On the topic of Radio Australia, Jonathan Marks writes:
“It doesn’t seem like 10 years ago that I sat down with Peter Homfray to discuss the early days of Radio Australia. What a truly fascinating person.”
A Chat with Peter Homfray from Jonathan Marks on Vimeo.
SWLing Post reader London Shortwave recently moved the Software Defined Radio (SDR) application SDR# (“SDR Sharp”) off of his MacBook Pro and onto a Toshiba Encore 8″ tablet PC. He recently posted this video of SDR# running his FunCube Dongle Pro+ on the Toshiba Encore tablet:
His reception of the Voice of Korea’s Spanish service is most impressive, especially considering the high level of RFI (radio noise) he must cope with at his home in London, England.
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, John, for sharing this video review of the DX Patrol SDR receiver.
The reviewer gives the DX Patrol high marks on shortwave performance, but admits that there is a significant learning curve in terms of software installation and tweaking settings for performance.
At 79 € ($110 US) the DX Patrol is certainly an inexpensive wide band SDR. Unlike the $20 RTL-SDR dongles, the DX PAtrol requires no external up-convertor.
Click here to purchase the DX Patrol online, but keep in mind that the reviewer above noted a 6 week turn-around time for shipment.
If you have experience with the DX Patrol SDR, please comment!
London Shortwave has discovered an innovative way to monitor broadcasts while recording from his Tecsun PL-660. He writes:
“Tecsun PL-660 doesn’t have a line out, which means that when recording from it one has to use a pair of headphones to listen to it simultaneously.
Most portable speakers I’ve tried generate tremendous amounts of RFI when connected directly to the receiver. I solved this problem by using TaoTronics BA-01 Bluetooth audio transmitter and a Bluetooth enabled portable speaker, together with a cable that splits the audio output into two, so the transmitter and the audio recorder can both be connected to the radio.
The recording [in this YouTube video] is of Radio Australia and was made in London, UK on 09/04/2014 at 1543 BST.”
London Shortwave posts the following on Twitter:
Inspired by @SWLingDotCom‘s RaspberryPi post I put this together to listen to the radio in my shack around the house http://youtu.be/vOX41wIS1Qk
On YouTube, London Shortwave explains that much of his modern system was inspired by a drawing from a 1930s shortwave listening magazine.
Below is a scan of the original illustration that inspired him:
(Source: Southgate ARC)
“Due to the numerous requests from his Build-a-radio-in-5-minutes, radio amateur Tommy Helgevold OZ4KID decided to make a better video with explanations on how to make a radio like this
He also decided to beat his old challenge as well…
…so without further ado, I present to you – How to build a radio in less than 1 minute, can you build it?
There’s even a schematic in the end of the video + an animated version of the entire breadboard setup.
Thanks for watching, & enjoy.
Watch Build a radio in less than 1 minute”
Click here to view on YouTube.
While less detailed, you can also view OZ4KID’s DIY Radio in less than 5 minutes by clicking here or viewing via the embedded video below:
