Tag Archives: Guest Posts

The Sony ICF-8000: Bob’s nostalgic journey

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

The SONY ICF-8000

By Bob Butterfield

As many radio enthusiasts have experienced there are some pieces of equipment that come and go for a variety of reasons. Many times, there are regrets about radios or accessories that are here one day and then gone another. Years ago, I was gifted a Sony ICF-8000 “Super Sensitive” FM/MW/SW portable radio. My ICF-8000 was one of those that “went.” To tell you the truth, I am not actually sure where it went off to! In those days I used my “Super Sensitive” radio on vacation trips, on the back deck, and for local MW/FM and casual SW listening. When a new position with the Government necessitated relocation, I left this radio behind at my parents’ house where it was regularly used by my mother in the kitchen. That is when things get fuzzy. Suffice it to say that I am not sure what happened to it.

As far as I can determine, the Sony ICF-8000 is a close relative of the earlier Sony TFM-8000W, another “Super Sensitive” model. What sets them apart is that the Sony TFM-8000W has the Public Service Band (PSB) and the Sony ICF-8000 does not. The ICF-8000 has its SW bands spread out into 4 bands: 1.6 to 3.5, 3.5-7, 7-14, and 14-26.1 MHz. In contrast the TFM-8000W has a slightly shorter SW frequency range split into three bands: 1.6-4, 4-10, and 10-22 MHz. Both radios have continuous coverage with no gaps from MW to SW as well as FM. These radios are almost identical in appearance. Other than the PSB and three SW bands on the TFM-8000W, the only other visual differences from the ICF-8000 are how the bands are arranged, identification of the Public Service Band on the face plate, and the addition of an on/off squelch toggle switch for the PSB. Internally the TFM-8000W has a couple more semi-conductors. In line with these two radios is the older Sony TFM-1600W “Super Sensitive” which came out circa 1971, has its own distinctive but similar appearance, and is set up like the ICF-8000 with FM/MW/SW.

A while ago the “I used to have that radio nostalgia bug” hit me, and I have been searching since for a decent ICF-8000 to purchase. Sony TFM-8000Ws in decent shape are up for sale on eBay on occasion, but I was looking for the ICF-8000. Finally, I spotted one recently (which was listed as a TFM-8000W!) at a price and condition I was comfortable with. After negotiation with the seller, I purchased it. There is some useful information on the Web about the Sony TFM-8000W. Jay Allen has a good piece on this unit worth checking out. The Sony ICF-8000 appears to be much harder to find, information on the Web is skimpier, and I am not sure how long they were produced. It is quite possible that its production run was limited. Manufacturing likely started in 1976 when it probably replaced the Sony TFM-8000W. One reference I located on the Web listed the ICF-8000 being made as early as 1974 but provided no source. I also found evidence of at least two versions of ICF-8000s being produced; one with a switch located in the battery compartment allowing multiple different voltages including that for Japan, and one operating on 120 volts only. The corresponding model number identification panels on the rear are annotated accordingly with voltages available. Both versions have “FM/AM Multiband Receiver” lettering on the face plate. Sony, like Panasonic, often tweaked models for domestic and foreign markets, adding or modifying features to fit those markets accordingly. If anyone has more information on these models, year(s) manufactured, availability of free manual copies, etc., drop them in the comments section.

The Sony ICF-8000 I purchased was in very good shape having just some minor imperfections showing on the faceplate paint. No cleaning was necessary, nevertheless I gave it one. All switches were quiet and functioned as they should. A nice feature of the ICF-8000 is its exceptionally smooth tuning mechanism which utilizes a flywheel. In addition, on my radio, the tuning scale is practically spot-on on all the bands. Not usually the case in an analog set of this type forty-five plus years old. When added to the fact that the SW frequencies are spread out in four bands instead of three, tuning is easy. The presence of a fine-tuning knob is a nice touch and can be useful. Also available is a tone control knob, signal/battery strength meter, a lighted dial, AC/DC capability, external antenna connection, world time calculator wheel (at the rear on the battery compartment cover), and a dual FM AFC and AM Broad/Sharp bandwith control.

Nostalgia aside, the Sony ICF-8000 has provided reliable performance on all bands so far. MW sensitivity is adequate while SW reception is above average using the built-in telescoping antenna which measures 44 inches (111.75 cm) in length. I did a limited shortwave reception comparison in the 49-meter band between the ICF-8000 and the Panasonic RF-2600 with its 37 inch (94 cm) built-in telescoping antenna and found the Sony performing equally with the Panasonic; at times even better perhaps due to its longer antenna. When connected to an external 75-foot (22.86 meters) longwire I found the ICF-8000 shortwave reception to be particularly good. I did not experience any overloading, nor did I encounter multiple images. The sound was, as others have attributed to the TFM-8000W, “mellow”. If this is not to your liking on the shortwave bands the tone adjustment is useful. Noise levels were well tolerated. I suspect that the Sony TFM-8000W would perform similarly.

