RAE Antenna farm (Source: RAE)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Borgnino, who shares a link to this photo gallery of Radiofusión Argentina al Exterior’s historic transmitter site.
Note that the photos on the RAE site are rather large and may take patience to download depending on your Internet speed. On the plus side, the images are high resolution!
SWLing Post contributor, Chris Smolinski, would like your help to ID a Spanish language station. Chris notes:
“I record the 6800-7000 kHz band every night with my SDR, looking for pirates, but sometimes I also stumble on other interesting transmissions. The other night (UTC March 8) I picked up a curious station on 6974.5 kHz AM, starting at 0119 UTC, off at 0137. It was a mix of music and possible IDs by an OM in Spanish. There is what sounds like a four character call sign as part of the ID, and mentions of what could be the Dominican Republic. My guess right now is this was some sort of a relay of a domestic MW or FM station.
I have two recordings here, perhaps someone can pick out the callsign or other parts of the ID? Not the best audio quality, but you know how that goes:”
Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Surprenant (AB1DQ), who shares this update to his review of the Heathkit Explorer Jr. TRF AM radio receiver kit:
With regard to the Heathkit TRF AM receiver kit, I did indeed build my LM386 amplifier.
I was planning on home-brewing it from scratch as the chip is pretty much all you need and there are various proven schematics for the circuit, but in the end I went with a small kit from Nightfire Electronics for $10 plus $5 shipping that I found on Amazon.com.
It was a bit cheaper to buy it in kit form, of course, and then there was the convenience of having all the parts in one place.
Here is a photo of the kit as advertised on Amazon…
And here is my build with the Heathkit…
I modified the kit to add a 3.5mm input jack, replacing the RCA jack that came with the kit, to make it easier to plug into the Heathkit radio.
I deliberated whether to install the audio amp into the Heathkit cabinet drilling out a couple of holes for the pot shafts. It all would have fit and I could have easily mounted the 3″ 8 ohm speaker to the back panel of the Heathkit radio. In the end, I decided to keep the radio original and mounted the amplifier board on a small piece of wood I found at a hobby store and decided to leave it all exposed. It works well, all things considered.
(Click here to view video on Facebook.)
It worked well and per my original review on SWLing Post, I feel Heathkit should have included such a little amp in the kit – it makes a big difference.
Many thanks for the update, James! That little LM386 amp kit seems like an affordable addition for any receiver lacking an amplifier or adequate audio amplification.
Many thanks to Dennis Walter, who writes with this update from Bonito:
The new Bonito Hamradio / SWL Catalog 2016 in English has been released. We will distribute it on our Shows at Montichiari, Dayton Hamvention, Florence Hamfest, Friedrichshafen Hamradio, UK Hamfest etc.
The Catalog is already available as PDF download here: http://www.bonito.net/cat/Bonito-Hamradio-catalogue2016.pdf
Have fun and keep listening
Dennis
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader (and contest winner) Ashok Shankar Das, who writes:
The GP5/SSB receiver I got as prize from your SWLIing Post Virtual Radio Challenge is great. My friends envy the cute Monster 🙂
Well with this radio I am monitoring 40m and 20m HAM bands regularly. Since January till date I have received several stations. Most interesting stations till date are VK6HCF/portable, RW9JZ and EA3JE (from India).
Here’s a screen shot of the log book if you like to see. 🙂
This is excellent news, Ashok! Many thanks again to CountyComm who sponsored our Virtual Radio Challenge IV.
I hope to have another sponsored challenge posted within the next month or two. Frankly, I have multiple projects on my table, so free time has been almost non-existent the past few weeks. Indeed, I’m still catching up on a back log of correspondence I received during my travels last month! (I appreciate your patience and understanding!)
Happy listening, Ashok!
Update: Check out Ashok’s radio blog:
http://swldas.blogspot.in/2016/03/my-experience-with-gp-5ssb.html
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Danny Garris (KJ4FH), for the following guest post which originally appeared on his blog, Up In This Brain:
How I cleaned the sticky coating off of my Grundig G6 radio with guidance from KJ4FH
A few weeks ago, I reached out to Danny Garris, KJ4FH, for help on getting the sticky coating off of my Eton E5 radio. I noticed on eBay that he was selling Eton radios with the gunk cleaned off and I was wondering how he did it.
Where does the sticky gunk come from? Well, for some reason the “geniuses” up at Eton/Grundig put a rubberized, chemical coating on a series of radios they released. They looked great new but over time, them coating seems to get adhesive-like properties, almost like it is melting off. It apparently has something to do with humidity and over time it makes everything stick to the radios – dust, dirt, you name it. It’s terribly annoying and just plain nasty. Shame on Eton/Grundig for doing this because a whole generation of good radios are impacted.
This leads me back to Danny and the instructions I have posted below in my Dropbox with his permission.
