Your Comments

Fred Ward was a very special guy...

...I am sad he is no longer with us. As a lad growing up in Derby in the 60’s and discovering Amateur radio, Fred had a tremendous effect on shaping my career, I often used to go and visit him and Pat,I also made new friends with George (G3PTR) Frank (G3SYU) Neville(G3LCV) and many others. I still have my DADAR’s badge from 1965 when i joined the club. It does not seems so long ago that i was talking to Fred and was deeply saddened when i learned of his passing. Unfortunately i do not live in the Derby area any more, But have for many years kept my interest and always when possible would listen to the news at 10:30 AM on a Sunday morning. These days i spend a lot of time out of the country, in fact i am writing at present from Baku where i am working. I think we should do more to preserve the memory of people like Fred. It’s also a shame that the club no longer exists. Those great days of experiment and building it all for yourself have gone, What a shame for today generation of Hand held communications and IPOD’s - JRW

As a great fan of Willis Conover's Jazz Hour...

...I have been looking for a recording of his programme to feature in my forthcoming talk to members of the Southwold Jazz Appreciation Society. I used to listen regularly to his programme on an Eddystone 740 RX. My favourite Big Bands are Stan Kenton and Woody Herman.
Radiowise, my favourite pastime is the construction and DXing on a One Valver.
Would very much appreciate a complete VOA programme of Jazz Hour, including the opening theme of Take the A Train by Duke Ellington.
Any expenses incurred in transferring your recordings to CD or tape, will be reimbursed.
Kind regards, Ron Pearce.

Bob says - I never recorded any of the shows. It was always part of the radio experience to listen to them live on my one-valver, a 6BR7 TRF just hanging on to 6040KHz. Purists argued that my adding a VR150 to stabilise the HT rail took away its one-valve credentials.
My Eddystones were the 680, an odd 940 with no PSU and the very first EC10, now in The Alan Ainsbury Collection.
Very nice to hear to hear from you.

73,
Bob Ellis

Greetings from the "Colonies"...

...Hi Bob: Got into the BBC Web Site - looking for info on England, Big Bands, and came across Your Site - found it rather interesting, especially, Your Comment; "The Closest Approach to Sound". Might Add to that; Seem to recall; Days when reviewing the QUAD gear, in the Old, Hi-Fi NEWS Magazine, they would add a comment, "'Whose to Question Caesar"??
As an Ole SWLer, and now, a Ham, Thought "Caesar" apropos to a time when the BBC was just that, and, a time when SWL stations were flourishing all over. Now a Sign of the Times??
"The Closest Approach to Sound" - Had the Quad Hi-Fi set up in the 50s; Gerrard 301 Professional Turntable, And, the Wharfedale Corner, Sand Filled Speakers, was a chore building these things, weighed a Ton. Put on a Organ Record and shook the house!!
Days of a one Gilbert Briggs, LEAK, Gerrard, Ferrograph, etc, "You Can Never Go Back", something for the History Chest!! An after thought; Believe it or not, I still have that Series of Speaker Books by "Gilbert Briggs". Guess we hang on to some things for sentimental reasons?
Anyhow; Thought I'd jump in and with my comments.

BCNU
73 de KFØQB
Harry J. Irwin

Bob says - Harry, Great to hear from you. Thanks for the memory!
I made a big mistake letting my QUAD gear go in favour of DAB Digital Radio. Over here it is very poor quality, really compromising my enjoyment of the BBC Proms Season. Still SWL for the news. Somehow DAB makes SWL sound good again!
Had a Ferrograph plugged into the AR88 back in The Seventies. Somewhere there are tapes of Willis Conover from VOA. The master.
And by a fantastic coincidence, have just finished one of Mr Brigg’s amplifier text books. Looking at the specs for hi-end audio back in 1947, I wonder if, in terms of what we can actually hear, have we come that far?
73 de Bob, G8YQL

Rave Reviews

HFRADIO.ORG - This is a MOST EXCELLENT website. Explore it. Enjoy it

Dick - in Somerset - Hi, just found your website - most interesting indeed; I will enjoy looking around it. Not big into radio myself although I do listen in occasionally once every few years to see what is going on. First listened to International short wave broadcasts during the war (helped keep ones hands warm too :- ) But is sure seems that the good old days of radio are gone - good sets these days but little of any worth to listen to alas. I think your website is far more interesting than the programs on the radio however.

