The SWLing Post

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Frequently when people write about attaching a long wire to a portable shortwave receiver, readers will comment that you need to worry about desensitizing or overloading the receiver or ever harming the front end of the receiver. Clearly that can be a concern. But recently I noticed something on the CCrane […]

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM It is hard to imagine a less spectacular looking piece of radio gear than the SDRplay RSPdx. It is literally a black box. Aside from the printing on top of the box, the most exciting thing about the RSPdx are the two red plastic covers on the antenna connectors on the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of a recent Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriell (LRA 36) test transmission. Carlos notes: Part of experimental shortwave transmission of Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, Antartica: Argentine rock and article on plastic/microplastic contamination in Antartica. Click here to view […]

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy! Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Tracy Wood, Eric McFadden, and Dennis Dura for the following tips: ?Radio Gibraltar marks 65 years on the air […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paolo Viappiani, who shares the following guest post: ETON Elite Satellit: an expensive flop by Paolo Viappiani, Italy Introduction After various and sometimes conflicting announcements that have created strong expectations in radio listening enthusiasts, ETON has recently launched on the extra-European market (basically in the United States) what should […]

Loop on Ground Antenna Part 3 (using multiconductor wire) by TomL It dawned on me recently, perhaps due to sloppy thinking or unintended distractions, that I never wrote about my modified Loop on Ground (LoG) receive antenna that I use at parks and such. For over a year now, I have been using 3-conductor rotor […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adrian Korol, who shares the following announcement: LRA 36 NEW TEST BROADCAST ON SATURDAY 18th In full progress of the adjustment and improvement works in the audio chain of LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel, test broadcasts are being carried out (even on USB) with excellent signal reports which […]

Apologies for last week’s non-appearance on 9395 Khz, looks like WRMI was down all evening on that frequency. Fingers crossed the Imaginary Stations 45th Parallel Midwinter Broadcast will now be on this Sunday 19th February 2023 on 9395 kHz at 2300 hrs UTC. We promise there will be a good bit of circular latitude fun […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ken Hunt, who writes: Thomas, I don’t know whether you’ve featured “The Day of the Triffids” before on your RITM series (I searched for “triffids” on your site and came up empty). If not, there are three scenes in the 1962 movie where shortwave radios are used to listen […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dean Bianco, who shares a link to Rob Wagner’s overview of the new 2023 edition of WRTH (which is now under new ownership). Click here to read on the excellent Mount Evelyn DX Report. Thank you for the tip, Dean!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, NT, who writes: Hi Thomas, I know you’ve shared info about the great World Radio History site before. Have you ever linked to the webpage for their entire Short Wave and DXing Collection? https://worldradiohistory.com/Short_Wave_Miscellaneous.htm Best, NT Thank you, NT. We may have linked to this before on the SWLing […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary (G0CUQ), who writes: Hi Thomas, I remember a while ago some posts relating to music with short wave/radio leanings (Wilco & Quindar come to mind). I found a fairly new English group, The Random Earth Project, who have subtly slipped a numbers station in at the beginning of […]

RTVA Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood, who notes: RTVA celebrated World Radio Day with this news story. The first person interviewed in the clip is Josep Maria Samper who happened to be the great RTVA engineer/ tourguide for antendees of EDXC 2019. (He has since retired.) https://www.andorradifusio.ad/noticies/radio-mes-30-anys-historia-andorra (The language is Catalan.) Not […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jack Dully, who shares a link to this Eavesdropper antenna on eBay and writes: When I had my roof top antennas, with the original building owner, I put up the Eavesdropper. There were 2 versions: this one with the twin lead-in and the second with a coax lead-in connection. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jerome van der Linden, who writes: Hello Thomas, In asking the manufacturer of the inverter for the solar array on our house what I might be able to do to reduce the EMI coming out of it, he gave me some Googling ideas, which led me to the following […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike (VE3MKX), for sharing over 100 photos from the 2023 Hamcation, the majority of which are from the flea market. If you would like to view this gallery of photos, click the link below: 2023 Hamcation Photos by VE3MKX

