Innehållsförteckning för May 2022 från Radio User

This is a brand-new tablet from RFinder, with a larger screen, more network capability, updated ROM, and a built-in general coverage SDR receiver capable of receiving up to 2.0GHz. Running Android, you can install all the available Play Store apps. This means that you can install Zello, Team Speak, EchoLink, and many others and use the built-in PTT button to key the transmission on such apps. If you don’t reach an EchoLink node, just use 3G, 4G, or even Wi-Fi, and you are connected. Never miss a QSO again just because there isn’t a nearby repeater. https://tinyurl.com/3b5tx323 (SOURCE: RFinder | Network-radios.com |info@Network-radios.com)…

IC-705 Meter The IC-705 has probably spawned more rig accessories than most radios in the last 20 years. We think this one is the most exciting though. The meter’s functionality includes: Mode | Filter settings | Real-time display of operating frequency SWR, Real Power, or S-Meter, in both text & a needle on the usual radio-style scale. Digi Rig Mobile This is a tiny new digital modes interface. Its main features are described as follows: It combines an audio codec, serial CAT interface, and PTT switch. It supports a fully-featured CAT interface: PTT, bands, tuning, etc. (not just VOX-based PTT). It uses a single USB connection to a computer, minimizing the cables mess. The CAT port can be configured for logic levelsRS-232CI-V, or TX-500. It works with all major Operating…

wiessala@hotmail.com Following last month’s test of the Moonraker GA-450 indoor loop aerial (RadioUser, April 2022: 46-47), a much-noticed new radio arrived in the Editor’s Shack this month – the Malahit (‘Malachite’) DSP SDR (Fig. 1). The model under review was the MDR2000. The radio covers a spectrum from 150kHz to 250MHz, and 400MHz to 2GHz, in CW, USB, LSB, AM, NFM, and WFM modes; moreover, there is an in-built CW decoder (see more later). This little box, therefore, appears more ‘fully-loaded’ than some of the other radios of this kind, which we have seen here in the past. Above all else, what will draw many in, is, in my view, the waterfall feature. This enhances the unit’s useability and makes it almost a little self-contained monitoring station, for single-frequency use…

POLISH RADIO LAUNCHES PROGRAMMES FOR UKRAINIANS: Public broadcaster Polish Radio is on Thursday launching a new weekly programme for Ukrainians escaping the Russian invasion and their compatriots residing permanently in Poland. The hour-long broadcast will be delivered in Ukrainian, airing every Thursday at 7 pm on Polish Radio’s mobile app, web player and DAB+ platform, the public broadcaster’s IAR news agency reported. Listeners will hear advice on where to find help, how to apply for assistance available to refugees, and how to obtain information about their loved ones, according to IAR. Also, the programme will feature news on how the Polish government, local authorities, and charities are working to support refugees from Ukraine, and on Poland’s efforts to facilitate Ukraine’s entry into the European Union and the NATO alliance, IAR…

Keith.g4miu@gmail.com As I write this column, bombs and missiles are still reigning down on the people of Ukraine. It seems that from today, the Russian aggressor has turned to attacking Ukraine’s TV and internet services, with Mr Putin trying to ‘disconnect’ the people from up-to-date news and information, after encountering dogged resistance. What is more, the current situation in Russia seems to be such that there is a clampdown on impartial information from the media, regarding the reporting of the war. I do not know if we have any readers in Ukraine; and if we do, they will presently have other things on their minds. However, the BBC is presently transmitting on two short wave radio frequencies, 15735 kHz and 5875 kHz broadcasting the World Service news in English. These…

VOICE OF GREECE CLOSURE DELAYED BY TWO MONTHS: The closure of the analogue broadcast of the Voice of Greece has been delayed, even temporarily. With a decision taken last Wednesday and signed by ERT CEO George Gabritsos, the public radio and television announced that at the request of the Ministry of Defense, the Avlida Short Wave Broadcast Transmitter will remain active until May 31, when re-evaluating the conditions for further continuation or not of its operation. In an earlier decision, ERT had stated that its broadcast on short wave would end yesterday, March 31, and had addressed the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence, “to decide whether they want the continuation of the shortwave broadcasts, as well as the acquisition of ownership and the operation of the short wave operation…

