Pete discovers a Dieter Rams T 1000 Weltempfaenger at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Madtone, who writes:

I took a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum yesterday on my day off and whilst browsing the galleries spotted this wonderful radio (pics attached)! It was in the Design 1900 to Now display (Room 61) if any of the readers fancies having a look. Talk about a lovely radio, it’s even got a BFO and a range of 3 telescopic antennas!

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O168288/t-1000-weltempfaenger-radio-rams-dieter/

What do you think? I’d love to own one of those.

I’d love to own one as well! Those Braun T 1000s are simply gorgeous. They fetch top dollar on the market as well. 

Thank you for sharing this, Pete! One more reason to visit the V&A Museum!

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Carlos’ Shortwave Art and recording of Vatican Radio (February 6, 2023–Turkey/Syria Earthquake)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of Radio Vatican.


Carlos notes:

Excerpt from today’s Vatican Radio program, broadcast in Portuguese on shortwave, bringing a message from Pope Francis in solidarity with the thousands of victims of the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria.
Signal captured in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Click here to view on YouTube.

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Wlodek repairs a near mint Sony ICF-SW7600

Sony ICF-SW7600 (Source: Universal Radio)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Wlodek, who has been quite busy repairing vintage receivers and ham radio gear during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Wlod’s neighborhood in Kiev experiences frequent blackouts, thus much of his soldering work must be done while mains power is available.

Wlod just shared the following video documenting a recent repair he did on a new-old-stock Sony ICF-SW7600.

Wlod notes:

One of [my last repairs] was new old stock Sony ICF-SW7600 restoration. One guy watched my past videos and wanted one for himself. I don’t know where he found it in such excellent external condition, but age and typical problems require it to be prophylaxis.

The first turn on and it does not receive the station at all. These receivers have a known problem of leaking electrolytic capacitors. They also need to be alignment.

I demonstrate how to safely remove old capacitors.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Wlod! What a beautiful portable in near mint condition! 

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Radio Waves: K-Pop and Morse Code, Ham Radio Resonating with Youth, and Pirate Radio

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dennis Dura, Michael McShan,
and David Iurescia for the following tips:


Morse Code is making a comeback! Children as young as FIVE are learning the once groundbreaking form of communication – spurred on by K-Pop bands who use it to leak hints about upcoming songs to fans (Daily Mail)

Despite being created 180 years ago and not being a requirement for amateur radio operators to learn since 1990, it has been kept alive by radio enthusiasts – and now more young people are getting involved.

A combination of pandemic lockdowns forcing youngsters to learn something new, and the use of Morse Code by popular K-Pop bands, has led to ‘a renaissance’ in teens wanting to learn the once groundbreaking form of communication.

From five-year-olds to 99-year-old war veterans, people all over the world are tapping in to communicate with others on the radio. [Continue reading…]

Ham radio tunes in to a new generation (The Times)

As he sits in a shed on the outskirts of Cambridge, Martin Atherton twists a radio dial and picks up a message being sent in Morse code. The audio dots and dashes, familiar from black-and-white war films, might seem to be relics of a past era.

But more than a century after it was first used, this mode of communication appears to be making a comeback. Since 2006 the number of amateur radio licences, which allow holders to send Morse and voice messages, has increased by almost 60 per cent, according to the Radio Society of Great Britain.

Last year the number of 13 to 44-year-olds viewing the society’s online tutorials, which cover topics such as “improving your Morse skills” and how to build your own equipment, more than tripled.

Allowing people to reach out to distant lands on a shoestring budget, the hobby could have been tailor-made for lockdown. The Netflix series Stranger Things, in which a “ham” radio set is used to contact another dimension, has also been linked to an increase in interest.

“Teenagers are picking it up, so are retirees,” said Atherton, 69, a member of the Cambridge University Wireless Society. [Continue reading…]

Pirate Radio (Twenty Thousand Hertz – The stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.)

In the 1960s, the BBC had a vise grip on British radio, and rarely played the pop and rock music that was all the rage. So a group of rebellious radio DJs decided to give the people what they wanted, and started broadcasting popular music from boats stationed in international waters. Soon enough, these young DJs became national superstars… until the British government decided it was time to sink these pirates once and for all. This story comes from the History This Week podcast.


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Guest Post: Old Fashioned Band-Scan after the Solar Storms

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares the following guest post:


Old Fashioned Band-Scan after the Solar Storms

by TomL

This is just an old fashioned band scan to randomly see what I could hear after last week’s solar perturbations when the Solar Flux Index went well over 200.  I considered what I could hear on the shortwave broadcast bands, even though the SFI had quieted down to around 135.  Would the ionosphere still be holding on to the charge built up during the solar storms?  The date and time was January 30, 2023 around 1400 through 1600 UTC.  By the way, as of today (February 2), the bands are dead and cannot hear any of these even though the Solar Flux is about the same!

I will not have time to describe my antenna setup now at my noisy Condominium in detail.  I have been experimenting with a DX Engineering NCC2 antenna phasing device for the past year with somewhat good results.  I had to place dedicated receive antennas in many different ways in order to find an arrangement that works in conjunction with the two Ham Radio antenna wires out on the porch.  Sometimes it helps by lowering the noise, sometimes the native antenna by itself, or peaking the signal,  has better reception even though it might be slightly more noisy.  By matching one of two receive-only antennas (the left Heathkit switch) with one of the Ham Radio antennas (the right Daiwa switch), I can usually eke out some extra decibels of signal-to-noise improvement. Continue reading

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Sony portable spotted in “The Gods Must Be Crazy”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ben-Zion, who writes:

I love your website and wanted to contribute a radio in cinema sighting from the 1980 South African film The Gods Must Be Crazy.

I look forward to your readers feedback regarding this SONY unit.

Kind Regards.

Ben-Zion

Thanks for the tip! Oh I do love that particular Sony model! Can anyone ID it? 

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