Innehållsförteckning för December 2022 från Radio User

RadioUser STOP PRESS! The new C. Crane CC Skywave SSB 2 offers versatility, portability, good frequency coverage, and excellent overall performance. Click on the USB, below, to read a review of this new portable. The receiver offers several improvements: The new Short |Wave antenna jack can significantly improve SW reception when used with an external antenna. The new micro-USB connector now works well from any USB port, along with improved in-circuit battery charging for optional ‘AA’ NiMH rechargeable batteries. Other upgrades include a higher-quality speaker, along with slightly more audio amplification. Longer feet on the bottom of the radio for better stability […]. (SOURCE: C.Crane | SWLing Post) https://tinyurl.com/bddjm9cz https://tinyurl.com/bdhj3fvk https://ccrane.com/cc-skywave-ssb-2-with-am-fm-sw-wx-and-aviation-bands…

RadioUser STOP PRESS! Due to a change at Google, the RS-AERO1A Android application for the ICOM IC-A25NE hand portable radio will be removed from Google Play on 1st November 2022. ICOM stated: “Our app uses an older version of API that has been declared obsolete. With very low global demand from android users for this app, we have decided not to redevelop and direct our engineering capacity to other projects. The app will continue to work if you already have it and if you want to use it in the future, please make sure you download it from the link below before 1st November 2022. Please note that this is the android version of our app only that is being removed. The extremely popular iOS variant will still be…

RadioUser STOP PRESS! Incorporating all the necessary features for station setup, regulatory compliance, and remote monitoring, the Inovonics 551 HD Radio Modulation Monitor is the ultimate choice for advanced FM and HD Radio signal monitoring, whether you are at the transmitter site or halfway around the world. Simultaneously monitor in real-time the off-air FM modulation along with up to 4 HD Radio Channels. A high-resolution 7-inch TFT Touch Screen displays all the essential modulation data for accurate readings in a graphic format. The 551 collects the history of signal parameters and displays HD Radio™ album artwork, station logos and similar visuals on the front panel display and remote Web interface. The 551 includes a built-in BandScanner™, a real time clock and full SNMP functionality. Rear-panel alarms constantly check for Audio…

g0fuw@tiscali.co.uk The amateur radio Q-code ‘QRP’ means ‘I have reduced my power’, or more commonly, ‘my transmitter is low power’; the opposite code is ‘QRO’, referring to high power. Many operators in the UK and around the World are keen to use low-power radios; here, the UK’s G-QRP Club, with around 4,000 members, is ‘devoted to low-power communication’. This article aims to explain a little about what ‘operating QRP’ means, why it is attractive (to some) and what you can achieve with low power. QRP Power Levels There are two, internationally-agreed, power levels for amateur radio QRP operating; 5W for Morse code (CW) and data modes, and 10W pep for Single Sideband (SSB). I often get asked about QRP power levels for Frequency Modulation (FM) but I have been unable…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk The first Leicester Show, as it then was, took place 50 years ago, and the event has become a regular in the calendar, later at Donington Park and, in recent years, at Newark and now also under the auspices of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB). Until Covid struck. So it was great to have the event once again this year, albeit at a later date (mid-October) as the late September slot had been lost in the meantime. Fortunately, the weather held, and there appears to have been a good turnout – albeit almost certainly down on three years ago. I was there in my role as Editor of Practical Wireless, and it was great to be able to meet advertisers, contributors and readers in person once again.…

G4fai@btinternet.com The Korean War has often been called the ‘First Proxy War of the Cold War’ (1946 - 1993). It was an ideological conflict, and radio was a frontline weapon of choice. The North Koreans decided to follow a similar approach undertaken by the Japanese during the Second World War (1939-1945). The Japanese had utilised Tokyo Rose (Iva Toguri, 1016-2006) to attempt to undermine the morale of the American GIs. History informs us that this approach was relatively unsuccessful. [see also my short book review elsewhere in this issue – Ed.] Seoul City Sue is widely regarded as the successor to both Axis Sally and Tokyo Rose. US soldiers would routinely listen in and catch the brassy blare of a Sousa march, followed by honeyed words, in English, from a female…

ORLANDO HAMCATION IN 2023: The Orlando Amateur Radio Club is hosting the 76th Annual Orlando HamCation from 10th to the 12th of February 2023 at the Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park. HamCation is the second-largest ham radio convention in the World, with the inaugural event dating back to 1946*. Since the first event, HamCation has continued to grow. The 2019 convention saw 23,700 attendees, a record number for the event. This convention is a celebration of ham radio, also known as amateur radio. Amateur radio use in the United States dates to the early 1900s and continues to be used today for both emergencies and as a means of daily communication between ham radio operators. HamCation is a great opportunity for both those in the ham radio community and…

