Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who shares a music video recently released by Rush in honor of the 40th anniversary of their album, Permanent Waves.
The animated video takes us on a journey through radio and broadcasting history. No doubt, you’ll recognize many names and stations. It’s a wonderful radio nostalgia trip. Rush produced this video in memory of their epic drummer, Neil Peart, who passed away earlier this year.
Enjoy:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adrian Korol, who shares the following announcement
LRA 36 National Radio Arcángel San Gabriel German language broadcast
This Saturday, August 29, the Argentine Antarctic station will broadcast in German from 16 to 1630 (19 to 1930 UTC) and from 17 to 1730 (20 to 2030 UTC) Two programs of 30 minutes each will be broadcast in German, with Rayen Braun, from RAE Argentina al Mundo. While from 12 local time (15 UTC) it will be broadcast in Spanish including Argentine music.
The closing of the transmission is scheduled for 19 local time (22 UTC) Frequency 15476 khz USB Receipt reports will be verified with eQSL
Email: [email protected]
We would appreciate the dissemination of this information among diexists and radio amateurs, social media publications and messaging groups.
Important: the weather conditions at Esperanza Base could cause the activity to be rescheduled.
Many thanks to Paul Evans (W4/VP9KF) who notes that FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking–MD Docket no. 20-270–outlines a new fee structure for several radio services including the amateur radio service.
If I understand correctly, a fee would be collected when an FCC employee would need hands-on time to process an application. This would include all new amateur radio applications, license upgrades, and vanity call sign applications.
It appears many routine licence services that could be handled entirely through the FCC ULS system/website without human intervention might remain no-cost.
At least, this is the way I read the information from this FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Click here to download the PDF version of Docket No. 20-270.
Most of the amateur radio changes are outlined under “personal licenses” staring at section 24.
To be clear, this is a proposal open for comment. These fees have not yet been adopted. I expect the ARRL will have a response.
Caught in light rain while operating from South Mountains State Game Land.
I shipped the lab599 Discovery TX-500 I’ve been evaluating to HRO yesterday. I’ve had it on the air now for a week with intense use. I’ve activated a total of 8 parks in 7 days–via the Parks On The Air program. I’ve operated CW, SSB, and spent time listening to HF broadcasts.
I’ve gotten a number of questions from readers in comments and via email. What follows are my answers to the most frequently asked questions. Note that this will be a “living” FAQ post for the TX-500–I will update it periodically with new questions/answers:
A: The TX-500 chassis is made of CNC-machined aluminum alloy. Without a doubt, it’s the most durable and rugged portable ham radio transceiver I’ve ever tested.
A: Their goal was to make the TX-500 water-resistant. The TX-500’s connectors help prevent water intrusion. These are not proprietary connectors. While they’re uncommon in the world of amateur radio, they’re often used in aviation, commercial, and military applications.
The connectors are GX12mm in various pin numbers–refer to the port/pin configurations from the diagram above (taken from the TX-500 manual).
Note that W2ENY is selling a number of connector packages and TX-500 accessories.
A: It’s my understanding that the TX-500 is sealed to the point of being water and weather resistant. Meaning, if it gets caught out in the rain, it should be fine. If you’re operating maritime mobile and it falls in the water? All bets are off. To my knowledge, the TX-500 is the most weather-resistant amateur radio transceiver currently on the market (please comment and correct me if I’m wrong on this point).
A: No. If you’re using the TX-500 you’ll either need a portable external antenna tuner, or operate with resonant antennas. In the field, I actually prefer using resonant antennas to get the most mileage per watt. At home, I employ an external ATU. In the field, I’ve used my ZM-2 ATU (see photo above) to tune my resonant antennas on other bands.
A: No. The TX-500 uses a relay for transmit/receive switching. In my videos, you’ll hear the T/R switch as I’m keying. I keep the delay set to the shortest amount of time. At this setting, I can’t hear between characters, but I can hear between words. Some may call this “semi break-in.” The relay clicking, for what it’s worth, is the softest I’ve heard in a portable transceiver. I believe this is due to the fact the TX-500 is solid and sealed so thoroughly. You can hear it, though.
