A Little Catching Up...

It's been a hectic few weeks to say the least. So far, after really working on the RF-2200 and getting it up to par, It has developed a bad hum. I originally thought the hum to be the product of a bad transformer, but after extensive testing it looks like the volume pot has finally given up the ghost. As of this posting, the radio sits in many, many pieces on my dining room table.

If you are novice, or even a journeyman with electronics repair, just buy another RF-2200 if your volume pot goes bad. Just to get the damn thing prepped to get the pot out, you have to basically disassemble the chassis because of the design. Right now, I'm debating finishing the project. Although cosmetically the radio is excellent, it has been nothing but a pain in the you-know-what functionally. I don't think I can take another reassembly only to have another bug pop up.

Antenna-wise, the experimenting continues but right now is at a stand still. To me, radio is about experimenting and seeing what you can get out of it with what you have on hand. I've been pleased with the reception from the 200 feet of gutter that encircles my apartment, but there isn't anything more I can do with it. I think I've done everything I can on the cheap.

I have been chasing Radio Mauritanie since about January, and have been able to at least tell something is there, but I can't seem to get a good enough signal to actually record it for a QSL. On that same note, I am tired of only finding the same old players on shortwave without any new finds. I know we are in the middle of one the worst sun spot cycles and that activity is almost non-existent, but I think I should be able to do better. I've been checking other people's logs and they are getting some good contacts, so why can't I get in on the action?

Because I'm cheap. Always have been, and probably always will be. But I think it's time to invest some money into a better set-up. I may not have the Drake R8, or a JRC rig, but I've got some decent stuff, mainly my DX-160. I just can't justify spending four digits on a radio. Besides, without a decent antenna set-up, no radio is going to get the job done, no matter what the price tag is.

With all that being said, I guess I'm luckier than about 90% of the radio guys out there. Universal Radio is about 20 minutes from my place, so I not only get to buy stuff quickly, but I get the expertise of the guys there. It's always better to talk to someone face to face than by phone or email. Plus, you can evaluate what your buying right then and there to see if it suits your needs.

So today, off to Universal to buy an MJF preselector. I see a Wagner Antenna in my very near future.

SW Logs for February (And Some From January!)

AFRICA:

22 Jan: 1930, 4845KHz - Radio Mauritanie - Nouakchott, Mauritania. SINPO: 22222.
Talk and cultural music until around 2312 hrs. Bad Modulation, lots o' static. CCRadio SW.

22 Jan: 2159, 6080 - VOA, Sao Tome and Principe. SINPO: 22222
Caught the very end of the program, but heard "Cliffs of Dover" by Eric Johnson. Good music! CCRadio SW

6 Feb: 1024, 5915KHz - Zambia Nat. Broadcasting Corp. - Laska, Zambia. SINPO: 54454. Unknown language, but heard mention of pipelines and the Boston area. Panasonic RF-2200

14 Feb: 2305, 4845KHz - Radio Mauritanie - Nouakchott, Mauritania. SINPO: 44333.
Male talking in French. Heard Mauritania mentioned twice. @ 2309, heard what sounded like a recording of a man giving a speech in French. Station would do good to boost its modulation. I can consistently get good signal but can't hardly pull out the mod to get a good - or even decent recording. CCRadio SW

15 Feb: 0002, 6850KHz - Radio Cairo - Cairo, Egypt. SINPO: 32222
Male and female bantering back and forth in Arabic. Like Mauritanie, could use a modulation boost. Are all the transmitter plates in Africa worn out? CCRadio SW

ASIA:

21 Jan: 2305, 9780KHz - Yemen Radio - Sana'a, Yemen. SINPO: 33222
Music, and nothing more! CCRadio SW

6 Feb: 1005, 4810KHz - Public Radio of Armenia -Yerevan, Armenia. SINPO: 33333
Cultural music. Started fading then became unreadable @ 1013. Panasonic RF-2200.

