in Victoria, lots of signals 1415-1420UT from Japan etc. particularly upper
band

best wishes,

Nick

We have been in Ottawa for a week now, and not a sign of them. (I was
extra keen to hear them last week as I was filling out a radio ratings
diary.) When we were here october to January,they were usually on and a fun
listen. (I still have CJEU 1690 to listen to French music and gab.)

A quick search shows no sign of an internet presence, or announcement of an
interruption. Years ago, I would have telephoned them, but my French is now
not so good...

EricF
New Edinburgh Ont
Sangean PRD15

For those who weren't aware of the fact, XHDATA and Radiwow are actually the same Chinese company, which has specialized in wholesale design appropriation of the C.Crane Skywave SSB's technical innovations (in the D-808) and physical cabinet characteristics (in the R-108). As for why they choose to go by two different names, maybe they figure that C.Crane would be less inclined to sue two companies for design theft than one? Of course C.Crane can't sue anybody in China, where the term "copyright" means "the right to copy." The Fortuna, CA company has reason to deeply regret building their breakthrough Skywave SSB model at the Redsun factories in Shenzhen-- which is of course the home of XHDATA/ Radiwow.

Anyway, since both reverse-engineered models have been "Supercharged" here with 7.5" loopsticks, I thought some DXers might like to know about their stock loopsticks. In the XHDATA D-808 model the loopstick has a 98mm x 8mm x 4mm ferrite rod with a 12mm coil, for a total inductance of 341 uH (see detailed photo posted at https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/nimnw5jffcnk5h11yvumsy479synihvv

The Radiwow R-108 has a 70mm x 8mm x 4mm ferrite rod with the same 12mm coil, for a total inductance of 212 uH. Of course because of the longer loopstick the D-808 has significantly better MW sensitivity than the R-108, and in fact has better MW sensitivity than any Ultralight radio (the D-108 is a little too large to qualify as an Ultralight portable).

Following the typical practice of companies in the Chinese domestic market, XHDATA/ Radiwow does not offer any manufacturer's warranty on their radio models-- but this doesn't seem to have deterred their sales on the international market. When a purchaser can get a $ 75 model like the D-808 which is highly competitive with the $ 169.98 Skywave SSB (with a few added features like a more powerful audio amp and a long endurance rechargeable battery), sales are definitely going to happen. So far the component quality of both the D-808 and R-108 seem quite good, and international purchasers are cautiously optimistic that this will continue. Hopefully this Chinese company will avoid the Tecsun example of cutting down quality (as in the PL-380's digital shielding) in order to increase profits.

73, Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)

Well, they were predicting a geomagnetic upset. But, not yet. Still pretty lively this morning.

pretty darn good audio (all of it understandable by a native speaker, at least briefly):

774 JOUB 1422UT

1575 VoA powering in at 1439UT with man in Burmese per announcement at 1430UT; exactly the same as yesterday

Reasonable audio at times during the period (much of it understandable by a native speaker, though often battling with splash or noise):

567 JOIK //594 1436UT

594 JOAK 1417UT

774 JOIB 1405UT

972 HLCA 1430UT

not so reasonable audio, occasional words or phrases in splash or noise could be understood by a native speaker:

603 HLSA ballad 1431UT, along with another station; ID'd a couple of minutes earlier //558

1548 4QD man talking to another man on phone, DU English, 1432UT. Still pretty good on north Flag; high angle of arrival?

Burbles in the splatter and noise (if lucky, language might be guessed at by cadence of talk, or parallel established by changes in talk or music)

531 JOQG woman talking //594 1427UT

558 HLQH //603, usual ballads 1427UT

612 JOLK looking for parallel for 1548, instead, man talking //594 1432UT

621 woman talking, Chinese intonation 1407UT; brief visitor, then gone

639 CNR1 woman //6175 1436UT

657 N. Korea with orchestral music and woman operatizing, 1420UT; only up for a couple of minutes, but grabbed //3320

666 JOBK man talking //594 1438UT; hum on channel also.

945 CNR1 //639, woman talking 1424UT

1098 CNR1 //1593 1425-6UT, woman and man

1242 woman talking Japanese intonation 1426UT

1287 woman talking, Japanese intonation 1419UT

1422 man talking, insistent sounding Japanese? 1433UT

1503 JOUK music //594 1435UT

1557 man talking, Chinese intonation 1434UT

1566 man talking Chinese intonation 1429UT

Strongish het, no or "near imaginary" audio (either undermodulated or ravaged by splatter)

693 702 711 729 738 864 828 837 918 1206 1323 1386 1494 1539 seemed to be Asian;

1611 seemed to be DU

best wishes,

Nick

Nick Hall-Patch
Victoria, BC
Canada