Tag Archives: DanH

Video: Five shortwave stations in two minutes

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who shares the following feedback.

Note that he sent this to me about two weeks ago, but my life has been so busy the past few weeks, I’m still catching up on email. Thanks to everyone for understanding!

DanH writes:

We all know how hard it is to get good SW reception without a decent antenna at this point in the 11-year solar cycle. But, the past couple of days have offered good propagation conditions for reception here in Northern California. Here is a video I made this evening during the 8:00 p.m. hour, 10-11-2016 PDT (0300 hour, 10-12-2016 UTC). It isn’t all that bad. Here are five stations in under two minutes (but really, WWV doesn’t count). There is plenty to listen to. Voice of Greece is in the Greek language with great music. The other stations are broadcast in the English language.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Thank you for sharing, Dan! Wow–RNZI is quite a strong catch at your location! It’s so nice when conditions improve and that elusive DX pops out of the niose. At this point in the solar cycle, we just take what we can get!

Only last night, I was amazed with the Voice of Greece here on the east coast. Even as propagation conditions deteriorated, VOG held on at S9 +20db via my Elecraft KX3.

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AirGig: a new BPL technology that promises less RFI

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projectairgig

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who writes:

I read this news item today. AT&T has a new approach to broadband over power lines called AirGig. Supposedly, this technology will avoid RFI issues encountered with previous BPL technologies. This shouldn’t be an issue in my neighborhood where power lines are underground. Underground utilities still have RFI issues. My next door neighbor’s AT&T high speed internet swamps out all nearly all shortwave signals below 4.7 MHz within radius of 30 feet from the connection box.

http://fortune.com/2016/09/20/att-internet-over-powerlines/

Many thanks, DanH! Here is a short promo video for AirGig:

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Video: Dan listens to RNZI’s Sunday Night with Grant Walker on a Hammarlund SP-600

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Daniel Hawkins, who writes:

One of my favorite Radio New Zealand International programs is Sunday Night with Grant Walker. This program is heard on RNZ in New Zealand from 8:06-10:00 p.m. and is run at the same time on RNZI. Sunday Night features hit oldies and one interview. Each program highlights oldies from one year. Last Sunday was 1977 and the week before was 1955. My video from last Sunday includes a favorite that I haven’t heard for many years.

The RNZI broadcast of Sunday Night is 0806-1000 UTC Sunday on 9700 kHz. That’s 1:06-3:00 a.m. Sunday, PDT. Definitely a show for night owls. West Coast reception is nearly spectacular for the distance: 6,600 miles from my location in Davis, CA, USA. The radio used for the video is a Hammarlund SP-600 JX-21, built in 1956 or 1957. Yes, the tuning dial is a little off on this band. I’m using the 8 kHz selectivity setting with fully advanced AVC. The antenna is a 106’ outdoor random wire. The speaker is antique as well: a 10” Jensen PM-10C with matching transformer connected to the 600 ohm audio output on the SP-600.

DanH

Click here to view on YouTube.

Wow! Thank you for the program recommendation, Dan! I, too, have an SP-600–there are few valve receivers that can rival it for both audio fidelity and sensitivity. What a beauty of a rig you have there!

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Tubes and Valves: Dan’s research uncovers three vintage films

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who writes:

I have been working on my Hammarlund SP600-JX-21 for the last two weeks. Results of the filter cap replacement were encouraging. I’m going after an AVC issue that is probably capacitor-related as well before doing a re-alignment with the signal generator.

All of this activity has turned my attention toward vacuum tubes. I found three vintage industrial films online that caught my interest…

The Mullard Radio Valve Company produced The Blackburn Story in 1962. The film was shot at what must have been close the peak of vacuum tube mass production. This presentation is unique in its finely detailed documentation of miniature tube construction. The hand labor required to build some of these tubes is incredible, considering it is a mass production operation. A surprising degree of automation is present for manufacture of some of the more popular tube types. The video resolution is not the best but I found myself ignoring this limitation after the film got underway. I have a few Mullard tubes in my tube boxes.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Western Electric presents A Modern Aladdin’s Lamp (1940). This look at the electron tube is hosted by none other than Lowell Thomas. From the age of four pin and octal base tubes animation shows how tubes work.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Electronics at Work (1943) is a WWII offering by Westinghouse. The description of vacuum tube technology is a little more detailed and again animation is employed for visual impact. A variety of vacuum tube applications in industry and the military are shown from curing plywood to producing X-rays. The excellent animation was contributed by Famous Studios (when they weren’t doing the wartime Popeye cartoons).