The SWLing Post

This is a guest-post by Eric, WD8RIF. I’ve had my Sony ICF-SW7600G for almost twenty years. Early on, my very young son broke the receiver’s telescoping whip antenna and it was a simple and inexpensive matter to order a replacement whip assembly from Universal Radio, the Sony dealer from whom I had purchased the radio. […]

From the Isle of Music, Week of January 23-28, 2017 SPECIAL EDITION: To honor the first anniversary of the passing of Miguel Angel Rasalps “Lele”, who sang with Elio Reve, Los Van Van and the funky, rocking yet very Cuban Los Reyes 73, music from all three groups with special guest Ricardo Delgado, who played […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bertrand Sthhle (F6GYY), who writes: Hi Thomas, The new SSB portable receiver TECSUN S-8800 has been available from Germany, since the beginning of 2017. Supplier:https://www.wellenjagd.com/ has the S-8800e, a Europeen version. I have one unit here and also being an owner of the PL-880, [I would describe it as] a […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alexander (DL4NO), who writes: I just found a German reference to the CIA Freedom of Information Act Reading room https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/ As a first test I searched for “radio design”. A few of the documents found: ACTIVITIES OF AMATEUR RADIO DESIGNERS JPRS ID: 8744 TRANSLATION ELECTROMAGNETIC SHIELDING DESIGN FOR RADIO-ELECTRONIC […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, London Shortwave, who shares the following letter by Gary Baker, former district manager at Radio Australia, Shepparton–published in the Shepparton News. Here’s an excerpt: Recently I heard that the HF radio transmission site at Shepparton, known as Radio Australia, is to be shut down. […]I understand the ABC needs […]

Hi there, I posted an article on this brilliant little radio a few months ago because it had demonstrated a level of performance way beyond my expectations. Notwithstanding it’s incredibly small size the DX results I obtained with it were beyond my ICF-SW55 and up there with the iconic ICF-2001D. Armed with synchronous detection, selectable side bands, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Aaron Kuhn who shares this excellent article from Dazed: The influence of pirate radio has endured despite government crackdowns and the rise of legitimate alternatives – today, it continues to thrive, both legally and otherwise Drive around some parts of London today and you’re still liable to hear mainstream […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who shares the following message he recently received from Ray Robinson, VP of Global Operations with The Voice of Hope. This message is being relayed with Robinson’s permission: I have seen a few messages lately, regarding the non-appearance of ZNBC-1 on 5915 kHz in their early mornings. You […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Aaron Kuhn, who shares the following in-depth article from Tedium.com: The story of FMX, the wannabe radio standard that was taken out in a very public way Attempts at standard-building in the radio industry have come up repeatedly over the years, and few of them have stuck, not even […]

(Source: BBC News via Richard Langley) Ambulances in Stockholm are testing a system that interrupts in-car audio systems to warn drivers that they need to get through. The solution was developed by students at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in the city. It broadcasts a voice warning, while a text message also appears in […]

(Source: US Embassy in Sri Lanka) The United States values its strong relationship with Sri Lanka and our bilateral partnership over the past 60 years. The Iranawila shortwave station, managed by an independent U.S. agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), is an example of this partnership. The shortwave station has transmitted Voice of America […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, for sharing a link to this sale at Herrington, where a number of Grundig models have been discounted. Looking through Herrington’s selection of Grundig radios, I feel the best deal is the Grundig Edition Field Radio above. It’s on sale for $99.95, but you must also account […]

Yesterday, we posted a news item regarding the importance of the ABC’s shortwave service to those working and living in the Australian Outback. It appears the ABC has no intention of reversing the decision in any meaningful way. A follow-up piece from The Guardian: The ABC has remained steadfast in its decision to scrap the shortwave radio service, despite […]

Hi there, a few days ago I posted some reception videos comparing the performance of the Boni whip with a 30 metre longwire antenna at home, with a further check against the performance of the H field Wellbrook ALA1530 active loop. The conclusion of those tests was essentially confirmation that E field antennas don’t […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Phil Brennan and London Shortwave for sharing the following story from The Guardian (my comments follow): ‘It’s essential’: outback workers fight ABC decision to ditch shortwave radio For some living and working in Australia’s outback, shortwave radio is the only way they can listen to the ABC – and their […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) Ham Radio – What Is a Balun and How to Make One Cheaply A Balun is a transformer which allows coaxial cable, which is an unbalanced lead to be connected to a balanced load, for example a resonant aerial. The 1:1 balun is often called a choke balun, it works by eliminating […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Sylvain (F4GKR), who writes: I am Sylvain, from Cloud-SDR, a new company selling software to get remote access to your existing SDR receivers through the Internet. Coud-SDR currently supports : SDRPlay, Perseus, BladeRF and AirSpy. LimeSDR to come when received and tested. client software is free (can be used […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jeremy Clark (VE3PKC), who writes: I have developed an SDR receiver that may be of interest to your readers. It can be used directly with the Raspberry Pi2B/3B. It comes in several versions DIP/SMD. Check out this MP4 movie: http://www.clarktelecommunications.com/images/rpizonia.mp4 I have two eBooks which are basically design manuals […]

