Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

CommRadio CR1 is now available for purchase

The CommRadio CR-1

You can now purchase the CommRadio CR1 (we recently mentioned) for $500 plus $12 shipping on CommRadio’s website.

Don Moore (N0HDX), founder of CommRadio, placed the following statement on the CR-1 order page:

As the lead designer of the CR-1, I am pleased to offer this new radio to you. It draws on my experience as a kid building Knight Kits, from my paper route earnings through currently owning a classic Drake 2B and a Zenith Transoceanic; my benchmarks for enjoyable, high quality short wave listening. I added a smooth machined aluminum tuning knob and minimized the number of buttons to provide you (and me), an intuitively obvious and enjoyable radio to operate. This radio is solid as a brick, looks cool and sounds great. The tall feet have a purpose besides good-looks: rest your hand on the tabletop to spin the knob and for the bottom- speaker to bounce the sound to you instead of going straight up into up in space. The military ‘black box’ people who visit us see it sitting on the shelf with the bright OLED display and they all say: “I want one!” Well, here it is. Let the CR-1 draw you into the wonderful hobby I’ve enjoyed throughout my life.

I do love the look of this little radio–its simplicity reminds me of the Palstar line of shortwave radios.

Mark’s studio version of Firedrake

Mike’s home brewed amplified antenna

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Active Ferrite Rod Antenna (Photo: ON2NLT)

In my recent post, The truth about portable amplified shortwave antennas, I argue that small, portable amplified antennas are, by and large, ineffective. The post comments are interesting, however; many readers agree, and some tout the Sony ANT-LP1 as worthy, but Mike made the following comment about his amplified antenna:

The one active antenna that I have been pleased with is one I built myself. The design was by ON2NLT and uses a ferrite rod, so it is somewhat directional. Rotating the unit (it is very compact) often allows nulling out noise or interference. You have to be careful not to crank up the gain too much though, or you will amplify the noise floor. The link is here

http://www.kolumbus.fi/juha.niinikoski/Ferrite_antenna/Ferrite_antenna.htm

Looks like a fairly simple project. Thanks, Mike!

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Havana Cuba’s DXers Unlimited

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ArnieCoroDXersUnlimited If you live in the Americas and you regularly listen to a shortwave radio, you have no doubt heard Radio Havana Cuba across the shortwave spectrum. When I travel in North or Central America, I can easily hear RHC, often without even extending the telescopic antenna on my portable.

A long-running program on RHC’s English hour is Arnie Coro’s DXers Unlimited.

Tuesday night, I recorded the DXers Unlimited segment from RHC’s The English Hour on 6 MHz, and offer it here for your listening pleasure. If the recording doesn’t sound typical of shortwave radio, it’s because: a) RHC’s signal is exceptionally strong into North America, and b) I recorded this with an AM filter 24 kHz wide. In other words, I widened my DSP filter to match RHC’s bandwidth on my spectrum display–and to put this in perspective, I regularly record between 7-9 kHz wide. (This results in the crisp, high-fidelity audio you hear in this recording, though unfortunately at the compromise of any adjacent stations abiding by HF broadcasting etiquette.)

You can download the MP3 directly by clicking here, or simply listen in the embedded player below:

CommRadio is introducing the CR-1, a new tabletop shortwave receiver

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The CommRadio CR-1

US-based CommRadio is introducing a new tabletop, SDR-based, shortwave receiver this year: the CR-1. Their website has a few specifications and the video I’ve embedded below.

The CR-1 receives the full medium wave and shortwave spectrum (.5-30 MHz), plus some portions of VHF and UHF (FM broadcast band, Aircraft, Marine, NOAA weather radio, GMRS and FRS services).

The receiver architecture is a dual conversion super-heterodyne design with low-IF , I-Q digital sampling, 16 bit DSP with digital audio CODEC. Their website also mentions DSP algorithms for all demodulation: DSB-AM, SSB, CW, WBFM, NBFM and channel filtering.

Other impressive features:

Can be powered from USB or a 6-18 VDC power source (from a separate 2.1mm jack). The CR-1 possibly has the most flexible power source I’ve ever seen in a shortwave receiver!
The knobs are black anodized machined aluminium and front panel is powder coated machined aluminium; case is 20 gauge powder coated steel
Three antenna inputs
- BNC for HF/MW
- 3.5 mm audio jack (rated at 1000 Ohm, for roll-up antennas or telescoping whip),
- BNC for VHF and UHF
Very portable size!

Full specs are available on their website: commradio.com

We will also keep you posted with any future updates.

The truth about portable amplified shortwave antennas

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In the past week, I have had no less than 3 email inquiries from readers regarding which amplified antenna to purchase for their portable shortwave radio. My short answer? None.

In my opinion, there’s one fatal flaw with amplified antennas: they amplify noise just as much as they do the signal you wish to hear.

The only portable amplified antenna I’ve had any results with is the Sony AN-LP1 (now only available in Japan), and I attribute this success mainly to the fact that a suction cup, mounted at the top of the loop, allows it to be mounted on a window. Even then, results are often only marginally better than with the telescopic whip.

There may have been a time when portable amplified antennas made sense–a time prior to noisy AC adapters, flat screen TVs, and other consumer electronics which spew RFI (Radio Frequency Interference), polluting our shortwave bands. Today, however, you’ll be disappointed with the results of one of these, particularly if you travel–turning on the amplified antenna in a hotel room will increase the noise you hear two-fold, while weak broadcasters will remain lost in the static.

The Sangean ANT-60 is inexpensive and vesatile

So what can you do to improve the performance of your portable while traveling or at home? I’m still a fan of the roll-up antenna; like the Sangean ANT-60. They’re inexpensive ($12 US), packable, and versatile–the clip on the end of the reel allows the antenna wire to be clipped to curtains and blinds. Place it near a window, or even hang it outside. Antennas love being outside–just take it down when not in use.

In lieu of buying a roll-up antenna, you could simply attach an alligator clip to the end of a 20′ (6 meters) length of wire. The alligator clip can then attach to the end of your telescopic antenna, and you now have the same properties of a roll-up antenna for pennies. This is possibly the most cost-effective way to improve the performance of your portable shortwave radio. One note of caution: don’t get too generous with the length of your antenna wire. Some portable radios lack a robust front-end and a wire that’s too long could actually overload the receiver. Some Grundig G5’s were even sensitive to static discharges over a wire antenna. If uncertain, I would not exceed 20 feet in length (6 meters).

An alligator clip offers serious bang-for buck–especially if you already have the parts lying around!

I’ll never forget: one of the first email questions I received on SWLing.com was from a fellow listener in Washington state who wanted to hear stations better on his Sony portable. I suggested the alligator clip/antenna wire. He wrote back enthusiastically, “This is the most cost-effective improvement I have ever made to anything!” He was so encouraged with the performance improvement, he invested in a tabletop and a proper outdoor antenna with grounding.

So, I urge you to try a roll-up antenna or the alligator clip antenna before you waste money on a portable amplified antenna. Just my two cents.