...I've spent many hours on my DX160...LW becons-Swl-AM stations at sunsets - good fun...I've spent many hours on my DX160...LW becons-Swl-AM stations at sunsets - good funLove radio. I threw out all TV sets and have not watched TV in over 3 years. Rediscovered the joy of radio when I purchased a Grundig S350DL. Haven’t been this happy since I was a kid, when I received my first transistor radio.
I have 2 of these in my hoard.
When I was a kid, I built one of these:
http://www.ohio.edu/people/postr/bapix/StarRmr.htm
I loved my DX-160....I miss shortwave...sure you can get everything now on the Internet, but it just isn’t the same.
I didn’t start working for Radio Shack until 1969. Unfortunately, they didn’t sell this radio anymore - or at least I don’t recall it. All the other guys I worked with however, were ARRL boys. I learned a lot from these guys.
Later, CB became all the rage, and all the Ham Operators dismissed this fad as Circus Band radio. Still, we sold a pant-load of CB radios. But the Ham Radio guys will always have my admiration as people who really know their stuff...
If any HAM that’s watching has a cheap or old HF transceiver they’re looking to get rid of, I’m buying.
I’m going to get my Technician and CW test done tomorrow.
Couple years nack at a Goodwill I saw some wood in the stereo section - so I bought it!
Realistic STA-80 receiver. AM/FM only, built in amp which I don’t use...
but it is probably the single most sensitive receiver I’ve ever owned. Great FM stereo, has no trouble with distant or weak AM stations.
They made some good stuff back then! Not this throw away BS you see today!
I’ll never forget the day when Radio Nederland read one of my letters. Always anxiously waiting for the QSL cards to arrive in the mail. Ahh, good times.....good times.
Thanks a bunch for posting this.
Have been hamming/swling since, umm, 1958. On the desk right now is an HQ-180, an FRG-7 and a SONY SW7600GR. My first QSO’s were with a WWII ARC-5 and Heathkit AT-1.
While this hobby is viewed by some as eccentric old guy behaviour, I suspect we will be important in the months/years to come. The HF broadcast frequencies are filled with loads of counter-cultural information (some of it is even accurate - imagine that).
Where I am headed with this is the inevitable need for COMINT when the internet and grid go down, or are shut down. All Freepers and preppers would be wise to take up your pasttime; learn their way around the SWL bands, not to mention the VHF/UHF ‘official’ channels. I believe that the foreign HF outlets will be going long after the coming tyranny co-opts the internet.
While it would be great for preppers to become amateur operators - that takes time and money. Having several shortwaves (tube & solid-state) will possibly provide intelligence when it really matters.
I have been quite favorably impressed with the Grunding G3 and G5. I keep one in the survival kit in the trunk of the car. Anyway, thanks for the post and 73’s.
I had a 61 Olds which had a big AM radio. It didn’t work when I bought the car used around 1970. I bought it from one of the football players at Troy. I was a student at the time and took it to the local electronics repair place and he fixed it for just a few dollars.
I have no idea why but it was the best sounding radio I have ever owned. I still remember driving in the North Carolina mountains with a strikingly pretty girl and the clear beautiful voice of a lady, I think named Collins, singing “Amazing Grace”.
I bought a Zenith Transoceanic 600 (I think) at an antique shop some yrs. ago. Paid $35 for it.
Best I can tell it dates back to late 40s.
I didn’t know Transoceanic’s were produced back that far and farther..
Plugged it in one time and it worked. But I’m afraid to try iti now as tubes, esp. one of them are next to impossible to find.
So it sits above my desk on a self.
Bought mine in 78 with my highschool graduation money. Still have it too.
I was listening to the BBC the night Saddam invaded Kuwait in 91 using it,
Thanks for posting.
It’s been years since I did any DX’ing. I still have my Kenwood receiver but the aerial isn’t hooked up. Since the ‘net, I haven’t paid much attention. Are the pirates and other entertainments still out there? I remember ‘number’ stations being run by foreign powers for espionage and even Radio Moscow. Anybody still airing Kurt Saxon radio shows? That guy was truly out there back then - pretty tame by today’s standards. Maybe I should go hook up a dipole . . .
*radio ping*
For those interested the URL for the Amateur Radio Relay League is ARRL.org. Something in it for everyone. Especially need more folks for Amateur Radio Emergency Service AND Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service. We do the last mile to the front door. Age and attrition are taking a toll in em com operators. Plenty of free training. Look around for any Incident Command courses given in your area. Can do ICS-100 and ICS-200 in line at FEMA.gov. Check with your local county Emergency peratins Center for the local “Ham radio” support group. ARES and/or RACES are supported by county emergency management. Our page is AA3E.org
The first short wave radio that I listened to was a buddy’s Hallicraters S-38 when I was in junior high. That started my interest in ham radio, but it was several years later when I got my ticket in 1963 and I am still active today both mobile and fixed operation on all bands. Have operated many different modes including ATV, packet and satellite.
73 de W5HJ