Tag Archives: Dan Robinson

Dan spots a rare Collins 51S1 LTV G133 F military receiver on eBay

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who notes:

This military version of the 51S-1 receiver is almost never seen on the used market.

Click here to view on eBay.

Thank you, Dan! The seller claims that this radio is fully working with tubes replaced and has undergone a complete alignment. Hopefully, caps have been replaced as well.

I’ll admit: if I had the space, I would add this rig to my collection in a heartbeat, although I expect the price of this unit will far exceed my budget!  It is a beauty, though.

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Dan notes a spike in Zenith Trans-Oceanic prices

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who notes:

There appears to be a spike in Zenith Trans-Oceanic sales. The recent eBay sale of a D7000Y for $900 sparked a number of new auctions by sellers seeking to take advantage of this apparent
trend.

The following D7000Y was listed with a $900 Buy It Now price by someone obviously
cashed in.

Click here to view on eBay.

Wow! I’m curious what could have encouraged this spike in prices. I have a Trans-Oceanic but will not sell it because it was my first portable radio. With that said, if there are readers who’ve considered parting with theirs, this might be the right time. Thanks for the tip, Dan!

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Dan discovers a Squires Sanders SS-1R on eBay

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson who notes that there currently a Squires Sanders SS-1R on eBay. He notes:

Ultra rare amateur receiver. The only thing rarer is a SS-IBS, the SW bands version.

This is certainly a “fixer upper” in that it will need a re-stringing and likely at least a recapping. The chassis is super clean, though, and the internals look great.

Click here to check it out on eBay (partner link).

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VisAir HF DDC/DUC Transceiver: Randy purchased one exclusively for shortwave radio listening

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who recently shared a message he received from his friend Randy regarding the VisAir HF DDC/DUC Transceiver:

I recently acquired a VisAir transceiver from Russia. It is an amazing SDR unit developed by two amateur radio operators. It is about the same size as the RDR55, but at about 1/3 the cost. While it does not have FM or amateur 2/6 meter, GPS, and a couple of features, this VisAir has other features not found on the RDR55 such as dual receivers, waterfall, receiving audio equalizer, CW decoder, etc. It is a true SDR receiver. The user manual was in Russian and I had to break it into thirds so that I could get it translated into English. Interestingly, the user interface is completely in English despite its Russian origins. While designed primarily for amateur radio operators, it works especially well on the shortwave bands.

[…]I have really been enjoying this “transceiver” and as you imagine, I use only the receiver portion of the unit. It has two antenna connectors and you can configure these however you prefer. I set one as a receive antenna and the other as a transmit antenna to avoid accidentally hitting the antenna match or some function and sending power into my equipment. I also disabled the transmitter portion to further protect against any accidental transmissions.

Unfortunately, virtually all the YouTube videos and information are in Russian and also its use is shown only on the amateur radio bands, but I can tell you that this is a very nice SW DX receiver with lots of interesting user defined menus whereby the unit can be modified to match the user’s preferences. Here is a website with some information on the unit.

As you know, I have enjoyed using a wide variety of communications receivers from simple beginner’s units to the more complex and highly esteemed units built to exacting standards for government use. This VisAir is built by two guys in Russia and amazingly it was designed by them in 2017 and not a whole team of design engineers such as found at Yaesu, Kenwood, and Icom. From what I understand, the unit sells in Russia in rubles for the equivalent of about $1800 USD. Unfortunately it is not exported to the USA and it only comes with a 220 VAC power supply and so I operate it exclusively off of DC current without any issue. It is my understanding that this low production transceiver has sold between about 200 – 300 units and virtually all of these were in Russia. To my knowledge, I am the only person in the USA with this unit. Further, it is my understanding is that there is a wait list of about 2 years to obtain the unit. The VisAir is upgraded via firmware and my unit has the latest firmware installed.

When I got information about the transceiver to consider for purchase, there was only a Russian user manual available. I have access to an online PDF translator, but it can only accept up to 10 MB files and so I had to break the Russian manual into 3 sections, translate each section into English, and then stitch the 3 sections back together to make a complete English manual (which is too large to email as a whole). Attached are sections 2 and 3 of this English user manual for the VisAir:

You can look at the manual and see what features are available with this transceiver. While the translator worked nicely overall in getting the manual from Russian into English, there are issues whereby the illustrations have Russian language information and these did not translate, but this did not thwart me from understanding and using the VisAir as most of the Russian information relates to connecting the transmitter to microphone and other devices.

As with most all low production units from small producers, the user manual is good at pointing out controls, but lacks in explaining what is the purpose of settings or offering suggestions on the settings other than telling you what is a “default” setting from the factory. I found this same dilemma with the manuals for the Fairhaven RD500, the Reuter RDR55, the Kneisner & Doering KWZ30, etc. But an experienced DXer can generally figure out operations and establish the appropriate settings with a little time. For the first 3 days of operation, it was a discovery for me as I kept learning about new features that I didn’t know about previously and weren’t highlighted in the user manual. It was like reading the user manual for my Toyota Highlander in that there are options and controls that are found in menus and not particularly obvious at first glance or with casual use.

Randy

Thank you, Randy, for sharing your comments about the VisAir transceiver here on the SWLing Post. Looks like a fascinating tabletop SDR.

Click here to check out VisAir’s website.

