Tag Archives: Bob Colegrove

Channel 6 FM Radio Stations

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

Channel 6 Radio Stations

By Bob Colegrove

Even after all these years, I still find occasional surprises while playing with radios. How did I miss this one? I recently did what I thought was a definitive audit of the available FM stations in my area. Then, just the other day I happened to tune down below 88.1 (FM Channel 201). At 87.7 MHz I came across some delightful Latin music in clear stereo and proceeded to park the tuning knob there for a listen. At first, I thought I might simply have some intermodulation from a strong local station, but the stereo signal was much too clear. So, I resorted to the internet to determine what was going on. Turns out, according to their website, I was listening to DC 88.7FM in Fairfax, Virginia – no call letters, just “DC 88.7FM.”

Further investigation indicated that the station is officially WDCN-LD a low-power operator, but you won’t find it listed on the FCC FM Query site. That’s because it is something of a legacy station, a carryover from analog TV days when the audio for Channel 6 was broadcast with the carrier centered on 87.75 MHz, within the range of most FM receivers. Having discovered this, I retuned the radio slightly to 87.75 MHz and found the signal strength peaked. Wikipedia describes the history of WDCN-LD at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDCN-LD.

Of further interest is the history of so-called “Channel 6 FM radio stations.” The evolution of present-day stations is long and involved. Over several years, the FCC formed committees, requested comments, held hearings, wrote reports, published proposals, rendered rulings, and ultimately granted waivers. For the full story, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_6_radio_stations_in_the_United_States. What resulted are legacy stations dating back to analog TV days which continue to operate sans video as de facto FM stations. For all practical purposes, we have a modest extension of the FM band. There are, in fact, 14 such stations currently spread across the lower 48 states. It is unlikely that the circumstances which created these stations will ever result in more stations being added. As of July 20, 2023, an FCC report and order restricted these stations to those already licensed and current licenses untransferable.

Do you live near a Channel 6 FM radio station?

Just to complete the picture, there is also officially an FM Channel 200 at 87.9 MHz, which was established in 1978, but to my knowledge is not used. Does anyone have any information on FM Channel 200?

As an historical aside, the present-day FM band, 88 to 108 MHz, is located directly between analog TV Channels 6 and 7. In 1958, to foster FM use, Regency Electronics, Inc. marketed a converter, Model RC-103, in a handsome Bakelite case, which could be attached between the antenna (generally “rabbit ears”) and the TV set. The converter contained a single transistor and was powered by three AA batteries. By tuning the TV to Channel 6, turning on the TeleVerter to FM, and rotating its dial, one effectively detuned the Channel 6 audio frequency upward, and could listen to the entire FM band. As this converter was manufactured prior to the advent of stereo broadcasting, the sound was in mono, and fidelity was limited to the audio quality of the TV. My dad bought one of these. It was connected to our Arvin 12”, B/W tabletop TV, and it served as our first FM radio for a few years. There were only a few stations at that time, mostly classical as I recall. Thus “FM” came to stand for “fine music.”

Source: Sams Photofact Folder, Set 397, Folder 11, Regency Model RC-103, May, 1958.

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Bob asks: “What’s Your Favorite Corner of the Dial?”

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

What’s Your Favorite Corner of the Dial?

As asked by Bob Colegrove

Let’s suppose you’ve been listening to radio for a while. Consciously or not, you’ve probably favored a range of AM, SW, or FM frequencies. These are areas where you go to DX or just listen to your favorite stations. One area I seem to keep returning to is the very bottom of the medium wave band, roughly 530 kHz to 600 kHz. With the convenience of today’s digital radios, I have consciously pushed the envelope somewhat lower.

The main reason for specializing in that frequency range is the challenge. In the very beginning there didn’t seem to be much at the extreme lower end of the AM broadcast band. Growing up in Indianapolis in the ‘50s, the local stations were all at the upper end of the mediumwave dial. WXLW held down 950 kHz – lower than that nothing. I would say the stator plates on the variable capacitor got very dusty, never being closed any further than that on many radios.

Another challenge was sensitivity. In analog times, the sensitivity of a tuned circuit had some falloff as the inductance/capacitance (L/C) ratio decreased. Sensitivity is highest with the variable cap open at the high end of the band. As you tune lower by increasing capacitance (inductance remaining constant), the Q and consequently sensitivity drop off – not dramatically, but somewhat.

