The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dennis Dura, who notes that Herrington has advertised a three day sale on Grundig portables. Evidently, these prices include free shipping–not a bad deal! Click here to view Grundig radios at Herrington.

(Source: Radio World via Richard Langley) Titus SDR, a division of PantronX, says the Titus II multi-standard digital radio receiver is ready for production. The consumer software-defined radio digital receiver platform, which is the result of collaboration between Titus SDR/Patron X, Jasmin-Infotech, TWR, and Fraunhofer IIS, supports multi-standard radio reception, including DRM, DAB and DAB+ […]

(Source: The Guardian via Ian P) Reduction of local news and station closures disastrous for people living outside Australia’s cities, researchers say Cuts to the ABC in regional and rural Australia and the corporation’s increasing reliance on digital technologies is jeopardising the safety of remote communities and their access to emergency warnings, Deakin University research […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ian P, who shares the following via ABC News: ABC shortwave broadcasting to the Pacific to be reviewed The decision to end Australian shortwave broadcasting to the Pacific earlier this year could be revisited. There’s to be a review of Asia Pacific broadcasting services, as part of a wide […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, London Shortwave, who recently shared his latest SDR project: a field-portable, ultra-compact, SDR spectrum recording system based on the PocketCHIP computer. London Shortwave has built this system from the ground up and notes that it works well but is currently limited to the FunCube Dongle Pro+ at 192 kHz bandwidth. […]

(Source: BBC News via Namal Dolakumbura, 4S6NDO) The East German secret police went to extraordinary lengths to track down people who wrote letters to the BBC during the Cold War. One of those arrested and jailed was a teenager who longed to express himself freely – and paid a high price. It was the last day […]

(Source: iMediaEthics via Dan Robinson) Carter Page, a former adviser to then presidential candidate Donald Trump, is suing Oath, the parent company of Yahoo News and the Huffington Post, [as] well as the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which runs Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The lawsuit results from news stories about his alleged ties to Russia; […]

Like a few of us contributors here on the SWLing Post, Robert Gulley (AK3Q), writes features for The Spectrum Monitor magazine (TSM). Robert and I are both passionate supports of TSM–for a mere $24 per year, you get a monthly digital magazine that is simply chock-full of articles covering all aspects of our radio hobby. A […]

(Source: TX Factor) TX Factor experiences what it’s like to be young again with a visit to this Year’s YOTA activity week at Gilwell Park in London. Bob and Pete meet the team behind the event and chat to the young people attending from 15 countries that made this year’s event so successful. We tempt […]

Regular readers of the SWLing.com blog will be aware that I am passionate about going portable/mobile with my radio listening hobby. There’s just nothing like communing with both nature and a bunch of electrons whizzing along the wire! As a follow-up to an article I wrote several years ago, I have now prepared two new YouTube videos […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) CQ MF/LF Editor John Langridge, KB5NJD/WG2XIQ, reports that the FCC has authorized amateur radio use of the 630 and 2200-meter bands, effective October 16, 2017, providing registration procedures have been followed and no objections are received within 30 days. The PLC (Power Line Communications) database is live and hams may begin registering immediately. They […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Michael Guerin, who shares this article at CNN by Dr. Don Lincoln, a senior physicist at Fermilab and researcher at the Large Hadron Collider: Earth dodges a cosmic bullet — for now Solar flares and related phenomena could cause tremendous damage to the Earth’s electric grids, writes Don Lincoln Read the […]

Mike Ladd, with SDRplay, has done an amazing job putting together a comprehensive series of how-to videos for those of us with the SDRplay RSP1 and RSP2 receivers. His first set of videos have focused on using SDRuno (SDRplay’s custom SDR application), and now he’s started an SDR Console series as well. I’ve embedded much […]

(Source: Yahoo News) Key GOP Lawmaker: Go after North Korea with sanctions and short-wave radio WASHINGTON — House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R.-Calif., called Wednesday for tough new sanctions on Chinese banks that do business with North Korea. Royce also said the Stalinist regime in Pyongyang has been losing its totalitarian grip on a […]

Hi there, the garden at my house is pretty small and as a consequence, I am very limited in terms of what antennas I can usefully employ. You can’t position anything further than about 10 metres from the brickwork and to compound this, we are surrounded on all sides by neighbours in close proximity. All […]

This morning, I received yet another positive comment about the Tivdio V-115 (a.k.a. Audiomax SRW-710S). This little radio is widely available on Amazon and eBay for around $19.00 – 25.00 US including shipping. About as inexpensive as a radio gets. Both Troy Riedel and Tom Stiles gave it an overall positive review. Check out some of these recent […]