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Dan notes that premium receiver scammers are back on eBay

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, for the following guest post:


Premium Receiver Scammer(s) Back

by Dan Robinson

From time to time here on SWLing Post, we have alerted readers to scammers using multiple eBay addresses to attempt to rip off unsuspecting potential buyers and using old photographs of usually premium receivers to do so.

Well, whether this is one scammer or many, he is back. See the photos attached here, which show what is surely a fictitious eBay ID and what appear to be legitimate photos of a Panasonic RF-8000, one of the most sought after of the large portables from decades ago.

It’s not until the 4th photograph that this person provides that you see what’s involved in the scam, which is the scammer noting that he is “selling this on behalf of my company” and that the radio can be purchased “at the buy it now price only” The scammer then provides an email address to get around the standard eBay auction process, adding that he does not respond via Ebay messaging.

I have continued to alert eBay to these scams, and to their credit eBay has taken down many of these items in recent weeks and months, though occasionally eBay does miss these. eBay also does not make it immediately clear as to how to report items like this (HINT: you have to scroll down the page until you see a tiny REPORT link on the right side which takes you to multiple categories. These scam items fall under “LISTING PRACTICES” “FRAUDULENT LISTING ACTIVITIES” and “YOU SUSPECT THAT A LISTING IS FRAUDULENT”

If eBay has successfully already taken a scam item down, you will then see a confirmation page saying the item could not be found after refreshing the page. Very often, even after reporting an item, the identical item will show up within seconds or minutes under a completely different eBay ID (see the 2nd photo here on the Panasonic RF-8000 which shows a changed eBay ID)

Receivers most often seen on these scams include: AEG 1800A, Panasonic RF-8000, and usually other premium sets, and the tip off to the scam is that the seller/scammer usually always starts the price at $1.00 or $34.00 or similar level. In the case of the AEG 1800A, the scammer consistently uses the exact same photo of this rare receiver, from a sale that completed years ago.

I would encourage eBay users to join me in reporting scams like this — eBay certainly appreciates it and if you have eBay “Concierge” level service, which I do, it’s sometimes a help to them to get online and chat with eBay about the item and your report, especially if the eBay algorithms have failed to spot and take down a particular scam.


Thank you for sharing this, Dan. We appreciate insight from radio enthusiasts like you and Paolo.  As Dan suggested, I encourage you to report listings that are obviously fraudulent to eBay. They will investigate the case and take action if it is a scam.

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An update from Radio Kahuzi

Drawing of the new studio building for Radio Kahuzi

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

SWLing Post readers have no doubt been wondering, along with the rest of us, about the status of Radio Kahuzi, the religious missionary station in Democratic Republic of Congo.

The station has been off the air for months, following a lightning strike in 2020 and various ongoing problems with power supply there in DRC.

Now, a note from Richard McDonald, founder of Radio Kahuzi, who says that they hope to be back on the air soon, though no timeline is provided.

For those who are not familiar with the station, it used a slightly off frequency of 6210.2 kHz in the 48 meter band. This was within the area of European pirate stations, and various broadcasters transmitting to North Korea and Iran, but propagation was usually such that Radio Kahuzi could be heard at European SDR sites in the hour or so before station sign off in the 1800 to 1820 UTC range.

Unclear from the note sent by McDonald is what power the station will be using when it does
finally return to the air. Previously power was in the 500 to 750 watt range. McDonald provided a drawing of what appears to be the new studio building for Radio Kahuzi [see image at top of page].

Hi Daniel and our faithful Dxers !

Thank you for your interest and encouragement for Radio Kahuzi and BESI ! The Lord is GOOD and we are recovering from the malaria and the yearly flu; finding another Normal !

We received the repair parts Monday 1 Feb 2021 DHL from Mike Axmon and Son Set Solutions that we were not able to find locally, to repair our SW Transmitter, after a Lightning Strike that took out four Radio Stations the same day.

We hope the partial repair will now be complete to bring back the functions that thus far were uncontrolled after initially replacing the six transistors, etc. !

At the same time, SNEL is being converted to a Cash Power system at the Studio, and our Antenna will be re positioned Next Door.

A New Prime Minister will be installed soon, as the government is being transitioned, while we are all still in Lock Down with little changes being made backward and forward, locally and world-wide !

We trust you are all well and making progress where ever you are !

Keep Looking UP !

In His Love and Care,

Richard and Kathy McDonald, Directors

BESI / Radio Kahuzi / Bukavu, D R Congo

Many thanks, Dan, for the update!

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Dan’s thoughts on a Panasonic RF-9000 up for auction

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

Appearing on the Japanese Buyee website is this RF-9000, which was the “King of Radios” of the heavy multiband “portable” era.

In recent years, RF-9000s in excellent to LNIB condition have sold for $10,000 or more.

A tour d’force of technology in its day, the 9000 featured room-filling main speakers and PLL technology that was advanced for its time.

The shortwave receiver section of the 9000 was plagued by PLL artifacts which prevented the radio from achieving what it could have had this problem not been solved in advance by Panasonic engineers.

A LNIB RF-9000 that I purchased for near $5,000 sold to a Hong Kong collector for $10,000 a few years ago. While I do miss its amazing FM quality and looks, the receiver ultimately lagged behind others, such as the SONY CRF-330K and 320 in performance.

The asking price for this 9000, which appears to have cosmetic issues, is in my view high.

Click here to view the RF-9000 auction.

Thank you for your insights, Dan!

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