Author Archives: Kevin

About Kevin

Just an old guy with opinions that I like to bounce off other people.

Santa’s Nice Radio list for 2025-2026

Posted on November 26, 2025 by Kevin

Unlike my “Top Ten Portable Shortwave Radios for 2025,” these are not necessarily the best you can buy, but ones that I think bring something worthwhile to the table, and are good value. They’re ones that I personally use and … Continue reading →

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Radio Time

Posted on November 3, 2025 by Kevin

I was in the chat room of the OfficialSWLChannel on YouTube when someone commented that the clock on their radio wasn’t accurate. I got out a few of mine and observed some a minute or so off, some more, but … Continue reading →

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Tuning, Muting, and Things that Go Chuff in the Night

Posted on October 25, 2025 by Kevin

Terminology one sees online isn’t always precise, and many people conflate muting, soft muting and chuffing. I tend to get sloppy too. For the purpose of this article, here are the terms as I’m using them: Whenever someone asks a … Continue reading →

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XHDATA Launches Improved D-219

Posted on October 22, 2025 by Kevin

I bought the original XHDATA D-219 in February of 2023, gray, with a fixed 9 kHz tuning step on MW, topping off the MW band at 1620 kHz. I wrote about it: Ultra-bargain XHDATA D-219 AM/FM/Shortwave radio.

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Size Matters?

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Kevin

A snippet of discussion occurred on the OfficialSWLChannel YouTube channel. Someone commented in the chat that the Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 had a telescopic antenna almost a meter long! I replied, to some surprised reactions, that the Tecsun PL-990 telescopic was the … Continue reading →

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Birdies in the Dark: ZWS-C919

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Kevin

It was dark and bleeping cold this morning (OK 40°F is not all that cold, but it was damp and foggy too) when I dragged 3 radios down to the patio to see what was happening before sunrise. The radio … Continue reading →

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Zhiwhis ZWS-C919: Tips and Tricks

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Kevin

Here are some things I discovered. I’ll add when I get something new. The Tuning Knob Step I knew from watching videos that there are two concentric knobs above the number keys and that turning them changes the frequency of … Continue reading →

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