Tag Archives: SStran AMT3000 AM Transmitter

From the Post Archives: Honoring Memorial Day with Dame Vera Lynn

The following Memorial Day post was originally published on May 25th, 2015:


Dame Vera Lynn

Dame Vera Lynn

Today is Memorial Day, and I’m feeling humbly grateful to all of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Since I’ve been reading a lot of WWII history lately, I’ve also been playing a lot of WWII-era music here in my sanctuary to all things radio.

Few songs sum up the yearning sentiment of World War II better than Vera Lynn’s 1942 rendition of “The White Cliffs of Dover.” It’s an iconic song, one that helped British soldiers see beyond the war while mourning its painful toll. It was written in 1941 when England was taking heavy casualties, just before American allies joined the effort.

Scott-Marine-Radio-SLR-M

This morning, seeking something with a little authenticity, I played “The White Cliffs of Dover” though my SStran AM transmitter, and listened to it through “Scottie,” my WWII-era Scott Marine radio (above). I made this recording by placing my Zoom H2N recorder directly in front of the Scott’s built-in monitor speaker.

So here you go: a little radio tribute to all of those who fell–on both sides–of that infamous second world war.

And thanks to all who serve and have served in the name of “peace ever after.”

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen below:

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What radio would you grab in a fire?

Scott-Marine-SLR-M

Lately, fires have been on my mind. No doubt, this is because there are so many wildfires in the greater southern Appalachian region right now, which is in the midst of a record drought. Brush fires start up almost daily, and no rain is in sight.  In the mountains, the air is hazy with smoke, and it’s become a struggle for fire departments to contain these blazes, even with help from outside the region.

Living, as we do, in a forest, we’ve always had to think through contingency plans if a forest fire should threaten our home:  with only a two hour (or so) warning, what items would we grab and load into our truck?

Of course, we’d likely focus on those things that are irreplaceable and thus essentially invaluable: our few family heirlooms, boxes of photos, documents––you know, stuff you can’t buy.

But what about radios?  I hope I’ll never be forced to choose the one thing I should save from my shack, because there are several to which I’m rather sentimentally attached…There’s my Zenith Transoceanic, for example–the first proper shortwave radio I ever owned. There are also a number of vintage radios as well as some SDRs which have become my staple receivers.

Scott-Marine-SLR-M-Dial

In the end, though, there’s no question which radio I’d grab. It would have to be my Scott Marine Radio Model SLR-M, affectionately nicknamed “Scottie.”. True, she’s not even close to portable at a solid 90 pounds, but I’d strap her to the roof of my vehicle, if I had to.

Why?  Well, it’s the most pristine vintage radio I own, and I use it daily. If it’s not tuned to Radio Australia in the morning, it’s tuned to my AMT3000 AM transmitter on 1570 kHz drawing in any of a number of stations I relay from my WiFi radio.

Scott-Marine-Radio-SLR-M

Scottie simply isn’t replaceable. Even though my Elecraft KX3 probably costs more in terms of monetary value, I could eventually scrape together the money to buy another KX3. But I couldn’t buy Scottie again. Not this one.

So, there you go: after we’ve saved those things important to our family, I’d grab a 1945 receiver and haul it to safety.

Post readers: Now I’m curious–if your home was threatened by fire or other disaster, what radio would you save? Please comment!

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Honoring Memorial Day: The White Cliffs of Dover

Dame Vera Lynn

Dame Vera Lynn

Today is Memorial Day, and I’m feeling humbly grateful to all of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Since I’ve been reading a lot of WWII history lately, I’ve also been playing a lot of WWII-era music here in my sanctuary to all things radio.

Few songs sum up the yearning sentiment of World War II better than Vera Lynn’s 1942 rendition of “The White Cliffs of Dover.” It’s an iconic song, one that helped British soldiers see beyond the war while mourning its painful toll. It was written in 1941 when England was taking heavy casualties, just before American allies joined the effort.