Finally, not all old analog radios tuned to 530 kHz; some were even challenged to tune 540 kHz. By performing a little mischief with the alignment, I could sometimes venture into unknown territory.

This was all part of the challenge. So, what could I do to coax some activity out of the bottom of the band? I spent many hours poring over Bill Orr’s Better Shortwave Reception (Radio Publications, Inc., Wilton, CT, First Edition, 1957) and tweaking caps and coils trying to squeeze the last few kilohertz and microvolts out of my radios. This exercise fascinated me and became a hobby within a hobby. If I may be allowed a self-deprecating aside here, the first time I took a radio out of the cabinet, I just assumed that all these alignment screws were loose, and dutifully torqued them down. The alignment problem is not comparatively complex with today’s digital receivers. Note, I didn’t say it was unimportant.

I still tend to favor the bottom of the medium wave band. Below is a list of my catches over the past couple of years. It’s just a sample of what one might hear by casual listening over time. Highlighted stations are heard during daylight hours. This is NOT intended to impress anyone, rather it is hopefully a stimulus for your own efforts.

As another attraction of the lower mediumwave band, you will find a potpourri of stations. Besides regular North American broadcasting stations, one might possibly hear an occasional high-powered trans-Atlantic station which is not synchronized with the 10 kHz spacing. 530 kHz is interesting. It is not used in the US by commercial broadcast stations. Instead, stations from Canada and Cuba at roughly orthogonal directions from me are regularly audible at night on this frequency. Thus, the radio is tuned by simply rotating the antenna. 530 kHz is also home to several Travelers’ Information Stations (TIS) throughout the country. Question: How will this long-time service fare if travelers don’t have AM radios in their new cars? Finally, the very bottom of the frequency range still contains a few holdouts of non-directional beacons.

Frequencies below 530 kHz probably put a strain on the medium wave bands of old radios, but they are likely no problem on most digital radios having both LW and MW coverage. As mentioned, there are a few non-directional beacons down there. They are Morse coded using amplitude modulation. I have found placing the receiver in SSB mode makes detection much easier, as the heterodyne from the carrier can be heard well before the signal is strong enough to produce any audio. These beacons generally fade in for brief periods of time and then fade out like passing comets.

My most recent catch was experimental station WI2XLQ, 486 kHz, during its annual Fessenden Event on Christmas Day and again on New Year’s Day. See https://swling.com/blog/?s=Fessenden+ . The experience was not the armchair listening quality one might expect from FM or the Internet. Instead, it was weak and fraught with atmospheric noise. The station came in periodically, then disappeared, in short, DXing to its highest degree of satisfaction.

The antenna is the key to good reception, and there is no exception to this rule at the lower end of the AM band. Many years ago, I switched to an indoor, resonant loop antenna. The selectivity, directional properties, and noise rejection of a loop antenna in this frequency range are superb. The figure below shows my 40-year-old loop antenna, which is still used in its original form. It tunes from ~485 kHz through ~1710 kHz in two bands. The antenna can rotate 360 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees vertically. Further, it is mechanically balanced to remain in any position without locking. For those not inclined to construction projects, the Tecsun AN-100, AN-200, and Terk Advantage will perform quite well through inductive coupling with a portable radio’s ferrite bar antenna.

As all experienced medium wave DXers know, for success you need to have patience, “set a spell,” and let the radio do its thing. Radios are living organisms, kind of like cats, very independent at times, and will let you hear only what they want you to hear. On many channels, stations will come and go over time. If you’re lucky, you might catch an ID; lacking that, you might be able to identify it by the format or network. You might try to compare the contents you hear on the radio with what you can hear online either over the station’s website or via streaming sites such as TuneIn, iHeart, or Radio Garden. There may be a delay between the Internet stream and the live signal.

When you feel you’ve exhausted the possibilities, there’s still more. Turn the antenna 90 degrees and start over. You’re only half finished with that frequency. Don’t forget a headset or earbuds.

What’s the next challenging rung on the limbo bar? Well, possibly the 633-meter ham band, 472 to 479 kHz. I’ll have to pad the old loop with a small capacitor to tune down there.

What’s your favorite corner of the dial? Why?

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Bob talks ergonomics and radio buttons…

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XHDATA D-808 on a 5” × 9” neoprene pad.