Is the Sony ICF-8000 a fantastic DX machine? No, it is not. Is it “super sensitive”? Maybe not “super,” but definitely above average, and surely sensitive enough for general listening. Is it an attractive, affordable classic, easy to use, and sturdy radio with decent performance that can hold up through the years? I think so. Does it bring back fond memories? Absolutely!

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“If Memory Serves Me Right, . . .”

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

If Memory Serves Me Right, . . .

By Bob Colegrove

The radio in my ’61 Ford Falcon came with memory.

Memory features on portable radios have become increasingly popular in recent years. I would say the subject ranks up there with antennas and batteries in many discussion groups. Memory is really a matter of convenience; that is, the quick and easy recall of favored frequencies.

Mechanical Memory

Memory-capable radios are nothing new. My very first multi-band radio was a Howard Radio Company Model 308 radio-phonograph console. It was manufactured sometime in the late 1930s and came with four memories. These were in the form of pushbuttons, which when pressed, quickly accelerated rotation of the variable capacitor to frequencies of local interest. The radio even came with a set of call letter stickers for AM stations all over the country. Memory in car radios goes back almost as far. It was convenient when you were driving.

During daylight hours it wasn’t hard to find stations in the nearby radio listening area, so you could just twirl the tuning knob in the usual manner until you got to the desired station. In lieu of push buttons, my mother marked the dial of her kitchen radio with red fingernail polish, WXLW, WIBC, WIRE, WFBM, WISH. At night it was quite another problem, when the great ionosphereic mirror in the sky began to reflect radio signals from hundreds of miles away. That’s when the buttons really became useful. Being a mechanical system, you had to be careful; a hard press of a button would cause the mechanism to overshoot the frequency.

Digital Memory

The digital age brought with it the capability of adding electronic memory to the product, as well as much more precision. My next experience with radio memory came in the mid-eighties with the Sony ICF-2010. This radio has a matrix of 8 x 4 = 32 dedicated keys on the front panel, each key recalling one stored frequency. Further, in the case of SW, the single-sideband and bandwidth settings can be saved. I found the feature very useful and managed to keep many of the 32 memory locations occupied a good deal of the time, honestly never giving much thought to the need for more memory.

Memory matrix on the Sony ICF-2010. In conjunction with the SHIFT key,
many buttons have a secondary function for scanning or band selection.

But today’s small multiband portables do not have the available real estate for a large matrix of memory buttons on the front panel. It’s now done with a sequence of key presses or possibly rotation of the tuning knob. Since the Sony ICF-2001/2010, there has been a race among manufacturers to include more and more memory capacity in their radios. “If you build it, they will come.” Below is a sample of the total memory locations in some popular portable radios.

I am reminded of a passage in Life on the Mississippi in which Mark Twain speculated about the continual shortening of the Mississippi River due to new channels flooding across its bends. According to his extrapolation, in 742 years Cairo, Illinois will be joined with New Orleans. Similarly, we may soon reach the point where memory capacity of a multiband radio exceeds the total number of available channels. But memory is cheap these days. I suppose it’s already on the chip, so why not make it available and tout it as a feature?

As a result of this large memory capacity, recalling a saved station can quickly become a problem. First, if you have band-specific paging, you must ensure you are on the appropriate band. On page memory radios, it requires that you first recall the page number and button on the number pad where you have saved the frequency. In any event, you navigate through the stored locations mentally correlating location numbers with frequencies.

There is no standard by which manufacturers implement memory. On the Skywave SSB 2, D-808, and ICF-SW-7600GR, the number pad defaults to memory tuning. For direct frequency tuning, you must first press FREQ on the SSB 2 and D-808. The Tecsun radios on the other hand have toggling VF and VM modes, and you best be careful which one is active. To recall memory on the PL-330, you can either spin the tuning dial to the channel or key the channel on the number pad if you can remember it.

To directly enter a frequency Sony ICF-SW7600GR, there are two extra key presses:
DIRECT before the frequency and ENTER after.

At this point I must ask, at what point does it become more convenient just to directly key in a 4- or 5-digit frequency?

One of the things to remember about radio memory, even the old push-button kind, is that it stores frequencies not stations. If another shortwave station is broadcasting on a frequency you saved, that may be what you will hear when the frequency is recalled. With some extra effort, the Sangean ATS-909X will allow you to record a memo (i.e., station call or name) with frequencies you have stored. Just remember, this may not be the station you thought you saved.

As an aside, the C. Crane Skywave SSB 2 can scan the first page of AIR band storage (10 frequencies). If you don’t have 10 frequencies of interest, simply duplicate some of them to fill out the page. This is also a good way to prioritize a favored frequency.

ATS

If you use the auto tune system (ATS) the computer searches and memorizes all detectable signals for AM, SW, FM or possibly AIR – each band separately. When it’s done, you’ve caught a net full of fish, and are then confronted with a memory bank full of frequencies, many of which you may not be interested in, but must tune through in much the same way as with conventional tuning. Finally, there is no easier way to destroy a meticulously hand-programmed memory page than to hold a button down too long and inadvertently activate ATS. How do I know that?

Keep in mind, ATS requires a broad-band antenna to keep the playing field level during the scan. The whip is generally all I need. In the dense population of FM stations along the US East Coast, a completely retracted whip is often best. I find the Tecsuns best for adding or deleting frequencies after the ATS scan.

Enhanced Tuning Mode

Tecsun has introduced ETM in recent years. It is interesting and useful. The most recent incarnation is called Enhanced Tuning Mode (ETM+), and the manufacturer has dedicated 3 ½ pages of the PL-330 manual to explain it. In essence, it operates on each band much like auto tuning storage (ATS), but protects whatever you have in the radio’s main memory, and allows you to store time-specific sets of frequencies in separate ETM pages. This expands the total memory to whatever extent on-air stations are detected during each time period. I haven’t been able to put a number on it.

This Tecsun PL-330 display indicates the radio captured 45 frequencies
on an ETM scan of international broadcast bands made during the 00 UTC hour.

ETM is a quick way to find out what’s currently on SW international broadcast bands. ETM logs SW broadcast stations to memory and reports the total number of stations captured at a given time (think of it as a separate page). The total number could be used to determine SW reception conditions by comparing it with a previously calculated average for the same period. For AM and FM, the feature can be used to store stations at a travel location without affecting main storage. Regardless of how you use ETM, there is a learning curve, as well as a need to be continually alert to what you are doing.

Virtual ETM

For any other radio with page memory, you can still have many of the advantages of ETM, as well as avoid the likelihood of accidentally wiping out your carefully programmed frequencies. Here’s how.

ATS on most radios begins saving frequencies on the lowest numbered page. Note that the lowest page on the SSB 2 is 1, while it is 0 on the D-808, and the first station on each page is at button 0 (bottom). My experience in the highly congested AM and FM bands on the US East Coast is that an ATS scan will likely take up no more than four or five pages of memory. Likewise, ATS for SW is limited to AM stations on the international broadcast bands and will not require many pages, even at night. By manually programming your favorite frequencies beginning on the sixth page of a 10-page memory arrangement they will likely be out of reach of an ATS scan and your manually-saved frequencies will still be there when you want them.

The travel benefit also applies to virtual ETM. An ATS scan performed at a different location using the lower pages will quickly put you in touch with local stations in that area and preserve your manually saved frequencies at home.

As an aside, I would also suggest that sideband frequencies be kept together on separate pages, as the SSB function must be engaged separately to detect them. With SSB engaged, the C. Crane Skywave SSB 2 will recall the saved LSB or USB mode, but you may have to switch from one to the other on the XDATA D-808.

Example of virtual ETM for D-808 on the shortwave band.
Skywave SSB 2 would be similar.

Virtual ETM is not perfect. This method does not provide all the time-specific paging that the Tecsun PL-330 has. Also, there is a danger if your radio has an auto-sorting feature which might be inadvertently activated. Lock the buttons on your radio when you turn it off or pack it up.

Conclusion

Apart from simply listening to the radio, it’s still entertaining to press buttons and see what they do – something like an electronic Rubic’s Cube. I will go as far as to put a half dozen favorite AM and FM stations into memory. I may enter a DX frequency or two I want to check out periodically. That said, there are a limited number of storage locations beyond which memory ceases to be convenient, and for me the number is well short of what is generally available.

On the other hand, ETM or virtual ETM opens some useful possibilities if you take one of these small portables on travel or want to do a quick scan to see what’s currently on shortwave.

No radios were harmed in the preparation of this blog.

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The Sony ICF-SW800: A Most Unusual Sony Radio

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD), who shares the following guest post:

A Most Unusual Sony Radio

By Bill Hemphill WD9EQD

Over the years, I have owned many of the various Sony shortwave radios. From analog to digital, I would buy the latest and sell my current radio. For the past few years, I have been using mainly Tecsun radios and didn’t own any Sony radios anymore. This changed last year. I got the urge to acquire a few of the Sony’s that I remember so fondly. Over several months I bought off eBay four ICF-2010 (one of which works), two ICF-SW100 (one of which works), four ICF-SW1 (none of which works). After spending way too much money just to acquire two working Sony radios, I started realizing that any Sony radio was probably going to need re-capping – a chore which I am not skilled at. I could have saved money by just paying the high price for a radio that had already been completely re-capped and working.

