The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Butterfield, who shares the following guest post: Review of the Electronic Specialty Products – Model DD-103 Universal Digital Dial by Bob Butterfield I recently brought out of storage my Yaesu FRG-7 Communications Receiver to use “in the shack” once again. I have always regarded the FRG-7 as a […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who shares the following: Dear Thomas, I wanted to share my new purchase with all SWLing Post friends: the Icom IC-705. It is truly a great portable QRP transceiver and a great receiver for broadcast listening. In this video, shot on my balcony at home, is the first […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adrian Korol, who shares the following announcement from LRA 36:This year the radio team is all female–the host, producer and technicians are all women: Romina Zabalza, Mariela Churquina, Claudia Albarracín, and María Eugenia Rodríguez. LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel, Base Conjunta Esperanza (Antarctic) Season 2022. FIRST 2022 TRANSMISSION: […]

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! Ukraine war: Russian strike on Kyiv kills reporter Vira Hyrych (BBC News) A journalist working for Radio Liberty in Ukraine was killed in Russian rocket […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post: The Satellit 800, the Tecsun PL-880, and two indoor antennas – an afternoon of experimentation By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM A search for “shortwave listening antennas” on the internet landed me on the page for the Par EndFedz® EF-SWL receive antenna, which is a 45-foot […]

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! Study recommends revival of AMARC Africa (Red Tech) HARARE, Zimbabwe — The unavailability of critical information about community radio in Africa has led the University […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Loyd Van Horn at DX Central who writes: Wanted to share this with you…..our final DX Central Live stream for season 2 will coincide with the upcoming WCGA-GA DX Test coming Saturday night/Sunday morning. You should have a GREAT shot at hearing this one….would love to have you join us for the […]

Hi SWLing Post community, this is Fastradioburst23 again and just letting you know of another episode of KBIN this coming weekend via WRMI. Each week it seems the KBIN gets reloaded. Will you skip into the skip with us and see what we can recover? It’s at 1800 EST/2022 UTC on Sunday 1st May 2022 […]

Hello shortwave listeners! I don’t post here very often but I just wanted to get the word out about a new broadcast I’ll be regularly doing for listeners in Europe, Central Asia and perhaps even East Asia. Beginning Friday the 29th of April, 2022 and continuing every Friday – this radio program will be heard […]

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! The fascinating story of the first overseas broadcasts BNR (Radio Bulgaria) In 1936 BNR, then under the name of Radio Sofia, started broadcasting on short […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Matt Blaze, for the following guest post: 2022 rooftop receiver shootout by Matt Blaze I realized it’s been long past time for me to do another head-to-head receiver comparison “shootout”, where you can compare the audio from multiple radios receiving the same signal at the same time. Long time readers of […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Wlodek, who writes: I just saw the news [below] that the antennas of the transmitter that broadcast Russian propaganda Vesti FM and Radio Russia on 1413 kHz, 999 kHz and 621 kHz were destroyed. Ministry of the Interior of the Pridnestrovan Moldovan Republic April 26, 2022 In the early […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frans Goddijn, who shares the following note and video originally posted on his blog: Mr Grahn of https://www.grahn-spezialantennen.de/ had to stop working for a couple of months (medical reasons) but now he is back and I was able to get one of his highly sensitive Very Low Frequency modules to […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post: World War II Radio Letters: a real-life shortwave story – Part II By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM That so many people have been moved by Part I has been heartwarming. Since writing it, there have been further developments. Tecsun Radio Australia asked (and was granted) […]

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! In border radio’s early days, psychics and mystics ruled the airwaves (Mexico News Daily) Charlatans originally built powerful ‘border blaster’ stations to evade scrutiny by […]

Firstly, a big hi to all of the SWLing Post community, this is Fastradioburst23 and I’m just letting you know of our new transmission called KBIN this coming weekend via WRMI. It’s at 1800 EST/2022 UTC on Sunday 24th April 2022 on 9395 kHz and it’ll be a bargain bin bonanza of a broadcast. We’ve […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jerome van der Linden, who shares a link to the following article in Radio World announcing the new feature-length documentary Vertical Freedom: Spotlight on Broadcast Tower Climbers in New Documentary (Radio World) “Vertical Freedom” takes viewers to new heights NATE, in collaboration with Storybuilt Media, has created a feature-length […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Barraclough, who shares the following partially in response to Sam’s search for the Radio Prague’s Forward Left interval signal: In 1965 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia Radio Prague offered their listeners a free copy of a 45rpm record they’d produced. There […]