Ergonomics and Radio Buttons

By Bob Colegrove

Am I being too picky? Are the buttons on some newer portable radios hard to press? I’ve read many reviews and watched as many videos, but haven’t encountered many complaints about this. Perhaps it’s an age-related affliction.

The most succinct description of the problem was expressed in the review of the Tecsun PL-660 way back in the 2012 edition of the WRTH. In referring to the buttons, “All are in our view rather too small for comfort and have breakout forces which are out of all proportion to their size; the combination of this with excessively long travel and weak tactile feedback does not give much pleasure to the user.” The problem has only gotten worse with some newer portable radios.

I see two problems here. First, too much pressure is required; what the WRTH called “breakout force.” Designers may say, “that’s so you won’t accidentally turn the radio on and run down the battery.” Well, I reply, “isn’t that what the ubiquitous lock button is for? They all have one.”

If you’ve ever taken one of these radios apart, you’ve likely seen a pliable membrane between the buttons and the switches or traces on the PC board. This provides some spring action necessary to return the buttons to the upright position. Couldn’t this be thinner or more elastic?

Second, some radios have flat buttons that don’t protrude very far above the case. By the time the fleshy part of your finger bottoms out on the surface of the case, still more pressure and button travel is required to activate the function. Couldn’t the buttons be slightly higher?

The result, if you operate the radio on a desk or table and apply the requisite walnut-cracking pressure on a button, the radio might well rocket off its foundation.

Pads for Portables

A partial solution without violating the integrity of the radio is a stable foundation. In today’s euphemistic world the term counterpoise is use when referring to what we used to simply call an electrical ground. It seems some sort of mechanical counterpoise would be useful to better anchor a portable radio for operation.

Neoprene is a synthetic rubber developed by a DuPont scientist in 1930. It is tougher than natural rubber and relatively impervious to solvents. This stuff is virtually skidproof. There are perhaps other materials suitable for this application, which is simply to get the radio to stand its ground while you operate it. After some thought and experimentation, I bought a 1/16”-thick neoprene pad. A 12” × 12” pad is more than enough. Mine came from https://amzn.to/3XsmQDe [Note Affiliate link supports the SWLing Post]. I cut this into three smaller pads as follows:

7” × 12” for a Sony ICF-2010, which has nice easy-touch buttons and really doesn’t need a pad except to anchor the radio in place.

5” × 9” for a Tecsun PL-990 and many other similar size radios.

3” × 5”, the scrap piece can be used for a C.Crane Skywave, which already has nice raised buttons; a Tecsun PL-330, which needs a pad most of all; and an XHDATA D-220, which doesn’t even have buttons.

A Tecsun PL-330 lying flat covers a 3” × 5” pad. But that’s OK.

There are a couple of alternatives:

You can leave a large pad uncut to accommodate various sizes of radios; or
You can cut bits of neoprene and apply them as feet to the bottom rear corners of the radio and bottom of the stand. There might be some difficulty getting them to stay in place or allowing the stand to fully collapse. Some portables already have rubber feet.

It’s probably apparent that neoprene will adhere best to a smooth surface such as glass or Formica. However, I have tested it on a cloth-covered, memory foam chair cushion, and it works just fine. Pressing down the material will make it adhere to a surface even more. I would estimate that a lateral force of at least 10 or 15 pounds is required to make a small radio break loose from three or four points of contact with the material.

Besides holding the radio in place while you operate it, much like a large table radio, neoprene offers the radio some cosmetic protection against abrasion from rough surfaces. However, the material is so sticky it will pick up every bit of dust or dirt. This can somewhat compromise its adherence requiring an occasional rinse in water.

Admittedly, the neoprene pad isn’t going to be very useful while you’re sitting in a beach chair using the radio in the handheld posture. However, in the shack, a suitable pad has a purpose.

XHDATA D-220 sans buttons on a 3” × 5” pad.

Caps for Buttons

In the case of buttons which are too low, some additional help is desired. On the Tecsun PL-330, I glued plastic caps on top of the STEP and ETM buttons, which raises them about 1/16” and helps considerably. I am still looking for some transparent material to use as caps on the numbered buttons.

STEP and ETM buttons with caps on a Tecsun PL-330.

Further validated suggestions are solicited.

