My first look at one of the best shortwave radios ever: legendary Barlow Wadley XCR-30
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- Опубліковано 7 сер 2024
- The Barlow Wadley XCR-30 Mark 2 was developed and made in South Africa in the 1970's. It took the shortwave world by storm because of its very innovative Wadley loop system, a triple signal conversion system that ensured the best stability, very high sensitivity and very high selectivity. This radio is still seen by many as a groundbreaking shortwave receiver. The Wadley loop system was also used in military radios, and in the Yaesu FRG-7.
This set is almost 50 years old, I found it through an online classified site here in South Africa, paid $16 for it. It still works! Incredible shortwave reception. Tuning takes a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it works really well. This video is a brief introduction to the radio and a demonstration of its capabilities on shortwave, in the 25m band.
More videos about this radio, its features and its history will follow!
00:00 Introducing the Barlow Wadley XCR-30 Mark 2
01:45 How to tune
02:34 China National Radio 17 in Kazakh 11630 kHz
03:00 Radio Dabanga 11640 kHz
03:26 China Radio International in Esperanto 11650 kHz
04:00 Voice of Turkey in English 11660 kHz
04:45 Radio Exterior de España 11670 kHz
05:09 KCBS Pyongyang 11680 kHz
06:06 China National Radio 1 on 11710 kHz
06:24 China Radio International 11725 kHz
07:13 Saudi Broadcasting Authority 11745 kHz
07:45 PBS Xinjiang 11770 khz
08:17 Adventist World Radio from Madagascar 11790 kHz
08:41 NHK Japan from Yamata 11800 kHz
09:20 Unidentified signal
09:26 China Radio International in Russian 11875 kHz
10:03 Voice of Vietnam 11885 kHz
10:49 NHK Japan from Issoudun 11945 kHz
11:38 Unidentified signal 11965 kHz
12:13 Radio Romania International 11975 kHz
13:22 Some final remarks - Розваги
My father got me a Barlow Wadley 50 years ago. Sold it a few years later to buy a CB radio. Father was a radio ham so always fascinated as a kid to hear him talk all over the world. Had a massive 40 metre rotational, directional antenna which was very accurate. I had to dig the hole for it! ZL 1SH was dad's call sign.
What a great radio this is! Very interesting story about your father and that massive antenna. Wish I had one like that. A good antenna makes a real difference. Do you still use CB radio?
Amazing how stunning it looks half a century later.
Indeed, this one was really cared for by the previous owners!
hello Andre, this radio touched my heart and I bought 3 of them, 2 were sold by me for the benefit to buy other Radios like a YAESU FRG-7. I am always impressed that the +- 5 khz readability works still. The last of the 3 is still here with me and I use them on my balcony only in the summertime. I love this radio sooo much - I had done a test with a 80-m-Longwire and the reception was fine and okay, no overload. So the Barlow-Wadley-technique is still up to date for me, especially that I doesn't need a preselector or other things like a Balun. All is inside the radio and it is a joy to power it up and to search for signals. Thank you for your video, I am your friend and collegue from far away, fr. Germany.
Best wishes, the Klaus
Thank you so much for your comment Klaus! I think this radio will also become one of my favourites, I was so surprised that it still worked well. When I picked it up from the seller (in Pretoria) he did not have batteries, so I did not even test it. I believed him when he said it worked. I must say, in the first few minutes I was a bit disappointed, I did not use the antenna trim correctly. But as soon as I figured that out, it just worked!
@@swlistening I clipped a longwire on to the telescopic antenna for better signal strength and second I used the DC-connector (instead of batteries) and a very stable power supply. So with this setup the XCR-30 receives very well, I am so satisfied. Till then.
@@Funk-DX I will try it with a long wire. I did notice that even if I used just a short 3m wire it already made a difference, signals improved significantly. I have a 10m wire that I use with some of my other radios, will try it on the Barlow Wadley. Some people say they also use the MAL30+ and it works well on the Barlow Wadley, so I will try that also.
What a neat radio. I love the tuning dials that look reminiscent of antique MW only radios from the 20s and 30s.
I also really like the retro look, and the nice thing is it does not just look retro, it actually IS retro 🙂
I like the look of that radio and it still sounds good.
Thanks! I also think it has quite a nice look, it is a bit different. Surprising that it still sounds good after all these years!
A beautiful radio- the first of it’s kind, with somewhat of a direct frequency readout. And it’s even made in the RSA. Those were never available here in the USA. But I would buy one in a second.
Indeed, something quite special, I think. And it does have a type of direct frequency read-out, as you say. Mine is 20 kHz off, as I say in the video, but I just add 20 kHz to whatever I see on the frequency drum and it is pretty much 100% correct then.
PS: on my XCR-30, the antenna trimmer works not only in the fixed positions, but also in between, so it has an effect if I re-tune the antenna trimmer to the frequency a 2nd time!
I have noticed that on mine also.
Nice radio! Can't wait to hear some comparison videos with newer radios, I'm thinking this will hold up very well.
Thanks Andrew! Yes, I will definitely make some comparison videos, I am also quite interested myself to see how this one compares to modern radios. When I was making this video, I used my Tecsun PL-368 to double check the frequencies, just to make sure of my station IDs, although it is quite easy to read the frequency accurately on the Barlow Wadley. But I did notice that in most cases the signal on the Barlow Wadley was better than on the PL-368, clearer and with less fading. A comparison with the Kenwood R1000 would also be very interesting!
