Tag Archives: Shortwave Radio

Moshe’s early birthday gift: a Philips 90AL765

SWLing Post contributor, Moshe, writes:

After reading your post about your Panasonic RF2200 pre-birthday present, I decided I want to do the same. The radio I chose has a story behind it…

My Grandfather had the same exact radio. I used to play around with the radio as a child, (especially with the shortwave bands, looking for number stations…). When my Grandfather died, about 23 years ago, the radio disappeared.

I decided this is the radio I want for my birthday. I could not remember the maker of the radio, nor it’s model, but I remembered how it looked.

I spent many days looking for all variations like “portable transistor radio” and so on, until I found a photo on the Internet: I was looking for a Philips 90AL765 radio.

I found it on Ebay. A very kind seller from Australia had it.
I purchased and receive the radio on the 26th of June (my birthday was the 12th of July). As soon as I got the radio, I opened it up; it needed cleaning (the case itself and the contacts).

After cleaning the contacts and washing the case, the radio runs (and looks) like new. I thought I would have to recap the radio, but it sounded perfect and without even a hint of hum, so I left it as it is.

It has the volume and tone knobs missing, but it can be operated with no problem. Sound quality is amazing (I added a video of the radio playing All India Radio on 6155 kHz)–it works very well on all bands and is very sensitive. By ear, the bandwidth sounds like 8 kHz or more. Radio bands are: MW, SW (2 bands) And FM.

The shortwave band is divided in two: SW1: 2.3MHz- ~7.4MHz, SW2: ~9.4MHz- 22.5MHz. For fine tuning on shortwave, the radio has a “Fine Tuning” control, which is a potentiometer connected to a varicap.

If you place the control in the middle (It lacks a detent spot) and tune in a station, this control will put you spot-on (the receiver is very stable).

Some info about the radio: According to Radiomuseum.org, the radio is dated to 1977, and was made in Austria (mine and my Grandfather’s were made in Singapore).

It contains 13 transistors, 3 of them are can transistors (not plastic).

Tuning is slide ruler type, and the only connection is A DIN5 for recording (wired for mono).

The radio can be operated from 4 D cells, or directly from AC (in the picture you can see the transformer). It can be operated from 230V or 120V. Note that if you move the plastic pin cover from the left pin to the right one, the center pin remains visible at all times. Also you will have to move the plastic cover piece on the back to the left.

The Ferrite is 14cm long, the telescopic antenna is 79cm fully extended, and it has an elbow joint that allows you to place the radio in your lap and still the antenna will point up with no problem. Only thing is that if the antenna is extended, the handle cannot change position since the antenna is in the way.

Width of the radio itself is 29cm (31cm with the handle and the knobs).
Depth is 7cm.
Height is 16.5cm (21cm with the handle).

All in all, it is a very fine radio and I love it!

Moshe, thanks so much for sharing your story!

Perhaps, one of the true virtues of sites like eBay is that they allow us to search the world for somewhat obscure devices that have such a strong family and nostalgic connections. Congratulations on your find!

Euro Radio: a new shortwave radio broadcaster out of Europe?

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SWLing Post reader, Neil Gates, comments:

“Euro Radio is Europe’s brand new commercial shortwave station which will begin broadcasting on August 1st 2015.

Visit our Facebook page for updates. facebook.com/euroradio6205“

Many thanks, Neil. I have checked the Euro Radio Facebook page and it appears they will broadcast on 6205 kHz AM, starting August 1st, 2015. I haven’t seen a schedule at this point, nor noted their transmitter location.

UPDATE: SWLing Post reader, Jarno, writes:

Looks like Euro Radio 6205 is a pirate and not an official station

Found some info – http://members7.boardhost.com/PirateRadio/msg/1434464301.html

Greek 2kw transmitter but no location yet….

Thanks, Jarno!

Vote: Support the production of a car shortwave radio

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SWLing Post contributor, Fred Studenberg, recently contacted me about an ingenious car (mobile) shortwave radio he’s designed. Though originally designed for his own personal use, Fred’s now considering initiating a production run of the radio for the commercial market. To do so, however, he needs funding to help pay for parts, and this is where we can help: by voting for his shortwave car radio design in this contest–! Fred writes with details about his radio:

I wanted a high performance shortwave receiver in my car without the clutter of a separate unit under the dash. It had to be easy to tune stations and not require any modifications to my car’s built-in radio and audio system. I looked everywhere, and there was nothing that even came close to meeting my requirements.

Being a retired RF communications engineer, I set about designing a high performance digital radio. It installs remotely in the trunk or hatchback area and broadcasts tuned shortwave audio to your car FM radio. No modifications at all to the car radio or FM system are required. It is powered right off your car’s power plug.

