CBS considering the sale of its radio division

When Charlie Chaplin finally allowed the world to hear his voice after 20 years of mime, he chose CBS's airwaves to do it on. (Source: Wikipedia)

When Charlie Chaplin allowed the world to hear his voice after twenty years of silent performance, he chose CBS for the broadcast.

(Source: LA Times)

CBS Corp. is poised to exit the radio business that it helped create.

Eighty-eight years ago, the company’s founder, William S. Paley, bought the nascent Columbia Broadcasting System, and those radio stations became the nucleus of a budding broadcast empire.

But on Tuesday, CBS Chairman and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said the company was exploring strategic options, including a sale or spinoff, of its entire radio division.

“The aim here is to unlock value for our shareholders,” said Moonves, who made the announcement during an investor day in New York.

The decision marks the end of an era and highlights the waning influence of commercial radio, which is no longer considered a growth industry. Young adults spend more time listening to digital music files, podcasts and subscription Internet radio services such as Spotify and Pandora. The shift has prompted major advertisers, including car dealerships, wireless phone companies and financial services firms, to steer more of their marketing dollars to digital platforms.

Continue reading at the LA Times’ website…

This Sony ICF-6800W just sold for $919 US on eBay

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who followed this Sony ICF-6800W on eBay. Dan notes:

In my talk at the SWL Fest, I rated this receiver as among the best ever made for SWLing.

Dan believes the final price of $919.00 may be a record for the ICF-6800W on eBay. Click here to view the archived listing on eBay.

This is the thing about sites like eBay: the market price of any given item is the price it eventually fetches in auction. This Sony appears to be in superb shape and was being sold by a seasoned seller with a high approval rating. The collector behind the winning bid paid top dollar, but he felt it was a fair price to snag this rig.

Note of caution about eBay BuyItNow pricing

The ICF-6800W above was sold in an auction listing. There are times, however, when eBay sellers don’t have an item up for auction, rather they ask for fixed “BuyItNow” prices which are sometimes outrageous. For example, I see a lot of shortwave portables that are still in production being offered at three times the retail price. These sellers are hoping you didn’t do your homework prior to purchasing at a fixed price. We actually addressed this issue last year–check out our previous post:

An eBay caution: some sellers are out for a buck–or hundreds

Radio World: Schenectady Shortwave Transmitters, 1941

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, for sharing a link to the following article in Radio World:

The General Electric Co. was truly among America’s premier broadcasting companies.

In addition to developing much of early broadcast technology and building a trio of high-power AM stations in the early 1920s — WGY Schenectady, N.Y.; KOA Denver; and KGO Oakland, Calif. — GE was also the country’s pioneer shortwave broadcaster.

GE’s initial shortwave station, 2XI, first broadcast in 1923, and in 1924 it was used to relay WGY’s programs for to KOA and KGO for rebroadcast in the western U.S.

By 1925, there were two experimentally licensed shortwave stations in Schenectady: W2XAD and W2XAF. A third GE station in San Francisco, W6XBE, was added in 1939.

That was the year that the Federal Communications Commission allowed the country’s experimental shortwave stations to relicense as commercial operations, and these three GE stations received the call signs WGEA, WGEO and KGEI, respectively.

Continue reading the full article at Radio World.

Mark’s Icom IC-7100 go kit

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Click to enlarge

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

Thomas,

I have been very impressed by the shacks featured on SWLing !

I don’t really have the room to accommodate such large collections, or to dedicate a special area to just radio.

I tend to perch a radio on a spare surface in the front bedroom, and then cycle through my small collection on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, returning the previous radio to storage to await its turn in a month’s time.

Since newer houses and gardens are typically quite small in the UK, I’ve always been thinking in terms of radio on safari, so with the weather starting to improve, I present to you my ‘shack’ consisting of a recently acquired IC-7100 inside a fortuitously sized toolbox. The radio runs in the bedroom like this too, usually connected to a Wellbrook loop when not transmitting.

The picture [above is of the] head unit in stowed configuration, as the lid of the box doesn’t quite clear the unit when sitting on the base. The space on top of the radio is then filled by the SOTA Beams antenna bag and other sundries. The battery travels separately in the backpack.

My plan was to never have to connect/disconnect the ethernet style cable between the two halves, looks like the plan worked !

You can see it in action here:

This is a brilliant kit, Mark–a great way to escape urban radio interference! The Icom IC-7100 is uniquely qualified for the deep case, too, since the control head can sit on top of the body while in use. The angle of operation is also ideal. Very cool–thanks for sharing!

