A highlight from last week was attending a WWII encampment at the Museum of the US Air Force.
SWLing Post readers: If you’ve tried to contact me in the past week, I’m sorry if I haven’t replied yet.
I spent a week on the road attending the 2018 Hamvention and as soon as I arrived back home on Tuesday, I started more family travel. I’m trying to catch up on on email and posts this weekend. I have a number of small announcements, so stay tuned and thanks for understanding!
Dear Post readers: If you tried to contact me yesterday, you likely received a “Message not delivered” reply.
After turning off our old web server yesterday morning, I discovered late in the day that our “MX” records (which route email) did not convey with the DNS settings. Our host updated the records and it seems email has been back as of 03:00 UTC today.
This was the only major snag after our server migration, so I count us quite lucky!
The past three weeks have been exceptionally busy. Not only did I log about 1,500 miles on a trip to DC and Philadelphia for a most excellent Winter SWL Fest, but the Winter Fest this year truly lived up to its name, and managed to carry on during a snowstorm and ensuing widespread power outage that left us in the dark several days running. Radio-relevant events, presentations and even our banquet continued in dark rooms, yet with no less enthusiasm.
But because I had to conserve my laptop’s power, knowing I could only log a few minutes each day, I turned my attention away from the digital world to my living and breathing companions, worthy colleagues and friends of the ‘Fest.
Over the years, as reader traffic has grown, here at the Post we’ve upgraded our hosting package to meet traffic demands, and our host has kindly selected the most effective and affordable option––providing us with plenty of space and freedom, not to mention, most of the server resources.
But over the past two weeks, the SWLing Post finally began pegging the limits of the shared server we have used since we published our first post, nearly 10 years ago now. When I was without power at the WinterFest, our site activity (CPU usage and entry processes) was triggering a failsafe that blocked access to the site when it was receiving too many hits at once. Thus many of you received the infamous “Resource Limits Reached” error, or noticed significantly slower load times on the site.
Obviously it wasn’t possible to fully address this while I was away from home and on limited power and Internet; I just committed to resolve the issue as soon as I could.
I pulled into my driveway late last Monday night, hit the sack for a good night’s sleep, and started sorting out server issues early Tuesday morning.
Much discussion over the best place and care for our site ensued. In the end, our host suggested we move to our own cloud server––a dedicated, robust space to serve up the SWLing Post.
While the cloud server costs more than double what we’ve been paying for hosting in the past, it offers multiple advantages over our shared service. Speed should improve dramatically and we’ll now have a much deeper resource pool from which to pull during times of peak access.
Then, too, the new server employs data redundancy (i.e., there are at least two copies of our site on two separate servers at all times), “automatic failover” (should there be a hardware problem, the Cloud Server will automatically roll over to another physical server), and brilliant scalability––all excellent provisions for us.
Innoscale, our host, has been a great partner over the years, giving the SWLing Post 24/7 support and spending time sorting out any issues that have popped up. While they are not the cheapest service out there, their customer service and reliability are, in my humble opinion, worth the extra costs.
Many years ago, long before we even approached 1,000 posts, I had purchased third-party off-site backup service that updates a full backup of the site each time a new post is published; this service continues. Moreover, our new server also has its own backup service and multiple copies of the site available even in the event of a failure.
And knowing all this helps me sleep more soundly at night.
…the total count as of time of publishing this post. That’s a massive volume of informative guest posts, articles, photos, videos, recordings, and comments on all things radio––many of which I reference regularly myself. Readers, without you, this wouldn’t have been possible; many thanks!
Honestly, the choice to upgrade both our server and our backup solutions was easy because of the extra support we receive via Patreon and PayPal. If you would like to support the SWLing Post via Patreon, and are in a financial position to do so, click this link or the button below. The SWLing Post will always be free, so if you’re not in a position to support us, no worries; we still welcome your readership.
If you’d rather not give through Patreon, you can set up a monthly recurring payment through PayPal…and receive the exact same recognition and benefits as above.
PS––I should add that I’m doing my best to catch up with a mountain of email correspondence I accumulated over the past three weeks or so. If you’ve sent me a message or tip, I appreciate your patience as I catch up. Thanks, and I look forward to reading your email soon.