Hi there, if like me, you live in an urban environment, chances are QRM is having a negative impact on the quality of the signals you’re receiving at home. The presence of electrical noise makes antenna choice very important, particuarly if you’re planning to spend more than a few £££s on something more sophisticated than […]

While browsing eBay a few moments ago, I noticed this Sangean ATS-818 which has a BuyItNow price of $30.00 + $15.00 shipping. If this would have been the ATS-803A/DX-440, I would have snatched it up in an instant if only for nostalgic reasons. I know many people that cut their teeth on the ATS-818 or […]

Many thanks to David Giba who shares the following via the Gary J. Cohen’s Shortwave Listeners Global Facebook page: The Boeing 707 is my favorite commercial jetliner. If one looks at the tail they will see a probe pointing forward off the top of the tail. That is the HF shortwave antenna. It was matched by an […]

–UPDATE: This item has sold. Thank you!– It’s time to thin the herd! Over the coming weeks, I’m planning to liquidate some gear here at the SWLing Post HQ. I’m selling radios and accessories I no longer use or need for comparison reviews. I’ll plan to post these on the SWLing Post before placing them on something like eBay. […]

Many thanks to Mike at PantronX who has provided the following update on the Titus II portable SDR: As you can imagine the response to Titus has almost been overwhelming! Pre-orders far exceeded our imagination and excitement from broadcasters has been very loud. DRM and digital broadcasting seems to be reinvigorated with Titus in 2017. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who shares the following story from Nature: “Some of the observatories targeted in the review have found potential partners: New Mexico State University in Las Cruces is leading an effort to take over the Dunn Solar Telescope in Sunspot, New Mexico. Others remain in limbo, including the […]

From the Isle of Music, Week of January 16-22, 2017 Electronic Cuba – Leonardo Pérez shares more of Una Mecanica Diferente, Jazz saxophonist Emir Santa Cruz shares some of his music, and we are going to explore some of what is happening in Cuban electronic music today. Three options for listening on shortwave: WBCQ, 7490 […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who lives in New Brunswick, Canada, and sent the following update earlier this month: I often go outdoors to escape the RFI generated in and around the house, which can be even worse during the holidays with all the LED Christmas displays. Trouble is, the snow is […]

(Source: Southgate ARC via Mike Terry) Dutch regulator removes broadcaster’s antenna It is reported the Dutch Radiocommunications Agency dismantled the antenna of a legally operating broadcast station It appears they thought Vechtdal NL in Ommen on 105.6 MHz was a pirate but the station, an associate of Vechtdal FM, was correctly licenced. The Agency says […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ivan Cholakov, who shares the following: [W]hile on a cruise ship 30 miles off the coast of Cuba (January 2017) I pointed a small active antenna towards the island and scanned for old fashioned analog TV. The results show analog TV is alive and well in Cuba! Multiple programs […]

(Source: Tom Taylor) Relays this Weekend Hamurger Lokal Radio via Shortwave Station Göhren, Germany with 1KW to Western Europe: 6190 KHz Every Saturday 07.00 to 11.00 UTC 7265 KHz Every Saturday 11.00 to 16.00 UTC 9485 KHz Every Sunday 10.00 to 13.00 UTC Contact email: redaktion@hamburger-lokalradio.de NEXT WEEK Radio City via: IRRS to Europe on […]

One of the things I now regret is that I didn’t make more recordings of radio stations from my listening days in the 1970s and 80s. I have very few audio examples of stations operating at that time. So disappointing! However….a few weeks ago, I stumbled across a recording I made in December 1973 of Radyo […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, William Lee, who shares the following story from the CBC: Hello, Finland, this is Vancouver calling: radio fans listen to CBC from 6,700 km away When people in other parts of the world tune in to CBC Radio in Vancouver, they usually do it through our app, or online […]

(Source: ?Victor Goonetilleke via the WRTH Facebook page) We have the DRM test in place for 9 – 13 Jan 2017. Please pass thisonto those you know who may be able to send in reports.Details are here below. DRM test broadcast form KTWR Guam Date 9 – 13 January 2017 Time UTC 1445 – 1515 Freq […]

