Passport to World Band Radio 2009

I bought the Tecsun PL-600 from China as a cheap but capable portable to take with me when I travel abroad, which I do frequently. I’m really very pleased with it and I think it offers very good value for money. I can’t disagree with your comments, but I would like to add Continue reading ‘Tecsun PL-600 Observations’

The Di-Wave 100 receiver from Uniwave packs all the digital functionalities that listeners are looking for into a neat, portable model. The attractive new DRM Radio Receiver was successfully demonstrated at various symposiums and exhibitions and showed excellent results during the Olympics at Beijing with the text-based information service known as Journaline®. With its 3.5” TFT LCD color screen, coming Di-Wave models will be able to receive the new DrTV service with Continue reading ‘Thomson UniWave DRM Receiver Has Color Screen’

Here is the strange radio find of the day. Also, see its description at Radio Tanpa in Japan.

—David Zantow

WiNRADiO is finally getting into the “direct sampling” SDR market with the WR-G31DDC.

Seemingly no pricing or release date as yet, but pre-production specs are here.

—David Zantow

It appears that Wellbrook Communications (Passport 2009, pp. 171-178) has modified their website somewhat and they now accept antenna orders paid for by PayPal. This gives North American purchasers the opportunity of ordering securely over the internet. Finally!

—Lawrence Bulk

As with any good recipe, a range of ingredients has to come together if a reference book is to succeed. Solid content is, of course, essential. But in recent months other considerations have had an increased bearing on the future of Passport to World Band Radio®.

So it is that the 26th Edition of Passport to World Band Radio® is being held in limbo. Despite this, for now we are continuing to maintain the WorldScan® database and uphold all proprietary material. Among other things, this should help allow for an orderly return to production, under IBS’ aegis or otherwise, should conditions allow.

For Passport® readers and our small team, alike, this is a seminal moment. After all, Passport to World Band Radio® goes back a quarter century and has had something like a million readers worldwide. But the future has its own rhythm that confounds prognostication. There may yet be more chapters to this story. Stay tuned.

Best regards,
Lawrence Magne, Publisher
Passport to World Band Radio
International Broadcasting Services, Ltd.
mktg@passband.com
www.passband.com

July 26: It is an honor to receive your kind comments and suggestions about Passport to World Band Radio. As of this weekend all of us have been able to study and discuss them, so we’ve answered various key questions raised in emails and comments (search for “Ed.:” within Comments). Thank you for taking the time and trouble to make your thoughts and feelings known so meaningfully.

—Larry Magne

July 29: Our ISP’s server that handles the Passband.com domain encountered file corruption, so we were informed; thus, it was inoperative most of today. It sprang back to life around 2350 UTC and now appears to be functioning properly.

November 28: Thanks for your many kind and helpful comments, which have touched us greatly.

Alas, although the long-term future of IBS’ activities continues to be mulled over, there will definitely be no printed 2010 edition of Passport to World Band Radio. At this juncture it appears nearly as certain that online options aren’t going to be feasible, either. Nonetheless, the Japanese-language (only) Blue Pages for 2010 will be offered within Japan, as in the past, by ohtaket@kyp.biglobe.ne.jp later this year.

For equipment issues, Passport readers have increasingly been visiting Passport equipment maven David Zantow’s webpage for up-to-date equipment news and expert advice.
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Continue reading ‘Passport to World Band Radio® in Limbo (rev. 28 Nov.)’

Wellbrook ALA1530 vs. RF Systems DX-One Pro Mk II

The ALA arrived on loan on June 30, 2009. It is mounted on a plastic pole 6 meters off the deck and some 6 meters from the DX-One and is oriented N/S. The ALA1530 was checked for continuity and is working fine with full power at the head.

On LF (longwave) the DX-One Pro hears things that are unheard on the ALA. For example, 515 kHz CW, MAJ Majuba is quite clear on the DX-One but not heard on the ALA1530, and the same is true with various others. 252 kHz Algeria is faint on the DX1 but unheard on the ALA, while 361 kHz CW ASN Ascension is clear on the DX-One but barely audible on the ALA. Continue reading ‘South African Reader Compares Antennas’

Universal Radio’s Fred Osterman writes and their website confirms:

The plain Etón E1 is gone, but we still have a very big supply of E1XM units. There was less than a $20 difference between the two models.

The E1XM, however, is not marketed outside North America.

According to various credible industry sources, Icom has discontinued the PC-only IC-PCR1500 and IC-PCR2500 (Passport 2009, pp. 156-158). Nonetheless, both models continue to appear on Icom’s U.S. and Japan websites.

Still being offered are the IC-R1500 and IC-R2500 (Passport 2009, pp. 125-126)—same receivers, but with control heads added to also allow for PC-free operation. —David Zantow

Our ISP recently overhauled its server setup to rationalize legacy issues from various earlier takeovers.

That’s the good news. Less worthy is that IBS’ incoming material ceased to come in. All of it, for the better part of two weeks.

At long last, this issue has been resolved by their techs, so we’re back up and running. We’ve tested everything twelve ways of Sunday, and it all passes muster.

So, yes, we’re back, and thanks for your patience!