Scott-Marine-Radio-SLR-M

This morning, seeking something with a little authenticity, I played “The White Cliffs of Dover” though my SStran AM transmitter, and listened to it through “Scottie,” my WWII-era Scott Marine radio (above). I made this recording by placing my Zoom H2N recorder directly in front of the Scott’s built-in monitor speaker.

So here you go: a little radio tribute to all of those who fell–on both sides–of that infamous second world war.

And thanks to all who serve and have served in the name of “peace ever after.”

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen below:

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Review of the SSTRAN AMT3000 AM transmitter kit

SStram-AMT3000-Board2

Regular SWLing Post readers know that I’m a sucker for vintage radios––especially those of the WWII era. Indeed, I’m pretty much a fan of anything from the 1930s and 40s. I love the technology of that era and have an affinity for the culture and history, especially film and music.

Last year, I acquired a beautiful Scott Marine Radio Model SLR-M––a receiver that quickly became the centerpiece of my modest vintage radio collection.

Scott-Marine-SLR-M

Scottie (yep, I call her Scottie) produces beautiful, rich audio from her internal speaker. It’s truly an amazing piece of over-engineered technology that still sounds this good after 70 years.

Edythe Wright

Edythe Wright

Only a week or so after plugging Scottie into an antenna, my wife and I picked up a $1 CD at a church yard sale. The CD featured big band music from the late 30s/early 40s. Though we already had much of the music on the CD, we bought it anyway to keep in our car. One beautiful fall day, I was driving down a rural road and had the CD playing when a Tommy Dorsey recording of “The Music Goes Round And Round” with Edythe Wright on vocals, began playing. It had been ages since I heard this song…I then wondered how many GIs might have heard this song during WWII via GI Jive or the Armed Forces Radio Network. Perhaps they heard it on the Navy version of my Scott Marine radio, the Navy REH?

It was then I decided to finally pull the trigger and order a proper low-power AM transmitter for our home––something with which I could broadcast period music via my vintage gear.

There are a number of AM transmitters on the market, but the one that always stands out from the crowd is the SSTRAN AMT3000. My buddy, The Professor, has one and uses it to consume much of his digital audio content including podcasts and Internet radio stations. He sang the AMT3000’s praises, and I trust the Prof; he’s something of a medium wave guru.

Thing is, the AMT3000 only ships as a kit. In the past, this had stopped me from ordering the transmitter as I figured it was more than my beginner kit-building skills could manage. But after building David Cripe’s Ozark Patrol regenerative receiver, and loving the experience, I felt confident enough to make the order.

And, boy, am I glad I did!

The SSTRAN AMT3000 kit

The kit arrived within a few days of ordering it. Upon unboxing it, I felt like I had gotten my money’s worth, as it was packaged carefully in a quality box: components were clearly labelled in their own poly bags, the board was clearly marked with component numbers and the assembly/instruction manual was in a plastic binder, all clear and straightforward.

SSTRAN suggests taking your time building the kit, as there are a lot of components to solder, and you risk making mistakes that aren’t necessarily easy to remedy if you rush through the process. I tried to follow this advice––well, I intended to follow this advice. Thing is, I find it very difficult to put down a kit once I’m in the zone, so I zipped along a bit more quickly than I intended.

But it helped that SSTRAN took out a lot of the head-scratching and guesswork; the process couldn’t have been more smooth. I carefully checked and double-checked each component and marked it off the assembly list. First, you install all of the resistors, then capacitors, and on to other components. Other than having to hunt for some of the component locations on the board, it really was quite simple.

SStram-AMT3000-Board

I started building the kit on a Friday afternoon and actually finished it the following Saturday morning. Much to my delight, after performing the tuning procedure, the transmitter worked on the first go. Whew!