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The new NEVSON triple-suction window mounts from Moonraker are excellent when used with rail mount kits (pictured). This new product will allow you to mount your antenna on the windscreen of your car. Using VERSATAC technology, this will even stick to brickwork and breeze blocks. The perfect mount for all your antenna installations. Each Sucker is 100 mm in diameter ensuring excellent suction grip. If you want to use an HF antenna like the AMPRO range, Moonraker suggests binding two together for extra grip. Chris Taylor recommends only using on-side or rear windows to prevent obstructing your vision. (SOURCE: Moonraker)…

dj.daviator@btinternet.com ALL PICTURES: DAVIDSMITH For obvious reasons, flights are avoiding Ukrainian airspace; in the case of certain routings, the closure of Russian airspace to EU operators is having a big impact. The worst-hit flights are those to Asian destinations from Central and Northern Europe. For example, the Helsinki-Tokyo route now takes an extra 2,137 nautical miles, equating to almost five hours, A flight from Amsterdam to Beijing will take an extra 855 nm (corresponding to approximately 105 minutes). Up to the time of writing this (in mid-March 2022), military air activity seen on virtual radar reached epic proportions, with a wide variety of aircraft types. Notable were B-52s from Fairford, some of which loitered for hours over Romania, close to the border with Ukraine. There were also RQ-4B Global Hawk…

clintgouveia@scientificmagnetics.co.uk If you are a serious DXer or simply interested in radio beyond the local or national BBC and Independent radio stations, then it is likely you either own or have an interest in, software-defined receivers (SDR). My initial foray into this area was in 2015; a cheap RTL-SDR with an up-converter purchased from eBay for not too much money. Performance was mediocre at best, but the ability to visualise the signals copied had me hooked and it was not long before a major upgrade – the Elad FDM DUO. At a cost of around £850, this was serious money, but with that came serious performance. This was a game-changer, and, coupled with a Wellbrook Loop, my MW DXing capabilities were transformed. I was fortunate enough to be chosen as…

chrissyLB@hotmail.co.uk Today, listening to the radio already comes a long way down the list of priorities for most people, which makes projecting how the industry might look and sound in 20 years seem a potentially gloomy scenario. However, radio in another two decades is unlikely to be all bad news for radio professionals or listeners – far from it, in fact. In 2022, people in the western world are spoilt for choice in how to spend their leisure time, with young people playing online video games such as Fortnite, creating and viewing TikToks or buying and selling on Depop. Meanwhile, many middle-aged people are obsessing over Wordle, social media and the latest Netflix box sets (my recent recommendations include Inventing Jane and Russian Doll). Future equivalent forms of entertainment will…

tony@radiosix.com A small wooden hut in the quiet little English village of Writtle, a mile west of Chelmsford, seems an unlikely location for the birth of British broadcasting, but at 7.15 pm precisely on Valentine’s Day 1922, radio station 2MT began regular broadcasts of speech and music to listeners in the UK (Fig. 1). Tuning in to 700 metres (428kHz, between what are now the Long- and Medium Wave bands) listeners heard the Marconi station’s manager-cum-producer-cum-announcer, Captain Peter Pendleton Eckersley (Fig. 2; later to become Chief Engineer of the BBC), welcome listeners for the first time to the regular Tuesday evening half-hour of songs, records and (often very) humorous chat. Amid the BBC’s justifiable pride in celebrating its own Centenary this November, it should not be forgotten that there were…

tim@livingland.wales Jodrell Bank and radio astronomy tend to be synonymous terms, at least in the UK. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the history of this iconic site and its place in radio astronomy. The story begins in 1945 when Bernard Lovell (1913-2012; Fig. 1) commenced his study of ‘cosmic rays’ at the University of Manchester. To observe cosmic rays, you need an electrically quiet site, so that the minuscule amounts of energy from the cosmic rays are not obliterated by local electrical noise. Having tried to operate his radar equipment, acquired during the war years, from the centre of Manchester where the University was (and still is) located, Lovell was unsuccessful because the electric trams found in Manchester at the time caused too much…

gi7ivx@btinternet.com Summer is just around the corner, and some of you will probably be considering a visit to the coast, be it a holiday in a hotel or guesthouse, mobile home, or even just for a day trip. Therefore, in this month’s column, I will be looking at useful marine VHF scanner frequencies for the newcomer or occasional coast visitor. The best place to begin is CH (Channel) 16, 156.800MHz, the Calling and Distress Frequency. Listening to this channel will allow you to hear any initial calls made by vessels or shore stations; this will often provide the working channel that may be used. This is useful when listening for Maritime Safety Information (MSI) broadcasts. The initial announcement will include the VHF channels that will be used namely CH62 156.125/160.725MHz;…