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U Twente WebSDR: New Tablet/Phone Interface Option

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

U. of Twenty Site for Phones and Tablets

by Bob Colegrove

I’m not sure if this is new. It may have been around for a while. Very recently, while accessing the WebSDR site at the University of Twente, it detected that I was on a tablet and offered redirection to an experimental version of their site: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/m.html.

Besides being an interesting site to surf radio stations, I use it regularly as a ‘spotter’ tool to see what’s on shortwave. Admittedly, it is more than 3,900 miles from my receiver, but I like to see how well my antennas are doing.

The experimental version was accessed using the Silk browser on a 7-inch Kindle Fire. It is slimmed down from the main version, and much easier to use with a phone or tablet, particularly the zoom in and out feature.

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A Band Aid for the XHDATA D-220

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

A Band Aid for the XHDATA D-220

By Bob Colegrove

In the olden days of analog radios, we would have generated a graph plotting frequency against a 0 to 100 linear bandspread scale. That permitted determination of a station’s frequency with varying degrees of accuracy.

The case of the charming little D-220 requires a simpler approach. The dial covers 5.6 MHz to 22 MHz in less than two inches. They could have cut off coverage at 18 MHz and gained a precious half inch of dial.

With the shortwave scale well below the pointer, I needed some additional guidance indicating where I was. Best not to get too fancy. I cut a strip off a sticky-back label and attached it to the dial right below the pointer. Using the left edge of the pointer as a guide, I marked off the location of each international broadcast band and a couple time stations. The width of each band isn’t much more than the point of a sharp No. 2 pencil. Any further resolution is hopeless, but at least you know what part of the spectrum you are in.

Red lettering is not part of the band aid.

Again, going by the old logarithmic analog dials you would expect the frequencies to be increasingly mashed together as you go higher. This is not the case with the D-220, nor do the increments appear to be very linear. At any rate, it is now relatively easy to tune from band to band.

The sensitivity and clarity of the D-220 is amazing. Perhaps it’s the green one.

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The Tecsun PL-990/PL-990x as an MP3 Player, Bluetooth Receiver, and PC Speaker

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

The Tecsun PL-990/PL-990x as an MP3 Player, Bluetooth Receiver, and PC Speaker

By Bob Colegrove

Source: PL-990x Operation Manual

Sometimes after a medium wave or shortwave DX session I just like to kick back and listen to good music. Perhaps this is an age-related malady. I recently did a scan of the FM band and came up with 60 listenable stations in my area. By listenable, I only mean they can be received clearly. In practice, I only listen to a couple stations. Although, my tastes in music are quite varied, apparently, they do not coincide very well with local FM broadcast station formats. No matter, I can still indulge myself listening to diverse favored artists.

The Tecsun PL-990/990x offers a ready solution having both an MP3 player and Bluetooth connectivity. Actually, there are several compatible audio formats available on the player, but for simplicity I will merely refer to them as MP3. I really didn’t buy this radio purposely for these additional features. I bought it as a follow-on to the PL-880, which I still like very much for all its well-known features as a multiband radio.

I spent some time on the Internet reading all the reviews and watching many YouTube videos. Among useful things, I learned how to take the radio out of its box. The aggregate of all this information was thorough coverage of all the salient features of the 990 – all except the treatment of the MP3 player and Bluetooth connectivity. These generally appeared at the end of each review in a by-the-way fashion with little detail.

I bought a PL-990x with expectations that it would be a good radio performer, and that has proven to be the case. During its setup and checkout, I realized the potential for its MP3 and Bluetooth capabilities. A few years ago, I digitized all our vinyl recordings and cassette tapes, so I had many hours of material readily available for inclusion on a micro-SD card, which can be inserted on the bottom of the cabinet.

Source: PL-990x Operation Manual

The radio, MP3 player, and Bluetooth modes are available by toggling a single switch.

Source: PL-990x Operation Manual

As an MP3 Player

Unfortunately, the display does not have a multi-segment set of characters for text. This is the way random RDS information is displayed on radios such as the XHDATA D-808 and Eton Elite Executive. So, selecting albums and tracks on the 990 is limited to numeric representation, which doesn’t provide much of a clue identifying the musical selection. The user must either remember where favorite files are stored by number or keep some sort of number-title log.

Files are stored on a micro-SD card having up to 128 GB in capacity. That’s a lot of content. The radio comes with a 16-GB card, which will probably be large enough for many users. There are some details to consider when setting up the card. This information is lacking in the manual, but I have tried to fill in the blanks below.