During the many hours spent watching eBay, I would occasionally come across a Sony radio that I was not familiar with – the Sony ICF-SW800. This is a very unusual radio in that it has only two bands – FM and SW. And the SW band only covers 3.7 to 17.9 MHz It also has these small credit card size pre-programmed memory cards. I ended up buying a couple of the radios just to learn what was going on with the memory cards.

The radio is very plain and simple. Dull black plastic, telescoping antenna, nice flip out tilt stand on the back, very small LCD display that shows time when off or in stand-by and band (FM or SW), frequency and card Preset memory number when card is inserted. Following are photos of front of radio, without and with card inserted:

Removing the battery cover reveals a storage area for the cards when not in use:

The cards are slid into the slot on the right of the radio. There is a plastic cover over the keyboard. This cover is touch sensitive. The plastic has imbedded in it small dots which can detect which part of the screen is being touched. Without a card inserted, you can select the band (SW EXEC or FM EXEC) and directly enter a frequency using the 0-9 keypad. Or you can use the manual +/- tune keys.

I had originally thought that the memory cards must be storing the memories in circuitry within the cards. When I got the first radio and looked at the cards I was really surprised to see that they were just cardboard cards – no circuity. So how was the radio knowing which card was inserted and what was stored in the memory.

The radio comes with four double side cards. Three of the cards are for the memories while the fourth is a card used to set the clock. Following are photos of the “L” series cards:

As you can see some cards are pre-programmed for Radio Stations and some are Free Memories for you to program your own station. But since the memories are NOT stored on the cards, how does the radio know which card is inserted and which memory on the card is selected?

Each card has one or two white tabs on the left of the card. There are three possible tab locations. A review of the service manual and the wiring diagram shows that the locations of these tabs make up a binary code for 1 to 7. (only 7 is needed since the clock card is single sided while the other three cards are double sided) The clock card has all three white tabs and is thus seven (Tab 1 = 1, Tab 2 = 2 and tab 3 =4 for 1+2+4 = 7). Then each of the other cards are 1 thru 6 depending on the tab locations. The radio has infrared leds along with sensors. By shining a LED light onto the card, the radio can sense which card is inserted and then reference the correct ten memory locations in the storage..

The memories are stored in an EEPROM chip soldered into the radio. Depending on where the radio was purchased, a different set of memories would be pre-programmed into the chip in the radio. An associated set of memory cards would be provided with the radio. There were at least the following different set of memories manufactured with associated card sets as follows:

Area 5/AE7 Austria:

(Card Series “I”)
- Card 1: Austrian Radio 1/Austrian Radio 2
- Card 2: Omnibus 1/Omnibus 2
- Card 3: Free Memories 1/Free Memories 2

Area 3/AE7 Swiss:

Card 1: Omnibus 1/Omnibus 2
Card 2: Omnibus 3/Free Memories 1
Card 3: Free Memories 2/Free Memories 3

Area AE6 Germany:

(Card Series “A”)
- Card 1: Deutsche Welle/Omnibus 1
- Card 2: Omnibus 2/Free Memories 1
- Card 3: Free Memories 2/Free Memories 3

Area 2/AE7: Scandinavia:

Card 1: Danmarks Radio/Norsk Rikskringkasting
Card 2: Sveriges Radio/ Yleis Radio
Card 3: BBC/Free Memories

Area 6/AE7 Portugal:

Area 7/AE7 Europe:

(Card Series “N”)
- Card 1: BBC/VOA
- Card 2: Free Memories 1/Free Memories 2
- Card 3: Free Memories 3/Free Memories 4

Area 7/AE7 International Sales Division in Europe:

Card 1: BBC/Omnibus FM
Card 2: Free Memories
Card 3: BBC/Omnibus SW

Area US United States:

(Card Series “L”)
- Card 1: Deutsche Welle/Radio Moscow
- Card 2: Voice of America 1/Voice of America 2
- Card 3: BBC/Free Memories

Area UK United Knigdom:

(Card Series “B”)
- Card 1: BBC (FM)/Omnibus (FM)
- Card 2: BBC World Service/Omnibus (SW)
- Card 3: Free Memories 1/Free Memories 2

It should be noted that even though a memory is preprogrammed (in the chip), you could re-program the memory using the “WRITE” feature on the card. Most of the cards just show memory location 0-9 with no indication of the frequency. Some cards do indicate the radio station but not the frequency. For example, Card Series “A”, Deutsche Welle has DW 0 thru DW 9 on the card:

In the packing material that came with my US version, there is a small fold out piece of paper that lists the Memory Presets for each card along with the preset frequency, broadcast time and coverage area:

There is no way to know from the outside of the radio which memory chip was pre-programmed at the factory. The model number does not differentiate between the regions. If the back cover of the radio is removed, then there is a printed sticker on the circuit board denoting which region the radio is for.

