Tag Archives: Dan Robinson

Part 2: SWLing Post shack photos

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Arie van Bezooijen’s (PE1AJ) shack photo

Several months ago, we conducted a shack photo contest sponsored by Universal Radio. I’m posting all of your excellent photos as time allows and putting them under the tag, shack photos.

The following is the second set of ten photos along with any notes that were included.

Click on images to enlarge and enjoy:


Rajesh Chandwani, VU2OEC

IMG_9013

Notes:

?My radio shack has radio from two generations, that is, my father’s tube radio, viz., Murphy TAO 776 MARK II. My father, Mr. P. R. Chandwani, also a Shortwave Listener, purchased Murphy Radio in Summer of 1971.

MURPHY RADIOI used to see him install wire antenna between to bamboo poles or mesh antenna in our room for shorwave signals. I love this old murphy radio. I carried on further the legacy of radio listening till 2005 and then got my Ham ticket. My radio shack also have state-of-the-art technology radios, like, Kenwood TS-590s and Grundig Satellit 800 Millennium. Overall, it is the love for radio, experience of years & years of listening works out. Even after becoming ham, I still indulge in Shortwave Listening, AM Bands and FM Dxing. It is a lot of fun. My 14 year old son, viz., Chittaranjan too some time takes interest in radio technology.

?73?
Rajesh Chandwani, VU2OEC
Gurgaon (Haryana)
INDIA


Moshe Ze’ev Zaharia

Notes:

I actually have two favorite listening posts, as seen in the following pictures:

20151004_173027

In the first you can see the Ben-Gal Duet Stereo, Tube radio with record player. The Ben-Gal covers Shortwave in 3 overlap bands continues from about 2MHz up to about 23MHz, it has an RF stage and it is very sensitive. Above are (from left to right): the Sangean ATS909, Tecsun S2000, and Philips 90AL765.

IMG_0452In the second picture is the Ben-Gal Verdi. In contrast to the Duet Stereo, it lacks the RF stage, but 15 meters of wire as an antenna compensate for that. I like to lay down on the sofa, in the dark, spin the dial on this radio while gazing the green light of the EM84 tuning tube.

Best Regards,
Moshe Ze’ev Zaharia
Be’er Sheva
Israel


Elwood Downey, WB0OEW

IMG_0410Notes:

Main rig at this time is Elecraft KX3, both on-air and SWL. I also still have my Knight Kit Star Roamer I built in 1970 to which I added a BFO but it is not in the photo. Ham interests include antennas, building and digital modes. SWL interests include WX FAX, utility and military.

Thanks for a great website.

73, Elwood

Tucson Arizona


Gregory

IMG_20150816_182501_2

Notes:

Here is my Tecsun PL-600. My other toys include UHF-walkie and RTL-SDR, and that’s it for now. I was laying in my mother-in-law’s garden, in evening twilight, and this very friendly stray cat came and jumped on me to listen 20m hams too.

Best regards,
Greg,

Yekaterinburg Russia


Dan Robinson

DSCF0023

Dan Robinson sits in front of his “main stack” of  receivers in his basement shack in Potomac, MD.

The former VOA correspondent currently runs, from top to bottom, a RFT EKD-515, McKay Dymek DR33-C6, JRC NRD-301A, Drake R7A/RV75, Eddystone 6200, JRC NRD-515. Just behind Dan, you find a Drake R8, SONY ICF-6800W, and a Kenwood R-2000, while not seen behind this veteran DX’er is a NRD-545. Dan notes that the receivers shown constitute only about half of his collection.

DSCF0029In his “back room” he has everything from a Panasonic RF-9000 and Grundig Sat 650, to an R-390A and JRC NRD-93.


David Self, K8SSN

Shack 2014Primary radio is a Flex 3000 and a secondary FT900. Location is Hamilton, Ohio.


Satyan, VU3MES

shack rearranged.Notes:

Top is my ham radio equipment and bottom shelf is for my JRC NRD92 – 35 years young.


Art van Esch, VK4GO

PC-Table2

Notes:

I am a ham since 1963 was born in The Netherlands, moving to Australia in 1980. I am active on the short wave bands.

FTdx1200-artRegards de Art VK4GO

Queensland, Australia


Anthony Bueron

kk1012Notes: Hello, my name is Anthony Bueron from the Philippines. Here is a photo of my shortwave radio. Thanks!


Francisc Grünberg, YO4PX

YO4PX Callsign Lookup by QRZ.COM

Notes:

My name is Francisc Grünberg, a radio ham with the call sign YO4PX. I live in Constanta, Romania. More about me and my ham radio activities and publications may be found on my QRZ.com page at https://www.qrz.com/db/yo4px

From there you may see that I was a short-wave listener for 17 years because of the discrimination of the former communist authorities, before obtaining my transmitter license in 1980.

I am a writer, a journalist and a professional certified and sworn translator for 4 languages. I am also my own webmaster at http://yo4px.blogspot.ro where more than 850 articles (translations and own writings) were published in the last 6 years.
A picture of me in my shack is attached.