An advanced radio module board, supplied with a Raspberry Pi Zero WH and the MMDVM software, it becomes a small and efficient multi-mode digital hotspot. At the time of writing, its main features were described as: • High-performance 32-bit ARM processor • The board is fully assembled and tested • Supports DMR, P-25, D-Star, System Fusion, and NXDN • Onboard LEDs to show status (Tx, Rx, PTT, Mode) • Up to 10mW RF power • SMA antenna connector, UHF antenna included. (SOURCE: Martin Lynch and Sons Ltd.; see also next page) https://tinyurl.com/2p87sekv Enter our competitions at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/competitions…

kevin@radio-digital.co.uk I will stick my neck out and guess that virtually every contemporary broadcast radio station now makes its audio output available online, either as a continuous stream of audio or as a selection of podcasts. Both formats need the audio converted to a data format suitable for downloading over a web connection. ‘Streaming’ means that you can listen to the audio as it downloads. Usually, the audio stream cannot be rewound or paused like with a podcast. Together they are the backbone of online radio. Internet radio usually has good to excellent audio quality. This can be much better than DAB and very similar to the quality provided by an FM station. Of course, there are always the extremes where the audio quality can be up to CD quality…

chrissyLB@hotmail.co.uk Classical music is well represented across radio platforms in most western countries, with many specialist stations and programmes. The podcast market is also in a healthy state, with a large demand for the genre, especially stories behind the scenes and interviews with musicians and composers. The growth of mainstream stations such as Classic FM and Scala Radio, plus well-known pieces being used in film and advertisements, has led to the more commercial and accessible forms of the genre becoming embedded in society. The elitism that some more traditional radio stations like BBC Radio 3 are sometimes accused of is unfair, as such stations do much to explain the music they play, with talks, and background features. It is easy to stream most classical music radio stations from anywhere in…

FALKLANDS WAR PODCAST: A new podcast from local BBC radio looks back at the Falklands War on the 40th anniversary of the conflict. The five-part series, ‘My Moment In History: The Falklands War’, will feature personal stories of those involved in the 74-day conflict that began on April 2, 1982. It is fronted by former Royal Marine and broadcaster JJ Chalmers and historian Professor Helen Parr from Keele University, who has a family connection to the conflict. Each episode features interviews with people who tell their personal stories, bringing the series to life – including a paratrooper who fought in one of the bloodiest encounters of the war. The series also hears from the next generation of young Falkland islanders, about why the conflict should never be forgotten. JJ Chalmers,…

Keith405625.kh1@gmail.com Garry405625.gs@gmail.com No new radio or television transmitters opened in 1960. The only notable new television programme during the year was Maigret, which began on October 31st. For horse-racing enthusiasts, the Grand National was televised for the first time on March 26th. The main engineering success was on March 27th with the first transmission of Colour Television between Paris and London. This was demonstrated at the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Morning transmissions began as part of the revamped Television for Schools service on September 19th. The BBC French Service for West Africa and Equatorial Africa began on June 20th, and, on the same day, Nan Winton became the first in-vision female newsreader. The most significant event in 1960 was the first transmission from the BBC Television Centre at White City…

Scottandrew.caldwell@yahoo.co.uk Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Long, Medium, and the Short. This time, my focus is on the exciting reception of trans-Atlantic DX and the vital role played by community radio stations in the UK. Overall, reception conditions have been erratic – to say the least – this month, as we approach the end of the Winter DX season in the Northern Hemisphere. Only a few nights provided reasonable DX conditions, most noticeably the early morning of January 28th, 2022 (Table 1). The Barry Davies Memorial SDR Receiver The Medium Wave Circle (MWC, Table 2) is a club that is solely dedicated to Medium Wave DXing. The club’s flagship publication is Medium Wave News (MWN), which features a multitude of DXing content. The MWC has recently…