For example, one of my radios has a sticker with “E” on it to denote that it for the Europe market:

At this point, Sony was trying to market to people who just wanted to listen to their favorite station, be it FM or SW. Thus a simple to use. pre-programed radio. Never mind the fact that radio stations may change frequencies, or even disappear entirely. At least the ICF-SW800 allowed the user to re-program all the memories.

Sony also made two other radios that used the cards for memory.

The first was the ICR-SW700. This was a two band receiver covering MW and SW.

The second radio was the ICF-M500 which was made for the Japanese market. This radio was FM/AM two band radio:

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Audio Plugins For Radios, Part 3 – VST Technical Setup

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares the following guest post. Click here to check out all of the posts in this Audio Plugin series:

Audio Plugins For Radios, Part 3 – VST Technical Setup

by TomL

Processing legacy audio still has a place in an increasingly digital world for the time being. The first article on this topic was strictly using the speaker jack output from an old Kenwood transceiver using a simple Behringer UCA-202 RCA-to-USB converter. However, my main receive radio is the SDR based AirSpy HF+. Either type of radio should work with the apps discussed below as long as the audio gets to your Windows computer unmolested. There are VST apps for Mac and Linux, too.

VST apps: VST3/VST2/DLL files

Also mentioned was how to install VST Host and the VST apps run inside it. A simple reminder is that VST Host does not really install. It just resides in any one Directory/Folder you want and you create a shortcut to run VSTHOST.EXE. All the .XML files and profiles will be stored there.

I like tinkering with many apps but you may prefer things a lot simpler. I use 64-bit versions when possible, like VST3 and x64 DLL files. Because of the myriad settings involved, I will just list the apps in order of processing with brief comments. The second icon on the top of each app opens up its control panel and the bottom left icon will Bypass the app as if it is not in the audio chain. The top-left icon Links to the Preceding app in the audio chain. Most controls inside the apps let you double-click on that control to reset to a default.

The general functional order of these apps is:

Limiting/Compressing volume – dealing with shortwave signal volume spikes plus judiciously squeezing high & low volumes for a more even sound.
High Pass & Low Pass Filters – limit the frequency range apps will need to work on.
De-noising – the biggest challenge in shortwave is to reduce static and local noise without damaging the wanted audio.
EQ adjustments – frequency tweaks.
De-essing – getting rid of screechy “sss”, “shhh”, and “squeak” noises as well as fading distortion, perhaps the second hardest thing to do.
Then a final Drive/Gain control to feed into the Windows mixer.
Special Effects apps, like adding stereo, or reverb, etc.

I would suggest not to spend any money until you get to use apps from each of these broad categories to understand how they work. It is very easy to destroy the audio with a couple of offending settings. If you need help with understanding how plugins work, there are plenty of YouTube videos available. One channel I like is “In The Mix” from a Scottish music production engineer, Michael Wynne (over 1 million subs!). He gives simple to understand instruction videos (especially EQ and Compressors), among other topics.

Check out: YouTube – In The Mix

Welcome to the world of Audio Production. Here are some plugins (most are FREE!):

Reaper ReaComp – A Compressor which I am using to limit volume spikes in the <300 Hz range.

Kotelnikov – A great dynamic Compressor that helps compress volume peaks in both Peak and RMS (average) levels. Useful for highly variable signals and highly recommended.

Reaper ReaFir – A dynamic processor, the Subtract feature is a special “negative EQ” which only reduces specified frequency “Points”. It is also used as a brick filter for low & high frequency limits.

Klevgrand Brusfri Denoiser – In Swedish, “brusfri” means “noise free”, and is a Denoiser app that functions similarly to Audacity’s Noise Reduction feature but works in real time. I move to a blank frequency on the same shortwave band, have Brusfri “Learn” for about 5 seconds, and it starts working.

Bertom Denoiser Pro – A good Denoiser app but on noisy shortwave it can have digital artifacts that get very loud. I use it sparingly immediately after Brusfri.

Bitsonic Sound Recovery – This app beings midrange more forward and can brighten up dull audio. However, it can lead to increased sibilances, accentuated fading distortion, and “boxy” sounding voices.

TDR Nova – A clean sounding parametric EQ; my settings are a work-in-progress for best settings. I am experimenting with having the Wideband setting do most of the work with a slight expansion of the audio coming from the SDR. Also used as a better Gain control for Bitsonic.

Modern Exciter – Set to MIN for shortwave, this app can enhance the extreme low and extreme high frequencies without increasing noise.

LOADES – A DeEsser from Analog Obsession, controls sibilance and squeaks (beware of wonky controls!).

Klevgrand Brusfri Denoiser & Bertom Denoiser Pro run a second time. More Denoising is needed after the processing done by Bitsound, TDR Nova, and Modern Exciter.

