Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Santa over shortwave?

4 Replies
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

If you live in Newfoundland, Canada, you might want to take part in the Signals To Santa event at the Signal Hill National Historic Site Visitor Centre, which is sponsored by Parks Canada and the Newfoundland Radio Amateurs (SONRA).

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Tom Ally, for the tip. Tom did some research to find the HF frequency of the event, so it could be monitored. The response from the event coordinators was 146.520 MHz. Not exactly shortwave (ahem, not even by a long shot!).

Still, I love the idea behind the event and think the Parks Canada poster is brilliant!

I believe an amateur radio club organizes a “talk to Santa” type on-the-air event each year.  If anyone knows the frequency or details, please comment.

Hidden feature: Adding seconds to the Tecsun PL-880 clock

4 Replies

A very simple hidden feature: by turning off your Tecsun PL-880, then pressing and holding the number 8 on the keypad, you can turn on the PL-880 clock seconds display. Use the same process to toggle between settings.

Tecsun PL-880 clock display showing seconds

Be warned that this free feature will not buy you extra time. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

You can follow all Tecsun PL-880 updates by bookmarking/checking this link.

Hidden feature: Adjusting the Tecsun PL-880 FM de-emphasis

6 Replies
Photo source: Tecsun PL-880 Yahoo Group

Photo source: Tecsun PL-880 Yahoo Group

There has been some confusion (mainly on my part) about the hidden feature behind button number 5.

Pressing and holding the number 5 will toggle the radio between 50 and 75 uS.

But what, exactly, is this function?

Thankfully, Eric Cottrell has the answer:

“The 50/75 uS setting is the FM De-emphasis. 75 uS in the US and 50 uS in Europe.”

Eric then pointed to a discussion about de-emphasis on DIY Audio’s website.

Many thanks, Eric, for clarifying this (and thanks to others SWLing Post readers who pointed this out in comments as well).

You can follow all Tecsun PL-880 updates by bookmarking/checking this link.

Video: Tecsun PL-880 vs. PL-660 on a local AM station

3 Replies

In the following video, I have tuned both the Tecsun PL-880 and the PL-660 to a relatively local AM station (880 kHz). Note that I had the tone control switch set to “bass” on the PL-880 (it would have been better on “treble”):

For normal AM radio listening, I believe the PL-880 produces better audio fidelity than the PL-660. I will try to record a weak medium wave station this evening, if time allows.

You can follow all Tecsun PL-880 updates by bookmarking/checking this link.

Arctic DXing: Norway style

Leave a reply

veines_lowresIn response to my post Tuesday about Arctic DXing in Finland, Per-Einar comments:

“I would like to mention a similar listening site in Norway @70 degrees north [latitude].

Check Kongsfjord.no for logs for reports.

I have observed the same effect DL4NO mentions.  I used to work HAM-radio from Jan Mayen.

On low bands (below 10MHz) its often difficult being heard due to auroral attenuation.

When signals both ways are e.g. attenuated 30dB, its easy to hear but nearly impossible to be heard.”

Many thanks for sharing this. The photos on Kongsfjord.no are simply stunning. I would love to do some arctic DXing at either location (or best, both!).

Have any readers ever ventured to Antarctica for DX?

 

Video: Tecsun PL-880 vs. PL-660, using the hidden DNR feature

22 Replies
Photo source: Tecsun PL-880 Yahoo Group

Photo source: Tecsun PL-880 Yahoo Group

In this video, I’ve tuned both the Tecsun PL-880 and PL-660 to All India Radio on 9,445 kHz (transmitted from Bengaluru, India, some 8,800 miles away).

Thanks to an image of a (prototype?) PL-880 keypad posted on the Tecsun PL-880 Yahoo Group–an excellent group you should join, by the way–I’ve discovered that if you press and hold the number 6 on the PL-880 keypad, it engages the hidden DNR function. I assume DNR is an acronym for “digital noise reduction.”

I engage the PL-880 DNR feature in this video and compare with the PL-660 audio.  Again, apologies for quality as this was made using my iPhone.

You can follow all Tecsun PL-880 updates by bookmarking/checking this link.

N News Agency: Voice of Russia shortwave service to close by Jan 1, 2014

9 Replies

VoiceOfRussiaThe Russian language N News Agency reports:

“The Russian government’s international radio broadcasting service Golos Rossii (Voice of Russia) will stop its shortwave broadcasts from January 1st next year.

The shortwave service is closing due to funding cuts.  Voice of Russia is to broadcast several programs in foreign languages including Mongolian language for the last time on December 29th, 2013.[…]”

This is the second time the closure of VOR has been mentioned in the online press.

To date, I have seen no official announcement/confirmation from the Voice of Russia (though an earlier statement from VOR didn’t deny the possibility).

Many thanks to Andy Sennitt for the tip!