Keith405625.kh1@gmail.com Garry405625.gs@gmail.com On August 22nd, 1932, the BBC inaugurated the first public television service in the UK, using Baird’s 30-line system, and this remained in operation until September 15th, 1935. The first television programme was transmitted from Broadcasting House in London. The Elizabethan Exhibition was presented to lookers (the term ‘viewers’ had not yet been coined) before its opening to the public in London. Examples of the latest Winter and Spring fashions were displayed. The first pantomime to be televised was Dick Whittington in December 1932. Baird had first demonstrated television at his home in Linton Crescent, Hastings, in 1923. In recent years, a blue plaque has been installed to mark this historic site and occasion (Fig. 1). Another landmark in Hastings to honour the inventor is a well-known hostelry…

wiessala@hotmail.com Like I had done in previous years – quite a while ago now – I recently treated myself to a visit to the BVWS Golborne Swapmeet near Warrington on 30th October. It is not too far to drive for me, and this meeting is always a treat. I love vintage radios and electronic gear that reflect the technology and design ideas of former eras, and I am an avid collector of old, radio-related, advertisements, catalogues, brochures, and so on. On this occasion, I also met with RadioUser regular Chrissy Brand for a rummage amongst the valves and a catch-up chinwag. I am happy to report that, together, we did put the world of radio to rights, as well as musing on the joys of collecting vintage equipment. As during…

gi7ivx@btinternet.com Summer is now a distant memory; the dark nights and winter weather are back. Some of us are fortunate enough to live within the range of marine VHF reception. However, you can listen to marine HF no matter where you live; provided, of course, that you possess a general coverage SSB receiver and suitable aerial. During the winter months, Marine HF signals can be received from quite considerable distances, and there are several transmission modes to interest listeners. Apart from HF voice, there are NAVTEX and HF Marine Safety Information (MSI) transmissions, reception of weather charts using radio fax transmissions, radio teletype (RTTY) weather data transmissions, and Digital Selective Calling (DSC) MF/HF transmissions. The colder months are also a good time to receive HF voice transmissions from both North…

EVERY LOCAL BBC RADIO PRESENTER HAS BEEN PUT AT RISK OF REDUNDANCY: Every presenter working at every local BBC radio station has been put at risk of redundancy under new proposals at the corporation (above and right). In a recent staff meeting, all audio teams at 39 stations were told further details of drastic plans announced. All Band E Lead Presenters, Band D Senior Presenters, Band C and B Presenters, Band C Journalists and Content Producers, Band B Journalism Coordinators and more are now at risk of redundancy. These include high-profile breakfast show personalities, long-serving, networked, night time hosts, and weekend presenters. They will all need to apply for new roles to become such as Presenter/Producer, News Reader, Reporter, Programme Producer, Social Media Journalist, Sports Journalist and more, if they…

tim@livingland.wales If you have a general coverage receiver or use one of the many WebSDRs, then perhaps you might mostly listen to the broadcast bands or the utility bands. And you will probably be aware that radio amateurs have certain band allocations throughout the Short Wave (SW) bands. This article aims to tell you where you can listen to radio amateurs (hams) on those allocations. As you’ll possibly know already, the Short Wave bands vary from hour to hour, in terms of the areas of the world that may be heard. I’ll try to give you an idea of when to listen to the different bands, perhaps with a few hints about what you might find. If you are not using one of the WebSDRs, you will need a receiver…

19 November THE ROCHDALE & DISTRICT AMATEUR RADIO WINTER RALLY: The Rochdale & District Amateur Radio Winter Rally will take place in St Vincent de Paul’s Hall, Norden, Rochdale, OL12 7QR. Doors will be open at 10 am with the entry fee still only £3 (CR | FP | TS). Email: rozallin@gmail.com Email: dave@cardens.me.uk Tel: 01706 633 400 Mob: 0781 367 1296 19 November WILTSHIRE WINTER INDOOR RADIO RALLY: Kington Langley Village Hall & Fields, Church Road, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 5NJ. Doors are open from 9 am to 1.30 pm. £2 entry for buyers (under 16s free). £10 per table for sellers (CR | D). To reserve tables contact Brian G6HUI via e-mail: Email: rally@chippenhamradio.club Email: Chairman@g3vre.org.uk Web: https://tinyurl.com/ykyhf7nc 20 November CATS 43RD RADIO AND ELECTRONICS BAZAAR: Oasis Academy Coulsdon,…

RadioUser STOP PRESS! New at ML&S: The Digirig Mobile Interface The new DigiRig Mobile is a digital modes interface for amateur radio. It combines audio codec, serial CAT interface and PTT control. At the time of writing, these were the advertised specifications of the device: Combines audio codec, serial CAT interface and PTT switch. Supports fully-featured CAT interface: PTT, bands, tuning etc. (not just VOX-based PTT). Uses a single USB connection minimizing the cables mess. Serial CAT port can be configured for logic levels, RS-232, CI-V or TX-500 (learn more). Works with all major OS flavours: Windows, macOS and Linux. Permanently available independently from the CAT port an open collector PTT switch controlled by the RTS signal of the COM port to interface HTs and mobile radios. Auxiliary connection points…

