The SWLing Post

With the recent posts about shortwave radio in films (Star Wars and Star Trek), I remembered a scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron where I thought I spotted a vintage Hallicrafters receiver. In the scene, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is using an … Continue reading →

In response to our recent post with a message to us from Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt, SWLing Post reader, David Guilbeault, comments: Here’s a similar story that circulated on the Internet around 1990 (pre WEB!). I worked in … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike (K8RAT), who notes the Ten-Tec’s website has a one-page, informative placeholder. I’ve pasted the full page of content below which includes updates on service and a personal message from the new President, Mike (N8WFF): (Source: … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Phil Ireland, who shares his review of the Digitech AR1946: I’ve now purchased the AR1946 and I have to say, I’m very impressed! No noise problems at all with mine, although if you listen … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Steven Crawford, who writes: Avid follower of your SWL Blog and site. I saw these and thought your followers may find these AA and AAA lithium ion USB rechargeable cells may be of interest … Continue reading →

Sean Gilbert, WRTH’s International Editor, recently shared this audio he originally recorded on June 19, 2014. Sean writes: With all the interest in space and the ISS at the moment, I thought I would share a recording I made on … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Ante, who writes: Looks like Kaito has a new radio in the works. Portable shortwave receiver with record function. It looks very much like some of the Eton portables. Here’s Universal Radio’s description: The Kaito … Continue reading →

SWLing Post reader, Mark, writes: There [has been] an Eton NGWTIIIB Traveler III radio on sale at Amazon: $38.05 for a couple of days now. Thanks for the tip, Mark! The Traveller III is a great little radio and certainly worth $38.05. … Continue reading →

While doing a little shortwave listening in the field (obviously a very cold field) Vasily Strelnikov noted an anomaly while using the ETM function on his CountyComm GP5/SSB. He posted the following video on the Shortwave Listeners Global Facebook page and … Continue reading →

I received my copy of the 2016 World Radio and TV Handbook (WRTH) directly from the publisher on Christmas Eve 2105. As many SWLing Post readers know, I always look forward to receiving this staple radio reference guide each year. This … Continue reading →

Blinq.com has another “open box” deal on the Sony ICF-SW7600GR. As I mentioned last time one of these surfaced on Blinq, this is a great deal for an excellent radio. Actually, if you’re clever (!) you can buy this ‘7600GR … Continue reading →

If you own a Tecsun PL-360, PL-365 or a CountyComm GP5/DSP or GP5/SSB, you might take note of this large ferrite bar antenna offered by a Greece-based seller on eBay. As you can see in the image above, this antenna … Continue reading →

Many thanks to Chris Smolinski at HF Underground who has released his annual summary of shortwave pirate radio activity for 2015. The summary is built upon a computer script that parsed thread titles and timestamps of the messages from the HF … Continue reading →

Ramsey Electronics recently announced the following on their website: For more than 4 decades, the name Ramsey Kits has been synonymous with some of the neatest and the greatest electronic products and hobby kits for the do-it-yourself hobbyist. In those … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ron, who notes that Jay Allen has posted a review of the Tecsun PL-365. Click here to read the full review. I believe the PL-365 is essentially the same radio as the CountComm GP5-SSB … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes: Over $2k for this receiver, which appears to be quite unique. It is not one of the well-known and quite rare Beckman 51J4s, and likely it was re-finished to give … Continue reading →

Many of you may have seen the following announcement/casting call floating around the hamospehere recently. This casting company is seeking radio “experts” of all stripes for a new TV series centered around numbers stations. I was contact by them directly … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN) for the following review: The AOR AR-3000A Wideband Receiver by Mario Filippi, N2HUN (All photos below by author) The AOR AR-3000A is a wideband communications receiver, made in Japan, covering 100KHz – 2.036 GHz … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Anil, who writes: Here is a link to an Ebay auction for the mythical Sony CRF-V21. In all my years, I have never seen one for sale before and it might be interesting for … Continue reading →

Many thanks to several of you who recorded the final sign-ons and sign-offs of several European broadcasters who pulled the plug on mediumwave transmissions this past weekend. SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, recorded the following broadcasts and posted them to our Shortwave … Continue reading →

New legislation is giving the government of Poland control of the state media and the power to directly appoint the heads of public broadcasters. The new law may jeopardize Poland’s voting rights at the European Council. Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, … Continue reading →

SWLing Post readers may remember a post I recently published in which I believed I’d identified a familiar shortwave time signal station in the Battle of Hoth scene from The Empire Strikes Back. If you haven’t read this post, feel free … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Steve Lebkuecher, who sent the above photo; Steve notes: “What a nice cup! I wish you and all of your readers a very happy New Year!” And a happy cup of new year cheer to you … Continue reading →

Colin Newell from DXer.ca has just announced the return of the DX Podcast: The DXer.ca site has been on the air for over 20 years now! And we are now pleased to announce… the return of the DX Podcast! We … Continue reading →

Many thanks to my pal, Sheldon Harvey (of the International Radio Report and CIDX), for sharing this news item from the CBC News in Saskatchewan: Ole Forr is a 58-year-old radio lover who tunes into radio stations across the world for … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Patterson, who writes: I have owned the Sony ICF-SW55 for around 15 years or more. I like to change my listening pleasure from radio to radio, giving each one a rest, as they … Continue reading →

