Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Ally, who shares the following short videos of the PantronX Titus II:
Videos of the PantronX Titus II DRM receiver
3 Replies
PantronX Titus II DRM receiver: HFCC posts “pre-order” form
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Aaron Kuhn, who writes:
The HFCC is now collecting “pre-orders” (really expressions of interest in purchasing/demand) for the PantronX Titus II Android Radio at http://hfcc.org/delivery/receivers.phtml
“The purpose of this form is to collect the information on the demand for pre-production samples of the Titus II receiver.
It is NOT BINDING and it does not establish any contract. The ordering party is not obliged to buy the indicated quantity and the supplier is not obliged to deliver it.
Availability: Pre-production batch – 4Q/2016, regular production – 1Q/2017.
Price: Under 100USD plus shipping and local duty/taxes not included.
Payment methods: Wire transfer for larger quantities, PayPal works too, but the buyers would need to add PayPal bank fees.
You will be contacted on the specified e-mail address and asked for a binding order when the exact price and available delivery method is known.”
As Aaron also noted, though the HFCC posted this, the pre-order request form appears to be published by the manufacturer. I’m sure this is a way PantronX can gauge market interest and also decide what first-run production numbers should look like.
Thanks again for the tip, Aaron!
The Ham Radio Parity Act passes U.S. House of Representatives
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, A. Black, who shares the following article from Slashdot:
This week the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed “The Ham Radio Parity Act” — a huge victory for grass-roots advocates of amateur radio. Slashdot readerbobbied reports:
This will allow for the reasonable accommodation of amateur radio antennas in many places where they are currently prohibited by homeowner associations or private land use restrictions… If this bill passes the Senate, we will be one step closer to allowing amateur radio operators, who provide emergency communications services, the right to erect reasonable antenna structures in places where they cannot do so now.
The national ham radio association is now urging supporters to contact their Senators through a special web page. “This is not just a feel-good bill,” said representative Joe Courtney, remembering how Hurricane Sandy brought down the power grid, and “we saw all the advanced communications we take for granted…completely fall by the wayside.”
Earlier this week, I used the ARRL application mentioned to contact my senators regarding this bill–it took perhaps two minutes to complete. I had also previously contacted our representative regarding the bill.
Thanks for reminding me to post this news!
RTÉ broadcasts the 2016 GAA finals via shortwave
(Source: RTÉ)
Wherever you are in the world, here’s how you can follow this year’s All-Ireland football finals with RTÉ Sport.
On TV with RTÉ television, online via RTÉ Player, worldwide with GAAGO, on your mobile device with RTÉ News Now and via shortwave to Africa with RTÉ Radio, there are no shortage of ways to access the centrepiece of the football season.
RTÉ.ie will have previews, reviews and analysis from the top GAA analysts, features, live TV and Radio streaming, player and manager interviews and a live blog to keep you right up to date with events in Croke Park.
On TV, Michael Lyster and guests will be live from Croke Park for all the build-up at 2.10pm Irish time. Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio will be live as usual from 1pm on LW and from 2pm across all frequencies. Throw-in for the senior game is 3.30pm.[…]
Shortwave to Africa
In Africa, where many Irish people live and work, often in relative isolation with poor communications, RTÉ is providing special transmissions on shortwave radio from 1pm-5pm
Frequencies:
East Africa and North Africa
1300-1700 9470 kHzSouthern Africa
1300-1700 17540 kHz
World Premiere: Spectres of Shortwave/Ombres des ondes courtes
I’m very pleased to share this press release from filmmaker Amanda Dawn Christie:
WORLD PREMIERE :
Thursday, Sept. 22, 7:15 pm AST (11:15pm UTC)
Spectres of Shortwave / Ombres des ondes courtes
A film about radio waves, relationships, landscape, and loss.
============================================Exciting news! Spectres of Shortwave is finally finished!
After seven long years, it’s finally time to share this film and the radio doc with the public! The final corrections to subtitles and credits were completed two weeks ago, and the DCP shipped out last week! The world premiere screening takes place at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax next Thursday, September 22, at 7:15 pm.
This documentary about the Radio Canada International shortwave towers is both a film and a radio documentary, and while viewers watch the film in one part of the world, listeners can simultaneously listen to the radio doc in other parts of the world.
The film will be premiering in Canada at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, while the radio documentary simultaneously makes it’s premiere on Wave Farm Radio out of New York.
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About the film:
Long before the internet, there was shortwave. A mysterious web of international shortwave radio towers once dominated the Tantramar marshscape. Meanwhile, local residents heard radio broadcasts emanate unexpectedly from their household appliances.