RadioUser STOP PRESS! The SWLing Post has recently shared a user review, by 13dka, of the revised version of this popular little receiver (from Belarus). The reviewer pointed out that, “The Belka offers true all mode (including NFM and CW) reception with a proper 400 Hz CW filter and individual settings for the low and high filter slopes for AM, FM and SSB. It has an AM sync detector and comes with a 0.5ppm TCXO-controlled local oscillator for absolutely spot-on, calibration-free frequency precision and stability, which makes SSB or ECSS reception of broadcast stations a pure joy. The second iteration “Belka DX” brought a slightly extended coverage down to 1.5 MHz and an I/Q output for panadapter display and/or processing via your favourite SDR software. All Belka radios are quiet…

The G106 is a 5W portable QRP model with an SDR circuit structure which uses 16bit-CODEC sampling and can deliver superior performance. The machine has SSB/CW/AM three modes and a WFM (88-108MHz) receiving function, allowing you to listen to local FM broadcasts while communicating. Equipped with a CW digital filter with three bandwidths, it can help you connect to more and farther radio stations. With the external DE-19 digital adapter (optional), it can be connected to the computer and complete FT8 communication. As an entry-level portable SDR transceiver, the G106 will be a good helper for you to play CW and FT8. Moonraker is currently running an offer on the Xiegu G106, which is the latest HF transceiver from Xiegu. It is a QRP rig for the 10 to 80-metre…

dj.daviator@btinternet.com The RAF flight carrying Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Edinburgh to RAF Northolt, near London, set an all-time flight tracking record on Flightradar24, with five million people following its progress. Some 4.79 million people viewed the flight across Flightradar24 web and mobile app services, and a further 296,000 tracked it via a YouTube live stream. Within the first minute of the C-17 (callsign Kittyhawk) activating its transponder, six million people attempted to click on the flight. This put unprecedented strain on the Flightradar24 platform, far beyond even that experienced when the US politician Nancy Pelosi flew to Taiwan, and 2.2 million people followed the flight, as described in last month’s column (cf. RadioUser, November 2022: pp. 8, 31, 48-49). The Flight Radar24 creative team stated that the firm implemented…

kevin@radio-digital.co.uk Many of us will remember the closure of the Reciva radio portal in April 2021, especially if we had bought one or more radios that connected radios to that database. A few lucky listeners had internet radios that continued working until September 2021 because of special support agreements negotiated by those manufacturers. After a few months, the new owners of the portal decided that the software was too difficult to maintain or replace because the detailed knowledge of how it worked had been lost over the years. Out of this chaos came a new radio portal called Skytune, initially backed by C.Crane in the USA and then by Ocean Digital in Hong Kong which likely maintains the portal. US trader C. Crane has recently launched its new WiFi-3 radio…

chrissyLB@hotmail.co.uk It is taken for granted that most of the (Western) world today has access, via various portable devices, to an almost infinite choice of radio stations, music streams, and podcasts. Throughout the years in RadioUser, I have written about, championed and spoken with many radio stations and podcasters. I have always tried to share a wide and diverse range of interesting programme content, from commercial and state broadcasters to community volunteers, individuals and minorities, and also highlight campaigns and causes that tend to be ignored or side-lined by the mainstream media. Despite hearing audio content these days mostly through apps on my smartphone or laptop, I still cannot resist the temptation to buy a traditional, old-school radio. This may be the latest receiver as advertised elsewhere on these pages,…

Keith.g4miu@gmail.com After writing about the Skeleton Slot aerial last month (RadioUser, November 2022: 50-52), a chat with a long-term friend revealed that Peter Dodd G3LDO (SK) had already described this type in his book Backyard Antennas. A visit to my friend’s shack and his ‘library’ of radio books found me walking away with a copy on loan. I have a few antenna books but, apart from the ARRL Antenna Book, those I do have are quite old and aimed more at Telecommunications systems. After reading through G3LDO’s book I think that I can recommend this publication to those of you interested in antenna construction, especially from small or limited locations. I found the book well laid out. It begins with a chapter dealing with how to overcome any limitations, such…

PAISLEY ARC GB0DOD SES: On Saturday 17th September 2022, the Paisley Amateur Radio Club operated a Special Event Station (SES) as part of Renfrewshire Historic Buildings Doors Open Day. The club is located in one of the county’s significant number of impressive buildings, right in the centre of historic old Paisley town. During the event, club members operated several station setups using the special callsign - Golf Bravo Zero Delta Oscar Delta. The radio operators were active on the 40, 20, 17 & 15m HF bands in both voice and data and the 2m VHF band in voice. A WISPR data station operating with 200mW made many contacts across Central Europe, north across Scandinavia and even to the south as far as an island on the west coast of North…