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IHSG and Vibroplex/INRAD announce the release of a new accessory product for the Icom IC-7300 which provides a receive antenna socket on the rear of the radio.
The INRAD model RX7300 allows the user to add a receive-only antenna jack to the Icom IC-7300. This easy to install plug-in modification requires no soldering and is simple to install and easily reversible. The RX7300 can also be used for the insertion of accessory items into the receiver chain on the IC-7300 like receive-only bandpass filters, low noise preamps, etc.
When installed, the transceiver will use the SO-239 antenna connector on transmit, and one RCA phono jack on the RX7300 for receive. To use the transceiver in normal operation via the SO239, leave the RG-174 coax loop installed between the 2 phono sockets.
The RX7300 retails for £49.95 or £99.95 fitted and is only available through HIS group affiliated stores. Customers who purchased their IC-7300s via an IHSG store will receive a £5.00 discount from the supply only price and £15.00 discount from the installed price.
On Sunday, February 26 at 1500-1600 UTC, Spaceline will be doing a test transmission on 9400 KHz from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria using an episode of From the Isle of Music, a program dedicated to the music of Cuba which is heard weekly on WBCQ and Channel 292. This transmission will be aimed primarily at Russia and Ukraine but may be audible in other areas. (From the Isle of Music will continue on WBCQ and Channel 292 for their target areas regardless of the results of this and a subsequent test. )
If you monitor this broadcast, reception reports can be sent to
1. Spaceline at [email protected]
2. From the Isle of Music at [email protected]
From the Isle of Music in particular would be grateful for any reception reports from the test, especially from the Balkans, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey etc, and will respond with an eQSL.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Cooper, who writes:
Greetings fellow DXers and SWLers.
The North American Shortwave DX Contest, “The Final Countdown,” has come to a close. Participation expectations were high with 50 requests for Contest form packets being received and sent out to prospective contestants.
The actual contest participation in the contest was another matter with only 10 contestants completing out of 13 competing which equaled out to a final 20% participation rate in the contest. 3 contestants dropped out, 1 due to a personal issue, 2 equipment failures due to blizzard conditions in Utah destroying a rooftop antenna, and 1 SW receiver failure.
The question I have is why the lack of actual participation? Was the contest to hard? Or as I have the sinking gut feeling, the Shortwave hobby truly is dying a slow painful death? Thus the contest name “The Final Countdown,” sounds prophetic.
Although Propagation conditions were lousy during the 21 days. of January the contest was held on, there were several days of good DX openings as I participated as an observer, and was able to score high. I would have personally placed in the top 5 if officially entering.
There were 3 great prizes donated by Universal Radio Inc., for the top three finishers, and they were a main sponsor along with NASWA who donated several months of Journal space for the contest packet forms and CIDX who also published the contest forms packet in their excellent monthly electronic newsletter. These are the largest Shortwave Clubs/Associations in North America. Additionally I want to thank Thomas Witherspoon for posting several announcements, reminders, and contest form packets on the SWLing Post, one of my favorite sites for radio information.
The bottom line is those that did participate stated they enjoyed themselves and in some cases the joy of SWLing and DXing were rekindled again after many years of inactivity. That’s a good sign!
73
John P. Cooper
Contest Manager
“The Final Countdown”
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Eric McFadden (WD8RIF) and Randy Moore (KS4L) who share a link to this rare find on eBay: a New Old Stock (NOS) Drake SW4A.
New in original box and packing, R.L. Drake Short Wave Receiver – model SW.4A. With manual. Old stock, never used. Stored in a safe/dry place.
Being sold AS-IS!
The seller doesn’t have a deep history on eBay, but 100% positive feedback.
I fully expect this price to rise way beyond a figure I could appropriate, but I would certainly love to purchase it. I know this: I wouldn’t leave it in the box for long. After carefully checking it and bringing the voltage up slowly, I would put it on the air. What a beautiful receiver.
At time of posting, the price was $322 US (free shipping) with one day, 10 hours to go. Click here to view.
Hi there, I’ve been rather preoccupied of late, initially with the brilliant Tecsun PL-310ET and latterly with the even more brilliant Eton Satellit. However, in the background (as always), I’ve been trying to catch transatlantic medium wave DX. My listening schedule is broadly based on shortwave DXing during daylight hours – when I’m not at work of course, typically a Friday afternoon or at weekends – and always with a portable. Evenings usually start off with a tune around the tropical bands, followed by setting up the Elad FDM DUO to run some medium wave spectrum recordings overnight. In the past few days though, my daylight DXing has been bolstered by my NooElec RTL-SDR and ‘Ham it up’ upconverter. I bought the device over a year ago and after some initial exceitement, it quickly became quite obvious that I needed a reciever with a bit more ‘oomph’! However, it’s actually proving very useful to view signals on a spectrum, even when I’m conducting most or all of my listening on a different (i.e. higher performing) receiver. Ultimately, the RTL-SDR is always going to be a compromise, with relatively limited sensitivity, but because by it’s very nature it has excellent selectivity, overall it’s a reasonable performer. My particular RTL-SDR performs quite well if a decent antenna is employed with it, such as a longwire or the Wellbrook ALA1530 active loop.
Anyway, back to the medium wave DX. In the past month or two, I’ve copied a number of stations from North America, with really nice signals, including WRCR Rampano – New York, WFED Federal News Radio – Washington DC, WENE – Endicott and WUNR – Brookline from Newton, Mass. I’ve also recorded a lovely interval signal from RAI Radio 1, Milano and further European signals from Magyar Radio, Budapest and Radio Slovenija 1, from Ljubljana. During the past 18 months or so of DXing, I have been mostly ignoring signals coming into Oxford from the continent. However, that changed a little after I stumbled across the RAI Radio 1 interval signal, which complete with the rather rousing Italian National Anthem, inspired me to dig out some more European DX. I’m actually finding European DX quite rewarding, particularly because it feels new again – not surprising since I haven’t listened to Europeans on medium wave for any length of time since the 1980s. I hope you enjoy the reception videos – embedded video and text links follow below and I wish you all the very best DX.
Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who shares the following comment regarding the timeline for Nick Xenophon’s bill to reinstate ABC shortwave services:
Don’t hold your breath on it coming back soon, if indeed it does. Here is the link to the bill:
The proposed amendment to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 states:
(1) The Corporation must maintain 3 domestic shortwave radio transmission services for the Northern Territory which:
(a) cover the same areas of the Northern Territory as the Corporation’s shortwave radio transmission services covered on 30 January 2017; and
(b) broadcast the proximate local radio service.
(2) The Corporation must maintain an international shortwave radio transmission service for Papua New Guinea and parts of the Pacific which:
(a) uses at least 3 transmitters; and
(b) broadcasts the Corporation’s international service; and
(c) broadcasts programs in languages appropriate for the countries to which they are broadcast.
The bill has had second reading in the Senate and has now been referred to committee (Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee). Their report is due on 10 May 2017!
If it successfully passes the committee stage, it then has third reading in the Senate after which it goes to the House of Representatives and so on.
A long process.
Many thanks, Richard. I suppose the upshot of this is it will give Australians plenty of time to persistently urge their representatives to support the bill.
For it to gain traction, Australian listeners must speak out now!
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