Updates: SWLing Post email subscription, correspondence, and gratitude…

Hello, SWLing Post community!

I just wanted to share a few quick notes this morning:

1.) New email subscription service up and running

As we mentioned in previous posts, we are now using a new paid email subscription service (Aweber) for those who want to receive a daily digest of SWLing Post articles. It’s super easy to sign up, and I’d encourage you to do so if you haven’t already.

We’ve replaced Feedburner’s free email delivery service which Google has announced (after pushing out the date once) will close sometime in August 2021. As of today, it seems email digests are still being propagated via Feedburner, but note that it will end this month when Google turns off the service.

Again, check out our initial post about the transition if you have any questions.

At time of posting, we have 691 subscribers on the new service.

2.) Swimming in email

I love correspondence from readers, but as I mention on my contact page it can take me days or even weeks to respond especially if you need a complex, multi-answer reply. I do my best to reply to each and every email I get, but these days it can be very difficult because my free time to reply is so limited. On average, I receive anywhere from 30-40 emails from readers per day that require a reply, but only have perhaps 30-60 minutes per day to answer them, thus they stack up. Every few weeks, I try to work through the backlog when I have a morning or afternoon free to do so.

A few suggestions/requests that would really help me:

If you have a news tip, it would help to note that in the subject line of the email; for example, “News Tip: RCI to build shortwave transmitter on the moon.” That sort of thing. 🙂

If you have a guest post proposal, please note this in the subject line; for example, “Guest Post Proposal: How to build a benchmark receiver with chewing gum and four shoe boxes.” I absolutely love guest posts because by virtue of publishing them, I get to read and enjoy them as well. I’ve learned so much from your amazing articles. Thing is–and I’m sure anyone who’s been blogging for a few years can relate–we receive mountains of SPAM guest post and sponsored posts emails from (I’m guessing?) robots. Or androids. Or possibly Skynet…the point is, anything you can do to make your email stand out by showing you’re a human and you have a real radio article would help. This is especially important if it’s your first time contacting me.

If you have a specific technical question–especially one where you’re trying to gather input to make a quick decision–consider leaving a comment/question in an appropriate post before contacting me. The SWLing Post has a daily readership in excess of 7,000 individuals; if you post a question in the comments, there’s a strong likelihood it will be answered in short order! [There’s an even better chance it’ll be a more accurate response than you’d get from me!]

If you want to contact, me feel free to do so! Just understand if it takes time to reply. I especially enjoy your kind comments, compliments, and encouragement. Please don’t stop sending those. 🙂

I actually caught up with my email backlog this weekend only to discover this morning that (at some point a few weeks ago) Google started sending loads of legitimate readers emails to my SPAM folder. I rescued about 52 messages from SPAM this morning. If you haven’t gotten a reply from me, this is likely why. I’m going to attempt to work through many of these this afternoon.

3.) Thank you…

As always, thank you. The SWLing Post is a labor of love and I’m fueled by your kind words and, yes, by your generosity via our Coffee Fund and Patreon. The SWLing Post will always be free to read, and free of annoying pop-up ads. Never feel like you have to support the site–especially if you have a tight budget–but I certainly appreciate your support if you can. I’m still amazed each day by the incredible radio community that has developed around this site. It’s truly an honor to be its curator and custodian.

Thank you,

Thomas

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Weather radios given to communities in path of natural disasters

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, NT, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

A few months ago, a city in northern California gave away weather radios to help their community prepare for fire season. And last year a county in Georgia did the same thing in advance of extreme weather.

With all the fires and severe weather happening around the world, I’m curious if other communities have been doing emergency radio give-aways? I thought you or other SWLing Post readers might have seen similar stories?

73,
NT

Great question, NT!

Post readers: please comment if you know of other communities around the world who’ve deployed weather radios in an effort to prepare for natural disasters.

