Radio User 2018 004 - April

Maritime Matters Utility Signals Monitoring NOW IN
Inland Port Communications The Essential Software You Need OUR13TH

YEAR!
Performance and Portability

We put the SDRPlay RSP1A to the test
Radio from
the top of
the World
Offbeat stations across the
broadcast bands, and the
latest BBC radio ventures
FIFTY YEARS OF PROPAGATION &

BBC COLOUR TV RADIO SCIENCE
Technology & maintenance Why sunspots matter
AIRBAND NEWS OFF THE RECORD
New Series: Airport ATC Profiles Free Radio & Audience Figures
SCANNING SCENE
Digital Scanners Overview April 2018 £3.99 Display until 26th April 2018
ISSN 1748-8117
● Radio Books ● Digital Radio ● Medium & Short Wave ● Decode ● Websites
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Radio User DPS April 2018_9x _Layout 1 01/03/2018 18:40 Page 1
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Radio User DPS April 2018_9x _Layout 1 01/03/2018 18:40 Page 2
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sky high Godfrey Manning assesses radio communications in
CHRISTINE MLYNEK
Godrey Manning aviation, looks at callsigns and good practice and offers his
63 The Drive
Edgware latest frequency and operational updates.
Middlesex HA8 8PS
E-mail: cgmm2@btinternet.com
Callsigns and Good Practice

T
he Helitech International landing system has components sharing
THE GODFREY MANNING AIRCRAFT MUSEUM
Exhibition took place in the VOR band (localisers), UHF glide path
October once again at the transmitters and 75MHz marker beacons.
Excel Centre near Green- DME is also often paired with ILS. Fig. 3: G-ALZO Airspeed AS57 Ambassador 2.
wich, London. As in the
past, the temporary helipad was served Radio: Help not Hindrance C. Equipment can go wrong and an indicative of the aircraft itself, such as https://www.icao.int/Pages/default.aspx
by Helitech Radio on 121.175MHz. Pilots want to get on with flying and, to inaccurate altitude readout can cause Vulcan or Red Arrows. Military flights http://www.itu.int/en/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.helitechinternational.com this end, radio is a helpful tool in mak- confusion on the radar screen. When this can take unusual names. The Military
ing flights safer and easier. Pilots are not happens, the controller will tell the pilot Matters column in RadioUser has a wide Frequency & Operational News
Personal Locator Beacons necessarily radio enthusiasts; the radio is to stop squawk altitude but old habits range of examples. My Airband Factsheet lists suppliers that
I compared old and new examples of only a means to an end. persist and stop Mode C is still heard. General aviation, mainly private light sell authoritative aeronautical information
search and rescue beacons in RadioUser, Regardless of why someone is using Knowing how to operate your aircraft, usually give their registrations as to the public by mail order. To get one,
September 2017: 28. This brought back radio, there are certain constraints that, if transponder and responding to the callsigns. G-ABCD would make the first send me a self-addressed reply-paid en-
memories for Paul (West Middlesex) ignored, create difficulties that can affect request, in whatever way it is phrased, will contact with a controller by stating the velope and an additional 2nd Class stamp
who once worked for a manufacturer of others on the same frequency. prevent confusion. full registration phonetically. If there is no (or IRC) to cover production costs.
the old-style devices, based in Sutton, Transmitting at the same time as other flight on the frequency where the Abbreviations for all articles are found
Surrey. One transmitter operated on someone else on the same frequency Callsigns callsigns could become confused, the in the Glossary towards the back of this
the 121.500MHz and 243MHz distress is sometimes called stepping on a Every flight must have a callsign, so there controller will reply with the abbreviated magazine.
frequencies and was, naturally, designed transmission,, in the same sense that Fig. 1: Listen before pressing the transmit button. can be no doubt as to the recipient of any Golf Charlie Delta and this implies The following summary of aeronautical
to float, when falling into the water. To you avoid stepping on your dance radio message. permission for the pilot to follow suit. information (such as AIP amendments) is
A TIT EW
D E
REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF THE CAA AND FROM

activate the transmission, the inbuilt aerial partner’s toes. Although unlikely, Typically, commercial flights adopt The initial characters in a registration selected for its interest to readers in gen-
!
ED
D L
ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPS WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE

N
CONTROLLER OF HMSO, (C) CROWN COPYRIGHT NC/06/53602.

was deployed by rotating it into the verti- sometimes two pilots really do press NOT FOR OPERATIONAL USE. their airline name and flight number (or indicate the state (country) that eral. Pilots, in particular, should consult
cal position. This was prior to the forma- their push-to-talk buttons simultaneously, some variation on this scheme) as their administers the aircraft in question, so G- the original documents.
tion of the CAA and the specification was causing the controller to miss one or callsign. The airline name in the callsign is Great Britain (with new exceptions of M Many larger airports have had minor
determined by the Board of Trade Civil both transmissions. An awareness New Runway can be different to the trading name for the Isle of Man, ZJ for Jersey and 2 for amendments to certain standard terminal
Aviation Department. of the jumble and calling for a further painted on the side of the aircraft. For Guernsey). arrival routes.
transmission should resolve things but instance, BA retains the insignia of the Amateur radio callsigns are allocated Some airways in the Prestwick area
The Airbands the controller might hear one signal and former BOAC and this gives rise to the according to similar country codes with have had minor amendments.
Aeronautical radio has the dual purpose be unaware of the other. This can be even callsign Speedbird. G, M and 2 again applying to Great Remember that some upper airways
of communication and navigation. Across worse if the obscured caller believes the The name could instead pertain to the Britain. cease to carry the U designation. They
land and coastal areas, communica- controller’s reply is for them, not the other, function of the flight, such as Pipeline or This is not surprising, since still exist but are combined with their
tions coverage is usually on VHF (118 to stronger, station. Medevac helicopter callsigns. A suffix of the allocations are internationally lower counterparts to form a single entity.
137MHz with 8.33kHz channel spacing) There are automated circuits in some heavy indicates the need for increased coordinated at United Nations level Northampton/Sywell now has a new
for civil aircraft and UHF (230 to 399MHz, airborne radios, which prevent transmis- Fig. 2: Northampton/Sywell has a new runway. separation from the persistent wake such as through the International Civil grass runway 14/32 (Fig. 2). As it is
12.5kHz spacing) for military purposes. sion if a signal is already received on any vortex. Aviation Organisation or the International unlicensed, there are restrictions, such as
Over remote areas such as oceans, given frequency. This safeguard operates Another kind of confusion can arise Display items often adopt a name Telecommunications Union. for training.
various allocations in the short wave faster than human response time, even if from secondary radar. Derived from
spectrum (below 30MHz) are in wide- the received carrier has only been there earlier wartime friend-or-foe identifica-
spread use, despite and in addition to, the for a fraction of a second. Some radios tion technology, the next generation of
NOW IN STOCK!
JU
£3
increasing importance of communications fitted to older Boeing 757s had a ‘Roger’ transponders introduced two modes. Of
ST
IN
C
LU
satellites. bleep to emphasise that a transmission these, Mode A is the basic response to
D
IN
G
5
Navigation beacons are of various was beginning. the ground radar’s interrogation pulse and
SAVE
P&
P
types and en route aids include NDBs It is correct practice on any radio includes a four-digit squawk code.
World Radio TV Handbook 2018
Also
transmitting close to the medium wave system to listen before transmitting (Fig. Mode C adds flight level reporting
band, VOR in the 108 to 118MHz alloca- 1). If a controller has just issued a clear- to the downlink signal. These days, This is the 72nd edition of World Radio TV Handbook and this great directory continues to offer the most comprehensive
tion and DME on the border between UHF ance to another flight, it is essential not to the modes have been lost in history guide to broadcasting on the planet. With the help of an international network of contributors they again provide the most
UP TO
up-to-date information on mediumwave, shortwave and FM broadcasts and broadcasters available in any publication.
and microwaves. transmit until the other pilot has transmit- and transponders often have controls
For final approach, the instrument ted their readback. labelled as altitude rather than Mode For more details visit our Radio Book Store on page 69
available
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26 January 2018 RadioUser RadioUser January 2018 27
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RadioUser January 2018 70
004 subscriptions 1 page.indd 70 06/03/2018 14:33

contents
Maritime Matters Utility Signals Monitoring NOW IN
Inland Port Communications The Essential Software You Need OUR13TH
YEAR!
April 2018 Performance and Portability

We put the SDRPlay RSP1A to the test
On sale: Thursday, 22nd March
Vol. 13 No 4 Radio from
Next issue on sale: the top of
Thursday, 26th April 2018 Incorporating the very best of Short Wave Magazine & Radio Active
the World
Offbeat stations across the
broadcast bands, and the
latest BBC radio ventures
FIFTY YEARS OF PROPAGATION &

BBC COLOUR TV RADIO SCIENCE
Technology & maintenance Why sunspots matter
AIRBAND NEWS OFF THE RECORD
New Series: Airport ATC Profiles Free Radio & Audience Figures
SCANNING SCENE
Digital Scanners Overview April 2018 £3.99 Display until 26th April 2018
ISSN 1748-8117
● Radio Books ● Digital Radio ● Medium & Short Wave ● Decode ● Websites
● News & Products ● Radio Events ● PMR446 and CB Radio ● New Software
001 front ru-april-2.indd 1 06/03/2018 15:06
RadioUser
Warners Group Publications plc
The Maltings
West Street
Bourne
Lincolnshire
PE10 9PH
www.warnersgroup.co.uk
Tel 01778 391000
56 Editor (c/o Warners Group Publications plc)
53
Georg Wiessala
wiessala@hotmail.com
59 Software Spot Designer

8 Propagation & Radio Science 34 Book Review This month, QSP73 Services has a
Mike Edwards
mike.edwards@warnersgroup.co.uk
Tomas Hood investigates sunspots, Reviewer David Harris introduces new portfolio of updated radio software
one of the key phenomena affecting books on the history and location of facilitating both project and operational Advertisement Manager
radio wave propagation. He looks at numbers stations and on the television aspects of the hobby, from antenna Claire Ingram
their origin, anatomy, measurement set as a complex technical and cultural design to memory management and claire.ingram@warnersgroup.co.uk
and impact on Earth’s ionosphere. object. beyond.
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14 Scanning Scene 36 DXTV, FM & Satellite News 62 News & Products Kristina Green
kristina.green@warnersgroup.co.uk
Scanning enthusiast Bill Robertson Keith Hamer and Garry Smith A focus on new radios, transceivers
Tel: 01778 392096
surveys digital modes scanner models appraise tropospheric propagation and antennas from UK radio traders
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clarifies the legality of the hobby and and DXTV reception, balancing this diverse company news, resources, Nicola Lock
assesses the WTR Browser program. with observations from the Southern radio-related podcasts and e-Books. nicola.lock@warnersgroup.co.uk
64 House of Light
Hemisphere.
18 Decode Publisher
This month, RadioUser columnist Mike 40 LM&S Broadcast Matters The editor offers a short report on Rob McDonnell
robm@warnersgroup.co.uk
Richards expands his survey of the Chrissy Brand surveys a number of a recent visit to one of the more
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21 Review: The SDRPlay RSP1A Oscar the Engineer introduces

Radio User Subscriptions,
46 Fifty Years of BBC Colour TV

Warners Group Publications plc
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50 Digital Radio
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David Smith offers an ATC and March 2018 print and e-magazine are very unlikely to receive immediate attention
communications profile of Manchester Our digital radio expert Kevin Ryan versions of RadioUser. either. So, if you require help with problems
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RadioUser April 2018 5
005 Contents.indd 5 07/03/2018 09:47

editorial
Georg Wiessala
E-mail: wiessala@hotmail.com
W
elcome to the April issue of course, and I know that radio too has been, and matters and stay in touch in any case.
RadioUser. To begin with, allow continues to be, used as a propaganda tool as Returning to the issue in hand, we have
me to offer you a polemic. We well, that is part of its fascination, no doubt. another equipment review, in the shape of
may be – as Arthur Herman However, maybe it is worth reaffirming Clint Gouveia’s test of the SDRPlay RSP1A
argued in 2016 – well on the road to ‘internet- that radio waves are far less susceptible to SDR receiver. I am reviewing an engaging
serfdom’. Conceived of as an ‘open’ tool, the manipulation, spying, ‘tactical filtering’ and museum, while Keith Hamer and Garry Smith
web now seems more ‘closed’ than a decade deliberate switch-offs. The hazards of space continue to illuminate the history of BBC Colour
ago. It is routinely used for cyber-war, human weather are a fact, as Tomas Hood shows in TV. David Smith begins a series on airport
rights repression, surveillance and control. More this issue. However, propagation hazards do frequencies and David Harris’s book review
often than not, with our willing collusion. not, as a rule, impinge on freedom of speech covers publications on numbers stations and
Some governments and high-tech and privacy. TV sets.
companies appear happily-complicit in Not to mention that a quarter of the global In the regular columns, I recommend
building what has been called an ‘adaptive population does currently not have access to to your attention our experts’ material on
authoritarianism’ and a ‘great firewall’ electricity – let alone an internet connection or community radio, digital scanners, inland
against people. Eric Arthur Blair could not a laptop. port communications, sunspots, Bluetooth
have dreamt of an online environment more If radio is some kind of a ‘torchbearer’ then, LE and many other radio-topics.
subservient to the needs of the state – or could this still leaves us with a great challenge; that Last but by no means least, the Radio
he? of escaping from the bland, dumbed-down, Enthusiast website, for both Radio User and
www.hudson.org/research/12271-the-road- ‘agenda-reporting’ we experience all too often, Practical Wireless, is now live. You will find the
to-internet-serfdom towards quality content that stands out as Key to Acronyms (the former Glossary) there
A recent video entitled What if the Internet diverse, engaged and thought-provoking. now and much more besides. I will occasionally
Stopped Working highlighted an interesting Listening to more than one radio format and use the new website to offer you additional
scenario – sadly, the more ‘constructive’ role of being internationally-minded may help with this. material and resources.
radio was largely ignored in the episode. That’s why we have columns on all flavours of www.radioenthusiast.co.uk
www.facebook.com/What.If.science radio, LW to SW, FM, Digital, Internet, Free and Enjoy this issue and do not forget to get in
It is not all a dark web of conspiracies, of Unfree. Let me know what you think on these touch. Georg Wiessala
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propagation & space weather Tomas Hood examines sunspots and looks at
Tomas Hood NW7US the way these solar features can be measured.
E-mail: Nw7us@nw7us.us
He then demonstrates the importance of this
phenomenon for the propagation and reception
L Sunspots, Space
ast month, I continued my
series on space weather
and radio propagation,
parts of the fascinating
Weather & Radio

science of the Sun-
Earth connection. I investigated the
transmission of radio signals from a local
location to a far-off receiver, by way of
the ionosphere.
This month, I move on, by exploring
one of the most prominent features on
TOMAS HOOD
the Sun: Sunspots.
Sunspots are magnetic regions on
the Sun with magnetic field strengths
thousands of times stronger than the
Earth’s magnetic field. Flows of plasma
(the fourth state of matter, after solids,
liquids and gases) occur in these
magnetic field lines of the sun. The
sunspots appear as dark features on the
surface of the Sun.
Temperatures in the dark centres
of sunspots (the umbra) drop to
about 3700K, compared to 5700K
for the surrounding photosphere.
For information on temperature
measurement in Kelvin, you can visit this
URL: http://g.nw7us.us/1Cgp6NN
I would also recommend a read of
Lucie Green’s fascinating book,15 Million
Degrees (details at the end).
This significant difference in
temperature makes the spots appear
darker than other solar regions.
Sunspots typically endure for several
days, although very large ones may be
live for several weeks.
They are seen to rotate around the
Sun because they are on the surface,
and the sun rotates fully, though not
evenly, every 27.5 days.
My introductory article and previous
columns offer some more information Fig.1: Sunspot drawings by Christoph Scheiner from 1612.
as well as reading tips on pioneering
sunspot researchers and scientists, from One set will have a positive or north observers have discovered a great deal
John of Worcester (d. 1140) and Galileo magnetic field while the other set will more about the Sun and its influence on
Galilei (1564-1642) to the drawings have a negative or south magnetic field. the Earth and our atmosphere.
of the Jesuit scientists (Fig. 1) and The magnetic field is strongest in Daily sunspot observations in Europe
many others (For example, RadioUser, the darker parts of the sunspot, the began at the Zürich Observatory in
February 2018: 48-49). umbra (‘shadow’). It is weaker – and 1749. By 1849, continuous sunspot
more horizontal – in the lighter part, the observations were being recorded and,
Anatomy and Measurement penumbra (Fig. 2). over time, definite cycles in solar activity
Sunspots usually form in groups, each Since the times of Galileo, Scheiner were revealed.
containing two different sets of spots. and others (see the previous section) It is now well-established that
8 April 2018 RadioUser
008 Propagation.indd 8 06/03/2018 14:15

TOMAS HOOD
For example, to calculate the R12
index for July 2017, you add half of the
January 2017 value, plus the sum of the
February to December 2017 values and
half of the January 2018 value. You then
Umbra divide the sum by twelve.
In general terms, the smoothed
sunspot numbers give us a way to
measure the sun’s overall activity; the
more active the Sun is, the higher the
sunspot count.
Penumbra Sunspots and the Ionosphere

Solar physicists and propagation
scientists have long discovered a direct
correlation between the Sun’s sunspot
activity and ionospheric activity.
The more sunspots that are observed,
the greater is the ultraviolet (UV) energy
bombarding our Earth.
Thus, since the ionosphere is formed
by the ultraviolet energy from the Sun,
the more sunspots there are on the
Sun, the more energized the ionosphere
becomes.
Fig. 2: The umbra and penumbra features in a Sunspot. In the US and beyond, you can hear
the day’s observed sunspot number by
sunspot activity extends to an overall be a cloudy day, after all. Therefore, listening to the hourly Space Weather
cycle that lasts for an approximate observations are undertaken at various and Geophysical Reports, broadcast by
eleven-year period. The cycle starts with locations around the world. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
very quiet solar activity, showing few, if In addition to his, images are routinely Administration (NOAA).
any, sunspots. taken by spacecraft far above our NOAA uses the radio stations WWV
Sunspot activity peaks around three atmosphere. and WWVH to issue geophysical alert
to five years later, with a very high To compensate for the many messages that provide information about
number of daily sunspots. limitations of observing the sun at solar-terrestrial conditions.
Subsequently, it decreases again until various places, each daily international Geophysical alerts are broadcast from
the end of the solar cycle. number is computed as a weighted WWV at 18 minutes after the hour and
In 1848, Swiss astronomer, Johann average of measurements, made from WWVH at 45 minutes after the hour.
Rudolph Wolf (1816 to 1893), introduced from the network of cooperating The messages are less than 45 seconds
a daily measurement of sunspot observatories. in length and are updated every three
numbers. His method – still used today hours (typically at 0000, 0300, 0600,
– works by counting the total number of Smoothed Sunspot Number 0900, 1200, 1500, 1800, and 2100 UTC).
spots visible on the face of the Sun and The daily sunspot number has little, More frequent updates are made when
the number of groups into which they if any, relationship to the ionospheric necessary.
cluster. Neither quantity alone measures variability of interest to radio amateurs You may read the details about WWV
sunspot activity satisfactorily and reliably and short wave listeners (See next and WWVH in last month’s column.
(Fig. 3). section). Finally, do not forget that you can get
The sunspot number is then However, the most widely used the latest data online, at this URL:
calculated by first counting the number Ionospheric Index, R12, is derived from http://SunSpotWatch.com
of sunspot groups and, subsequently, the daily sunspot numbers. The R12
the number of individual spots. index is a twelve-month smoothed Research and Helioseismology
The overall value is arrived at by relative sunspot number. Since the launch of the Solar Dynamics
considering the sum of the number of This twelve-month smoothed sunspot Observatory (SDO, the first satellite
individual sunspots and ten times the number (SSN) is calculated by using under the Living with a Star program at
number of groups. Since most sunspot the calculation based on the Lincoln- NASA) teams of scientists from SDO,
groups have, on average, about ten McNish Smoothing Function: NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations
spots, this formula for counting sunspots Observatory (STEREO), NASA’s Solar &
yields reliable numbers, even when the [(n1/2) + (n2+n3+........n11+n12) + Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and
observing conditions are less than ideal (n13/2)] /12, groups from Stanford University have
and small spots may be hard to see. Where mined the rich data gathered from these
One observer on their own might n1 = 1st Month / YYYY in Series, space-based technologies, keeping a
have difficulties in accurately counting n7 = 7th Month / YYYY in Series, and high-definition eye on our dynamic, local,
the day’s sunspot number. It might n13 = 13th Month / YYYY in Series. star.

TOMAS HOOD
AR 12193
AR 12192 AR 12191
AR 12194
One of the largest sunspot

groups in Cycle 24 (so far) -
about the size of Jupiter
Fig. 3: Groups of Sunspots.
http://g.nw7us.us/sdomission make ultrasound images of the Sun and Sun, can reveal what is inside our star.
http://g.nw7us.us/sohomission study ‘active’ regions in that way. This Fortunately for helioseismologists, the
SDO has three main instrument can be akin to watching sand shift in Sun is amazingly alive with acoustic
packages aboard the spaceship. a desert dune, although I presume it is waves, literally ‘roaring’ with turbulent
One of these is the Helioseismic more interesting. boiling motions.
and Magnetic Imager (HMI), which The ultrasound data is the key to a Armed with the new technology
maps solar magnetic fields and looks new technique discovered by a team of of the SDO and enlightened new
beneath the Sun’s opaque surface. The Stanford researchers. It is called time- methodologies, researchers have come
experiment deciphers the physics of the distance helioseismology. up with a possible way of forecasting
Sun’s activity, taking pictures in several This method is very much like an sunspots up to two days before they
very narrow bands of visible light. approach widely used in earthquake emerge on the Sun’s photosphere.
The HMI instrument views the Sun in studies: Just as seismic waves, travelling
visual light, producing what is known as through the body of Earth, can reveal Forecasting Sunspots
an ‘intensitygram’. what is inside our planet, acoustic We take for granted the ability to forecast
However, it also allows scientists to waves, passing through the body of the the (terrestrial) weather in our local

90 90 90
Distance (Megameter)
60 60 60
30 30 30
0 0 0
0 30 60 90 0 30 60 90 0 30 60 90
a Distance (Megameter) b Distance (Megameter) c Distance (Megameter)
90 90 90
60 60 60
30 30 30
0 0 0
0 30 60 90 0 30 60 90 0 30 60 90
d Distance (Megameter) e Distance (Megameter) f Distance (Megameter)
A. NASA/SDO AND THE HMI SCIENCE TEAMS; SOHO/MDI: THE SOHO/MDI TEAM. SOHO IS A PROJECT OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION BETWEEN ESA AND NASA. B NASA/SDO AND THE HMI SCIENCE TEAMS; SOHO/
MDI: THE SOHO/MDI TEAM. SOHO IS A PROJECT OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION BETWEEN ESA AND NASA. C. NASA/SDO AND THE HMI SCIENCE TEAMS; SOHO/MDI: THE SOHO/MDI TEAM. SOHO IS A PROJECT OF
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION BETWEEN ESA AND NASA. D. NASA/SDO AND THE HMI SCIENCE TEAMS; SOHO/MDI: THE SOHO/MDI TEAM. SOHO IS A PROJECT OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION BETWEEN ESA AND
NASA. E. NASA/SDO AND THE HMI SCIENCE TEAMS; SOHO/MDI: THE SOHO/MDI TEAM. SOHO IS A PROJECT OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION BETWEEN ESA AND NASA. F. NASA/SDO AND THE HMI SCIENCE TEAMS;
SOHO/MDI: THE SOHO/MDI TEAM. SOHO IS A PROJECT OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION BETWEEN ESA AND NASA.
region. Weather forecasters look at “We have learned to detect sunspots about 2 days later.
wind patterns, moisture and barometric before they are visible to the human eye,” The technique seems to be most
pressures and satellite images. By said Stathis Ilonidis, a PhD student from sensitive to sunspots located at around
means of using weather models, they are Stanford University. “We can’t actually 60,000km beneath the Sun’s surface.
able to work out how our next few days’ hear these sounds across the gulf of Research teams are unsure why this
weather will likely progress. space” he explains, “but we can see seems to be the ‘magic distance’.
This has not been the case for space the vibrations they make on the Sun’s However, it appears to be yield excellent
weather. While some major progress surface.” results because it gives monitors as
has been made since the days of Skylab much as two days’ advance notice that a
in the 1970s, it has only been a dream Acoustic Probing spot is about to reach the surface
of space weather scientists to be able In this context, instruments onboard the Professor Phil Scherrer, of the
to accurately track and forecast space SOHO and SDO spacecraft constantly Stanford Physics Department, expanded
weather with the same precision, which monitor the Sun for acoustic activity. further: “This is the first time anyone
terrestrial weather scientists are capable ‘Submerged’ sunspots have a detectable has been able to point to a blank patch
of. effect on the Sun’s inner acoustics of Sun and say, ‘a sunspot is about to
Over the last 400 years of sunspot because sound waves travel faster appear right there – it is a big advance.”
observation, solar scientists have come through a sunspot than through the However, Ilonidis cautioned, “There are
to understand some basic facts about surrounding plasma. A big sunspot can limits to the technique; we can say that
sunspots: Sunspots are planet-sized leapfrog an acoustic wave by 12 to a big sunspot is coming but we cannot
islands of magnetism that float in solar 16 seconds. By measuring these time yet predict if a particular sunspot will
plasma. Although the details are still differences, researchers can find the produce an Earth-directed flare.”
debated, researchers generally agree hidden sunspot. Imagine the implications, if this
that sunspots are born deep inside the Against this background, consider detection technique ultimately proves
Sun, created by a complex action of the Figs. 4a to 4f. They illustrate acoustic reliable: The ability to detect large,
processes in the Sun’s inner magnetic travel-time perturbations, which were complex, sunspot regions ahead of time
dynamo. detected at a depth of about 60,000km and to know where on the solar disc they
From there, they rise to the surface (left-hand picture in each row). You can will appear. This will allow the mapping
(outward, to the photosphere) carried by also observe the photospheric intensity of these regions for analysis on how they
magnetic buoyancy; a sunspot emerging (middle) and magnetic field (right-hand may affect space weather. Will the new
at the stellar surface is a bit like a picture). The images of the upper sunspot region be in a location where it
submarine emerging from the ocean row were taken at about 03:30 UT 26 will impact the Earth, if it were to unleash
depths. October 2003 and those of the lower row coronal mass ejections, through x-ray

flare activity? expect a steady shift to more north- and the world’s official keeper of sunspot
Having the ability to know what the south-oriented propagation. records, reports a monthly average
Sun is doing in such detail, enables April is, of course, an autumnal sunspot number of 4.0 for January 2018.
anyone interested in radio and physics month in the Southern Hemisphere, The highest daily sunspot count was 22
to better understand solar weather, radio rendering possible more long-path DXing on January 10th, while the lowest was 0
propagation on Earth and the wider Sun- conditions. Short-path propagation from (zero) on January 1st to 3rd, 12th to 13th,
Earth connection. South America, the South Pacific and and 20th to 29th (a total of fifteen days
For radio amateurs and listeners, other areas south of the equator will be without sunspots).
knowledge also allows them to better strong and reliable when paths are open. The twelve-month running smoothed
plan our DXpeditions and other radio These trans-equatorial path openings sunspot number, centred on July 2017, is
use: If we know that the sunspot activity occur less frequently on the higher 12.6, down from 13.3 for June.
is about to rise, and four days from now frequencies because the current Solar Following the curve of the 13-month
there will be a rise in overall ionospheric Cycle (24) is now near its ‘lowest’ point, running smoothed values, a smoothed
energy as a result, we might plan that at the end of the solar cycle minimum. sunspot level of 11 is expected for April
Summit-On-The-Air (SOTA) hike that we During April, the 15m amateur 2018, plus or minus 14 points.
were contemplating. radio band and the 16m international www.astro.oma.be/en
Next month, I will examine a related broadcast band may offer occasional The Dominion Radio Astrophysical
measurement of solar activity, which 24-hour DX to various parts of the world. Observatory at Penticton, BC, Canada,
closely correlates with the energy level Both short-path and long-path openings reports a 10.7-cm observed monthly
of the ionosphere and, hence, with radio. might arise, sometimes at the same time! mean solar flux of 70.0 for January 2018.
This measurement is called the 10.7-cm If you hear a lot of echo on a signal, The twelve-month smoothed 10.7-cm
Flux Reading. you might be beamed in the wrong flux, centred, again, on July 2017, is
direction. Try the opposite azimuth. 76.8. A smoothed 10.7-cm solar flux of
Shortwave Conditions The 31m, through to the 19m bands about 72 is predicted for April 2018.
April is a good month for DXing. The are stable as nighttime bands. www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/solutions/
seasonal change plays out strongly on Propagation follows both grey-line facilities/drao.html
HF, with activity moving up from 41m and nighttime paths. The geomagnetic activity, as
and down from 11m. Propagation on Low-band propagation is still good measured by the Planetary-A index (Ap)
the higher HF frequencies (19 through on 41m, with Europe appearing in the for January 2018, is 6. This continues a
to 11m) begins to suffer in late April and evening and Asia in the mornings. downward trend since September 2017.
into the summer months, due to lower Occasional DX openings will occur on The twelve-month smoothed Ap
MUFs (Maximum Usable Frequencies) the 90m and 75m bands around sunrise. index, centred on July 2017, is 11.0.
in the Northern Hemisphere. MUFs peak Overall, geomagnetic activity this
very late in the day during summer. VHF and Above month should be mostly quiet, with fair
Summertime MUFs are lower, due Auroral activity often occurs during to good propagation conditions.
to solar ‘heating’, which causes the periods of geomagnetic storms – You can find last-minute forecasts at
ionosphere to expand. An expanded when the Kp index is above 5. This this URL:
ionosphere produces lower ion density, storm activity degrades HF radio http://SunSpotWatch.com
which results in lower MUFs. communications but, provides possible
April offers a good mix of eastward aurora activity. Editor’s Reading Tips (see also:
and westward propagation and can bring This year, April offers few, if any, RadioUser, February 2016: 51)
a palpable strengthening of northern and days with such geomagnetic activity Berman, B. (2011) The Sun’s Heartbeat
southern paths. Short-path propagation and related aurora but watch for any (Little, Brown & Company)
between countries in the Northern unexpected geomagnetic storms. It is Green, L. (2016) 15 Million Degrees.
Hemisphere will drop out significantly always useful to regularly check the A Journey to the Centre of the Sun
on short wave as we move into the late various VHF DX spotting websites. (Viking/ Penguin)
spring and summer months. Golub, J. and Pasachoff, J.M. (2nd
While there will be east-west path Solar Cycle 24 Today ed., 2014) Nearest Star (Cambridge
openings in the Northern Hemisphere, The Royal Observatory of Belgium, University Press)
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scanning scene In his column this month, Bill Robertson evaluates the WTR
Bill Robertson Browser software, passes on essential advice on the legality
bill@scanman.org.uk
of scanning and surveys some key features of the currently-
available batch of digital-mode scanners.
WTR Browser,
The software has various user levels,
each of which opens up increasing
facilities, ranging from ‘basic’ and
Legalities and
‘advanced’ to ‘expert’ levels (Fig. 2).
WRTBrowser also has a mapping
facility (Fig. 3). This feature enables the
operator to ‘click’ on the user they are
Digital Scanners
interested in, in order to see an aerial
photograph of their location.
Take a look at the screenshots in this
article, to see how it works.
At a competitive (online) cost of just
£7.00 (payable by PayPal) I think that
this software is good value.
Following payment, my program was
very quickly activated by the author,
Wayne, who says he does it mainly for
enjoyment, rather than for financial gain.
I also found that, over just a week or
so, there were several updates to the
program, to keep it updated with new
features.
The program has too many features
to list here but you can get an idea by
downloading a demo screenshot version
from one of the following URLs:
goo.gl/FYHT9S
https://www.dropbox.com/
sh/51r7og3s2177l6v/AACwRad9N-
QjNLOAlNkptrjGa?dl=0
There’s also a very active WTR
Browser Facebook group;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/
wtrbrowser
Fig. 1: The WTR Browser. Scanning Legality

