The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who writes: You might consider reporting on The SWLing Post that there will be several talks at the The Eleventh HOPE conference this Fri/Sat/Sun that might interest your readers, including: Tuning in to New York City’s Pirates of the Air David Goren Pirate radio in New York City […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Daniel Hawkins, who writes: One of my favorite Radio New Zealand International programs is Sunday Night with Grant Walker. This program is heard on RNZ in New Zealand from 8:06-10:00 p.m. and is run at the same time on RNZI. Sunday Night features hit oldies and one interview. Each program […]

Here’s a great example of a QSL report from Pirate Station X-FM Stereo Shortwave monitored Halloween 2015. Not only is it a beautiful card, Redhat (the Deejay) also included the playlist as a .txt attachment. As I recall he also made live announcements of who had left reception reports/comments on the HF Underground forum as […]

I recently stumbled upon the Active Antenna Amplifier (model AAA-1C) by LZ1AQ. At 87.00 EUR, it’s a pretty affordable and flexible solution for those who would like to design or use a loop antenna. According to the website, it packs a lot of features: 4 remotely switched modes (Loop A, Loop B, crossed parallel loops A&B […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) Whaddon: Secret life of village that helped crack WW2 code On May 9, 2016, Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society members operated GB1SOE to establish contact with French special event station TM75SOE using WWII equipment This was to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the first transmission sent back to Whaddon Hall, Buckinghamshire, by […]

The July 19 (July 18 in the Americas on WBCQ) edition of From the Isle of Music includes more of María Felicia Pérez, Director of Coro Exaudi, winner of the Choral Music category in Cubadisco 2016, and our very special guest is El Noro, winner of the Popular Dance Music – New Artists category in Cubadisco 2016. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who writes: Thomas, if I were to read this on your blog, I would not have believed the following. I live in Virginia nearly equidistant from RIC/Richmond Int’l AP (east of Richmond) and PHF AP (in Newport News). I had a 1:40 P.M. doctor’s appt. [July 12] and […]

I thought this little tidbit or two of information might be useful to those DX’ers seeking a QSL from DZRP Radyo Pilipinas. DZRP broadcast in English and Filipino on several frequencies, as seen here: http://shortwaveschedule.com/index.php?station=1089 I found two email addresses listed for them, dzrp_pbs@yahoo.com and pbsinfo.ph@gmail.com which I’ve sent reception reports too, but I can’t say either […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary Wise (W4EEY), who writes: YouTube recommended a video titled, “Short Wave”. Of course I had to watch. It looks like it might be student film. It recounts the 1973 Military Coup in Chile with a ham radio operator reporting from Santiago. Takes me back to my college days. Worth […]

Sometimes good fortune drops in our lap at the least expected moment, but we have to act quickly to take advantage of it! This was the case with the receiver above; I spotted it on Ebay just moments after the seller posted a Buy-It-Now auction. Had I been planning to buy a D2935? No, but I immediately […]

Chile is one of the most seismically-active countries in the world. The ONEMI (Oficina Nacional de Emergencia del Ministerio del Interior)–Chile’s emergency management office–recently added a a new tool to Earthquake kits Chilean families keep at hand. It’s a foldable, flat-packed, solar-powered cardboard FM radio called the ONEMI Radio. It has a very simple design […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Fahey, who writes: A few weeks ago this amazing album was released which is totally jammed packed full of shortwave weirdness wrapped into a synth concept work. […]Here is some info about the album… Növö returns with 5th album: ‘The Shortwaves’ – recommended to Metroland, Kraftwerk, Duet Emmo and […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Eric (WD8RIF) and Mike (K8RAT) who remind me that TX Factor episode 11 is online: “In this special edition, we follow the progress of a Devon School in their attempt to be one of the ten lucky UK schools to link up with Tim Peake aboard the International Space Station.” Click […]

It is with sadness we pass along this message from Jonathan Marks concerning Lou Josephs: I am afraid Lou passed away Sunday morning. But his wife Susan would like to pass on the thanks to those people who sent him best wishes via SWLing.com and shared memories with him. He heard them and perked up. […]

Update: Please read Brian’s update regarding frequencies. SWLing Post contributor, Brian D. Smith, writes: “Thought I’d forward you this information on the annual “Night of Nights” event on July 12 (U.S. local time)/July 13 UTC, which provides an opportunity for shortwave QSLs – assuming the listener understands Morse code! I’m sure you’re familiar with this one-night-a-year […]

