The Exelrad Noiseless Antenna

Posted on July 25, 2014 | Leave a comment

The Exelrad Noiseless Antenna

Historical advertisement from the 1930s.

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Practical Details of … “Eliminoise” Aerial Equipment

Posted on July 25, 2014 | Leave a comment

Historical article:

Typical Sales Advertisement from

The N.Z. Radio Times

February 2, 1937

It is generally agreed that if a receiver has to be operated where interference is directly radiated, the most effective way of improving reception is to attend to the aerial; the active span should be erected as far from any metallic conductor as possible, and the down lead which is incapable of picking up any radio voltages be used for connecting the aerial to the receiver.

This is a preview of Practical Details of … “Eliminoise” Aerial Equipment. Read the full post (621 words, 2 images, estimated 2:29 mins reading time)

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Posted in History, Technical

Clandestine Radio In The 1970s

Posted on July 25, 2014 | 1 Comment

Martin Hadlow

While accessing some declassified US Government documents in the archives, I came across an interesting report from March, 1971. Headed Soviet and East European Clandestine Broadcasting, the report noted that “The USSR and East European Communist countries today are engaged in extensive clandestine broadcasting operations to supplement the efforts of their official acknowledged international broadcasting networks”.

The report listed nine stations, which broadcast a total of 232.25 hours a week. No doubt many of the stations are familiar to long-time DXers. Personally, I never heard any of the nine listed by the US authorities in their classified report. However, reading the list, and the raison d’etre of each station, is like stepping back in time to an era when the Cold War was at its height.

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Posted in Clandestine, History

High Efficiency Aerial For Shortwaves – Historical

Posted on July 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

HIGH EFFICIENCY AERIAL FOR SHORT WAVES

HERE is a short wave antenna that has helped me very much in my SWL work. I believe it is an original idea, for I have never seen or heard of one like it. It occurred to me when I was trying to figure out a way to have good directional antenna (all directions) without having to have a separate antenna for each direction. It has worked wonderfully well for the past six months, so I thought that others interested in the same field might like to try it.

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Posted in Antennas, History, Technical

Radio Canada International SW Towers

Posted on July 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

RCI Sackville (Tantramarsh)

Thanks to Paul Rawdon reporting in DX Dialog “This could be well worth seeing.An experimental documentary film about the RCI shortwave radio towers. Images captured on 35mm film, and stories told in English, French, and Mi’kmaq.

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Posted in Antennas, Broadcasters, Shortwave

Wave Traps – Historical Article

Posted on July 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

WAVE TRAPS

FOR INCREASING R.F. GAIN

R. J. A. LITTLE, A.M.I.R.E. South Melbourne

From – The Australasian Radio Times – July 1947

A WAVE TRAP can be defined as a circuit containing at least one condenser and one coil wired in series or parallel to form a tuned circuit. A most common form of wave trap is one utilising a parallel tuned circuit.

This is a preview of Wave Traps – Historical Article. Read the full post (967 words, 2 images, estimated 3:52 mins reading time)

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Posted in Antennas, History, Technical

Modified Views On Shortwave Propagation

Posted on July 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

Historical article from May 1943 Australasian Radio World

TWO abstracts from technical papers of German origin which have recently appeared in “Wireless Engineer” deal with matters of particular interest to those engaged in short-wave work.

The first of these is from a paper by B. Beckmann, W. Menzel and F. Vilbig, and gives details of a particular form of “scattering” in the ionosphere, which results in strong signals being obtained within the skip distance of a transmitter.

This is a preview of Modified Views On Shortwave Propagation. Read the full post (1365 words, 1 image, estimated 5:28 mins reading time)

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Posted in History, Propagation

Great Circle Gadget

Posted on July 22, 2014 | Leave a comment

Historical Article: Tells You Where To Point Your Directional Aerial

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Posted in History, Technical

The Atmosphere’s Electrical Fringe

Posted on July 22, 2014 | Leave a comment

Historical Article: How the Ionosphere Affects Radio Transmission

From the Radio Review of Australia (June 1938)

EVERY reader of this journal must have encountered at least one reference to the vagaries of the ionosphere” in the course of his reading, and he is also bound to have come across references to ‘sun-spots” and their effect on terrestrial conditions. It is quite possible that these references, usually of the incomplete newspaper” variety, have left him wondering what it is all about. The following article, which is by a scientist of the Carnegie Institution, Washington, U.S.A., sums up present knowledge of the ionosphere, sun-spots, and their relation to radio transmission, very neatly and will give the reader a much more intelligent appreciation of what is happening next time he hears of a ‘solar hydrogen eruption” or a “sun-spot cycle.