I’m frequently asked what people who
WTR Browser Review more difficult to search for by area. are seriously interested in scanning can
I mentioned the WTR Browser Review The WTR Browser (Fig. 1) provides and cannot, in fact, listen to. Mrong was
program in last month’s column users with an easy-to-use interface. This listening to the police on her radio and
(RadioUser, March 2018: 15/6) and searches the latest Ofcom WTR register was told by ex-Sergeant Oscar Blaany
promised that I would provide a follow- as well as other databases. After you that it was OK to listen to what you want
up review this month. I now have the enter your area, based on a grid square, to, as long as you don’t reveal what you
software installed on both my main PC you can list users by frequency, location have heard.
and my laptop. or licensee name. There is also a built-in Wrong, Mrong.
The Wireless Telegraphy Register postcode-finder to translate this into a The popular Heartbeat TV series
(WRT) from Ofcom is a very useful tool grid square and enter this for you. revolves around the activities of a
indeed. Until a short while ago, you There are also filters for amateur rural police force. In one episode, the
could search in an area-defined mode, radio, civil and military airband from series featured entrepreneur Peggy
perfect for finding licensed two-way other databases, and (Ofcom) ‘simple’ Armstrong (played by Gwyn Taylor)
radio users, located either near you licenses. Absolutely brilliant, in my who was listening in to the police on
or in an area you were about to visit. opinion. Which is why, after purchasing her radio. In the episode, ‘retired police
However, this has now changed to a a copy for my main PC, a few days later sergeant’ Oscar Blaketon (played by
spreadsheet format, which is rather I purchased a further copy for my laptop. Derek Fowlds) stated that it was quite
014 Scanning Scene.indd 14 05/03/2018 12:46

legal to listen into the police as long as
she didn’t act on the information she
received.
Again, wrong.
However, this kind of misinformation
is still aired on national TV.
The general legal rule in the UK
is such that you can only listen to
transmissions, meant for ‘general
reception’ – and that’s it.
The exceptions to this rule are cases
in which you:
(1) are a licensed user of the
frequencies in question or
(2) have been specifically authorised
to do so by a designated person.
This is an interesting, sometimes
confusing, stipulation. For example, I Fig. 2: WTR Browser Expert User Level/Help Screen.
have an Ofcom ‘Simple UK’ two-way
VHF/UHF radio license with common
(nation-wide) shared frequencies, which,
along with many other users around
the UK, are also used by London’s
Buckingham Palace!
The services that can be listened to
under the above definition of general
reception are:
(1) licensed broadcasting stations,
(2) amateur and citizens’ band radio
transmissions, and
(3) weather and navigation
transmissions.
Radio scanners should not be used
to listen to any other radio services,
including illegal radio stations (pirates)
by virtue of the fact that they are not
licensed radio stations.
You can find more information in an Fig. 3: WTR Browser Mapping Function.
Ofcom document, entitled Guidance
on Receive-Only Radio Scanners: Legal specifications it should have or, indeed, GPS: Not stated
Position and Common Questions on whether there is anything else to have in BLUETOOTH: Not stated
Receive-Only Radio Scanners at the mind before making a purchase? TYPICAL PRICE: £995.00 (available to pre-
Ofcom page: Finally, Torbjorn adds that it would order with a refundable deposit).
https://tinyurl.com/yblrs3uf be great if it could receive both VHF and
UHF because he has DMR transmitters 2 The Icom IC-R30
Digital Scanners Overview on both bands in Sweden. He is also The ICOM IC-R10 offers the following
Following many readers’ requests, looking to be able to program it. key specifications:
here’s a brief key features comparison Read on for a very brief, tabular, MODES: FM, WFM, AM, SSB (USB and
of currently available digital scanners. overview of the main features of some LSB), CW, P25 (Phase 1 conventional),
Please bear I mind, however, that new relevant scanners, without, of course, D-STAR, NXDN (conventional) and
models are appearing in this market all any claim to comprehensiveness. dPMR (conventional).
the time. FREQUENCY COVERAGE: 100kHz to
Moreover, I received an e-mail from 1 The AOR AR-DV10 3305MHz
Torbjorn in Sweden. He said he has These are the main features of the AOR MEMORY CHANNELS: 2000
used the DSD+ program at home (as I AR-DV10: MICRO SD CARD FACILITY: Yes
do) and that it works well. He adds that MODES: FM, AM, TETRA, P25 (Phase GPS: Yes, internal, included
it is hard to bring a desktop computer 1+2), DMR, MotoTRBO, dPMR, NXDN, BLUETOOTH: Yes
and radio each time he wants to go D-STAR, Alinco, Yaesu. Automatic TYPICAL PRICE: Not yet available, can be
outside. He asks whether there is a detection of digital modes. reserved for pre-order and with a deposit.
good radio that can become a good FREQUENCY COVERAGE: 100kHz to
Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) receiver, 1300MHz 3 Uniden UBCD3600XLT
which can be used? He also wants to MEMORY CHANNELS: Not specified The Uniden UBCD3600XLT has the
know whether there are any particular MICRO SD CARD FACILITY: Yes following key specifications:

1 2 3 4 5
MODES: AM, FM, P25 Phase 1 and Phase

2, DMR, Motorola, EDACS, EDACS
ProVoice, and LTR trunked systems.
FREQUENCY COVERAGE: 25.000 to
173.990MHz, 406.000 to 512.000MHz,
806.000 to 960.000MHz.
MEMORY CHANNELS: 500
MICRO SD CARD FACILITY: Yes
GPS: No, but external GPS receiver can
be connected
BLUETOOTH: No
TYPICAL PRICE: £424.99
4 The Whistler TRX-1

The Whistler TRX-1 comes with the 6
following features:
MODES: FM, AM, Motorola P25 Phase
I, X2-TDMA, Phase II and DMR 108 to 174MHz, 216 to 512MHz, 764 aimed at the US market. It offers the
conventional DMR (Entered as a DMR to 782MHz, 806 to 960MHz, 1240 to following to its owner:
trunked system), Hytera XPT, EDACS, 1300MHz MODES: FM, AM, Motorola P25 Phase
LTR standard, NXDN, MotoTRBO MEMORY CHANNELS: Not stated I, X2-TDMA, Phase II, DMR, NXDN,
Capacity Plus, MotoTRBO Connect MICRO SD CARD FACILITY: Yes Hytera XPT, MotoTRBO Capacity
Plus, and MotoTRBO Linked Capacity GPS: No Plus, MotoTRBO Connect Plus, and
Plus systems. BLUETOOTH: No MotoTRBO Linked Cap Plus.
FREQUENCY COVERAGE: 25 to 54MHz, TYPICAL PRICE: £349.95 FREQUENCY COVERAGE: 26.965 to
108 to 174MHz, 216 to 300MHz, 300 27.405MHz, 29.710 to 49.830MHz,
to 512MHz, 764 to 782MHz, 791 to 6 Whistler TRX-2 137.000 to 137.995MHz, 148.000 to
797MHz, 806 to 869MHz and 894 to The Whistler TRX-2 has the following 150.7875MHz, 154.515 to 154.640MHz,
1300MHz. features: 156.0525 to 156.1725MHz, 156.1800 to
MEMORY CHANNELS: Not stated MODES: FM, AM, Conventional DMR, 160.8225MHz, 160.830 to 161.572MHz,
MICRO SD CARD FACILITY: Yes Hytera XPT, MotoTRBO Capacity 162.000 to 174.000MHz, 216.000 to
GPS: Not stated. Plus, MotoTRBO Connect Plus and 379.99375MHz, 420.000 to 512.000MHz,
BLUETOOTH: No MotoTRBO. Linked Capacity Plus 764.000 to 781.996875MHz,
TYPICAL PRICE: £419.95 systems. NXDN to follow. 791.000 to 796.996875MHz, 806.000
Frequency coverage: 25 to 54MHz, 108 to 823.9875MHz, 849.000 to
5 Whistler WS1088 to 174MHz, 216 to 512, 764 to 781.99, 868.9875MHz, 894.000 to 960.000MHz,
These are the key data for the Whistler 791 to 798.99, 806 to 960 and 1240 to and 240.000 to 1300.000MHz
WS 1088: 1300MHz. MEMORY CHANNELS: Not stated
MODES: FM, AM, Motorola P25 Phase MEMORY CHANNELS: Not stated MICRO SD CARD FACILITY: Not stated
I, X2-TDMA, Phase II, DMR, NXDN, MICRO SD CARD FACILITY: Yes GPS: No
Hytera XPT, MotoTRBO Capacity GPS: No BLUETOOTH: No
Plus, MotoTRBO Connect Plus, and BLUETOOTH: No TYPICAL PRICE: £349.95
MotoTRBO Linked Capacity Plus, TYPICAL PRICE: £479.95
Motorola P25 phase 1, X2-TDMA and Out for now
phase II Whistler WS1098 Once again, that’s it for this month. See
Frequency coverage: 25 to 54MHz, The Whistler WS1098 model is primarily you in next month’s issue. 

Valve Amplifiers Antennas for 50 Projects for
Explained MF and Above Radio Amateurs
Software Defined Radio

You wanted it, here it is!
By Andrew Barron, ZL3DW
Everyone is talking about software defined radio (SDR) but is SDR right for you? Software Defined
Radio sets out to explain the basics without getting to technical and is written to help you to get the
most out of your SDR. It will even help you decide what to buy.
Written by New Zealand based and acknowledged SDR expert Andrew Barron, ZL3DW, Software
Defined Radio covers a huge range of material. The use of SDR by radio amateurs is growing rapidly
in popularity as they become aware of the great features and performance on offer. Not only does
this book cover how SDR works there are details the different types of software that are available,
what is different about them and even what is better. There is a wealth of useful information included
and even guides to what to look for when you are buying equipment. There are guides to using
SDR with CW, Digital Modes, Contesting, EME, Microwaves, Satellites and much more. You will
find information on over 60 SDR radios that you can buy today featuring leading brands such as
E&OE (All prices shown plus p&p)
FlexRadio, Elecraft, Anan, Expert, Elad, Icom, WiNRADiO, SDRplay, FUNcube and many more.
Software Defined Radio is intended for radio amateurs, short wave listeners or anyone interested
in radio technology. If you are interested in the technology of what was once, the domain of a few
dedicated hackers and experimenters, the future of this exciting and fast developing area of radio or
simply want to buy a SDR radio, this book is thoroughly recommended reading.
Size 174x240mm, 304 pages

ISBN: 9781 Also
9101available
9349 5 on Also available on
Price: £12.99
RSGB SHOP Radio Society of Great Britain

www.rsgbshop.org
RSGB
RSGB
www.rsgbshop.org
3 Abbey Court, Priory Business Park, Bedford, MK44 3WH.
3 Abbey Court, Priory
Tel:Business Park,
01234 832 700Bedford, MK44
Fax: 01234 3WH.
831 496
Tel: 01234 832 700 Fax: 01234 831 496
017 rsgb.indd 1 05/03/2018 11:43

decode Mike Richards has some SDR news and continues with his
Mike Richards look at the radio technologies behind ‘everyday’ devices,
49 Cloughs Road
Ringwood which make use of the ISM (Industrial, Scientific and
Hants BH24 1UU
E-mail: mike@g4wnc.net Medical) license-free bands.
SDR Software
application.
During the development cycle, Simon
frequently produced several builds a
week. Each of them is critically examined
and Bluetooth LE
by an international test team, in order
to explore any new functionality and to
check for bugs. As a result, the V3 beta
is very well developed and I recommend
you give it a try.
One of the main drivers for the crea-
tion of V3 was to bring the code right up
MIKE RICHARDS
MIKE RICHARDS
to date with the latest DSP (Digital Signal
Processing) algorithms and operating
systems. The result is the existence of
even better graphical displays, along
with a much lighter processor demand.
To help reduce the processor loading,
SDR-Console V3 beta makes use of the
PC’s graphics processor, via the Direct-X
API (Application Program Interface). The
result is one of the most powerful SDR
applications around.
It can support multiple 4k monitors
and work with up to 24 virtual receivers
in its matrix display, Figs. 1 and 2.
On a final note, Simon has been pro-
ducing excellent, free, software for the
Fig.1: SDR-Console main screen, showing the tuning points for 9 virtual receivers. SWL and amateur community for many
years. Therefore, when you download the
MIKE RICHARDS
software, please support and encourage

Simon’s work by making a donation. The
address for download and donations is
at this URL:
www.sdr-radio.com/Software/Version3
Airspy HF+
Changing functionality and adding new
features via a software/firmware upload,
constitutes one of the critical benefits of
the architecture of an SDR and Airspy is
using this to good effect with the HF+,
Fig. 3.
The Airspy development team is
striving to make their products better;
Fig. 2: SDR Console receiver matrix screen, displaying 9 virtual receivers. their latest firmware release for the Airspy
W
HF+ provides a slight improvement in the
hile I was writing an important developmental step in the linearity of the HF bands.
this column, Simon creation of this powerful SDR software The team also found a small bug in
Brown announced and is the result of some three years of the HF+ firmware update process, which
the release of SDR- coding effort. means you have to short a couple of pins
Console V3 Beta. I I have had access to the develop- on the board for the first update.
am sure many of you will have used V2 ment group and it has been fascinating However, once past this initial
and, maybe, tried the V3 preview. to watch the painstaking work that has firmware update, all future updates are
The release of the V3 beta represents gone into building this substantial SDR managed entirely in software. I have
018 Decode 3 pages.indd 18 05/03/2018 12:47

interesting. In this mode, there is still
MIKE RICHARDS
the requirement to set up the initial
connection. However, after that, the
process is very different. With the initial
connection complete, the ‘host’ will put
the ‘slave’ unit into a power-saving sleep
mode but it will also tell the slave when
next to ‘wake up’ and send its data.
Once this is acknowledged, the host will
put itself to sleep but with a wake-up
time slightly earlier than the slave, so it’s
ready to receive the message. The entire
process, including the message, takes
just 3ms to unfold!
The host is able to run this process
with multiple slaves, thus providing a
low-power (but reliable) star network,
Fig. 4, which is ideal for small, battery-
powered, ‘Internet-of-Things’ (IoT)
devices.
The new BLE beacon mode is
intended for ‘proximity applications’,
Fig. 3: The excellent HF+ receiver. in which you want to communicate,
whenever a host is in range of a
tried the update process and used it to simultaneously to the host. That might broadcasting slave. The classic example
move back and forth between firmware just be acceptable in a domestic is the ‘active exhibit’ in a museum but
versions. It worked as expected, though environment but it would severely you will see this technology starting to
I had to use the recovery process, as limit many commercial or industrial appear in other applications such as
described in the notes, for the initial applications. inventory tracking and retail shopping.
update. The second problem is power
Since then, I’ve been able to load consumption because the classic BLE Hardware Development
firmware versions, by just using the system requires all connected devices to Hand-in-hand with the development of
supplied software. Should you decide remain powered-up, so they can receive BLE protocols, there has been a new
to install the latest firmware update, commands and polls from the host. This range of Bluetooth hardware that is
please make sure you read and fully is a big problem if you’re trying to deploy designed to simplify the IoT development
understand the instructions contained low-power sensors, for which you want process. I recently did some work with
in the update zip file. If you’re not sure, an extended battery life. devices from Laird Technology. Their
don’t do it because this is, overall, a Ideally, many IoT devices need a BT900 modules are a good example of
relatively minor improvement. communications link, through which they how the hardware is changing.
However, I know there are more can power-down into a ‘sleep’ mode The BT900 is an SoC (System on a
developments in the pipeline that will and then burst into life again when data Chip) device, Fig. 5. It is fully Bluetooth-
add extra user controls to cope with needs to be sent. In this role, the link 4.0-compatible and supports BLE.
some of the more unusual monitoring needs to be able to support multiple, Inside the BT900 module, there is the
applications. To access the firmware periodic, low data rate, connections. radio transceiver, antenna (optional) and
update files, you need to join the Airspy a powerful Cortex M3, 32-bit processor,
support group here: Bluetooth LE complete with common serial interfaces
https://airspy.groups.io The solution is to be found in the such as SPI, I2C and UART.
Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) variant, also There is also an ADC (Analogue to
ISM bands and the Internet of commonly referred to as BLE. The two Digital Converter) and there are several,
Things key changes are, first, the removal of programmable, GPIO (General Purpose
While I covered some Bluetooth a connection limit and, second, the Input Output) pins.
technologies last month, there’s requirement to keep the link open. The net result is that the BT900 has
one aspect that warrants a bit more BLE was derived from Nokia’s Wibree enough processing power and memory
coverage: Bluetooth LE. system and was built into the core to be able to run the user application
The relatively low power (and the Bluetooth standard in 2010. It’s now as well as managing the Bluetooth
excellent interoperability) of standard fully-integrated into the main Bluetooth communications link. The Bluetooth
Bluetooth would appear to make it an 4.0 specification. To provide plenty of stack is pre-compiled, resident on the
ideal candidate to support the ever- flexibility for a wide range of devices, chip and accessed using common
growing range of IoT devices. However, BLE has three connection modes: point- ‘AT’ commands from within the user
there are a couple of problems that to-point, mesh and broadcast. application.
compromise that potential. I covered mesh last month but point- The BT900 is easy to power because
The first snag is the connection to-point is intended for short, periodic, it can run with a supply between 1.8 and
limit. Only seven devices can connect data transmission and is particularly 3.6V and boasts a deep-sleep current

MIKE RICHARDS
of just 200µV! The 1.8 to 3.6V operating
range suggests that the BT900 can be
battery-powered from a simple 3V button
cell, with only minimal external power Slave
management.
Running a processor from battery Slave
power often carries a risk of data
corruption when the battery voltage
starts to drop below the device’s
minimum operating voltage. This
corruption is known as a ‘brown-out’ and
can be a serious problem since it has the
potential to render the device inoperable. Slave Master LAN/Internet
The standard solution is to include
a monitoring circuit that will force a
graceful processor shut-down before the
critical voltage is reached. The BT900
has this protection on board, thus further
reducing the external component count.
In addition to the BT900 operating in the Slave
master/slave mode with BLE, it includes
a hardware wake-up pin that can be
used to bring the BT900 out of its deep-
Slave
sleep mode. This can be useful when
you want to open the BLE link and send
data following an external trigger event.
These additional refinements make Fig. 4: Bluetooth LE star-connections for IoT.
the BT900 series ideal candidates for
MIKE RICHARDS
building very compact BLE IoT sensor
nodes with a very long battery life,
probably measured in years!
To help speed the time-consuming
(and thus expensive) development cycle,
the BT900 uses Laird’s smartBASIC UART GPIO ADC I2C SPI
programming language. This is a much-
modified version of the old BASIC we
used to either love or hate.
The new variant has been brought ARM Cortex M3
up-to-date and supports modern smartBASIC
programming structures. However, it is
still easy to learn and use.
To further speed up development,
Laird provides a wide range of Serial
Flash RAM
open-source, smartBASIC, example flash
applications that can be downloaded
and modified for use in commercial
projects.
Bluetooth 4.0 Radio
While the smartBASIC programs
can be written using just about any
programmer’s text editor, the resulting
code needs to be compiled before
uploading to the BT900 chip. Fig. 5: A simplified block diagram of the Laird BT900 Bluetooth module.
The Laird tool for compilation and
upload is UwXterminalX and this is freely
available for download here:
https://tinyurl.com/yd9qnf2v
The price of the BT900 is very
attractive, with a one-off price of £16 for
experimenters and prototyping.
In addition, there is a USB dongle
available (Fig.6) with a built-in BT900
module called the BT900-US.
This costs approximately £25.  Fig. 6: The Laird BT-900-US. A USB dongle with an internal BT900 module.

radio review Clint Gouveia has tested the SDRPlay RSP1A Software Defined Receiver
and offers his review here, focusing on long- medium- and short wave
reception, portability and comparisons with more expensive receivers.
Performance and Portability

A
s an old-school
CLINT GOUVEIA
‘traditionalist’, I
customarily prefer to
use a receiver in the
traditional way. With
controls on a front panel and a display.
It was that rationale led me to purchase
an Elad FDM DUO, at a cost of around
£800. A significant outlay but one which
I haven’t ever regretted because –
when coupled to a Wellbrook ALA1530
magnetic loop at home – it delivered
hundreds of transatlantic medium wave
signals.
More recently, I have also acquired a
Microtelecom Perseus – widely regarded
as one of the best SDRs of the past few
years and in my experience, the equal of
the Elad.
Therefore, I feel I know a little about
how well a really good SDR ought to work.
How might it be possible then, that
the SDRplay RSP1A (Fig. 1) – at a cost Fig.1: The SDRplay RSP1A.
of around £85 (about one-tenth the cost
CLINT GOUVEIA
of the Elad) – can come even close in
performance? I was intrigued to find out.
First Impressions
The RSP1A arrived in a very simple plastic
packaging, reminiscent of how a cheap pair
of headphones would be hanging on a store
retail fitting. Having removed the device
from the packaging, I was immediately
struck as to how light it was. Its case was
just a simple moulded-plastic affair with
four screws in the bottom and a single SMA
connector for the antenna.
There was no USB cable supplied.
Fortunately, I had one – a USB A-B type –
the sort of thing used with wired printers.
I also had an SMA-to-BNC adapter. This
was necessary so I could connect the Fig. 2: The SDRuno Software on Screen.
RSP1A to my Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic
loop antenna. visible bandwidth, all the usual software 10 laptop. The download and installation
In all, I have to say the RSP1A looks bells and whistles and, interestingly, went very smoothly. You receive an invite
‘cheap’ but that’s ok because it is cheap operating from 5V USB, which gives a level to plug in the hardware halfway through
and it’s only a ‘black box’ after all. What of portability that is not possible with the installation, which then completes, with
really matters with a pure SDR is how it Elad or Perseus. drivers installed. Perfect.
performs. I also downloaded CubicSDR for my
The technical specifications are Setting up the Software MacBook Pro. Again, a faultless installation
certainly quite impressive; coverage from The first stop was the SDRplay website, to of a software package that is, however,
1kHz to 2GHz, 14-bit ADC, up to 10 MHz download SDRuno V1.22 for my Windows somewhat lacking in features and rather
021 radio review.indd 21 06/03/2018 11:32

CLINT GOUVEIA
reminiscent of GQRX, which I used
extensively with my NooElec RTL-SDR.
Initial Switch-on
Booting up the SDRuno software results in
three windows opening on the computer
screen (Fig. 2).
First, there is the Main SP window,
displaying the waterfall and spectrum,
along with signal strength, SNR, centre-
and LO- frequencies.
Second, you will see the Main window.
Here, you can access the IF spectrum, RF
gain and so on.
Third, there is the RX Control window,
which permits users to set the receive
mode (Synchronous AM is included)
standard audio bandwidth filters, VFOs A
and B, AGC, notch filters, noise reduction, Fig. 3: The Notch Filter will remove unwanted images.
noise blanking, squelch, AF gain and other
CLINT GOUVEIA
principal parameters.
The large Play button in the Main
SP window fires up the receiver and
immediately initiates a spectrum and
waterfall. It is very straightforward to
select a new frequency with the mouse
and to adjust the viewable portion of the
spectrum, by dragging it to the left or right.
After quite a lot of playing around, I
managed to find the button in the Main
window that allows you to view the IF
spectrum and manually set the audio
bandwidth filtering. This aspect of using
the receiver seems a little fiddly in the first
instance but other than that, the software
is very ergonomic and, I have to say,
aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Being able to record entire spectra Fig. 4: The signal from CFRB News Talk 1010 Toronto.
and bands is, naturally, one of the
‘killer-features’ of most SDRs. It is easily powerhouses on 183 and 198kHz. An numerous transatlantic DX signals, starting
achieved with the RSP1A, by means of a excellent start. with a booming one from CFRB News Talk
separate recording panel, accessed from The folk music I love, played by Radio 1010 Toronto (Fig. 4). It came across well in
the Main window. Antena Satelor on 153kHz, boomed in with USB (to avoid adjacent-channel-QRM).
This feature is very comprehensive a 12kHz audio bandwidth filter and all my I quickly realised that the RSPA1 was a
and a more detailed assessment of the other favourites were heard very clearly, serious piece of kit, as it were.
software is beyond the scope of this particularly Polski Radio on 225kHz and This initial success was followed by
particular article. ČRo Radiožurnál on 279kHz. There was the reception of WFED, on 1510kHz from
It is possible to get ‘up-to-speed’ with also a signal from Turkmenistan on 279kHz Washington D.C. – another signal that
the standard Microtelecom software for the with little modulation and poor audio. often suffers from adjacent-channel-QRM.
Perseus in minutes. Overall, the performance of the RSP1A, This was an excellent example of the
Getting up to speed with SDRuno will in terms of sensitivity and selectivity, super-selectivity provided by the SDRuno
take much longer. However, this is well was indistinguishable from the Elad or software.
worth the effort, if users are to extract Perseus. If you should find that there are Further catches included WBBR
optimum performance from this brilliant any medium wave images on long wave, Bloomberg Radio on 1130kHz New York,
receiver. you can avail yourself of the notch filter WFAN on 660kHz New York, CKNB on
functionality, named ‘MW/FM’ on the 950kHz, Campbellton, New Brunswick
Performance on Long Wave screen (Fig. 3) to suppress them. (Fig. 5) and CJYQ on 930kHz, St. John’s,
I am a big fan of long wave and this was Newfoundland and Labrador, among
the first band I tuned with the RSP1A. I Medium Wave Reception several others.
immediately tuned to Iceland RÚV Rás 1/ This is the band where I really need an The one catch that, more than any
Rás 2 on 189 and 207kHz. Both signals SDR to shine and the RSP1A did not let other, confirmed the ‘DXing-credentials’
were there, peaking at around S8, with me down. Over several days of testing, of the RSP1A was YVKS RCR 750 Radio
very clear audio in USB to avoid the coupled to my Wellbrook ALA1530, I copied Caracas on 750kHz, from Venezuela. This

CLINT GOUVEIA
Portability
I am known for my ‘DXpeditions’ into the
wilds of the Oxfordshire countryside and
further afield, particularly in Continental
Europe and South America. With the
benefit of 5V USB operation, it is very
straightforward to get out of the shack
with the RSP1A. I do that quite frequently,
in order to get away from the ubiquitous
‘electro-smog’, which plagues so many of
us.
Therefore – with a couple of hours to
spare one evening and with a fully-charged
laptop – it was good to take advantage of
the vastly superior SNR outdoors.
I received numerous signals on the
tropical bands and further up the HF band,
Fig. 5: The signal from CKNB 950kHz, Campbellton, New Brunswick. using just a 50-metre long-wire. I have
always wanted to carry what I consider to
CLINT GOUVEIA
be a ‘top-end’ SDR to South America. Here
then was the perfect opportunity so to do –
at a modest price, with no issues of how to
power it in the jungles of Brazil.
I also carried the RSP1A into the office
one day. It slips into your briefcase or
laptop bag, plugs into your laptop and
you’re away. I copied various signals on
short wave in the afternoon – with just
a few metres of wire hanging out of the
window.
When coupled to my equally-portable
Bonito MegActive MA305 E-field antenna,
within 15 minutes I had copied clear
signals from the VOA Botswana relay,
on 15580kHz, WWCR Nashville, on
13800kHz, Zanzibar BC, on 11735kHz,
Fig. 6: The signal from Radio Nacional Angola on 4949.73kHz. KBS World Radio, on 9640kHz and TWR
Africa, Swaziland, on 7300kHz.
is a signal, which, particularly at this time on 3330kHz, Ottawa, Canada. Not a bad haul at 1530 UTC, in the
of year, requires an excellent receiver and In all of the above cases, the RSP1A middle of the afternoon.
antenna. A superb job that firmly puts this matched the noise-floor of the Perseus
modestly priced SDR ‘on the map’. (~-110 dBs) as well as signal strength, Conclusion
As far as I can tell, the performance modulation and recovered audio. In the In terms of performance as a function of
of the RSP1A on medium wave is almost case of Rádio Clube do Pará, the Perseus price, I don’t believe the RSP1A can be
indistinguishable from the Elad or Perseus was out-performed for signal strength. An beaten. It delivers 98% of the performance
SDR receivers. amazing result. of a ‘high-end’ SDR at about one-tenth of
A similarly impressive result was the cost. Truly remarkable. Whether it is
On Short Wave obtained in comparison with the Elad. I transatlantic medium wave DX or shortwave
Once again, I thoroughly tested the RSP1A copied signals from Radio Voz Missionaria, you are interested in, the RSP1A delivers
over a few days and made some direct Camboriu, Brazil, on 5939.79kHz. At last, I at a level that should satisfy any ‘hard-core
comparisons with the Elad and Perseus. was also able to resolve Rádio Evangelizar, DXer’.
I purposely used what I consider to be Curitiba, Brazil, on 6040.69kHz, Radio Another big advantage of this SDR is
‘difficult-to-receive’ signals, on the basis Nacional Angola, on 4949.73kHz, Rádio the fact that it is very portable; the unit
that any shortcomings of the receiver, in Clube do Pará, Belem, Brazil, on 4885kHz itself is lightweight and, with 5V USB
the field of sensitivity, would become more and Radio Cultura Ondas, Manaus, Brazil, operation, you can easily power it from
obvious. on 4845kHz. your laptop, literally anywhere.
In direct comparison to the Perseus, Signal strength, modulation and The only downside is that it appears to
I received Emisoras Pio XII, Bolivia, on recovered audio of the RSP1A very nearly be (slightly) noisier than the Elad.
5952.42kHz, Radio Nacional Angola, on matched that of the Elad. The only slight There is competition, in the shape of
4949.73kHz (Fig. 6), Rádio Clube do Pará, let-down was a slightly higher noise-floor the new Airspy HF+.
Belem, Brazil, on 4885kHz, Radio Difusora (~3 to 5 dBs), which, of course, led to a However, at £225, that receiver will
Roraima on 4875.24kHz, Boa Vista, Brazil, marginally inferior signal-to-noise ratio. need to be really special indeed to take the
Myanmar Radio, on 5914.98kHz and CHU, However, it was very close indeed. price/performance crown from SDRplay. n

airband news David Smith has news of a new ATC contract, appraises
a change to digital flight progress strips and explains
David Smith
E-mail: dj.daviator@btinternet.com Performance Based Navigation. He also begins a brand-new
series of airport air traffic control profiles.
Paper to Digital and

Manchester Frequencies
N
ATS has won the currently commissioning a new voice From Paper to Digital
contract to continue communications system. In November 2017, NATS started
providing air traffic NATS supported the airport through converting controllers in their London
management and its ongoing £150m redevelopment and Terminal Control Centre (LTCC) from a
engineering services to expansion programme, which saw system of paper-based flight progress
London Luton Airport from November passenger numbers increase by 50% over strips to a new electronic flight strips tool
2018 for five years. The contract, the past three years, to reach a record 15.8 called EXCDS.
which was won following an open and million in 2017. www.navcanatm.ca/en/navcansuite/
competitive tender process, will see Air traffic controllers at the airport navcanstrips.aspx
NATS controllers in the tower until at managed a total of 135,528 flights in 2017, The first phase of the transition saw
least 2023, with the option of a further up by 3.1% on 2016. This makes it the the North Sector of Terminal Control move
two-year extension. UK’s fifth busiest (and London’s fastest- on to the new tool. This sector manages
The NATS team at Luton delivered growing) airport. Its current redevelopment arrivals and departures from and to the
major technology projects in recent is due for completion in 2020, at which North. This includes Heathrow, Luton,
years, replacing the Electronic Flight point the airport expects to be handling 18 Stansted and London City airports and
Progress Strip System in 2015. It is million passengers a year. several holding areas.
024 Airband News.indd 24 05/03/2018 08:34

Having used intensive simulation to and protects the environment. It also respite. PBN Implementation across the
familiarise themselves with the new tool, reduces the impact of aircraft noise and UK is already well advanced. The entire
controllers soon adapted to using it in an maintains reliable, all-weather operations, en route network, which airport arrivals
operational environment. even at the most challenging airports. and departures connect to, is PBN-
The next phase, which will see the Finally, it provides operators with greater compliant. In the London Area, PBN arrival
Luton and Stansted approach functions flexibility and better operating returns, and departure routes are implemented in
switching to the new tool, began in late while increasing the safety of regional conjunction with a programme to redesign
January 2018. and national airspace systems. Aircraft overall airspace structure.
Introducing new methods into an follow PBN routes more accurately Table 1 shows the first in a new range
operation as busy as that of LTCC, always because these are satellite-based. of ATC profiles. I begin with Manchester
brings challenges and balancing the need This accuracy creates the potential to Airport.
to deliver a safe and efficient service in introduce alternative flight paths that can The photograph this month shows part
the UK’s busiest airspace – alongside the be switched on and off, to provide areas of the No 4 Flying Training School Hawk
requirement to train controllers on a new disturbed by aircraft noise with some flight line at RAF Valley. n
tool – takes very careful planning.
One crucial element in delivering ICAO Code: EGCC
EXCDS successfully has been the IATA CODE: MAN
collaboration with NATS’ airline and other Frequencies MHz Hours of Operation
customers from the early stages of the Manchester Radar: 118.575 H24
planning process. Plans were developed Manchester Radar: 135.000 As Directed by ATC
Manchester Director: 121.350 As Directed by ATC
for managing the flows of traffic flying Manchester Tower: 118.625 H24
through those sectors during the initial Manchester Delivery: 121.700 Winter: 0630 to 2200; Summer: 0530 to 2100
Manchester Ground: 121.850 Winter: 0630 to 2200; Summer: 2100 to 0530
phases of each transition, to minimise
disruption. Arrival ATIS
Manchester Information: 128.175 H24
Manchester Information: 113.550 H24
Performance-Based Navigation
As demand for air transportation services Departure ATIS
Departure Information: 121.975 H24 (Tel: 0161-209-2860)
increases, controllers are faced with
finding solutions to safely increase Manchester Fire: 121.600 Fire vehicles on the ground are attending aircraft
capacity and efficiency as well as MONTY, ASMIM, KUXEM and EKLAD SIDs Scottish Control: 128.055MHz
accessing remote airports or reaching LISTO, SANBA SIDs Scottish Control: 134.425MHz
POLE HILL, SONEX and DESIG SIDs Scottish Control: 136.575MHz
those in mountainous areas. These
constraints are largely a result of reliance Navaids ILS Cat III on all runways/ DME/VOR Ident MCT 113.550
upon conventional, ground-based, Holds DAYNE (Arrivals from the South and East)
ROSUN (Arrivals from the North and East)
navigation aids, which limit routes and MIRSI (Arrivals from the West).
procedures to the physical locations of Runways 05 Left/23 Right 3048m x 45m
05 Right/23 Left 3050m x 45m
those navigation aids. Notes A-Z
Ground-based systems have served Dual-Runway Segregated Operations
the aviation community well since their These are in force during the following seasonal periods (all times local): Summer: Mon to Fri 0630 to 1030 and 1300
to 2000. Sat 0630 to 1030 and 1300 to 1600. Sun 1300 to 1700. Winter: Mon to Fri 0630 to 1030 and 1600 to 2000.
inception. However, they do not permit Sat 0630 to 1030. Sun 1600 to 2000. At all other times, single runway, mixed-mode, operations are in force, using
the flexibility of point-to-point operations, Runway 05L/23R. Pilots requiring the use of Runway 05R/23L for aircraft performance reasons outside dual runway
which is now available with Performance segregated hours should advise ATC at the earliest opportunity. Efforts will be made to make Runway 05R/23L
available. However, delays may be experienced. Due to local planning constraints, Runway 05R/23L is not normally
Based Navigation (PBN). available between the hours of 2200 to 0600.
Since 2010, the International Civil Flight-Deck Workload
Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has urged To reduce this immediately after take-off from Manchester Airport, the appropriate Scottish Control frequency to be
used is detailed on the Standard Instrument Departure (SID) Chart. This will enable pilots to pre-select the frequency
states to implement routes and airport on an alternative communications channel. It is essential that the frequency change is not made until instructed to do
procedures in accordance with ICAO PBN so by Manchester Tower and the instruction has been acknowledged by the pilot. Due to interaction with go-arounds,
all departures can expect to stay on Tower frequency until passing 2500ft. When the aircraft is not operating on a
criteria. Much progress has been made. SID clearance, the appropriate ‘Scottish Control’ frequency to be used, when instructed, will be included in the ATC
However, a lot remains to be done, in order clearance message.
to develop a globally-harmonised set of Listening Out Transponder Code
Pilots flying within 5nm of Manchester Control Zone and maintaining a listening watch only on the Manchester
PBN applications. ICAO is not only looking Approach frequency, may select code 7366. Selection of 7366 does not imply the receipt of an ATC service. Aircraft
at increasing the number of airports and displaying the code are not expected to contact ATC under normal circumstances. They remain responsible for their
routes based on PBN; it is also working on navigation, separation and terrain clearance and are expected to remain clear of the Manchester CTR at all times.
When an aircraft ceases to maintain a listening watch or is no longer flying within 5 nm of the Manchester CTR, the
raising awareness on what PBN exactly pilot will deselect transponder code 7366.
is and how it is supposed to support the Special Low-Level Route
work of pilots and controllers. The Special Low-Level Route is 4nm in width and runs north-south, about halfway between Liverpool and Manchester
Airports. Within it, helicopters or airplanes may fly without individual ATC clearance, subject to certain conditions
PBN details the performance relating to visibility, separation and altitude.
requirements for aircraft navigating on VFR and Special VFR Routes
certain routes, flying certain procedures For the purpose of integrating Visual Flight Rules VFR (and Special VFR flights) to and from Manchester Airport with
the normal flow of Instrument Flight Routes (IFR) traffic, a number of Standard Routes are established, along which
or in a specific airspace. This has many ATC VFR and Special VFR clearances will be issued, subject to specified weather criteria. These routes are defined by
benefits to the global aviation community. prominent ground features (for instance Motorways) and a series of Visual Reporting Points (VRP).
Implementation of PBN helps reduce
aviation congestion, conserves fuel Table 1: ATC Profiles 1: Manchester Airport
024 Airband News.indd 25 05/03/2018 08:34

maritime matters Robert Connolly investigates the UK’s rich inland port
Robert Connolly heritage, provides detailed frequency information for canals,
E-mail: gi7ivx@btinternet.com
stations, locks, bridges and inland marinas and reports on
migrant rescue vessels in Italy.
Canal and Inland Port

Communications
COURTESY OF MARTIN ROLLS
Fig.1: Indispensable Migrant Rescue Vessels in the port of Catania, Sicily.
T
he UK has many canals accessed from the Irish Sea, using the sea-going vessels and, arguably, the
that, in the past, were first summit-level canal built in the UK. most famous of them is the Manchester
used by commercial I also recall Preston, from where Ship Canal. It runs for thirty-six miles
barges to transport goods I once travelled (on a container ship) from Salford and Manchester to the
to and from various across the Irish Sea to a port near my Mersey Estuary and the Irish Sea. It can
towns and cities and to ports that home, at a time when I was working in accommodate vessels up to 118m in
facilitated seagoing vessels. These the Preston area. length.
days, we are, of course, very familiar Most of these inland ports are now A few commercial ships still use this
with commercial, oceangoing, vessels closed to commercial shipping, although canal to access the Manchester ports,
accessing ports located well inland, by some are still used by leisure craft. An although the days of the trans-Atlantic
using river estuaries such as the Humber excellent list of these former ports may liners have long gone.
and Thames. be found by visiting this website: The canal and its operations are
Between the late 1800s and mid- http://ports.org.uk owned and controlled by Peel Ports Ltd,
1900s, there were a number of busy, unlike most other UK canals that are
smaller, inland ports, which ships The Manchester Ship Canal controlled by British Waterways.
accessed by rivers, canals and locks. There are, however, two major All vessels – commercial and
Not far from me, the port of Newry was operational canals left, which still carry recreational – using the canal must
026 Maritime.indd 26 05/03/2018 08:35

keep a listening watch on Channel Inverness port, pilots and marine operate by seawater. The all-weather lifeboat
14 (156.700MHz) and be in direct on Channel 12. from Purt le Moirrey (Port St. Mary if you
communication with the Port Operations Unfortunately, not everyone lives do not understand Manx Gaelic) was
Control Centre (POCC) at Eastham, while close to the sea or to the major canals, deployed to assist.
they are within the canal and its ports. where monitors can easily receive any It was decided that the lifeboat would
Communications with Manchester marine VHF radio transmissions. tow the fishing vessel back across the
Ship Canal swing/lift bridges are carried Much of the extensive network of western Irish Sea to its home por. This
out on Channel 72 (156.625MHz). British canals closed, when the use of operation lasted more than ten hours,
Vessels using British Waterways barge traffic died out, in favour of faster before the lifeboat returned to station.
(Canning Dock) can communicate on road and rail networks. However, there Communications regarding
Channel 37 (M1) (157.850MHz) with are currently many canals that have both incidents were carried out on
the callsign Canning Dock, when it is been restored for leisure use and some Channel 16 (156.800MHz) and the
manned. of them are even carrying commercial coastguard private channel, Channel 0
Shipping entering Eastham goods again. (156.000MHz).
port must call in on Channel 7 As a result, if you live in the vicinity of
(156.350/160.950MHz) for docking these operational canals, you may hear Migrant Rescue Vessels
information. What is more, all shipping some radio traffic on marine VHF. Finally, my thanks go to Martin Rolls,
entering the Mersey Estuary to or from Table 1 contains general frequencies who has been on his cruise travels again,
the Irish Sea must be in contact with that may be used on the waterways. for supplying me with a photo of several
Mersey Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) on Table 2 details the current marine vessels in the port of Catania in Sicily
Channel 12 (156.600MHz). channels used by the ports, locks and (Fig. 1).
Liverpool pilots use the following swing bridges on the British Isles inland Martin says “It’s a busy port. I noticed
channels: Vessels passing The Skerries waterways. what I took to be immigrant rescue ships.
inbound call ‘Lynas Pilot’ on Channel 9 Table 3 lists the marine channels [First,] the Vos Hestia, which, by the
(156.450MHz). Vessels inbound from the used by British inland marinas. banner on the side, was on charter to
North or Northwest to the Liverpool Bar Save the Children. In the background,
call ‘Liverpool Bar Pilot’ on Channel 11 Two Lifeboat Taskings you can just see two other rescue ships”.
(156.550MHz) or Channel 12, when in Trawler skippers are often very reluctant CP940 is an Italian coastguard vessel;
range. to call on the valuable services of the the other vessel is the MV Aquarius,
Vessels engaged in bunkering within Coast Guard and lifeboats, unless owned and operated by the organisation
the enclosed Liverpool Docks (from absolutely necessary. As a result, lifeboat SOS Mediterranée.
Royal Seaforth Dock to Alexandra Dock) callouts to our local fishing vessels are a http://sosmediterranee.org
use Channel 5 (156.250/160.850MHz). fairly rare occurrence. These and other vessels are involved
Within the area from Langton Dock That notwithstanding, in early in the humanitarian rescue of migrants
to Bramley-Moore Dock. Channel February, there were two incidents crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.
21 (156.050/161.650MHz) is used. involving local vessels, both of which Rescue operations take place in
Bunkering operations taking place in the involved lifeboat tasking lasting many coordination with the Italian Maritime
enclosed Birkenhead Dock use Channel hours. Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in
22 (157.100/161.700MHz). First, the largest trawler to have been Rome, which is the first to receive calls
built locally (and launched in late 2016) from boats in distress.
The Caledonian Canal suffered severe technical difficulties while Once calls are received, rescue
The other UK canal that still carries some fifteen miles west of the Co. Down coast. vessels are given more detailed
commercial traffic from time to time is The all-weather lifeboat from Newcastle, instructions as well as the coordinates of
the Caledonian Canal in Scotland. It runs Co. Down, was launched to provide the SAR area. Once the crew of a rescue
for sixty miles from Inverness on the east assistance and arrived on the scene vessel has located the boat in question,
coast of Scotland to Fort William on the within an hour. speedboats are dispatched towards the
west coast. They then began a long, slow, tow (at boat in distress.
The canal can accommodate vessels a speed of around two to three knots) Life jackets are distributed to the
up to 47m in length; it has 29 locks and of the casualty vessel back to port. passengers and individuals in distress
ten swing bridges. The locks, including Unfortunately, by the time they arrived off are taken aboard the rescue vessels,
the sea locks and swing bridges, the port, it was low tide. where they are received by a medical
use Channel 74 (156.725MHz) for The casualty vessel was thus team and provided with first aid.
communications with the sea locks. The anchored a short distance off the port, Rome MRCC also gives instructions
callsigns are ‘Corpach Sea Lock’ at the while the lifeboat entered the harbour for on which port to call to disembark the
Fort William end and ‘Clachnaharry Sea fuel and refreshments at the local inshore rescued. Until next time, “fair winds”.
Lock’ at the Inverness end. lifeboat station until there was sufficient
Traffic should listen out on Channel water to bring in the stricken vessel. This [Editor’s reading tips: Liz McIvor
74, while transiting the canal. These tasking lasted just over a total of twelve (2015): Canals: The Making of a Nation
days, the canal is used mainly by hours. (BBC Books); D. Cameron (2017) The
pleasure craft but occasionally some A few days later, one of our smaller Caledonian Canal (Birlinn Publishers);
small commercial and fishing vessels fishing vessels found itself in difficulty Dickens, S. (2017) The Manchester
will travel it, in order to avoid the long off the southwest of the Isle of Man, Ship Canal through Time, Amberley
sea route around the north of Scotland. when its fuel had become contaminated Publishers) – Ed.].
026 Maritime.indd 27 05/03/2018 08:35

Calling, distress and safety channels CH 16
Inter-ship channel for navigational safety outside port or VTS areas CH 13
Inter-ship only channels CH 06, 08, 72, 77
Other channels approved for inter-ship use but also used for port operations CH 10, 09, 15, 17, 67, 69 &73
Coastguard small craft safety channel CH 67
Marina Channel M 157.850MHz
Table 1: General Inland Waterways Frequencies.
ENGLAND & WALES Bow Locks CH 80

Humber seaward of Clee Ness (VTS Humber) CH 14 Thames VTS (sea to Sea Reach no. 4 buoy) Port Control London CH 69, 18, 20
Humber inland of Clee Ness (VTS Humber) CH 12 Thames VTS (Sea Reach No. 4 buoy to Crayfordness) Port Control London CH 68, 18, 20
Grimsby Docks Radio CH 74, 18, 79 Thames VTS (inland of Crayfordness) Woolwich Radio CH 14, 22
River Hull - Drypool Radio CH 22, 11 Thames Barrier (Woolwich Radio) CH14
Humber inland of Humber Bridge (VTS Humber) CH 15 Limehouse Lock (Limehouse Marina) CH80
South Ferriby Lock CH 74
Tower Bridge CH 14
Ouse Apex (Trent Falls) to Hook CH 15
Medway & Swale (VTS) Medway Radio CH 74, 22, 73
Blacktoft Jetty CH 14
Kingsferry Bridge CH 10
Goole Docks Radio CH 14, 19, 09
Whitstable CH 09, 12
Ouse Hook to Naburn CH 09
Goole (Skelton) Railway Bridge (Goole Bridge) CH 09 Exeter Ship Canal - Port of Exeter CH 12
Howdendyke Wharves CH 09 Parrett - Bridgwater Port Radio CH 08
Boothferry Bridge CH 09 Avon (Bristol VTS) Avonmouth Radio CH 12
Barmby Lock, Selby Lock CH 74 Bristol - City Docks Radio (low power used only) CH 14, 11
Selby Rail Bridge, Selby Toll Bridge, Cawood Bridge CH 09 Prince Street Bridge 73 CH 73
Naburn Locks CH74 Netham Lock 73 CH 73
Ouse above Naburn CH 06 G&S Canal and Severn (inland of Sharpness) CH 74
Aire & Calder Navigation CH 74 Severn VTS (Sharpness to Avonmouth) Avonmouth Radio CH 12
Ferrybridge, Pollington, Whitley, Bulholme, Castleford, Lemonroyd, CH 74 Sharpness Pierhead (Sharpness Pierhead) CH 13, 17
Woodlesford, Fishponds, Knostrop Locks CH 74 Sharpness Port (Sharpness Radio) CH 13, 17
Woodnock, Kings Road, Birkwood Locks CH 74 Purton, Junction, Hempstead and Llanthony Bridges CH 74
Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation (including NJC, S&KN) CH 74
Gloucester, Upper Lode, Diglis, Bevere, Holt and Lincomb Locks CH 74
Keadby, Sykehouse, Long Sandall, Doncaster, Sprotborough CH 74
Tawe - Swansea Docks Radio CH 14
Mexborough, Waddington, Kilnhurst Flood, Aldwarke, Frank Price CH 74
Tawe Lock CH 18
Rotherham Locks and Barnby Dun Bridge CH 74
Trent below Gainsborough CH 15 Dee - Mostyn Port CH 14
Burton Stather Wharf CH 17 Mersey (VTS) Mersey Radio CH 12
Flixborough Wharf (Flixship) CH 17 Mersey Radio (traffic reports, weather reports) CH 09
Grove Wharf CH 17 Manchester Ship Canal (Eastham to Runcorn) (VTS) - Eastham CH 14
Keadby Lock CH 17 Eastham Locks CH 07
Gunness Wharf CH 17 Manchester Ship Canal (Runcorn to Manchester) (VTS) - Latchford CH 14, 20
West Stockwith Lock CH 74 Weaver and Weston Canal CH 74
Gainsborough Wharf CH 17 Marsh, Dutton, Saltersford Locks (also call-sign Weaver Base) CH 74
Trent above Gainsborough CH 06 Rock Savage, Sutton, Acton, Winnington Bridges CH 74
Torksey Lock CH 17 Ribble, Douglas and Lune CH 16
Cromwell, Nether, Town, Hazelford, Gunthorpe, Stoke, Holme Locks CH 74 Preston Docks Lock (Riversway) 16 14 CH 16, 14
Witham Estuary CH 12
Tarleton Lock 74 CH 74
Boston Docks CH 12, 11
Glasson Dock 69 CH 69
Grand Sluice CH 74

Nene tideway CH 14
SCOTLAND
Sutton Bridge Port CH 14
Sutton Swing Bridge CH 09 Clyde VTS - Estuary Control CH 12
Wisbech Port CH 14 Caledonian Canal
Dog-in-a-Doublet Lock CH 77 (Corpach Lock, Clachnaharry Sea Lock and main lock flights) CH 74
Great Ouse tideway CH 14, 11, 12 Crinan Canal (Crinan Sea Lock, Ardrishaig Sea Lock) CH 74
Kings Lynn Docks CH 14, 11 Tay CH 12
Salters Lode Lock CH 73 Dundee Harbour Radio CH 12
Denver Sluice CH 73 Perth Harbour CH 09
Yare CH 12 Forth (VTS) - Forth Navigation CH 71, 20, 12
Yarmouth Harbour CH 12, 09, 11 Leith Harbour Radio CH 12
Haven Bridge, Breydon Bridge, Trowse Railway Bridge, Carrow Bridge CH 12 Grangemouth Docks CH 14
Lowestoft Harbour/Lake Lothing/Oulton Broad (Lowestoft Harbour Control) CH 14 Tyne VTS - Tyne Harbour Radio CH 12, 11, 14
Harbour Bridge (Lowestoft Harbour Control) CH 14, 11
Tees VTS - Tees Port Control CH 14, 22, 12
Mutford Lock & Bridge, Carlton Swing Br. (Mutford Control) CH 14, 09
Tees Barrage Radio CH M
Orwell Navigation Service VTS (Ipswich Port Radio) CH 68

Ipswich Port (Ipswich Port Radio) CH 68
NORTHERN IRELAND
Stour (VTS) (Harwich VTS) CH 71
Harwich Harbour CH 71, 14 Coleraine Port (River Bann) CH 12
Colne and Blackwater CH 68 Lough Ree Coast Guard Working Channel CH 16, 62
Brightlingsea Port Radio CH 68 Lough Derg Coast Guard Working Channel CH 16, 61
Crouch, Roach and Havengore CH 80 Lough Erne (Belfast Coastguard) CH 16, 62, 63, 64
Havengore Lift Bridge (Shoe Bridge) CH 72 Lough Neagh (Belfast Coastguard) CH 16, 62, 63, 64
Lea CH 74 Shannon Estuary CH 11
Table 2: Port Radio Stations, Locks and Bridges on British Isles Inland Waterways.
026 Maritime.indd 28 05/03/2018 08:35

Grimsby Meridian Quay Marina (call Fishdock Island) Humber CH 74 Brentford Dock Thames CH M
Grimsby Marina (call Royal Dock) Humber CH 09, 18 Gillingham Marina Medway CH 80, M
Hull Marina Humber CH 80, M Hoo Marina Medway CH 80, M
Albert Dock, Hull (Albert Dock Radio) Humber CH 09 Medway Bridge Marina Medway CH 80, M
Humber Yawl Club (Brough Haven) Humber CH 80 Port Medway Marina Medway CH 80, M
South Ferriby (South Ferriby Base) Ancholme CH 80, M, 74 Queenborough Harbour Master (Sheppey One) Swale CH 80
Selby Basin (BW) (Selby Lock) Yorks. Ouse CH 74 Queenborough Yacht Club (Queen Base) Swale CH 80, M
Naburn Marina Yorks. Ouse CH 80, M Iron Wharf Boatyard (Iron Wharf) Faversham CH 08
West Stockwith Basin (BW) (Stockwith Lock) Trent CH 74 Conyer Marina Conyer CH 80, M
Boston Marina Witham CH 80, M Portishead Quays Marina Avon CH 80
Suffolk Yacht Harbour Orwell CH 80, M
Bristol Floating Harbour Avon CH 73
Woolverstone Marina Orwell CH 80, M
Bristol Marina Avon CH 80, M
Fox’s Marina (Fox’s) Orwell CH 80, M
Gloucester Docks G&S Canal CH 74
Neptune Marina Orwell CH 14, 80, M
Swansea Marina Tawe CH 80
Ipswich Haven Marina (Ipswich Port Radio) Orwell CH 68
Albert Dock Marina (Canning River Entrance) Mersey CH M
Shotley Point Marina Stour CH 80, M
Liverpool Marina Mersey CH M
Titchmarsh Marina Walton CH 80, M
Brightlingsea Creek (Brightlingsea Harbourmaster) CH 68 Fiddlers Ferry Yacht Haven Mersey CH M
Tollesbury Marina Blackwater CH 80, M Douglas Boatyard Douglas CH 16, M
Bradwell Marina Blackwater CH 80, M Preston Marina Ribble CH 80, 14
Blackwater Marina Blackwater CH M Glasson Marina Lancaster CH 80
Heybridge Basin (Heybridge Lock) Blackwater CH 80 Dumbarton Marina Clyde CH M
Maldon Quay Blackwater CH M Bowling Harbour Forth & Clyde CH 74
Burnham Yacht Harbour Crouch CH 80 Ardrishaig Harbour Crinan C. CH 74
Essex Marina Crouch CH 80, M Bellanoch Bay Harbour (BW) (Crinan Canal) Crinan C. CH 74
North Fambridge (West Wick Marina) Crouch CH 80, M Crinan Harbour (Crinan Boats) Crinan C. CH 12
Gallions Point Marina Thames CH 13, M Inverness Harbour Caledonian C. CH 12
Poplar Dock Thames CH 13 Seaport Marina (Clachnaharry Sea Lock) Caledonian C. CH 74
Greenwich Yacht Club Thames CH M Granton Marina (Boswell) Forth CH M
South Dock Marina Thames CH 80, M Port Edgar Marina (Port Edgar) Forth CH 80, M
Limehouse Marina Thames CH 80 Royal Quays Marina Tyne CH 80
St Katharine Haven (St Katharine’s) Thames CH 80, M St Peter’s Marina Tyne CH 80, M
Chelsea Harbour Thames CH 80 Coleraine Marina (River Bann) CH 17, M
Table 3: Marine Channels used by British Inland Marinas.
Don’t miss the LARGEST single day show in the U.K.
Radio, Electronics and Computing Exhibition

NORBRECK CASTLE HOTEL EXHIBITION CENTRE
QUEENS PROMENADE, NORTH SHORE, BLACKPOOL, FY2 9AA
on Sunday, April 29th, 2018 - Doors open at 10:30 a.m.
Please come to the Norbreck rally in Blackpool! This will be the 56th rally organised by
NARSA, an association of over 40 clubs from the North West, and will feature:
 Over 50 traders – radios, aerials, computers and components at bargain prices
 Over 40 club stands – come and find out about YOUR local club
 Bring and Buy stand – organised by radio amateurs for radio amateurs
 Construction Competition – run by the Warrington ARS (www.warc.org.uk)
 The largest single day rally in the UK – run by NARSA for over 50 years
 RSGB book stand – several local and national officers usually attend the rally
 Radio talk in on S22 – listen in to make sure you get the latest travel information
 Facilities for the disabled – all the stands are on one floor with wheelchair access
 Hot and cold food and drink available in the hotel at reasonable prices
 Morse Tests – more info on the Region 3 Website – www.rsgb-region-3.org.uk
 For the latest information on the rally visit the NARSA website – www.narsa.org.uk
Admission £5 (under 14's free). Exhibition Manager: Dave Wilson, M0OBW, 01270 761608, 07720 656542
026 Maritime.indd 29 05/03/2018 08:35

utility DXing In this month’s column, Nils Schiffhauer DK8OK surveys
Nils Schiffhauer DK8OK some software, which converts your SDR into a first-class
dk8ok@gmx.net
monitoring station to facilitate station identification, tuning,
tracking, logging and the discovery of parallel channels.
D Clearing the
o you want to start
your monitoring with
a list containing more
Frequency Thicket
than 40,000 confirmed
entries? What is more,
would you like to track this list when
tuning your SDR? Are you interested
in spotting parallel frequencies with
just one mouse click or in pinpointing
stations right down to their antenna
ALL PICTURES: NILS SCHIFFHAUER

towers on Google or Bing maps?
All you need to convert your SDR into
a complete monitoring station is some
software (Figs. 1 to 3).
You might already control your SDR,
using the (free) SDR-Console V3 by
Simon Brown G4ELI.
www.sdr-radio.com/Software/
Downloads
The second piece of software you
might choose is a station browser.
CSVUserlistBrowser, by Heinrich
Emmerl DF8RY, is free and covers
nearly all vicissitudes of casual and
semi-professional monitoring:
http://df8ry.de/htmlen/home/
welcome.htm
The third radio amateur whose
website you should visit is Bernd
Friedewald DK9FI. For 45 years,
Bernd compiled his International Fig. 1: Receiving 15091kHz CSVUserBrowser (top) tracks this frequency in a list, whereas the Sorcerer
Listening Guide (ILG), used by many a decoder shows PLASPR (the US Air Force at Lajes, Azores).
professional. He started by meticulously
monitoring schedules of broadcasting Windows 32-bit version and costs Now, connect one end of the virtual
stations – not as they are published in £18,50 for the 64-bit variety: cable to SDRConsole V3/ Tools/
print (‘wooden’ in ITU lingo) but as they www.eterlogic.com/Products.VSPE. Options/ Controllers (Fig. 7).
are actually aired. In the end, Berndt html Finally, you can tailor
ended up acquiring an impressive There are other emulators around, CSVUserlistBrowser to your location and
bounty of both broadcast and utility some for free, some quite expensive. If import the ILG list.
stations, comprising of more than you start from scratch, you may try the Most functions are automatically
40,000 entries in total. free null-modem emulator (com0com) saved and will not need to be repeated
www.ilgradio.com first: after a reboot.
For a modest fee of £9,80 for six http://com0com.sourceforge.net If something does not work as
months, you can subscribe to the list expected, first check if VSPE is active.
and download the latest information. Stitching It All Together If not, start checking the first step. You
In my experience, Bernd is integrating In the next steps, you have to ‘connect’ can also refer to each software’s help
changes closely, informing subscribers your software by means of the diagram files.
via e-mail of any additions. shown in Fig. 4. You can start by The steepness of your personal
The final piece of software that creating a pair of virtual cables: learning curve in putting all these pieces
you might find useful is a virtual VSPE -> Create new device together will, of course, depend on
communications cable. This will -> Device type Pair (Fig. 5). your experience. However, the results
connect SDR-Console V3 to the Next, connect the other end of the to be achieved definitely reward some
CSVUserlistBrowser. My PC uses VSPE virtual cable to CSVUserlistBrowser/ thorough preparatory, work!
by Eterlogic. The latter is free for the Options/ Settings/ COM (Fig. 6). You can re-start SDR-Console
030 utility DXing.indd 30 05/03/2018 13:28

Fig. 2: A click on this entry shows the path between the transmitter and your location on Google Earth.
V3, by simply double-clicking the

SDR SDR-Console V3 CSVUserBrowser icon.
To do so, you have to check this
option:
Try open/close SDRCONSOLE3
VSPE COM application with CSVUserlistBrowser (…
/ Settings/ General).
Having started CSVUserlistBrowser
(and hence SDR-Console V3) you can
import the ILG list.
Lists
CSV Browser If you have ticked Track mode in the
upper part of CSVUserlistBrowser, the
list duly follows (‘tracks’) the frequencies
Fig. 3: Showing the transmitter antenna using Fig. 4: This is how hardware and software tuned to.
bing maps. interconnect – mostly ‘virtually’. In most cases, the list will offer some
entries from which you must pick the
right one.
However, sometimes you will simply
find no entry at all. Then you have
explored new worlds.
Please use this list thoughtfully and
try to identify the station by callsign and
so on.
In Fig. 8, you can see that I have
tuned to 4712kHz. The reading
automatically shows me a list of
4712kHz in this network of Russian aero
stations.
There is even more. If you click on
Look for parallel broadcasts, at the top,
a list of all network frequencies pops up,
as shown in Fig. 9. You may even draw
them onto Google Earth (Fig. 10).
I will come back in more detail to this
Russian net in my May 2018 column –
Fig. 5: Creating a pair of virtual communications cables (in this case, ‘COM8’ and ‘COM9’). stay tuned! 

Fig. 6: In CSVUserlistBrowser, assign one end of the virtual communications cable Fig. 7: In SDR-Console V3, assign the other end of the virtual communications
to this software (COM8). cable to this software (COM9).
Fig. 8: Click Tracking and the list follows the frequency of your receiver (4.712kHz, Russian Aero Net).
Fig. 9: One more click and CSVUserlistBrowser shows all known channels in Fig. 10: Google Earth will show paths up to 100 stations to your location
this net. (Russian Aero Net).

033 Radixon April.indd 4 05/03/2018 11:44
book review David Harris introduces two very different books, which shed
David Harris light on the history, geo-politics and aesthetics of numbers
E-mail: mydogisfinn@gmail.com
stations and on the TV in history and popular culture.
Numbers, Spies and the

Joy of Sets
T
his is a curious hybrid of a Shadows of the State by Lewis Bush. Brave Books, Berlin. 2018. 180 pp. Hbk. £40
book, effortlessly merging (ISBN 9783947312023). http://bravebooks.berlin
art and geography
with aesthetics and The Joy of Sets: A Short History of the Television by Chris Horrocks.
geopolitics. It is really a Reaktion Books. 2018. 224 pp. Hbk. £20 (ISBN 9781780237589).
kind of photographic essay: articles on www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
cryptic radio stations are linked with
beautiful signal screenshots and full-
colour, double page, aerial photography all regions of the world whose continued
of the (supposed) location of many of (and growing) geopolitical and strategic
these transmitting facilities. relevance is hard to ignore.
Numbers stations are one of the most The large-format book is visually
enigmatic features of the radio spectrum. pleasing and a good resource for
For over 50 years, synthesised voices numbers stations monitors.
have broadcast apparently random Because of the author’s interests, the
strings of numbers, tones and letters information offered in this book links in
on a wide spectrum of short wave with the extensive collection of numbers
frequencies. At the time of writing, it was stations recordings (in many languages)
reported that the (US) Secret Service of the Conet 1111 Project.
(NSA) now uses Twitter to hide ‘coded’ Moreover, the book will also be
messages ‘in plain sight’. of interest to members of ENIGMA,
However, ‘traditional’ numbers the European Numbers Information
stations are still with us. The BBC Gathering and Monitoring Association
recently made a fascinating, short, video and its successors and similar bodies.
about them, entitled The Spy Radio that www.irdial.com/conet.htm
Anyone Can Hear. www.apul64.dsl.pipex.com/
https://tinyurl.com/yahfdezw enigma2000
https://tinyurl.com/y9kh853p This book is clearly a labour of love
Many analysts continue to think and must have taken a very long time to This can be quite a nostalgic
that these transmissions contained compile. At times, the photos reminded sensation for any DXer, who was also an
instructions to field agents, who me of the “Where’s Wally” children’s active monitor of the shortwave bands
decoded the messages using unltra- puzzle books, which involved the study from the 1970’s to the 1990’s.
secure ‘one-time-pads’. However, no of a complex drawing, in order to try and If names like Lincolnshire Poacher,
government agency anywhere has ever identify the hidden figure of Wally. Some Cherry Ripe, English Lady, Swedish
admitted to putting out these broadcasts of the radio masts can only be made out Rhapsody and Skylark mean anything
and many radio reference books ignore as shadows in the pictures and are hard to you, then this book will bring back
their existence. to find. memories of these strange, rather
Most of these stations were active at The book covers 30 of the alleged disturbing, broadcasts.
the height of the Cold War, between the sources of numbers broadcasts. The book includes a two-page listing
1970’s and 1990’s. The well-researched There is also a page of text about of over 200 purported numbers stations,
text reflects this historical frame. the characteristics of the individual a bibliography and a very useful listing of
However, Lewis Bush also lists broadcast and a barcode/ website, websites devoted to this radio topic.
around 45 numbers stations, which are which, if activated, will enable readers to In a time when both government
still active. These include stations from listen to an archived audio file recording organisations and terrorist networks are
Cuba, North Korea, China and Russia, of the station in question. returning to short wave in large numbers,
034 Book Review 2 pages.indd 34 05/03/2018 08:42

service in 1936, using the Marconi/EMI
405-line system, which was to remain in
place until the 1960s.
There is a revealing look at the
military uses of TV during the Second
World War, when the technology was
trialled as a missile-guidance system,
to be used in the monitoring of atomic
weapons production and in connection
with experimental drones.
After the end of World War II, TV
broadcasts resumed but early TV sets
were incredibly expensive, compared
with the price of a car.
The author shows that TV ownership
increased dramatically during the 1950s.
This gave rise to a new profession: that
of the TV repairman.
His study brilliantly investigates the
impact of the remote control and the way
in which TV was portrayed – sometimes
menacingly – in art, film and literature.
The latter was done by writers
like George Orwell (1984) and Ray
Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451) and in films
like The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976),
for reasons of security, this book Videodrome (1983), Poltergeist (1982)
provides some unusually-presented and many others since.
background information. Furthermore, the author shows how,
It is beautifully printed on high-quality from the 1960s onwards, significant
paper and is available as a limited technological developments in colour
edition of 1,000 copies. Despite its high broadcasting led to the portability of
price, I think this book will become very sets and to the further miniaturisation of
collectable. It certainly constitutes a components.
unique publication in the way in which The book is beautifully illustrated,
it combines art, radio, geo-politics and containing many fine colour pictures of
espionage. TV sets from the 1920s to the present
I think this concept could also work day.
as a TV documentary or a multi-media There are comprehensive notes
exhibition. and the title benefits – unlike similar
The Joy of Sets is an ambitious, publications in this under-researched
multi-disciplinary, study of the television field – from a thorough, six-page,
set, with a strong focus on the TV as bibliography.
an object of imagination and material However, the real strength of this
culture. Science Fiction writers. It is well-know, title is that it encourages the reader
One could easily produce a book for instance, that H.G. Wells (among to think about the television set as an
focusing on set design or technological others) envisioned possible forms object of popular material culture and
development but the author, within this of future entertainment. In When the an inspiration for art as well as a mere
short volume, covers many different Sleeper Wakes (1899), the protagonist technical receiver of images.
aspects of television, including those rouses from two centuries of slumber to
touching on social history, military a dystopian London, in which citizens [See also Part 2 of Fifty Years of BBC
history, design and popular culture. use wondrous forms of technology like Colour Television, by Keith Hamer and
The book begins with a discussion the audio book, airplane and television Garry Smith, elsewhere in this issue.
of the invention of television, when – yet suffer systematic state oppression An initial contribution on the history
various countries all put forward their and social injustice. and background of numbers stations will
own pioneers and ‘heroes’ such as Chris Horrocks later surveys the appear in the May issue of RadioUser –
John Logie Baird (UK) or Paul Nipkow early days of television as a technology, do not miss it.
(Germany). originally conceived of as a two-way The BBC video on The Spy Radio
https://tinyurl.com/d9lc8sw communication or surveillance device. That Anyone Can Hear is at this URL:
https://tinyurl.com/y7awcv4n The first TV broadcasts in the UK https://tinyurl.com/y9kh853p
The first chapter is a fascinating were made in 1929, when Baird began How many films, paintings and books
account of the ‘pre-history’ of TV, as an experimental 30-line service. do you know, in which radios have
envisaged by a number of 19th-century The BBC commenced a full TV featured prominently? – Ed.]
034 Book Review 2 pages.indd 35 05/03/2018 08:42

dxtv Keith Hamer and Garry Smith evaluate the favourable
Keith Hamer tropospheric propagation conditions that prevailed in
keith.testcards@gmail.com
Garry Smith January 2018, before looking at the southern hemisphere,
garry405625.gs@gmail.com
where the Sporadic-E season was in full swing.
DXTV at the
Beginning of 2018
T
NIELS VAN DER LINDEN

V Reception Reports Garden (Inverbervie, Scotland)
received for January 2018 scooped several northern England FM
showed that tropospheric transmitters, by using an indoor dipole
enhancement occurred on feeding a Portal FM/DAB receiver. The
several days. On January best signal received was Classic FM on
3rd, Niels van der Linden (Mol, Belgium) 101.1MHz from Holme Moss (125kW).
identified Luxembourg on Channel D21 At 1329 UTC, a Sporadic-E opening
from Dudelange (200kW). France was produced a strong Spanish station
identified on D36 (MUX1/Region Lorraine) airing lively pop music on 93.1MHz. This
and on D59 (MUX2) both from Metz/ drowned out BBC Radio Scotland from Fig.1: Regional morning news (le matin) on D42
Luttange (100kW). Meldrum (150kW). (Tours/Chissay).
On the 9th, France was observed
on D41 (MUX1) D44 (MUX6) and D49 DAB Reports In New South Wales, double-skip
(MUX3) all from Amiens/ Saint-Just Using a Rotel T14 tuner, German Sporadic-E produced FM stations from
(40kW) multiplexes received by Niels included Tonga on the 7th and Fiji on the 31st.
Dutch multiplexes were present on the following: Indonesian FM stations up to 103.0MHz
the 15th; the most distant, at 115km, January 4th, from 0630 UTC: 9A DR were captured in the south-east on the
was Omroep West on D52 (vertical) from Saarland (Tholey or Saarbrücken). 15th and 16th.
Den Haag (15kW). January 8th, from 1520 UTC: 5C DR
More French multiplexes appeared on Deutschland and 11D Radio für NRW Service Information
the 17th from Tours/ Chissay (at 530km) (both Langenberg). United Kingdom: Due to the 700MHz
on D23 (MUX2), D42 (MUX1 – Fig. 1) and January 13th, from 0940 UTC: 8C clearance, some multiplexes have
D45 (MUX3). Mittelfranken,10A Unterfranken and 11D moved to new frequencies. The changes
The 19th produced all Oxford Bayern (all from Kreuzberg). commenced on February 7th, 2018.
multiplexes for Stephen Michie (Bristol) Some transmitters have multiple
via an indoor wideband UHF grid DX Down-Under retune dates. This is to enable some
antenna. Tony Mann (Perth) reported that multiplexes (mainly COM7 and COM8,
January was a very busy month for using channels 31 to 37) to be parked,
FM Reception Reports ‘exotic’ Sporadic-E activity. Several temporarily in Group CD, while adjacent
On January 17th, the most distant times throughout the month, TV signals transmitters are re-channelled.
FM captures for Niels van der Linden from the Philippines were identified A change of aerial group is
included 88.5MHz (France Culture) on Channels A2 (55.25MHz) and A3 recommended in some cases such
91.8MHz (France Musique) and (61.25MHz). as Crystal Palace, Rowridge, The
103.2MHz (France Bleu Berry). All came On the 1st, a six-metre opening, Wrekin and Sutton Coldfield. This is an
from Bourges/ Neuvy-Deux-Clochers between east-coast Australia and inconvenience that viewers could well do
(79kW) at 500km. western USA/Mexico, lasted for over two without.
There were signals on 89.0MHz hours, via a combination of Sporadic-E Some new relays will become active
(France Culture) 92.6MHz (France Inter) and TEP (Trans-equatorial Propagation). or have extra multiplexes added.
and 97.0MHz (France Musique) These Furthermore, several openings The retune plan for main transmitters
originated in Le Mans/ Mayet (126kW) at occurred between the east coast and is as follows:
580km. South America, with reception peaking February 7th: Sudbury, Tacolneston and
On the 29th at 1101UTC, George on the 13th and 14th of the month. Waltham.
036 DXTV.indd 36 05/03/2018 13:29

NIELS VAN DER LINDEN
February 27th: Mendip, Oxford and The https://tinyurl.com/ya48o6x3
Wrekin.
March 1st: Brierley Hill, Malvern and 60 Years Of TWW
Ridge Hill. The commercial TV franchise, TWW
March 7th: Brierley Hill, Bromsgrove, (serving South Wales and the west of
Fenton, Lark Stoke, Malvern, Sutton England), launched 60 years ago at
Coldfield and Winter Hill. 4.45pm on Tuesday, January 14th, 1958
March 14th: Guildford and Whitehawk (Fig. 5).
Fig. 2: ‘zes’, on D44 Vertical (MUX1) from Oud- Hill. The 405-line test transmissions
Turnhout. March 21st: Crystal Palace, Dover, in Band III began from the St. Hilary
KEITH HAMER+GARRY SMITH COLLECTION Hemel Hempstead, Midhurst, Reigate transmitter on September 2nd, 1957
and Rowridge. on channel 10 (199.75MHz vision,
Belgium: Niels van der Linden 196.25MHz sound) using vertical
advised that TV Vlaanderen (a Pay- polarisation.
TV channel) has commenced, via two According to EBU (European
DVB-T2 multiplexes. It offers various Broadcasting Union) listings in March
Belgian stations and the main Dutch 1960, the site height was 120 metres
public channels (NPO). A special above sea level, with the antenna at
smartcard (CI module with decoder) 210m. The ERP (Effective Radiated
Fig. 3: The new, unique test card radiated in is required, which enables a standard Power) was 200kW (vision) with 50kW
North Korea. DVB-T receiver to be used. (sound).
Brussels, Egem, Gent, Nieuwkerken-
SHAUN O’SULLIVAN
Waas, Oostvleteren, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw Satellite News

and Velthem are operating on Channels While perusing Eutelsat 10A at 10°E
D43 (MUX1) and D46 (MUX 2). recently, Roger Bunney (Romsey)
Antwerp, Attenrode-Wever, Genk, noticed a test pattern bearing a Radio
Meerhout, Oud-Turnhout and Schoten Bruno logo (Fig. 6). This originates
are using D44 (MUX1 – Fig. 2) and D47 from Italy. The CSAT France digital
(MUX 2). All transmissions are vertically- packet via Astra 19.2ºE on 12.246GHz
polarised. (vertical polarisation, SR 29.700, FEC
North Korea: Even though North 5/6 in MPEG-4 HD DVB S-2 8PSK)
Korea is, arguably, the most secretive now encrypts all its 12 channels using
country in the World and currently faces Nagravision and Viaccess.
a host of trade sanctions, their television The Media Broadcast SD (Standard-
service appears to be remarkably up- Definition) digital bouquet on 11.054GHz
to-date, technically. A new, and very via the Eutelsat Hotbird craft at 13ºE
colourful, test card has recently been (horizontal with SR 27.500 and FEC 5/6)
introduced (Fig. 3). has replaced the jewellery shopping
Fig. 4: Shaun’s mobile ATV station. channel (Juwelo) with the German
ATV Experiments national second network, ZDF (Zweites
KEITH HAMER+GARRY SMITH COLLECTION Shaun O’Sullivan (Bristol) experimented Deutsches Fernsehen).
SHAUN O’SULLIVAN
with ATV (Amateur TV) on 6cm

(5.665GHz) using relatively inexpensive Further Information
modules (costing less than £100) from Some of the items which initially
China. These are intended for use as appeared on our original DX-TV and Test
video senders/receivers for drones but Cards websites can now be accessed in
one channel falls into the amateur band portable document format on the PDF
allocation. A small dish is used as the Archive website.
antenna and a microwave relay is used https://document.li/m5FV
to change over from transmit to receive
Fig. 5: TWW took to the air 60 years ago, on (Fig. 4). Keep in Touch!
January 14th, 1958. Please send your TV and FM reception
New Toy reports, news, comments and
ROGER BUNNEY
Simon Hockenhull (Bristol) has acquired photographs by the end of the month to
a new FM/DAB/Internet Radio, the Garry Smith, 17 Collingham Gardens,
Roberts Stream 107. The instruction Derby DE22 4FS.
book is well written and runs to 100 E-mail: garry405625.gs@gmail.com
pages! It features DAB+ and the FM
mode provides RDS. The downside (and
this applies to many radios) is the lack of
an external antenna connection. Despite
this, its performance is impressive,
Fig. 6: Radio Bruno colour-bar test pattern. particularly the sound quality.

Untitled-2 1 13/02/2018 12:38
036 DXTV.indd 37 05/03/2018 13:29

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038 Moonraker spread.indd 39 05/03/2018 11:45

lm&s broadcast matters Chrissy Brand finds plenty of offbeat stations and
Chrissy Brand programmes to tune into across the broadcast bands. She
4 Cavendish House
Warrior Square also looks at the latest BBC radio ventures and shares
St. Leonards-on-Sea TN37 6BJ
E-mail: chrissyLB@hotmail.co.uk up-to-the-minute radio station news and readers’ logs.
CHRISSY BRAND
CHRISSY BRAND
Fig. 2: Feeling ‘on top of the world’ at Nordkapp,
where the BBC booms in on FM.
familiar frequencies that Auntie uses

are 5875 and 6005kHz via Ascension
Island from 0500 UTC; 5875kHz from
Woofferton, 11810 and 12095kHz via
Ascension Island from 2000 UTC; 3915
Fig. 1: BBC World Service is still connecting with audiences, new and old. and 5890kHz from Singapore plus 5960,
Bands of Plenty
6195 and 7300kHz from Oman at 2200
UTC.
Graham Smith noted that the BBC
World Service will broadcast to the
Sámi (Sápmi) community in the north of
Norway via an FM relay. To this end, the
T
BBC recently signed an agreement with
he winter short wave in late January. These are transmitted FM station Guovdageainnu Lagasradio.
schedules come to a in the Amharic, Oromo and Tigranya www.glr.no
close on Sunday, March languages. There is a two-hour window, This contract will result in 93 hours
28th and the A18 season inside which each language is given of BBC World Service output a week.
commences; we also twenty minutes. This is then repeated On this subject, Stephen Titherington,
move into British Summer Time in the an hour later. Between 1730 and 1830 Senior Commissioning Editor, BBC
UK. The UK’s international broadcaster, UTC the frequencies of 7595, 11720 and World Service English, stated, “Such
the BBC World Service, is still very much 12065kHz are in use. During the time international connections are at the core
alive on short wave and FM. However, it slot of 1830 to 1930 UTC, the broadcasts of the BBC World Service – we want to
operates reduced short wave services in are transmitted on 9855 and 15490kHz. reach different cultures and communities
English these days, with many parts of across the globe and reflect their stories
the world having to tune in to local FM On the Bands in our programmes. We’ve aired major
relays or online instead (Fig. 1). It is nice to hear that the BBC is still reports on the Sámi people and culture
Despite that, some new services active in Europe too. It remains a regular over the last year, and this agreement
from the Beeb are being instigated. and easy catch on short wave, even if with Guovdageainnu Lagasradio will, in
BBC World Service commenced short those transmissions are beamed to other turn, provide people in the region with
wave broadcasts to the Horn of Africa parts of the world. Among the many access to our trusted international news
040 lms broadcast matters.indd 40 05/03/2018 08:43

CHRISSY BRAND
Fig. 4: KBS World in South Korea issued a QSL card to commemorate this year’s Winter Olympics.
CHRISSY BRAND
and documentaries through their own some music and feature programmes as
community radio and help link them to well. For example, it airs Fred Flintstone’s
what’s going on in the rest of the world.” Music Show is on Saturdays for an hour
When I was travelling in northern from 0000 UTC. However, I think this
Norway last summer, I heard BBC World show ended its run in December. It has
Service programmes being relayed on come and gone in the past.
Radio Nordkapp 103.9MHz (RadioUser, Another programme is Radio Timtron
November 2017: 43) (Fig. 2). Worldwide at 0000 UTC on Sundays
www.radionordkapp.no and Grits Radio at the same time on
Further to last month’s announcement Mondays. Part of the WBCQ schedule
about Brother Ralph Stair (RadioUser, for the B17 season included 2200 to
April 2018: 40) it appeared a few stations 0500 UTC, on the frequencies of 5130,
were still transmitting repeats of some 9330 and 7490kHz.
of his Overcomer Ministry programmes, The presenter of Radio Timtron
despite the ban on this. One station was Worldwide is Timothy M Smith Fig. 3: WBCQ from Maine in the USA is not just
WBCQ, at 2300 UTC on 7490kHz and WA1HLR. He is also a respected radio another Christian station.
another one was WWCR. engineer who started broadcasting this
Stair was released from prison on show on pirate radio back in 1973, with KBS World, issued a QSL card, which
bail of $750,000 in January and is not an enjoyable blend of rock music and featured Soohorang and Bandabi,
allowed to leave the compound of his comedy. the two mascots from the 2018 Winter
Walterboro, South Carolina compound. WBCQ suffered a fire in December, Olympic Games held in Pyeongchang
Stair’s friend and fellow Christian resulting in damage to its main 50kW (Fig. 4). KBS World’s English service
broadcaster, Allan Weiner, is an owner transmitter. The station remained on the currently broadcasts to Europe at
of Maine-based short wave station air, thanks to its backup equipment but 1500 to 1700 UTC on 9515, 9630 and
WBCQ The Planet. He defended Stair it felt the need to launch a crowdfunding 9640kHz and from 2200 to 2300 UTC on
and his religious camp in Walterboro appeal for a new transmitter. At the 11810kHz. These times and frequencies
Carolina, on the air. You can hear the time of writing, only $3,000 of the target will change for the A18 season. KBS
28-minute long broadcast online. $20,000 had been raised. World can be contacted by e-mail and
https://tinyurl.com/ybe28z3v www.gofundme.com/wbcq-radio- reception reports can be submitted via
However, WBCQ is not merely a replacement-transmitter an online form. The station also runs a
religious radio station (Fig. 3). There are The South Korean state broadcaster, quarterly quiz.

CHRISSY BRAND
Fig. 5: 77 WABC is a 770kHz medium wave catch, all the way from New York.
CHRISSY BRAND
represents five of the 20 frequencies
listed for this station but so far I have had
no success. I have tried most of them,
on AM, USB and LSB. Interestingly, I can
peak a signal on all of above using my
pre-selector with a very discreet peak on
my S-meter but so far without hearing
any success.”
Graham Smith was concerned
Fig. 6: WUNR 1600 AM Community Radio from Boston comes across in many languages. about station closures over the New
Year but was pleased to still hear RTBF
https://world.kbs.co.kr/english/about/ middling with a SINPO of 44323. The on 621kHz and the Czech station
about_report.htm station was scheduled to go off the air at Radiožurnál on 270kHz.
The US government shutdown in late 1530 UTC which it did. My S-meter has www.rozhlas.cz/radiozurnal/portal
January also affected some of its radio not gone down many points so much of Graham added the following
services. The American Forces Network the S must have been just noise”. observation, “One thing I notice about
in Europe broadcast classical music and Personally, I find the name of this medium and long wave broadcasts in
a repeated announcement, to the effect station slightly confusing. When I first Europe is that below 1000kHz, when you
that AFN services were unavailable. heard of it, I could not tell whether it was enter a station frequency on a keyboard,
aimed at or emerged from inside North the keys are all in the same column or
Readers’ Reports Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic there is one from each column - never
On January 28th, Lionel Clyne logged of Korea, DPRK). It is, in fact, one of two plus one. However, you have to
a station he was unable to identify. This several South Korean operations that count 0 as being in the same column
was at 1955 UTC on 5930kHz, booming beam Korean-language transmissions as 3, 6 and 9 for this to work. This is
in with a 54555 SINPO. It was clearly into North Korea. because all frequencies are multiples
a religious programme, containing Tony Stickells also logged some of 9kHz. The exception is Europe 1 on
announcements that it was coming out examples of these stations in January. At 183kHz. This still works on a keyboard
of Lynchburg, Ohio. However, there was 2030 UTC, he heard North Korea Reform but it is not a multiple of 9kHz, although
no formal station identification. Radio on 7500 and 7585kHz, from a the station plans to move to 180kHz.”
Radio Romania International in transmitter site in Uzbekistan. Echo of Tony Stickells has come to grips with
Ukrainian followed it on the same Hope was on 6250kHz at 1705 UTC. his recent purchase of a new radio, an
frequency, without a break. It sounds Lionel has been listening out for SDRplay RSP2. He commented that it is
to me as if it might have been the Cuban numbers stations. He found a an excellent radio for the price. He wrote,
Sunday Broadcast of Pan American list of the Cuban Spy Network numbers “On the short wave front, the SDR is
Broadcasting, aimed at the Middle East station, presumably put together by exceptionally good. I can record an hour
on 5930kHz from Nauen in Germany. numbers station devotees around the or so of up to a 10MHz bandwidth while
Pan American Broadcasting is scheduled world. The list stated that this Cuban listening to the AOR on the other antenna
in English from 1930 to 2015 UTC every Spy Network operated at the following and then play it back at my leisure. This
Sunday. frequencies and times: 0955 to 1055 is also quite useful for identifying stations
Lionel also heard North Korea Reform UTC on 9155kHz; 1555 to 1649 UTC as you can ‘skip’ to their close-down
Radio at 1440 UTC broadcasting in on 11435kHz; 1655 to 1749 UTC time and listen for the identification,
Korean from Tashkent on 7570kHz. He on 11530kHz; 1755 to 1850 UTC on many stations transmit an identification
wrote, “Somewhat surprisingly, there was 11635kHz; and from 1655 to 0750 UTC in English.
no attempt to jam from their neighbours on 13435kHz. “I used both the AOR 7030 and the
in the north. However, reception was Lionel concluded, “The above SDR for my listening and concentrated

more on the short wave bands. This was service. French and the station was playing
with some success. On medium wave, Among the transatlantic logs this time French traditional music. However, no
when selecting the correct LO frequency was 77 WABC on 770kHz (Fig. 5). It’s identification was heard on this occasion.
separation the SDR was very good, a news talk station, “Where New York NVK Radio Sakha was an unusual
especially for DX across the pond. You Comes to Talk. The #1 Talk Station in the DX catch on 7345kHz, coming out of
can clearly see the signals on the waterfall Nation, serving the Tri-State community of Russia. This was easily identified by its
display and, with the filtering system, null New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.” internet stream, which was also mostly
out the interference. If you are unable to log it overnight on playing western pop music. Tony only
“You do lose quite a lot of fidelity with your radio, why not listen online? There received NVK Radio Sakha on two
the narrow filters, but you can hear enough are many interesting programmes. Some nights. Therefore, the station was either
to get a comparison identification with that I have enjoyed are Rita Cosby Politics, testing or may have made an occasional
the internet streams. I logged 29 medium Savage Nation and The Yola Nash Show. transmission.
wave stations from across the pond, quite You can also download podcasts and – if
impressive for a radio that only cost me you are really keen – you can even join the [As regards numbers stations, see
£90.” listeners’ advisory panel. the Book Review section in this issue
Among the many medium wave catches www.wabcradio.com of RadioUser, for a review of the title
from Tony, there was the station Libya al Another US log was on 1600kHz, Shadows of the State by Lewis Bush.
Wataniya, which was back on the air with a WUNR (1600 AM) Community Radio from Our May issue will carry the first in a two-
slightly different frequency of 677kHz. This Boston (Fig. 6). It broadcasts in many part series on the history and continuing
was 5kHz lower than Tony’s previous log in languages from Armenian to Yiddish and activities of these stations – Ed.].
December 2017. is, “Greater Boston’s oldest ethnic radio
He noted that Spirit Radio from Ireland station. WUNR continues to serve its Log Contributors
on 549kHz went off on January 17th. This communities by providing news, music, GS = Graham Smith, Bury St Edmunds,
station did have a transmitter problem a information and entertainment in multiple Suffolk. Sony ICF-SW600 and a telescopic
few months back so maybe that has not languages to a diverse group of listeners antenna.
been fully resolved. 24 hours a day. One World. One Station.” LC = Lionel Clyne, Faversham, Kent. Lowe
On 918kHz, he managed to hear All www.wunr.com HF-150, random wire or homemade loop.
India Radio North but only during one A mystery signal that Tony received was OR - Owen Rutherford, London. Lowe HF-
night, when he identified it with the online on 3465kHz LSB, too close to the aircraft 150 and a Wellbrook loop.
stream. He also logged India again on bands for his liking. It was, presumably, TS = Tony Stickells, Wrexham. SDRplay
1071kHz, broadcasting their international from France because the language was RSP2, AOR AR7030 and a 500ft long wire.
Short Wave Logs

UTC kHz Station Language SINPO Initials
0002 9665 KCBS Pyongyang Korean 25222 TS
0005 5880 China National Radio 1 // 7480 Chinese 35544 GS
0026 4930 VOA, Botswana English 35333 TS
0043 9665 Radio Voz Missionária, Brazil Portuguese 24222 TS
0044 5950 Radio Slovakia International (via WRMI) Spanish 25243 TS
0055 3995 Life FM English 45344 TS
0104 5850 WRMI English 45433 TS
0109 5939.8 Radio Paz No Vale Portuguese 34323 TS
0125 6000 TRT Voice of Turkey Turkish 35544 GS
0138 5940 Radio Melodia Spanish 34333 TS
0202 6165 Radio Habana Cuba English 55444 TS
0226 5920 Life FM English 54344 TS
0242 5985 Adventist World Radio English 35444 TS
0346 4810 Radio Difusora Londrina Portuguese 25323 TS
0502 4765 Radio Progreso Spanish 15331 TS
0504 5890 WWCR English 35222 TS
0504 5925 BBC WS, Ascension Island // 6005 English 35343 TS
0520 6155 NHK Radio Japan English 55555 OR, TS
0607 6100 Radio Habana Cuba // 6000 English 44344 OR, TS
0642 7345 Radio Romania International English 54544 TS
1117 6070 Radio Channel 292 English 45544 TS
1149 5840 World Music Radio, Denmark English 35333 TS
1151 11600 Radio Taiwan International English 34222 TS
1153 11610 Radio New Zealand International English 35433 TS
1204 17650 Radio Romania International // 17765, 15460 English 45444 OR, TS
1205 6150 Radio Marabou English 45545 TS
1208 11865 Reach Beyond Australia English 55545 TS
1215 6005 Radio Slovakia International (via Radio 700) English 35443 TS
1215 17660 Radio France International French 35223 TS

1235 9390 Radio Thailand English 35231 TS
1245 15580 VOA English 35434 TS
1350 12035 TRT Voice of Turkey English 55555 TS
1359 13695 All India Radio English 35333 TS
1402 15140 Radio Sultanate Oman English 55545 OR, TS
1428 13680 Voice of Hope Africa English 44333 LC
1438 12040 Reach Beyond Australia English 55544 TS
1440 7570 North Korea Reform Radio Korean 44323 LC
1446 6085 Radio Mi Amigo English 45433 TS
1515 7390 Radio New Zealand International English 44344 LC, TS
1532 11560 All India Radio English 55555 TS
1539 9400 Isle of Music English 45444 TS
1541 9515 KBS World Radio English 45322 OR, TS
1605 9420 IRIB World Service English 43333 TS
1617 6185 Radio Taiwan International English 35434 OR, TS
1652 5985 Myanmar Radio English 33333 TS
1658 5915 ZNBC Radio 1, Zambia English 23333 TS
1725 9700 Vatican Radio English 55544 TS
1745 6065 KNLS New Life, Alaska English 34344 TS
1754 3975 Shortwave Radio Service English 35333 TS
1803 3985 Radio Mi Amigo English 35333 TS
1803 9445 All India Radio GOS English 55544 TS
1808 11730 TRT Voice of Turkey English 35544 OR, TS
1808 11735 Zanzibar Broadcasting Assoc. English 35544 TS
1813 11800 NHK Radio Japan English 55545 TS
1843 5935 Radio Romania International English 45555 TS
1852 6065 Voice of Hope Africa English 34344 TS
2000 6040 IRIB World Service English 55544 TS
2033 7220 Voice of Vietnam English 35434 TS
2040 3955 KBS World German 55555 LC
2109 5995 RTVM Radio Mali French 53333 TS
2118 7360 VOIRI Spanish 55455 LC
2133 3955 KBS World Radio French 55555 TS
2145 6070 CFRX English 25333 TS
2148 6170 Radio Romania International // 7310, 7375 English 55555 OR, TS
2157 7280 Voice of Vietnam English 45444 OR, TS
2211 7780 WRMI English 35544 TS
2314 4885 Radio Clube do Para Portuguese 45222 TS
2317 3310 Radio Mosoj Chaski, Bolivia Quechua 25442 TS
2317 5850 Radio Tirana English 35322 OR, TS
2348 7325 Radio Romania International English 45554 OR, TS
Medium Wave Logs

All medium wave logs this month are from Tony Stickells.
kHz UTC Station Country SINPO
531 1151 Kringvarp Føroya Faroe Isles 43323
540 1151 MR1 Kossuth Rádió Hungary 45555
570 0156 CFCB, NL Canada 32222
576 0037 BNR Horizont Bulgaria 52333
590 0210 VOCM, NL Canada 42233
600 0031 CBNA, NL Canada 42332
620 0326 CKCM, NL Canada 25222
639 1158 ČRo Dvojka Czech Republic 44233
648 1118 Radio Caroline UK 42253
666 0044 IRIB Radio Iran Iran 53323
670 0421 WSCR, IL USA 43343
675 0103 QMC Radio Qatar Qatar 45333
677 0107 Libya Al Wataniya Libya 44333
684 0047 IRIB Radio Khorasan-e Razavi Iran 52442
710 0108 CKVO, NL Canada 43333
710 0333 Radio Rebelde Cuba 43333
040 lms Log Contributors

broadcast matters.indd 44 05/03/2018 08:43
711 0048 ERTU Al-Shabab wal Riyadah Egypt 52232
729 1200 RNE Radio Nacional Spain 33223
730 0211 CKAC, QC Canada 33243
740 0111 CHCM, NL Canada 42242
750 0036 CBGY, NL Canada 42333
750 0036 YVKS RCR 750 Radio Caracas Venezuela 43333
760 0038 WVNE, MA USA 42223
770 0039 WABC, NY USA 42423
800 0116 VOWR, NL Canada 42233
810 0118 Makedonsko Radio 1 Macedonia 51522
819 0132 IRIB Radio Mazandaran Iran 45243
850 0124 WEEI, MA USA 42233
860 0141 CJBC, ON Canada 33233
880 0336 WCBS, NY USA 43243
890 0403 Radio Progreso Cuba 33223
917 2006 Radio Gotel Yola Nigeria 42341
918 0303 All India Radio North India 33223
930 0404 CJYQ, NL Canada 32242
936 0310 IRIB Radio Markaze Azerbaijaneh Gharb Iran 44333
1010 0220 WINS, NY USA 42332
1071 0430 All India Radio General Overseas Service India 42333
1200 0145 WXKS, MA USA 33223
1280 0052 WJYE, NY USA 42223
1390 0013 WEGP, ME USA 35343
1400 0225 CBG, NL Canada 43333
1404 0434 ERT Open/ERA Komotinis Greece 35333
1467 0355 IRIB Radio Qom Iran 25223
1470 0452 WLAM, ME USA 25343
1500 0454 WFED, DC USA 33223
1560 0343 WFME Family Radio, NY USA 43233
1600 0534 WUNR, ME USA 33223
1660 0301 WWRU, NJ USA 15223
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feature In the concluding part of their short series, Keith Hamer and Garry
Smith look at early colour television receivers and detail some of the
complexities and hazards associated with installation in viewers’ homes.
considered a ‘status symbol’ to own one.

According to the official TV Licensing
website, fewer than 500 households had
a colour TV receiver at the launch of the
service in 1967, although other estimates
suggest that this figure was nearer 2,000.
The hospitality industry was quick
to act with advertisements in holiday
brochures, showing hotels proudly
boasting “A 25-inch ‘Coloured’ TV
in Lounge”, to elevate their image
and attract holidaymakers to their
establishments. Nowadays, it seems that
‘Freeview’ is the big attraction!
The styling of a colour receiver was
very ostentatious, maybe to create a
sense of ‘value-for-money’, with most
models sporting enormous luxury teak
cabinets with folding doors.
In 1967, colour receivers
manufactured in the UK had to be
dual-standard in order to receive BBC-2
on 625 lines as well as BBC-1 and ITV
transmissions. The latter were only
available in monochrome via the 405-line
network, which used VHF Bands I and III.
The Shadow-Mask CRT

Fig.1: The World’s first fully-transistorised colour television receiver, featuring the BRC 2000 Series At the launch of colour in 1967, TV
chassis. Brands using this chassis included HMV, Ferguson, Ultra and Marconiphone. receivers were available with either 19-
Fifty Years of BBC

inch or 25-inch CRT (cathode-ray tube)
screens. They had a 90-degree deflection
angle, hence the bulky cabinet designs.
All receivers had one thing in
Colour Television
common: The Shadow-Mask CRT.
Developed by RCA (Radio Corporation
of America) and first demonstrated in
1950, the inside of the screen was coated
with triads of phosphor dots. Each dot
(Part 2)
corresponded to the primary colours red,
blue and green. In a typical CRT, there
were as many as half a million triads.
(Part 1 was in RadioUser, January 2018: 48-52- Ed.) These could be seen when viewing white
O
areas of the picture using a magnifying
n July 1st, 1967, of money in those days. Many viewers glass.
Europe’s first colour opted for a rental scheme costing up to Three separate electron guns were
television service £2 per week, which included repairs. required, one for each primary colour,
began on BBC-2. At the Receivers were prone to frequent equally spaced at 120 degrees around
time, colour receivers breakdowns, due to the more complex the axis of the tube. About 1cm behind
were very expensive and vastly different circuitry and power demands, when the phosphor dots, there was a metal
to what they are now. compared with their monochrome shadow-mask of rolled steel, resembling
The larger models with luxurious counterparts. a sheet of gauze, with one hole for every
cabinets (a ‘Dynatron’ for instance) The relatively high cost of a colour triad. Its purpose was to ensure that the
cost almost £400 (with Purchase Tax) receiver meant that, initially, only the phosphor dots were targeted only by
which was quite a considerable amount well-to-do could afford a set and it was electrons emitted from their respective
046 colour tv.indd 46 05/03/2018 13:30

HAMER+GARRY SMITH ARCHIVE COLLECTION.
colour guns.
The impression of colours on the
screen was created by illuminating the
dots in certain proportions. This process
of additive colour mixing meant that
if all three phosphors (red, green and
blue) were illuminated in the correct
proportions, an impression of white
would be obtained. By switching off
the blue gun, with only the red and
green dots illuminated, the screen
would appear yellow. If the red and blue
phosphors were illuminated in the correct
proportions, the screen would appear
magenta. Similarly, if only the green and
blue guns were activated, the resultant
colour would be cyan.
Technical Nightmare Fig. 2: The wide-screen version of Test Card ‘F’, featuring Carole Hersee & friend ’Bubbles’ (Test Card ‘W’).
Television service engineers – who were
normally accustomed to swapping valves the central heating restored full colour!
and changing mains-dropper sections – The BRC (British Radio Corporation)
experienced a very steep learning curve. 2000 was the World’s first all-transistor
As well as the extra complexity with colour receiver (introduced in 1967)
colour decoder circuits, there was the and the technology of the day meant it
shadow-mask CRT, with lots of correction was quite a complex beast, technically.
circuitry, to confuse the uninitiated. Much of the circuitry was totally alien to
Most manufacturers used tried-and- what the average engineer was used to.
tested valve technology, despite its Gone was the conventional, relatively
enormous power requirements and heat simple, power supply circuitry, consisting
generation, which would cheerfully warm of a rectifier and various ‘smoothing’ Fig. 3: Keith with Carole Hersee (minus Bubbles),
up the room on a cold winter’s day. Baird capacitors. In its place, this was a more this time not featuring on Test Card ‘F’ but in
and Philips even employed valves in their complex, transistorised, design. Many a studio, during an interview for the 2007 BBC
colour decoder circuitry. components were run to their limit; Radio 4 programme Questions, Questions.
Early sets were unreliable and a breakdowns were frequent (Fig. 1).
nightmare to service. They were potential The later BRC 3000 single-standard
death-traps in the making, with an design from 1969 featured a ‘chopper’
Extra High-Tension (EHT) voltage of power supply circuit, designed to deliver
25kV – much higher than a monochrome several stabilised voltage feeds to
receiver. The valve EHT circuitry featured different sections of the receiver. Various
a PD500 shunt stabiliser and GY501 protection circuits made sure that the
EHT rectifier, which were potential X-ray slightest voltage fluctuation made the set
hazards. shut down!
The valves were enclosed within a This model featured a ‘reset’ button
metal shield, most having some form on the back and it was not uncommon to Fig. 4: A still from the installation film The Colour
of micro-switch to cut the power, if the find that this had tripped due to a shorted Television Receiver, instructing engineers how to
shielding was removed while switched power transistor. Repeated failure meant adjust convergence on a new colour TV.
on. X-ray warning stickers were in careful questioning on a call-out. In one
abundance. example, the set failed only on Saturday meticulously ‘set up’ to produce an
Many set makers’ logos proudly bore afternoons and – after the third visit – it acceptable colour picture. Even so,
the word ‘Colour’ and some models was revealed that the electric lawnmower many viewers who had made a massive
(such as those manufactured by GEC) had been plugged into the same double investment were very fussy – even to
even had a special red indicator lamp to power socket as the receiver at the the point of measuring the squares on
tell the viewer that a colour transmission time of the incident. While the husband the Test Card to ensure linearity was
was being received! eagerly watched the sport, the wife 100% accurate and to their complete
The Philips G6 model had a relay mowed the lawn. When she switched off satisfaction. Some even liked excessive
to switch off the colour when things the mower, the surge entered the receiver contrast and colour just to get their
became overheated. One owner called and blew the transistor. Fights and black money’s worth (Fig. 2).
out the rental company on a very hot July eyes probably ensued but at least the Television engineers had to acquaint
Saturday afternoon, complaining that the culprit had been discovered! themselves with new procedures such as
colour had disappeared. They were not ‘degaussing’, ‘purity’ and ‘convergence
very happy because they could not watch Installation Issues adjustment’.
the football match in colour. Switching off Every new receiver installed had to be The latter was something, which
046 colour tv.indd 47 05/03/2018 13:30

red gun switched on, the deflection yoke
assembly had to be slid fully back along
the CRT neck.
Purity magnets, which resembled
picture shift magnets in monochrome
sets, had to be rotated, either relative
to each other or both together, until a
pure red area was obtained in the centre
of the screen. Then the yoke assembly
had to be moved forward to provide the
most uniform red raster over the whole
of the screen. A check was then made
on the individual guns and also when a
white raster was displayed. A mirror was
an indispensable part of the engineer’s
toolkit, to perform tasks such as purity
and convergence adjustments while
facing away from the screen.
Fig. 5: Keith and Garry inside the BBC HD Television Research Department at White City in London during
the filming of the BBC documentary. Convergence
Convergence adjustment was necessary,
needed to be carried out for both the around five seconds with a diminishing in order to align the three-colour shadow
625-line and 405-line systems, using alternating current, to de-magnetise the mask guns. It was an acquired art and
two separate sets of convergence mask. the idea was to average-out the errors
adjustments. Sometimes, as many as two However, if the receiver was moved, over the whole of the picture.
dozen potentiometers and inductors were say through 90 degrees, the Earth’s It was easy to achieve good static
involved and installation could take more magnetic field might have an effect and convergence in the centre of the screen
than an hour, especially when having to upset the purity. If the set was placed by the slight adjustment to three radial
explain the various ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ to back into position, then the colour would magnets spaced 120 degrees apart
the viewer. usually return to normal. It was best to around the scan coil assembly (and a
The tabloids of the time warned carry out purity adjustments with the fourth, for blue lateral adjustment). This
potential converts that their receivers receiver in the same plane as for viewing, was part of an assembly mounted on
would lose colour if they moved it slightly. although, in many cluttered living rooms, the CRT neck. Around the outside and
According to rumours, special ‘colour this was virtually impossible. corners of the screen, the task was
aerials’ would need to be erected, A first-task ritual during every more difficult because a network of
thus creating a status symbol among installation was to degauss (or de- potentiometers and inductors required
neighbours. magnetise) the CRT manually before the careful adjustment to achieve good
As for ‘colour aerials’, it seems history TV was set up. It was advisable to switch dynamic convergence. Colour-fringing
repeats itself, as now we seem to need the receiver on for at least 20 minutes, errors would be more noticeable to the
‘digital’ aerials. There was ‘fake news’ in to allow it to reach working temperature. viewer when watching a black-and-white
those days, too! It was all a ‘storm in a A special degaussing coil – connected programme.
teacup’, propagated by the tabloids. An to the mains supply – was moved in a Despite the best efforts of service
efficient aerial was essential; a slightly circular motion in front of the shadow- engineers, perfect convergence was
‘snowy’ monochrome picture might be mask while the set was switched on and impossible to achieve. Fortunately,
acceptable but an inferior colour display was progressively moved away from the colour mis-registration would not be
certainly wasn’t. screen. It was recommended that the coil too noticeable at a reasonable viewing
If the metal shadow-mask became should not be switched off within two distance. Nevertheless, many viewers
magnetised, purity errors would be metres of the front of the screen. insisted on having the biggest colour
created, thus tinting the general colour in As the shadow-mask was made of TV that they could cram into their
patches. This was particularly noticeable metal, it was not unknown for children living room, in the mistaken hope of
with flesh tones. However, the colour to stick fridge magnets onto it, thus seeing ‘more of the action’ in certain
itself would not be lost. Carole Hersee magnetising the screen. This created programmes, especially sports events.
on Test Card ‘F’ (RadioUser, January wonderful colour effects – and resulted A cross-hatch generator was essential
2018: 48) provided a good source of in an unnecessary call-out, in order to to achieve good convergence, although
flesh-tone (Fig. 3). manually de-magnetise the screen once some engineers relied on the test card
again. grid. That was fine until the test card
Degaussing was interrupted by a ‘Trade Test Colour
A metal shield was normally fitted around Purity Adjustment Film’ (RadioUser, January 2018: 48) and
the outside of the cathode-ray tube Errors were particularly noticeable on a installation had to stop (Fig. 4).
to reduce the effects of any external red raster, due to the higher beam-current
magnetic fields on the shadow-mask. demands of that particular gun, so at the Grey-scale Adjustment
At switch-on, a coil positioned around start of the procedure, the green and blue An acceptable monochrome display
the CRT perimeter would operate for guns were switched off. With only the was the key to a good colour picture.
046 colour tv.indd 48 05/03/2018 13:30

sizes were limited to 18in or less. Early
Sony sets (with their Trinitron CRTs) had
a simplified decoder to overcome PAL
patents. A hue control was necessary, as
in the case of receivers designed for the
NTSC system, which was primarily used
in the USA. Generally, imported sets were
built like the proverbial ‘brick out-house’,
with exceptional reliability.
Advancing Technology
As receiver technology advanced, the
sets’ ‘innards’ shrank. Removable, PCBs
were the trend in the early Seventies to
enable swift repairs to be carried out
on-site – at least that was the theory. The
boards were repaired in the workshop.
However, board-swapping meant
incompatibility problems. Therefore,
spending more time in the home finding
Fig. 6: An Hitachi colour ‘portable’, circa 1974. the fault often paid dividends. Some
manufacturers then began to favour a
Potentiometers had to be adjusted to Set-makers rushed into production of single circuit ‘mother’ board with smaller,
achieve good grey-scale tracking so that the new single-standard chassis designs. ’plug-in’, panels.
when a step-wedge (or grey-scale) was The new designs simplified receivers, CRTs from the end of 1969 had a
examined, each brightness level (from improving efficiency, performance and ‘square’ appearance and popular sizes
black-level to peak white) did not appear reliability. included 20, 22 and 26in sets. In the
biased towards any of the three colours. However, few of them were brand- early Seventies, several Continental
Most crosshatch generators provided a new designs; most simply had the manufacturers unleashed some of the
step-wedge or a sawtooth pattern, the system switch and the redundant 405- first 110-degree receivers and this led to
latter displaying a smooth transition from line circuitry removed. ‘slimmer’ cabinet designs. Unfortunately,
black-level to peak white. As a last resort, Single-standard receivers could, of higher beam currents meant that
the BBC’s set of colour bars could be course, only be used in areas where shadow-masks were prone to distortion
used with the receiver’s colour control all three services were transmitted at over a period of hours. This caused purity
fully turned down. UHF. Dual-standard sets still continued errors, which left many a disgruntled
A light reference source known as in production. Some transmitters (like viewer.
‘Illuminant C’ was originally adopted. Belmont and Caradon Hill) only broadcast At around the same time, in-line
It produced a colour similar to that of BBC-2 (in colour) on UHF. BBC-1 and CRTs were developed. These replaced
daylight. Light tubes with shaded bands ITV services were only available in these the phosphor triads with slots, although
were available for engineers to assist areas on the VHF 405-line system, even the shadow-mask principle remained.
in grey-scale adjustment. The white as late as 1971. The era heralded the This produced a picture with a higher
produced was warmer than that of a beginning of the demise of the 405-line contrast, at the expense of resolution.
monochrome CRT. For showrooms, system, which was finally put to rest at Lengthy convergence procedures were
it was vital that receivers provided six minutes past midnight on January virtually eliminated and pictures were
matching displays for comparison. The 3rd, 1985. more pleasing.
use of a reference light tube was very Anyway, who would want 405 lines to Receiver design has come a long way
desirable in this environment. With continue (apart from DXers)? since then, with flat-screen LCD panel
experience, many engineers ditched the There was even a special closedown displays now the norm. However, many
tubes for domestic set-ups and relied on ceremony, performed by doyen BBC older engineers are still convinced that
their judgment alone, in a darkened room. continuity announcer David Miles. the original CRT technology provided
With many receivers, frequent grey- Many years later (in 2009) David and better picture quality than the latest
scale and convergence adjustments the authors took part in a documentary generation of hi-tech displays (Fig. 6).
were necessary and breakdowns were film about the history of BBC Television.
common. BBC reporter and cameraman, Simon [(1) By recommendation of the
Hare, filmed Keith and Garry at various authors, the terminology ‘BBC-1’,
Single-Standard Era locations, including Alexandra Palace, ‘BBC-2’, and so on, will be retained in
On November 15th, 1969, colour was Broadcasting House and the high- this column for technical reasons – in
introduced to the BBC-1 and ITV security BBC High-Definition Television contrast to the general RadioUser style
services, which were broadcast on Research Department at Media City in sheet.
625 lines UHF, providing programmes London (Fig. 5). (2) See also the review of the book
to almost half the population. New A few Japanese manufacturers made The Joy of Sets: A Short History of the
transmitting equipment was installed to inroads into the UK market. However, Television, by Chris Horrocks, in this
provide duplication at each site. trade restrictions meant that screen issue of RadioUser – Ed.]
046 colour tv.indd 49 05/03/2018 13:30

digital radio Kevin Ryan explores DAB coverage in the UK, as the digital
Kevin Ryan switchover approaches. He also considers why the BBC does not
kpryan@tiscali.co.uk
embrace DAB+ and explains the basics of AAC audio encoders.
I DAB Reception
had some very welcome
feedback from two readers from
Quality and
opposite sides of the world.
David Williams in Australia and
Christopher D Brown GW4NQJ in
Welshpool in the UK both enjoy listening
Audio Encoding
to FM stereo and are concerned that
DAB/DAB+ is a poor substitute, with a
smaller geographical coverage.
I can understand that coverage might be
an issue in Australia and I agree we could
do more in this country and should have
a target for geographical coverage. All the
COVERAGE PLAN – WOLVERHAMPTON AND SHROPSHIRE LOCAL MULTIPLEX.

UNDER THE OPEN GOVERNMENT LICENCE V3.0. EXTRACTED FROM: DAB
COPYRIGHT OFCOM AND CONTAINS PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION LICENSED
DAB COVERAGE PLAN – NORTH WEST WALES LOCAL MULTIPLEX.
UNDER THE OPEN GOVERNMENT LICENCE V3.0. EXTRACTED FROM:
COPYRIGHT OFCOM AND CONTAINS PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION LICENSED
coverage targets published so far are merely
for a percentage of the population.
Poor DAB Reception

During the period when the Digital Radio
Action Plan (DRAP) was created, there
emerged a document from Ofcom,
entitled DAB Coverage Planning, Report
to Government, dated May 2012. This
blueprint details an ambitious coverage
strategy, comprising of both national and
local DAB.
At that time, Ofcom clearly had Fig. 1: Welshpool and surrounding areas have no Fig. 2: The neighbouring multiplex nearly covers
ambitions to spread DAB, in order to coverage from the local multiplex. the area and looks better on the latest Arqiva
improve marginal FM reception in many
locations. Ofcom split the country Looking at these maps might give you a clue combination with some spillover from other
into editorial planning areas and then as to whether putting a DAB antenna in your transmitters – it just does not put enough
calculated the existing FM coverage for loft (with the possible addition of an amplifier) signal into Welshpool. It is tantalizingly
each area that DAB was supposed to might just boost the signal enough to lock close and I think that, if its power were to
match. The areas are on page 16 of this onto the DAB service. be increased by 3dB (i.e. doubled to about
document, although the reproduction https://tinyurl.com/y7y4kqq3 1kW) on one of these transmitters, this
could be a bit sharper. The areas are However, there are exceptions such as might just cover the town.
almost identical to the current local DAB the Roberts Revival range. Here and in other You can find the complete set of DAB
multiplex licences. radios, the telescopic antenna is fixed by coverage maps on the Ofcom website.
www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_ means of a standard F-type connector. https://www.ofcom.org.uk
file/0020/37190/dab_statement.pdf I have a Roberts Stream 202i and I https://tinyurl.com/y9gdqqch
Discussions with the main DAB removed the body of the antenna that was https://tinyurl.com/y9auawaz
providers produced implementation held in place at the base with a screw (Fig.
plans. These led to the installation of a 3) and used that as the signal input. I added Receiver Restrictions
lot of new transmitters but has left many an earth wire to the RF connector by using a This is all well and good as a ‘paper-
coverage holes. cut-off cable on the USB port (Fig. 4). exercise’ but there is always the problem of
At the moment, there are no additional connecting a loft antenna to your DAB radio
transmitters planned for either the BBC or Welshpool that typically has a telescopic antenna or –
for the two national commercial networks. Welshpool is in the North Wales and West even worse – a wire dangling from the back
Cheshire area. The local DAB provider has panel.
Improving Reception concentrated its transmitters on the coast It seems surprising that many of the
If you cannot receive DAB very well, it and Welshpool is on the ‘wrong’ side of the more expensive radios from Sony, Roberts
might be worth checking the Ofcom mountains (Fig. 1). and Pure hardwire the telescopic antenna to
website for a coverage map for your The adjacent Wolverhampton and the back panel.
area. I decided to do this for the town Shropshire multiplex, part of which I
of Welshpool. The Ofcom website offers have shown in Fig. 2, has a transmitter at Future Coverage
coverage maps for each local DAB multiplex. Rhosfach Farm, just northeast of Oswestry. Ofcom has plans to expand small-scale
These are listed in alphabetical order. This means that – possibly in DAB. This might just help to fill in gaps in
050 digital radio.indd 50 07/03/2018 13:48

KEVIN RYAN
BBC national FM coverage is 99.1% for
variable mono in the home and 95.8% for
major roads.
The DAB coverage, on an aggregated
UK basis, is 97.4% for homes but it varies
between 87.3% and 98.4% on a regional
basis.
The DAB figure is 87.4% for major
roads but, again, it vacillates between
94.5% and 69.1%. There is clearly more
work to be done but there are also major
stumbling blocks.
A likely issue is that thwe BBC, D1 and
D2 will likely hit a limit as to how many
Fig. 3: The Roberts Stream 202i has a telescopic antenna that can be easily removed. more transmitters they can add to their
Single Frequency Networks (SFN). Each
KEVIN RYAN
new transmitter has an effect in increasing
interference elsewhere in its immediate
vicinity.
Antenna rod replaced with a The best way forward is, arguably,
solder tag to attach RF cable. small-scale DAB, using DAB+ to squeeze
in the stations.
Earth wire picked up Rajar Latest

from USB cable. The latest Radio Joint Audience Research
(RAJAR) figures (Q4/2017) show that
all digital listening has gone up nearly 5
percentage points, to 49.9%, with DAB
now accounting for 36.3% of that.
Most of the growth seems to be
coming from online listening and the use
of apps. It will be over 50% very soon,
Fig. 4: The Roberts 202i wired into loft antenna and amplifier. when the government will be expected to
make a statement on its policy of setting
coverage but it will need a local group to signatures, the Government will respond. I a switchover date.
start it off. Prompted by reader feedback and think it requires 100,000 to get a debate in www.rajar.co.uk
by my own research, I recently contacted Parliament. I found a petition with just 22
Kevin Forster, the Member of Parliament signatures that says Save the UK FM Radio BBC Radio Cymru 2
for Torbay, who sponsored the legislation Signal, which expires in May 2018. Listeners to BBC Radio Wales now have
providing the opportunity for small local It expresses the sentiment that FM the choice of three local channels in the
stations to go digital. I wanted to see if he sounds better than DAB and that DAB morning. Instead of trying something
could offer any advice. signals in cars might suddenly ‘drop’ or different, like using DAB+, the BBC opted for
Kevin reminded me that his bill had a disappear. bit of ‘stealing’ from Radio Wales and Radio
specific purpose. Here is an extract from the https://petition.parliament.uk/ Cymru, who ordinarily use 128kb/s.
second reading of the Bill: “Just to be clear, petitions/203942 There are confusing reports as to what
the Bill makes no move towards turning the the configurations actually are, on the five
whole sector from analogue to digital. The Moving to Switchover local multiplexes that cover Wales. The
Bill does not seek to end the process of Under the 2006 licence fee settlement, northeast Wales multiplex operated by
seeking community FM licences, which will the BBC had to extend its coverage to Muxco has four DAB+ stations. Therefore,
remain. The Bill is about creating an option 97% of the population, which it achieved failing to launch a DAB+ service, seems like
to enable people to put community radio at the end of last year. a missed opportunity to me.
on digital broadcasting systems. There is Under the 2017 settlement, the BBC Contrast this with BFBS who recently
a debate to be had in Parliament, at some doesn’t have to do anything until the restored their UK-wide service (on SDL) in
point in the future, on options for a fully Secretary of State sets a date for digital DAB+.
digital radio broadcasting system. However, switchover.
that is not what we are discussing today— The latest Ofcom report contains DAB+
that is a debate for future years.” relevant figures for ‘good’ and ‘variable’ The codec used in DAB+ is part of the
I think Kevin that is very clear on the fact FM reception in homes and on major Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) family, which
that there is more debate to be conducted. roads. It takes good FM reception to has benefited from upgrades over the years.
be stereo and variable to be a stereo The AAC encoder has evolved in stages
Taking Action transmission that has dropped back to (Fig. 5). The latest version is xHE-AAC,
There is a process in the UK to create an mono. which short for Extended High-Efficiency
online petition and, if it reaches 10,000 Looking at the report, the current Advanced Audio Coding.

KEVIN RYAN
Audio Quality
I find it very hard to judge whether DAB+ is
HE-AAC ‘better than DAB’ or still inferior to FM.
HE-AACv2 A major test was conducted in Sweden
not long ago, following the recommended
HE-AACv1 ITU procedure to assess audio quality.
SBRv1 During this test, various implementations of
AAC were compared to FM.
AAC Core SBR PS PSv2 One FM system was purely a test-
system, with a 17.5kHz audio bandwidth. It
did not equate to a full broadcast chain. The
AAC other one was a typical FM modulator and
compressor used by broadcasters such as
ACELP
Swedish Radio.
Moreover, there are other studies that
just compare the various AAC versions to
each other. While they do have some value,
I do not consider them nearly as useful as
those that include FM.
Fig. 5: The AAC encoder has yet another version but most DAB+ stations in the UK are using V2.
Conclusions
KEVIN RYAN
The conclusions in the paper are that DAB+
100 is using just the core AAC encoder (running
at 128kb/s) This is perceived as better than
90
FM stereo.
80 HE-AAC-V1 (running at 96kb/s)
Mean score in listening tests
Typical FM introduces SBR and was rated as equivalent

70 to FM. Perceived quality then dropped off,
as the bit rate decreased and dropped again
60
when HE-AAC-V2 reached 48kb/s.
50 The tests generate what is known as
xHE-AAC Basic Audio Quality (BAQ) and the scores
40 xHE-AAC v2 are against a reference signal rated at
95/100. Broadcast FM scored 65/100 and
30 xHE-AAC v1
HE-AAc-V2 at 48 kb/s was 40/100.
20 I estimate that, at 32 kb/s, the score
would be 30/100. My summary is in Fig. 6.
10 Other authors say that a DAB+ signal
can deliver the same quality as DAB at a
0
third of the bit rate.
32k 48k 64k 96k 128k
Bit rate in kilobits/sec https://tinyurl.com/ycza96o8
https://tinyurl.com/yaqc7dc7
Fig 6: My summary chart of listening tests comparing broadcast FM to DAB+. DRM Receiver Update
The Gospell GR-216 has been around for
The advantage claimed for the xHE-AAC moved onto V2. a while and is probably a re-boxed version
version is that it can be initialized with just of the CDNSE DR-211. While checking if
the bit rate and channel information, rather AAC Coder this receiver is now available in numbers
than programming all the parameters using The AAC coder is deployed in DAB+, DRM/ and at a reasonable cost, I found it listed on
a configuration file. DRM+ and Sirius XM. A modified version is the Tecsun Australia website. The radio is
The AAC core encoder is very similar used in the HD Radio system in the USA. badged as ‘Gospell’, so I wondered whether
to the MP2 encoder covered last month. It DAB+ is seen as a ‘better’ alternative this was just an anomaly or a sign that
is a ‘lossy’ encoder, in that information is to DAB. However, is this because DAB has Tecsun is finally interested in DRM.
‘lost’ forever. The coder includes Spectral been badly used in the UK and we think that There have been rumours for many years
Band Replication (SBR) in HE-AAC-V1, DAB+ must be better? that they were developing a DRM-capable
Parametric Stereo (PS) in HE-AAC-V2. It It is more efficient in the number of bits radio. Can this be it?
has recently had a further upgrade to xHE- or bandwidth that it takes up in a multiplex www.tecsunradios.com.au/store/
AAC-V2. This is called a unified audio and but will it go the same way as DAB? By this, product/tecsun-drm-radio
voice encoder. I mean that the multiplex providers will opt
The latest version has also reorganized for the lowest possible bit rates, in order to Next Month
some of the internal elements and there provide more choice. It is just possible that In May, I will report on my technical tests
is now an eSBR and PSv2.There are a we already have more than enough stations of just how good stereo reception is, using
few stations using V1 but most have now to listen to… digital radio, as compared to FM. 

emerging issues in radio In this bimonthly column, Chrissy Brand looks at the
Chrissy Brand growth of UNESCO World Radio Day and foregrounds
4 Cavendish House
Warrior Square the role of UK community radio.
St. Leonards-on-Sea TN37 6BJ
E-mail: chrissyLB@hotmail.co.uk
CHRISSY BRAND
ack in 2012, the UNESCO
General Conference
declared the date of
February 13th to become
World Radio Day. It was
later adopted as an official ‘International
Day’ by the United Nations General
Assembly.
Although some UK radio stations have
mentioned World Radio Day on the air
before, I am somewhat disappointed by
how little the day is celebrated by stations
and listeners in the UK.
I would have thought an organisa-
tion with UNESCO’s influence and reach
would have had an even greater impact
on the radio world than it has so far.
Despite the lack of interest in most
of the UK, last year’s World Radio Day
spawned over 500 events globally. Each
World Radio Day &

year takes a different theme and exam- Fig. 1: World Radio Day was celebrated in the Brunei Gallery at SOAS University of London.
ines radio’s role within it. Past years’
topics included gender equality, youth
participation and radio in humanitarian
and disaster situations.
Community Radio
Warners and RadioUser celebrated
the day with various, awareness-raising,
social media postings on the day.
Radio and Sports

The 2018 theme for World Radio Day
was Radio and Sports and many inno- I made my regular trip to SOAS groups such as women, BAME, LGBT
vative events took place globally. I was University of London for a World Radio communities and disability sport receive
impressed with both breadth and quality Day trade fair, workshops and panel little coverage.”
of programmes. In Jamaica, there were discussions (Fig. 1). At first glance, I was The afternoon’s sessions explored how
special programmes and interviews on concerned that Radio and Sports might sports journalism can better reflect what’s
Jamaica Information Services Radio, Na- be a rather dry and tired subject. happening across the UK and, “help to
tionwide News Network, Roots FM, More However, I had underestimated a challenge some of the stereotypes and
FM and JET FM (Jeffrey Town Farmers key thought behind UNESCO’s thinking: cultural divides which persist in sport and
Association). trying to ensure wider representation and society. What role can radio and the wider
In Australia, events were held in diversity across the field of radio. media play in helping to demonstrate the
Melbourne and Perth. Perth’s Sound Al- The idea is to create programmes positive social impact of sport?”
ternative, RTRFM 92.1 aired a programme for, by and of interest to, all in society – The day’s activities included two
called Dive into Diversity in Sport, which not just those who follow the so-called workshops: Max Graef (engineer, DJ
covered relevant issues and obstacles. élite sports that radio stations usually and broadcast consultant) spoke on
This made me optimistic that World concentrate on, where programmes how to host a talk radio show and Dr
Radio Day is, slowly but surely, making consist of previews, commentaries and Verity Postlethwaite (SOAS) offered
its mark in more countries and regions. phone-ins. Typically, these are Premier a presentation on audio and visual
Maybe I need to be more patient and help League Football, Test Match cricket, moments in sporting history.
to promote it myself in the UK. Let’s make Rugby Union and a handful of others.
it our mission to spread the word and The SOAS event pointed out Panel Discussion
ensure that World Radio Day really takes that in the UK, “mainstream media The evening panel discussion was entitled
off here in 2019. Suggestions to my inbox overwhelmingly focuses on élite sport, Has Media Forgotten the Social Values of
please. often meaning that under-represented Sport? There was a fascinating discussion
053 Emerging issues.indd 53 05/03/2018 16:22

CHRISSY BRAND
CHRISSY BRAND
Fig. 3: Radio presenter and producer Jason
Bourne makes a point.
of the need for greater inclusivity. It’s

definitely an emerging theme in radio
(and across all media) which will achieve Fig. 2: Emma Wright and Michelle Moore on the media and sports panel.
greater parity in the next few years.
CHRISSY BRAND
This is, in part, thanks to efforts of
many advocates, including the panel at
SOAS. It comprised of Michelle Moore,
a former athlete and sports education
consultant; Jason Bourne, sports
journalist, radio producer and presenter
at BBC Asian Network and TalkSport
2 (among others); sports journalist
Leon Mann; and Emma Wright, who
represents the LGBT community for a PR
company.
Concentrating on the radio aspects,
Jason explained how the newsroom at
BBC Radio Leicester (where he worked
until last year) on a Saturday afternoon is
dominated by coverage of all aspects of
Leicester City football club. This was also
the case on the Monday night phone-in,
while three other evenings were devoted Fig. 4: Leon Mann, presenting statistical information on media inequalities.
to coverage of Leicester Tigers rugby
union club. local radio, which he stated is dying, due (Black Community of Media in Sport) and
However, Jason did note some to its ageing audiences and absence Football’s Blacklist. He commented that
positives: the celebrations when Leicester of young listeners. Younger audiences, he once worked at the BBC’s White City,
City won the Premiership in 2016 included indeed audiences of all ages, use Twitter which was, in his view, aptly named. He
people from all backgrounds, young and Facebook instead, to watch videos was one of several who helped tackle the
and old, white and BAME, all proud of of boxing and other sports; social media lack of diversity at the BBC.
their team and of the city’s achievement. also give broadcasters instant statistics Significant research has been
Additionally, football phone-ins are on audiences as well as enabling two-way undertaken, as regards the media
gradually evolving into more refined panel interaction. coverage across sporting events in
discussions. Emma Wright and Jason Bourne the summer of 2016, including the Rio
Jason also noted that the way in which agreed that the use of digital platforms Olympics, the UEFA Euros and the ‘usual’
audiences ‘consume’ sports coverage has become the way forward for sports summer events, like Wimbledon and
is changing. It’s not just about radio broadcasters. It’s no longer a case of a others. Of the 456 media roles across
commentary; in the recent Ashes series, station needing to choose one sport or an these events, only eight went to black
he was not alone in checking his phone individual match. There is virtually endless sports journalists (and one of those took
in the morning for the scores, rather than space, by means of digital coverage. This on three of the eight roles).
turning on the radio. He commented that can be online or through stations like BBC At UEFA Euro 2016, there was one
sports bulletins on the radio are becoming Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. woman and fifty men reporting for
more feature-based and less about results It was left to Leon Mann to bring the newspapers.
and match previews. Other pertinent hardest-hitting statistics to the table. It is this kind of underrepresentation
points Jason put across concerned BBC Leon worked for ITV, BBC, BCOMS that all media need to redress.

CHRISSY BRAND
There is no question that the quality
is out there among female and the entire
BAME populations.
However, I do feel that, overall, radio
is making improvements. Stations such
as Radio Sweden and Radio Slovakia
International have a good gender balance
and others such as BBC Radio Five Live,
are slowly improving. RadioUser itself,
under its current editor, has addressed
this by employing more female journalists.
I hope that UNESCO World Radio
Day will continue to grow and influence
the radio profession. In the future, more
stations will take part. The day is an
excellent opportunity for stations and
audiences to discuss and celebrate the
education, information and entertainment
that radio can bring to communities.
You can read more about what went Fig. 5: K2K Radio, London’s number one participatory radio station.
on, by looking at the World Radio Day
CHRISSY BRAND
website and using social media with
the hashtags #WRD. #WRD18 and
#WRD2018.
You can also hear a small selection of
the output aired by going to Soundcloud.
www.diamundialradio.org
https://tinyurl.com/abhhnk9
Community Radio
I wholeheartedly commended the
community radio initiative started by
OFCOM earlier this century. It has evolved
into an impressive network of disparate
and, on the whole, high-quality radio
output. Many stations achieved legal, full-
time, community radio status after their
early days as free or pirate radio stations.
Some of these had existed as Fig. 6: Kurdi FM, a potential community radio station of the future?
Restricted Service License (RSL) formats.
This, in turn, led to the fruition of all that interesting snippets of news, washed for a while. I heard this on the M25 and
is good about radio: Professional and down with a diet of pop, rock and other the signal remained strong throughout
engaging presenters, a wide range of music from the 1950s to the current day. Kent, until I was almost into East Sussex,
local and international news, coverage A few miles away, 1BTN (101.4MHz, when a French signal swamped it. I
of community activities and successful DAB and online) is full of the latest beats assumed at first it was a community
engagement and interaction with listeners. and sounds for the city of Brighton. I station or RSL. My conclusion, however,
The range is as diverse as the UK really enjoyed their music programmes was that it is a free radio station. I
itself. In recent months, I have been while travelling through the city at night. wondered if it was a free radio protest
fortunate to indulge in one of my greatest Community Radio doesn’t have to be that increased its airtime since January’s
aural pleasures: that of discovering new a traditional FM format though. In north- Turkish intervention in Kurdistan.
community radio stations as I travel west London, K2K Radio is an online My fellow RadioUser columnist, David
around England. Driving over wintry hills community station for the areas from Harris, told me that 96.5MHz is used
and B-roads on my way to Sheffield, Kilburn to Kensal. It gives opportunities by Dem Raydo and is listed as a Turkish
Penistone FM (95.7MHz and online) for local people to gain skills and pirate station. I hope that, one day, it
kept me entertained. The Mad Hatter’s experience in the radio industry, as well as achieves community radio status.
Fairtrade Tea Party was an event I wish I producing quality output (Fig. 5). Emerging Issues in Radio will return
could have attended. http://ktokradio.com in the June issue. Topics over the
Uckfield FM (105.0MHz and online) Some community radio stations start coming months will cover evolving
in East Sussex is aimed at those who off as free radio. In January, I heard a trends from this year’s Radiodays Europe
have retired and those with families. It station on 96.5MHz, with an RDS of conference in Vienna. I’ll also have a
has a useful What’s On Guide, updated KURDI FM, playing a range of Kurdish wider examination of community radio
regularly. Presenters with pertinent local music (Fig. 6). It was one of the most and include some of RadioUser readers’
knowledge and standing curate many interesting broadcasts I’ve heard on FM reactions to this new column. n

comms from europe Simon Parker points to an example of the environmental
Simon Parker impact of CB transceiver production and examines
Post Box 446
H-1242 Budapest forthcoming CB equipment, with a focus on models from
Hungary
E-mail: 13at777@gmail.com President, AnyTone and Danita.
Environmental Impacts
and New Models
M
PICTURES: COMPUTER GRAPHIC: PRESIDENT ELECTRONICS, BALARUC
arch is an interesting
month, to say the
least, in the CB
transceiver world.
Last month, there has
been some exciting news from President,
concerning a transceiver, which is now
said to appear in April. There is also a
new transceiver from Danita, which was
seen before as a tti model. Moreover,
I am previewing a visit of mine to a
transceiver manufacturer, which – shall
we say – has been around for some
time. Furthermore, I am asking whether
it is worth polluting the environment for
chrome and silver finish. Finally, it seems Fig.1: The President Bill ASC.
the AnyTone V6 will shortly become a V7.
Therefore, please sit back and let me
take you through what is happening in
our wonderful hobby at this point in the
year.
President Bill ASC

This company’s history of innovation
rolls on, early in 2018, with the release of
photos for a forthcoming model, named
the President Bill ASC (Figs. 1 and 2).
Some, out there in the buzzing
transceiver world, are hotly debating
whether this is the replacement for the
‘Billy’ that was around many years back.
I am unable to confirm this. Fig. 2: The President Bill is expected in April this year.
However, I can guess that these
models are named after Bill Clinton. transceivers. All were all based on the Although small, President has
Therefore, the odds are that the ‘Bill’ is Qixiang chassis from the Smart and the managed to fit a six-pin microphone
the successor to the ‘Billy’. Mini. connection in, so that you can run the
What’s new about this transceiver It appears that President sat and Liberty microphone and others from the
is that it is, in fact, a mini-transceiver watched the sales of these going well series. Should you decide to exchange
– what used to be called ‘micro and decided to have some of the cake, the microphone completely, there are
transceiver’, when the first transceivers so to speak. The ‘Bill’ is definitely a re- arrows at the top and bottom of the
from Albrecht came along. For example, set of the mini transceivers and this one transceiver. These allow up and down
the AE-6110 and the CRT One, followed is a little taller, wider and longer than the channel change.
by the One N and the Team Minicom original series. Like everything in radio, there are
056 Comms from Europe.indd 56 05/03/2018 13:36

COURTESY OF MIDLAND EUROPE, ITALY
this setup as a quarter-wave antenna.
Some cities are using PMR more
officially, in much the same way as CB
would have been used. As a result, CB
traffic there is much quieter.
Overall, it appears that these
transceivers represent a smaller
investment for many. They are also easy
to use, for example, from one high-rise
to another. This is how they are currently
used in Ostrava the country’s former
coal-mining centre.
PMR446 is, of course, quite
legitimate for hobby use in the UK.
Indeed, Channel 8, with no CTCSS, is
commonly used for general chatting
among radio enthusiasts. Analogue and
digital PMR446 transceivers are license-
exempt in the UK. You can find plenty
of information on the Ofcom website
and by reading the Scanning Scene and
Fig. 3: A mock-up of the Midland M-30. other columns in RadioUser.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/home
rumours and counter-rumours about this uncertain as to whether the Danita can https://tinyurl.com/y83klgjx
transceiver. be modified for 10W power, like the tti.
Ultimately, nobody knows for certain However, the answer is that yes, it can. AnyTone 5555 Update
because all there is at present is a On the inside of the new transceiver, News has arrived that the AnyTone 5555
computer-generated illustration (Figs. 1 you will find compliance with all the EU series of transceivers, which has reached
and 2). norms that we have come to expect from ‘Version 6’, will shortly be updated to a
Suffice it to say at this stage that, these radios (Fig. 3). However, sadly, this new ‘Version 7’. I do believe that this will
maybe, something is, in fact, hidden is not at all a ‘new’ model. entail a more thorough tidy-up of any
under the hood – perhaps some extra I did think that Danita was not trading errors and bugs, which were left over
channels. This is my informed guess, anymore because some of their stock from the last series.
based on my knowledge of other, similar, was sold off during 2017. Nevertheless, This news came from Poland and
transceivers. now they are back, I am waiting for one I hope soon to be able to tell you
The new model is currently still under to arrive here. I have ordered one from a more about the new PC programming
construction and is undergoing testing shop on eBay. software, to be introduced for the new
at the manufacturer. Thus, the ‘February’ When it has arrived – and when I have models and series of transceivers.
novelty will likely be released in March or had the opportunity to test it thoroughly I have the schematic for both Version
April 2018. Many of my correspondents – I will say more about it here and, of 6 and Version 7 and I was unable to see
have commented on this ‘anomaly’. course, online, on my website: much difference, other than that some
According to UK dealers, the price https://simonthewizard.com parts had changed resistance around the
appears to be between £90 and £110. FM audio section.
Personal Mobile Radio (PMR446)
Danita 840 Multi-Norm Since some impressive DX reception New Multi-Norm Transceiver
I feel certain that many of you remember has been attained in the 446MHz band, I have also been made privy to more
when Danita had a big green CB this ‘magic’ frequency band has now news about a multi-norm EU transceiver
machine called the Danita MK5. Well, it become legal in many countries, in the planned for this year. At the moment,
seems much has changed since those shape of 16 channels. it appears that it is delayed by – of all
days and soon we will welcome the This is an upgrade from the original things – its colour-scheme and the
release of the Danita 840. 8 channels and provides many hours of process of making this.
This is a 12V-only, multi norm, new fun and great contacts. The idea is to give the transceiver a
transceiver that is DIN-sized and has Moreover, all this is well away from ‘nice and shiny’ silver front.
the usual securing screws on the side, Channel 1, on which all the funny call However, in order to achieve this
which you will also find on DIN CB tones, children’s voices and other weird effect, the plastic needs to be treated, in
Transceivers. and wonderful stuff happens, at least a process, which colours it and makes it
This one is a little different because where I am. look bright and chrome-like.
it is a re-badged, Koren-manufactured, The equipment used typically features The trouble is now in the Far East the
tti-1100. This means that there are both the usual 500mW of power, a fixed factories are a little reluctant to do these
good and bad points. We cannot be sure antenna and very little else. I have seen colours because these substances are
that Danita addressed some of the errors that, in the Czech Republic, hobbyists extremely toxic to produce – and the
of the tti. sometimes add another antenna, over resulting fumes are simply blown out into
Many potential customers are also the top of the antenna provided, using the air.

This has now become much more of hotels needed for the trip. jokes and great ideas; and the latter is
an issue, maybe against the backdrop Right now, I am not going to reveal what publications live and die for.
of stronger environmental awareness who it is. However, I will report back To finish with, Fig. 4 shows the
among CB and PMR446 hobbyists. later in the year. My guess is that this will Midland M Mini CB GO pack and Fig. 5
I wonder whether it is acceptable to happen in an early-summer column. illustrates the Midland Mini M30 model.
continue to further destroy the air, water Also, Ladies and Gentlemen, thank Thanks so much and see you next
and soil around us in this way. you very much for the ideas concerning month for another update from this
I have spoken to companies in the Far the name change for my column here. amazing hobby we all share.
East and EU and the actual number of You have had some great ideas and I’m Take Care, Simon. n
fronts needed, to make 500 ‘good’ ones, going to keep these and wait for some
is 1000. more and then send them to our editor [Ed’s Reading Tip: Hogan,
Thus, 50% are ‘junked’ because they and see what he thinks. Then, we will W. and Titlow, D. (2017) Eyeball Cards -
show marks on the silver or the chrome take it from there. The Art of British CB Radio Culture
has not taken correctly. This may well be At the end of the day, this page is (Four Corners Books)].
the reason why we do not see so many yours and contains your news, views,
chrome-coloured transceivers heading
PHOTO COURTESY OF MIDLAND EUROPE

to market.
Of course, other options are available
and now a Shanghai-based company
can produce very good fronts in silver to
a higher standard. They make 1000 and
more than 900 are OK.
However, this is much more
expensive and, when it comes to
transceivers, we all know that everybody
wants them as cheaply as possible.
Therefore, you can see that this is not
an easy problem. Often, the colour-
application process can, in fact, take
up more time than the fundamental
transceiver design.
Summer is Coming
My warm thanks go to those readers
who wrote to me regarding the ‘summer-
skip’.
The truth is we are all hoping down
here that we experience some of those
propagation conditions this year. Some
experts think they will be poor. However,
propagation observers stated much the Fig. 4: The Midland CB Go Pack – on the air in three minutes for €99.95.
same last year and my year was mighty SIMON PARKER
fine. I managed to speak with many who

read the magazine.
In the same vein, while reaching out,
I have also exchanged messages with
many of my existing and new contacts,
in order for us to, eventually, have a
friendly chat on the air.
Mystery Official Visit

I have contacted a transceiver company
in Europe and have been invited to
look around the facility they have in
the spring, to see what the passion is
that drives them onwards, making the
products they sell.
They are not based in France; this is
no anniversary year. However, following
a telephone call to the people that own
the business, an invitation has been
extended to me.
I have accepted and booked the Fig. 5: The Midland M Mini (New Version).

software spot This month’s new software collection from QSP73 Services
QSP73 Services features a range of programs covering PCB design, locator
58 Kingfisher Drive
Whitby YO22 4DY calculation, memory management, decoding, transceiver
E-mail: software@qsp73.co.uk
control, scanning and much more besides.
Locate-Control-Design-Manage
E
ach month, QSP73
Services offers a
comprehensive
compilation of software
exclusively for RadioUser
readers. Many readers use a PC, laptop
or tablet computer with their listening
hobby. Therefore, QSP73 Services
searches, on a regular basis, for new
releases of the latest public domain,
freeware, donationware and shareware
hobby radio computer programs and
apps to include in this column.
This month’s collection is supplied
on four 4.7GB data DVDs for your PC’s
DVD reader. The collection also includes
the main headline software titles from the
December 2017 to February 2018 Software
Spot collections and programs from earlier
issues, to give you more packages to
evaluate, install, trial and use. DX Atlas
Here is an overview of what is included
in this month’s collection: ITU Zone boundaries can be switched pins by drawing the traces. If you link your
on and off. Move your mouse over the schematic file to the PCB, the program
CwGet and DSP Filter zone label to see the official definition of will highlight the pins that should be wired
This is the latest release of this program the zone. The Maidenhead Locator map together in blue. Both the schematic
to decode Morse code (CW) to text, via a displays two-character and four-character and PCB programs are completely free,
sound card. It can also work as a narrow- grid squares. You can mark ‘worked’ and fully functional and easily installed. After
band sound DSP-filter. No additional ‘confirmed’ squares and add comments to completing your layout, you can even find
hardware is required, you just need your each square. Finally, the azimuth map- out how much it will cost and how long it
receiver and computer with a sound card. centre can be changed with a single mouse will take to have your boards made if you
This program has been described as a click, to see how the World looks from a don’t wish to make them yourselves.
software Morse decoder that really works! DX location.
EZ QRA Locator
DX Atlas ExpressPCB PCB Design EZ QRA Locator is a simple piece of
This is a well-known, electronic, world atlas A useful freeware schematic and PCB software for calculating QRA locators. Its
for radio amateurs. It provides a ‘scrollable’ layout software that is easy to learn and main functions are the computing of QRA
world map with smooth-zoom, DXCC use, making the design of circuit boards locators from geographical data (latitude
territories, province/state prefixes, grid simple for the beginner and efficient for and longitude) with a ‘save’ function or
squares, CQ and ITU Zones in rectangular, the professional. Drawing a schematic the user’s QRA locator. Users can work
azimuth and global projections. You with the software is as easy as placing out geographical data from a QRA locator,
can see 3D relief, grey line, city and the components on the page and wiring calculate distance and azimuth, either
island index, a unique hierarchical prefix the pins together. The schematic can between two different QRA locators or
database and local time with DST for all then be linked to your PCB file so that the between the saved QRA locator of the user
cities, islands and call areas. There are PCB knows what needs to be connected and another QRA locator.
also some unique ionospheric maps. Call together. The design of either two- or four-
area boundaries and prefixes are shown, layer boards is very simple. You can start FT Series SuperControl Collection
on the World map, in addition to DXCC by inserting the component footprints, then This suite consists of a collection of
boundaries and prefixes. CQ Zone and drag them into position. Next, connect the separate programs, including the latest
RadioUser March 2018 59

QSP Disc April 2018
059 Software spot.indd 59 05/03/2018 13:37

program updates and separate (pdf-format)
user manuals, for comprehensive, full
transceiver-control of the Yaesu FT-1000,
FT-847, FT-100/100D, FT-857/847DS,
FT897/897D and FT817/817ND
transceivers. This update allows for
remote control of the transceiver via TCP/
IP networks as well as via the Internet,
including audio with voice over IP (VoIP).
The frequency and mode are polled
automatically from the transceiver. Normal
tuning on the transceiver itself will be
detected and shown in the software VFO
displays.
There is an open-memory database
with an unlimited amount of possible
memories. The memory banks of all
amateur radio bands are visible (and
usable at the same time) and several
additional memory banks are available,
along with memory banks with the ability
to save offset, CTCSS and rotator data,
where applicable. The rotator data can be
used to drive an ARS rotator interface or to FT817 SuperControl
drive Easycomm compatible hardware like
rotors and much more.
The software offers the scanning of
single memory banks; there is no need to
scan all memory banks at the same time.
There is a visual band scope with different
scan-steps and various possibilities. For
example, you can scan VFO1 while listen-
ing to VFO2. While having a QSO, you can
scan the bandwidth beneath your working
frequency. Moreover, you can ‘in-scan- GRITTY RTL SDR Scanner
QSY’ to another frequency, by clicking on
a desired part in the graphic display. There allows decoding of very weak signals but for single operator-unassisted entries on
are many more features in this comprehen- suppresses strong signals when interfer- both SSB and CW. It runs on all versions
sive software. Each program is approxi- ence makes accurate decoding impossible. of Windows, from XP to Windows 10, with
mately 54MB in size, with each pdf manual The net result is very little unintelligible a character-based display. The program
several MB in size. data in the output. supports rig control, serial and parallel key-
ing. It integrates with WinKey, to eliminate
FTBasicMMO RTLSDR Scanner CW timing issues caused by Windows.
FTBasicMMO is a shareware memory If you use a USB ‘Dongle’ receiver, here’s SD offers instant ‘full-screen’ editing of
management software along with CAT PC the very latest updated version of this any QSO in your log and all the program’s
control for the popular Yaesu transceiver cross-platform Python frequency scan- files, including the log, are standard ASCII
models FT-817, FT-847, FT-857 and FT- ning GUI (Graphical User Interface) for text files and can be viewed with any text
897. such USB dongle receivers. It gives you a editor. Following any QSO edit, no matter
cheap, simple, spectrum analyser for you how complex, the program checks your
FT-817 Commander to take a look at overall band activity. The complete log for consistency, and instantly
This is freeware software enabling users to scanner also attempts to overcome the updates all relevant QSOs. This includes
control the popular Yaesu FT-817 trans- tuner’s frequency response by averaging setting and un-setting dupe and multiplier
ceiver. scans from both the positive and negative flags and updating area codes (zones)
frequency offsets of the baseband data. A and points in all QSOs, as required. The
GRITTY separate pdf user manual for the software information shown in the summary score
GRITTY is a freeware RTTY decoding is included. window is correct at all times. A complete
program. It decodes a single signal in the pdf user manual is included.
3-kHz audio coming from the transceiver SD Logger
via a sound card, just like any other RTTY The latest version of this popular SD logger VX6 and VX7 Commander
program. However, in GRITTY, the squelch program from Paul EI5DI claims to “set the These two variants of (freeware) software
function is based not on signal amplitude standard” for fast, simple, logging and edit- are used for programming the Yaesu
but on error probability. This works better ing in the major international contests and VX6 and VX7R handheld amateur radio
than the traditional squelch because it dozens of others worldwide. It is intended transceivers. 

As before, this month’s collection includes Open Digital Voice How to order your DVD collection by post
many new and updated programs and files PCSat Telemetry Decoder or via e-mail
as well as the ‘headline’ monthly software POC32 Pager Decoder By post: To order the April 2018 Software
offerings from the past three months. PSK08 Collection, which also includes the main
Furthermore, there is our recent massive PSK31 Deluxe featured software from the past three
data decoding collection. PSK63 Software Collection months’ compilations, send the original
QTMM corner flash (the small coloured rectangle
Here is the A-Z List: QuikPSK at the bottom corner of the first page of this
AAVoice RadioCom6 feature) along with your name and address
AGW APRS Tracker RadioRaft and either UK £5.00 note or a cheque or
Airlink Express RadioRaft V3.21 Postal Order for £5.00 (payable to QSP73
AirNav ACARS Decoder Services) to April 2018 Software Offer,
RCKRTTY
APT Decoder QSP73 Services, 58 Kingfisher Drive,
RDS Decoder
Capacitor Values Whitby YO22 4DY, United Kingdom.
ROS
Contact-Multi Overseas readers can send £5.00 or
RX-PSK31
CTCSS and DTMF Decoder US$10.00 (to allow for exchange costs) in
SARTrack - Search and Rescue Radio
CW Decoder bank notes.
Tracking
CWtbk Online or via e-mail: Debit/ Credit card
SatBatch
DigiPan payments via PayPal can be accepted by
SatMon
DigiPic paying £5.00 to software@qsp73.co.uk
Digital Speech Decoder for Windows SatScape
SatSignal Either go to www.paypal.co.uk or send a
Digital Speech Decoder Plus
SdrDx payment to software@qsp73.co.uk.
DigTRX
If you do not wish to register with PayPal,
DMRDecode SeaTTY
send an e-mail to software@qsp73.co.uk
DSCdecoder SeaTTY V2.55
and request an e-mail invoice for you to
DTMF Decoder ShipPlotter
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EasyPAL SIM PSK
Please add the phrase APR18D to your
EchoFilter Spectrogram
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ERP Calculator Spectrum Lab
readership and remember to include your
FDMDV - Digital HF Voice Stream
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FFTDSP Weak Signal Software Taxi MDT Decoder
not forward your address).
FLDIGI TETRA Mobile Station Decoder
Your DVD collection will normally be placed
FreeDV: Digital Voice for HF ToneDetect
in the post within 24 hours of receipt of your
Geosatsignal TrueTTY
order and sent by 1st Class mail to the UK
HamAlyzer Trunk Tracking PCR
or via airmail to overseas destinations.
ID Tracker Trunkito
Occasionally, you might have to allow for
ID Tracker II TrunkManager
extra time for delivery, due to staff holidays
IP-Sound TrunkSniffer Pro
IZ8BLY Hellschreiber and so on.
TrunkSnort
KG-ACARS Other collections: All past software
UIView collections are available in DVD format. If
KLog Unitrunker
Kontest you would like any of them, please just say
Voice Descrambler so when ordering and add £5.00 for each
Listen-MDT
Voice Inverter month’s collection chosen. One corner flash
LogPad
WACARS or e-mail code phrase will suffice for all.
WeatherFax2000 QSP73 Services runs this service on
Moreover, our comprehensive
WEFAX99 behalf of RadioUser. Therefore, please do
Data Decoding Collection
WinFlex not contact magazine staff regarding this
includes the following:
Winpack service because they will not be able to
Meter Mate
MMTTY WinPSK help you. Queries should be made to the
MMVARI V0.45 WinPSKse QSP73 Services postal address, via e-mail
OscillometerXZ WinWarbler to software@qsp73.co.uk or by phone to
MPT Trunker WISP +44 (0)1772 978229 (evenings/weekends).
MRP40 WkdLog All software is offered in good faith as
MScanMeteoFax WO_PSK freeware, shareware, donationware or
MScanMeteoPro WSJT public domain software. You are not
MSSoft WSJT-X V1.7, including JT8 ‘paying for’ or ‘buying’ the software. QSP73
MT63 WSPR V2.12 Services provides distribution services
MTrunk WXsat only and some software might have
MultiPSK WXtoIMG limited functionality until it has been fully
NavTex View ZL2AFP CMSK registered.

news & products What’s new in the world of radio communications
Have you got something new to tell our
readers about?
If so, then drop me a line at:
E-mail: wiessala@hotmail.com
Dan Lynch 2E0HKS appointed

Operations Director at ML&S
After five years working in the family-
owned Ham Radio business, Martin’s
eldest son, Daniel Martin Lynch,
has been appointed Operations
Director at Martin Lynch & Sons
Ltd. Martin G4HKS told us, “Dan
has been involved in sales since he
left university following our (then)
motorcycle business ML&S BikeSmart.
He furthered his career joining Triumph
and then Suzuki as dealer manager for
the UK. Gaining valuable experience
working for large British & Japanese
manufacturers, Dan then ran the UK
The Icom IC-7610 has landed

operation of Zero Motorcycles, an
American electric bike manufacturer
until I managed to persuade him to
join ML&S in 2013. Dan is responsible
for logistics at the main company Almost a year and a half after Icom Japan announced the
including responsibility for all imports, replacement for their IC-7600, Martin Lynch & Sons were
forecasting, operating procedures one of the first dealers in the UK to receive stock of the
and maintaining company standards, highly-anticipated IC-7610.
web and day-to-day running of the Richard Radford, Martin’s UK Sales Manager,
business. Needless to say, Jennifer and commented, “we were building up such a huge backlog
I are delighted that Dan has decided to for the IC-7610 we were wondering how much longer our
make his career in the family business. customers would wait. I’m pleased to say that the first
We are very proud to have him as an customer through the door stopped dead in his tracks
important member of the ML&S team, when he spotted our demonstrator and said: ‘Wow – what
continuing our tradition of excellent a beauty!’ “We have now fulfilled all our back order list and
customer service for many years to have a small quantity left for immediate delivery”. The Icom
come”. IC-7610 is now available from ML&S and other UK retailers
and has a selling price of £3499.95.
The first Flex Radio 6400M UK Moreover, Tony Wiltshire M0TNY/ZB2TY, ML&S Senior
Demonstration Unit. Sales Manager, highlighted the RigExpert range of analysers.
ML&S received the very first Flex Radio The most popular model is the AA-35ZOOM, offering
6400M demonstration unit into the UK. self-calibration. It is perfect for testing antennas and for
After a long wait, Martin informed us those who wish to make their own coax stubs for projects.
that they finally obtained the exciting Frequency coverage is from 60kHz to 35MHz.
new Flex 6400M for demonstration at https://tinyurl.com/ybaghd4g
their London superstore. The Flex 6400
series is a new range of high-end SDR
transceivers, first shown at Dayton
ML&S appointed sole distributor of LDG worldwide
HamFest in 2017. Flex Radio is well on After many years of being LDG’s biggest users and their international dealers. Our
the way to finalizing CE approval for reseller outside the U.S., ML&S were commitment to the support and promotion
UK & European release and deliveries delighted to be appointed global distributor of LDG has no doubt assisted in this
will start shortly after. Gary Spiers, of the USA’s most famous manufacturer privileged position for our company.”
Technical Support Engineer at ML&S, of Automatic Antenna Tuners outside the LDG is a manufacturer of high-
has uploaded a video of the 6400M USA & Canada. Dan Lynch 2E0HKS, performance auto-tuners and accessories
and can be seen via their YouTube TV Operations Director at ML&S said, “we are with excellent value for money, outstanding
channel: delighted that LDG chose our company customer service and ground-breaking
www.MLandS.TV for the distribution of their products to end R&D.
062 News & Products.indd 62 05/03/2018 13:52

RIG-CHEQUES at LAMCO
According to Joe Darbyshire, Digital
Sales and Marketing Director at Lamco,
business continues to grow and LAMCO
is pleased to announce the expansion
of their mail order services/showroom
experience. The company’s Junksale
Company will also occupy the new
premises, offering more variety to the
equipment clearance business.
In a related story, Adam Hutchinson
M0YRK recently collected the new
LAMCO-sponsored Yaesu System
Fusion Repeater for GB3HG in North
Yorkshire. NOV Holder Arthur Palfry
G8IMZ was delighted with the news
on behalf of The York Radio Club
Repeater. Lamco sponsors a number
of other Yaesu system fusion repeaters.
Finally, Lee at LAMCO introduced us to
the trader’s innovative RIG-CHEQUE
discount voucher offer.
www.hamradio-shop.co.uk
InnovAntennas Log Periodic SDRPlay SDRuno News

Jon Hudson G4ABQ, of SDRPlay,
Mike Devereux, of Nevada, reported that the new, 2018-designed, 14-element, log contacted the editor about software
periodic directional antenna from InnovAntennas is now in stock. The antenna covers updates. Jon stated: “SDRplay, the UK
100 to 750MHz, with a typical gain of 7.5dBi. It is suitable for both horizontal or vertical makers of the popular RSP family of
mounting (for both receive and transmit). It can handle RF power up to 1kW. The antenna SDRs, are continually upgrading the
has been designed with tapered feedlines to remove impedance spikes across its range, capabilities of their own Windows-based
SDR software called SDRuno. With
which are common in some badly-designed LPDAs. Large (13mm) elements are used
the latest version of SDRuno comes a
to ensure maximum gain and bandwidth, with a specially designed 3-element parasitic
feature, which will make the experience
cell at the front of the antenna, to enhance top-end performance, again an area where
more attractive to SDR ‘newbies’.
traditional log periodic arrays can fall short. The antenna is constructed from aerospace-
Right out of the box, SDRuno fills your
grade aluminium and marine-grade stainless steel, which can withstand winds up to 150
Windows screen with the main panels
mph. The boom is just 1.29m long and weighs 1.4kg. The antenna sells for £199.95 and
nicely arranged for the beginner. All the
is available from Nevada Innov-appointed resellers.
amateur bands below 2 GHz and the LF/
Telephone: 02392-313090 www.nevadaradio.co.uk
MF and HF shortwave broadcast bands
can be selected by two clicks of the
mouse – suddenly you see the specific
band exactly fitting your PC screen
without the need to manually adjust the
various settings needed to do this in an
optimum way.”
SDRplay have also released a series
of video guides which can be accessed
from their comprehensive SDRplay
YouTube channel: https://www.
youtube.com/c/SDRplayRSP
Inrico TM-7 Network Mobile Radio Tel. (+44) 7836 591 544 (mobile)
E-mail: jon.hudson@sdrplay.com
Chris Taylor, Head of Retail at unit gives the opportunity to explore the
Moonraker wrote in to inform readers of fascinating world of POC radio, giving ICOM Two-Way Radios
the popular Inrico TM-7 Network Mobile access to some great radio networks ICOM offers a useful new section on
radio. The Inrico TM-7 network radio is (callsign required for IRN & EchoLink). two-way radios on its website. This
the first mobile network Radio. It is great For non-licensed operators with a SIM ‘Knowledge Base’ section is split into
for amateur radio use, with the new IRN card, you can chat like CB but without four main areas: Marine Radio Articles;
platform, for Zello, Team Speak 3 and interference, on a one-to-one basis or Two Way Business Radio Articles;
Echolink via 3G or WiFi. It also works as via open chat. Amateur Radio Articles and Aviation/
a WiFi hotspot. For radio amateurs, this www.moonraker.eu Airband Radio Articles.
www.icomuk.co.uk
062 News & Products.indd 63 05/03/2018 13:52

museum review In January 2018, the editor paid a return visit to the
Georg Wiessala Electricity Museum in Funchal, the capital city of Madeira.
wiessala@hotmail.com
This is his short report on the radio-relevant exhibits
brought together on the site.
ALL PICTURES: GEORG WIESSALA
House of Light
T
he Museum of Electricity power, electrostatics and the history of
(Museu de Electricidade) communications.
is a hidden gem among The site is organised over two
the sights of Funchal. The floors and according to five principal
museum is known as the themes, Lights of Funchal, A Century
‘House of Light’ (Casa de Luz) and lives of Electricity, Sources of Energy,
up to its name. It is truly enlightening, in Science and Technology and Temporary
more ways than one. It is located close Exhibitions.
to the Old Town, on the site of the former www.museucasadaluz.com radio and electricity industries beyond
Central Thermal Power Station from The displays show the generators, Portugal.
1897. communications gear and test For radio enthusiasts, the information
The museum offers a wide range of equipment of the time and place them about the early radio pioneers will, no
displays to those interested in radio, in the dual contexts of the pioneering doubt, be one of the most attractive
the electrification of the Island of electrification of the challenging, parts of any visit, this is where
Madeira, the development of vintage mountainous, interior of Madeira and of Guglielmo Marconi, Heinrich Hertz,
measurement instruments, wind- the technological development of the Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas
064 museum review.indd 64 05/03/2018 13:37

Alva Edison come to light – pardon the
pun.
Moreover, in the section of Século
XX, the Twentieth Century, enthusiasts
of all ages may learn about Ørsted,
Ohm, Ampère, Faraday, Morse and the
pioneers, without whom today’s radios
would not exist.
Three things, in particular, stood
out for me during this visit. First, just
how many of the heavy machinery
here originated in the UK; second,
how difficult the challenges were
that had to be overcome, in order to
‘connect’ people here, both literally and
metaphorically and third, how relevant
this kind of history still is today, with local
schools and the University of Madeira
both involved.
If you are ever there and do not fancy
sun-bathing, you know where to go now.
Short wave DXing from the island isn’t
bad either. 
064 museum review.indd 65 05/03/2018 13:37

off the record Oscar looks at the recent RAJAR figures and shows how
Oscar the Engineer listening figures can reveal a station’s performance.
E-mail: oscartheengineer@yahoo.com
He focuses on London station LBC and offers free radio news.
The Free Radio Column

be listening. The broadcast industry does
make attempts to quantify and identify
trends in listenership via the RAJAR
audience research mechanism, which
is carried out on a continual basis with
results published every three months.
www.rajar.co.uk
Unlike with systems such as audio
streaming, there is really no technological
mechanism for registering listenership
of RF radio transmissions, so the
prevailing monitoring method relies on
inviting what is hopefully a representative
cross-section of sufficient numbers of
individuals to record all of their listening
during an entire period in a diary.
It is easy to see why such a system
is far from fool-proof and, in my opinion,
W
many senior executives and decision-
elcome once again inadequacies and failures within the makers within radio do place more
to the column in established radio services offered by emphasis on RAJAR than I believe they
which we dispense the state and the licensed commercial should.
with the formalities sector. Therefore, you can expect some For an intelligent radio boss who
and natter about frank criticism from me where I deem it understands the business, there are a
radio in the way that friends do. Free appropriate. number of important factors, which can
radio has always been the mainstay However, know also that I am the (and should) be taken into account, when
of the discussions here and that will sort of person who likes to shine a evaluating how good a station’s output is
continue to be the case. spotlight on the positives wherever and how well it is achieving the desired
This encompasses – and links to – possible. Radio is a wonderful thing objectives.
quite a wide range of subjects though and, when it succeeds in bringing joy Having said that though, out of
and, as we move forward, I am keen to and pleasure into our lives, I believe we curiosity and as a free radio enthusiast,
strive to ensure that I am talking about should celebrate that and express our I normally take at least a cursory glance
topics that will appeal to as many radio satisfaction loudly. at the figures each quarter, just to see
enthusiasts as possible. As I offer you my observations and what is happening. Recently released as
For this reason, I am thinking that opinions, please remember that this I write this, were the results for the fourth
it might be a good idea to spend a bit magazine is a forum in which all radio quarter (Q4) of 2017.
more time looking at some aspects enthusiasts can have their say and share As usual, there is much you could
of what radio stations are doing, both their thoughts about any aspects of radio say and much you could ignore in these
licensed and unlicensed. that interests them. figures. For anyone who wants to take
This will include industry news and Feel free to agree or disagree with me a closer look there are some excellent
analysis and reviews of programmes and or suggest your own topics; all that is graphs and charts produced each
presenters – always as seen through the needed is to put pen to paper (or fingers quarter by radio consultant Paul Easton
eyes of a free radio enthusiast and in to keyboard) and get in touch. on his blog:
order to offer a unique perspective. http://pauleaston.co.uk
My own listening includes a lot of talk Who Is Listening? Some of these figures are London-
radio so you can expect quite a lot of Part of the magic and the mystique of specific, although many of the stations
emphasis in that direction. radio stems from the fact that, when have national coverage in some form.
Pirate radio has always been, among you send your signal out there into the The big music stations such as Capital,
other things, a response to perceived ‘ether’, you never really know who may Heart and Magic jostle for position as
066 Off the Record.indd 66 05/03/2018 13:38

always. Interestingly, it is former pirate are given regular slots or allowed to Free Radio Stations
Kiss FM, which is doing better than the remain in them when everyone can see There are a couple of free radio items
others through the day on weekdays. that they should be replaced or at least that I wanted to mention this month. On
For some reason, their performance dips some form of intervention should be medium wave, there have been a number
below some of the others during the instigated. of reports of Radio Albatross, heard on
evening. I wonder if you can speculate For example, take mid-mornings on 927kHz. A lot of frequencies have been
why that might be… LBC and you will find James O’Brien. opening up in the MW band over recent
He is considered by management to be years and that trend is continuing. It
Focus On LBC one of the station’s main attractions, but has been more pronounced for quite
Personally, I am always interested in when you look at the graph of audience some time now, since a Belgian station
observing the ups and downs at talk figures you will see that during the entire stopped using it.
station LBC. Early Breakfast, with Steve course of his three-hour show, listeners By the way, I have been meaning for
Allen continues to do exceptionally switch off or tune elsewhere. some time to talk about the BBC local
well. I am not a huge fan of his show It is true that there is a general radio MW stations, which have been
myself but he has been with the station downward trend at that time of day. switched off. Several of those were on
for decades so has an established However, in the case of O’Brien, the loss 1368kHz, which has meant that (in some
fan-base. Much of the content involves seems greater in number and faster in areas of the UK) the reception of Manx
everyday chit-chat and frequent, acerbic, rate than almost anyone else across all Radio – including the Radio Caroline
comments about ‘celebrities’. He takes the stations. North relay broadcasts – is much
no callers, which some see as positive His bosses seem blind to this. improved on that frequency now.
and others regard as an indication that Furthermore, I would say that, maybe In other news, down in the county of
he likes to dish things out but would not five or six years ago, it was possible to Kent, the ‘Garden of England’, a station
be able to cope with any criticism aimed enjoy listening to him even if you didn’t called I-Juice FM is reportedly two
at him. agree with his views because he didn’t stations, Innocence and Juice FM. These
I do admire his ability to fill the space take himself too seriously, so it was joined forces to become one. This station
with only his own voice, many people amusing. Nowadays there is a caustic now broadcasts online but has also been
would struggle to do that. However, bitterness to his attitude, which comes heard on 92.1MHz FM, with a format of
when you listen, it soon becomes across on air. Listening to him turns me mostly urban and dance music.
obvious that one technique he is using is off and the figures suggest that I am not A little while ago, it was announced
to repeat his phrases twice, which I find alone. that ‘Caesar the Geezer’, also known
rather irritating. This is, naturally, just my own, as ‘Caesar the Boogieman’, was to join
Breakfast with Nick Ferrari is still personal opinion and you might differ – the station, to present an evening phone-
maintaining huge audience figures and do get in touch in any case! in and music show. I believe he did in
his talent and journalistic instincts are, fact host a few shows and the news item
unquestionably, top-drawer. He knows Graveyard Shift was posted on the website:
how to analyse and present a story or One last thing about LBC is the weekend http://ijuicefm.com
probe an interviewee, to extract some overnight listening figures, which have Sadly, that bulletin has now been
gem. The show moves along at a nice disastrously fallen through the floor, after removed and it looks like, perhaps, the
pace and includes humour, where having been at the top of the heap, in arrangement has fallen through or was
appropriate. Listener participation makes that time segment, for many years. vetoed for some reason. A pity but these
this better than just a news show. One thing about talk radio stations things happen I suppose. If I find any
When a station like LBC is achieving is that, usually, the overnights are very more details on this, I will pass them on
good RAJAR results, it is easy to feel popular and definitely not the ‘graveyard to you, naturally.
that, perhaps, one should not criticise shift’, unless someone makes a pig’s ear ‘Caesar’ was happy to work on
the management. However, on occasions of it, as it were. free radio stations in the past and my
I do so. This is because I see them The presenter in that slot is Matt impression is that he was excited about
making fundamental blunders and I find Stadlen who is a fairly recent arrival and doing his show on a platform, without
myself thinking that the figures could be is known for TV interviews with famous the excessive regulation of the licensed
even better if things were done a little names in the past. It is important for stations.
differently. radio bosses to understand that, just Speaking of that, I need to examine
Since ownership of LBC switched because a person has been on TV, this what is happening with Jon Gaunt’s
to Global some years ago, they have, does not guarantee that they will come Talk2Me Radio project very soon
in my opinion, sacrificed too much of across well on the radio. because that seems to be off the air at
the humour in an attempt to sound It will be interesting to see what the the moment.
‘authoritative’. Topics are too repetitive management do about this because I
and predictable. It is possible to do formed the impression they thought he Signing Off
phone-ins with news and current affairs would be an asset and not a liability. There are many more things I want to
in a way that also entertains but this People have said to me that they talk to you about. However, I am running
seems to be largely discouraged. don’t like him and have given up. Having out of time and space for this month.
Some of the decisions regarding listened myself, I wouldn’t say that I hate Thanks to everyone for spreading the
presenter appointments are also difficult the show. However, in terms of content word and for getting involved.
to fathom from where I sit. All too often, and delivery, I can hear clearly why it Enjoy your listening and I will return
hosts who clearly don’t cut the mustard may not be working. with more news and debate next time. n
066 Off the Record.indd 67 05/03/2018 13:38

feedback Get it off your chest - write to the Editor with your opinions
Have you got something new to tell our readers about? If so, then drop me a line at: E-mail: wiessala@hotmail.com
BITTERN DX/ PETER G6ZRV

Corrections
March 2018: 60-62 (Utility DXing)
Page 61, 2nd column: At a (high) bit rate of

2.400 bps – This should read: 2.400kbps.
Page 61, 3rd column: Their raw bit rate is
always 2.400bps, resulting in a signal width
of 2,400Hz.
This should read: Their raw bit rate is
always 2.400kbps, resulting in a signal width
of, approximately, 2.4kHz.
Page 61, 3rd column: Therefore, the
receiver’s passband must range from at
least 600 to 3.00 Hz.
This should read: Therefore, the
receiver’s passband must range from at
least 600Hz to 3.00kHz –
Page 62, 1st column: As I mentioned
before, the payload is always transmitted at
2.400 bps
This should read: As I mentioned
before, the payload is always transmitted at The trailer in this group-shot was purchased from the grant that the RSGB awarded us out of the Legacy
2.400kbps Fund, to help us bring Amateur Radio to the attention of the public and the younger generation.
[My apologies to Nils Schiffhauer for the geomagnetic activity. The SFI & K indices of the challenges of that medium but was
inaccurate measurement unit denominators are displayed in an extra-large, easy-to- nonetheless good fun! Club members found
and my warm thanks to Andy Thomsett for read, version at these URLs:” it very rewarding to see the young people
spotting this – GW] http://g4pvb.eu5.net/solar.htm take part in our hobby […].
www.k7pt.com/solarphp.php “Although some were clearly not
Feedback www.qsl.net/w6elprop bothered by all the technology one
February and March 2018 Brownie said it had ‘blown her mind away
Thank you, Bob, I have tried out these to see what we could do’. However, as a
Terry Gaff wrote to the editor to say thanks larger visualisations and find them extremely counterbalance, when told how we could
for a copy of a 2016 back issue build project useful – GW] talk around the world and beyond, one
article in RadioUser. He kindly wrote, “Many, commented: “I just use Skype!!”
many thanks for all your efforts – very much Thinking Day on The Air “The Bittern DX Group’s ongoing
appreciated. I have already ordered some Peter G6ZRV, publicity officer for the Educational Outreach Project is aimed at
parts but not too sure when I might get the Bittern DX Group in Norfolk UK, wrote to bringing an Amateur Radio ‘experience’ to
project finished but I will definitely do so. I the editor about an educational outreach the public and was given a boost last year
will let you know how it goes. Again, many activity for youngsters called Thinking with a grant from the National Lottery’s
thanks and a great service from a great Day on The Air with GB5WDG. This is a Awards for All fund. Late last year, after the
magazine.” shortened version: death of our generator, the growing need
Peter reported, “Thinking Day on The to ease equipment transportation problems
Many thanks for the encouraging words, Air on Saturday, February 17th was the first and with the encouragement and support
Terry and I hope the RF switch project takes decent sunny day of 2018. It was also the of our Regional Manager, Keith Haynes
off. GW first event of the new year for the Bittern DX G3WRO, we successfully applied to the
Group’s Educational Outreach Project. Eight RSGB Legacy Fund for funds to buy a trailer
Regular correspondent Bob Houlston members made the journey to Saham Tony and new generator.”
G4PVB MA3053SWL wrote: “Further to the Village Hall to set up GB5WDG and give
most excellent Space Weather article by around 60 Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Bittern DX region 12 Peter G6ZRV
Tomas Hood NW7US (RadioUser, March their adult leaders a chance to see different Tel:01603 879552
2018: 45) I find W6ELProp by Sheldon C. aspects of Amateur Radio […] Bittern DX web page:
Shallon W6EL to be a useful propagation “We are very grateful to the team https://www.bittern-dxers.org.uk
tool, that displays a map, via the link below. at AMSAT-UK for their friendly and
However, it requires the daily manual input continuing help in using FunCube 1 A fantastic initiative, Peter, which shows
of current SFI Solar Flux Index and K index. in our demonstrations. Last and by no abundantly, the continued relevance of
The Solar Flux Index (SFI) is a gauge of means least, the young people saw a the hobby and its attractiveness to a new
solar particles and magnetic fields reaching demonstration of signals using light, the generation. Thank you for sharing this with
our atmosphere. The K-Index is a gauge of interruption of which demonstrated some the readers of RadioUser – GW]
068 Feedback.indd 68 05/03/2018 08:49

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72 Dealer Panel April.indd 72 05/03/2018 11:46

radio events We want to hear about all events for hobby radio enthusiasts, including
airshows, conferences, exhibitions and rallies.
Send all your rally info to:
Plan your rally visits with our comprehensive list of forthcoming events. RadioUser will be at events marked with
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an asterisk – come along to our stand for great deals on subscriptions to Practical Wireless and RadioUser. Club
E-mail: wiessala@hotmail.com Secretaries and Event Organisers – please send us details of your events if you would like them to be mentioned here.
MARCH APRIL April 21st (Saturday) Drive and by rail to Hampden Park
March 24th (Saturday) April 8th (Sunday) International Marconi Day station, a 10-minute walk from the
Laugharne Amateur Radio Rally The Ripon and A radio event, which celebrates Centre. The main hall is for dealers,
The Laugharne Annual Radio Rally District Radio Rally the career of Italian wireless traders and clubs and there is an
is held at the Millennium Memorial The Ripon & District Amateur communications pioneer outside car boot & table-top sale.
Hall, Clifton Street, Laugharne, Radio Society Radio Rally and Guglielmo Marconi. Watch out for Track area reserved for catering,
SA33 4QH from 10am (09.45). Surplus Equipment Sale will special events and transmissions, camping and caravanning.
Entry is £3. Trade stalls, cups of be held at Hugh Ripley Hall, e.g. by some Amateur Radio Clubs Website: www.serf.org.uk
tea, bacon butties, Welsh cakes. Skellbank, Ripon, North Yorkshire and (sometimes) on VLF from SRQ
Also, this year, we will be hosting HG4 2TP (100m west of High Grimeton on 17.2kHz (CW). May 6th (Sunday)
a Microwave symposium in the Skellgate traffic lights on the Thorpe Camp (‘Dambusters’)
conference room. B6265). The doors will open April 22nd (Sunday) Hamfest
Matthew 07936 152 846 at 7.30 (stallholders) and 10am Andover Radio Amateur Club The Hamfest will take place at
E-mail:Matthew.twyman63 (visitors) and admission will cost Spring Boot Sale the Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre,
@btinternet.com £2.00 (under 16s free). Entry on the The 18th Andover Radio Amateur Tattershall Thorpe, Lincoln, LN4
Website: door £2 per head (under 16’s free). Club Spring Boot Sale is at 4PL. Admission is £4 per person,
https://tinyurl.com/y8qq9hhg Tables provided £10 each. Hot and Wildhern Village Hall, Tangley, children under 12 free. Thorpe
cold food available on the day. Andover SP11 0JE. Doors open Camp Visitor Centre will be open
March 25th (Sunday) E-mail: rally@ripon.org.uk from 10am (9am for sellers) to for traders at 10am on Friday 4th
Callington Radio Rally Website: www.ripon.org.uk/ 4pm, with disabled gaining access May 2018. Overnight camping is
The Callington Radio Rally content/rally-2018 earlier. £4 per night (with electric hook-
organised jointly by the Devon and Admittance is £2. An outside pitch up £7 per night). We have hot &
Cornwall Repeater Group and the April 14th and 15th costs £8 and a table in the hall is cold food on site, & overflow car
Callington Amateur Radio Society, (Saturday/Sunday) £10. There will be a free raffle. parking inside our grounds.
will be held at Callington Town Hall, The Irish Radio Transmitter E-mail: arac@arac.org.uk Anthony
Callington, Cornwall PL17 7BD. Society AGM and Rally Website: www.arac.org.uk Tel: 07956 654 481
The doors will open at 10am and The 86th Annual General Meeting E-mail: secretary@thorpecamp.
admission is £2.00. There will free of the Irish Radio Transmitters April 22nd (Sunday) org
car parking adjacent to the venue, Society will be hosted by the The Cambridge Website: http://thorpecamp.
trade stands, a bring & buy (10% Galway VHF Group. It will take Repeater Group Rally wixsite.com/visitorscentre/
commission) and on-site catering. place at the Galway Bay Hotel, The Cambridge Repeater Group dambusters-hamfest
Roger 2E0RPH Salthill, Galway. Rally will take place at Foxton
Tel: 07854 088 882 Details: Village Hall, Hardman Road, May 7th (Bank Holiday Monday)
E-mail: 2e0rph@gmail.com www.irts.ie/cgi/st.cgi?agm Foxton, Cambridge CB22 6RN. Dartmoor Radio Rally
Doors open 9.30am (7.30am for The 2018 Dartmoor Radio Rally will
March 25th (Sunday) April 15th (Sunday) traders). Entry £2. There will be take place at Tavistock College,
Causeway Coast Glens ARC West London Radio & talk-in, traders, bring & buy, RSGB Crowndale Road, Tavistock PL19
Radio Rally Electronics Show (Kempton bookstall and on-site catering. 8DD.
The Causeway Coast Glens ARC Rally) Lawrence M0LCM Doors are open at 10.30am
Radio Rally will take place at the The West London Radio & Tel: 07941 972 724 (disabled 10.15am). Admission
Bushmills Community Centre, 14 Electronics Show will take place E-mail: rally2018@ is £2, under 14’s free when
Dunluce Road BT57 8QG. Doors at Kempton Park Racecourse, cambridgerepeaters.net accompanied by an adult. Ample
open from 11am to 4pm, with Staines Road East, Sunbury on Website: free car parking and on-site
disabled guests gaining access at Thames TW16 5AQ. The rally www.cambridgerepeaters.net catering. Trade and club stands will
10.45am. Admittance is £3. There opens 10am/ 9.50am. There will be be there, as will be the usual bring
is on-site parking and on-site talk-in, free on-site parking, trade April 29th (Sunday) & buy sales stall.
disabled parking. Light refreshments stalls, bring & buy, lectures, a raffle NARSA Blackpool Rally* Viv Watson G7AWG
available. There will be a bring & buy, and on-site catering. The 56th Norbreck Amateur Tel: 01752 823 427
RSGB bookstall and trade stands. Paul M0CJX Radio, Electronics and Computing E-mail: vivwatsondrc@aol.com
Stevie Morrow MI0ULK Tel: 0845 165 0351 Exhibition will take place at the
Tel: 07544 923 956 E-mail: info@radiofairs.co.uk Norbreck Exhibition Centre, May 13th (Sunday)
E-mail: CausewayCoast_ www.radiofairs.co.uk Blackpool, FY2 9AA. Lough Erne Amateur Radio Rally
GlensARC@yahoo.co.uk Doors open 10.30/10.15. Lough Erne ARC will host the
April 15th (Sunday) There will be traders, bring & Lough Erne Rally in the SHARE
March 25th (Sunday) Yeovil ARC 34th QRP Convention buy, special interest groups, a Centre, Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh,
The 33rd Wythall Radio Club The Yeovil ARC 34th QRP talk-in, free parking and an RSGB BT92 0EQ. Doors open at 1130,
Hamfest Convention will take place at the bookstall. free parking, bar, café, cooked
The 33rd Wythall Radio Club Digby Hall, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 Dave, M0OBW lunch, free tables for trade, special
Hamfest will be held at Wythall 3AA. Doors are open from 9.30am Tel: 01270 761 608 interest groups, shack clearance
House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 to 3pm. Admission is £3.There will E-mail: dwilson@btinternet.com and so on. RSGB sales stall. All
6LZ. Doors open at 10am, with be traders, bring & buy and club Website: in hall pay same door fee £4.00
access for disabled visitors from stands. The event is supported www.narsa.org.uk (€5.00). A raffle is included in the
approximately 9.30am. Free on-site by RSGB, RAFARS and BYLARA. door entry cost.
parking is available. Admission is Details about the programme of MAY The bring & buy is free. The
£4.50. There will be four separate talks are on the website. Only May 6th (Sunday) venue is disability friendly. This
halls of traders, including club guide dogs can be admitted. Southern Electronics and Radio rally traditionally has a strong
stand and bring & buy. Bob Harris G8UED Fair (SERF/ Eastbourne Rally) attendance from both Northern
Ian Reeve E-mail: The Rally will take place at Ireland and the Republic.
Tel: 01386 839 655 wjh069@gmail.com; Eastbourne Sports Park, Cross David GI4VHO, Secretary LEARC,
E-mail: secretary@yeovil-arc.com Levels Way, Eastbourne, East Tel: 078-4291-0076
wrc4hallsradio@outlook.com Website: Sussex BN21 2UF. Transport via E-mail: calderwood110@
Club Website: http://yeovil-arc.com/ buses from Sussex Downs College btinternet.com
www.wythallradioclub.co.uk QRPconvention.php on Cross Levels Way and Kings Website: visit www.learc.eu
073 rallies.indd 73 05/03/2018 14:14

trading post subscribers free
non- subscribers £5.00
Trading Post adverts cost £5.00 per advert (subscribers still free) and will also be
published in Practical Wireless, our sister magazine, unless requested otherwise.
Send your advert to: payment of £5 (subscribers can place their be licensed in the UK, will not be accepted.
Trading Post advert free of charge as long as they provide No responsibility will be taken for errors and
Radio User their subs number or mailing label). Cheques no correspondence will be entered into on any
Warners Group Publications plc should be made payable to Warners Group decision taken by the Editor on any of these
West Street Publications plc, credit card payments also conditions.
Bourne accepted. You should state clearly in your advert
Lincs PE10 9PH Please help us to help you by preparing your whether equipment is professionally built,
advert carefully. Any advert which contains ?? home-brewed or modified.
Please write your advert clearly in BLOCK marks indicates that the advertising dept. could The Publishers of Practical Wireless also
CAPITALS up to a maximum of 30 words, not read/interpret the wording. wish to point out that it is the responsibility of
plus 12 words for your contact details on the Advertisements from traders or for equipment the buyer to ascertain the suitability of goods
form provided and send it together with your that it is illegal to possess, use or which cannot offered for purchase.
This is a free service for subscribers and very cheap otherwise so please USE IT OR LOSE IT.
FOR SALE Uniden UBC355 CLT Desktop Icom IC 718 TCVR HF Bands Gen
MFJ J901B ATU £40 plus P&P mobile radio S Call £50 plus P&P Coverage, mint condition, never used on
MFJ 16010 ATU £30 plus P&P A3000A £250 plus P&P transmit £250
Black Box MKII VI+F Air Traffic Monitor Alinco VHF/UHF Transceiver Tel: Ray – 01270 617480 Crewe
£40 plus P&P DJ-C6 £40 plus P&P
Icom 2725 2/70 Tran £90 plus P&P Contact M6JVX Gerry QRP Kits Malta 40m CW TCVP £45
Alinco DJ-XII £180 plus P&P 07889 142203 (Godalming) Norcal 40m CW, TCVR £45
Part Built Sudan 30m receiver,
Alinco VHF UHF Trn £90 plus P&P
Hitachi VC-60Z0 Z-Channel digital storage Kanga 30m L.P.F. Kanga VFO II 40m
Contact M6JVX Gerry
oscilloscope, 20MHz. Used condition but Tel: 01253 697569 Mr Haydock
07889 142203 (Godalming) everything works. Good condition and
useful addition to any shack. Buyer to test WANTED
Comm Radio CR-1 Receiver £275. Also and collect. £95 Heatshrink Sleeving, orange or purple.
Uniden UBC 360 CLT Base Scanner £60. Tel: 01775 841877 – Dave Gosberton Inside diameter >4mm raw.
Both boxed and are as new, unmarked, Only need short lengths.
all plus P&P Godfrey G4GLM 020 8958 5113
Phone Dave on 07508 296627 cgmm2@btinternet.com
To advertise here, please complete the form below. Please make sure that you write neatly to avoid any confusion.
ONLY
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074 Trading post April.indd 74 05/03/2018 11:45

Valve Amplifiers
Valve Amplifiers Antennas
Antennas for
for 50 Projects
50 Projects for
for
Explained
Explained MF and Above
MF and Above Radio Amateurs
Radio Amateurs
By John Fielding, ZS5JF By Mike Parkin, G0JMI By Mike Browne, G3DIH
This is for everyone who uses – or is Written by RadCom antenna guru Mike Many radio amateurs love to design and
considering using – an HF or VHF linear Parkin, this is a book that provides exactly construct electronic projects from the very
amplifier. what is says on the cover. Antennas for MF simple right through to the very complex.
and Above is a practical guide to antennas 50 Projects for Radio Amateurs draws
The author guides the reader through for the relatively new 630m band, 160m, together a wide array of projects that the
the choice of valves for various 80m and equally new 60m band. Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB)
purposes. Valve Amplifiers Explained has published. You will find projects
starts with a chapter on basic valve This book is aimed at the constructor, or as diverse as antennas, simple test
theory and explains how to interpret those who are curious to understand in equipment through to 70cm handhelds
valve characteristic curves. The various further detail the theoretical aspects of and much more besides.
classes of operation of amplifiers – Class the antenna techniques used on these
A, Class B, Class AB1, Class AB2 and bands. Rather than concentrating on 50 Projects for Radio Amateurs is
Class C – are all covered in detail. The single bands, Mike shows how you can separated into sections that cover
relative merits of grounded cathode and often use the same approach or even the Measurement & Filters, Morse, Antennas
grounded grid amplifiers are discussed same antenna to work two or more bands. and large section covering useful station
and a chapter is devoted to the causes of There are examples of how a 160m accessories, peripherals and other
distortion in valve amplifiers – and how to antenna can be pressed into service diverse projects. The projects included
avoid such distortion. The author explains on 630m or even 80m ones that can be range from complex DIY antenna
that linearity is primarily a function of the made to work on 160 and 60m. There are analysers through to a simple electronic
power dissipation of the device and the also specialised chapters covering, for keyer and builds on simple strip board.
supply voltage and he devotes a whole example, antennas for 630m. There are two transceivers that you can
chapter to good power supply design. build alongside antennas for bands from
The various protection circuits that an If you are interested in experimenting microwaves to HF. There are also four
amplifier should have are also covered. with the bands below 40m, you are sure handy reference guides explaining Using
E&OE (All prices shown plus p&p)
A chapter is devoted specifically to the to find much to interest you in this book. 10GHz, Screening, Baluns and Aerial
design of VHF RF power amplifiers. Antennas for MF and Above is without Maintenance. This book has something
Another chapter even discusses liquid doubt one of amateur radio’s standard for everyone whatever their level of
cooling of valve amplifiers. reference works. construction ability.
Size: 174x240mm, 200 pages Size 174x240mm, 112 pages Size: 174x240mm, 256 pages
ISBN: 97819101 9347 1 Also available on ISBN: 9781 9101 9346 4 Also available on ISBN: 97819101 9352 5
Price: £14.99 Also available on Price: £11.99 Also available on Price: £14.99

RSGB
www.rsgbshop.org
www.rsgbshop.org
RSGB
Tel: 01234 832 700 Fax: 01234 831 496
Tel: 01234 832 700 Fax: 01234 831 496
075 rsgb.indd 1 05/03/2018 11:46

Martin Lynch & Sons Ltd. Wessex House, Drake Avenue, Staines, Middlesex TW18 2AP. E-mail: sales@hamradio.co.uk
Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 8.30am to 5pm. Sat: 9am to 4.30pm. International Tel: +44 1932 567 333 FOLLOW US ON
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04 April
076 2018.indd
mls.indd 1 76 01/03/2018 12:09
05/03/2018 12:40

Radio User 2018 004 - April

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Maritime Matters Utility Signals Monitoring NOW IN

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April 2018 Performance and Portability

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SpyVerter R2 builds on top of the successful SpyVerter architecture and improves

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Fig. 1: The WTR Browser. Scanning Legality

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MODES: AM, FM, P25 Phase 1 and Phase

4 The Whistler TRX-1

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Software Defined Radio

Size 174x240mm, 304 pages

RSGB SHOP Radio Society of Great Britain

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