Today is UNESCO World Radio Day and this year the theme is “Radio and Peace.” Here’s the announcement from UNESCO: Proclaimed in 2011 by the Member States of UNESCO, and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 as an International Day, February 13 became World Radio Day (WRD). Radio is a powerful medium […]

If you own a GE Superadio I or Superadio II and you would like an expert to restore and/or replace the capacitors, you’re in luck! Chuck Rippel (K8HU) has announced that he will start repairing and restoring GE Superadios for anyone interested. In the past, he’s done this on a case-by-case basis when time allowed, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Jamet, who shares the following article that was originally published in the Radio Club du Perche Newsletter. Note that Paul also includes information about the new XHDATA D-109 and an XHDATA sale in the addendum of his article! Let’s discover the XHDATA D-219 by Paul JAMET A truly incredible performance/price ratio […]

In celebration of the upcoming World Radio Day 2023, our friend David Goren has produced another amazing World Wide Waves episode with Maria Margaronis presenting. You can listen live, but the audio will also be linked to The Documentary website once it has aired: World Wide Waves ’23: The sounds of community radio (BBC World […]

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy! Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Ron Chester, David Iurescia, and Dennis Dura for the following tips: Device transmits radio waves with almost no power—without […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of a recent Voice of Korea Broadcast. Carlos’ goal is to vividly illustrate the broadcaster’s message in his own unique artistic style and is not a reflection of his own beliefs or those of the SWLing Post. His objective is for his […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Zanotti (HB9ASQ), who has, at my request, shared a video recording of a presentation he gave to the Fairlawn ARC last year. This is part one. Part two will soon be released and we’ll post it on the SWLing Post as well! Thank you, Bob! Enjoy:

Hi all shortwave community, Fastradioburst23 here letting you know about the 45th Parallel Midwinter Broadcast this Sunday 12th February 2023 courtesy of the Imaginary Stations crew. It’s on 9395 kHz at 2300 hrs UTC via WRMI. There will be a good bit of circular latitude fun and some fine forty fives played throughout the show. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of a recent Voice of Korea broadcast. Carlos notes: Part of Voice of Korea news bulletin, broadcasted in Spanish via shortwave: a message of solidarity from Kim Jong-un to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad regarding the massive earthquake that struck northwest Syria. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who notes that the 2023 edition of the WRTH is now available from at least two retailers and is expected to ship this month (February 2023). Tom writes: Hi Thomas, RadioDataCenter shows the book In Stock. Also, Universal Radio says orders being taken. https://shop.radiodatacenter.net/product/wrth-2023-book/ https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/books/2023.html TomL Thank you […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of a recent Radio Romania International broadcast. Carlos notes: Part of Radio Romania International news bulletin: Romanian rescue teams sent to Turkey to assist earthquake victims. Shortwave broadcasting in Spanish. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Click here to view on YouTube.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of this recent broadcast of the Voice of Turkey. Carlos notes: Part of Turkey/Syria earthquake news coverage via shortwave broadcasting of Voice of Turkey, in French. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Click here to view on YouTube.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Egil (LA2PJ), who notes that the Retekess V115 AM/FM/shortwave receiver is on sale at AliExpress for $17.90 US. Typically, this radio costs about $24-$25, Thanks for the tip, Egil! Click here to check it out.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lin Robertson, who shares a link to the USAGM Congressional Budget Justification for Fiscal Year 2023. Click here to download the PDF. If you’re interested in how shortwave services are being affected by the budget, you can do a simple search for the word “shortwave.” One change of note […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Madtone, who writes: I took a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum yesterday on my day off and whilst browsing the galleries spotted this wonderful radio (pics attached)! It was in the Design 1900 to Now display (Room 61) if any of the readers fancies having a […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of Radio Vatican. Carlos notes: Excerpt from today’s Vatican Radio program, broadcast in Portuguese on shortwave, bringing a message from Pope Francis in solidarity with the thousands of victims of the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria. Signal captured in Porto […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Wlodek, who has been quite busy repairing vintage receivers and ham radio gear during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Wlod’s neighborhood in Kiev experiences frequent blackouts, thus much of his soldering work must be done while mains power is available. Wlod just shared the following video documenting a recent […]

