Tag Archives: Mods

Video: Antonio’s Kenwood R-2000 Modifications

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following:

Antonio Fernandez, who is in Spain, posted this on the Extreme page. Very interesting R-2000 mods:

Major modifications are adjustable RF GAIN (using the former TONE control), BFO Pitch control (former AM Squelch, FM Squelch is retained) and DSP Audio filtering for SSB and CW. Internal DSP module is SOTABEAMS Laserbeam Filter Module. The former DIMMER and NB push switches are used for switching on (bypassing) the DSP module and bandwidth (CW, SSB) selection.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Those are brilliant modifications on a classic receiver!  Thank you for sharing, Dan!

Check out more videos from Antonio Fernandez on his YouTube channel.

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Jesse’s DX-390/ATS-818 modifications

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jesse (W9JES) who writes:

I’ve been busy enhancing my Radio Shack DX-390. I added an IF-Out jack for my SDR, changed out the light for a LED, added a latch circuit for the light switch, added static protection, and disabled auto-mute. My blog with full instructions is at www.w9jes.com

Thank you, Jesse!  Here are links to the various modifications Jesse has documented:

Click here to check out Jesse’s website.

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Modifying a Degen DE1103 DSP for longwave/VLF?

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jiri Kaplan, who writes:

Is it possible to modify the new (DSP) DEGEN DE1103 for VLF reception?

Like before, the old Degen version (without DSP), see these videos:

I wonder if instead of the DE1103 I should buy the PL-660 or PL-680?
I think DSP is worse and the old version can no longer unfortunately be purchased.
My main concern is good selectivity and sensitivity, I live in the city, there are many strong signals.

Thank you for your question, Jiri.

I’m certain you can’t use the same modification of the original DE1103 on the DSP version to achieve VLF reception. In fact, unless the DSP chip itself can be hacked, I imagine modding the DSP DE1103 for VLF would be quite difficult.

I hope more knowledgeable SWLing Post readers can comment with a definitive answer.

Regarding the choice between the DE1103 DSP and the PL–660 or PL-680? I wouldn’t hesitate to grab either Tecsun receiver over the DE1103 DSP. Check out my short review of the DE1103 DSP for more info about this particular model’s shortcomings.

You’re right about finding the original DE1103. I did create this eBay link that should help filter out the DSP models from the search results. At time of posting, there were no listings.

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Rolf’s Sony ICF-SW35 mod removes the beep sound

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rolf Snijder, who shares the following modification for the Sony ICF-SW35. The mod is very simple: remove one capacitor.

Rolf shows the capacitor location on the following images:

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

Thanks, once again, for sharing your modifications, Rolf!

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Rolf’s LED backlight mod for Sony ICF-SW35

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rolf Snijder, who writes:

This is a simple LED backlight modification for the Sony ICF-SW35.

Simply add a 120K resistor and a bright LED:

Overview of resistor placement. (Click to enlarge)

Detail of Pin 10 (Click to enlarge)

Detail of resistor. (Click to enlarge)

Detail of Pin 10 (Click to enlarge)

Detail of LED placement–replacement of capacitor is not necessary. (Click to enlarge)

When you push the backlight switch, the light stays on.

When radio is turned off, the light goes off–then push light switch and backlight will stay on for 15 seconds or so.

Thanks for sharing this simple mod, Rolf!

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Rolf’s PL-680 modification allows external antenna on LW and MW

The Tecsun PL-680

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rolf Snijder, who writes:

I did a modification today on the Tecsun PL-680 [which allows for an] external antenna on LW and MW.

The internal ferriet is also working, but on my active loop, MW and LW is now working !

So far away stations I can now receive on this portable radio.
It is only a560 pF capacitor added!

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

It works on LW and MW now with this mod.

FM is less now I think, maybe I will put it on a switch so I can turn it off.
And now also the ferrite is still working, so I hope to find a solution for that.

Many thanks for sharing your modification and photos, Rolf! Check out Rolf’s other PL-680 mod by clicking here.

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Tecsun PL-300 series modification: disabling soft mute

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who shares the following tip. Troy writes:

While surfing the Net I found the following procedure that is said to “disable soft muting in Tecsun 300-series radios”.

I have a PL-390 and this has indeed seemed to work on it but I didn’t notice a difference with my PL-365.

Since I just found & tried this, I don’t know if this procedure must be repeated each time you use the radio? Maybe [Post readers] have heard of this before and/or have experience with it?

Here is the “reported” [supposed?] procedure that worked for the PL-390:

To disabling “Soft Mute” on Tecsun 300-series radios:

1. Select a shortwave frequency, preferably where there is no stations transmitting.
2. Tune down the frequency range with the dial, don’t tune up or it won’t work
3. Press the VF Scan button to let it automatically tune down
4. Tune down with the dial to stop the automatic scan. If the background noise is higher, then the “soft mute” / “dynamic squelch” has been disabled.

Thank you, Troy! I was unaware of this modification, but it seems easy enough to implement.

Post readers: Anyone have experience using this mod across the Tecsun 300-series receivers? Please comment!

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