Some of you might have noticed error messages while trying to load the SWLing Post recently. After some server upgrades, the site started having a few issues. Our host is helping us sort through it now and we’ll hopefully have any problems resolved within a day or so. Sorry for the inconvenience–thanks for understanding!
-Thomas
Quite often, I’m privy to information that has yet to be refined into a public post here on the SWLing Post. In the past, I’ve simply kept the new information and/or evolving posts to myself.
But as a small perk for supporting the SWLing Post via Patreon, I’ve decided to share this informal information privately through Patreon’s website.
If you’d like to be privy to the background processes and that go into the making of the SWLing Post, you can enjoy them (or ignore them!) here, simply by supporting us through Patreon. What I’ll share is raw, random, and unedited information in the form of progress reports, tips, and even partial reviews. These logs and notes happen when they happen, depending on my time availability, and are off-the-cuff and ever-evolving.
This private “behind-the-scenes” access to the SWLing Post is available to Patreon Patrons at any pledge level.
As I’ve mentioned before, if you don’t have the means to give through Patreon, no worries, friend: we’re always here for you free of charge at the SWLing Post. If you would, however, like to support the SWLing Post through Patreon with a monthly contribution, we welcome you as a Patron. Your support helps keep the site going, and means I can do more of what I enjoy most––sharing my love of all things radio with you.
Thank you !
Become a Patron!
For more information about supporting the Post, click here.
Dear SWLing Post readers:
As the SWLing Post has grown to a community of over 7,000 daily readers, so to have costs and time. I’m reaching out today in a campaign to ask for your support to insure this site’s future.
In short: If you have the means and would like to support the SWLing Post each month, I would love to welcome you as a Patron or Producer on Patreon!
Become a Patron!
The SWLing Post is a labor of love, powered out of my energetic passion for radio and the radio community that we’ve established.
When I first launched the SWLing Post almost ten years ago, I would never have guessed that it would draw the huge readership it now has. At the time, I was simply putting a blog out there with links and articles I personally found to be of interest.
I’m incredibly proud of what the SWLing Post has become, and how the site has grown over the years––thanks to you, readers! We routinely have anywhere from 5,000-7,000 daily readers on our site, and 1,200 subscribers to our email digest. I’ve made so many terrific friends through this site that I can scarcely count them all. Moreover, it has turned what is often a solitary hobby into a global community for many of us.
But with a growing site, expenses grow, too. Sponsorships and coffee fund contributions certainly help; we’re really grateful for those. Still, these don’t cover all the costs.
That’s where Patreon comes in. Establishing a reliable monthly income––however modest––through Patreon will help assure that the SWLing Post stays active and current well into the future.
Keep the SWLing Post online and secure: hosting, daily backup, malware protection, and professional supportIf you would like to support the SWLing Post, the most direct way is to become a producer through a monthly contribution program like Patreon’s.
You can become an SWLing Post Patron for as little as $2 per month–less than a cup of coffee! We’ll add your name (in the order received) to our Patron’s page.
Become a Patron!
Of course, you can contribute any amount per month….But at $10+ per month, you’ll receive in thanks, three times each year, a Radio Postcard that’s worthy of framing. Each large color Postcard will feature a stunning classic radio dial.
Our first Radio Postcard will be issued December 1, 2017, so you should receive it by the first or second week of December depending on where you live.
Looking for a radio-inspired gift for a friend or family member? Producer status can also be gifted.
Become a Patron!
If you contribute $20 or more per month, you’ll get all of the benefits of being a Patron, including the Radio Postcard and Producer plus we’ll link to your personal or business website on our patron’s page. Executive producers can be individuals or businesses, and will be listed at the top of the page.
Looking for a radio-inspired gift for a friend or family member? Executive Producer status can also be gifted.
Become a Patron!
Of course, you can always simply drop the occasional contribution in our Coffee Fund through PayPal. Thanks!
Note: Even though these funds go to supporting the site, we really do purchase coffee with these contributions, too! “Coffee fuels the Post!”
If you’d rather not give through Patreon, you can set up a monthly recurring payment through PayPal…and receive the exact same recognition and benefits as above.
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Click here to search Amazon.com with our affiliate ID and support the SWLing Post.