Alex Lester - BBC Radio 2 - You have awakened my inner nerd. Good site. Best Wishes, Alex - More About Alex's Show

John Wilson, Radio Journalist - You did in fact produce a unique publication and I'm sure that many folk are still reading and absorbing the very real advice in the "Guide"

British Expat.Com...

...A bit of an anoraky one here: The Listener's Guide, by Bob Ellis. OK, so it's primarily about ham radio (and let's face it, even these days there are expats around who need to listen to short-wave broadcasts because they can't get broadband streamed audio). But it's also a very funny read in places! - British Expat.Com

Fine Tuning USA

Packed along with each Lowe receiver is a little gem of a book called The Listeners' Guide, which serves as an introduction to DX'ing without attempting to provide one of those frequency lists that's invariably outdated. This little book covers an awful lot in its 60 odd pages, and does it with a dry, refreshing wit. I've been DX'ing for more than 40 years, yet I found things in this little book that I'd never tried. It begins with some pointers on antennas, then moves on to a guide tour of the spectrum from ELF through 30 MHz. Here's a sample of what you'll find "off the beaten track":
"If you really want to frighten yourself, a couple of transistors and a few large coils can be cobbled into an ELF receiver. Around 10 kHz or so the action of static discharges anywhere in the atmosphere, coupled with changes in the earth's magnetic field, create "Whistlers", not unlike the cry of a rough whale. Very eerie all this. All worthy of John Carpenter..."
While it's written from a European perspective, with a distinctly British accent, the information contained in this wonderful little Listeners' Guide is perfectly valid anywhere on earth. The Listeners' Guide is for short-wave connoisseurs. Priced at only £1.95 (about $3.50) it would make an ideal stocking stuffer for any short wave aficionado...

This is a bit of a vague question...

...but having looked at your web-site, one you may be able to help me with. When I was a kid, tuning in to Radio Caroline and Radio Luxemburg, there was a signal that I always ran across, it consisted of 7 or 8 notes, repeated constantly. Any idea what I'm going on about? Any info would be gratefully received. I found your web-site whilst hunting for info re: the beacon - although I couldn't see anything thats relevent to this specific 'hunt', it's a really interesting site.
Thanks,
Trace

A Doctor Writes - Caroline and all the off-shore stations took any slot on the dial they thought was free. That was OK for them, but some channels were kept free for aero and marine NDBs (non-directional beacons). They are still out there but have moved below the AM band. Some send regular tones, others their callsign in very slow morse.
If you connected an aerial to your radio, it might not have been able to take on the bigger signals. You could have had short-wave breakthrough, leaving you open to every beacon going.
But that was the time of The Cold War when many East European stations would have been jammed by the West. Sometimes they used tones, sometimes garbled speech. At night, they'd find their way over here...
Or to put all this another way, I don't really know. Glad you like the site. As long as AOR like it too, I'll keep working on it!

I regularly refer to your HF freq guide...

...latest edition is a great read & thanks a lot.
73
Tris MM0TJR

It may seem a bit late in the day but my congratulations...

...for an excellent Guide which I originally read many years ago when I bought my first Lowe set. To placate my own conscience and my wife's comments, I recently had a blitz on old paper work and records. Being a hoarder at heart , there was a lot to dispose of , and I regret to say my original copy of the Guide must have been thrown out with the bathwater ! It is true to say that "Rubbish is rubbish until the day after your have thrown it out....."
I came from north of Birmingham , Sutton Coldfield. In was in that part of the country where as a young lad I heard my first radio signal on a crystal set. This probably came from Daventry and with luck I may also have heard station 2LO from Oxford Street (the top of Selfridge's Store) In London The World of Communications has sure moved forward since those days.
Best Wishes.
Nicholas V-B

Thank you for the Listeners Guide...

I have laughed out loud a lot reading your various thoughts and ruminations. I am relatively new to HF broadcast listening but recently bought the AOR7030. I am learning as much as can grasp at the moment about shortwave. But given the limited knowlege I have I still found myself laughing with a book(?) about radio! Thanks again for the laughs.
Best regards
David Wilkinson