14 Feb: 2320, 5025KHz - Radio of Uzbekistan - Tashkent, Uzbekistan. SINPO: 33323
Sounded like broadcast of Soccer or other sporting match. CCRadio SW

17 Feb: 1412, 11705KHz - NHK Radio Japan, Tokyo, Japan. SINPO: 55444
Talking about Khmer Rouge, torture and genocide. After that ray of sunshine, they switched to "Space Poetry", reading poems 18-21. Sign off @ 1429. Realistic DX-160

21 Feb: 1921, 11990KHz - Radio Kuwait - SINPO 33233
Country music (of all things), and station ID @ 1930 hrs. "Short Stories", part 2 of 3, aired after ID, Then music for the duration of the hour. CCRadio SW

OCEANIA

17 Feb: 1233, 9580KHz - Radio Australia - Melbourne, Australia. SINPO: 43333
Talk about European Union recognizing Kosovo; Kosovo's economic and unemployment problems. Musical interlude @ 1242, then interview with a lady named Rose (Couldn't get last name due to a quick fade-out). Interview was about art in the middle east. Realistic DX-160

EUROPE

6 Feb: 1024, 6115KHz - Radio Belorussia - Minsk, Belarus. SINPO: 55555
Talk in Bellarussian. Mentioned Robert J. Chandry (sp) and San Paulo, Brazil. Panasonic RF-2200

14 Feb: 0108, 6145KHz - Radio Romania Int'l. - Tiganesti, Romania. SINPO: 43333
Discussion of economic crisis in Romania; Negotiations between romania and Ukrain for rights to natural gas and oil. Economic crisis seems to dominate shortwave right now. At least I know it's not just an American problem. CCRadio SW

14 Feb: 2333, 6055KHz - Radio Exterior de Espana - Noblejas, Spain. SINPO: 34333
Female talking and music until 2336hrs, then bantering between male & female. CCRadio SW

14 Feb: 2350, 6165KHz - Croatian Radio - Deanovec, Croatia. SINPO: 44434
Appeared to be interview in Croatian. Positive ID with contact info @ 2355hrs. Music until sign-off @ 2358. CCRadio SW

14 Feb: 0049, 7400KHz - Radio Bulgaria Int. - Plovdiv, Bulgaria. SINPO: 22322
Poor signal and barely able to pull out of the mud, but got positive ID @ 0051hrs. CCRadio SW

15 Feb: 0019, 7440KHz - Radio Ukraine Int'l. - Lvov, Ukraine. SINPO: 32222
Talk w/ music.

15 Feb: 0034, 9715KHz - Radiodifusao Portuguesa - Sao Gabriel, Portugal. SINPO: 44333
Male & female bantering, then music. Pretty good signal. CCRadio SW

15 Feb: 0120, 7425KHz - Radio Tirana - Shijak, Albania. SINPO: 33233
Female talking. Fading was pretty bad with a fair amount of splatter. CCRadio SW

16 Feb: 1935, 11655KHz - Radio Nederlands - Flevo, The Netherlands. SINPO: 23322
Icelands economic crisis; Darfur conflict and its impact on the environment. The name of the show is, I believe, "Earth Beat" Sangean ATS 803A

21 Feb: 2310, 9600KHz - Vatican Radio - Vatican City (Italy). SINPO: 43444
Mass. What the heck, had to log it. CCRadio SW

22Feb: 1137, 5905KHz - Deutsche Welle - Bonaire, Germany. SINPO: 44344
Talk in German. I need to learn more foreign languages. Sangean ATS 803A

NORTH AMERICA

24 Sept. 2008: 0143, 6060KHz - Radio Habana - Havana, Cuba. SINPO: 33233
DXer's Unlimited (Arnie Coro's show). Propogation reports, promotion of the tropical bands, Arnie's workshop. Realistic DX-160

SOUTH AMERICA

22 Feb: 1147, 6050KHz - HCJB, The Voice of The Andes - Quito, Ecuador. SINPO: 33333
Church sermon. ID @ 0000hrs. Sangean ATS 803A

Battery Spring Replacement - RF2200

Well, after searching high and low, near and far, I gave up on finding replacement coil-springs for the RF-2200. I found some parts radios, but people think that just because it's an RF, they can get an arm and a leg for it. Granted, there are some out there that will pay $75 for a radio that's dead-in-the-water, but not me.

