Shortwave noise reduction via GarageBand plugin

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Many thanks to @LondonShortwave, on Twitter, who made a video showing how to use a GarageBand plugin to filter noise out of shortwave audio in real time. He describes this on his YouTube channel:

“I recently discovered a Mac AudioUnit plugin called Soniqware SG-1 that allows real-time noise filtering based on a brief noise sample (sometimes referred to as the “noise profile” or the “noise fingerprint”). This video shows it being applied to shortwave radio signals, which I believe is a first, as I have been unable to find anyone else who has already done it. In a number of cases, it turns laborious DXing into armchair listening.

The antenna used in these experiments is a Wellbrook ALA1530SP-1 and is positioned indoors. More information is contained in the first few seconds of the video.”

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

Note that GarageBand is an application only available on the Mac OS X platform. Fortunately, it comes free with every new Apple computer purchase. You can find the Soniqware SG-1 spectral noise gate plugin by clicking here.

Be sure to follow @LondonShortwave on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LondonShortwave

MT Express Archive now for sale

Video: Ken operates his Hallicrafter S-120 for the first time

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In response to our last post regarding Hallicrafters’ promotional 45 RPM record, Ken Carr comments:

“I got the entire promotional kit for the [Hallicrafters] S120 when I was a kid. My parents even bought the radio for me. I still have everything, including the record. How could you not want to get into SWL after listening to it?

My dad took an 8mm film of me using the new radio. I have since digitized it.”

Ken then kindly shared his video (which can also be viewed on YouTube):

Thanks for sharing, Ken! This stuff is priceless.

The Amazing World of Short Wave Listening: Hallicrafters 45 RPM

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(Source: WW2E on QRZ.com)

SWLing Post reader, Michael Black, remembers the Hallicrafters 45 RPM promotional record in a comment:

“All this talk of early listening, especially when it’s about the same period I joined in, reminds me of the Hallicrafter’s 45RPM record that was used as a promotional tool. Send 25cents, get the record back, and hear what you could hear with a shortwave receiver.

I don’t think I ever had a copy. But I did some searching, and it’s apparently available in multiple places on the internet. I won’t add a link because I’m not sure which one would be most reliable. But a search on “hallicrafter 45rpm” gave results.

One site pointed out that the average listener would not have been able to hear much of what was on the record. But that too represents the image of the time. My Hallicrafters S-120A had a horrible sliderule dial, but endless space to mark exotic places like “Antarctica” and things like “aeronautical mobile”. The receiver was awful, you’d have a hard time hearing much other than the strongest of sw broadcast signals, but going into the hobby, some of that marketing was what made it exotic. For those of us who were young at the time, it wasn’t just about this new world of shortwave, in some ways it was about “this new world” that was beyond our world that wasn’t much bigger than school. Antarctica wasn’t just exotic because you might be able to hear it on shortwave, it was an exotic place to begin with.”

I took Michael’s advice and searched the term, “Hallicrafter 45RPM” and found this YouTube video. Enjoy:

The Tecsun ICR-110 packs AM/FM and digital recording/playback

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In a comment, SWLing Post reader Owl mentions:

“Tecsun has just released ICR-110 which is as BIG as the PL-880 and seems to have the same speaker too.”

The ICR-110 can be found on eBay–click here to search. At $46.00 US shipped, I’m very tempted to purchase it. Though it lacks shortwave, it appears that it can record AM (MW) and FM broadcast stations in either MP3 or WAV formats. While I’ve yet to find a radio that can make a digital recording with acceptable fidelity (the CC Witness Plus being a notable exception) I would like to think the engineers at Tecsun have nailed it.

I have a friend who has recently purchased the ICR-110, and am looking forward to his review! (hint, hint)

Popular Communications: free download of November and December 2013 issues

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader Lynn Kelly who writes:

“Anyone, subscriber or not, can get a free copy of the November and December Popular Communications to download as a PDF on the Popular Communications site.“

Lynn also mentions that many Pop Comm subscribers may not have received these two issues due to printing problems–thus you should download these while they’re still available.

Simply go to the Popular Communications website to download your copies (download by clicking on the November and December front covers).

For your convenience, here are direct links to download the November 2013 and December 2013 issues.

Can you help Bill find a Kenny Mayer aircheck?

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(Photo source: http://www.qsl.net/wb1gfh/mayer.html)

SWLing Post reader, Bill Albert, writes:

“I am trying to find an “air check” of Kenny Mayer, a well-known Boston late-night radio show host (now deceased) during the 1960’s and 1970’s. His show aired from 12-2AM Mondays, so it was one of the few interesting things one could listen to at that hour. He would play bits from classic old comedy albums (e.g., Bill Cosby and Bob Newhart in their stand-up days), and he’d ad-lib the sponsors’ advertisement spots himself. He was really a character, and his voice had a very unique cadence and intonation. I did manage to find one clip from a 1966 show featuring a routine entitled “The Great Society Affair”—a parody of the wedding of President Johnson’s daughter. God, how long ago that was!! Different world. There was also a bit by Godfrey Cambridge, and a number of Kenny’s home-made commercials. However, I’ve since lost that clip, and in any case I played and replayed it to exhaustion. If anyone has another “air check” of Kenny’s show, I would love to get a copy.”

If anyone has a lead for Bill, please comment!

If you’d like to read more about Ken Mayer, Bill suggests this article.

[Update: When I posted this request a few hours ago, I mistakenly posted the photo and information for Kenny Meyer instead of Kenny Mayer. Both of these gentlemen were prominent figures in the Boston broadcasting scene around the same time period (hence my confusion!).]