The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares this story from the BBC News via Matthew M. Aid‘s blog: […]It was a cold Saturday morning in April 1988 when a van full of detectives arrived outside the North London home of Erwin van Haarlem. The self-employed art dealer, 44, lived alone in sleepy Friern […]

Many thanks SWLing Post contributor, Aaron Kuhn, who writes: [While passing by the TV at just the right time] I heard an interesting little 16 seconds of exchange in the Senate Russian Hacking hearings. The exchange take place between Lindsey Graham and James Clapper from 1:57:40 to 1:58:24: Click here to view on YouTube. In this short […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bob Heil (K9EID), who writes: You may be interested to know about the Saturday evening Theatre Organ shows on the 100KW of WTWW: “Theatre Organ from the Ozarks” each Saturday at 8PM CST (0200 UTC Sunday) on WTWW shortwave 5.085 MHz. Many readers might not know that Bob Heil is […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who writes: Just FYI. Yes, the Icom IC-7200 is “Back in Production” ” The Icom IC-7200 HF DSP Transceiver is back in production once again (at least for now). Unknown if any part / design changes had to be made to make this possible ? Let’s […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) Some inhabitants of French controlled Polynesia are unhappy at the switch over from Medium Wave AM to VHF FM broadcasting Radio New Zealand reports Radio Polynesie Premiere switched to an all FM service at the beginning of December, leaving pockets of inhabitants in valleys and on remote atolls without any local radio […]

We all read articles about the utility and the demise of AM (mediumwave) broadcasting. In this short article via the Huffington Post, Fred Lundgren (Founder and CEO of KCAA) discusses “What Happened To AM Radio (that’s NOT a question)”: On Christmas Eve morning, the electricity went off at our house and panic quickly spread among our […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN), who writes: Hi Thomas, These have been popping up on eBay, reasonable price, with face markings just like an old shortwave radio dial. Click here to view Zenith wall clock. Pretty nice gift for the SWL who has everything! Click here to view Sparton wall clock. […]

Many thanks to our friends at The Greek Radio who share this news: The medium wave broadcasting center of the Greek Radio in Pachi Megara is likely to go live again after three and a half years, since the procedures for the necessary maintenance and repairs have recently been initiated, with a high possibility that one […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete (WB9FLW), who notes that Ashhar Farhan (VU2ESE) has upgraded the BITX40 Transceiver with a Arduino Nano/Si5351 VFO: http://www.hfsigs.com/ The BITX40 is an affordable, fully assembled QRP transceiver we’ve mentioned on the SWLing Post before–click here to read more. Thanks for the tip, Pete!

Many thanks to SWLing Post readers Al Quaglieri and Alan Tu for sharing the following story via app.com about the removal of the remnants of radio station WOO: BERKELEY TOWNSHIP — The mysterious poles have stood in the open marshland off Good Luck Point for nearly 80 years, but sometime in January these local landmarks will finally be […]

If you’ve been a shortwave listener for very long, you may remember the annual Radio St. Helena Day: one weekend a year when this small island broadcaster hit the shortwaves and accepted reports from across the globe. I never had the fortune of receiving their modest signal, but I surely tried! Since I’m fan of remotely […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil Brennan, who shares the following press release from ABC Friends. ABC Friends represents the community’s interest in independent national public broadcasting: MEDIA RELEASE 5/1/2017 NEW THREAT TO LIVES IN OUTBACK PLEA FOR URGENT MINISTERIAL ACTION An urgent call for ministerial action to protect short wave services in Northern […]

Some of you might remember the extensive tests I conducted last August, comparing this great portable receiver against the model it was introduced to replace – and arguably one of the best-ever portables – the Sony ICF-2001D/ICF-2010. I conducted a back-to-back series of comparison tests at the very quiet wood in Oxfordshire I use for my DX’peditions, […]

Post readers: I need your help! SWLing Post reader Andy Webster (G7UHN) is searching for an off-air recording of the BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica from the year 2009. Andy has a very personal connection to this particular broadcast because he was the wintering communications engineer at Rothera Research Station in 2009. One of his […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Avo Ohanian, who writes: I had read with interest a review on Amazon about a purchaser receiving a Sangean ATS-909X in black with the firmware listed as “P-01”. I can confirm that this is indeed the case and that I am curious as to whether there is more than just […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Klaus Boecker, who originally posted these images of his homebrew magnetic loop antenna on the Shortwave Radio Station Listening Facebook page. I love the design of his mag loop which easily allows for a vertical or horizontal orientation. Kaus has discovered, in certain cases, places the loop in a horizontal […]

