David seeks a feature-packed “Swiss Army Knife” portable

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The CC Skywave

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, David, who writes with the following inquiry:

I really enjoy the SWLing site. It’s great and you guys have such good reviews and information!

I’m looking for a radio and one thing I have not seen on the site is a “features” type breakdown when you could limit the radios by the features you’re looking for. Maybe I missed it???

I’m looking for a portable radio (option to run on batteries, rechargeable, etc.) that has SW/AM/FM and the NOAA bands (perk if it has SAME) and has an Aux In so I can play music from my phone/whatever on it.

This will be a radio that I can take camping, to parks, have in the car for trips, gatherings, etc. I’d like it to have enough speaker that music is enjoyable, but not such a large form factor that it’s impossible/silly to lug around when needed.

Does such a thing exist!? Any recommendations? Thanks so much.

Good questions, David! I like your suggestion about a master feature list for comparing portables. If I have the time someday, I might try to put something like this together (else, perhaps, a Post contributor can volunteer for the job?).

To answer your question…

You’re certainly looking for a “Swiss Army Knife” of a radio. The only model that comes to mind is the C.Crane CC Skywave. I published a full review of the Skywave a couple years ago and can whole-heartedly recommend it. (Click here to browse our archive of Skywave posts.)

The C.Crane CC Skywave

The Skywave ticks every box on your feature list–it is even capable of SAME weather alerts! It’s also an excellent performer and my favorite compact travel radio that’s currently in production.

The only item missing on the Skywave is an audio AUX-in port, but I can’t think of any other radio on the market that comes closer to meeting your wish list than the Skywave.

SWLing Post readers: Perhaps you can help? Please comment if you can recommend a portable that meets all of David’s criteria. I may very well have overlooked a model. Obviously, the two features that make this search more challenging are weather radio and an an AUX-in port. Please comment with your suggestions!

The Yaesu FRG-7700 in TV series iZombie

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who adds the following to our growing archive of radios in film.

Mark writes:

Another radio spotted in a TV show, this time in the Netflix show iZombie.

Having been gifted a Yaesu FRG-7700 recently, it was an easy spot.

Click to enlarge

This FRG-7700 appears to be a ‘special’ model however, with a microphone plugged into the headphone socket and able to act as a transceiver!!

You have sharp eyes, Mark! Yes, indeed, it looks like they’ve turned that ‘7700 into a transceiver by plugging a mic into the headphone jack.  Now why didn’t we think of that?!? 🙂

Thanks again for sharing!

VOA Radiogram: one more show, details about future

1 Reply

(Source: VOA RadioGram via Dennis Dura)

VOA Radiogram, 17-18 June 2017: One more show before I leave the building

The last VOA Radiogram is this weekend. The successor to VOA Radiogram is Shortwave Radiogram, which will be broadcast for the first time on 25 June on the WRMI times and frequencies in the schedule below.

To help us keep in touch after the migration from the old Radiogram to the new Radiogram, please note the following changes …

Email  address:

Website:

Twitter:

This weekend’s VOA Radiogram will be all MFSK32 and will include seven images, including one optical illusion.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 222, 17-18 June 2017, all in MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz …

1:54  Program preview

2:59  Transition to Shortwave Radiogram*

7:48  Digitizing old reel-to-reel tapes*

10:57  Thanks to W1HKJ and the Murrow station*

20:48  Thanks to listeners*

23:10  Closing announcements*

* with image(s)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

See and submit results on Twitter: @VOARadiogram

The Mighty KBC transmits to Europe Saturdays at 1500-1530 UTC on 9400 kHz (via Bulgaria), with the minute of MFSK at about 1530 UTC (if you are outside of Europe, listen via websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ ). And to North America Sundays at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 8-10 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany. The minute of MFSK is at about 0130 UTC. Reports to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/.

Italian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) For the complete IBC transmission schedule visit http://ibcradio.webs.com/ Five minutes of MFSK32 is at the end of the 30-minute English-language “Shortwave Panorama,” per the schedule below:

WEDNESDAY

18.55 UTC 6070 KHZ TO EUROPE

19.55 UTC 1584 KHZ TO EUROPE

THURSDAY

02.55 UTC 1584 KHZ TO EUROPE

FRIDAY

01.25 UTC 9955 KHZ TO CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICA

SATURDAY

01.55 UTC 11580 KHZ TO NORTH AMERICA

20.25 UTC 1584 KHZ TO SOUTH EUROPE

SUNDAY

00.55 UTC 7730 KHZ TO NORTH AMERICA

10.55 UTC 6070 KHZ TO EUROPE

Thank you for your support during the four-plus years of VOA Radiogram!

