Category Archives: Short Wave

Using the SDRPlay RSPDuo – A few weeks in

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I’ve had my SDRPlay RSPDuo for a few weeks now and I’m prepared to talk about it a little bit.

First let me preface this by saying I also own an RSP1 and an RSP2 and while I think they are both fine radios I’ve always had a tiny beef with the SDRPlay devices.

Beef #1 is that to really pack a punch with an RSP device you need SDRUno which is a Windows program.   With every fiber of my being I despise Windows.  Don’t like it don’t trust it.

And while you most certainly can use an SDRPlay on Linux weird shit happens.  Let me also preface this by saying that if you install the Non-Windows Workflow as they say in that Lego movie………..”Everything is Awesome”.  Yeah, well, I’m not that guy.  I have every SDR known to God and Man and I build the gr-osmosdr stuff by hand to try to use other devices such as PlutoSDR and LimeMiniSDR.

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Yaesu FRG-7 Short Wave Receiver

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Here on my Tech Blog I really long to be on the cutting edge…..I like to discuss new technology, and how to exploit that technology.  But let’s make no doubt about it, I’m old school.  The Yaesu FRG-7 Short Wave Receiver fits into that niche perfectly.

And I’m about to prove that once again.  Let’s face it, there were some things that were just done RIGHT that are old school.   Let’s list a couple of those things.

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RSPDuo Running over Network on RSP_TCP

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I just bought an RSPDuo from SDRPlay and I wanted to see if I could hook it up so I could access it from the network just like I do my Airspy HF+ on SpyServer.

So you dig around on Google and you find out that sure enough you can however it wasn’t as easy as it appeared. Believe me, it never is.  I am running my RSPDuo from an Ubuntu 18.04 laptop.  In SDRPlay’s defense they have a Raspberry Pi image on their downloads page and this stuff may already be configured. I won’t swear to that though. Laptops have a hell of a lot more OOMPH than a Raspberry Pi though and I just like messing around in Linux.

Lets get started:

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What’s Left To Do On ShortWave

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Ahhhh Shortwave radio.  If you’re my age you probably remember it fondly in the 70’s and 80’s. Every home probably had at least one World Band radio.  If you are my kids age you may not even know it exists or if you do ………… what exactly it is.

Everyone knows what AM radio is.  What most don’t know is AM Radio is actually called Medium Wave (MW).  The frequencies BELOW AM are called LONGWAVE.  So it stands to reason the frequencies on the other side of AM are called “SHORTWAVE”.

Shortwave kind of fell out of popularity mostly due to the big old orange ball in the sky firing solar storms at us.  The sun works in cycles and sometimes shortwave listening is really really good and sometimes it is really really pointless to try.

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XHDATA D-808 Put Through Some Paces

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I’ve had this radio for a few months and have used it sporadically and feel like I’m getting a good grip on its strengths and idiosyncrasies.

It’s a good strong radio with lots of features.  When I got this radio it was pretty much unobtanium except through AliExpress and eBay.  I got mine from eBay but paid a few extra dollars for it.

The XHDATA D-808 is about the same size and weight and has most of the normal features found on the other shortwave radios in its class and then some.  Of particular delight to me is an external antenna connector.  I know a lot of people judge radios on their stand alone merit but I like pushing the envelope.  I seldom use a shortwave radio without an external antenna of some kind.
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Alinco DX-R8T Review

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First of all let me say that I own just about 25 portable shortwave radios and probably almost as many SDR radios.  I absolutely love shortwave listening.  I also love the various modes on shortwave such as DRM, WeFAX, Numbers Stations, etc.  Also you never know what you are going to hear.

Somewhere along the line I decided I wanted to get a dedicated tabletop receiver.  Some of the old military grade stuff really intrigues me.  Some of that stuff costs big bucks.  The government seems to have pretty high standards for HF radios and that type of radio is highly desirable.

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CCrane CC Pocket Radio Review

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I like CCrane Radios.  I probably shouldn’t because they are among some of the more expensive radios out there but I find them kind of hit or miss for the money.

For example I LOVE my CCrane 2E AM/FM/Weather/VHF radio.  I also love and could never part with my CCrane EP Pro (version 2).  Great little radio.

However I DESPISE my CCrane Skywave SSB radio.  It has AWFUL reception and it costs $170.  On paper it looks great.  In reality it sucks.

So it has been with some trepidation that I purchased the CC Pocket Radio.  I have wanted one though since they released it because, hey, I’m a radio nut and I want to hold them all and try them all.

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Radiwow XHDATA R-108 Short Wave Radio Review

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Radiwow XHDATA R-108 Short Wave Radio Review

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XHDATA (Radiowow) R-108

Hi, I’m John and I’m addicted to short wave radios.

You can never have enough radios I always say.  I’ve seen the radio in question here around since 2018 or so but initially it was a buy from AliExpress only kind of radio.  It since crept over to Amazon and I recently decided to pick one up even though the last thing I need on planet earth is another short wave radio.

I have maybe 20 or 25 radios (I’m scared to actually count).  That being said I do actually break them all out and use them from time to time so they don’t just totally collect dust. I do use my gear.

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HF Listening. My Favorite Way.

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I’m an old dude that grew up in the height of the CB radio craze.  CB radio is a gateway drug to ham radio or short wave radio.  I love listening to short wave radio, aka HF.

I have TONS of short wave radios.  There are tons of web pages on which radio is best and I personally think we get wrapped up too much in technical details. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that people are giving things a proper shakedown but I’m a simple guy who just likes to spin the dial and listen to unusual things on HF.

I’ll show you what I’m up to this morning.  I have my Sangean ATS-909x which is probably my favorite short wave radio.

I’ll GUARANTEE you there are people out there who would scoff at that but I’m telling you…..I have at least 20 or 25 short wave radios and pound for pound, for where I live, under my conditions the Sangean almost lays everything else to waste.

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Emergency NOAA Weather Radio

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  NOAA Weather Radio

In the event of bad weather it really pays to own a NOAA weather radio.

About 6:30 or 7 last night a wicked Thunderstorm with low and frequent lightning was hitting us hard.  There was some nearby property damage although I was lucky. No trouble at Castle Hagensieker.

 

Even though we all have cell phones, internet, TV whatever…….the best resource for weather is YOUR LOCAL NOAA WEATHER STATION.  They transmit weather data 24/7 however they transmit it on a frequency that you probably can’t get on any radio you own.  You either need a real life EMERGENCY RADIO like you can buy at Lowes or maybe Walmart or you need a USB Software Defined Radio hooked to a computer.   NOAA stations start I believe at 162.40 MHz.  Also NOAA has the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

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