WRMI test transmissions for Radio Taiwan International

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(Source: WRMI on Facebook)

Friends, we’re doing another round of tests for Radio Taiwan International the nights of March 13, 14 and 15 (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) in a new frequency of 11530 Khz.

The transmissions will be at 0000-0100 and 0200-0300 UTC (UTC Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). Very grateful any observation on the quality of the reception in your area, and especially a comparison between the two hours. Thank you in advance.

Please send your reception reports to WRMI using the following email address: [email protected]

Stuart Sizer: Heathkit designer, dad, and “bon vivant”

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Two weeks ago, through a radio preservation group, I met the son of Heathkit product designer of the 1950s-70s, Stu Sizer––”stylist, artist, maker of models, bon vivant.” His son described the discovery of a few vintage Heathkit brochures, photos, and illustrations his father kept in his family’s basement shop, many of which had been scanned at some point.

Stu Sizer––”stylist, artist, maker of models, bon vivant”––was tasked with crafting Heathkit’s user-friendly and attractive exterior designs. For many years Sizer was Heathkit’s only product designer, and was therefore often busy. “He was a great dad,” his son told me, “but he spent a lot of time in the basement proof-building kits.” He adds wryly, “Let that be a lesson to the hams of this world.”

Sizer’s son kindly shared with us the following scans and photos of his dad’s work, many of which are original drawings; the series concludes with some clippings featuring Sizer.

On Stuart Sizer

Car Shortwave Radio

13 Replies

Tonight on Allan Weiner Worldwide (WBCQ 7490 kHz coming in beautifully on my FRG-7) Allan mentioned a shortwave radio converter for car radios. The package uses a small box which plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and can either use an antenna made for the converter or an antenna supplied by the user. The unit can display frequencies through the FM RDS display, and has a key-fob controller for scanning and saving stations into memory.

Here are some of the features listed by the manufacturer:

FEATURES OF THE BST-1

Excellent sensitivity – 0.5 microvolt at the antenna connector will stop the preset scan and provide a very listenable signal.
Automatic Gain Control – Keeps audio levels constant for weak and strong stations.

Full Shortwave band coverage – tune to any 5 kHz spaced AM channel from 2.3 to 26.1 MHz. The frequency coverage is actually from 150 KHz to 30 MHz but with reduced sensitivity when operating outside of the shortwave bands, especially below 1.8 MHz. This extended frequency range lets you listen to the 10 and 160 meter ham radio bands as well as CB channels. If you are close to the transmitting antenna, you can even hear airport beacons in the 200 to 400 KHz radio-location band.

DSP (digital signal processor) selectivity – Sharp 3 kHz for speech or wider bandwidth for Hi-Fi music.

Noise Blanker – A digital noise blanker greatly eliminates any spark plug noise from car engine that can disrupt reception.Built-in crystal controlled FM transmitter – Has RDS to display 5 digit tuned shortwave frequency and preset channel number/ “S” meter on the vehicle’s FM radio.

Four BST-1 broadcast FM frequencies can be selected by the Key Fob Controller so you always have a clear FM channel to use. Programmed with 88.3, 88.5, 88.7, and 88.9 MHz – one of these channels will always be clear to listen for the BST-1’s FM transmitter.

If you know Morse code for the numbers 0-9 (very easy to learn), you can use the Key-Fob to activate a Morse code annunciation of tuned frequency. This aids in operation if your FM receiver doesn’t have RDS display or if you can’t look at the display on the FM radio while driving.

Key-Fob command for instant selection of WWV channels – 5,10,15, and 20 MHz for accurate time and signal propagation checks.

High or Low sensitivity selection by the Key Fob – Optimum performance can always be obtained during conditions of very strong signals.

Rugged construction – Designed for automotive use.

Memory storage of up to 100 preset channels- After changing channels, the preset channel is shown on the RDS display for 3 seconds and then the display switches to show the “S” meter.

The BST-1 can be manually tuned to any 5 KHz channel in the turning range and if desired, that new frequency stored in preset memory (up to 100 presets). Note that the BST-1 radio is AM reception only so 5 KHz tuning intervals are optimum since all International Shortwave stations are on 5 KHz channels. A digital AFC (Automatic frequency control) circuit in the BST-1 is used to automatically compensate for stations that are slightly off (+/- 150 ppm) the exact 5 KHz channel.

Pre-programmed- The BST-1 is ready to start listening right away. Comes with 50 popular U.S. and International shortwave stations as well as WWV at 5,10,15 and 20 MHz.

Easily add or delete preset channels using the Key Fob controller.

For a starting price of $179.50 (as of this writing) plus shipping, this is an intriguing possibility for having shortwave radio in the car. 73, Robert

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