Some rules:

1. There is no purpose in trying to alphabetize or otherwise edit album or track titles to locate them in a specific sequence. The 990 doesn’t understand this.

2. Generally, albums and tracks will be assigned numbers by the 990 in the order in which they are saved to the SD card by the computer.

3. Albums equal folders. Tracks equal (MP3) files within each folder. You can mix and match the content in albums and tracks any way you want to. It does not have to conform to the publisher’s album content.

Source: PL-990x Operation Manual

4. An album/folder can contain both its own tracks/files and nested folders containing other albums. A nested album/folder will be numbered in sequence after the containing folder. Any previously saved album/folders will be renumbered higher in sequence.

Rule 4 offers some flexibility. You can come back later and prioritize any album/folder by simply nesting it with another album/folder.

The table below is an example of five different musical genres compiled into separate albums. On the computer, the polka album was transferred to the SD card first, then classic country. At that point, the polka album was A01 and country A02 on the 990 display. Later, Dixieland and waltz albums were added to the tracks in the polka folder. They then became A02 and A03 respectively, and the country album advanced to A04. Finally, the chorus album was added in the root directory and became A05.

The 990 recognizes the SD card quickly after it is inserted into its slot.
The number of tracks and albums (files and folders) is only limited by the SD-card format, which for all practical purposes, won’t be a limitation. By way of example, I used the default exFAT format and loaded an album with 657 tracks; I don’t recommend that many.
A single track can be repeated by long-pressing the PLAY/PAUSE button.
The tracks in an album will be repeated continuously.
There does not appear to be a way to shuffle tracks.

I did encounter some difficulty with micro-SD card compatibility, which was independent of brand. A couple micro-SD cards were prepared on a computer using an adapter card and a micro-SD card reader and operated correctly in the computer, but the content was not recognized by the 990. I suspect this might be due to the early manufacture of the cards, but I’m not sure.

The 990 manual picks up the explanation from there describing operation of the control keys. I found it most convenient just to scroll through the albums with the FINE TUNING knob and through the tracks with the main TUNING knob. The number pad buttons will also work for direct album or track selection. Their application depends on the last tuning knob turned.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a hidden feature of the 990. Activation is partially covered on the hidden feature sheet.

With the radio off, press and hold the PLAY/MP3 button. If OFF (for Bluetooth) appears in the display, press and hold the button again until ON appears in the display.
Turn on the radio.
Toggle the PLAY/MP3 button until “BT” appears in the display. The display will have a horizontal, animated dashed line for a few seconds, then it will change to an animated rectangle indicating that the Bluetooth feature is on.
Follow the procedure for your tablet, computer or phone to pair the device with the 990. “Tecsun PL-990” should appear on the device as a choice for pairing. The 990 only pairs with one device at a time. If you have trouble, ensure that the 990 has not inadvertently paired with another device.

Bluetooth, of course, opens Internet streaming from a phone, tablet or computer. These ‘remotes’ have the convenience of full text capability and offer easier selection of content. I paired my PL-990x with a Kindle tablet; it has a range of at least 25 feet. The same micro-SD card could in theory be transferred from the radio to the tablet and function the same way. A smart phone would add cellular connectivity.

Control:

Three of the four player control buttons above the display are active in Bluetooth. The stop button has no effect. As with the MP3 player, the main TUNING and FINE TUNING knobs will also advance or reverse the track selection. Interestingly, this works with audio player apps as well as services such as YouTube, where it advances or reverses videos on the tablet, computer or phone. In addition to the RADIO/MP3 button, pressing any of the band buttons will immediately exit Bluetooth and tune to the selected radio band.

Source: PL-990x Operation Manual

In MP3 or Bluetooth mode, there is no noise from a USB wall wart. It might be a good time to charge the battery.

As a Computer Speaker

Finally, there is what the 990 manual calls the computer speaker mode. Sounds inconsequential. Why would anyone want to use a monaural radio on a computer that’s likely outfitted with stereo speakers? Actually, it’s more than that. By plugging your 990 into a USB port on your computer you have the normal charging feature, but you will also have complete USB connectivity with your PC.

Turn on the 990. You may have to press RADIO/MP3 button until “PC” appears in the PL-990 display.

