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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bob Heil (K9EID), who writes:
You may be interested to know about the Saturday evening Theatre Organ shows on the 100KW of WTWW:
Bob Heil at a Sacramento Wurlitzer Console
“Theatre Organ from the Ozarks” each Saturday at 8PM CST (0200 UTC Sunday) on WTWW shortwave 5.085 MHz.
Many readers might not know that Bob Heil is a man of many talents. Not only is he the founder of Heil Sound, and a host on HamNation, but Bob is an incredibly talented organist.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his updated Music on Shortwave list for the B16 period. Alan’s music guide incorporates several suggested additions by SWLing Post readers.
Alan, again, thank you so much for publishing this brilliant little guide!
Recently I have spent a little more time listening out for Tropical Band stations from my shack in Oxford UK, attempting to emulate some of the very nice signals I have previously recorded out on DX’peditions. The obvious problems with this (and they are numerous) include the relatively weak signal strength of many tropical band stations, the ubiquitous blanket of QRM, resulting in generally poor SNR, lack of space for a large antenna……need I go on?! Fortunately, the Elad FDM DUO has proven to be a very senstive and selective receiver, capable of, at times, incredible SNR, coupled with almost limitless signal conditioning options and SSB, SYNC, ECSS etc. Throw the Wellbrook ALA1530 active loop into the mix (not literally!) and you have a very powerful Tropical Band receive set-up. The Wellbrook is able to null most (although not all) QRM in my shack and that really can make the difference between simply observing a carrier and actually hearing audio. Clearly one cannot expect to hear DX at home under heavy QRM as well as you might outdoors, however, the following stations were logged in the past month or so, with respectable signals, with the ALA1530 indoors:
Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.
The Elad FDM DUO makes for a fantastic receiver, in both standalone mode and via the FDM-SW2 software. Thus far it has been demonstrating this by outperforming the Sony ICF-2001D in many of my reception tests using an experimental longwire antenna. Bear in mind that whilst this might not be such a surprise, the Elad without the FDM-SW2 software driving it has no SYNC, which is often invaluable for Tropical Band DXing. To make the point further, here is a wonderfully clear signal from Ethiopia, with, in my experience at least, exceptional signal-to-noise.
My 200 metre longwire is still very much a work in progress. I am in the process of building a termination resistance box, receiver-end termination suitable for high and low impedance inputs and earthing straps for metre-long copper pipes that will remain in-situ. When I have completed these tasks, I will record a video because I know some of you are interested in the details. For now though, it just remains an experiment – 200 metres of wire and very late nights/ early mornings! Recorded at the ‘DX woods’ in Oxford UK at 03:23 hrs UTC on 31/07/16. Thanks for watching.
Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.
This is so fantastic, full of numbers stations including the very weird Asian ones, interval signal inspired tunes, data bursts and general shortwave radio weirdness.
Plenty of deep mixed samples of Radio Peking, Moscow, NHK, VOA etc.
Hopefully you can listen to it on Spotify, Apple Music or somewhere though any progressive DXer won’t be disappointed if they chose to purchase the album.
Mark actually sent this tip several weeks ago–immediately after the album release. I had problems, at first, downloading the album (probably because I was outside of the US at the time). I finally did download it, though, and I agree with Mark: it’s well-worth a listen. I’ve added it to my music collection.
Növö may not appeal to everyone, but if you’re a fan of electronic music with heavy use of samples and an “industrial” flavor, you’ll love The Shortwaves.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his updated Music on Shortwave list for the A16 period. This version (2.1) incorporates several suggested additions by SWLing Post readers.
Alan, again, thank you so much for publishing this excellent little guide!