(Source: Radio Free Asia) WASHINGTON – Libby Liu, President of Radio Free Asia (RFA), today issued the following statement about RFA’s decision to suspend in-country operations in Cambodia: After almost 20 years of bringing the Cambodian people independent, reliable and trustworthy news and information from inside the country, Radio Free Asia has regrettably been forced […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Minor, who writes: I am going to set up a rig to start DXing, and getting my technical license. My plan is to buy a Kenwood TS-590 SG transceiver and a discone antenna. My home’s previous owner had satellite TV, and my question to you is, can I use the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Edward Ganshirt, who shares the following: I found this critter [a Realistic DX-440–see photo above] at a flea market. At first I pondered as to when I had my last tetanus shot before handling it, then again it had something that I see rarely in these portable radios … a […]

SWLing Post readers know I’m a certified pack geek. Well, I just received an email from one of my favorite tactical backpack and gear suppliers: Spec.-Ops. Brand. They’re having an unheard of 70% off sale on some of their overstocked tactical packs. I’ve mentioned Spec.-Ops. in a number of previous posts as I own a lot […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following promo video just released by Radio Prague: Click here to view on YouTube. Thanks for the tip, David! Note that Radio Prague is still on shortwave via WRMI on 9,395 kHz (though, at the moment, WRMI is recovering from Hurricane Irma […]

Many thanks to Jeff White, at Radio Miami International, who writes with the following update: Florida Power & Light Company has announced that most customers in our part of Florida should have electricity restored by the end of this coming weekend — that is by Sunday, September 17. So we hope to be back on […]

Monday night, the remnants of Hurricane Irma moved through western North Carolina. Because the SWLing Post HQ is at a high altitude compared with the surrounding area, we received higher than forecast winds. Still, we made it through fine and feel pretty darn lucky. Yesterday afternoon, even though we maintained power throughout the storm, the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Jordan, who shares a link to this article in Wired magazine: IF YOU TUNED into just the right shortwave radio frequency in the 1970s, you might hear a creepy computerized voice reading out a string of numbers. It was the Cold War, and the coded messages were rumored to […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Taylor, who shares the following schedule of shortwave relays: European Music Relays + More Scheduled Transmissions from Radio City are: 3rd Saturday at 08.00 to 09.00 UTC on 9510 kHz with Repeats all other Saturdays 4th Saturday at 12.00 to 13.00 UTC on 7265 kHz via Hamburger Lokalradio […]

(Source: Jeff White) Dear WRMI Clients, Listeners and Friends: Yesterday evening, Hurricane Irma passed very close to Okeechobee, and tropical storm force winds hit our transmitter site. I’m happy to say that the transmitter building and the transmitters themselves survived with no major problems. In the antenna field, one of our 44-degree antennas beaming up […]

(Source: WRMI on Facebook) 1430 UTC Monday, September 11 Hurricane Irma has done extensive damage at WRMI in Okeechobee, Florida. Two antenna towers are down and many poles holding transmission lines are also down. Power went out at around 2030 UTC Sunday, and it may not be restored for days. Meanwhile, all transmitters are off […]

(Source: Southgate ARC and Kim Elliott) Cross Country Wireless have released a Special Edition version of their SDR-4+receiver. This includes many features previously only available in custom versions of the receiver. Adding a high IP3 push pull RF amplifier, RF filter upgrades and a lower noise and distortion IQ amplifier have resulted in a high performance […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who noted my comments about the Grundig S350DL’s tuning drift yesterday, and shared the following fix found on Jeff McMahon’s Herculodge blog. Ed writes: The Grundig S350DL’s mechanical tuning drift problem is reportedly easily correctable with a screwdriver: (Source: The Herculodge) […]The drift on AM was terrible! After […]

As a follow up to our previous post about the PTT “radio” app Zello, SWLing Post contributor, Aaron Kuhn shares this story from The Houston Chronicle: I downloaded an app. And suddenly, was part of the Cajun Navy. After watching nonstop coverage of the hurricane and the incredible rescues that were taking place, I got […]

(Source: WRMI on Facebook) Dear WRMI Friends, Colleagues and Clients: I am writing this at 0400 UTC Sunday, September 10. Here in Okeechobee the winds are starting to pick up as Hurricane Irma heads to Florida. The exact path of the hurricane continues to change somewhat, but it appears that the eye of Hurricane Irma […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Freitas, who notes that’s he’s published a favorable review of the Eton Field BT on his blog: Chris Freitas on Radio The Field BT shares the same basic chassis as the Tecsun S-8800 (check out the review published yesterday) and several other receivers including the Grundig S350DL, S450DLX, and the C.Crane […]