The Radio Canada International shortwave relay site was built during World War 2, to broadcast to Europe and Africa. It continued to broadcast around the world during the Cold War and beyond, not only for Canada, but also relaying transmissions for Radio Free Europe, Voice of Vietnam, Radio Korea, Radio Japan, and Radio China, among others. Located in Sackville, New Brunswick, it was perfectly positioned to transmit across the Atlantic Ocean, and covered most of the globe with its transmissions.
This experimental documentary film focuses on the flat marshland landscape accompanied by stories told by local residents and the technicians who worked at the site.
After beginning this project, the Canadian government announced that the Radio Canada International shortwave relay site would be shut down and dismantled. As such, a final chapter was added to the film, which documents the dismantling of this historic structure.
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About the Radio doc:
While the images of the film capture landscape imagery of the towers over four seasons in various weather conditions, the sound track of the film doubles as a radio documentary as stories told by local residents and the technicians who worked at the site are accompanied by field recordings from the area as well as contact microphone recordings made from the towers themselves.
In the final chapter of the documentary, the audio is comprised only of the contact microphone recordings of the towers and the sounds of their demolition. The beginning of the demolition is a rich soundscape with the drones of all thirteen towers playing together. As each tower falls and crashes to the ground, it’s voice is removed from the mix, until we are left with the single drone of the last tower standing until it falls.
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More info on the film, including video clips, photos, and press clippings can be found here:
www.spectresofshortwave.net=================================================
World Premiere Film Screening:
Thursday, September 22, 7:15pm AST
Atlantic Film Festival: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Cineplex Cinemas: Park Lane: Theatre 5
Ticket purchases and info: click here=================================================
World Premiere Radio Simulcast
Thursday, September 22, 6:15pm EST (11:15 UTC)
Wave Farm Radio: Acra, New York
Tune in and listen online here :
www.wavefarm.org/listen
This film was made possible with the support of
the Canada Council for the Arts,
the New Brunswick Arts Board,
the Shaw Hot Docs Completion Fund
the Linda Joy Post Award
the National Film Board of Canda : Atlantic Centre
the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative
studio Prim, and
Wave Farm WGXC FM
Reminder: From The Radio Netherlands Archives
(Source: PCJ/Keith Perron)
September 18th and 19th PCJ Radio International will present part 3 of From The Radio Netherlands Archives.
In the 1960s to the late 1970s Radio Netherlands produced radio dramas that were for export to radio stations overseas.
Some of the radio plays were commissioned specially for RNW and others were adaptations of popular Dutch plays.
There will be a special E-QSL issued for this program. PCJ Radio International’s partner stations will receive this program in two parts.
The program will be presented by Paulette MacQuarrie.
- Europe: 0600 to 0800UTC – Frequency 7780 kHz
September 18, 2016- North America: 0100 to 0300UTC – Frequency 7570 kHz
September 19, 2016For more information contact PCJ at [email protected]
National Parks On The Air: Activating two sites simultaneously today
I’ll hike to the point where the Overmountain Victory Trail meets the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Today, I plan to activate both the Blue Ridge Parkway (PK01) and Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (TR10) two-fer for the National Parks on the Air (NPOTA).
I should go on the air sometime between 16:00-17:00 UTC (12:00-13:00 EDT), weather permitting.
I’ll plan to start on the 20 meter band (14286 kHz) then move to the 40 meter band (7286 kHz). If I can’t operate on those frequencies, I’ll move to something clear +/- 6 kHz or so.
I’ll be operating SSB, using the Elecraft KX2 transceiver and EFT Trail friendly antenna combo once again. Since I’m hiking to my operating site, this pair will offer the lightest multi-band option.
The REI Trail Stool
Side note: yesterday, I picked up an REI Trail Stool to replace my foldable camping chair.
The camping chair is fantastic if you don’t have to lug it very far, but on long hikes it becomes heavy and cumbersome. This stool will get me off the ground and hopefully allow me to operate with the clipboard and transceiver on my lap. The REI Trail Stool weighs next to nothing.
If you’re an SWL and hear me (K4SWL) on the air, please comment! Note that I’ll be transmitting a max of 10 watts–so pretty much “flea power.” Still, in the past, I’ve worked all corners of North America and into Europe with this same transceiver/antenna combo.
Propagation conditions are pretty favorable today as well. I just hope we have no pop-up thunderstorms–I’ll most likely be near a ridge line and can’t take any chances.
If you’re a ham radio operator, I hope to log you for this activation!