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.