Powerful (low power) broadcasting

SSTRAN-AMT3000-2

The AMT3000 can be configured to work with the supplied simple wire antenna, which will essentially broadcast AM to radios throughout your home, or it can be configured for a Part 15 compliant outdoor base-loaded vertical antenna which will extend your range up to 3/4 of a mile, should your shack be down the road or in an outbuilding.

For the moment, I have my transmitter set up for in-house broadcasting only.  If I ever want to build the base-loaded vertical, I only need to make a simple modification to the board to do so.

SSTRAN-AMT3000-3

The supplied manual does a great job of explaining the best ways to maximize your signal, reduce any electrical hum and tweak your audio fidelity.

I’ve been using the AMT3000 nearly every day since I finished building it in mid-November. It seems to have a 100% duty cycle, does not overheat, and has no drift.

It produces high fidelity audio with a flat frequency response––and of course, with modulation and compression controls, you can tailor the audio to your particular taste.

Result?  It sounds amazing piping WWII-era tunes through my Scott Marine SLR-M, Hallicrafters SX-24, and SX-99 and my Hammarlund SP-600.

As a bonus, I can hook my shortwave receivers up to the AMT3000 and listen to received audio via other radios throughout my house. Many times, I’ve listened to live broadcasts of ERT Open on 9,420 kHz via my kitchen AM radio…Very cool!

I also hook the AMT3000 up to my shack PC and stream my favorite internet radio station: the UK 1940s Radio Station via TuneIn radio. Absolutely brilliant!

I set my transmitter to 1410 kHz, and have left it there.  You’ll need to do a medium wave (AM) survey to find the clearest spot on your AM dial. I’m sure results will vary, depending on the level of medium wave broadcast activity in your area.

Here’s what my Scott Marine SLR-M sounds like playing “March of the Toys” by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra via the SSTRAN AMT3000 (note that this was recorded with just an iPhone, so audio fidelity is somewhat lacking):

Conclusion

SSTRAN-AMT3000-1

If you’re looking for a high-quality, low-power legal AM transmitter, I highly recommend the SSTRAN AMT3000. Even if you’re a novice kit builder, with time and patience, you can successfully construct the AMT3000, too. If I did it, you certainly can!

If you’d prefer buying a pre-assembled AMT3000, they do occasionally turn up on eBay. Click here to search.

As for me, I’m happy to have achieved my modest goal of being able to broadcast 1930s and 1940s music to vintage radios of the same era.

SSTRAN sells the AMT3000 directly on their website. Click here to view.


SSTRAN AMT3000 Models and Prices (via SSTRAN)

AMT3000
10 kHz channel spacing for use inside North and South America. Includes enclosure and 120 Volt AC Adapter. The single surface-mount IC is pre-soldered on the board.
Price: $92.95

AMT3000-9K
9 kHz channel spacing for use outside North and South America. Includes enclosure and 120 Volt AC Adapter. The single surface-mount IC is pre-soldered on the board. *
Price: $92.95

AMT3000-9KNT
Same as AMT3000-9KSM, except the US-standard 120 Volt AC Adapter is not included. **
Price: $88.95

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Video: 1940s-era holiday treat from Tommy Dorsey (c/o a vintage rig)

Tommy_dorsey_playing_trombone

Below you’ll find a short video of my 1945 Scott Marine Radio Model SLR-M playing Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra’s  jazz-infused version of “March of the Toys” from Victor Herbert’s holiday classic “Babes in Toyland.”

It’s a little holiday time-travel I cooked up for you on this great vintage rig. I’m actually playing the song via an SStran Model AMT3000 AM transmitter I built from a kit (more on that in a future post). The transmitter has been set to 1410 kHz, to which the SLR-M is tuned.

Though the microphone on my Flip Video camera makes the sound in this little recording tinny (you’ll have to trust me that, live, it’s remarkably warm and rich), it does feel a bit like radio time-travel to hear a 1940s-era song played on a 1940s era-radio. This is just how WWII servicemen might have heard this music.

For your holiday enjoyment: “March of the Toys” by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra:

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