I believe this video will give you a good impression of how the relay sounds when set to the shortest delay/recovery time:
A: Not hot at all. In fact, I’ve operated this rig up to two hours calling CQ at POTA sites and it just felt warm–not hot–which is exactly what I would expect. This radio was designed to be operated without any sort of cooling fan and the aluminum alloy chassis seems to do a fine job dissipating heat.
A: Very easily. Indeed, the LCD screen was designed for outdoor visibility. The screen has a sealed reflective covering that does produce some glare, but no more than any other field radio.
A: I’ve measured around 110 – 120 millamps with the volume level at a loud setting in the field. In a quiet environment like the shack, it draws 100 milliamps–I’m sure using headphones would be the same. This is very much a benchmark figure for full featured general coverage transceivers. It’s even a tad better than the Elecraft KX2.
A: Lab599 is a new radio manufacturer in Rubtsovsk city in the Altai region of Russia. See map:
Rubtsovsk city in the Altai region of Russia
At time of posting, I can confirm that there will be a US-based service center in Nevada. I don’t know yet if other service centers will be established across the globe.
A: According to Ham Radio Outlet and Pileup Communications–at time of posting, the only TX-500 distributors–they expect the TX-500 to start shipping mid-September 2020. The HRO price is $789.95 and Pileup Communications price is 890 EUR.
A: Yes. At least, the package Ham Radio Outlet is selling comes with a speaker/mic, and assortment of connectors–everything you need to get on the air. Click here for detail.
Accessory pack included with a Ham Radio Outlet purchase.
A: Yes, you can certainly operate digital modes with the TX-500. I did not have all of the connectors to do this with my pre-production demo unit. It does not have an internal sound card (so I would recommend something like the SignaLink USB), but it does have both CAT control and VOX capabilities in Digital mode. It should be simple to set up and easy to operate.
A: Yes it is. I wrote a short post about this which includes a demo video. My full review will go into more detail.
A: I will be publishing a comprehensive review of the TX-500 in the October 2020 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. It will be published here on the SWLing Post one month later. Click here to read all of my TX-500 posts.
I’ll update this post with more TX-500 answers as I receive inquiries.
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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Harald (DL1AX), who shares the following announcement from Radio SE-TA 2:
RADIO SE-TA 2 will start broadcasting on September 1st, 2020 via our own transmitter in Hartenstein (Saxony), Germany.
There will be a one-hour opening broadcast on the frequency of 6115 kHz from 10:00 UTC (12.00 CEST). In the evening, this one will be repeated again from 18.00 UTC (20.00 CEST).
With these transmissions reception conditions will be tested. But it will also be about program content topics at RADIO SE-TA 2, some of which have already been scheduled and others that are still being planned.
In the future, regular broadcasts are planned via our one transmitter according to a broadcast scheme, which we will inform you about in due course.
Our quarterly broadcasts continue to be aired on the 1st Saturday in the new quarter via the facilities of MEDIA BROADCAST in Nauen on 6095 kHz with a radiation power of 125 KW.
Transmissions are already booked as follows:
- 03.10.2020 – 10.00-12.00 UTC (= 12.00-14.00 CEST) – special length!
- 02.01.2021 – 11.00-12.00 UTC (= 12.00-13.00 CET)
- 03.04.2021 – 10.00-11.00 UTC (= 12.00-13.00 CEST)
Your letters with comments, criticisms, music requests and reception reports are welcome to: [email protected]
Yours sincerely
Christoph
Radio SE-TA 2
There will be a special test of FTIOM and UBMP on 9760 kHz (Channel 292 from Germany) on August 28 from 1600-1800 UTC.
From the Isle of Music, August 30 to September 5:
This week, we present a potpourri of various styles of Cuban music.
The broadcasts take place:
1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia and Oceania) with 100Kw, Sunday 1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Sofia, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 on WBCQ, 7490 kHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EDT in the US).
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 kHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
5. NEW: For Europe and possibly beyond, Saturday 0800-0900 UTC (1000-1100 CEST) on Channel 292, 9670 kHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
Our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/fromtheisleofmusic/
Our V-Kontakte page is https://vk.com/fromtheisleofmusic
Our Patreon page is https://www.patreon.com/tilford
Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, August 30, September 1 and 5:
Episode 180 presents various styles of music by Chicago-based bands.
