Michael

Communications headphones – why this purchase is as important as your radio.

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Shortwave radio listening is a hobby that allows you to fully immerse yourself in a separate world of international events. From listening to a shortwave broadcast station, long-distance aircraft travelling around the world or even international amateur radio operators, this hobby allows you instant access, to the exclusion of those physically around you.

To further enhance the listening experience, a good set of comfortable headphones is essential. Communications headphones, as distinct from those used for Hi Fi listening, need to be comfortable to wear for hours on end. At the same time, they need to be able to reproduce the full audio spectrum produced by the receiver, ensuring that even weak signals can be resolved adequately. Wired, over the ear headphones also have the advantage that there are no batteries to replace, contrary to Bluetooth and noise-cancelling headphones.

Another important requirement for a good pair of communications headphones is a long connection cable. Most Shortwave Listeners and amateur radio operators have their equipment set up on a bench or desk, which is often multifunctional. With adequate cable length (at least 2 metres), there is room to move around the “shack”, doing other things whilst maintaining a connection with the receiving source.

If you are going to invest in a good quality pair of headphones, it is important to be able to keep them in a safe place where they won’t get damaged and will be kept clean. A carry case is ideal for this, and this can also be used to keep any necessary audio adaptors (3.5-6.3mm adaptor to cater for all receiver types, for instance), and spare ear muffs with your headphones.

Here at Tecsun Radios Australia, we have held off selling headphones until we tested several on the market first to find the most suitable high quality headphones for shortwave listening.

Launching on Friday January 29 2021 we are proud to showcase the exceptional Tecsun Radios Australia communications headphones that have been specially selected with user comfort in mind. This is essential for long periods of shortwave listening.

headphones

To read more about these communication headphones click here.

 

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Michael

Troy from Free Range Sailing shares his experience using the Tecsun PL600 shortwave radio at sea

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PL600 review by troy from free range sailing australia

We were delighted to watch this review by Troy & Pascale from Free Range Sailing who are currently exploring our beautiful country in a 30-foot yacht called Mirrool.

Whilst sailing through northern Australia as well as the west coast of Tasmania there are limited coastal stations broadcasting on VHF.

Using a shortwave radio like the Tecsun PL600 was really beneficial for Troy & Pascale to receive up to date weather forecasts, crucial when sailing.

 

Most meteorological bureaus will publish the times and frequencies ( these change, day/night) that you will be able to pick up the weather schedule via your shortwave radio.

The radio Pascale used was the Tecsun PL600 Worldband radio. At just $129 The Tecsun PL600 World Band Radio is the perfect entry product to the world of shortwave listening and an essential when traveling to isolated areas.

To view the full video click here.

To learn more about the Tecsun PL600 a fantastic entry-level shortwave radio priced at just $129 click here

If you would like to follow Troy and Pascale’s intrepid adventures ( highly recommended) click here

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Michael

Q Codes and what they mean

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Q codes were developed by Morse Code operators as a method of communicating quickly and accurately. Rather than send a complete phrase, Q codes were developed to cover most operational situations. Q codes can be used to ask or answer a question, and can be used by operators who speak different languages.

Q codes are approved by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for use on worldwide radio networks.

For instance if an operator wants to change to another frequency, he can simply advise the party he is speaking with “QSY 7050” meaning “I will change my operating frequency to 7050Khz”. Similarly he could ask “should I change to 7050Khz” by simply saying “QSY 7050”.

 

So the next time you hear an operator using a Q code, spare a thought for those old-time morse code operators and the time saved by using Q codes.

 

How is your reception? Here at Tecsun Radios Australia, we have a range of shortwave and digital radios and antennas to suit your needs.

The Tecsun Radios Australia HF amateur radio dipole covers the popular 5/7/10/14/18/21/24/28 and 50Mhz bands. The antenna is rated at 100Watts PEP power handling capability and is supplied in a convenient canvas carry bag.

The antenna comprises a 1:1 balun and 2 bobbins containing the appropriate amount of wire to cover the specified bands. Get yours HERE

tecsun dipole antenna australia

 

 

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Ricardo Rosario

Two Apps That Will Easily Identify Any Shortwave Station.