I used rubbing alcohol at first on my Eton E5 based on some back and forth emails I had with Danny and it did remove a ton of the gunk but I also ended up with places in the finish where the paint was removed, as he warned. Still, my concern was getting rid of the gunk more than appearances since my Eton E5 is a radio I use almost daily that I have no intention of selling. In fact, I am keeping an eye on eBay for a spare unit to purchase just in case because the E5(also Grundig G5) is an amazing radio.
Not long after getting his full instructions with oven cleaner as a new ingredient to try, I noticed a Grundig G6 for sale on eBay for just $19.99 as a buy it now price. I briefly had a G6 years ago and I have always missed it but good units are typically somewhat expensive and rare. This G6 was advertised as working perfectly but completely sticky. The seller posted pictures showing it was one of the stickiest and nastiest radios I had ever seen. But, armed with Danny’s method for cleaning the radios, I grabbed it, knowing I probably would not get another chance at a G6 for such a cheap price.
Below are before and after pictures. The before pictures are from the eBay auction and the radio did in fact arrive that nasty but it does work perfectly! In fact, it is a fantastic performer for the size. I love the tuning knob and the tuning method alone makes it much easier and more fun to use than my Tecsun radios and my recently purchased Eton Traveller III. The G6 is a worthy companion for my Eton E5 and I am very pleased with this purchase.
The after pictures are from the hour of work I did cleaning the radio last night. So far I have cleaned the radio with oven cleaner only. I took about 45 minutes using the Q-tip method and then about 15 minutes “polishing” with a clean white cloth dipped in oven cleaner as I went. I still have some additional detail cleaning to do but the results so far are like night and day.
I owe Danny a big thank you as you can see in the images below and, keep in mind, I still have a bit more work to do so this radio is going to look even better shortly!
Here is the front as shown in the auction. Gross! According to the description, the seller bought it at an estate sale.
What a difference some over cleaner makes! I need to blow out the speaker with compressed air to get the Q-tip remnants out and do some minor detail work but the front is almost in new condition now.
As shown in the auction listing, yuk!
I may do a little work with rubbing alcohol or WD-40 to get the shine back on this side but wow – what a difference!
I wonder if this radio was laying in the grass or something. It was nasty to even pick up and touch!
After oven cleaner, it’s like new again. I need to do a little more detail work but that’s it!
This picture in the auction made me wonder if I was biting off a bit more than I could chew!
I still have a bit of work to do on the back but WOW! What a difference!
What a difference, indeed! Thanks for sharing your experience and results, Danny!
I love my little Grundig G6 and, for some reason, the coating has yet to become properly sticky. I know it’s only a matter of time, though, so I’ll keep this procedure in mind.
This has actually been a fairly popular topic on the SWLing Post, no doubt because so many SWLs have radios with tacky coatings. Click here to read previous posts with cleaning techniques.
If you’re interested in the now discontinued Grundig G6, check eBay for listings. Perhaps you too can find a “sticky” radio special!
Interest in shortwave numbers stations seems to wax and wane. We’re currently going through a period of increased interest (again) as I’ve been receiving quite a few messages from new readers asking where to find spy numbers and what type of shortwave radio is needed. Truth is, there are fewer and fewer numbers stations still on the air, though some are still quite reliable (like HM01).
The following article by Shane Harris at The Daily Beast is one of the better, more detailed, articles I’ve read in the popular press.
(Source: The Daily Beast via Southgate ARC)
The Stupidly Simple Spy Messages No Computer Could Decode
by Shane Harris
When I was 10 years old, I found a shortwave radio in a crumbling old leather trunk where we kept family photos and other memorabilia.
As I spun the dial, tinny, modulating noises, like the song of an electronic slide whistle, emanated from the radio’s small speaker. Staticky cracks and pops competed for airtime. The sounds swished and swirled, unintelligible and unremarkable. But then, emerging through the clamor, was a voice.
I might have run right over it with the dial, but the voice’s rhythmic, steady pacing caught me up short. It wasn’t a deejay. Nor a commercial. And he wasn’t singing. He was just speaking. The same line, over and over again.
“7…6…7…4…3.” Pause. “7…6…7…4…3.”
I don’t remember if those were the exact numbers. But they were numbers. A repeated sequence which had no obvious meaning, and was entirely devoid of context. To find him here, amidst the screeches and howls of the shortwave frequencies, was like coming upon a man standing in the middle of a forest, talking out loud to no one.
How long had he been here? Who was he talking to? He had that officious tone of the recorded telephone operators who chastised you for dialing a wrong number. “Please hang up, check the number, and dial again.” And the same distracting static I’d heard in those messages filled the background. I wasn’t sure if he was speaking live, or if he’d been recorded and set loose to play into the air.
But there was an urgency to his tone. And a purpose. As if he were talking to me. Imploring. Listen. Hear me now. 7…6…7…4…3. Did you get that? 7…6…7…4…3.
I was simultaneously terrified and captivated.[…]