You will not be able to use the radio.
The content of the micro-SD card in the 990 should appear as a USB drive in the computer’s file directory. You can transfer files on or off the 990, but the process will be very slow. Transfers from the computer to the 990-installed SD card follow the same rules listed above for the MP3 player.
The computer will provide the MP3 play function through its own app. You can select files from either the 990 SD card or those on the PC and play them through the 990 speaker.
You can switch speakers between the 990 or those on the computer by selecting the speaker icon on the computer task bar, then selecting the available speakers.

The pause/play button on the player controls will work, but the reverse, stop, and advance buttons will not.

Final Thoughts

Some disappointment was registered in the reviews that the 990 does not have a recorder. Yes, this would have been nice. One thing it does have is a line out jack which has adjustable gain. This makes my outboard recorder much happier than when it is used with some other radios.

Since we are talking about audio, I have noted that some reviewers still prefer the sound of the PL-880. To my ears, the 990 sounds every bit as good. Remember, these are mid-size portable radios.

The inclusion of MP3 player and Bluetooth capabilities on the 990 adds very useful functionality to this radio. After nearly four years of consumer availability, I must wonder why they haven’t received more attention.

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Bob Reviews the Model L87 Digital Voice Recorder

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

The Model L87 Voice Recorder

Reviewed by Bob Colegrove

L87 Voice Recorder (Source: Amazon)

Introduction

Whenever I read a radio product review, the author invariably says whether the device has a line-out port. This seems to say a lot about the importance attached to this feature by a great number of our fellow radio enthusiasts. Besides audio recording, the port can be used for computer processing of facsimile and teletype signals. For basic recording, it seems to boil down to three purposes:

to provide a permanent archive of some things we have heard,
to replay portions of a weak signal to determine its identity, or
to share our catches with fellow enthusiasts.

There was a time before cassettes (BC) when I used a mini reel-to-reel tape deck to record radio broadcasts. This was not much bigger than a cigar box. It used 3-inch magnetic tape reels. There was no capstan. The take-up and supply reels rotated at constant speeds to provide tape motion for recording and rewinding. Thus, the tape would gradually accelerate past the heads as the diameter of the take-up reel increased. Consequently, a recorded tape did not travel at a constant speed and could only be played on the original recorder. I never used it much, and when it stopped working, I never bothered to replace it.

This winter I seem to be focused once again on medium wave DXing, and I began to think a recorder would be useful to help identify stations. I couldn’t get much of a consensus as to what recorders other hobbyists were using, so I went on the Internet to explore the market. Long story short, I wound up with an unbranded voice recorder. Neither the hardware nor the manual gives much of a clue as to who made it. The state of today’s small electronics market is replete with anonymous items. Anyway, the price was reasonable, and I have it.

There are probably a dozen or more equally capable recorders currently available, including those from Sony. So, this is not a model versus model comparison, but rather an enumeration of salient features of the Model L87 Voice Recorder and a conclusion as to its usefulness as an accessory for radio listening.

My recorder is marketed by Amazon [affiliate link] under the brand name of “G” (http://gtoptc.com/). It has 8 GB of system storage and 64 GB on a removable SD (TF) card. If you Google “L87 Voice Recorder” you will see that Amazon, Walmart, and eBay sell, what are by all appearances, identical recorders with greater or lesser system memory and different size SD cards. Some include an external microphone.

Description

To say the voice recording industry has come a long way since my reel-to-reel experience is an understatement. Digital media, miniaturization, and functionality pretty much sum up the improvements.

This device is billed as a voice recorder. It is intended to be used in dictation or brought into a classroom, conference, or other meeting to gather an audible transcription of the proceedings. Attaching it to the line-out jack of a radio is not an application that is listed in the promotional literature. So, in selecting a device a radio enthusiast must be assured that line-in capability is available.

Also, there is a matter of compatibility. The L87 voice recorder works very well with the Eton Elite Executive, Tecsun PL-880, Sony ICF-SW7600GR and Grundig Satellit 800. The recorder was tested on a Sony ICF-2010 and did not work. Apparently, the 2010s were designed to operate with older recorders having high-impedance microphone inputs.

