THE TOP 10 OF 2017

Out in the back garden with the Tecsun PL-680

THE TOP 10 OF 2017

My very best wishes for the New Year. May you and your family have a safe, healthy and peaceful year ahead. May you continue to enjoy this fabulous radio hobby.

Thank you for your support of the Mount Evelyn DX Report throughout 2017. Without your "views", "likes", "shares" and "retweets", I doubt that I would have continued to write this blog. I appreciate your generous words of encouragement and friendship. It is much appreciated.

THE TOP 10 MEDXR BLOG POSTS

I find it very interesting to see which of the posts from this blog capture the interest of our readers. In order of popularity, here are the "most-clicked-on" posts from the past twelve months.

1. TECSUN S-8800 - THE BIRDIE PROBLEM
   Everyone was waiting for the release of the S-8800 at the beginning of the year. Early reports were so disappointing that the model was withdrawn for further development. But a few people were not so familiar with a "birdie".
   http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/tecsun-s-8800-birdie-problem.html
2. HORIZONTAL LOOP ANTENNA EXPERIMENTS
   People love antennas.....well...radio people do! Maybe not the neighbours!! My investigation and experimentation with the sky loop antenna created quite a bit of interest.
   http://medxr.blogspot.com/2017/08/horizontal-loop-antenna-experiments.html
3. RADIO AUSTRALIA - A POSSIBLE RETURN?
   I wrote this long article for "The World of Shortwave Listening" column of The Spectrum Monitor magazine - April 2017 issue. It discusses the political and social impact of the station closure and the ABC's pathetic responses. It also includes photos from the official January 31 switch-off.
   http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/radio-australia-possible-return.html
4. PORTABLE WIRE ANTENNAS - Book Review
   I purchased the latest edition (v2.1, 2015) of John W. Hill's excellent antenna compendium Portable Wire Antennas. I'm mighty glad I did buy it! There are some really helpful hints for deploying antennas in portable or temporary situations. http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/01/portable-wire-antennas-book-review.html
5. THE USE AND ABUSE OF SINPO
   In the various Facebook forums, much discussion arose from this post. Everybody had a view!!
   http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/11/the-use-and-abuse-of-sinpo.html
6. RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW # 9: SELENA VEGA B206
   Craig Seager's regular review of old radios continues to be very popular amongst readers, and I am grateful to Craig for his time and effort in preparing these valuable insights into technology from distant and not so distant eras. Many people were interested in the Russian produced Selena Vega and its various models. 
http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/retro-receiver-review-9-selena-vega-b206.html
7. FREE DOWNLOAD: 2017 WINTER DX SURVEY
   Although this survey focused exclusively on my region in southeastern Australia, there were literally hundreds of downloads of the two-part survey. I am really pleased that so many people found it of interest. It is still available for download if you missed out earlier.
   http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/08/free-download-2017-winter-dx-survey.html
8. RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #10 - The DRAKE SPR-4
   Another review by Craig of a classic receiver!
   http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/06/retro-receiver-review-10-drake-spr-4.html
9. AUSSIE PIRATE ON ABC FREQUENCY
   Unlike the USA and some of Europe, Australia rarely has pirate radio activity. When it does appear, it pops up suddenly for a very short time and disappears just as quickly, usually because the programming is rubbish and/or nobody knows about it. Here's an example from my colleague Peter Parker VK3YE.
   http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/02/aussie-pirate-on-abc-frequency.html
10. 4KZ FIRES UP!
    And here's a post I published only 11 days ago....and it is already in the Top10! Amazingly, it has been heard on the west coast US and in several parts of Europe - at just 500 watts.
    http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/4kz-fires-up.html

THE TOP 10 YOUTUBE VIDEOS

I don't post too many videos on YouTube....unlike some who find time to post many videos each week. The Internet can be quite slow here, and if I tried posting the quantity that other people do, I'd probably die waiting for the uploads to finish! Besides, I enjoy taking my time and fiddling with the production of the videos just as much as the actual taping of them. But I managed to squeeze out about 28 offerings this year. Here were the most popular ones:

1. HORIZONTAL LOOP ANTENNA EXPERIMENTS
   Although I only uploaded this video in August, it was by far the runaway most popular one this year, having received more than 13,000 views. As I said earlier, people seem to like antennas.
   https://youtu.be/OLq3nBQppqg
2. RADIO AUSTRALIA - THE LAST TWO MINUTES - JANUARY 31, 2017
   The deed was done. The switch was flicked off. The plug was pulled. Radio Australia ended its shortwave broadcasts at 0100 UTC on January 31, 2017. After many decades of service, it ended very little fanfare.....just the "Waltzing Matilda" interval signal for one last time. And for me, it was one of the saddest moments in my radio hobby. It has had 5,200 views so far.
   https://youtu.be/M8eJoTXf6Lw
3. USING A MIXING CONSOLE IN THE RADIO SHACK
   Only uploaded two months ago, this video rocketed into third place with nearly 1700 views already. A detailed look at using the Behringer Xenyx Q802 USB mixing console with four receivers into a pair of powered speakers.
   https://youtu.be/iDisHsLNaHI
4. KENWOOD R-5000 SHORTWAVE RECEIVER - RESTORATION PART 5
   This whole 5-part series has been quite popular, collectively accumulating well over 13,000 views since I started making these in April 2016. In Part 5, I did a quick and dirty job of frequency alignment.
   https://youtu.be/wJ8gEc3wTh0
5. ECOS DEL TORBES, VENEZUELA - 1972 RECORDING
   This was a bit of a surprise. A shortwave recording from my archives, complete with images of the QSL letter I received back in those days. Apparently, this station is still fondly remembered.
   https://youtu.be/CMPZAq4C3j8
6. OZY RADIO 5045 KHZ - AUGUST 28, 2017
   Sydney station Ozy Radio returned to shortwave after a long absence. Previously on 3210 kHz, but now has a much better signal on 5045 kHz into Mount Evelyn with one of the early test transmissions.
   https://youtu.be/L1nm7zzcFN0
7. MOUNT BEENAK DXPEDITION - A WINTER AFTERNOON ON SHORTWAVE
   Some research into mid-winter shortwave propagation on the afternoon of June 14, 2017. We scan the 31-metre band and find lots of radio broadcasters coming in from Europe, North America, Middle East and even Africa. The receiver used on this occasion is the Yaesu FRG100.
   https://youtu.be/yt3tdV0fVzM
8. 4KZ - FIRST DAY ON SHORTWAVE
   Only uploaded 11 days ago. After the loss of Radio Australia and the Northern Territory Shortwave Service, it's great to see two Aussie commercial shortwave broadcasters in the 60mb.
   https://youtu.be/5eqHB0rvACU
9. PREPARING FOR YOUR NEXT DXPEDITION - PART 1
   Discusses why we should even think about bothering to go portable with the radio, the goals to consider when undertaking a DXpedition, planning your listening depending on the time of day and time of year, and the all-important decisions regarding location.
   https://youtu.be/AUtXWxP4gtE
10. PREPARING FOR YOUR NEXT DXPEDITION - PART 2
    The second part of this series discusses choosing the right radio for portable operations, your options for powering the radio, the antennas you could consider including on the trip, handy auxiliary equipment, references and notes to take along with you, the importance of operator comforts while away, and developing a checklist.....so that you don't forget to take something important!
    https://youtu.be/LlvJzMH6YMw

So once again, many thanks for your friendship and support of the Mount Evelyn DX Report and my YouTube channel. This wonderful radio hobby really brings us together. 

73 and good DX to you all in 2018,

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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