Many thanks to several SWLing Post readers who shared this excellent radio documentary on the BBC World Service website: The Fifth Floor: Watching the World Caversham Park is the home of BBC Monitoring which for over 70 years has been the eyes and ears of the BBC, watching, translating and analysing the world’s media and […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Andrea Borgnino who shares this item from the National Catholic Register: [O]n December 31, 2016, after more than 80 years of operation, Vatican Radio is being absorbed into the new Secretariat for Communications. The move is part of Pope Francis’ reorganization of Curial offices, and is intended to make […]

Many thanks to Chris Smolinski who has, once again, crunched the numbers to give us a look at HF pirate radio activity in 2016. […]To gauge shortwave pirate radio activity in 2016, I analyzed the Shortwave Pirate loggings forum of the HF Underground (http://www.hfunderground.com). A computer script parsed the message thread titles, as well as […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Harald Kuhl, who shares the following message sent by Anker Petersen of the The Danish Shortwave Club International (DSWCI): Dear DSWCI members. In a few hours the DSWCI exists no longer. But our webmaster Rolf Wernli has done a tremendous job between Christmas and New Year by changing our wellknown […]

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that we had crossed a small milestone here on the SWLing Post: as of this post, there are now 3,067 (!!!) published posts in our archives. I simply can’t believe we’ve surpassed 3,000 posts–especially knowing we only passed 2,000 posts September of 2015. People can say what they will […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Trevor, who shares this link to a blog post from Daniel Estevez describing the characteristics of HF OTH RADAR: Most amateur operators are familiar with over-the-horizon radars in the HF bands. They sometimes pop up in the Amateur bands, rendering several tens of kilohertzs unusable. Inspired by Balint Seeber’s talk in […]

Happy 2017! We begin the new year with some new and recent recordings we received during 2016, and our special guest is Leonardo Pérez, Director of Cuarteto de Cuerdas Amadeo Roldan, who will be sharing a little of Una Mecánica Diferente, which was nominated for a Cubadisco in Concert and Chamber Music in 2016, during […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary DeBock (N7EKX), who shares this video and notes the following on YouTube: This is the new 3.5 inch (89mm) “Baby FSL” antenna, designed to provide a powerful DXing gain boost for Ultralight radios (or any other portables) despite its very small size. It has 32 Russian surplus 140mm x […]

(Source: NPR) Here’s a timely reminder for all you would-be revelers out there: Be careful with your countdowns this New Year’s Eve. There will be a little extra time to bask in the glow of a retreating 2016 — or curse its name, as the case may be. Whatever your inclination may be, one thing […]

I received my copy of the 2017 World Radio and TV Handbook (WRTH) directly from the publisher last week, just prior to Christmas holiday ravels. As I mention every year, I look forward to receiving this excellent staple radio reference guide–and this is their 71st edition! WRTH’s team of noted DXers from around the world curate frequencies and broadcaster […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor TomL, who shares the following guest post: Backpack-Shack radio listening by TomL So, the Car Shack idea was good, but I felt constrained by lack of access to better locations to listen to shortwave radio. I took most of the original equipment and stuffed it into a photo backpack I […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Ladd (KD2KOG), who writes with a Tecsun PL-310ET tip: Happy Holidays! I found this trying different button combos on the PL-310ET. I don’t think this is documented online. Tecsun PL-310ET Memory Reset Power off the radio Press and hold the Del key.When the radio beeps release the Del […]

Many thanks to Chris Smolinski, who shares the following update: I have a new version of Morse Pad for the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. This update includes an improved decoder which better handles improper dot / dash / space timing by the sender (poor fist), automatic speed (WPM) algorithm, and adds AFC (Automatic Frequency Control), which auto […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Cummings, who shares the 1951 Radio Free Europe Christmas card above. Richard also notes that he recently published a two-part series on RFE and Christmas on his blog, Cold War Radio Vignettes. Christmas and Radio Free Europe, Part One: Santa Claus, Freedom Girl and the Red Invader Christmas […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Cooper, who shares the following announcement: NORTH AMERICAN SHORTWAVE CONTEST “The Final Countdown” 2017 Just a friendly reminder that the North American SW DX Contest, “The Final Countdown,” will be starting in a few weeks. The Holidays are upon us and time is flying. Remember the Contest starts […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rick Lewis (WPE5BST), who writes: Have been watching this radio on eBay. […] Looks like a post 97′ model SW100S and thus the ribbon cable shouldn’t be an issue. Click here to view on eBay. It appears the seller may only be willing to ship this within Europe. You […]

(Source: Space Daily) The Mechanically Based Antenna (AMEBA) program could enable radio communication through seawater and the ground. and directly between warfighters hundreds and ultimately thousands of kilometers apart. Here’s something easy to forget when you are chatting on your cell phone or flipping channels on your smart TV: although wireless communication seems nothing short […]

Many thanks again to all of you who submitted your radio holiday memories in our December contest! In the end, we had over forty entries and I’ve truly enjoyed reading each and every one of them. In the spirit of the holidays, and to conjure up some serious radio nostalgia, I’ve posted all of the […]