Klevgrand FreeAmp – A simple Drive and Gain control that was free when I purchased Brusfri. It makes sure audio is driven correctly into Voicemeeter AUX Input.

Voxengo Stereo Touch – Allows adding “stereo” to a mono signal. Various Presets are available, from narrow (Voice or Guitar) to wide soundspaces (Stage, Surround, and Wide). Very interesting!

Here are three VST Host processed .MP3 files from an IQ recording of Radio Amazonia using 5.3 kHz & 7kHz filters in SDR Console 3.2 (Noise Reduction 4 was used but only 1dB Reduction). The third one is using the Stereo Touch app using just the lowest setting (Voice). I like it! 🙂 :

VST processed 5.3k:

VST processed 7 kHz:

VST processed 7 kHz with Stereo Touch:

Click here to download all VST processed 5.3k & 7k .MP3 files

Happy Listening & 73’s,

TomL

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TomL’s Guide to Audio Plugins For Radios: Part 2 – SDR Recording

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares the following guest post. Click here to check out all of the posts in this Audio Plugin series:

Audio Plugins For Radios, Part 2 – SDR Recording

by TomL

I started investigating using the old Kenwood transceiver to send audio to my laptop and process the receive audio using VST Host for a number of functions: Noise reduction, Equalization, reduce Sibilances and fading distortion, increase presence of vocals without sounding boxy, etc. It was a qualified success depending on what VST apps I used, in what order they were used, and what settings each of them were set to. In this episode of ongoing discovery, I will attempt to show how easy it is to OVER-process the shortwave broadcast audio plus comparisons to my regular Audacity post-recording treatment.

Audio Examples

I noticed for the first time that the SDR creates a somewhat compressed file which can be seen when comparing the Waveforms of SDR vs. VST Host output files. This means that the unprocessed SDR file will always appear to sound louder because of this compression. This loss of Dynamic Range makes it harder to do the comparison. Therefore, the Audacity-only examples below are reduced 3dB or 5dB to maintain apparent loudness.

Example 1: KBS Weekend Playlist – S6-S9 signal, somewhat severe fading and moderate polar flutter.

SDR Console 3.2 using my usual NR4 set to 2dB Reduction, 30% Smoothing, and 3dB Rescale plus a Blackman-Harris-7, 5.3 kHz filter.

AUDACITY file is using my usual Audacity noise reduction:

VST version 2: Used my first set of VST apps. Sounds harsh with hash-noise and overdriven:

VST version 3: Used way too much bass, too much grunge, attenuated highs, still overdriven:

VST version 4: Using a different order to the Denoiser apps, added in Modern Exciter app, cut back on some bass but still too much, and overly forward sounding midrange:

VST version 5: My current Baseline setup. Adjusted the Denoiser apps, less extreme bass & treble, adjusted the De-Esser app, set the midrange to be less forward with just a single setting:

To my ears, Audacity processing is nice but as discovered before, sounds compressed and does not reduce some of the other problems inherent in shortwave signal fading and loss of musicality. It sounds utilitarian. Also, the noise is a bit more gnarly.

Versions 2-5 go through iterations of listening to the exact same segment over and over (and over) and trying different VST apps and settings. I think my comments are mostly accurate next to each version. However, you may think differently and perhaps prefer the sound of one of the other versions?

Example 2: Encore Classical Music, WRMI (fading S9 signal) – Audacity vs. Version 5 VST settings. VST is quieter and sounds less harsh than the Audacity version. A generally more smooth sound.

Example 3: RCI in Russian, S7-S9 with moderate polar flutter – 7kHz filter in SDR Console but VST Host is using BritPre, an analog preamp using a 6 kHz low pass filter to try to reduce DSP filter “ringing”. It shows some interesting possibilities.

Example 4: RCI in Russian – Music from the same broadcast and VST Host setup in Example 3. The screeching flute is under more control and strings more defined in the VST version.

Conclusions

I like the results of the audio processing that eventually ended up with “version 5” (plus the possibilities at 7kHz, too). It is not Earth-shattering but is an incremental improvement in my opinion (there is always room for improvement). I can use it in a simple Workflow anytime I want to record something off of the SDR. Also, I had already been using Voicemeeter Pro, a software audio mixer. It is setup with different profiles to do SDR, Ham, FM Broadcast, and now, VST Host audio routing. This process took a long time but seems satisfactory to use as a Baseline setup, which then can be tweaked slightly depending on various types of audio coming from the SDR. These changes in VST Host can be stored as their own unique profiles for audio processing.

However, a word of warning! Messing with Windows audio Sound settings and mixer software is potentially a confusing process and one can easily end up with a spaghetti-pile of conflicting connections, no audio output, doubled echo output, distortion, way too loud, way too soft, etc. If you start this experimentation, make sure to write down your current Windows Sound settings, both the Playback and the Recording settings for each item listed.

