supermatelot
LE
@endure any chance you could post a pic of your setup please?
Crystal sets, POW radios, spy sets & radio related thread
- Thread starter Electromagnetic
- Start date
LE
endure
GCM
Radio: Plugs into the USB port on your PC
This has now been superceded by the RSP1A
Antenna: Cheap and cheerful loop. If you've got a big garden a long piece of wire will do as a starter.
Reviews of the Low Cost MLA-30 Wide Band HF Magnetic Loop Antenna
Recently Chinese manufacturers have begun producing a low cost wide band (100 kHz - 30 MHz) magnetic loop HF antenna known as the MLA-30. The loop can be found on eBay for under US$45 with free shipping. In the past wide band HF loop antennas have not been cheap, normally costing $300+ dollars...
www.rtl-sdr.com
All the real work is done by the software on the PC which is a bit hard to get you head round at first but there's a full suite of videos on on Youtube that explains it all.
SDRplayHamGuides
www.youtube.com
The RSP1a is nothing like the Lowe or any other conventional receiver. It's far more capable.
If you yearn for the old days keep your eye out for a Lowe or FRG7 on Ebay.
If you want a palm sized plastic box that can do anything from listening to GQD talking to the nuclear fleet on 19.6KHz (although you won't know what they're saying
) to listening to NOAA satellites and much else in between get yourself an SDRPlay. Designed and made in the UK with super support and a brilliant series of videos made by a Yank called Mike 
Here's mine...
supermatelot
LE
Radio: Plugs into the USB port on your PC
This has now been superceded by the RSP1A
Antenna: Cheap and cheerful loop. If you've got a big garden a long piece of wire will do as a starter.
Reviews of the Low Cost MLA-30 Wide Band HF Magnetic Loop Antenna
Recently Chinese manufacturers have begun producing a low cost wide band (100 kHz - 30 MHz) magnetic loop HF antenna known as the MLA-30. The loop can be found on eBay for under US$45 with free shipping. In the past wide band HF loop antennas have not been cheap, normally costing $300+ dollars...www.rtl-sdr.com
All the real work is done by the software on the PC which is a bit hard to get you head round at first but there's a full suite of videos on on Youtube that explains it all.
SDRplayHamGuides
The RSP1a is nothing like the Lowe or any other conventional receiver. It's far more capable.
If you yearn for the old days keep your eye out for a Lowe or FRG7 on Ebay.
If you want a palm sized plastic box that can do anything from listening to GQD talking to the nuclear fleet on 19.6KHz (although you won't know what they're saying
Here's mine...
View attachment 502241
Cheers!!
I think I'll be a bit busy on YouTube for the next few hours now...
endure
GCM
The difference between old and new is that with old you have to tune up and down to try and find anything which gets boring after a while.
With new you've got a screen full of stations in front of you that you can choose from.
Amazing we found anything without recourse to schedules or digital displays ;-p
supermatelot
LE
I'm probably gonna go with what your setup is. Wrt the Lowe etc...I never really knew my grandad...maybe having something where I could 'be' 'do' what he got up to for even a minute. Nostalgia etc.
I also have 3 kids, and a wife who will put the blockers on any extravagent spending!
What do you use for an aerial?
I might get one myself, having put it off for long enough but I won't be buying a Chinese aerial. Make sure you get the correct antenna adaptor and so on.
Border_Reiver
ADC
Be retro ... buy a Tennis Ball ... attach some fine string ... throw over the roof of the house ... tie on a long wire antennae .... the rest is history .
I am totally blown out by the frequency range and associated software functionality of the RSP1A ... and all in a " Little Black Box " .
An issue these days is double glazing. However, there is software which I understand allows the RSP radios to be used over a LAN. If that LAN is wireless, it could be in the shed. No cables through the house windows. Just needs some source of power.
@supermatelot Instead of a Chinese loop, how about a DIY magnetic loop?
A Magnetic Loop Antenna for Shortwave Listening (SWL) - KR1ST
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endure
GCM
endure
GCM
endure
GCM
mad_mick
LE
Which one, LSB or LSB-SC?It's next to the LSB port
NB. Clock, marine, 7 day, 8 bell chime, 11 jewel movement, I've got one in the hall.
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I think I've got one somewhere but not that thick.
endure
GCM
If anyone buys an SDRPlay and finds the SDR Uno software a bit intimidating at first you can always download SDR Console which is easier to get to grips with at first. Also free.
Tedsson
LE
Not played with crystal sets since about 1966/67. Used to love them.
If you look at old spy movies and read books about SOE agents the radios they had always seemed to be the size of a suitcase.
And they were always draping long aerials over a rooftop or a tree.
I don't suppose there was much they could do about the size of the radio.
But as for the aerial, would it have been possible to use a steel pylon or even the metal pipework/framework of a building?
If you look at old spy movies and read books about SOE agents the radios they had always seemed to be the size of a suitcase.
And they were always draping long aerials over a rooftop or a tree.
I don't suppose there was much they could do about the size of the radio.
But as for the aerial, would it have been possible to use a steel pylon or even the metal pipework/framework of a building?
Border_Reiver
ADC
Well for years my parents then I had kept copies of Practical Wireless I had been given or bought … binned them all some time ago . I wondered if they had been scanned in and were available on the Internet perhaps as .pdf files . Yesterday and within seconds found this site … PRACTICAL WIRELESS: British Electronics and Hobbyist Magazine ... blow me down it had Issues going back to the 1930’s . I was surprised to see publication continued during WW2 … then again I suppose it provided a means to develop aspiring Radio Operators .
Coming back to the thread title I came across an Issue which contained an article about a POW Radio …. Page 301 ... https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Practical/Wireless/40s/PW-1946-06.pdf .. time allowing I may browse some other issues to see if there are any examples of real “ scratch “ produced radios using Razor Blades etc .
Coming back to the thread title I came across an Issue which contained an article about a POW Radio …. Page 301 ... https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Practical/Wireless/40s/PW-1946-06.pdf .. time allowing I may browse some other issues to see if there are any examples of real “ scratch “ produced radios using Razor Blades etc .
Tedsson
LE
Lots of free books on crystal sets here:
b-ok.org
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