Category Archives: Vintage Radio

Radio Waves: Honking SOS, Vatican Hosts Shortwave G9, AM Vital in Wyoming, and the Mainstream Transistor

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!


Supermarket delivery driver saves 90-year-old after ‘SOS’ Morse code signal on car horn (ITV)

A 90-year-old widower was saved by an supermarket delivery driver when he broke his hip – and used his car horn as Morse code.

Retired panel beater Keith Turner was left injured when he slipped on his driveway before he dragged himself to his car.

The quick-thinking pensioner then used the horn to sound out the SOS message in Morse code in a cry for help.

And it was heard by delivery driver Sam Speechley, 45, as she pulled up in her van in the Garden City village in Flintshire, North Wales.

Keith was taken to hospital where he spent three weeks with a broken hip before he was finally allowed home. [Click here to read at ITV…]

Vatican Radio hosts ‘G9’ of short wave media as ‘missionaries of peace’ (Vatican Radio)

Gathered at the historic headquarters of Vatican Radio in the Vatican Gardens, representatives of the nine primary western radio broadcasters meet with Monsignor Lucio Ruiz opening the meeting by recalling the importance of short wave in sending messages of hope and mercy all over the world.

By Michele Raviart

The “G9” group of the primary western radio broadcasters met at the Vatican on Tuesday focusing on a number of issues.

These included the use of short-wave radio in order to render the jamming of international broadcasters less effective through common efforts to coordinate how broadcast frequencies are used and technical cooperation between members.

This marked a key item on the agenda of the meeting which brought together the representatives, including Vatican Radio, in the historic building of the Pope’s radio, located in the Vatican Gardens, a place that housed the first radio station built by Guglielmo Marconi.

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Georges repairs and enjoys this vintage Hallicrafters SX-130

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Georges Ringotte (F6DFZ), who writes:

Recently my “radio brother” Bruno F6CRN gave me a vintage Hallicrafters SX-130 from the mid seventies. The receiver was extremely nice for a 55 years old rig, had never seen a soldering iron for repair and had original Hallicrafters tubes but was not performing very well.

After some research , I found a solder joint between 2 pins of a tube support, and this solder joint was done during manufacture!

After alignment, the receiver performed relatively well for that kind of somewhat low cost receiver.

These low to mid cost receivers, made by Hallicrafters, Hammarlund and National are single conversion design, with a low frequency IF near 455 kHz or 1.6 MHz. Their frequency calibration is rather poor, they drift, and have poor image rejection, but can perform reasonably well on AM, and also on SSB and CW on the lower bands. Generally, these American receivers are powered on 117 VAC, have no built in speaker, and the crystal calibrator was optional or an outboard accessory.

To use it, I decided to built a small console with an isolation transformer to reduce the European mains from 230 to 117 VAC, a good quality 4 ohms speaker, and a 1 MHz calibrator Manhattan style.

With this console, the receiver looks great, give a taste of the few remaining broadcast stations and warm the shack.

Oh wow! What a beautiful SX-130, Georges!  What a great friend you have in Bruno.

Thank you for sharing!

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Rob spots a rare Hy-Gain Galaxy R-1530 shortwave receiver on eBay

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rob, who shares a link to this Hy-Gain Galaxy R-1530 listed on eBay and notes: “A radio that might be of interest to your readers.”

Click here to view this listing on eBay.

It is a beauty for sure. The seller also has a stellar reputation on eBay which is always good.

I’d be very curious what some of the collectors in our radio community might think of the R-1530. Is it as rare as the seller implies? Perhaps Dan Robinson can shed some light on this model?

Please comment!

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Dan spots an ultra-rare National HRO-600 on Buyee

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

Wow. Appearing on the Japan Buyer site is one of the top rarities, the National HRO-600
https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/m1066450646

As veteran SWLs may recall, the HRO-600 was pictured in the old Communications Handbook receiver sections.

The radio sold for the then astronomical price of $5600 US. Produced just as National was declaring bankruptcy, the 600 was the final radio from the company.

The last time one of these appeared on the used market was in 2015 and the best writeup on the receiver can be found here.

The condition if this HRO-600 is poor so it may not be salvageable, but it’s nice to see another one show up on the used market since supposedly only 200 or so were made.

Thank you for the tip, Dan! I hope someone grabs this HRO-600 and does a proper restoration job!

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Photos from the 2022 Hamilton Ontario Hamfest

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike (VE3MKX), who shares photos taken during the Hamilton, Ontario hamfest which took place on October 1, 2022. 

Readers: This is a large gallery of 40 photos courtesy of Mike (VE3MKX). If you would like to view the entire image gallery click on the link to see more. 

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Classic GE shortwave portable featured in this 1986 battery commercial

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Robert Yowell, who writes:

Tom – someone posted this week a rarely seen 1986 commercial for Eveready Batteries featuring the GE World Monitor radio (and Gold medal Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton!)

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/pyv5FXFpxR8

Click here to view on YouTube.

Thank you so much for sharing this, Robert. I have a special affinity for my GE 7-2990A as it used to belong to my dear friend, Michael Pool (The Professor). It’s quite a workhorse of a radio with excellent mediumwave chops and it packs some amazing audio fidelity. Of course, with the right batteries, it’ll keep you on the air for weeks or months at a time! 🙂

Any other GE 7-2990A owners out there?

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Dan spots a rare Squires Sanders SS-1R on eBay

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor (and rare radio aficionado), Dan Robinson, who shares a link to this eBay listing.

Dan notes:

“The SS-1R is almost as rare as the SS-IBS which was the SWBC version of the receiver.”

Click here to view on eBay.

Thanks for sharing this, Dan. Seems the seller is also accepting offers (asking price is $999.99 US). Any serious buyers should read the seller notes. The unit looks incredibly clean cosmetically, but would likely need a good electrical going-over and possible alignment.

Even if, like me, it’s not in your budget to purchase a rare radio, I think we can all appreciate the photos:

Thanks again for sharing, Dan!

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