The SWLing Post

Many thanks to an anonymous SWLing Post contributor who writes: The FCC released this material [yesterday]. It consists mainly of letters to various organizations to ask their members to avoid cooperating with unlicensed radio stations. The concern is that real … Continue reading →

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water . . .” From the Raspberrypi.org Blog blog comes news of a new board with greater processing speed and integrated hardware. “In celebration of our fourth birthday, … Continue reading →

Many thanks to Dave Zantow (N9EWO) who notes that Universal Radio is accepting orders for the Icom IC-7300 at a price of $1499.95 US and expects to ship units by the latter part of this month (March 2016). Several of you have … Continue reading →

SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who hosts a radio show on WBCQ and Channel 292, writes: My WBCQ broadcast has changed, slightly. It will be on 9330, still, but 5110 has moved to 5130 khz. [Also] to avoid a collision … Continue reading →

Last week, the Radio Preservation Task Force held a conference which focused on saving America’s radio heritage. I had hoped to attend in DC, but sadly had a conflict in my schedule that weekend. I’m happy to see that the … Continue reading →

Many thanks to Mike Terry who shared the following note and video via Facebook: The great old days when the signal was mellow and radio waves were not blocked by buildings and hills and propagated beyond the horizon especially at … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his updated Music on Shortwave list for the B15 period. If you love listening to music on the shortwaves, you’ll love Alan’s free guide. Click here to download Music on Shortwave … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who shares the following: Latest item, which provides more information, on this previously mentioned news story: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35690688 Here’s an excerpt: Raspberry Pi computers are being used to power “micro” radio transmitters in … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Edward Ganshirt, who writes: I picked up this Heathkit GR-78 at a estate/moving sale. It was in a pile of “e-waste” (you know, old vcr’s broken TVs, remote controllers, dead cell phones, etc.). I found … Continue reading →

Many thanks to Dennis at Bonito for sharing a link to an article he recently published on the Bonito blog: Autonomous power supply of our active antennas via USB and power bank It is getting to be more and more difficult … Continue reading →

Many thanks to Bill Tilford,who updates us on some of his upcoming Isle of Music broadcasts: Greetings. Update for From the Isle of Music on WBCQ, 7490 KHz, 0100-0200 Tuesdays (Monday nights 8-9pm [EST] in the Americas) The next few weeks … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul, who shares this link to a post on Craig’s List and asks: “Interesting shortwave tuner, designed by Dieter Rams. Anybody know anything about this?” I was not familiar with the Braun A-301 and … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Larry Thompson, who shares his review of the CountyComm GP5/SSB: Been having a ton of fun with my new toy, the tiny survivalist radio, the CountyComm GP5/SSB receiver. $74.95 with free heavy duty cordura case with … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Dan (VR2HF), who writes: I must be a radio geek. While listening to Radio New Zealand (RNZ) top-of-the-hour news with my CC Skywave on the 31mb in a bus from Incheon Airport to my hotel … Continue reading →

SWLing Post contributor, Mike Ladd, is an avid SDR enthusiast and an administrator of the SDRplay Facebook group. Mike contacted me about special pricing he has arranged for low and high pass filters through Rescue Electronics. Mike explains: These filters retail for $70.00 … Continue reading →

SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who hosts a radio show on WBCQ, received the following message from the station yesterday: The FCC has just informed Allan Weiner that the military needs our 5110 frequency. So your show on Friday 3/11 (10pm … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Tim Anderson (KF7JBM) who writes: You may have seen this already, but I ran across this at the ARRL site and thought it might be of interest to your readers: Receiving Antennas Will Be … Continue reading →

(Source: BBC) For the first time, scientists have tracked the source of a “fast radio burst” – a fleeting explosion of radio waves which, in this case, came from a galaxy six billion light-years away. The cause of the big … Continue reading →

(Source: Times Union) When the sun goes down, AM radio signals travel much farther. You can listen to 50,000-watt stations such as WGY hundreds of miles away. But that could soon change, if the Federal Communications Commission goes through with … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Stephen Cooper, who shares the following news about the new DigiDX broadcast: DigiDX is a 30 minute MFSK32 broadcast covering shortwave and DX news, radio related reviews, schedule information and listeners letters and after … Continue reading →

In reply to our post about the Barlow Wadley XCR-30, SWLing Post reader, Max Youle, replies: I have a Barlow Wadley with the FM tuner here in New Zealand. [see photo above] These fabulous receivers are reasonably common here as … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who writes: Today February 25 th is the 71th anniversary of Radio Canada International. They published this: http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2016/02/25/history-feb-25-1945-canadas-voice-to-the-world-official-start/ Earlier this month, I listened to a 2012 spectrum recording of the 31 meter band–RCI’s … Continue reading →

If you’ve emailed me in the past two weeks there’s a good chance you haven’t received a response; my apologies. The reason is that I’ve been travelling through DC, Philadelphia, and surrounding areas, visiting friends and colleagues, as well as attending (and … Continue reading →

Many thanks to Jon Hudson at SDRplay who shares the following news: The latest EXTIO control file (Version 3.8.1) has a very cool new feature for shortwave listeners interested in hunting HF DX stations. Using the world-wide station list mintained … Continue reading →