(Source: BBG Watch via Dan Robinson) President Barack Obama has signed into law S. 2943, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017,” which includes a provision to reduce the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG) governing board to an advisory status while making the BBG CEO position subject to a future nomination by the […]

(Source: Tom Taylor) Swedish DX-Federation, Italian Broadcasting Corporation Swedish DX-Federation via Channel 292 at the following times and frequency: December 26th at 07.00 – 08.00 UTC on 6070 kHz New Year’s Day, January 1st 2017 at 17.00 – 18.00 UTC on 6070 kHz January 6th 2017 at 17.00 – 18.00 UTC on 6070 kHz […]

From the Isle of Music, Week of December 26-31: From Mambo to Songo: A Special Cuban Dance Party For our final program of 2016, we bring you a special Cuban dance party without interview, plus a tribute to Pérez Prado, who was born 100 years ago on December 11, 1916. Three options for listening on […]

(Source: USC Center on Public Diplomacy) Farewell, Firewall Deep in the massive FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act is a provision to eliminate, in its present form, the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors. The NDAA has been passed by the House and the Senate and is expected to be signed by President Obama. The BBG is […]

Now an annual Christmas tradition, Brian Justin (WA1ZMS) will put his longwave experimental station WI2XLQ on the air to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Reginald Fessenden’s first audio transmission. WI2XLQ will broadcast under its new callsign (formerly WG2XFQ) on 486 kHz from Forest, Virginia, beginning on December 24 at 0001 UTC. WI2XLQ will remain on the air for 48 […]

My buddy, Skip Arey (N2EI), shared the following poem on his Facebook page and has kindly allowed me to post it here! Skip writes: “I originally published this in the NASWA “FRENDX” club journal in 1987 and later in the December 1992 issue of Monitoring Times magazine. Many thanks to Steven K. Roberts for recovering […]

(Source: Southgate ARC via Mike Barraclough) French 162 kHz Broadcast Licence The French Superior Council of Audiovisual (Content), CSA, is calling for expressions of interest in broadcasting on 162 kHz They say: In accordance with the provisions of Article 26 of the amended Freedom of Communication Act of September 30, 1986 and at the request […]

(Source: Mauno Ritola via the WRTH Facebook page) Vatican Radio special broadcasts on Christmas: Saturday 24 December 2016 1600-1652 [UTC] Mass in Chinese 5975 7200 kHz 2025-2230 Portuguese 11625 kHz Angola and Mozambique French 6080 kHz West Africa English 7275 kHz Central Africa Chinese 6185 kHz China Sunday 25 December 2016 1055-1130 [UTC] Portuguese 21560 kHz […]

If you’ve been wanting to log France Inter as longwave DX, you’re running out of time. France Inter is shutting down their 162 kHz longwave service on December 31, 2016. I’m grateful to SWLing Post contributor, Ron, who has persistently reminded me that these are some of the last days to catch France Inter as […]

(Source: Radio World via Andrea Borgnino) Swiss-based company Ampegon has accepted a contract from Al Rashed to handle the upgrade of five analog shortwave transmitters that are more than 20 years old for the Kuwait Ministry of Information in Al Kabd station. […]Ampegon will refurbish all of the transmitters, and in addition upgrade three of […]

Hi there, I thought I’d share with you, three recent catches from Canada that I had not previously heard here in Oxford, UK, over the past 18 months of DXing. The first is VOWR, a religous station in Saint John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. At the time of reception their TX power was 2.5 kW, thus […]

I recently received an email from SWLing Post reader, Ibrahima Ditinn Diallo, regarding a receiver I had never heard of–the Elpa ER-C57WR. Ibrahima has been searching for a new receiver and is considering the Elpa. I did a quick search and discovered that the Elpa ER-C57WR is available from a number of sellers on eBay–as both new […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jonathan Marks, who shares his latest post from Medium.com: Open Source Stupidity: The Threat to the BBC Monitoring Service Media Network, the weekly communications magazine formerly on Radio Netherlands, is set to return as an independent podcast in 2017, resuming its analysis of international broadcasting. http://traffic.libsyn.com/jonathanmarks/MN.24.08.1989BBCMS.mp3 The first time we […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, ShortwaveGuy, who shares the following guest post originally published on his blog, Shortwave.me: Tried And True. . .Revisiting Older Receivers – Realistic DX-440 by ShortwaveGuy Anyone who knows me, knows I am a fan of the “latest and greatest” when it comes to shortwave receivers. Like most of us […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Kadlec, who has kindly (and upon my request) shared this interesting audio survey of Korean jammers and propaganda stations. This is the final 45 minutes of my 3-hour – exactly 3 hours – broadcast of East Asia AM radio (skywave as heard from Seoul, frequency by frequency). http://www.beaglebass.com/dx/audio/seoul/Korean_Propaganda_and_Jammers.mp3 Click […]