Last night, my buddy Eric McFadden (WD8RIF) notified me that the International Space Station would be making a pass this morning and doing an ARISS contact with three schools in Belgium. It appears this pass will create an opportunity for some of us at least in eastern North America (and elsewhere) to listen to the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who writes: Hi Thomas: As every year, Radio Prague has a new collection of QSL cards for its listeners. This year, this eight different QSL cards show Means of Public Transport in the Czech Republic. You can see them at: http://www.radio.cz/en//qsl/qsl-cards Thanks for the tip, David! […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Schreiber (KE7KRF), who shares the following guest post: Yet Another Internet Radio! by Richard Schreiber (KE7KRF) After deciding that an internet radio could be an important source of entertainment in our household, we formulated a few general guidelines: We opted not to use an aggregator but would pick and choose […]

The following information was first shared with me by SWLing Post contributor, Harald Kuhl. As I looked for more details, I discovered the following note in the excellent CIDX Messenger: From Alan Roe of Teddington, UK, here is information on new transmissions targeting Antarctica: According to posting on “Shortwave Airtime” Facebook page: “Spaceline Ltd and Radio Nova […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Figliozzi, who writes: This [company] was mentioned in regard to the CES show out in Las Vegas: http://www.airsmartaudio.com/ It’s a Chinese company with a rather novel approach to the design of modern radios — AM/FM/Internet Bluetooth, along with the use of tube amplifiers in some models. The web […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lennart Weirell, who shares the following: Some Radio St. Helena History The idea to put St. Helena on the shortwave map came up in conjunction with the preparations for the Nordic Championships in DX-ing in 1990 arranged by Stora Tuna DX-klubb. The two Swedish dx-ers Jan Tunér and John […]

Dennis Walter, of Bonito Radio in Germany, has just posted an excellent article on his blog regarding the importance of quality coaxial cable to fight local radio interference. Click here to read his post, “Why even good antennas need good Coax cable.”

Many thanks to Jon Hudson at SDRplay who has just informed me that SDR-Console V3 Preview supports the new SDRplay RSP2. SDRplay posted the following on their blog: Many thanks to Simon Brown for updating SDR-Console V3 Preview to fully support both the RSP1 and the RSP2- you can download the software from http://sdr-radio.com/v3_preview_downloads (be sure to click […]

Since I was a kid, I’ve always enjoyed listening to police, fire, public services/utilities, and aviation communications on scanners. Growing up, my father had a Regency Executive scanner in our living room, and he used it to listen to all of the local action before it was published in the newspaper the following morning. All […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Klaus Boecker, who follows up after our recent post showcasing his homebrew magnetic loop antenna. One of the cool things about Klaus’ antenna is that he can easily position it vertically (see above), or fold it over into a horizontal position (see below). While one would think Klaus would […]

Hi there, I recently posted an article regarding a couple of recent DX catches with the Sony ICF-SW77 receiver and went on to explain the background to a multi-receiver test I had started conducting, comparing it with its stablemate of the time the ICF-SW55 and, just for the hell of it, a more modern, yet […]

(Source: BBC via Mike Terry on the WRTH Facebook Page) Bulgaria’s public radio broadcaster has been banned from playing millions of contemporary songs because of a row over copyright payments. Since 1 January, state-funded Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) has been filling its airwaves with classical pieces, jazz and traditional folk music instead, the Novinite news […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike, who shares the following from the YouTube channel The Great War. This short video gives an excellent overview of communications methods and equipment used throughout World War I. I’ve included the video’s description below: Click here to view on YouTube. “If one thing was vital to the the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Schreiber (KE7KRF), who shares the following: Here [above] is the QSL card I received in 2004 for the 1998 St Helena Day shortwave broadcast. There were, I recall, some staff changes and other issues that delayed many reports from being verified, but resubmitted everything in 2004 and they […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who shares the following short recordings of Radio St. Helena day in 2006 and 2009. These recordings were made from his home on Ponza Island, Italy using the Yaesu FRG-7 and FRG-100 and a 30 meter length of wire antenna: Radio St. Helena – November 4, 2006 […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, London Shortwave, who shares this tweet from Northern Territory resident, Lisa Herbert. ABC ad re cutting #shortwave services telling peeps to include an EPIRB and sat phone to their emergency kit. pic.twitter.com/NrKQqNbQjK — Lisa Herbert (@MsLisaHerbert) December 28, 2016 Is the irony of this really lost on the ABC […]

From the Isle of Music, Week of January 9-15, 2017 A Jazzy show this week – Leonardo Pérez shares more of Una Mecanica Diferente, and we have two other special guests: pianist Alejandro Falcón and saxophonist Carlos Miyares, part of the new generation of Jazz stars in Cuba. Also, a tribute to the recently- departed […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Kadlec, who shares the following announcement about his Seoul AM Radio Listening Guide: After a long 14 months of work, I’m happy to present the completed Seoul AM Radio Listening Guide, a three-hour documentary broadcast exploring the Seoul AM band one frequency at a time, plus a look at […]