Radio User June 2022

Georg Wiessala wiessala@hotmail.com Hello and welcome to the June edition of RadioUser. With half the year gone already, there are plenty more radio subjects to be covered in the second half, judging by your responses and the many contributions and article proposals I have already received. But staying with the present, we once again offer a smorgasbord of radio topics, which, I hope, you will find both informative and inspiring. In our features section, Alan Pennington looks at the history and technology behind this month’s Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast from the BBC World Service. Ukraine features a few times this month: Martín Butera introduces a strategic radio astronomy facility in Crimea, while Chrissy Brand outlines the wider Ukrainian radio scene, which is undergoing colossal changes. What is more, David Smith follows…

Regrettably, to offset the increases in costs of energy, raw materials and postage charges the cover price of RadioUser has increased to £5.49; but you don’t have to pay that! We’ve frozen our subscription prices meaning you can save even more than before when subscribing to RadioUser! SAVE UP TO 27% Take out a digital subscription today https://pktmags.com/ru-subs-2022 PREFER PAPER? Have the magazine posted direct to your door each month. To find our latest subscription offers please visit https://bit.ly/ru-sub22 or call 01778 395161 Telephone lines are open Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm and Saturdays 9am – 5pm…

NEWS FROM RAOTA JUST OUT: The Summer 2022 Edition of the quarterly RAOTA magazine (OTNews) has been sent to the printers and the RAOTA audio version reader. The aim is that both printed and audio versions arrive with members at the same time. The issue covers an aerial made by G3ZPF back in 1982 called the Winfield Wonder Wire. This is, basically, an 84ft doublet, named after a roll of Woolworth’s ‘own-brand’ bell-wire. Probably not the best material to use, but it was put up to replace its predecessor, which was overcome by the weather. Despite its ‘uninspiring’ construction, the aerial achieved 5 - band DXCC by 1982; and, despite being only 25ft in the air, managed to work ZL on 80m (admittedly, just once). W3WEG continues his ‘Antenna Chronicles’…

Nevada Radio has just received the latest shipment of the AOR DV10 scanning receivers, now with Firmware Version 2203A. This firmware has many improvements over previous versions and +enhances the performance of the radio significantly. Pictured is Gav Clark, who decided to visit Nevada/Waters & Stanton in person at the Portsmouth warehouse to collect his new radio. www.nevada.co.uk www.nevadaradio.co.uk www.hamradiostore.co.uk www.mahaenergy.co.uk…

Published in May, the BDXC Broadcasts in English guide covers the A22 Schedules. Broadcasts in English is compiled by BDXC’s Dave Kenny. It includes details of all known international broadcasts in English on short wave and medium wave for the current schedule period, as well as selected domestic English-language broadcasts on short wave. The 24-page booklet comes in a handy timeorder throughout and covers all target areas worldwide. Transmitter sites are included, where possible, along with schedules for Media & Mailbag Programmes and Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) services in English. This is compiled by Dave Kenny with thanks also for help from Alan Roe, Rumen Pankov and Tony Rogers. Details: UK £3, Europe £4 or €6, Rest of World £5 or $8. Please send orders (UK cheques/Postal Orders payable to…

The GRG for this summer is now out (4th May 2022). During times of crisis, radio hobbyists turn on their radios and tune to the short wave ‘global’ radio bands for context, perspective, and insight into events from around the globe. With the Russian-Ukrainian war raging on and tensions continuing to rise in other world hotspots, radio hobbyists are still following the latest news from the front lines using short wave broadcasts and other radio services. The world has held its breath during the Russian invasion of Ukraine as images of the human suffering of war have brought back old memories and old fears from years gone by. Just like these events have brought up once buried feelings, it has also brought what many thought to be ‘old’ technology back…