The gear I am using is presented on my QRZ.com page.
My postal address is also there, but I repeat it:

Grünberg Francisc
Constanta, Romania


Again, many thanks to all who sent in their listening post photos. I absolutely love the variety! 

Follow the tag Shack Photos for more!

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eBay Find: The RCA CRM-R6A communications receiver

RCA-CRM-R6A

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

[Check out this] rarely seen RCA receiver:

http://ebay.to/23NHtYv

Thanks for the tip, Dan!

I just checked Fred Osterman’s Shortwave Receivers Past and Present.  It appears the CRM-R6A is a “double conversion super” with 16 tubes and typically weighs 92 lbs. They were manufactured in the US between 1965 – 1969 and cost $1795 when new. The CRM-R6A can be mounted in a rack, of course.

It’ll be interesting to see if someone meets the first bid amount of $750.

Regardless, that’s some serious heavy metal!

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Dan notes a Collins 51S-1 NOS that is near record price

Collins-eBay-s-l1600

[See update below]

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

This NOS 51-S1 is headed for a record price for an Ebay sale. I have only seen one of these in this condition in my decades on Ebay. This is a rare rack version complete with box and original accessories. The preselector, also NOS, sold earlier today:

Click here to view on eBay.

I’ll watch this auction just to see how high the price goes. At time of posting, it was at $4,850 US (plus shipping):eBay-Collins

UPDATE: The winning bid was $5,500 US plus $56.19 shipping:

eBay-Collins-Final

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eBay Find: Barlow Wadley XCR-30 Receiver

Barlow Wadley XCR-30-FrontMany thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

Barlow Wadley’s show up every now and then on Ebay, but infrequently with the original papers.

Rarely, one sees them with  the original box. These are great representatives of SW radio history, though you have to take care to ask question of the seller.

This price appears to be quite high (roughly $490 US), especially for a radio without the FM band, which was added in later production runs:

Click here to view on eBay.

Barlow Wadley XCR-30-Inside Barlow Wadley XCR-30-WithBox

Thanks, Dan! Someone brought one of these to the SWL Fest some years ago and it attracted quite a crowd.  I’ve never had one on the air, though–very curious how well they perform.

Are there any SWLing Post readers who own the Barlow Wadley XCR-30? Please comment!

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Historic Bawdsey Radar site receives £1.4 million grant from the UK government

(Source: Bawdsey Radar)

(Source: Bawdsey Radar)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, for sharing this article about the historic Bawdsey Radar site:

(Source: Engaget)

save-radarA radar site considered by some to be as historically important as Bletchley Park will be preserved, thanks to a £1.4 million ($2 million) grant from the UK government. The Bawdsey facility in eastern England, established in 1938, was the world’s first operational radar station. The then-brand new technology helped the allied forces win the Battle of Britain, and some historians think it may have shortened World War II by as much as two years. The facility was closed in 1991, and is on Britain’s “at-risk” heritage list because of structural issues and water damage.

According to the preservation group Bawsdey Radar, construction work will start in September 2016 and the building will open to visitors in September 2017. The goal is not just to conserve it, but also to unveil a new visitor exhibition featuring physical and virtual displays. The UK’s “Heritage At Risk” adviser John Etté said the facility “played a vital part in the development of radar technology during [WWII], and had a huge impact on post-war electronics and defense system,” including GPS, water technology, radar guns and the microwave oven.[…]

Continue reading at Engaget…

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One of the highest prices ever paid for a Collins 51J-4

Collins-51J4Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

Over $2k for this receiver, which appears to be quite unique. It is not one of the well-known and quite rare Beckman 51J4s, and likely it was re-finished to give it the almost white-grey color it has.

But it does have an interesting tuning addition, what the seller calls a factory-installed 4:1 vernier knob. Regardless, it fetched about as much as any 51J4 has ever brought in on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181975178674?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Thanks, Dan! That 51J4 is a beauty. I’m always amazed at the price Collins equipment fetches at auctions and even at Hamfests. You’re hard-pressed to find anything under $800 and rare units (like the 51J4 above) sell for so much more.

Someday, I’d like to add a Collins R-390A to my collection, but first I need to make room for it and start saving! My buddy, Charlie (W4MEC) has rebuilt several R-390s and I’ve no idea how he does it. The tuning mechanism alone is one amazing (and complicated) piece of engineering! Charlie loves a good challenge, though, and he’s certainly brought a few R-390s back into full service.

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BBG Watch: Apology issued for digital media outages

BBG-LogoSome of you may have noticed that the Voice of America has been having problems with their online and internal digital content the past few days.

The BBG Watch–a watchdog for US government broadcasting–took a very critical look at the recent failures and connects them to a much bigger picture of dysfunction.

Click here to read the BBG Watch story.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor (and former VOA White House Correspondent) Dan Robinson, for the tip.

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