Thank you for this. I remember when these were featured on Radio RSA. You might be interested to know that one went for around £90 on an auction site here in the UK today. I was tempted to bid but I'm running out of room for my radios! 73 and GDX
Hi Jim, thanks for the information about the auction price! That's quite a good price, especially if it is still working. I have a small power problem with mine now, the power cable to the battery pack came loose. But that's an easy soldering fix, I hope. I just need a soldering iron.
Wow! A radio from South Africa? I am shocked. You are a lucky fish.
You should keep watching Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace, there are some amazing radios available there sometimes! I was very, very happy to see this one, it is a radio that I have wanted for a very long time.
@@swlistening Will do! Thanks for the tip!
I owned one in 1974 like yours one of the early versions. The good point was the accurate dial readout. The Wadley Loop invented by Dr Trevor Wadley was better implemented in the Yaesu FRG-7 which can also be battery powered or 12v in addition to mains power.
Thanks John! I am not sure if I understand you correctly though, the Barlow Wadley does in fact work off batteries (six D-cell batteries) or also 6 volt or 12 volt power. It does not actually have a mains connection, it does not work off mains power at all. The battery life on the Barlow Wadley is legendary, I have seen many posts from people who have used the same batteries for years in this one. Part of the design innovation by Dr Wadley was to create a radio that used very, very little power when running on batteries.
@@swlistening I have owned six XCR-30 radios let's just say they are on my never again list.
If you have one that works ok do not let anyone fiddle with it as they are not fun to sort out once messed with hence my never again list.
I was explaining that although the FRG-7 is a desktop Comms receiver and not a portable like the XCR-30 it can still be used portable.
@@JohnGreen-SWL OK, I understand now, thanks. Mine does seem to work really well, I am very happy with it so far, incredible sensitivity and selectivity, especially when you consider how old this set is. Reception is at least on par and in many cases much better than most of my modern portables. But my Kenwood R1000 remains my best radio.
Awesome
Thanks!
Phenomenal
I agree, it is a terrific radio!
You do know that the small knob under the meter is a fine tune. You tune the radio to a station wich you know its frequency is precise using the dial and center the frequency with this small knob and voila it is precise.
Yes, I do know that little knob works for fine tuning, I have used it for that. The signal meter on my Barlow Wadley still works very well, so I look at it often when I am DXing! Helps me to find stations. And it is, indeed, quite amazing on this radio, when you tune precisely into a known frequency, the signal is just there! There is one flaw on mine though, the frequency display drum is out by 20 kHz, so I need to factor that in when I tune into frequencies. But apart from the 20 kHz deviation the radio is really very, very precise.
Yeah, quite a heck of a radio. Congratulations! 👏👏👏 And while I've heard about a Wadley loop (it is used in Yaesu FRG-7), I must've missed the fact Mr Wadley was from South Africa! 😱 and therefore I was very surprised that such a giant, high-end radio could be made in SA. Wow!
9:20 is likely the Republic of Yemen Radio with the buzz I was speaking to you about recently (and I have a video of on my channel 😉).
BTW what station the former owners of this radio listened to are you talking about? I think I haven't seen any info about a South African MW closure recently. Is it LM Radio on 702 or Magic 828?
It is quite a nice bit of history that this radio was developed and made in South Africa. Trevor Wadley also made a radio for the British military in the 1950s, the Racal RA-17, also using the Wadley loop.
Thanks for the comment about Yemen Radio, I could not ID that one. The station that stopped broadcasting on MW is LM Radio, they used to be on 702, as you say, but they stopped several months ago. Real pity, I also listened to them sometimes, nice 70s and 80s music. They did not close down though, they still stream online, and they are on the satellite TV audio channels.
There is also another Johannesburg station that stopped their MW broacdasts, called Radio Today. They used to broadcast on 1485 kHz, using a 1 kW transmitter quite close to my house. Radio Today and LM Radio both just went silent on MW earlier this year, I never heard any announcements on the radio, there was nothing in the media. Radio Today actually closed down completely, they are not even online anymore. Magic 828 from Cape Town is still going on MW, I hear them often at night, quite clearly.
There's a Wikipedia article about the tech used in this radio: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadley_loop
Thanks Paul!
found one tonight on ebay,looking for one for years i live in england uk , paid 120.00 pounds for it ..jeff..
That's great Jeff, sounds like a very good price also. Please comment again once you have received and tested it, I would love to hear your thoughts!
BBC WS for Ethiopia on 11965 kHz.
Thanks for that!
You've been buying a load of old radios recently? 🙂
I bet the wife isn't happy 😀
I buy old radios because they are inexpensive, much cheaper than new ones, where I also need to pay shipping and import duties! Does not really affect the household budget 😂 Also, I am currently quite interested in exploring some older radios, just to see what they can do and how they compare with the modern ones. Some of these older radios seem to be really good!
That’s great, but then you have to think about replacing capacitors, and cleaning potentiometers.
@@RJDA.Dakota True, I do plan to have my Barlow Wadley serviced, just cleaned up a bit and replacing what needs to be replaced. The Kenwood R1000 was cleaned and serviced before I bought it, so it should be OK for some time more.
@@StratmanII It's actually one of the least expensive cities in the world! We have some issues, like regular power cuts 🙂 But, overall, the lifestyle is good, because it is not an expensive city. If you have a good job, of course, many people here are not employed and struggle. But it's still a city that attracts people from all over South Africa and Africa, and further afield, because there are many opportunities and it is the "money capital" of all of Africa.