Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Catch the BBC’s annual broadcast to the British Antarctic Survey Team

Halley VI: The British Antarctic Survey’s new base (Source: BBC)

Every year, the BBC broadcasts a special program to the 41 scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team.

The BBC will play music requests and send special messages to the team of 41. It’s guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic and certainly DX worth catching.

The British Antarctic Survey celebrates today (their longest, darkest winter day) with the same enthusiasm as Christmas. The BBC noted:

The base commanders rise early to cook breakfast for their staff, presents are exchanged, there are sports and even, weather permitting, a mad streak in the snow! Feasting continues before they gather round a shortwave set to listen to the traditional broadcast packed with greetings from their family and friends back home together with music requests and messages from the British Antarctic Survey and a few celebrities. Finally the Antarctic horror movie The Thing is screened. For those who know the plot, perhaps it is just as well there are no longer sledge dogs in Antarctica…

The great part? You too can catch the broadcast if you’re in the right part of the world to hear it. I’ll attempt to record either the Ascension Island or Woofferton broadcast myself, if conditions make it possible.

The program will air today, June 21, 2013 at 21:30 UTC on the following frequencies:

7,350 kHz; Ascension; 207°
9,890 kHz; Woofferton; 182°
5,965 kHz; Dhabayya; 203°

Many thanks to Sheldon Harvey for the reminder and for especially confirming the broadcast time. Even though this event happens on the same day each year (ironically on my birthday) I often forget to catch it myself.

Please submit your recordings of this broadcast to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Court orders Greek National TV and Radio, ERT to reopen

New product: the ShouYu SY-X5 shortwave radio

3 Replies

The ShouYu SY-X5

[Update: Check out our review of the SY-X5 by clicking here.]

Thanks to Paul, I just found out about the ShouYu SY-X5: a new analog DSP-based shortwave radio with built-in MP3 player. Like the Degen DE321, DE32, Kchibo KK-9803 and the recently released Tecsun R-2010D, the SY-X5 has a mechanical tuning mechanism powered by a Silicon Labs DSP chip.

I just purchased the ShouYu SY-X5 from this seller on eBay. The total cost was $27 US including shipping from Hong Kong. There are other sellers offering the SY-X5 on eBay, but their prices are almost double (with shipping from the US).

At a low price of $27 US, my expectations will be adjusted accordingly. My hopes are somewhat higher for the Tecsun R-2010D as Tecsun tends to do a better implementation of DSP chips than their competitors. Since I’ll be receiving both units within days of each other–and I still have the DE321 and DE32–I will certainly compare them.

More ERT updates from Athens

AOR introduces the AR6000: the 40 kHz to 6 GHz receiver

1 Reply

The AOR AR6000

AOR has announced their latest (very) wide band receiver, the AR6000 last month at the 2013 Dayton Hamvention.

As with most AOR equipment, the AR6000 comes at a premium price–$6,500 US–but this receiver is quite unique in that it covers most of the radio spectrum 40 kHz to 6 GHz. I imagine AOR sells most of these to commercial and government entities; indeed it’s only available for export or government purchase here within the US.

Details below:

(Source: AOR USA)

The AR6000 delivers continuous tuning from 40 kilohertz to 6 gigahertz in a wide variety of modes for professional monitoring performance that’s nothing short of amazing in terms of accuracy, sensitivity and speed. Standard modes include AM, FM, WFM, FM Stereo, USB, LSB and CW. An optional module can add the capability to receive APCO25 digital communications plus an optional I/Q output can be added to capture up to one megahertz of bandwidth onto a storage device for later listening or signal analysis.

Designed for the monitoring or technical service professional, there are no interruptions in the AR6000’s tuning range. With exceptional tuning accuracy and sensitivity throughout its tuning range, the AR6000 begins at the floor of the radio spectrum and continues up through microwave frequencies so it can be used for land-based or satellite communications. It works as a measuring receiver for those seeking a reliable frequency and signal strength standard. To support its broad spectrum, the AR6000 has two antenna ports, with the added capability of an optional remote antenna selector from the front panel of the receiver.

With its popular analog signal strength meter and large easy-to-read digital spectrum display, the AR6000 is destined to become the new choice of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, the military, emergency managers, diplomatic service, lab technicians, news-gathering operations and security professionals

Click here to view the spec sheet and brochure (PDF).

The new Tecsun R-2010D

WiNRADiO introduces the Excalibur Pro WB (WR-G35DDCi): an SDR with 32 MHz bandwidth

5 Replies

The new WinRadio WR-G35DDCi will reecord 32 MHz of simultaneous bandwidth; in other words, the entire MW and HF bands.

Of course, you’ll need a Petabyte hard drive to store that data!

(Source: WinRadio Press Release)

The Australian manufacturer WiNRADiO, well known for their pioneering work in the

field of software-defined radios, will be showing their latest new product development, the WR-G35DDCi, also called “Excalibur Pro WB”, as a world’s first at this year’s Ham Radio show in Friedrichshafen, Germany. This direct-sampling shortwave
receiver with a tuning range from 9 kHz to 45 MHz boasts a real-time processing bandwidth of 32 MHz, the world’s widest for a receiver of this class. This is further matched by other excellent parameters such as high frequency stability (0.5 ppm),
superior dynamic range (107 dB), excellent sensitivity (0.10 ?V) and very high IP3 (+31 dBm). Also on offer is a 45 MHz wide real-time spectrum analyser with waterfall display.

The “Excalibur Pro WB” comes as a PCI-e card, which is fully shielded for operation inside a computer, and employs a high-grade 16-bit 100 MSPS analog-to-digital converter, together with highly integrated FPGA circuitry. This combination enables
the WR-G35DDCi receiver to perform exceptionally well across an extremely wide range of signal levels and at the same time offer an instantaneous bandwidth of 32 MHz. The user can therefore continually process, record and replay the entire
shortwave band in real-time. The receiver’s robust front-end is equipped with an ultrahigh linearity amplifier which offers exceptional strong signal performance. This is further optimized by a switchable low-noise preamplifier together with a configurable multi-band pre-selector.

By employing innovative direct-sampling digital down-converter techniques and a choice of leading-edge components and design concepts, the WR-G35DDCi introduces numerous special features that are usually not available with other
receivers, irrespective of their price, including a suite of measurement and test functions. There is also an external reference clock input and a FPGA interface bus provided, which allows this receiver to be used in advanced phase-coherent multichannel systems.

Amongst other special features, there are three demodulator channels, ranging in bandwidth from 1 Hz to 64 kHz each, which can operate concurrently within the 32 MHz wide DDC bandwidth. This allows independent and simultaneous
demodulation, recording and further digital processing within each demodulator, offering in essence three fully-fledged HF receivers within the one unit.

The WiNRADiO WR-G35DDCi will be available after the Ham Radio show, at a recommended sales price of Euro 4,197.50, plus any applicable local sales taxes.

CLICK HERE FOR SPECS