Operation is simple: tune your car FM radio to 88.1 or 88.3 and use a small handheld wireless key fob controller to scan through the 100 preset channels. You have access to full shortwave band coverage in 5 KHz tuning steps with excellent sensitivity and selectivity. There is even a digital noise blanker to eliminate spark plug ignition interference. You can also manually scan to find new stations to add to preset memory, quick tune to WWV for time checks, and even switch the audio bandwidth for voice or music.

If your FM radio has RDS display you can see the tuned shortwave frequency as well as a digital “S” meter. If your car radio does not have RDS, it still works. Just press the scan button on the wireless controller until you hear something interesting or go into manual mode and scan the various shortwave bands listening for something of interest.

This started as a project just for my use, but after I showed it to a few people, I was encouraged to make it commercially available. I’ve entered it in a design contest that will provide $10,000 worth of parts to help launch a production run.

You can see full information on the radio at www.carshortwaveradio.com and there is a link right at the top to take one to the voting site, or go directly to the voting site at Your IoT and look for the car shortwave radio entry.

If readers are interested in seeing this in production, indicate your interest by voting. You have to vote by logging in with your Facebook account, which presumes you have a FB account–if not, they are easy to set up, and you can use a pseudonym and leave out all the personal info they ask [for] at signup.

I voted for Fred’s design earlier today. It does require using your Facebook login to vote, but the contest site can only read the public profile you choose to provide, and–if you allow it–your email address.

If you have a Facebook account, please consider helping Fred out by voting for his shortwave car radio design!

Click here to vote!

An eBay caution: some sellers are out for a buck–or hundreds

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SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, has recently noticed exorbitant prices demanded by certain sellers on eBay. Dan writes:

As readers of SWLing Post know, Ebay prices–at least asking prices–can often go completely off the scale.

While it’s true that prices can be as high as the market will bear, some recent examples are cases in point. The RF-2200 by Panasonic was an amazing radio for its time, competing with the SONY 5900W and some other models back in the early days of sophisticated portables. The 2200 was known, and is still respected, for its directional AM loop antenna, and is a prized part of the stables of many SWL’s today.

But let’s face it…only a 2200 found new-in-the-box, or in [like]-new condition, should fetch anything over $250-300. Other examples recently include a DX-302 for which the owner was seeking something like $1200. Price inflation has also been seen with SONY ICF-6800Ws. The [difference] with these sets is that they truly are in new or 10.0 condition, worth several hundred dollars.

New SONY ICF-2010s–[and] there are still some circulating that are new-in-the-box or in [like]-new condition–can and do bring prices north of $400, sometimes more. So do new-in-box SONY ICF-SW100s if they are complete with all accessories, in the box–but beware, they should be the newer modified versions and not the old version (you can tell this by looking at the hinge on the SONY, which should have a notch to indicate the revised version of the radio).

Another classic portable that deserves somewhat higher pricing is the Panasonic RF-B65. In [new-in-the-box] condition, these can go for more than $300.

So, [unless] you’re seeing astronomically high prices for RF-2200s, stop and think about it. These are old portables, and you should not be paying exorbitant prices–UNLESS you [encounter] a time capsule with a radio in the box that was never used. Even so, buyers need to ask multiple questions of sellers to protect yourself.

I agree completely, Dan. If you want to purchase an item at a fair market price or even a bargain, you must do your research before simply using the “Buy It Now” option on eBay. There are plenty of sellers who charge fair prices still; leave the stratospheric-priced items on the eBay shelf.

A case in point (above): never mind the grammar error in the above listing, the $125 “Buy It Now” price for the Tecsun PL-365 is frankly excessive. The PL-365 is identical to the CountComm GP5/SSB–a radio I recently reviewed–and is available new from Universal Radio for $79.95 plus shipping. And since there are currently no other listings for the PL-365 on eBay (I’m not sure why) this price might appear reasonable to a new buyer.

This same seller initially offered the Tecsun PL-365 for a much higher price–in excess of $180, I believe. While this seller has excellent ratings, and no doubt would stand behind the product, the markup is simply too high for me to endorse (hence, no eBay link here).

In the past, I’ve also noted a semi-rare vintage radio–a “boat anchor” variety with a market price of perhaps $1,500–up for auction with a first bid amount in excess of $20,000 US! Yet I felt confident of the $1500 market price because I checked and cross-referenced it in Fred Osterman’s Shortwave Receivers Past & Present, which provides fair market values.

So, while I continue to support eBay, which remains one of the most secure platforms from which to buy unique and vintage goods on the open market, I want to encourage readers to heed Dan’s warning: research all pricing before making radio purchases on eBay…and keep the holes out of your pockets. Note that I will never directly link to unreasonable eBay listings.

SWLing Post DXpedition at PARI is all systems go!

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Some of you may recall a post I published last year regarding a shortwave and medium wave DXpedition at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI), a 200-acre radio astronomy observatory and former NASA tracking station located deep in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Since this is the first event of its kind, we’ve been working closely with PARI staff to put the DXpedition together. And come together, it has.