Several weeks ago, an SWLing Post reader (sorry–I’m missing your name in my notes!) sent me the following YouTube video. The video is essentially a review of the Pioneer RT-707 reel-to-reel tape deck. The reviewer is using a “mystery” tape of shortwave radio broadcasts in the deck. You’ll recognize a number of broadcasters in his […]

The following article originally appeared in the June 2016 issue of The Spectrum Monitor Magazine. Last year, I was approached by die-hard shortwave radio listener Fred Studenberg, who had an idea that at first seemed outmoded, but soon had me intrigued: he wanted to design and build a car radio. Well, a car shortwave radio. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Martin Kraft, who shares the following: Here’s something for the history buffs, an online searchable archive of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty broadcasts to the USSR from 1953-1995: http://www.radioworld.com/article/radio-liberty-munich-period-russian-broadcasts-available/278953 This is brilliant, Martin! I just started searching through the recordings at the Open Society Archives–an impressive collection. Thanks again!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Patrick Canler who writes to us from France and shares the following guest post which he translated into English: The number of receivers on the market is quite large, and all are sold to be the “best”. I have thought it useful to compare materials using them in the shack as […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jordan Heyburn, who writes: Radio Northern Ireland is going to be broadcasting to Asia and we hope that the propagation gods will be on our side and take us to Australia and New Zealand. Radio Northern Ireland will be broadcasting via the Shortwave Service in Armenia on Saturday 9th July […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jonathan Marks, who writes: May be you can help spread the word? Lou is very seriously ill, but would appreciate hearing from SWL’s who remember him. http://criticaldistance.blogspot.nl/2016/07/lou-josephs-media-visionary-and-great.html Very sorry to hear that Lou is in such bad health. Thanks for letting us know, Jonathan. SWLing Post readers, if you […]

(Source: The Guardian) The BBC is cutting almost 100 jobs from its monitoring service as part of a drive to save £4m from the unit’s £13.2m budget by April next year. The restructure will include the closure of its base in Mazar-i-Sharif in Afganistan, though it will retain an operation in Kabul, and two new […]

From the Isle of Music……. The July 12 (July 11 in the Americas on WBCQ) program includes special guest María Felicia Pérez, director of Coro Exaudi, winner of the Choral Music category in Cubadisco 2016. We’ll also play some Popular Dance Music by TImbalive, nominated in the Dance Music – New Talents category and some […]

My good buddy, Gary Wise (W4EEY), visited the Friedrichshafen ham radio convention this year. Gary will give a slideshow presentation to our local ham radio club meeting, but most likely, I’ll miss the presentation due to travel. Gary has kindly offered to share a number of his photos and videos here on the SWLing Post. His photos […]

I’ve just learned that Greg Shoom, a good friend in the SWLing Post community and a contributor to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, has passed away. Greg was most recently in the process of digitizing a number of off-air tape recordings he had made in the 70s and 80s and started adding them to the archive. Indeed, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who shares a link to his excellent review of the Icom IC-7300: Click here to read Dave’s review. I can tell Dave has put a lot of time and thought in this evaluation of the IC-7300–it’s a worthy read, especially if you’re considering an IC-7300 yourself. Overall, […]

I have a very unique DX location, mere feet from the banks of the Yukon River in Alaska’s Central Interior Region. I have logged about 2 dozen of North Korea’s shortwave frequencies: 2850 kHz, 3250 kHz, 3320 kHz, 6070 kHz, 6100 kHz, 6170 kHz, 6400 kHz, 7220 kHz, 7580 kHz, 9425 kHz, 9435 kHz, 9445 […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) The Netherlands national amateur radio society VERON reports on the pollution problems caused by Solar Panels installed on homes Electrical systems such as solar panel installations must comply with EMC (Electro Magnetic Compatibility) standards. That means that there is a limit to the electromagnetic fields (EMF) that an electrical system, such as […]

(Source: BBC News) China has fitted the final piece on what will be the world’s largest radio telescope, due to begin operations in September, state media report. The 500m-wide Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, is the size of 30 football fields. The $180m (£135m) satellite project will be used to explore space and help look […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, @K7al_L3afta, who just shared the image (above) and noted, on Twitter: “I just discovered the noise at the start of [the VOA Radiogram has] a purpose!” I just discovered that the noise at the start of @VOARadiogram have a purpose! 🙂@SWLingDotCom @LondonShortwave pic.twitter.com/cSOAMCfDTv — ????? ????????? (@K7al_L3afta) July 2, 2016 […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ken Hansen, who (several weeks ago) shared a link to this article from The Daily Beast: China Now Has A Flying Propaganda Machine The Chinese military has a new warplane with an unusual purpose: to beam propaganda and disinformation into hostile territory. In that way, the new, four-engine Y-8GX7 […]