So, ingenuity was the call of the day. I had a friend give me an off brand radio that didn't work in hope I could get it going. Instead of attempting a repair, I decided it was best suited for a scavenger unit.

I removed the springs and did a MacGuyver on the Panasonic.

First off, the way the springs are mounted and connected on the RF-2200 are unlike anything I've come across. They coil from the front to the back like most, but instead of connecting to a plate that's mounted to the compartment, the near-end straightens-out and goes through the bottom of the compartment.



What I had to work with was an inverted spring attached to a backing plate with a rivet. While engineering the mounting of the new spring in my mind, I realized that the rivet was hollow enough in the center to get a small bolt through.

I drilled a 5/32 diameter hole dead-center where the old spring was and mounted the new spring and plate and tightened it with a nut.



For the connections I simply attached an eyelet connector on the end of some 16 gauge wire, cut it to fit and attached it to the screw. The other end was then soldered to the existing connector.



While not a work of art, the improvised battery compartment serves my needs well. There are probably a lot of purists out there just shaking their head, but the functionality of a radio is the most important point. After all, the battery compartment is out of sight, so it doesn't take away from the aesthetics of the rig. What I gained though was an already great radio made better by taking the electrical noise of AC out of the picture.

Antenna Experimenting

Since I live in an apartment, my choices of antennas are limited. My first antenna here back in October of '08 was a random wire of about 40 feet. I found out quickly that this produced a lot of electrical noise that covered most of even the decent stations. Being busy at work and day to day activities, I just let it go for awhile, resigned to trying to dial in some common stations.

My previous antenna at my other residence was a long-wire of about 90 feet with proper grounding. My DX-160 was picking up some very interesting stations, which I logged but have since misplaced the log sheets. With winter coming on and being limited in my choice of antennas at the new place, I packed away the DX.

The bug then hit me again with a new radio, the CC SW. So, I went into experimental mode and started working with the random wire set-up. I tried better grounding of the radio and antenna, and even ran a counter-poise to try to make the signal better. In the end, though, I was actually doing better with the whip antenna on the radio. So, shopping I went.

About 4 years ago, I built a helical-wound antenna - a "Broomstick Special" if you will, and had much success with it. I used a 4 foot piece of 1-inch PVC and 16 gauge solid wire. I wound about 110 feet of wire onto the pipe, topped it with a 9 inch metal plate, and it just blew smoke. A very good set up indeed.

I bought the items I needed to build another Helical, but this time I wanted to build it as cheap as I could. I used a 3/4 inch wooden dowel, about 4 feet tall, two strand electric cord wire, two hose clamps top and bottom to hold the wire, and a galvanized 6 inch round shallow gang box for the static cap.

This set-up seemed to work okay, but not nearly as good as the previous helical. Back to the drawing board.

I was outside smoking (Yeah, I know, I know!) and was looking at the clouds in anticipation of the next winter storm coming in. I was looking also at the icicles that had formed on the gutter. Hmmm, gutter. Would that work as an antenna? It was metal and it was HUGE!

My apartment building is a two-story with an apex roof (Pyramid style), so the gutter system went all the way around the building. From my calculations, it ran about 200 feet, plus or minus. And it was, by default, multi-directional.

So off to the store I went again. I had plenty of wire so I picked up some alligator clips to experiment with. If it did work I would sheet metal screw it onto the gutter.

After it was all hooked up, I fired up the DX-160, hooked up the antenna, and was confronted by a stronger signal, but a hell of a lot of noise. So, I ran a counter-poise of about 15 feet from the radio, but this did little to curb the noise.