I’m pleased to announce that we’ve now received the official go-ahead: we’re clear to launch the (first-ever!) 2015 SWLing Post DXpedition, which will take place Friday, October 9, through Sunday, October 11. Come join us!

PARI will soon post the official registration form on their website; of course, I’ll post an update when this form is ready.

Meanwhile, those of you who may be interested in attending, keep reading…and do join our dedicated email discussion group (more info below).

A few DXpedition details…

As I mentioned last year, PARI has agreed to handle all of the event’s arrangements, and will even provide a limited number of basic shared dormitory rooms to the first registrants who request them. An event fee will pay for facilities and PARI staff (see below); modest profits, should there be any, will benefit PARI’s worthy science education mission.

We are fortunate to be sharing the beautiful PARI campus with with a larger party of amateur astronomers, aka, a “star party,” taking place the same weekend; the DXpedition will benefit from this in terms of expanded facilities access. An additional benefit is that we can share our passion for radio with members of the star party, while learning a little about astronomy from their members. And for those of us who enjoy both, all the better.

Costs

The costs associated with the event are as follows:

Registration fee: $100

Lodging: On campus, the fee is $50 per night, per person, in a shared dormitory room; or $20 per night, per tent or travel trailer (no hook ups, though electricity is available). Want to come along, but not interested in roughing it? You’ll find numerous comfortable hotels and inns within a 30-40 minute drive of PARI’s mountain campus.

Meals: Catered meals will be provided for a modest charge to be determined (PARI is working with local food services to arrange our meals currently). Of course, you can always bring your own food and prepare it on-site, as well. The campus has a lunchroom with a microwave.

The PARI campus and accommodation

PARI was formerly a NASA tracking station, and following that, a Department of Defense monitoring facility. Because of the remote nature of the campus, basic on-site dormitories were built; scientists use these throughout the year as they conduct their research, and the shared rooms are available upon request.

Typical PARI dorm room (click to enlarge)

The dormitories are conveniently located in the heart of the 200-acre campus, and sleep about four to each room. These are simple facilities, and no private rooms are offered. Bathrooms (with showers) are shared, and separate buildings house men and women; thus the dormitories may not be the best option if you plan to bring a spouse, a large family, or young children.

Of course, if you enjoy camping and/or star-gazing, you can pitch a tent (just $20/night), or park your travel trailer on campus (also just $20/night). Note that this is not a travel park, thus hook-ups for travel trailers are not supplied, although power is available.

For those who prefer not to camp or stay in a shared room, the nearby mountain town of Brevard, NC (approximately 35 minutes from PARI by car) is a charming small town offering numerous hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, and other comfortable private accommodations. PARI often recommends the Hampton Inn in Brevard, NC. Hotels.com and AirBnB offer alternatives.

Receivers, antennas, and other radio equipment

DXpedition participants should bring their own receivers, antennas, and accessories. If you wish to bring an SDR or tabletop receiver, there are quite a few places on campus where you’ll have access to power. At least one main listening post will be set up under cover, as well, for our participants.

Feel free to bring any type of receiver you like. A few potential participants have noted that they plan to bring a portable receiver only, and that’s absolutely fine–this is your DXpedition, your chance to sit back and listen to your radio without distraction, so any radio you choose to bring is the right one.

Of course, a few SDRs, tabletops, and portable receivers will be available for participants to try out, so if you can’t bring your own receiver, please let me know in advance; I’ll try to reserve a time slot for you to use one of the available rigs.

SWLing Post DXpedition email group

We have created an email discussion group for the DXpedition. If you are seriously considering joining the DXpedition, click here to become a member of the group as this is the place where we’ll organize and make further plans.

Since this is the first time the SWLing Post and PARI have sponsored a DXpedition, we’re certainly trail-blazing here. My sincere hope is that this event will lead to future DXpeditions…not to mention, real friendships among our readers and fellow SWLers.

Looking forward to the DXpedition–we’ll see you at PARI in October!

Lewis Bush seeks London radio listening posts

Art Bell’s “Midnight In The Desert” to be broadcast on shortwave via WTWW and WBCQ

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Mike, who informs us that Art Bell is returning to the airwaves with a new radio show called Midnight in the Desert. Like Coast to Coast AM, (which Bell retired from several years ago) Midnight in the Desert will also focus on paranormal activity.

Mike also points out that Bell has also announced Midnight in the Desert will be broadcast on WTWW (5,085 kHz). WTWW will start airing the show July 20, 2015 from 9:00 pm – Midnight Pacific time.

Indeed, after looking at the list of radio stations rebroadcasting Midnight in the Desert, I noted that WBCQ, in Maine, will also carry the show on 7,490 and 9,330 kHz.

For more information and updates, check out Art Bell’s website.