I’ve just learned that The Mighty KBC will broadcast The Giant Jukebox on Sunday from 00:00 – 01:00 UTC. To be clear, that’s tonight in North America–and only four hours from time of this posting! Frequency will be 9,925 kHz. I’ll try to listen from here in Québec. I hope their 125,000 watts will punch through the […]

(Source: Sean Gilbert via WRTH Facebook page) WRTH has released an A16 broadcast schedules update PDF file. This file details frequency changes as well as other scheduling amendments. Included are the new single transmitter schedule of RNZI and the new COTB station targeted to Burundi. [From this page], click on ‘International Updates’ and select the […]

(Source: The Alexander Association) Reminder of Grimeton Radio / SAQ Transmission The annual transmission “Alexanderson Day” with the Alexanderson alternator on VLF 17.2 kHz with the call SAQ will take place Sunday, July 3rd, 2016 at 09:00 UTC (tuning up from after 08:30 UTC) and will be repeated at 12:00 UTC (tuning up from after 11:30 UTC). […]

SWLing Post readers might recall the Juno spacecraft we featured in a post dating back to October, 2013. During an Earth flyby, NASA invited ham radio operators around the world to say “HI” to Juno in a coordinated Morse Code message. It was a unique opportunity for sure, and I made time to participate. NASA even […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alexander (DL4NO), who shared a few notes with me from his visit at the Friedrichshafen Ham Radio convention. Alexander has kindly allowed me to post his notes here on the SWLing Post. Alexander writes: The first booth I visited was of Dokufunk (http://www.dokufunk.org/). They collect QSLs and other information about wireless […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike (K8RAT), who writes: According to the SDRplay blog they will be hosting a series of Webinar events centered around the RSP and SDRuno. Starting this Saturday. http://sdrplay.com/blog.html From Jon Hudson on SDRplay’s Facebook page: We will be hosting a series of Webinar events centred around the SDRplay RSP […]

From the Isle of Music: Our July 5 (July 4 in the Americas on WBCQ) program includes special guest María Felicia Pérez, director of Coro Exaudi, winner of the Choral Music category in Cubadisco 2016. We’ll also play some Popular Dance Music by Dinza y Soneros de la Juventud, nominated in the Popular Dance Music […]

I’m curious: any Post readers use the new Icom IC-7300 on Field Day? While I gave Icom’s new transceiver a very positive review, it was based on operation at my home QTH. There were no significant contests in progress during my review window. Field Day has, arguably, some of the toughest receiver conditions out there. […]

On Tuesday, 21 June 2016, the BBC World Service officially transmitted the 2016 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast–an international radio broadcast intended for a small group of scientists, technicians, and support staff who work for the British Antarctic Survey. This is one of my favorite annual broadcasts, and I endeavor to listen every year. Once again, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who noted that Radio Vanuatu has reduced broadcast hours. Friday night, Paul received a rare opening that allowed him to hear Vanuatu on both 7260 kHz and 3945 kHz. Paul noted that it’s very rare to hear Vanuatu’s 75 meter band broadcast from his listening post in Alaska. As […]

I just received the following link to a Forbes article from my buddy Charlie (W4MEC). If this research turns out to be correct–and time will only tell–it could mean very low solar activity from here on out (let’s hope not!): (Source: Forbes Magazine via Charlie W4MEC) The Sun has likely already entered into a new […]

13 Colonies operating event runs from 1300Z July 1 – 0400Z July 7 Once again, the 13 Colonies Special Event will take place between 1300z, July 1st and 0400z July 7th. The certificate is printed on heavy card stock. Stations working one state or, as many as all 15, will be eligible for the certificate. A “Clean Sweep” indicator […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Luke Perry, who recently purchased a Panasonic RF-9000 and writes: Hello Thomas. I did a YouYube video demonstrating my ‘new’ Panasonic RF-9000 SW receiver. I already submitted a review to the blog which you posted (thank you). There are a few videos out there of the RF-9000 but most […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Ally, who shares the following announcement from Andrew Yoder’s Hobby Broadcasting blog: The 2015-16 Pirate Radio Annual is now nearly finished and I’m taking advance orders for copies of the book. I’ve had the CD ready for a while now (although I need to start burning copies). I […]