The transmissions take place:
1.Sunday 2200-2300 (6:00PM -7:00PM EDT) on WBCQ The Planet 7490 kHz from the US to the Americas and parts of Europe
2. Tuesday 2000-2100 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 kHz from Rohrbach, Germany for Europe.. NEW SATURDAY TEST 0900-1000 UTC (1100-1200 MESZ) on Channel 292, 9670 kHz from Rohrbach, Germany for Europe and beyond.
If you don’t have a shortwave radio or are out of range, you can listen live to an uplink from different web SDRs in Europe
Our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/UncleBillsMeltingPot/
Our V-Kontakte page is https://vk.com/fromtheisleofmusic
Our Patreon page is https://www.patreon.com/tilford
SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, and I have been evaluating a pre-production model of the Tecsun PL-990x portable shortwave radio–the same model which will be soon sold by Anon-Co.
Dan has just completed his initial assessment and included a long-format video. Many thanks to Dan for sharing the following:
by Dan Robinson
Recently, Thomas Witherspoon posted the first photos of the Tecsun PL-990x – we both received units from Anon-co in Hong Kong for testing.
I was able to spend some time outside my house here in Maryland, running the 990x and comparing it to the older receiver by Tecsun, the PL-880.
Tecsun undertook a thorough re-design of the PL-880, which among other things was known for its superb sound through a large speaker.
The 880 was available both on its own, or in a hard-case kit that also included (or includes assuming these are still purchasable) a separate Tecsun-branded solid state recording device, spare knobs and other accessories including Li-ion batteries.
So, the long-awaited PL-990, which we have been seeing in YouTube videos being tested by various individuals who purchased pre-production versions from Asian sites such as AliExpress, is finally here – or will be in coming weeks and months.
Those who view my videos know that I like to do fairly long hands-on tests of receivers, and this is no exception, at about 50 minutes. My test did not include medium wave or FM, focusing only on shortwave performance and using only the telescopic whip antenna.
Throughout the video, I do put the 990x up against the older PL-880, which had the well-known issue of poorly-implemented synchronous detection (SYNC was not an official feature in the older receiver).
IMPORTANT NOTE: On the 990x, hitting the “4” key while the radio is powered on activates DNR (Dynamic Noise Reduction) which then activates auto-bandwidth switching, a feature I found quite annoying in the PL-880 and would no doubt find just as annoying in the 990x. I can’t imagine why anyone would want bandwidths auto-switching on their own.
I always tell people who come to me for advice about radios that you don’t always have to have the latest receiver to enjoy what’s left of shortwave.
I am a big fan of classic older portables such as the SONY ICF SW55s, 7600GRs, SW100s, SW-07s, SW-1000Ts, SW-77s, etc along with other classics such as the Panasonic RF-B65. I own one or more of most of these – they’re a joy to use assuming they are in good condition.
One more thing – I did not compare the 990x to the Tecsun S-8800. I think they are really different radios – the 8800 has that gorgeous remote control and fantastic audio . . . I really don’t put it in the same category as the 880/990s or even the 600 series Tecsuns.
I will leave extensive tests of the 990x on medium wave and FM to others – there are already quite a few YouTube demonstrations online showing this. In the tuning I did on MW and FM, the radio did seem quite sensitive. I noted that whereas the 9 kHz bandwidth is not visible on shortwave, it is on MW.
Here is my list of high points and low points for the 990x. Since this receiver, and the still-to-be-released H-501, may in fact be the last we will ever see from Tecsun, it’s up to the individual to make a judgment as to whether to buy.
Selectivity Options on SW:
2.3, 3.5, 5.0, 6.0
Selectivity Options LSB/USB:
0.5, 1.2, 2.3, 3.0, 4.0
Selectivity Options LW/MW:
2.3, 3.5, 5.0, 9.0
Selectivity Options SW/LW/MW:
2.3, 3.5, 5, 9
Selectivity Options LW/MW:
0.5, 1.2, 2.3, 3.0, 4.0
Many thanks, Dan, for sharing your initial review with us. As always, your expertise as an experienced DXer is incredibly valuable.
I’ve tested every function on the PL-990 save some of the hidden features (yes, there will be hidden features). Dan and I are both trying to sort out the calibration sequence so that when these units hit the market, there’ll be a documented procedure in place.
We’ve been comparing notes along the way and are in agreement on all of the major points with this radio. Still more testing to do, but updated with be posted here with the tag: Tecsun PL-990x
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