PantronX Titus II DRM receiver June 2017 update

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

Here’s an update on the PantronX Titus II DRM boombox from Mike at PantronX:

“We are first fulfilling large orders from international broadcasters. Individual orders most likely are late fall.

If you preordered someone will contact you when the order comes up. Sorry for the delays but demand has been almost overwhelming.

Thanks for your continued support.”

Thanks fo sharing this update with us, Ed!

Video: Lightbulb vs Radio Beacon by Thomas Cholakov (N1SPY)

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ivan Cholakov (NO2CW), who writes:

My 11 year old son Tommy (N1SPY) completed a project where he compared a 1W lightbulb to a .25 W radio beacon that he put together and bet that the radio beacon can be heard around the world. I asked him to document his activities as he went along. The project took a couple of months but is now complete and we stitched together a video of his activities.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Wow–Tommy, you’ve done an amazing job here!

I especially like how you’ve taken time to explain the principles behind the various steps of the process. Brilliant job!

Tommy, your future videos are always welcome here. Keep up the good work and we’d love to hear how many new countries you’ve racked up on your WSPR system!

eBay: Dan discovers a Furuno RV-103SR marine receiver

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The Furuno RV-103SR

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following regarding a Furuno RV-103SR marine receiver he discovered on eBay:

Recently, I came upon two great rarities in the world of receivers.

Furuno is a Japanese company known for maritime equipment, and is featured on one or two pages of the Osterman receiver directory. Two of these rare receivers came up on eBay, both located in an Asian location.

The Furuno RV-103SR and RV-128 are beautiful animals, and both receivers appear(ed) to be in good condition, obviously taken from ships, likely as part of tear downs in a shipyard.

There is very little information online about Furuno. One Japanese blogger did a review of the RV-128. And a guy in Republic of Srpska got to use the RV-128 which was installed on a giant oil tanker, during a trip he made as a navigator way back in 2002 (see the story at http://www.qsl.net/e78cb/mmstory.htm).

Here’s the link for the Japanese blogger (use Google translation to read it) http://blog.livedoor.jp/kerokeronyororo/archives/60986163.html).

In my correspondence with him, Fred Osterman notes that the RV-103SR variant was not known to him, and likely stands for rack mount. And Fred says he never saw these receivers in the flesh, and never saw one offered on the used market, “a rare bird” indeed. For those interested, Furuno equipment is on page 216 of Fred’s massive and excellent receiver book.

The appearance of these beautiful radios, and similar ones, again demonstrates the kind of equipment that is popping up in Ebay and other locations. We have seen numerous JRC marine receivers become available, many of them also former ship receivers. Anyone interested in these should ask the usual questions about condition, ask for photos and videos, to try to ensure that what eventually arrives is not DOA or suffering from various issues.

Click here to view on eBay.

More about Furuno

Furuno, it turns out, and as noted in the Osterman book, was behind the first fish finder ever produced. And the company had a range of transceivers for maritime use.

See the following links on YouTube:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Post Readers: this is what I love about Dan Robinson’s discoveries on eBay: he finds these rare treasures, then provides a little history about their origins, use and current availability. Thank you so much, Dan, for sharing!

Interesting Article on Connection Between Amateur Radio and Radio Professionals

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I thought I would pass along this article from Radio World concerning the connection between Amateur Radio and Broadcast professionals. (And please, no flames for not being strictly SWLing related!)

Here a taste of the article, while the full piece may be found here:

http://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/0002/strong-ties-bind-amateurs-and-broadcasters/339846

Many people who work in broadcast radio got their start as amateur radio operators — hams — and remain active in the hobby.

At iHeartMedia alone, “we have 157 people on our ham radio list,” said Charles Wooten, director of engineering and IT at iHeartMedia Panama City, Fla. An amateur radio operator himself since the age of 12 (call sign NF4A), Wooten maintains that list. “Ninety percent of them are engineers, but we also have DJs, program directors and operations directors.” At least four of the company’s regional engineering VPs are hams.The fact that so many of iHeart’s hams are engineers makes sense. Many of the skills that a ham learns to get on air are the same needed by a technical broadcast professional.

Enjoy, Robert AK3Q

Robert Gulley, AK3Q, is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Robert also blogs at All Things Radio.