Short Wave Listening, Voice of Korea,

[Sandy G]

My EK can hear signals PLAINLY that the Collinses, Hammarlunds, Nationals, Hallicrafters just THINK they're receiving.. It also has that typical Germanic "Everythings running in oil" uber smoothness. The different switches move JUST enuf & DON'T feel all wobbly or loosy goosy. No wonder they cost the equivalent of $6K in say, 1965. The EK has its own built in tube tester, but there is precious little info about servicing one.

 

[Pio1980]

A note on the German approach to engineering;
Sometime during the prequel to WW-II, they determined that reliance on quartz crystal calibration would be dependent on obtaining crystal of sufficient quality, and the source, being for them Brazil, would be at best uncertain in a general international conflict situation. A program was instituted to the design of radio apparatus so stable and so precise that quartz oscillators for transmission and calibration would be unessential. Companies such as Mahle and Rosenthal participated, Mahle for expertize with working in light alloy castings for chassis framework, and Rosenthal for their expertise in ceramics for plated and spiral cut coil forms and ceramic capacitors with zero sum temperature drift when paired with the coils. The result, combined with precision dial mechanisms with accurate readout, have sets that would be spot on frequency without requirement for pre-calibration or frequency drift.
I joke that German engineers would never use one part when three could do the job almost as well (compare firearms and engines, f.i.), but sometimes, that can be a good thing.

 

[604man]

My O my, All the SW hounds on AK.
I started listening to SW with a Hallicrafters S20R when I was 10, and it's
sad to see SW bite the dust..

I have a Racal RA6217A which employes the Wadley loop with the dual panadapter .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadley_Loop

check out this video, this is not my radio.

Check out this Watkins Johnson information site.

http://watkins-johnson.terryo.org/

U.S. Clandestine Radio Equipment

http://militaryradio.com/spyradio/

 

[johnda]

Love this thread! I am using a Grundig Satellit 750 and miss the great gear from years ago. I had great luck with the radio shack units and would like to get a 302 to,play with. During the Falklands war I supplied recordings of English broadcasts from Argentina to a NY radio news station. Great stuff!

 

[604man]

Go here for Keith's Racal page.

https://www.recelectronics.co.uk/

More interesting gadgets at the Crypto museum..

Sinitsa caught my eye..

http://www.cryptomuseum.com/df/sinitsa/index.htm

 

[Pio1980]

My EK can hear signals PLAINLY that the Collinses, Hammarlunds, Nationals, Hallicrafters just THINK they're receiving.. It also has that typical Germanic "Everythings running in oil" uber smoothness. The different switches move JUST enuf & DON'T feel all wobbly or loosy goosy. No wonder they cost the equivalent of $6K in say, 1965. The EK has its own built in tube tester, but there is precious little info about servicing one.

Those interested can do a websearch for info, images, and vids on the Rhode & Schwartz EK-07. Telefunken and Seimens also made commo gear, tho' the R&S EK-07 has the rep for being the top dog in class, along with the Collins R-390 family.

 

[Pio1980]

Go here for Keith's Racal page.

https://www.recelectronics.co.uk/

More interesting gadgets at the Crypto museum..

Sinitsa caught my eye..

http://www.cryptomuseum.com/df/sinitsa/index.htm

Time was, a Minox 8mm still minicamera and a Minifon wire recorder were the last word in covert spy gear. A post WW-II wonder was the Belmont Boulevard mini pocket superheterodyne bcb receiver, based on the micro-tubes developed for proximity fuses and subsequently used in hearing aids. Surely, covert spy radio gear must have come soon after, based on the rugged little wonders.

 

[604man]

Remember the Russian Woodpecker ?
In the 70's I never thought I would see the facility.

 

[Pio1980]

Remember the Russian Woodpecker ?
In the 70's I never thought I would see the facility.

 

[604man]

The empire of noise

remember all of the jamming on SW ?

 

[Ronald1973]

Time was, a Minox 8mm still minicamera and a Minifon wire recorder were the last word in covert spy gear. A post WW-II wonder was the Belmont Boulevard mini pocket superheterodyne bcb receiver, based on the micro-tubes developed for proximity fuses and subsequently used in hearing aids. Surely, covert spy radio gear must have come soon after, based on the rugged little wonders.

https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1466129014ra/19443138.gif

 

[Sandy G]

If you reach that rarified air if R& S, Hammarlund, Hallicrafters, Collins, RACALs, etc, you'll find that these sets are more alike than they are different.I wouldn't ATTMPT to hoist my EK, at all. Had NO Business trying to pick ome up. You're just basically BEGGING to have a calamity befall you.EK gives you a rather "Formidable" Haus that has 4 massive retractable handles to lift Brunhilda.

 

[Pio1980]

The R390A was still safely manageable last time I moved them out, and the Super Pro is a two piece with a separated power unit, roughly dividing the heft. I'd say at this point, ca 70 lbs is about my safe handling limit
The two larger CRT tvs at ca 90 plus are another matter entirely. How I dread eventually moving these out.

 

[604man]

R-390s

 

[Pio1980]

R-390s

Fair radio sales, those were the days.

 

[Sandy G]

The R390A was still safely manageable last time I moved them out, and the Super Pro is a two piece with a separated power unit, roughly dividing the heft. I'd say at this point, ca 70 lbs is about my safe handling limit
The two larger CRT tvs at ca 90 plus are another matter entirely. How I dread eventually moving these out.

I was a big, strapping lad of maybe 40-45 or so. Boat anchors ? .No sweat, you can man-handle 'em easily enuff. Then, & boogered up my rt knee. Lost a bit of my Clydesdale type strength, then. Next, I had a stroke, & Boy...THAT kinda put the kibosh on re-builds, ANYTHING that had to be moved. Worried more about dropping one of 'em than anything else I had to deal wiith

 

[Pio1980]

I was a big, strapping lad of maybe 40-45 or so. Boat anchors ? .No sweat, you can man-handle 'em easily enuff. Then, & boogered up my rt knee. Lost a bit of my Clydesdale type strength, then. Next, I had a stroke, & Boy...THAT kinda put the kibosh on re-builds, ANYTHING that had to be moved. Worried more about dropping one of 'em than anything else I had to deal wiith

Getting older definitely isn't for the meek, and doesn't take anywhere as long as we thought it would.
For me, it was several hard falls with damaged shoulders and rheumatoid arthritis.
Some do better with aging than others, tho' most days on the sunny side of the dirt are better than the alternative. I was likewise self reliant strong once, good times.

 

[Sandy G]

That little girl Bethany, back in the day, her"Default Position" was draped around my shoulders, getting a decent "Paddling" while I stomped thru the house w/her. Nobody much had ever "Woolled" her like that, & she absolutely ate it up.She was the middle child, & as such, never got as much attention as she would have liked.But I'll never carry on w/her 2 kids like I did w/her, I have a knee that likes to "Collapse", & I NEVER would take a chance on possibly hurting her kids..

 

[EyeGee]

I picked up a TecSun cheapie (don't know the model number) and took it to Southern Spain to attempt to tune in African shortwave. has been pretty disappointing, a lot of those stations don't exist anymore. Most of what I can get is Chinese, not really known for their music broadcasts, are they?

 

[604man]

One of the things I like about the R-390 and 51J series is that the gov. kicked
out so much surplus they can be easily picked up on the bay or hamfests.

I have a 51J3 in the stable , and all it required was a couple of weak tubes to be
replaced , and it came to life. Some of the LO crystals have drifted off frequency
which I unsoldered the can and installed a smaller crystal inside the existing
crystal can. I think Bliley made the crystals for the 51J series.

http://www.navy-radio.com/rcvrs/r388.htm