Having an SDR radio + Voicemeeter + VST Host is a very flexible setup. I can now safely say that the only thing I need Audacity for is to Normalize the peak audio to the -1 dB broadcast standard volume, which is a HUGE time saver. The SDR Console IQ files can be scheduled and processed from there at a later time. Also, the use of Voicemeeter Pro allows me to switch when to use VST Host anytime I feel like it, and Voicemeeter Pro comes with its own (manually engaged) Recorder.

Part 3 of this series will discuss Technical details for my setup. Your setup may need different settings or you may find a better way than I did. This will take some dedicated time.

Happy Listening and 73’s,

TomL

Click here to follow all of the articles in TomL’s audio plugin series.

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TomL’s Guide to Using Computer Audio PlugIns with Older Radios

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

Using Computer Audio PlugIns with Older Radios

by TomL

Older radios have a way to get audio out to speakers or another audio input device, usually just a headphone jack. Software for processing audio are plentiful and very useful tools, called VST’s. Furthermore, most Plugins were made for Musicians needing full frequency spectrum capability. I will use my Kenwood TS-590S amateur radio as a test case. I have used its speaker output to a cheap Behringer UCA-202 RCA to USB converter (it has its own volume control to keep it from overloading).

Amazon Link: Behringer UCA202

My Windows 10 Sounds Properties sees this audio as “3-USB Audio CODEC” which I have enabled on a physical USB hub with individual power switches for each port. Thanks to Steve (K1GMM) and his YouTube channel (K1GMM Green Mountain Maniac) for describing how to use Windows plugins for processing either Receive or Transmit audio. This article only focuses on Receive audio.

For my simpler needs, I have chosen to use VST Host. It will run the small “apps” that usually have a file extension of .VST or .DLL. I downloaded it right from Steve’s website:

https://kc1egu.wixsite.com/essb-ham-radio/copy-of-icom-ic7300-others

I then downloaded a number of plugins suggested by Steve on his web site (“More” Menu pulldown, DAW’s/VST DOWNLOADS). Each VST file can be copied to a central directory/folder on your computer and all read from the same place inside the VST Host. Most of these are Windows types but there are some for Linux if that is something you use. I found that VST Host does NOT like a write- protected directory, so it and the VST’s reside in my top-level Documents directory.

My resulting “chain” of VST’s process the audio from my 3-USB Audio CODEC in a sequential manner, which are:

ModernAmplifier (a Limiter to keep strong signals from overloading the processing)
ReaFir (an interesting “Subtract” feature where I cut down on the “roar” around 800-1200 Hz)
Bertom Denoiser Pro (EXCELLENT static & background noise reducer)
TDR Nova (a powerful, well-made Compessor & DynamicEQ combo)
Sennheiser-AMBEO-Orbit (a Binaural soundscape).

Once VST Host is installed, create a separate folder for the VST files. Now just copy the VST3 or DLL file for each of the apps downloaded like the ones I list above. If you have a 32-bit version of Windows, you will have to use the VST’s that are 32-bit, not 64-bit.

In VST Host, set the Wave Input and Output and sampling rate (Menu: Devices—Wave). In my case it is the aforementioned 3-USB Audio CODEC for (Microphone) Input Port and VoiceMeeter Aux-Input for the Output Port. The sampling rate is set to 48000 (You can choose Output to your “Default Speakers” which should be in the list if you do not use an extra mixer software like I do).

Now, go to Menu: File, Plugins and load each plugin that you want to use. The VST3 or DLL files should all be in the same directory that you made earlier. You may have to tell VST Host where to find them by setting the Plugin Path (Menu: File, Set Plugin Path…).

Now, once you have all the VST apps opened, you will notice that all of their individual outputs go directly to the VST Host Output. Not good, since your computer will not have enough cores to parallel-process all of these apps at the same time. So, Unchain them all by right-clicking on each app and choosing “Unchain”.

Now you will see all of the yellow connecting lines gone. Arrange (click/drag) each app in sequential order on the screen. Starting from the bottom up, right click on the app just above VST Output and choose Chain After…

Repeat up the chain, choosing the one above it to Chain After until you are left with a Daisy-Chain of apps, each output going to the Input of the next app in your desired order of processing:

Now turn on the radio to get audio going through the chain of apps. Tweaking each app is part of the tedious process of learning if an app will help or not. Just replace and Chain After in the order you want with other VST apps that you find more helpful. Tinkering with this should yield some satisfactory results if you do not overdo applying features in each app. To save the layout and VST settings, go to Menu: Performance, Save As and give it a name to store in the data file shown (just a name since it will put it into the default line 000 for you). You can choose this in future sessions from the main pulldown Menu below File. (Note: It is called “Performance” because this stuff was written for Musicians to save their home studio music along with the settings for shaping the music tracks; 99% of planet earth calls this a “Layout”, a la, Microsoft Office)

Here are two examples of sound from the radio without processing and then adding in each app over a few seconds.