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Radio Waves: Radio Hats, FCC Fees in 2022, Ham Saves Friend’s Life, and Monitoring the fall of the Afghan Government

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Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

The story of the Radio Hat, 1949 (Rare Historical Photos)

In 1949, Victor Hoeflich held a press conference to introduce the “Man from Mars, Radio Hat”. Hoeflich knew a picture would tell the story so he had several teenagers modeling the radio hats for the reporters and photographers. Soon pictures and news stories appeared in newspapers coast to coast. The articles typically included a photo of a young lady wearing the hat and a six-paragraph story.

Although the radio hat had a futuristic appearance at the time, this was in fact due to technical limitations. While the transistor had been invented in 1947, it was still experimental and not widely available. The hat’s radio relied on vacuum tube technology, and Hoeflich made the tubes a prominent feature, as well as the loop aerial. The tuning knob sat between the two valves. The battery was carried in the user’s pocket.

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Mark shares his preliminary C.Crane CC WiFi-3 notes

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark, who recently shared his notes about the new CC Wifi 3 that only recently started shipping:

Howdy Thomas,

I received the CCWiFi3 [last week]. I was surprised at the small box compared to my CCWiFi2. After opening I found the inner box tightly fitted to the outer shipping container. The radio box is quite nice with graphics and I will keep it for later use if needed.

When I took the radio out of the box it seemed lighter so I weighed it. The CCWiFi3 weighs 1 lbs compared to the CCWiFi2 that weighs 1 lbs 2.8 oz (excluding power adapters and antenna). I’ll be waiting to hear what the tech people will find inside the new radio.

Within five minutes I had the radio plugged in, the SSID found and the password entered without issues.

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Mark recalls passing the Voice of Mongolia by train

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Fahey, who shared the following comment in reply to this recent post. Mark writes:

A few years ago I traveled Beijing to Helsinki – a 3 week journey via the all stops SLOWWWWW trains via Ulan Bator & Moscow. I was only carrying a backpack so I took along a Tecsun PL-380 (I think that was the model? – It’s up in my Bali home at the moment so I can’t check for sure) and it worked amazing well using the whip next to the train window.

On the journey I passed the Voice Of Mongolia SW Transmitter site – here is a link to my video of the antennas and township (Khonhor) – was a great trip! I will be doing it again next year – this time slightly longer Shanghai to Frankfurt.

That’s just brilliant, Mark! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to a full tour of the Voice of Mongolia next time you’re passing by! 😉

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The Radioddity Raddy WF-100C wireless weather station

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There are a few hobbies and activities that always seem to tie radio enthusiasts together: topics like aviation, astronomy, trains, languages/travel, and the weather.

The weather is a big one for amateur radio operators because it’s often one of the ice-breakers used while connecting with a fellow operator over the air. I suppose it’s for this reason, I can’t remember a single Hamvention that didn’t include at least one vendor exclusively selling personal weather stations.

A few weeks ago, SWLing Post sponsor Radioddity reached out and asked if I would be interested in reviewing and evaluating a new weather station they’ve started selling.

My how times have changed…

I’ve always wanted a proper personal weather station with built-in automatic rain gauge and an anemometer to measure wind speed in real-time. Many years ago, we purchased a commercial-grade Davis weather station for my brother-in-law who is a complete meteorology/weather geek. If memory serves, the entire system cost well over $500, but the Davis is a station that’s robust enough that scientists purchase these for remote monitoring, and research.

My brother-in-law used this station for many years until he moved to a ground floor apartment where he simply had no way to install it. He gave it to me, but I never installed it at our house because doing so with wires would have been challenging and, frankly, not terribly neat–black wires would have been running along our our exterior walls.

I considered purchasing a wireless station, but many were either too expensive or I didn’t know the company well so questioned the quality.

Enter the Raddy WF-100C

I get a lot [understatement alert!] of requests to review products from various companies and decline almost all of them. The reason is, I’m not persuaded by free products and my time to actually do reviews is very limited and precious to me. I stick with reviews directly related to the radio world and products I feel might be useful to our community.

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