(Source: China Radio International via David Iurescia, LW4DAF) A state-owned radio station’s signature tune is about to be approved as China’s first sound trademark. http://mod.cri.cn/eng/news/reports/2016/2/3450cri.mp3 The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) said on Sunday that it has reviewed the … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ron, who shares this deal from CountyComm: http://www.countycomm.com/gp5ssb.html

If you’re a subscriber to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, you’ve no doubt noted the excellent recordings submitted by Colin Newell (of DXer.ca) the past few weeks. Colin has been digitizing loads of off-air recordings made in the 1970s and … Continue reading →

SWLing Post reader, Lee, writes: I just wondered if you have ever seen any information about how to tap the I.F of the Tecsun 606 by any chance? I want yo use it for DRM but cannot find any info . … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, John, who hosts TheReportOfTheWeek channel on YouTube and writes: To begin, I have a YouTube channel which focuses primarily on reviews of popular fast food items and while this may seem irrelevant at first, this … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN) for the following guest post: Listening in to 10 Meter Radio Beacons Mario Filippi, N2HUN (All photos courtesy of author–click to enlarge.) Radio beacons can be found across the RF spectrum from … Continue reading →

In reply to our post about a home brew high-pass filter, SWLing Post contributor Guy Atkins replied: I recently purchased one of these high pass kits and an enclosure from an Australian company, and look forward to assembling it: http://www.minikits.com.au/electronic-kits/filter-kits/hf-highpass-filters/HPF9-1M8 … Continue reading →

(Source: Bonito Press Release) At the beginning of the model year 2016, there is good news in the range of our MegaLoop Active Loop Antennas: New Model: MegaLoop ML052 The new Active Loop MegaLoop ML052, which is available end of … Continue reading →

This once-a-year broadcast could be an interesting challenge for folks on Sunday: Radio Öömrang will broadcast on Feb.21, 2016 from 1600 to 1700 UTC on 15215 kHz in German, English and Frisian. *(Caroline Mesnier via EuroRadio)* Radio Oomrang broadcasts once … Continue reading →

SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, is not only a shortwave listener, he’s also a broadcaster. Paul works at community radio station KIYU in Galena, Alaska. At my request, Paul has kindly shared a few photos of his workplace with us. … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Ally, who shares the following note from WRMI: WRMI has a new schedule as of today, February 17th. We have some new frequencies — a total of 21 now. You can find the … Continue reading →

Many thanks to Jon Hudson, of SDRplay, who posted the image above along with the following note on Facebook: David, WA7JHZ has designed and assembled this neat 2.6 MHz high-pass filter (HPF) for use with SDRs. He says that this … Continue reading →

If you’re in the mood for a little Cold War era nostalgia, check out this video produced by Radio Free Europe in 1964. One of the things I found most fascinating was seeing the number of rack-mounted Hammarlund SP-600s (and … Continue reading →

Several months ago, we conducted a shack photo contest sponsored by Universal Radio. At the time, I promised to post all of your excellent photos soon–apologies to all for the extended delay! The following is the first set of ten photos … Continue reading →

(Source: KBS World Radio via Andrea Borgnino) The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will launch a shortwave radio service to North Korea this fall. A BBC insider said the British government has given final approval to the public broadcaster’s plan to … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Dan H, who writes: The biggest news during the last week is not the Republican or Democratic national party debates, the surrender of the last Militia Man at Malheur National Wildlife Reserve in Oregon … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Moshe Zaharia, who recently made my day by sending the photo above (click to enlarge). I told Moshe that I’m pretty certain, he’s the first SWL in Israel to snag both an SWLing Post coffee … Continue reading →

(Souerce: Al Jazeera) The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO has marked World Radio Day by calling for more freedom of expression and wider access to information in times of emergencies and disasters. While digital technology dominates the modern means of transmitting … Continue reading →

Regular SWLing Post readers know that I’m a sucker for classic solid-state portables and vintage tube radios. What many of you may not know, however, is that I’m not a fan of auction-style bidding for radios. Those who are familiar … Continue reading →

February 13th is World Radio Day, a day “to remember the unique power of radio to touch lives and bring people together across every corner of the globe,” as UNESCO reminds us. At the SWLing Post, we get it: shortwave radio listeners understand the unique power of information … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Borgnino, who shares this article from Fox News: Seeking to derail North Korea’s drive for nuclear weapons, Republican and Democratic senators set aside their partisan differences Wednesday to unanimously pass legislation aimed at … Continue reading →

I received a C.Crane newsletter this morning and noticed that the company is giving away a CC Skywave portable radio (my review). From the C.Crane newsletter: “ENTER TO WIN A FREE CC SKYWAVE RADIO!!! All you have to do is go to … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil Brennan, who shares the following guest post–an article he originally authored for the Australian DX News: What Future for Radio Broadcasting in Australia? By Phil Brennan, Darwin, NT As we witness the worldwide decline in … Continue reading →

This was posted on the European broadcasting Union page: To mark World Radio Day (13 February), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is organizing a ‘Musical Caravan’ from east to west in partnership with other broadcasting unions across the globe. Listeners … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Gary (WN9U) who writes: Just an FYI comment about the narrow filters NOT staying on while tuning. I read about the similar problem that you encountered during the initial testing of the PL-880. While tuning CW … Continue reading →