Original: Radio Review Translation
This topic has been in my mind for a long time, and I have never started writing. Not long ago, two major events happened in the circle of foreign radio lovers, which touched me a lot, so I simply wrote some fragmentary thoughts around this topic.
One or two major events
One is Dave Zanto, a well-known American radio reviewer and former senior editor of the book "Passport to World Band Radio", the "shortwave Bible", died in a car accident in the hospital on December 6, 2023, at the age of 66. About six years ago, when I first started translating foreign radio review articles, I started with his magnum opus, I remember that there was an English word I couldn't get rid of, and I emailed him for advice, and he enthusiastically explained it to me, and our communication was very pleasant.
Screenshot of Dave's website
He has his own dedicated website, Dave's Radio Receiver Page, which contains a large number of reviews of radios, receivers, and transceivers, especially after the discontinuation of the "Shortwave Bible". Sustaining this passion for radio, radio and radio is not easy, as evidenced by the fact that his website accepts donations and tips from enthusiasts.
In the past few years, I have visited his website a lot, and I have also translated many of these radio articles, which have helped me understand many radios more objectively and comprehensively.
However, with his unfortunate death, all the content included on this website has been emptied, but fortunately, there is a column on the foreign QSL website, and the content can still be seen. But this incident reminds us that the radio ecosystem is fragile, and who can guarantee that the content on the QSL website will last forever?
Another big event and bad news happened this time not in the United States, but in the United Kingdom. Andrew Ikin, the head of the well-known Wilbrook Communications Company, passed away due to illness on October 25, 2023.
Maybe some friends don't know much about this person, but when it comes to the famous Wellbrook active loop antenna, many domestic players must have heard of it. This series of antennas was produced by his company, or rather, he was built by himself, and foreign radio players on both sides of the ocean respected him as "antenna manufacturing master".
Towering Wilbrook loop antenna
Unfortunately, I haven't used the original Wellbrook Active Loop Antenna. About two years ago, I contacted the British purchasing agent of a certain treasure, and the purchase price of a Willbrook loop antenna was about 4300 yuan, and I was reluctant to start at that time. But I've been using the domestic high-imitation version, even if it's a high-imitation version, the performance is a strong horse. Let's put it this way, it ranks first in terms of performance among the active loop antennas I've used. The high-imitation version is still like this, and the performance of the original can be imagined.
Back in the end of April 2023, with the retirement of Andrew Ikin, the company ceased to manufacture and sell antennas. In other words, a well-known series of antennas has come to an end.
I just logged in to the link to the company's official website that I saved in my computer browser earlier, and I have been automatically redirected to a different homepage. Andrew and the company's official website have gone so thoroughly!
Do you think this radio ecosystem is fragile?
Export version of the Desheng S2000
Second, there is a foreshadowing
These two incidents are not uncommon, and many similar incidents have been staged at home and abroad many years ago.
First of all, it was also last year that the website of an American transistor radio player disappeared, which serialized many transistor radio review articles, the pictures were exceptionally beautiful, the background information of the radio was extremely detailed, and his love for such old radios could be seen between the lines. I translated a few of these articles, and I had planned to translate a few more, but now that the site is down, valuable transistor radio resources have disappeared.
Let's go further, a few years ago, Mr. Huo Dinghong (screen name: I am from Hong Kong), a well-known radio collector in China, traveled westward with a crane, and his personal website and nearly 100 "Weekly Machine Storage" review articles on it were also gone. Although some of the few domestic websites have been included before, they are not comprehensive, which is a pity!
Mr. Fok Ting-hung
Some friends may ask: Isn't it just a website, let it come back to life? In a few months, won't the Tianya community reopen!
Not to mention, some radio websites have really come back to life! There is a foreign website called "Medium Wave Circle," which was set up by a group of players who play with long-range medium wave weak signal reception, and is known as "Europe's top medium wave club." In addition to publishing some medium-wave developments, it also includes a complete collection of evaluation articles created by Dutch Radio, commonly known as "Dutch Radio Evaluation". Years ago, the site was forced to shut down due to a lack of funds. Unexpectedly, it was later reopened with financial support. The layout is more beautiful than before, the old information has been retained, and it is still being updated, the most recent article was published in November 2023, about the experience of a British player who received a weak signal in the Far East.
More serious friends may jokingly ask: Is there any resurrection and then hang up again?
This website has suffered many disasters and experienced several crises of forced closure, the first one was in 2008, when it was about to be closed, Mr. Zeng Deping, who was still working in Lexin Radio Company at that time, that is, the designer of the SR-286 radio that was out of the circle last year donated a server worth 17,000 yuan, and Guangtan was able to survive, and since then, there has been a website link to the top of Guangtan's homepage.
Radio enthusiast forum page
Also in 2008, a player named "Shanghai Mason" was engaged in something, and the person in charge of Guangtan, Rotten Wood, was invited to tea. The website server was forced to move to Hong Kong and was managed by Mr. Fok Ting-hung mentioned above. After the death of Mr. Huo Dinghong, Guangtan was briefly closed. It is said that Rotten Wood went to Hong Kong to retrieve the server and data disk, and soon after it ran again, in August 2020, Guangtan was completely shut down!
The rotten wood left this passage:
It's time to say goodbye, only memories remain!
Maruchiku-yi Nioshi-Oike
Sister Hexagon Octopus
Four Buddha Takamatsu Mangojo
Setta Chalachara Rack of Trout
Six or seven articles are too much
Hachijo Koera Danji Road
Kujo Ojite Stopsa
Radio Enthusiasts Forum: 1999~2020
I just opened the link to Guangtan, and this passage is still there!
Radio enthusiast forum, the earliest radio website after the rise of the Internet in simplified Chinese, the most complete radio information website in China, a website that records the rise and fall of domestic radio companies from 1999 to 2020, and a website that carries countless domestic players happy spare time, and even fears that everyone will lose their minds and have to carry "anti-addiction tools" A website that only publishes radio and radio information and never accepts any commercial advertisements, a website where countless people talk and even bet on swearing to cut their balls, it's gone!
O my youth!
Third, the radio ecosystem is really fragile
Everything has its own stage, and he has also served as a glamorous protagonist on the stage. The highlight of radio was in the sixties and seventies of the last century. In the eighties and nineties, it gave way to television sets. In the new century, it has once again given way to the Internet.
Today's radio ecosystem is made up of manufacturers, merchants, and consumers (players), and any fluctuation in any of the three will affect this fragile ecosystem. In the past few years, foreign Sony and Panasonic no longer develop high-end radios, the Gende trademark has been resold many times, Eaton is really an OEM goods, the products are our domestic OEM...... It can be seen that this link of the manufacturer is not very good.
The merchants are also miserable, I used to be able to see the radio counter in the local mall, and I could drool over the various radios inside, and I could ask the salesperson to take them out for me to fiddle with. Nowadays, I can't find a radio counter in my local shopping mall. This is not my local case, is it?
Players are not much better in this regard, they are all a group of middle-aged and elderly people playing, you look at the photos of radio players or radio enthusiasts all over the country, all of them are a group of old men, not to mention young guys, it is more difficult to find a middle-aged player.
In the foreseeable not-so-distant future, more and more radio players will leave, radio websites will be closed, and there will naturally be fewer and fewer manufacturers.
One day, the fragile radio ecosystem will collapse.
Let's play and cherish!
-- END --