Now dammit, I've done battle with RF noise before but not near as bad as this. The grounding wasn't working and I found out why. The copper pipes inside the apartment connect to PVC under the building, and the electrical system wasn't grounded, either on purpose or just wired improperly. UGGGH! There was nowhere I could put a grounding rod in because of all the concrete and asphalt. The electrical service comes in on the other side of the building, so tapping that ground wasn't practical.

So, just for giggles, I took the alligator clip off the gutter's downspout and connected it to the stop sign on the corner, which is only about 10 feet from my window.

Wow, I must say I was impressed. The bad RF noise was to a minimum and I was getting good, strong signals. Just for comparison, WWV would normally come in at about a 333 SIO on a good day. At 5000KHz, it was burying my signal meter and the fading wasn't bad.

There are two lessons learned here: Never give up, and be creative and use your curiosity. It will serve you well.

The biggest lesson I learned? Sometimes your tax dollars do work for you.

Log for 12 - 19 Jan 2009

DATE	UTC	FREQ.	MODE	STATION	LOCATION	SINPO	RECEIVER	NOTES
1/12	0545	7335	AM	V. of Russia	Moscow	43333	CC SW	Radio adaptation of "The Marriage", music, sign off @ 0600
1/12	0601	6915	AM	Unk	Unk	33333	CC SW	Spanish Talk Show? Station unlisted in my freq. Book
1/12	0606	6140	AM	Radio Habana	Havana, Cuba	43444	CC SW	Music (Pianist), some talk. In Eng but uninterpretable.
1/12	0619	6115	AM	WLD Univ. Net.	Anquilla	33323	CC SW	Talk, topic was individualism and the common good (Socialist)
1/18	1303	9570	AM	CRI	Beijing, China	44444	ATS 803A	News
1/18	1315	9450	AM	UNK	UNK	22322	ATS 803A	News in unk. Language. Freq. Not listed in my book
1/19	0110	5875	AM	WHRI Angel 6	UNK	44444	ATS 803A	U.S. weather, tornado in Japan. Relations to the end-times
1/19	0115	6020	AM	CRI	Beijing, China	43333	ATS 803A	News, discussion of upcoming Spring festival
1/19	0117	6140	AM	Radio Habana	Havana, Cuba	44444	ATS 803A	Environmental report, energy discussions, Kyoto summit @ U.N.
1/19	0155	9775	AM	UNK	UNK	33333	ATS 803A	Foreign Lang. News, discussing Barak Obama. Sound clips in Eng.
1/19	0208	6605	SSB	VOLMET	Gander, NY	33333	ATS 803A	Aeronautical Weather
1/19	0236	6165	AM
1/19	0422	6240	AM	V. of Russia	Moscow	43433	ATS 803A	Music discussion, Trombone player Christian Limberg(?)

The Propogation Blues

Let's face it, it's been a bad couple of years for SWL's. Being in the lull of the sunspot cycle is never fun, nor productive for the DX'er, but here lately it has been absolutely disappointing.

I can't remember the last time I saw the solar activity as flat for as long. In fact, it is so flat that NASA is concerned that the lack of solar winds will cause devastating UV effects on the earth. That's pretty bad.

Everywhere I've read, there seems to be no end in sight, at least for a few years. But alas, our good friend Arnie Coro has seen the light at the end of the tunnel, literally.

Arnie does things the old fashioned way. He grabs a telescope (With proper filtering, of course) and takes a look at the surface of the sun. He stated last evening on his show , DX'ers Unlimited (Radio Habana), that he was seeing the beginning of a sunspot!

Maybe there is some good listening around the corner. The only thing I can say is that it can't get much worse than it has been.

Always Up For A Good Deal

I like my toys. I mean, what fun is life with no toys?

I wouldn't say I'm a fanatic, although I have been known to drool over such things as cars, street bikes and such. Some guys I know do fall into the fanatic category...And you know the ones. They spend money they don't have to get their fix. I try to keep my whims on the logical side.

