Tag Archives: Robert Gulley

Radio Waves: Crossband Test Postponed, VI3RA Event Videos, WWII Radio, and Look Inside a Panasonic RF-4900

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers.  To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Harald Kuhl, Michael Bird, and Carel Kuijer for the following tips:


Annual Armed Forces Day Crossband Test Postponed (ARRL News)

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 response and mitigation actions, the 2020 Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test scheduled for Saturday, May 9, has been postponed. Because it’s uncertain just when stay-at-home orders will be lifted across the US, AFD planners chose to postpone this year’s event, because the government stations that typically support this event may not be available. Armed Forces Day Crossband Test planners are considering scheduling a November event in honor of Veteran’s Day, depending on COVID-19 mitigation actions. During the AFD Crossband Test, military stations in various locations transmit on selected military frequencies and announce the specific ham frequencies they are monitoring to work radio amateurs. — Thanks to US Army MARS Program Chief Paul English, WD8DBY

Radio Australia Event – Antenna Overview (Mount Evelyn DX Report)

Thanks to Lee VK3GK for this short video of the antennas used for the recent Radio Australia event using the call sign VI3RA. Take what will possibly be a final look at the feeders, switching boxes and antennas before they are pulled down and junked!

Also here is the final transmission of the event weekend with, of course, the famous Radio Australia music box interval signal.

Click here to view both videos at the Mt Evelyn DX Report.

World War II and Radio (All Things Radio)

I have added an article I wrote some years back on the code breaking efforts of the Allies during WWII. While certainly not exhaustive, I found many of the connections between countries and equipment rather fascinating, and new things continue to pop up regarding Bletchley Park’s role in training officers and decoding texts. While most famously known for breaking the Enigma code, also significant was the breaking of the Lorenz Cipher.

Click Here to download the article in PDF format.

73, Robert K4PKM

Look Inside This Radio Receiver! The Collectible Panasonic RF 4900 (Mr. Carlson’s Lab – YouTube)

Let’s look inside this Panasonic RF-4900 radio receiver, and see what we have to restore.


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Radio Waves: New FCC RF Exposure Limits, Rediscovering Spark Gap, Zoom Vulnerabilities, and Extremely Rare Film of MI6 Section VIII

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers.  To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Paul Evans, and Robert Gulley for the following tips:


FCC Publishes new RF exposure rules (Federal Register)

The FCC has published the new rules in the Federal Register.

Paul notes:

Different above 6GHz
Expanding rules from 3 kHz – 300 GHz to 3 kHz – 3 THz (inc. light
frequency RF sources, essentially future proofing rules)
Introducing SAR measurements from 100 kHz to 6 GHz (impact to ARS)
Introducing MPE measurements above 6 GHz
Introducing ideas for WPT at and below 100 kHz, with control over the
wires or remotely over the air. This is (obviously) for EV charging.
They say nothing about harmonics, filtering, etc.[]

We Rediscover Spark Gap Radio by Accident (CuriousMarc via YouTube)

It’s 1890 all over again in the lab. By complete accident, I find myself the new owner of a high voltage box that turns out to be a vintage Xenon lamp sparker. Not only do we make it work, but we use it to retrace the critical experiments that led to the discovery of radio, using the lamp starter as the spark gap transmitter, and a coherer as the receiver.[..]

Click here to view on YouTube.

Zoom taking your club online – DON’T (Southgate ARC)

On Friday 3rd April, we carried an item regarding the use of Zoom for club meetings.

However, we have since been contacted by Paul, VP9KF, who offers this note of caution.

He says:
“This story http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/april/zoom-taking-your-radio-club-online.htm on your page recently is over-shadowed by the news as follows:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/02/zoom-technology-security-coronavirus-video-conferencing

Don’t use Zoom and get hacked ”

Our thanks to Paul for this informative, if not rather worrying, news item.

[Paul notes that Skype Conference Call is the best method because it is “secure, end to end. In browser (sandbox) with HTML5 embedded features.”]

WW2 Codebreakers: Bletchley Park activities revealed in unique footage – The Hidden Film (YouTube)

Discover the story behind the recently discovered only known wartime film footage of a secret site connected to Bletchley Park.

A silent film, recently donated to Bletchley Park Trust, is believed to be a compilation of footage recorded between 1939 – 1945, showing members of MI6 Section VIII at Whaddon Hall, Buckinghamshire. During World War Two, this was a most secret site where Ultra intelligence produced by the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park would be sent, and then passed on to Allied commanders in the field.

In this mini-documentary, hear Bletchley Park Veteran, Geoffery Pidgeon who worked in MI6 Section VIII during WW2, recall how it felt to watch the film for the first time and recognise his father. Peronel Craddock, Bletchley Park’s Head of Collections and Exhibitions and Dr. David Kenyon, Research Historian at Bletchley Park also talk about why the discovery of this film is so important.

Watch the original footage: https://youtu.be/bvVaFE5O3eY


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Robert’s Series: “The Care and Feeding of Electronic Equipment”

SWLing Post contributor, Robert Gulley (K4PKM–formerly AK3Q) recently posted two excellent articles on his website about the “care and feeding” of electronic equipment.  Here’s the description from Robert’s blog, All Things Radio:

Just a quick note to let you know there are two new articles published in the Reviews and How-Tos section dealing with simple checks and preventative care of electronic equipment. Over the years I have learned some important lessons for keeping computers and radios working properly, with the goal of having as little downtime as possible. The two articles were originally published in The Spectrum Monitor June and August issues, respectively. (If you have not subscribed to this magazine, you really should check it out – it is in my opinion the best radio magazine on the market today, and not just because they occasionally publish my articles!)

Here’s a quick link to the review page:

Reviews and How-Tos

And while you are there, check out some of the other reviews I have posted! Cheers, Robert K4PKM

Your articles are always amazing, Robert.  Thanks for sharing!

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eBay find: Zenith Transoceanic in an Unopened Box

zenith-transoceanic

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Robert Gulley, who shares this link to an eBay auction for a Zenith Transoceanic D7000Y in an unopened box!

Let’s be clear here: this is no “Black Friday” deal. The seller has this gem listed at $5,800 plus shipping! I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen a Transoceanic listed at this price level.

zenith-transoceanic-ebay

Of course, as one friend always reminds me: “eBay is there to show you things you’d rarely stumble upon in daily life–you just need a chunk of change to snag it!”

The seller is listing this as-is since he isn’t going to open the box to test the unit. He does claim that if it arrives DOA, he’ll have is repaired free of charge (buyer pays shipping).

Still: $5,800 is hefty sum–several thousand over my threshold! No doubt, a Transoceanic collector will snag this eventually.

Click here to view this listing on eBay.

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