LZ1AA from Bulgaria. Processing 10 secs., off 15 secs., on again 8 secs.

CHU Canada. Processing on, space, processing off. Notice a little “water” effect since AM Broadcast needs quite different settings compared to SSB Ham Radio.

You can check out Steve’s “Green Mountain Maniac” YouTube channel and see for yourself what can be done with sound processing for Radio. Some of his techniques can be used with old shortwave radio receivers as long as it has a working headphone jack or AUX Out jack:

K1GMM-RXDAP VST HOST YouTube video

Cheers and Happy Listening,

TomL

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Guest Post: Here Come the Lithiums

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

Power Play – Here Come the Lithiums

by Bob Colegrove

I have belonged to several radio-oriented user groups in recent years and can’t help noticing how often the subject of batteries comes up. It’s almost a sub-hobby within the hobby. There are a couple of reasons for this, first is the unending quest for the ultimate cost-effective, everlasting battery, and second, it’s a rare opportunity for most of us to tinker in an increasingly complex world of technology.

Lithium batteries offer a sustainable voltage output well into their discharge cycle and can deliver a higher rate of current than alkaline batteries. They are somewhat lighter in weight than alkaline batteries – 2.5 oz. versus 5 oz. for D-cells.

Considering the fast pace of technology, lithium batteries have been with us for a comparatively long time, this in the form of cell phone and camera power, not to mention a host of electric appliances. Most of these batteries have limited purpose, that is they have been developed and packaged for just a few applications, thus resulting in an incredible variety of sizes and shapes, and no doubt a host of frustrations due to obsolescence. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the early days of transistor radios which ran on a wide array of zinc-carbon batteries.

Perhaps I have been asleep at the wheel, but it has only come to my attention recently that lithium chemistry has begun to backfill the standard battery sizes we have long been familiar with, namely AAA, AA, C, D, and even the PP3 standard 9 volt.

I have been running along quite successfully for more than 10 years on AA NiMH technology on several portable radios. Although these run at a slightly lower cell voltage of 1.25 Vdc, the one-for-one substitution of these for alkaline chemistry has seldom been a problem in terms of performance. In most cases, newer radios are provided with an alkaline/NiMH-NiCad setting to compensate for the difference in voltage. Even the venerable Sony ICF SW7600GR, for which alkaline batteries are assumed, seems to operate equally well either way.

My problem has always been the larger power consumers running on D-cells – the Sony ICF 2010 and Grundig Satellit 800 to cite two examples. A fresh set of NiMH batteries put the 2010 on the cusp of poor performance. Lithium batteries having a sustainable single-cell voltage of 1.5 Vdc now provide a possible alternative to a steady diet of costly alkaline cells. Even more attractive, some are equipped with a USB-C connector and can be recharged without a dedicated charger.

In the figure above, a set of four lithium D cells are connected simultaneously through a 4-lead USB-C harness and USB charger (not shown). Many of the brands include the harness with a set of batteries. I have added a USB multimeter, which I find very useful to monitor the progress of the charge, but this is not necessary. This particular meter can also show accumulated capacity. However, it should be noted that, unless batteries are charged one at a time, charging rate and capacity will show the total values for the number of batteries being charged. I would also recommend that the USB charger be rated at least 3 amps. In the figure below, one of the USB-C leads is connected at the top of the battery. The built-in LED flashes during charge and remains on when the charge is complete.

Cost is an equally important consideration. There is a lot of hype in the marketing department about how many times these batteries can be recharged. The key compound preposition here is “up to,” and as long as they use those words, they can make the number anything they want to. That said, it simply won’t take more than a few cycles for the cost-benefit cusp to be reached in favor of lithium batteries.

I am just getting started with this. Although the batteries came highly recommended for the portable radio application, I can make no judgment at this time as to their ultimate quality or convenience. It just seems like the next logical way to go.

There are some things to remember when choosing lithium batteries. Not all lithium batteries are rechargeable, particularly smaller sizes. Some do not come with the built-in USB-C charging jack, so a separate charger intended for lithium batteries will be required. D size batteries are also available at 3.6 Vdc/cell. There may be other options, so watch out. Be sure to thoroughly check the features of any batteries you consider.

I would close by warning that lithium batteries come with safety caveats regarding their transport, handling, use, charging, and disposal. These precautions are all well stated in the literature, which should be followed with an abundance of caution. Of note is the fact that not all chargers support lithium batteries, and their capability should be checked as well.

Click here to check out these Lithium D Cells on Amazon.com (SWLing Post affiliate link), or explore other brands.

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