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How I spend my evenings... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Oceanic It's beat up, torn and worn, but I like it that way. Gives it character. I built an "A" and "B" battery pack for it (six D cells for the tube filaments, and ten nine volts in series for the plates) and love freaking people out when I actually use it as a portable. I've also got three hallicrafers, SX24/SX25 in the basement waiting to be recapped, and a restored sky buddy in my bedroom. MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Oct 7, 2008 |
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Oct 7, 2008 03:33
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 09:34 |
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I was listening to hams chew the rag on 80 meters the other day... My Cat decided that he likes the heat generated by my Hallicrafters SX-24.  Click here for the full 1440x1139 image. MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 04:04 on May 27, 2009 |
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May 27, 2009 04:01
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I've noticed a huge increase in Cuban numbers station activity over the last few days. I've heard ATENCION, twice, and another that uses a live female voice about three times in the last four days, usually somewhere around 6.600-7.000mhz, at around 12-2AM EST. Some of the transmissions last upwards of 45 minutes, and are quite strong, with good modulation. I'm guessing it has something to do with the arrest of the two alleged cuban spies in Washington DC last week. I'll try to record one when I have the radio on later tonight. EDIT: Oh, and another interesting thing. The station that uses a live female voice had what sounds like some kind of data pulses or other form of digital transmission in the background. Turning on the BFO and sliding it slightly off frequency seems to seperate them from the voice transmission. It's definitely not interference from another transmitter, as the pulses end at the exact same time the station completes it's broadcast and the carrier cuts out. MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Jun 9, 2009 |
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Jun 9, 2009 03:32
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I thought you guys would appreciate this. A friend teaching english in Beijing sent it to me knowing I collect vintage radios. I can now say I'm probably one of a handful of people in the US who own a tube radio made in Red China during the mid 60's, in the heat of the cultural revolution. It's a "Plum Flower" 750-A  When I got it, It needed new filter capacitors, a dial drive cord, and a new ECH81 detector/first IF tube. It covers AM/MW and general coverage Shortwave 3-20 MHZ. Strangely enough, despite being built in china at at time when the country was more or less closed to foreign trade, all of the dial scales and labels on this set are printed in English, including the values on indvidual parts, caps, resistors, etc. Supposedly the Communist party had a plan to export electronic products to the west, but it never went anywhere. In terms of construction and quality, it shares a lot more with Japanese and European radios of the mid 1950's than their not so good Russian neighbors to the north. It's actually a half decent performer on Shortwave with a longwire antenna, and due to the 6P1P (soviet block miniature 6V6GT equivalent) audio output tube and big oval speaker, has good sound. I'm currently listening to the evening English broadcast of Radio Habana Cuba as I type this post. MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 03:10 on May 15, 2015 |
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May 15, 2015 03:08
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Jonny 290 posted:words cannot describe how dope that is, holy poo poo I found out after mine arrived that these sets are all over Taobao, the Chinese ebay, and you can get one for yourself for around $100USD shipped, if you're so inclined. Most of them are selling for under $30USD, the shipping is what kills you. You have to use a Taobao agent though. They're English speakers who will purchase the item and then pack and ship it to you VIA air mail.
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May 15, 2015 07:35
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I picked up this interesting little Zenith Portable tube radio a couple of weeks ago. The 1953 L507 Meridian was basically the Poor man's version of the H500 Transoceanic. The Meridian sold for $89 while the Transoceanic H500 sold for around $150. It didn't sell well and as a result is quite rare today. The L507 Meridian covers the AM broadcast band along with two bands covering 1-6MHZ and 6-18MHZ shortwave. Unlike the H500, the Meridian didn't have a complex pushbutton band selection coil stack, but rather a basic rotary bandswitch. Despite being Zenith's low end shortwave portable in the US market, the Meridian was apparently exported to Cuba, Central and South America, North Africa, and The Mideast.  After a Recap, restringing the dial cord, and building a battery pack for it, it plays great. The original Electrolytic capacitor can tested like new on all sections on my ESR tester, and the radio played with no AC hum after the paper capacitors were replaced, so it will stay for the time being.  The 1L6 tube was weak, so I replaced it with one of the solid state versions available on eBay. The SS 1l6 provides better sensitivity and selectivity on the upper Shortwave bands. Also the power cord is twisted all to heck, but the insulation is still pliable, and since I tend I run my old tube portables almost exclusively on batteries, It'll get replaced later. The Radio runs on 6 cheapass Dollar Tree carbon zinc D cells for the filament supply and 10 NIMH 9v's in series for the Plate supply. The filament draw is so low that the D cells last for almost a month of regular listening. My next move is to use a 12V Sealed Lead Acid battery from an emergency lighting system with a 9V regulator or a diode dropper to take the place of the D Cells. Now I can bring Radio Havana Cuba, Brother Stair, and Alex Jones with me wherever I go! MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 09:47 on Aug 14, 2016 |
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Aug 14, 2016 08:49
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There is something hilarious about Radio Havana Cuba using the Black Keys "Tighten Up" as bumper music for their agitprop broadcasts
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Aug 18, 2016 10:26
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 09:34 |
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Hello Shortwave Thread, I just finished another Shortwave related vintage radio project. This time it's a 1945 Detrola 568 Radio. The model 568 was originally designed and built to fill a government contract for a "Morale" Radio for US troops involved in the invasion of mainland Japan (Operation Downfall) in WWII. The war ended before the production contract could be completed, leaving Detrola with thousands of metal cased AM/Shortwave radios painted in olive drab. Detrola decided to make lemonade out of lemons, cut the welded-on carry handles off, paint them hammer-tone silver, and sell them to desperate US consumers who hadn't been able to buy new radios since 1942. This radio was purchased on ebay two weeks ago. on Monday evening I repainted the cabinet in original hammer-tone silver and recapped the chassis. I found a new Detrola decal to replace the one that had been lost to rust and abuse, it's in the mail and should be here soon.  Before Photo: 
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May 20, 2017 08:15
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