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy! Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dennis Dura, Michael McShan, and David Iurescia for the following tips: Morse Code is making a comeback! Children as […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares the following guest post: Old Fashioned Band-Scan after the Solar Storms by TomL This is just an old fashioned band scan to randomly see what I could hear after last week’s solar perturbations when the Solar Flux Index went well over 200. I considered what I […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dennis Dura, who shares the following video via YouTube: Click here to view/listen via YouTube. Wonderful recording. Thank you for the tip, Dennis!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ben-Zion, who writes: I love your website and wanted to contribute a radio in cinema sighting from the 1980 South African film The Gods Must Be Crazy. I look forward to your readers feedback regarding this SONY unit. Kind Regards. Ben-Zion Thanks for the tip! Oh I do love […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pavel, who shares the following message and images. Note that this message was originally sent to me prior to Christmas, but never arrived in my inbox. Thank you, Pavel, for the follow-up: Hi Thomas, First of all, I wish you and your entire family and all blog readers a […]

Fastradioburst23 here to let you know of the return of the Shortwave Music Library this Sunday 5th February 2023 via WRMI at 2300 hrs UTC on 9395 kHz. This week we delve into the library shelves for some pop music remixes and a few instrumental jazz pieces – perfect for a relaxed evening. Tune in!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jeff (KJ7LTU), who writes: Thomas, I was wondering if you, or your readers, know if Radio Tamazuj and Radio Dabanga are coordinating their broadcasting efforts? This last Sunday I picked up their transmission on 15550 kHz. Radio Tamazul signs off at 15:57 UTC and Radio Dabanga signs on at […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frans Goddijn, who writes: Hi Thomas: I bought a vintage antenna tuner, one that does not need a power source, very basic just a box with some beautiful coils and nice big variable capacitors and it works for the big magnetic loop antenna here. I have four GRAHN loop antennas which […]

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy! Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dennis Dura, JP, NT, and Paul for the following tips: Hear Absolute Radio’s 200KW Transmitter Switch Off Forever (YouTube) […]

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM It was a reader, Mario Filippi, who set me on this path. He posted a comment that said, in part: “An interesting place to DX would be the segment between 1500 – 1590 kc’s where there are a number of news stations, one being federal news on 1500.” Huh, I thought, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Don Moore–noted author, traveler, and DXer–for the latest installment of his Photo Album guest post series: Don Moore’s Photo Album: Cuenca, Ecuador (Part One) by Don Moore For me travel is all about seeing new places and having new experiences. When I retired in 2017 my plan was to spend the next […]

DRM Test Broadcast on 954 kHz from Transmitter in Czech Republic (DRM Consortium) DRM is now on air in the Czech Republic, on a medium wave channel that used to carry a powerful AM signal. It is broadcast on 954kHz (power reported as 3kW) from the ?eské Bud?jovice transmitter site, located in the South Bohemian […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of a recent broadcast from the BBC World Service (Somali Language Service). Carlos’ goal is to vividly illustrate the broadcaster’s message in his own unique artistic style and is not a reflection of his own beliefs or those of the SWLing Post. […]

Hi all shortwave community, Fastradioburst23 here letting you know about KSPY on WRMI from the Imaginary Stations crew. We can’t give too much away but tune into 9395 kHz at 2300 hrs UTC on Sunday 29th January 2023 for further instructions. Remember if anyone asks, you didn’t read it here.

Some of you know I’ve been working on a review of the Sangean WFR-39 WiFi/Internet radio. I’ve placed that review on hold as I’ve just learned that Sangean is working on updates to address a number of the issues I discovered while evaluating this unit over the past three months. Besides an overly sluggish CPU, […]

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy! Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dennis Dura for the following tips: Public radio engineers await fate of major antenna maker (Current) The potential sale […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adrian Korol, who shares the following announcement. Please note that this announcement has been machine translated–click here to read the original announcement in Spanish (PDF): First Short Wave Emission of Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel Radio LRA 36 From the Esperanza Antarctic Base Last Saturday, January 21, at 12:15 […]