Radio Deal: Eton Field BT for historically low price of $70.99

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Christian, who writes:

Hi Thomas. Amazon have dropped the price of the Field BT yet again. This time to $70.99 shipped! This is now the lowest price I’ve ever seen for the Field BT. Perhaps they’re discontinuing the model? It’s a fine radio (very sensitive) with amazing audio. I paid a bit more for mine when it was on sale but I still think it was a good price. As I always say, this is Amazon so there’s no way to know how long this price will hold. I’m considering another one as a Christmas gift.

Thank you, Christian!

Click here to check out on Amazon.com (affiliate link).

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Alexa can now look up broadcast schedules with the Shortwave Signals skill!

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who writes:

I’m pleased to announce that my Alexa skill has been approved by Amazon and is now available in the following countries:

Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Because single word skills are reserved for organisations and brand names, the skill name had to change and is now called ‘Shortwave Signals‘.

I’ve uploaded a video this morning with the finished skill in action:

https://youtu.be/dnSPsopEBnI

Click here to view on YouTube.

Amazing, Mark! Thank you for developing this Alexa skill!

I’ve been beta testing Mark’s Alexa skill and have been very happy with the results. It makes for a nice hands-free way of checking broadcast schedules while in the shack. And it seems like only yesterday when Mark was tinkering around with the idea to create this skill.

Bravo for making Shortwave Signals a reality, Mark!

If you own an Echo or Alexa-enabled device, simply open the Alexa App and search for the Shortwave Signals skill to activate it.

We only have one Amazon Echo device in our house–the one I evaluated for my WiFi radio primer a couple years ago. As Black Friday approaches, I’m going to keep my eye on the Amazon Echo Dot for my radio room–the 2nd generation units are quite inexpensive (as low as $29.99 for a certified refurbished unit).

Click here to search Amazon for an Echo device (affiliate link).

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Contribute equipment to restore an authentic WWII B-17F heavy

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SSGT Roland Downs adjusts the radio mast on Heaven’s Above (42-97328, 388BG) [Photo source: Hangar Thirteen]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Charlie Liberto (W4MEC), who shares the following:

Perhaps you could post somewhere a general call for anything WW II related that went into a B17F.

This website: http://hangarthirteen.org/ under the ‘Parts Drive‘ menu, lists the many things that will be sought after for the next few years. There might be those who monitor your site that have some of this just stored away, not knowing what to do with it or what will happen to it.

Ray is basically taking what was remaining, inspected, and approved as air worthy from this ditched plane, and building the aircraft to hook all the pieces together.

WOW! What an amazing project, Charlie!

I must say, Lucky Thirteen is in good hands.

Hangar Thirteen has chosen the best vintage radio restoration expert for the job! I’ve known Charlie for many years and not only is he an expert at restoring vintage gear, but he’s passionate about WWII era Signal Corps equipment. He brought my BC-348Q to life and patiently showed me how to align it. He also restored my Minerva Tropic Master and helped me fix the 3rd band selection on my beloved Scott Marine SLRM.

Charlie, I’ll certainly keep an eye out for the these components when I visit hamfests and will contribute anything I find or might have tucked away.

Post readers: If you happen to have any items needed in their list, please consider contributing it to the project and help this B-17F eventually have a fully-functional radio position. Of course, Hangar Thirteen is also in need of other aircraft parts–click here to check out that list.

I’ve copied and pasted (below) the list of needed radio components at time of posting. Please check out the Hangar Thirteen website for the most up-to-date list:

BC-347 Amplifier
BC-366 Jack Box x8-10
PE-86 Dynamotor

FT-161 Beacon Mount

BG-81 Bag

BC-433 Radio Compass
BC-434 Compass Control Box x2
BK-22 Relay
I-81 Pilot’s Compass Indicator

BC-442 Relay
BC-451 Transmitter Control Box
BC-456 Modulator (with DM-33 Dynamotor)
FT-220 Receiver Rack Mount
FT-221 Receiver Shock Mount
FT-222 Receiver Control Box Mount
FT-225 Modulator Mount
FT-226 Transmitter Rack Mount
FT-227 Transmitter Shock Mount
FT-228 Transmitter Control Box Mount
FT-229 Relay Mount

BC-306 Antenna Tuning Unit
BC-461 Trailing Antenna Control
F-10 Trailing Antenna
FT-107 Dynamotor Mount
FT-115 Liaison Transmitter Mount
FT-151 Liaison Transmitter Mount
FT-142 Antenna Tuning Unit Mount
FT-154 Liaison Receiver Mount
J-37 Tuning Key
PE-73 Liaison Dynamotor
RL-42 Antenna Reel
TU-5 Tuning Unit (1500-3000)
TU-6 Tuning Unit (3000-4500)
TU-9 Tuning Unit (7700-10000)
TU-22 Tuning Unit (350-650)
TU-26 Tuning Unit (200-500)

BC-778 Transmitter
BG-155 Bag
M-278 Balloon x2
M-308 Signal Lamp
M-315 Generator Canisters x2
M-357 Kite
M-390 Parachute
W-147 Wire

Please contact Hangar Thirteen if you can help.

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Robert talks uBITX and navigating the world of used radio gear

Radio Romania International’s annual “Personality of the Year” poll

WWV & WWVH marine storm warning announcements continue

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who notes that WWV & WWVH marine storm warning announcements continue despite a recent announcement that they would end.

Richard has been monitoring WWV/WWVH broadcasts and shared the following note earlier this month:

The weather broadcasts (storm information) were still there at 8, 9, and 10 minutes past 0:00 UTC on 1 November on WWV as monitored here in NB. Haven’t had a chance to check them since. Are they actually gone? If so, when were the last ones broadcast. The warning at the 4-minute mark hadn’t been heard for days. I’m wondering if the decision to terminate the broadcasts was reversed.

Yesterday, Richard added the following:

[…]And still there on WWV (and presumably WWVH) on 16 November at 03:08 UTC on 10 MHz. So I guess this conclusively means that the proposal to cancel the broadcasts has been rescinded at least for the time being.

Thanks for sharing this, Richard.

Your observation prompted me to check the NOAA Marine Forecast page. I discovered that it has been updated it since the notice to stop marine forecasts was first announced last month.

Before, it stated that the “end of the high seas warnings [is] scheduled for October 31, 2017.” Either NOAA made the decision to end the the forecasts in 2017 and never followed through, else the individual who posted the announcement mistakenly noted 2017 instead of 2018.

NOAA does not note edit dates on this page, so there’s no way of knowing when the page was updated. Regardless, there is no longer a firm termination date mentioned on the page. Now the National Weather Service simply states:

“the NWS is considering a proposal to discontinue this service.”

So I believe, Richard, you are correct: the NWS has at least temporarily rescinded cancellation of the service.

Thanks for following this development, Richard!

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Shortwave Archive: 1979 Radio Moscow Mailbag Studio Recordings

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If you’ve been a shortwave radio listener since the Cold War, you no doubt remember Radio Moscow‘s Mailbag program with Joe Adamov.

Tom Gavaras, a new contributor at the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, recently shared a series of seven Radio Moscow studio recordings and noted:

These recordings were originally provided to me on reel-to-reel tape directly from Radio Moscow (which I dubbed to a cassette). At that time, I was program director at St. Cloud State University’s radio station KVSC-FM (St. Cloud, MN) and aired Moscow Mailbag once a week during the afternoon news block programming. Transcription shows from other shortwave stations were played on other weekday slots at the same time.

Here’s the first studio recording: