Category Archives: Radio

Amateur Radio Audio Course

If you, or someone you know, is interested in getting their amateur radio license, I am the author of a study guide for starting class of license, the Technician license. The test requires some study, but not much, since it consists of 35 multiple-choice questions. The passing score is 26.

My study guide is available at Amazon, either as a paperback or as a Kindle eBook. Most people will be able to pass the test by reading the book one time. Since different people learn different ways, I’ve decided to supplement the book with a series of audio lessons. I recommend reading the book, but many will be able to pass the test simply by listening to the lessons. They are available for free download at the following links:

Chapter 1: Basic Electricity and Electronics
- Part 1 41:25
- Part 2 6:50
Chapter 2: Radio Waves 18:56
Chapter 3: Antennas 19:03
Chapter 4: Propagation of Radio Waves 12:40
Chapter 5: Radio Equipment & Setting Up a Station 14:31
Chapter 6: Different Modes 11:55
Chapter 7: Different Operating Activities 5:34
Chapter 8: Operating Procedures 9:09
Chapter 9: FCC Rules 10:25
Chapter 10: Safety 7:47
Chapter 11: Miscellaneous 5:02

I also have study guides for other amateur and commercial licenses at my website.

Product Review: GPX Model R300S AM-FM Portable Armband Radio

I recently acquired the inexpensive radio shown here, a GPX Portable Armband Radio, model number R300S. I bought it at Walmart, and it’s also available at Amazon. It’s a very inexpensive AM-FM radio, but of astonishingly good quality for the price. It measures about 4 by 2 by 1 inches. It has a digital tuner with LCD display, and also features an alarm clock which displays the time when the radio is turned off. The WalMart product description incorrectly states that it has an analog tuning control. Instead, it has plus and minus buttons that you use to tune the digital display up and down the dial. It comes with an armband, although this can be removed to turn it into a nice pocket-sized radio. It does not have a speaker, but has a stereo headphone jack and comes with a set of earbuds.

I didn’t use them, but the radio does have a number of preset memories. I simply used the up-and-down tuning and didn’t bother with the memories.

The Need for a Cheap Receiver

I purchased it from Walmart because I needed it quickly and didn’t have time to order online. My pastor will be traveling to Africa to visit a remote congregation with which we partner. Our denomination also helps sponsor an FM radio station in the closest city. I do not know whether it is possible to receive the signal at “our” church in the remote village. Therefore, I wanted her to do a test to see if it’s possible. If she is able to receive even a weak signal, then it will be an easy matter to send some solar radios and perhaps an external antenna so that they can listen on a regular basis.

Therefore, I had to quickly find a suitable radio that I could send with her. And despite all of the radios I have lying around the house, I didn’t have exactly the right thing. It needed to meet the following criteria:

It had to be small. I’m sure her suitcase will be packed to the brim, not only with her personal belongings, but with other gifts to leave.
It had to have digital tuning. The person doing the experiment for me is not a radio expert. To do the experiment, the radio needs to be set to the exact frequency, and then moved around to see if any signal comes up out of the noise. This wouldn’t be possible with an analog dial.
It had to be relatively cheap.
It had to be sensitive. I’m unsure of the exact distance, but the station we want to receive is miles away, and only puts out 1 kW. Therefore, it had to be a good tuner. Selectivity probably isn’t important, since there will be few, if any, other FM signals.

I found the GPX R300S at WalMart for about $8. It met the first three criteria, and I hoped against hope that it would meet the fourth. It was in stock at the local WalMart store, so I ordered online and picked it up at the store about an hour later while doing some other shopping.

Surprisingly Good on Both AM and FM

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this is an extremely good tuner on both AM and FM. I only had time to play with it for a few minutes, but it did pull in all of the local FM stations, even weak ones, with no difficulty. If any commercial receiver is going to pull in the station we want to hear, then this one probably will. If it gets absolutely nothing, then I’m satisfied that a more expensive receiver won’t, at least without a high antenna.

It wasn’t necessary for this particular experiment, but I was also astonished at how good an AM receiver this set is. Unfortunately, in most cheap radios these days, the AM receiver is tossed in as an afterthought (if it’s included at all), and is only able to pick up the strongest local stations. I did the test at night, and was astonished to see that the radio was pulling in something on almost every 10 kHz channel. I was able to positively ID WSM Nashville and KFAB Omaha from my Minnesota location. Those stations are obviously powerhouses, but in my experience, most cheap AM receivers these days are not able to pull them in. The internal AM antenna was very directional, and I was able to easily null out signals by turning the radio.

Selectivity was also remarkably good for such an inexpensive set. Local 50 kilowatt blowtorch WCCO is on 830 kHz, and on many cheap radios spills over onto the adjacent channel. But I was able to hear another station faintly on 840, with no sign of interference from WCCO.

Has 100 kHz Tuning Steps on FM, But Only 10 kHz Steps on AM

The station we want to hear in Africa is on FM, so the AM performance wasn’t necessary for my test. But it was amazing how well it worked on that band. Unfortunately, the radio tunes only in 10 kHz steps, covering the AM band in the Americas, where all stations’ frequencies end in zero. Unfortunately, in the Eastern Hemisphere, stations are 9 kHz apart. Some frequencies are used in common, e.g., 540, 630, 720, etc. And some stations will be off by only 1 kHz, e.g., 549, 621, 639, etc. But some stations will be off by as much as 5 kHz, e.g., 585, 675, etc., and will be very difficult to tune. This is one case where an analog tuner would be better. I suspect it’s probably possible to modify this receiver to tune in 9 kHz steps. After all, they probably sell a similar version elsewhere in the world. But the instruction manual didn’t hint at any method of doing this.

The station we need to tune in happens to be on a frequency that is also used in the Americas. In other words, it’s on an “odd” frequency following the 200 kHz separation band plan, namely 96.7. Therefore, any North American receiver would have worked. This radio, however, does tune in 100 kHz steps and includes the “even” frequencies, such as 96.8, that are also used in the Eastern Hemisphere. Therefore, it will be able to tune in all local stations.

Usefulness in Rural Africa

I told my pastor to leave the radio as a gift with someone in Africa, since there’s no good reason for the set to make a round trip. If it’s not useful in the village where our partner congregation is located, it will certainly be useful in the city, where there are a number of FM stations, and she’ll have an opportunity to leave it there. The AM stations are more distant, and hopefully the radio will be able to pull at least some of them in at night. I noticed one of them in the nation’s capital was on a frequency ending in zero, so it least it will be able to pick up that one at night. The radio also contains an alarm clock, and I set it to the Eastern Africa time zone.

Unfortunately, it won’t be of much use after the batteries run out. It uses two AAA cells. It’s unlikely that those are available in the village. They almost certainly are available in the city, but I’m not sure at what price. I included two extra sets of batteries, which I assume will allow it to work for a few months of listening an hour or two a day. A solar radio would be much more suitable, and if we send any in the future, that’s what I will use.

Bottom Line

Most of the online reviews are favorable, but a few are not. So it’s possible that quality control is not the greatest, and that some units do not perform as well as mine. But for the low price, it’s certainly worth the risk. For the price, the GPX model R300S Portable Armband Radio is a very solid performer. If you need a cheap radio that still pulls in both AM and FM stations well, this radio is what you need.

Note: Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on the link.

Radio Direction Finding

Sixty years ago this month, the June 1959 issue of Electronics World carried a good basic introduction to marine direction finding (DF). The cover image shows a number of commercially made DF units, and the article explains how they work.

While the technology looks archaic, it actually still works quite well, and will continue to do so as long as there are AM radio stations on the air. While commercial direction finders are no longer readily available, virtually any AM radio will work well, as long as the antenna is directional. And if the radio has an internal loop antenna, it will be directional.

For example, the inexpensive portable shown at the right will perform very well. (It’s available at Amazon at this link, but any other inexpensive portable will work just as well.) You simply rotate the radio until the signal is the weakest. At that point, the internal antenna (usually in parallel with the top of the radio) is in a straight line with a station. You place a ruler on the map over that station’s location, and draw a line in that direction. You repeat the process with a second station, and where the lines meet is your location. You’ll need to orient the map, so if you don’t know what way is North, it’s a good idea to have an inexpensive compass. And you don’t really need a ruler. You place the map on a table oriented with the Earth–the top of the map facing North–and then use the top of the radio as your ruler.

This method is surprisingly accurate. It’s very easy to find your location within a mile, and with some practice, you’ll be able to narrow it down even more. It’s not quite as accurate as GPS, but if GPS ever becomes unavailable for any reason, this is an excellent backup method. The example shown at the left is typical. By knowing the exact location of radio stations in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Benton Harbor, MI, the boat can find its location within a few hundred yards.

Radio station locations are shown on maritime and aeronautical charts. You can also find the exact locations of AM radio stations from the FCC database.

The Windsor Mystery Hum

Zug Island. Wikipedia photo.

Starting in about 2011, residents of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, reporting hearing what came to be called the “Windsor Hum.” The mysterious and annoying sound comes and goes, but it is a low-pitched sound of about 30-35 Hz with an apparent range of several miles. It’s often described as being similar to a truck idling nearby.

Long suspected as the source of the sound is Zug Island, an artificial island in the Detroit River, on the U.S. side of the international border.

Samuel Zug. Carlisle, PA, Sentinel 8 Dec. 1905 .

Named after an early owner, Samuel Zug, the island was formed from a natural peninsula where he originally intended to build a luxurious estate. The swampy character of the land led him to abandon the idea, and he instead used it for industrial purposes. In 1888, he allowed a small canal to be cut, turning the peninsula into an island, and this canal was enlarged by Henry Ford in the 1920s for easier river access to the River Rouge Ford plant.

The island became a site of iron making as early as 1901, and the entire island is currently part of United States Steel Corporation’s Great Lakes Works. The portion of the plant on the island produces iron, which is processed into steel at facilities in Ecorse, MI, a couple of miles south. The island facility includes three blast vessels, which are believed by many to be the source of the sound.

Google Maps.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources concluded in 2011 that Zug Island was the source of the mystery sound. A 2014 report by researchers at the University of Windsor also concluded that the blast furnace operations on Zug Island were the likely source. However, because the intermittent sound was not present on days when some of the research equipment was deployed, the report found that “conclusive evidence of the source was not achieved.”

Interestingly, Zug Island also bears the distinction of being the scheduled destination of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on her last voyage in 1975. Contrary to the artistic license taken by the song, she wasn’t “fully loaded for Cleveland.”

According to one published report (QST for May 2019), Zug Island is “governed by Homeland Security,” although I’ve found no evidence of this. As with any industrial plant, access is not granted to non-employees to come in and take a look around. Therefore, it’s understandable that the two bridges to the plant are “heavily guarded” as the article claims. The “governed by Homeland Security” claim probably arises from the fact that some of the “No Trespassing” signs posted by U.S. Steel, in an apparent attempt to add emphasis, include language that “under Homeland Security, any individual within 100′ of a docked ship must possess a TWIC card.” Since ships obviously dock on the island to load and unload cargo, this Homeland Security regulation comes into play, as it would at any maritime facility.

The existence of the hum has given rise to a certain amount of citizen science to collaborate in the identification and elimination of the hum. Much of this is carried out in a Facebook group created in response to official inaction.

If you want to hear the hum yourself, it is available at the following video, posted by the Facebook group’s founder . To listen, however, you will need a speaker system or headphones with very good bass response, in order to reproduce the 30-35 Hz. With typical computer speakers or headphones, you will not be able to hear the sound.

Conspiracy buffs might be disappointed, but while the source of the hum has not been pinned down with absolute precision, the likely source has been identified.

Additional References

Author’s Note: This post is obviously a bit off-topic, since we normally discuss radio history at this blog. (However, we’re prone to branch off into seemingly unrelated topics, so this isn’t the first time we’ve done so.)

The reason why I posted this article is because QST, the membership journal of the American Radio Relay League, published in its May 2019 issue a similar article. I had a number of criticisms of the article, to the point where I thought that I could do a better job myself. So rather than simply criticize, I decided to go ahead and write my own article. The original QST article is probably more polished, as the result of better editing. But even though I wrote it in a day based upon online research, I think mine is better. Here are my concerns with the QST article:

First and foremost, every issue of QST carries on its masthead the words “devoted entirely to amateur radio.” This article, while perhaps interesting, really has nothing whatsoever to do with Amateur Radio. Notably, the author is not a ham, and probably not an ARRL member. Yet three valuable pages of the membership journal were devoted to this off-topic information (and one of those pages consisted of a stock photo). While the article might have covered a topic that was interesting to some members (including myself), it seems like a poor use of such valuable real estate. After all, most members are paying almost $50 per year for membership, and a good portion of that amount is earmarked for the magazine. It might have been a good choice to go on the ARRL website, but putting it in print seems to me to be poor use of membership resources. The editors appear to have noticed this, as they did interview a local ham, who reported that the hum hadn’t affected his radio operations, and that he didn’t know of any other hams who were affected in any way.

More importantly, Amateur Radio is a technical hobby, and if members are interested in this topic, then it stands to reason that they are probably interested in the technological aspects. On this point, the article really lets them down. It uses vaguely “conspiracy theory” oriented language rather than any technical facts. A few trappings of science are included. For example, it includes a graph purporting to show the sound wave. But no explanation is given of the waveform, much less any explanation of how the graph was produced. It’s undoubtedly an oscillograph of a waveform picked up by microphone, but the article doesn’t explain where, when, or how. In fact, the illustration inexplicably shows two copies of the same graph, one on top of the other. Significantly, the article lacked any footnotes or references where the reader might learn more.

And as noted in my article, the article makes the claim that the island is “governed by Homeland Security.” Then, in conspiracy-theory tradition, it goes on to pose questions as to why Homeland Security would be involved, but doesn’t answer those questions.

Also, my first reading of the article left me confused as to whether Zug Island was located in the United States or in Canada. When I started reading, I assumed that the article was talking about a Canadian island. After reading to the end, I correctly guessed that the island was actually on the U.S. side of the border. But I didn’t know for sure until I did independent research.

Other than being written by the producer of a “popular podcast,” I have no idea why this article appeared in QST. I don’t mind the occasional foray into off-topic material. In fact, I enjoy the “Eclectic Technology” column which usually covers non-radio technology that is still of interest to hams. The reason why that column works is because the author knows that readers will be interested in scientific and technical topics.

An article about the Windsor Hum would be at home in a magazine with a broad audience such as Popular Science. But even the editors of such a general-interest magazine would pay more attention to accurately reporting facts, rather than merely hinting at conspiracy theories. And QST readers certainly deserve better.

DE W0IS.

SWLing Hurricane Florence

If you have a shortwave receiver (or even if you don’t), here are some frequencies you can keep in mind for tuning in to information about Hurricane Florence. Modern news media do an admirable job of getting the information out, but there’s something to be said for being able to tune in first-hand reports directly.

The best option is the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN), a group of amateur radio operators who will be on the air more or less continuously during the storm, taking reports from stations in the affected areas. Since most hams are able to get on the air without commercial power, this is often the first source of reports from damaged areas.

HWN formed informally during Hurricane Betsy in 1965, and now becomes active any time a hurricane approaches populated areas.

You can tune in to HWN on 14.325 MHz Upper Sideband (USB). An alternate frequency, which will be more active during the evening hours, is 7.268 MHz, Lower Sideband (LSB). Conditions on 20 Meters (14 MHz) have been poor in recent days, so it’s likely that there will be more reliance on the 7.268 MHz frequency.

Health and welfare messages from those affected by the hurricane will be heard on the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN), which will meet on 14.265 MHz USB.

If you have a shortwave receiver, you’ll want to tune to these frequencies for live updates. Even if you don’t own a receiver, there are many connected to the web, and you can listen online. Simply go WebSDR.org, find a receiver in North America, and tune to these frequencies.

For updated information about amateur radio involvement in the hurricane response, please check the ARRL news page.

You can also listen to live streams of many NOAA weather stations at this link.

ARRL Petition for Technician Digital & Voice HF Privileges

The ARRL recently made a Petition for Rulemaking with the FCC. The request boils down to giving Technician class licensees some phone and digital privileges on 80, 40, and 15 meters.

I think this is long overdue, since it will allow Technicians, holders of what is now the entry-level license in Amateur Radio, some minimal but meaningful privileges on HF, similar to what I had as a beginner over 40 years ago.

The Entry-Level License in 1974

When I was first licensed, the entry level license was the Novice class. I had to pass a simple multiple-choice test, as well as a simple 5 WPM code test. When I did so at the age of 12, I was allowed meaningful HF privileges. And in my case, it wasn’t until I actually received the privileges that I realized how meaningful they were.

Before I got the license, I realized conceptually that hams could communicate around the world. But I didn’t really believe it. I assumed, incorrectly it turns out, that to really get out, you needed a lot of power and/or a big antenna. I assumed, incorrectly it turns out, that with 75 watts and a wire antenna, I would be able to get out locally, and maybe with good conditions, I might make occasional contacts with the next state. But I didn’t really believe that I would be able to communicate around the country and around the world on a regular basis.

Nobody told me this. In fact, I was told the opposite. But I didn’t quite believe it. I didn’t believe it until I actually got on the air. When I did get on the air, I was soon filling up my log with contacts from all over the United States. Eventually, when I discovered 15 meters, I was getting out all over the world, all with 75 watts and some wire in the air.

What got me licensed in the first place was a somewhat undefined interest in radio and electronics. What got me hooked was the realization of how much fun it was to bounce my radio waves off the ionosphere whenever I wanted. New licensees need the same thing to get hooked today, but it’s not readily available.

The Entry-Level License Today

New hams today don’t have this same opportunity. The entry-level license is now the Technician license, with privileges mostly on VHF. As a practical matter, this means that most of them get an inexpensive handheld such as the Baofeng UV-5R shown here.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this radio. In fact, for the price, it’s amazing what it will do, and I’ve written about it previously. But this is the opposite of how I got started. I started on HF, and was able to bounce signals off the ionosphere, an activity that greatly exceeded my expectations. From the very first day I was licensed, I was able to interfere with Radio Moscow, and I did! Only after I had upgraded, to either General or Technician, was I able to get on VHF. At the time, that was something of an incentive, because there was a great deal of local repeater activity. Long before the age of cell phones, I was able to communicate with a handheld device, and even make phone calls. But an HT such as this really doesn’t have much capability beyond that of even the cheapest cell phone. It’s hardly an upgrade. In fact, in many areas, 2 meter FM is practically vacant. Repeaters are still up and running, but there are generally only the same handful of local operators day in and day out.

Technicians are also currently allowed to use SSB and data on 10 meters. This is somewhat of an improvement, since this band occasionally opens up to worldwide communications. Unfortunately, it’s not open most of the time. This is very different from my experience as a novice. With just one band, 40 meters, I could talk to someone almost any hour of the day or night. During the day, it would be 500 miles or so. At night, it would be over most of the continent.

Current technicians are also currently allowed to use CW (Morse code) on 80, 40, and 15 meters, and I think they should take advantage of this opportunity. But unfortunately, unlike when I was first licensed, there aren’t too many people willing or able to teach them the code and help them get on the air. And there’s also the question of price, since the cost of a radio for CW (or SSB) is often considerably more than the cost of a digital radio.

Digital Modes for New Licensees

The ARRL’s proposal will allow new licensees to do exactly what I did over 40 years ago: With inexpensive equipment, they would be able to get on the air immediately with digital signals on the lower HF bands. They would be immediately bouncing signals off the ionosphere, just like I did 40 years ago.

This can currently be done with equipment that costs about $125, assuming that they already own a computer, tablet, or smartphone. If there was a demand for the product, there would be other models available, probably at a lower price, and it would also be possible for them to make it in a group-build of a kit project.

UT5JCW Digital Transceiver.

Currently, the only standalone digital rig available are a set of transceivers produced by UT5JCW in Ukraine. They plug directly into a computer, and can be used for all digital modes, including JT65, FT8, and PSK31. They require only a simple antenna, which could be as simple as a quarter-wave piece of wire strung in the backyard. For 40 meters, the band I would recommend for a beginner, this would be 33 feet long.

With a radio such as this one, a new ham could be on the air almost immediately, making meaningful contacts all around the country. It would be a much more meaningful introduction to ham radio than simply talking with the same handful of locals on a 2 meter repeater.

And the cost could be very comparable. As noted above, the only radio currently on the market costs $125 shipped from Ukraine. But this hasn’t always been the case. Until several years ago, a kit called the PSK Warbler was available in kit form for about $40. With guidance (perhaps as part of a licensing class), construction of such a kit was within the expertise of even a beginner.

I think that there could be a very meaningful introduction to ham radio if beginners were able to get their license and start out right away with a radio such as this one. It would be more or less the functional equivalent of how I got started on 40 meter CW 40 years ago.

Is Today’s Test Really Easier?

One argument against changing the rules is that the test has allegedly been “dumbed down” over the years, and that beginners should not be given HF privileges until they have taken a test that is sufficiently difficult.

However, this argument is based on a false premise. When I took the test for the entry-level test in early 1974 at the age of 12, it was much easier than the current Technician exam. I had to take a 20 question multiple choice test. That test was very easy: I had to memorize the meaning of some new vocabulary words (such as “pecuniary”). I had to learn some pieces of trivia. For example, I had to know that transistors were made out of silicone and geranium. (Actually, it turns out that it’s silicon and germanium, but that was close enough.)

Transistor raw materials. USDA photo.

I had to memorize a few equations, such as Ohm’s law. I didn’t need to understand what was going on. I needed to know, for example, that if the question included the words “Volts” and “Ohms”, then I needed to divide Volts by Ohms, and that was the right answer. I also had to memorize the formula for the length of a dipole antenna, 468/f.

I was well aware that there was going to be one complicated word problem on the test. This appears as question number 46 below, which called for me to calculate the input power to a final amplifier stage. I knew to an absolute certainty that this question was going to be on the test, and it was there, more or less verbatim. The only thing that changed was the actual numbers. I had to ignore the filament numbers. Like any word problem, irrelevant information was included. I had to multiply screen voltage and screen current, and then multiply plate voltage times plate current. Then, I added up those numbers, and also added drive power. And sure enough, when I did this, even if I didn’t really understand what was going on, that number was one of the multiple-choice answers.

To give some idea of how easy the novice test was, I scanned the novice questions and answers from the 1975 license manual. By simply reading these six pages, and making sure that some critical facts were memorized, it was almost certain that anyone attempting the test could pass with flying colors, even if, like me, they didn’t really understand most of the material.

Here are those six pages from the 1975 license manual. These questions might have changed slightly from when I took it in 1974, but they are almost identical. (To download these pages to your computer as a PDF file, use this link.)

As you can see, there are a couple of questions in the study guide asking you to draw a particular circuit. However, the exam was strictly multiple choice, and it was known in advance that it was multiple choice. So there might have been a question with the drawing asking to name a part, or identify a missing part. But I didn’t have to draw any diagrams, and I knew going in that I wouldn’t have to.

Basically, just about anyone could have passed the Novice license test 40 years ago after reading these six pages. I’m the author of a study guide for the current Technician exam, and I use 160 pages to explain the material. Yes, I probably go into a bit more detail than the License Manual did 40 years ago, but I didn’t include much excess details. Based upon my familiarity with both exams, I would say that the test I took was a lot easier, yet it gave me the opportunity to interfere with Radio Moscow.

In other words, it’s simply not true that the entry-level license test today is easier than it was 40 years ago. It’s not much more difficult, but I was never required to take a difficult test before getting on HF. There’s no reason why the same thing shouldn’t be true today.

$5 Portable AM-FM Radio Kit!

While looking for something else, I discovered this product which I suspect will be of interest to many readers. It is a kit for a pocket AM-FM radio that looks like a real consumer product, albeit a very cheap version of a consumer product. It bears the impressive Paeansonic brand name. When the radio is complete, it won’t look like a kit. It will look just like it rolled off the Paeansonic assembly line in China!

The best part is that you can get the kit direct from China for just over $5, including shipping. It is available from Fasttech, a distributor in Hong Kong of electronic devices, parts, and a wide variety of other goods. I’ve ordered from them many times in the past, and have always had a good experience. Amazingly, shipping all the way from China is usually free. Occasionally, when I check out, I’ll need to pay a dollar or two in shipping, but on most orders, there is no added cost for shipping. Orders generally arrive in 2-3 weeks by registered mail, having been deposited in the mail in Singapore. Payment is by PayPal, although I believe you can use a credit card if you don’t have a PayPal account. Despite my original trepidation of buying direct from China, all of my experiences have been good.

This radio kit sells for $5.25 (and an additional 10% off coupon code is explained below), and it’s obviously more of a novelty than a high-quality radio. I have not ordered one yet, but there are a number of videos and websites showing how to put it together, and that it works after assembly. It appears to work about as well as you would expect a $5 radio to work, but it does seem to pull in both AM and FM stations.

Despite the apparent simplicity of this kit, it does not appear to be something for the first-time kit builder. The parts are very small, and it includes a surface-mount IC that requires a delicate touch to get it soldered in place. It also requires a bit of alignment, which might not be intuitive to someone with no prior experience. If you’re new to electronics, or buying a kit for someone who is, then I would recommend one of the other kits shown at the bottom of this page.

But if you want a cheap kit to put together, that looks like a real (albeit cheap) product, this seems to fit the bill. And if it doesn’t work when you’re done, you’re only out $5!

Fasttech also offers this model for $7.50, shown at left. It appears to offer slightly more circuitry, and in theory might pull in a few more stations than the cheaper model. However, it lacks the trusted Paeansonic brand name. Instead, most of the markings are in Chinese. It does have one nice touch in that the FM dial is reportedly calibrated in “kMHz”.

The instructions are in Chinese, but this website has an excellent set of instructions for assembling and aligning the kit. This page also has some pointers. To get some idea of what you’re getting yourself into, the following videos will be helpful:

As noted above, this kit probably isn’t for beginners. On the other hand, it’s only $5, so if you want something to practice on, you don’t have much to lose. But if you’re looking for something for a beginner in electronics, there are better options.

For an absolute beginner, you can’t go wrong with a kit like the one shown here, which is available on Amazon. This one does require soldering, but it’s well within the capabilities of any beginner, and there’s very little that can go wrong with the completed circuit. It will do a reasonably good job of pulling in FM stations.

If you don’t own a soldering iron, this FM radio kit comes complete with a soldering iron and the other tools you’ll need to put it together.

And if you want something really simple that even the youngest kid can put together, then I recommend the Snap Circuit FM radio kit shown at the right. As the name implies, the parts just snap together, and it’s foolproof.

If you’re interested in the kind of radio from the early days of radio, which is still a solid performer, then you might consider the two-tube regenerative receiver kit shown at left, which will pull in both AM and shortwave stations at a reasonable price.

And of course, this site contains many plans for simple receivers, both crystal sets and powered radios. You can find them by browsing my radio history pages. For ideas on where to get the parts, see my crystal set parts page.

If you’re interested in the Paeansonic kit, I’ll probably have a few available for sale at Ozarkcon in April. However, the price will probably be $10. So if you want it cheaper and faster, I encourage you to get yours direct from China!

Fasttech is currently on its holiday schedule due to the Chinese New Year and will reopen on February 22. Orders will be taken during that time and shipping will start on February 22. During this time, Fasttech is offering a coupon for 15% off orders of $150 or more, or 10% off for all orders. Orders must be placed by February 20, and you must use the coupon code KUNGHEI.

(Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, meaning that we get a small advertising fee if you purchase after clicking on the links.)

See Us at Ozarkcon!

This year, we will have a table at OzarkCon, at
which hams gather for two days of QRP (low power) related activities. Activities include a kit-building session, at which we will construct a 30 meter (10 MHz) transceiver, various seminars, a QRP flea market, music sessions, and more. Ozarkcon is sponsored by the Four State QRP Group (4SQRP). Even though this is my first Ozarkcon, it will be a bit of a homecoming, since I was present at the very first 4SQRP meeting in Seneca, MO, in 2002.

Ozarkcon is held the first weekend of April (this year, April 6-7, 2018) at The Stone Castle Hotel & Conference Centerin Branson, Missouri.

One of the trademark events at Ozarkcon is the Wacky Key Contest, an event designed to encourage non-traditional Morse code keys made out of things such as toasters. For inspiration, we offer this design from Joe Binko, who sent it in to Radio Craft magazine in February 1943.

We’re not sure if it’s wacky enough for first place, but we’re sure Binko’s design would have been in the running had OzarkCon been in existence in 1943. He converted a phone jack (presumably, a quarter-inch model) into a key by carefully cutting it apart, mounting it to a base, and extending one of the contacts. You should get the general idea from the diagram.

Among the big names attending is legendary sound engineer Bob Heil, K9EID, of Heil Sound, the only manufacturer to have an exhibit at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

For more information about OzarkCon, visit their website or Facebook group.

Update (Feb. 18): When we checked today, all single rooms at the Stone Castle were fully booked. (After I posted this, someone else posted that some rooms were still available. So it’s probably worth a phone call. See the OzarkCon hotel page for information.) We will be staying at the nearby
Branson Surrey Inn. When we booked, rooms were only $42 per night, and it is located within walking distance of Ozarkcon.

1950 Soviet “Simplest Shortwave Receiver”

We previously promised that we would be showing you more of this fascinating little book, and here it is!

The book in question is the 1950 Soviet book Простейший коротковолновый приемник (The simplest short-wave receiver) by V.A. Egorov, UA3AB, part of the series Библиотека юного конструктора (Library of the young designer), a series of small books published between 1937 and 1964 showing various construction projects, many related to radio.

After a few pages of introduction to shortwave radio, the book jumps right into a description of the circuit. As the title of the book promises, the receiver is simple but elegant. It uses a 6Н9М dual triode (that’s Cyrillic text, so you would read it as 6N9M), one half being used as regenerative detector, with the other half as audio amplifier. The set employed plug-in coils, and was designed to tune the 40 and 20 meter ham bands. (For those wishing to duplicate the set with Western parts, the tube appears to be equivalent to a 6SL7.)

The neatly constructed final product is shown below:

If the book were published in the West, it would probably end there, along with a reminder that you needed to go to your friendly radio dealer or even drug store to buy a B battery for the plate voltage, and an A battery to light the filament. But in the Soviet Union, it probably wasn’t a sure thing that you could find the battery. So the book describes four methods to get the power.

The first two methods are power supplies that the reader could build, both of which are more complex than the receiver itself. Both rely mostly on factory-made parts, but the second set of plans includes instructions for winding the filament transformer at home, with the B+ being rectified directly from the AC line:

But even if the aspiring young Soviet radio fan wound his own transformer, getting the rectifier tube could be problematic. Therefore, the third method of powering the receiver could be very attractive. Chances are, the home was already equipped with a broadcast radio, and the broadcast radio had a perfectly good power supply inside. So the third method involves simply tapping into it by unplugging one of the tubes, and powering the shortwave set right from the socket. The young SWL just needed to locate the 6Ф6 tube in the family radio, remove the tube, plug his radio into the socket, and his radio would come to life! Presumably, the other family members would be supportive of the SWL’s new hobby, and forego listening to the broadcast radio as he tuned the short waves.

The fourth method recognizes that some builders might have enough connections so that they can simply go out and buy the battery. In this case, a БАС-80 battery is required.

After recommending an antenna of 25-30 meters in length, the book jumps into some discussion of how to tune the amateur bands. It notes, for example, that the 40 meter band can be expected to yield stations about 900-1000 kilometers away, with 20 meters pulling in stations more than 1000 km distant. It explains some of what the listener will hear. For example, in addition to listing some foreign call sign prefixes, it notes that UA call signs are in the RSFSR, UB calls are from Ukraine, and so forth.

It mentions some example SWL call signs, and even shows a reproduction of an SWL card from an SWL in Belarus, with the call sign of UC-2-2002, complete with the familiar address of Box 88 Moscow. Presumably, the text explains exactly how the young listener goes about getting such a call sign and getting his SWL cards printed, but I’m unable to read the text.

The book concludes with a table showing common Q-signals, common CW abbreviations, and the following listing of Soviet and European call sign prefixes.

The UA-UR prefixes for the various Soviet republics are listed at the left, with the right column showing the prefixes of Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, France, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Italy, Britain, Sweden, Holland, Norway, and Germany.

The SWL card shown above is for reception of UA3AB, and a search for that call sign reveals that it was held by the author of the book, V.A. Egorov.

You can read more about this receiver at this link at the site of VA3ZNW (ex-UA3ZNW, ex-UA3-117-386). He has a fascinating story of building this set in the 1970’s at the age of 13, and using it to tune in the Voice of America and Radio Liberty. Even though the Soviets extensively jammed those stations, they didn’t bother jamming them on 16 and 13 meters, since Soviet receivers didn’t tune those bands. But with the little one-tube homebrew set, they came in loud and clear.

International Grid Chase Update

As I previously posted, during 2018, the ARRL is conducting an Amateur Radio event known as the International Grid Chase. The event is a friendly competition to see who can work the most grid squares on any band or mode.

A grid square is a division of the earth into sectors one degree latitude by two degrees longitude. Each one is designated by a four character identifier. For example, I live in EN34

After I wrote my previous post, the official rules for the event were announced. And contrary to my initial interpretation, it is important to work grids on as many bands and modes as possible, since points are awarded for each grid on a new band or mode.

With my modest station, I’m certainly not in the big leagues. But with a very modest effort, I now have 100 grids confirmed, as shown on the map above. And because I have some of them confirmed on more than one band or mode, I have a total of 162 points, placing me in about 1953rd place out of 17287. That places me in about the top 11%, which I consider to be respectable given a modest station and limited time.

Interestingly, on a later update of the Leader Board shortly after writing this, I see that I am now tied with W1AW for 1928th place. Strangely enough, this is the second time I’ve been tied with the ARRL’s Headquarters station:

Points are awarded as the contact is confirmed on Logbook of the World (LOTW). Since confirmations continue to filter in, this score will continue to rise.

Most of my contacts so far came from two contests, the CW and SSB weekends of the North American QSO Party. A majority of contesters seem to participate in LOTW. Therefore, by making as many contacts as possible, the score continues to rise. As you can see from the map above, most of my contacts are from the United States, with a smattering of contacts from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The handful of European contacts I’ve made so far have not yet confirmed on LOTW.

So far, I have no digital contacts. So at the very least, I’ll need to get set up for PSK31, which requires only very minimal hardware between the computer and radio. Every contact I make will be worth one point, since I have yet to work any grids in a digital mode.

Two upcoming contests are worthy of note. Next weekend is the Minnesota QSO Party, which has participation in all or most Minnesota counties. It will be a good opportunity to get the 26 grids which lie completely or partially in Minnesota. Other state QSO parties later in the year will provide similar opportunities.

And the ARRL DX Contest (CW in February and SSB in March) will provide a lot of new grids, since almost everything outside the U.S. will be new for me.

To follow your own progress, a good tool is the N1KDO Grid Mapper, which was used to generate the map at the top of the page. When I started as a Novice, one common activity for new novices was to color in a “Worked All States Map,” which was nothing more than an outline map of the United States. The process of coloring in a map can be addictive, and I often find myself refreshing the map to see if other confirmations have come in, with another square turned red.

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