My wife understands and she supports me in my hobbies. She probably figures that in order to keep me from becoming a fanatic she should at least let me have my fun and humor me in my endeavors. Who knows what she really thinks but she never gripes.

About a month before Christmas we were out shopping and we stopped in the local Radio Shack to check deals on batteries for the load of gifts our five year-old was about to gain... That would surely need a truckload of batteries. While perusing the store, I spotted a Grundig S350DL on the shelf, setting out for display. I pulled it down and fiddled with it a bit. Of course, with all the steel, concrete and flourescent lights, I couldn't pick up a damn thing, but I was confident in the radios ability to pull in stations. Afterall, it was a Grundig.

Whilst fiddling, the wife comes rolling around and spots me. I briefly laid out the radio, price, etc. She stated that wasn't a bad price considering some of the rigs that are on my wishlist. Thinking that may have been enough of a hint for a Christmas gift, I put the radio back in its place and meandered out of the store.

Christmas came, and to make a long story short, no radio. Now, I had just watched "A Christmas Story" with the wife and kid a few nights before and the thought started going through my head that maybe it would be a last gift surprise hiding in the corner somewhere. Ralphie got his Red Ryder BB gun against all odds, why shouldn't I get my radio?

Alas, no radio.

Poo-poo on Ralphie.

Fast-forward to December 28 and we are - where else - but Radio Shack buying batteries. And where else was I but in the last aisle looking at the Grundig. The old lady sneaks up behind me (Just like always) and says "You should go ahead and get it". I told her it could wait and she immediately lets me know in no uncertain terms that we weren't leaving the store without the Grundig. So I go to the clerk and ask for a boxed one. The clerk stated they were out of stock but that we were more than welcome to take the demo.

Floor models, demos, whatever you wanna call them, always make me a bit uneasy, especially when they don't knock off a few bucks for you. But the radio had that classic look similar to the Panasonic RF 2200 that I have always wanted. It had all kinds of knobs...big ones, little ones, a nice stout antenna. And it said GRUNDIG! Against my better judgement, I took the radio, no box, no manual...nothing but the radio.

The next day, buyer's remorse started to set in. As I was tuning around with it I noticed that once you switched to the SW2 band, the frequency started bouncing all over the place. After some tinkering I realized it had a bad switch but I could find a sweet spot and it would stop twitching on me.

After a bit more playing I realized I was getting some bad imaging from a station around 17,000KHz...I happened to be in the 8,000KHz area. That was all I needed.

I promptly took the radio back. I figured they would give me some static at the store because it was a demo...kinda like a car from a buy-here pay-here lot with the "As Is: No Warranty" sticker in the window.

I must have looked kinda pissed because the manager promptly refunded my money with a smile.

I then suggested we go to Universal Radio up in Columbus. She agreed.

Upon arrival I was greeted by a vast array of toys. Mouth watering toys. I hadn't been to Universal in a couple of years and forgot how pleasant it was just to be inside there. I talked to one of the guys in there and told him of my story with the Grundig. As I was talking to him I noticed about 5 S350L's in the used radio area. I thought either they are popular and they like to keep a few on hand or I wasn't the only one unhappy with it.

After much discussion he sold me on the new CC Radio SW from C. Crane. He stated that for the price there was no better radio.

I got her home and immediately put some batteries in her and let her rip. Boy, what a radio. I didn't even have her hooked up to the external antenna and it was picking up stations as clear as a bell.

If any of you out there have kinda blown off the CCRadio SW because it doesn't have Kenwood, Grundig, or whatever on it, you need to at least test drive this radio. I'm not going to go into a review of it here, but I will tell you that you are doing yourself a disservice by not at least considering one. You won't regret it.

And wouldn't you know it, two days later I came across a Panasonic RF 2200 for $50.00. It does have a few issues, like a very dirty sounding volume pot, rusted coil springs for the batteries, and the need for a serious alignment. Fairly easy doings. I have my other radios to listen to, so this one will be my project.

Stay tuned...