In response to Pawel’s post about a tuning bug affecting a recent batch of Tecsun PL-880s, SWLing Post contributor Georges (F6DFZ) comments: I have posted a new video about this important bug of the PL-880. I did so because it seems … Continue reading →

Some of you may have noticed that the Voice of America has been having problems with their online and internal digital content the past few days. The BBG Watch–a watchdog for US government broadcasting–took a very critical look at the … Continue reading →

Many thanks to my pal, Jeff McMahon from The Herculodge, who has just apprised me of a new Sangean AM/FM/WX portable: the DT-500W. Jeff learned about the new pocket radio via a comment on his blog. It appears the DT-500W … Continue reading →

In response to our previous post about France, Germany and Luxembourg leaving the AM broadcast bands, SWLing Post contributor Ayar (HB9EVW) comments: It is indeed a sad day for AM broadcasting. Not only Germany, France and Luxembourg, also the Czech … Continue reading →

On Facebook, Mike Terry reminded me: “Tomorrow France, Germany and Luxembourg go very quiet on medium wave.” He’s right–there will be more empty space on the AM broadcast band for those living in or near France, Germany or Luxembourg. I hope there are … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi, for the following guest post: A Little Taste of Cuba on Free To Air Satellite by Mario Filippi, N2HUN (All photos courtesy of author) Tropical countries have always held a fascination for … Continue reading →

SWLing Post reader, Troy Riedel, received a gift like no other from his son this Christmas. No, it wasn’t the fabulous Celestron telescope in the above photo. On Christmas Eve (December 24) Troy sent the following message: Merry Christmas, Thomas. … Continue reading →

Eric over at QSO Today has posted an interview with Bob Heil, the founder of Heil Sound, whose microphones have transformed both the amateur community and the professional recording industry (Heil Sound is the only technology company featured in the … Continue reading →

Many thanks to Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Richard Collings, who recently submitted this amazing off-air recording of the Happy Station Show. Richard notes: The Happy Station Show of Sunday 23rd December 1979. A pre-recorded special Christmas show with Tom Meijer. Broadcast … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Marc, who shares this news from Radio France. The article (in French) notes that as of midnight on December 31, 2015, Radio France will cease all mediumwave broadcasts permanently. Up to this point, Radio … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Pawel (SQ9ZAV), who writes from Poland: Hello Thomas, On November 4, 2015, I bought a Tecsun PL-880 from ErcomeR company. I found an error: the last two digits of hundreds and tens Hz in SSB … Continue reading →

Note: Jeff Murray and I posted this last Christmas–I thought it would be fun to dig it out of the archives for this Christmas as well. Enjoy! Dear Editor— I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there … Continue reading →

I just brought home my copy of WRTH 2016 from the post office. I didn’t expect it to arrive so soon from the UK, so I’m very much looking forward to reading through it over the next few days. It’s a … Continue reading →

Remember that there are some unique broadcasts to tune to today and throughout the holidays. Here are a couple of note: NDR’s annual Christmas greetings program on shortwave Fessenden Christmas Eve Commemorative Transmissions Of course, many of your favorite international … Continue reading →

(Source: BBC Genome Blog via Mike Barraclough) The much-loved Christmas edition of the Radio Times made its first appearance in 1923. It was all very different to today’s multi-channel, on-demand world. There was only radio, and London station 2LO had … Continue reading →

(Source: BBG Watch via Dan Robinson) A $400 million class action lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against the Broadcasting Board of Governors over personnel and contracting practices overseen by top agency officials in recent … Continue reading →

Many thanks to Jon Hudson with SDRplay, who shares the following announcement: We are pleased to announce release 1.8.0 of the API for the RSP. This is a major upgrade to the API with new features and an improved gain map … Continue reading →

(Source: Yahoo News via Dan Robinson) BERLIN (AP) — On the top floor of an old brick building in the heart of Berlin, a group of journalists and tech enthusiasts are working to spur the Syrian media revolution. Their weapon … Continue reading →

Could it be we will have a true geosynchronous satellite for Amateurs in 2017?! I hope so, and we will not need an antenna this big to use it! This was first reported in Wireless Design Magazine Researchers at the … Continue reading →

(Source: VOA News) Cuban President Raul Castro is urging the U.S. government to stop radio and television broadcasts that Cuba considers harmful, while also saying that his government is willing to keep improving relations with the United States. In a … Continue reading →

(Source: Southgate ARC) Ham radio activation of North Korea The ARRL reports the first amateur radio operation from Pyongyang, N.Korea in 13 years took place on December 20. In an unexpected turn of events, Polish DXer Dom Gryzb, 3Z9DX, who … Continue reading →

Earlier today, I published a post noting that I thought I heard the time station WWV in a scene of The Empire Strikes Back. SWLing Post reader, RadioGeek, quickly corrected me: that’s Canadian time station CHU‘s data pips I’m hearing, … Continue reading →

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jonathan Marks, who shares the following from his Media Network Vintage Vault. Jonathan writes: “Picking up on the idea of revisiting archive Christmas and New Year shows, here are some from Radio Netherlands for … Continue reading →