Specifics

Memory – built-in system 8 GB, plus an included 64-GB SD (TF) card, 72 GB total. This we are told will produce 3,343 hours of recording at 32 kbps.
Battery – 500 mAh rechargeable lithium ion, having up to 13 hours continuous recording at 512 kbps, and 24 hours of playback with earphones.
File formats – Recording: WAV or MP3; or it can act as a player for any uploaded MP3, WAV, FLAC, APE, OGG, or WMA file.
Recording bit rates – for WAV: 512, 768, 1024, or 1536 kbps; for MP3: 32, 64, 128, or 192 kbps.
Gain settings – seven.
Voice activation – auto recording begins once the sound reaches a settable decibel level and stops when there is no sound. Probably of minimal use for the radio monitoring purpose.
File management – files are named with a time stamp (year, month, day, hour, seconds).
Optional password protection.
A-B repeat function – a portion of recording can be blocked for repetition. The A and B start-stop points do not alter the file and disappear when the file is closed.
Physical – dimensions: 4.13 inches long × 1.06 inches wide, × 0.39 inch thick; weight: 2.8 ounces.
Numerous other recording settings, including those for noise reduction.
First available – April 26, 2022.
Website – https://gtoptc.com/.

Experience

Being quite small, ergonomics is a consideration, and may take some practice. As I am right-handed, I unexpectedly realized that I grabbed this little device in my left hand, like a cell phone. That leaves my right hand free to press buttons, but I also tend to operate the controls with my left hand. Like many small travel radios, many buttons are dual purpose, and one must get used to short presses, long presses, and correct button sequences.

As an example of complexity, a change in volume requires a quick press of the VOL button, then repeated presses of the up/down buttons to arrive at the desired level. Fast forward and rewind are somewhat problematic. A short press of either button will quit the file you are listening to and queue up the preceding or next file, while a long press will incrementally rewind or fast forward the file you are listening to.

As it is marketed, this is a “voice recorder.” It provides a line-in capability, but you will have to supply your own stereo patch cord. Once programmed to line-in, you will not have to reset it when making follow-on recordings. Although it comes with an internal speaker, you can also swap out the patch cord with earphones for playback without changing any settings. Just to try it out, I used the built-in microphones to record a radio at normal volume. While the recording was acceptable, it was prone to any noise produced in the room or pressing recorder buttons.

L87 Buttons and Ports (Source: L87 Voice Recorder Instruction Manual)

Battery and storage capacity will not likely be a problem, as this device will continue to operate for many hours when properly prepared for use.

The device records in stereo, which likely doubles the file size for our purpose of generally needing only monaural recording. I have not found a way to change it. On the other hand, I recorded some classical music content from a local stereo FM station and connected the recorder to a nice set of shelf speakers for playback. The sound quality of the MP3 file at 128 kbps was excellent, at least to my ears.

The display is quite small, but very sharp and colorful showing essential information such as file name, time, file format, bit rate, and volume setting.

File management is neither intuitive nor very versatile. I could not find a way to create new folders or move files using the recorder. Connecting the recorder to the computer, I could create new folders which were recognized in the recorder’s folder function, but the display would indicate an incompatible format when I tried to save a new file to the computer-created folders. The recorder would however play prerecorded files transferred to the new folder by the computer. Lesson: just stick with the basic file functionality and save the manipulations for the computer.

The recorder comes with a USB-C cable which is used to recharge the battery and transfer files to or from a computer. Or, if the included SD card is used for storage, it can be removed and used on the computer for file transfer.

As a retired technical writer, I tend to be quite critical of user manuals that come with appliances and electronic gear. This one is only fair – no better or worse than most others I have come across recently. We’re not just talking picky grammar issues here. Some explanations are entirely missing, for example how to properly set the recorder input gain.

File Processing

A few years ago, I used an open-source audio file processing program called Audacity to digitize our collection of vinyl and tapes. Such applications serve as a quick way to process or edit the recorder files, for example, trimming the files to a desired size or normalizing their amplitude.

Conclusion

In retrospect, there are some things I should have recorded off the radio back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. But the fact that I’ve enjoyed the radio hobby without a recorder all these years probably does not qualify it as essential equipment in my radio shack. Useful? Yes. If you are interested in recording from your radio, and are a frequent traveler, these recorders are convenient, requiring very little space in the bag. Because of its small size, hand dexterity and attentive thought processes must be developed to use it effectively. This recorder has amazing capability, is well constructed, and appears to work as intended.

The Model L87 Voice Recorder on Amazon.com (Note: This affiliate link supports the SWLing Post at no cost to you.)

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