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We’re always looking for new radio enthusiasts to join the community. The more, the merrier! Please use our social media links at the bottom of our page. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
If you enjoy sharing your knowledge of the radio world, consider submitting a Guest Post or Guest Review which, if suitable for publication, will add to the knowledge base here on the SWLing Post!
Check out some of the 100+ Guest Posts in our archive.
If you’re not in a financial position to directly support the SWLing Post, we understand, friend. Seriously. We’re just glad you’re here and enjoy the site.
This is indeed a labor of love and we’ll always keep our content free to you and all our readers, and avoid obtrusive flashy ads as well.
If you’ve made it this far down the page, thanks for reading and understanding why I must sometimes make these calls for support.
I really love what I do here at the SWLing Post, and although I recognize the work I do here takes a great deal of my time––often competing with the income-producing work I do to keep afloat––the truth is that I still feel a bit uncomfortable asking for financial support to do it.
But I recognize it must be done; the future of the Post depends upon it.
So…thank you, friend, for your understanding and your support, in any form.
Because it’s you that powers the SWLing Post!
Troy Riedel preparing the Tecsun S-8800 and Grundig Field BT for a comparison review.
Shortly after publishing my review of the Tecsun S-8800, SWLing Post contributor Troy Riedel contacted me and asked if I would consider comparing the S-8800 to the Grundig Field BT. Of course I was very curious how the $130 Grundig Field BT might compare with the $268 Tecsun S-8800, but I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment and didn’t really want to purchase another large portable.
Long story short: Troy found a honey of a deal on a perfect Grundig Edition Field BT via eBay. He ordered it and we decided to bring the two radios together yesterday at beautiful Mount Mitchell State Park— the highest point east of the Mississippi river.
Yesterday was an ideal day, too. The weather was picture-perfect, the park was (surprisingly) not too busy and propagation was the best I’ve experienced in weeks.
Troy left early in the morning and embarked on the 6+ hour pilgrimage to Mount Mitchell–I only live an hour away, so it was a casual drive for me. We met at noon.
After a quick lunch, we deployed my Elecraft KX2 with EFT Trail-Friendly antenna and made my first Parks On The Air (POTA) activation.
You might recall I was very active during the ARRL National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) program last year, but since then I’ve done few field deployments. It was great fun to get on the air again and do a park activation for the World Wide Flora & Fauna POTA program.
While we didn’t log a lot of stations, I was still impressed we worked stations from Texas to Quebec to the Azores. Not bad for 10 watts SSB!
Sure, I only worked a handful of stations, but this activation was essentially unannounced so chasers had no advance notice. No doubt, many more POTA activations are in my future! The bug has bitten!
Except for a break to eat dinner at the park restaurant and a short hike to the peak of Mount Mitchell, we played radio until about 8:00 PM. It was amazing, uninterrupted fun.
Troy spent a lot of time comparing the Tecsun S-8800 with the Grundig Field BT and made several videos. No doubt, he’ll post his thoughts and review in the near future!
Being a bit of radio geek, I couldn’t help but bring a few “extra” radios and accessories. Here’s what I packed:
We were a little disappointed to discover that both my Tecsun PL-680 and Grundig Satellit exhibited flaky behavior.
During my S-8800 comparison tests, a few weeks ago, I did notice that sometimes when I turned on the PL-680, it was absolutely deaf. Next time I turned it on, it worked fine. Yesterday, the PL-680 simply didn’t want to perform. I’m not sure what happened.
The Grundig Satellit, on the other hand, worked great, but sometimes if you touched either the antenna or even brought your hands near the radio body while tuned to a station, it would go deaf. You could correct this by tuning off frequency, then back on–still…very strange! It’s as if the AGC or RF gain were hanging up.
Have any Post readers experienced this before? I’ll look into the issue this week and reset both radios. Perhaps that will help.
Thank you, Troy, for suggesting the meet up and for making the pilgrimage. It was great meeting you in person! I also thoroughly enjoyed watching someone else do comparison tests and exploring a new radio–Troy certainly has a knack for doing radio evaluations!
This has encouraged me to do more meet-ups, perhaps during my travels. Great fun!
Post Readers: be on the lookout for Troy’s comparison of the Grundig Field BT and Tecsun S-8800 in the coming days/weeks (no pressure, Troy!).