In reply to our previous post regarding email delivery of the SWLing Post, contributor Dan Robinson draws our attention to this excellent article about using RSS feeds to keep track of news: As this recent article [at Gizmodo] points out, since the demise of Google Reader, things have become a bit more complicated when it […]

(Source: Bob’s Backyard BBQ Radio Show) A bunch of radio professionals get together at a home in Southwest Connecticut for great fun and food ever couple of summers. On Saturday September 9th from 7pm to 10pm eastern (2300 Saturday to 0200 UTC Sunday) Bob’s Backyard BBQ Radio Show will take place, hosted by Bob Gilmore and […]

Earlier this year, Tecsun released its long-awaited newest large portable: the Tecsun S-8800 portable shortwave/LW/AM-MW/FM receiver. Though I fully intended to buy a Tecsun S-8800 for review, our friendly Hong Kong-based Tecsun retailer, Anon-Co, sent an S-8800 to me before I could. I’ve worked with Anna at Anon-Co for at least a decade and have […]

(Source: The Washington Post via David Korchin) As Hurricane Harvey dropped anchor over Southeast Texas last week, Zello became the go-to app for rescuers working to save thousands of people trapped by floodwaters. Within days of Harvey’s arrival, the app saw a 20-fold increase in usage in Houston, according to Bill Moore, the Austin based […]

(Source: ARRL via Mike Terry) NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued a strong (G3) geomagnetic storm watch for September 7 through September 9. The SWPC said the watch for September 7 remains in effect due to the arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME) and the effects of a CME on September 4. […]

A number of SWLing Post readers (about 1,200 of you) are signed up for and receive our posts via email. In the past two weeks, I’ve received a number of messages from readers noting that they haven’t been receiving any email digests. If this is the case for you, I encourage you to try signing up […]

We now have a price for the Tecsun S-8800. Anna at Anon-Co has notified me that they’ve published the listing for the new Tecsun S-8800. The price is $268.00 US with free shipping to the USA. She also noted that the S-8800 won’t actually be available until some time next week. Note that my Tecsun […]

(Source: WRMI on Facebook) Hurricane Irma: Thank you to all of our listeners who have inquired about our hurricane plans. At the moment (early Wednesday local time), it appears that the eye of Hurricane Irma will come right over or very close to Okeechobee by Sunday or Monday. We will stay on the air as […]

(Source: Voice of Vietnam) US listener: “Personal connection makes me want to listen to VOV” (VOVWORLD) – The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) turns 72 this Thursday. Over the past 7 decades, VOV has served as a bridge linking Vietnam with people all around the world. Paul Walker, an American radio presenter and a loyal listener […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ivan Cholakov (NO2CW) who shares the following: I finally got around to listening through some of the amateur radio band spectrum captures from the 2017 Solar Eclipse QSO party. I used an SDRPlay receiver with an end fed LNR antenna in portable field setting in Nashville, TN. About 30 minutes […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andy Howlett, who writes: Some while back I spotted an elderly ‘TW Communivator’ in use the a late episode of The Avengers TV series. The episode in question is called ‘All done with Mirrors’. Studio Canal are a bit touchy about people nicking stills from their videos, but I sent […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who shares an update to his previous post regarding Fast Radio Bursts. Ed writes: Here’s a followup article explaining, “Five Reasons Why The Signals From Stephen Hawking’s Breakthrough Initiative Aren’t Aliens”. It compares the power of these Fast Radio Bursts (FRB’s) with that of the mediumwave array in […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob LaRose (W6ACU), for the following guest post: Eclipse 2017 Propagation Observations by Bob LaRose (W6ACU) DXers know that the reception of overseas Shortwave Broadcast stations offers one of the best ways to immediately gauge shortwave radio propagation conditions from your location to distant areas of the world. For the eclipse of 2017 I decided to see how reception of SW broadcast stations on lower shortwave broadcast frequencies (and to a smaller extent […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rawad Hamwi, who shares the following recording and notes: I recorded today part of Voice of Korea news bulletin (english language) when they started talking about what they did regarding the detonation on a H bomb today. You know, such things don’t occur everyday and maybe the last time we […]

My Labor Day weekend was free of travel again this year, so I was able to make another pilgrimage to the Shelby (North Carolina) hamfest with my good buddy, Vlado (N3CZ). The Shelby Hamfest–referred to, locally, as “The Grand-Daddy of them All”–has long been regarded as one of the largest hamfests in the southeast US. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who shares a link to the following article at Breakthrough Initiatives: Green Bank Telescope observations of a dwarf galaxy three billion light years away reveal 15 bursts of radio emission. This is the first time bursts from this source have been seen at these frequencies. San Francisco – August […]