Aliexpress web marketing person.
Today, Dan sent me another link, this time to an eBay listing with the title:
“DEGEN DE1103 DSP FM/LW/SW/MW Stereo Dual Conversion Digital World Band Radio”
I took a close look at the photos and noticed that “DSP” is featured on one of the front panel stickers.
Could it be that the DE1103 has been re-designed with a DSP chip? Can anyone confirm?
Shack Photo Contest: We have a winner!
Vimal’s favorite radios are the Tecsun PL-390 and the Eton E100. (Photo: Vimal)
Please join me in congratulating SWLing Post reader, Vimal, for winning our October Shack Photo contest!
Vimal notes:
“I love these radios (see photo above). The Tecsun PL-390 stereo DSP radio with selectable band width- is able to pull in a slew of shortwave stations in quite clearly (of course a lot depended upon time of day and atmospheric conditions.) I can routinely receive signals from Asia, Australia, South America and Europe which is exciting!
And another one is my small Eton E100 Radio- The highlights of this one is that the stereo through headphones sounds great. Its Informative LCD display includes the frequency and the time while the radio is on (some other radios require a keypress to display the clock). It also features a nice amber backlight for the LCD display. Not to forget the sturdy whip antenna.”
Congratulations, Vimal–and many thanks to everyone who shared their photos.
Vimal’s entry was chosen at random from the 62 SWLs and ham radio operators who shared their shack/listening post photos. What an amazing number of entries!
I plan to take the many photos and notes we received from readers and turn them into an online photo galley. I’ll post this as soon as I’ve curated and formatted entries.
If you didn’t win this contest, fear not! We’re already plotting another simple & fun contest before the end of the year.
Reader Challenge
Note, too, that we are still collecting entries for the latest reader challenge: Emergency radio and a chance to win a prepper radio package!
Avion DRM Receiver now shipping via Amazon India
The Avion portable DRM receiver is now available on Amazon India (click here to view). It’s being sold for 14,999.00 INR (roughly $230 US).
At time of posting, The Avion DRM receiver only has one review by someone who has (obviously) never used the radio. They give one star then state: “price is very high. so i hate this product.”
While I dismiss reviews like this, I must believe that this price is, indeed, high for most Indian consumers; especially when compared with alternate forms of media consumption (smart phones, analog radio, FTA satellite TV, etc.). It would be high for me, too.
I hope, at least, that the Avion performs well. I have no plans to review the Avion DRM receiver at this point simply because it’s challenging for me to find and decode DRM here in North America with my SDRs hooked up to large external antennas. Don’t get me wrong–occasionally, I do get amazing copy–but it’s typically when conditions are favorable. Listeners in Europe, Asia, and Oceana would have better results, no doubt.
Has anyone seen an objective review of the Avion DRM receiver? Please comment.