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Easily identify shortwave stations

For those of you who have ever been scanning shortwave radio and happened across an interesting station but have no idea what it is or where it is coming from there are a couple of phone apps that can identify what you are listening to.

 

These 2 apps (depending on what type of phone you have) will help listeners identify who they are listening to.. All they need to do is lookup the frequency they are receiving  and these Apps will show what stations are on air at the time. This is an easy way to identify who you are listening to.

 

                                                                                                                                          For Android: Click here

shortwave station identifier.

                                                                                                                           For iphone, iPad;Click here   Shortwave station identifier

Try these two apps and let us know what you think. We would also love to hear what you have found recently on Shortwave. 

Send your feedback and listening reports to hello@tecsun.com.au

 

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Ricardo Rosario

Radio licence applications soar amid uncertain times.

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Radio licence applications soars.
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Michael

Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2018 Radio Schedule

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The ocean racing yachts that will set off on Wednesday’s Sydney Hobart Yacht Race are required to carry radio equipment that includes both VHF and HF radios.

Perpetual LOYAL competes in the 2014 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
Image courtesy of Michael Cratt
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Michael

The TecsunRadios.com.au SDR

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Tecsun Radios Australia has set up a Software defined radio (receiver) in Araluen, a small rural community in NSW, Australia. It’s a quiet location for radio “noise”, far away from high density population and the accompanying RF noise generated.

You can listen to the Tecsun Radios Australia SDR here.

The SDR itself is called a “KiwiSDR” and is a commercially available unit, costing around $500. The Kiwi SDR compared to others has 2 advantages: (1) it allows the user to observe the entire shortwave spectrum in one screen, and (2) it can easily be connected to the internet to allow remote operation.

Other SDRs only receive a narrow portion of the radio spectrum, and require extra equipment to connect to the internet.

With the Kiwi SDR, it is easy to remotely identify that a signal exists from the “waterfall” display and then accurately tune and receive it.

The SDR is connected to two separate trapped HF vertical antennas. Each antenna is fed via common mode chokes ,one at the antenna end, and one at the equipment end of each cable run. These 2 antennas are then fed to an HF signal combiner. This provides some degree of antenna redundancy. The HF combiner feeds a 1:1 50 ohm transformer to isolate the KiwiSDR power supply ground from the antenna ground.

The antennas have been located as far away from man made noise sources as possible, and are fed with 75 ohm quad shield cable. Careful attention has also been paid to the grounding of the antenna.

Because the location is remote and in a bushfire affected area, mains power is supplemented by battery backup. The 5 volt power supply required by the KiwiSDR is a linear power supply that  has a built in switching delay of 0.5 seconds, to ensure stable reset after power failure. We have been unable to surce a UPS with low RFI footprint for this application.

Connectivity to the www is achieved via a Skylink Ka band satellite link.

The Kiwi SDR can be used to receive AM, AM Narrow, USB, LSB, weatherfax, CW (Morse Code) and DRM signals.

The Tecsun Radios SDR ‘waterfall’

You can listen to the Tecsun Radios Australia SDR here.

Or, simply logon to the SDR (go to http://kiwisdr.com/public/ for a worldwide list), select an SDR located close to the transmission source you’d like to listen to, select the appropriate mode and the desired frequency.

Have you tuned into the Tecsun Radios SDR?
Tell us in the comments below where you’re tuning in from and what you listened to!

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Michael

We’ve joined forces with AMSAT

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At Tecsun Radios Australia, we’re a bunch of amateur radio enthusiasts ourselves, and AMSAT’s satellite launch on December 4 (Australian time) “Fox1 Cliff” has inspired us to join forces with the volunteers at AMSAT who build and launch Amateur Radio Satellites.

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Michael

SpaceX have launched a satellite amateur radio operators can use!

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This morning’s launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A of Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre, carried a payload designed to boost communications for the amateur radio operators among us!

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Michael

Receiving Radiogram signals on Shortwave

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Shortwave Radiogram transmits digital text and images on shortwave using a standard analogue shortwave transmitter. These signals can be received and decoded using a simple AM shortwave radio and either a computer or Android phone using free decoding software.

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