This is a preview of The Atmosphere’s Electrical Fringe. Read the full post (2150 words, 1 image, estimated 8:36 mins reading time)

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Posted in History, Propagation

Radio Australia To Slash SW Services

Posted on July 22, 2014 | Leave a comment

Thanks to Dallas MacKenzie reporting on the DX Dialog reflector for the following: “RA news announced that 60% of its services to close (23/7 News)” This includes the Pacific Island Service which will only Broadcast News, and local ABC programmes…(Similar to RNZI). Further Info will be available from their web page shortly”

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Posted in Broadcasters, Shortwave

Gary DeBock & The Ferrite Sleeve Loop

Posted on July 22, 2014 | Leave a comment

Thanks to Tony King reporting on the DX Dialog reflector, here is a photo of Gary DeBock with his invention, the Ferrite Sleeve Loop. “Gary DeBock’s latest creation with which he is scoring many NZ stations on his Tecsun PL380. Probably about 200 ferrite rods on this “sausage roll” .pic attached. He’s in the right uniform, and his PL380 lives in an NZ emblazoned mobile phone pouch I sent him last year.” Rumour has it one or two Kiwis are building them!

And also from Gary is a Youtube video of his antenna picking up trans-Pacific DX from New Zealand.

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Posted in Medium Wave, Technical

Aussie MW Band In 1937

Posted on July 22, 2014 | Leave a comment

Click on the image to enlarge.

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Posted in Broadcasters, History

Solving Noise Problems In The Modern Home

Posted on July 21, 2014 | Leave a comment

Jim Brown K9YC is the author of an excellent guide to solving RFI issues around the radio shack. His very useful article “A Ham’s Guide to RFI, Ferrites, Baluns, and Audio Interfacing” has much information useful to SWLs looking for a way to reduce noise and there are a lot of instances where the noise-source is in the home. You’ll find a lot of interesting material on Jim’s website.

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Posted in Technical

Solomon Islands Back On Shortwave

Posted on July 21, 2014 | Leave a comment

Reporting on the DX Dialog user-group, Bryan Clark has this hot-off-the-press item:

After a couple of months absence from it’s daytime channel – 9545 kHz,
SIBC conducted tone tests yesterday and today is back with full audio -
excellent signals noted here at 0345 UTC during a music dedication
programme.
Bryan
Mangawhai
Northland

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Posted in Broadcasters, Shortwave

Soviet Jammers From Latvia

Posted on July 19, 2014 | Leave a comment

Not all of the Soviet jamming originated from Russia, their replublics also hosted jammers, and what’s more some were made in the USA. The Latvian History blog carries this interesting story. They also make the comment that the jammers blocked transmissions from Soviet-friendly states as well. From the same site, there are interesting blogs on Nazi radio propaganda during WW2 and Latvian-made valve radios.

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Posted in Broadcasters, Clandestine, History, Shortwave

Stop That Noise!

Posted on July 18, 2014 | Leave a comment

Historical article from Lamphouse Annual 1947-48

STOP THAT NOISE!

MANY excellent programmes are ruined by man-made interference. In order to locate the source of interference you should endeavour to obtain some clue to possible causes, and, by the process of elimination, determine the electrical system in which the trouble originates.

The local Radio Inspector of the Post and Telegraph Department is always willing to investigate complaints of continued interference, but before calling on his assistance you should endeavour to eliminate the possibility of the trouble being in your own receiving set, your aerial and earth system, or caused by some electrical appliance or circuit in your own home.

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Posted in History, Technical

Remember The Cold War Jammers?

Posted on July 18, 2014 | Leave a comment

These QRM-generators were used mostly by Eastern Bloc countries to jam shortwave transmissions from the West. They used all manner of continuous tones and raucous audio, anything to make the desired signal unintelligible.

The Radio Jamming website has some excellent material backgrounding their existence along with sound clips so you can hear just how pervasive their cacophony was. The website is the work of Rimantas Pleikys, not only a shortwave listener but also the former minister of communications and informatics and past member of the Lithuanian parliament!

Thanks to Paul Rawdon for letting us know that the DVD Empire of Noise mentioned on the home page is on YouTube

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Posted in Clandestine, Shortwave

Convention 1976

Posted on July 18, 2014 | Leave a comment

Thanks to Dawn Chambers, there are some excellent photos online taken at the NZRDXL’s 1976 Convention, held at Tatum Park near Otaki.

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Posted in Conventions, DXers

SW Radio Africa To Leave SW

Posted on July 18, 2014 | Leave a comment

Thanks to Alokesh Gupta in India, Clandestine broadcaster SW Radio Africa is leaving shortwave on July 18th and shifting its radio channel to a satellite service and other unmentioned media. More on their website.

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Posted in Clandestine, Shortwave

Even More On Those Numbers Stations

Posted on July 17, 2014 | Leave a comment

There is a continuing fascination among radio listeners about “numbers stations”. The “War Is Boring” blog carries an article on two in particular, “The Buzzer” and “Yosemite Sam”, who join the pantheon of mysterious broadcasters alongside “The Lincolnshire Poacher” and “Cherry Ripe”.