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 Eric Jon Magnuson for the following tips: How the Capital Tuned in to Hyper-Local Radio (Standard.co.uk) The capital’s local radio scene […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares a link to this recent listing of an NIB (New In Box) Zenith Trans-Oceanic Royal 7000Y R-7000-1 that fetched $3.050 on eBay. Dan believes this may be a record price for this model. Admittedly, it’s not often you see a Trans-Oceanic in this pristine condition: […]

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: Voice of Korea, 15245 kHz, broadcasting in English, listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, April 17, 2022, 21h08 (UTC). Part of news bulletin: Kim Jong-un observes new missile test. Click here to view […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post: A real-life shortwave story By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM On July 25, 1943, a Royal Canadian Air Force Wellington bomber took off from England to fly a mission over Nazi-held territory in Europe. It never returned to base. On board was an American Lieutenant, tailgunner […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Hyun Woo P., who writes: I’m interested in SWLing and I have collected some station QSLs and confirmation (RFA, VOA, NHK, RTI, and time stations such as BPM, and HLA). I would like to know of other stations that I can listen to and send reception reports. Please let […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Borgnino, who notes on Twitter that there’s a new “uncensored” shortwave program targeting Russia. Andrea links to this crowdfunding site which describes the initiative and asks for support: We are going to broadcast an uncensored program in Russian for people in Russia. The technical possibilities have already been […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DJ Frederick, who shares the following announcement: I just want to report that a new broadcast from Free Radio Skybird will be heard this Sunday (April 17, 2022) at 2200 UTC via WRMI 9395 kHz – playing mostly “oldies”. Thank you for the tip!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Sam Ward, who writes: I am looking for a nice studio version of the old Radio Prague Forward Left interval signal that they used during their communist days. I just like that interval signal very much, and I’d really love to have a nice clean copy of that famous […]

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! Meet the 68-year-old ‘bad-boy nerd’ behind this North Side pirate radio station (WBEZ) If you’re driving through the greater Ravenswood area and tune your […]

Very recently, Bob Purse reached out to me through the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Bob is the owner and curator of the excellent Inches Per Second audio archive and blog. Bob’s archive is all about sharing what essentially amounts to lost and found sound: reel to reel recordings he’s discovered at thrift stores, estate sales, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his A-22 (version 1) season guide to music on shortwave. Alan provides this amazing resource as a free PDF download: Click here to download Music on Shortwave A-22 v1 (PDF) Thank you for sharing your excellent guide, Alan! This dedicated page will always have the latest […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frans Goddijn, who writes: “Last week I purchased the MFJ-1026 ‘noise canceling signal enhancer’ and I posted two blogs with video about it. Initially the device seemed as useless as it is good looking but then I found a configuration where the device is not only pleasant to have […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Robert Yowell, who writes: Hi Thomas – you might recall several years ago I found a photo of a Sony ICF-2001 in the New York studio where John Lennon was recording his final album “Double Fantasy.” Well I just recently found this photo of John Lennon which I believe is dated to […]

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! Trends in Tropical Bands Broadcasting (EDXC) EDXC co-founder Anker Petersen has published the latest Trends in tropical bands broadcasting and Domestic Broadcasting Survey. Anker […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post: The Crisis Radio By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Sooner or later, it will happen to you. What’s ‘it’? Short answer: a crisis. It could be as simple as you wake in the morning to find the power is out; you don’t know how long […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of a recent China Radio International broadcast. Carlos notes: China Radio International, 9525 kHz, broadcasting in Russian from Beijing, China. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil. April 9, 2022, 20h (UTC). Part of news bulletin, war in Ukraine. Report from Borodiyanka Russia’s […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Barraclough, who writes: Hello Thomas, There was a 45 minute documentary on Radio Atlantico del Sur broadcast Monday evening on Forces TV in the UK. It is also on Facebook. The station manager Neill French Blake is interviewed as well as three members of their staff and an […]

Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post contributors who share a link to the following video via the Financial Times. Description: A look at three aspects of wartime radio in Ukraine: the interception of communications between Russian soldiers, how broadcasters are using radio to combat censorship online, and the mysterious silence of a radio […]

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fastburstradio23, who shares the flyer above for the a KDUB vs Radio Clarion broadcast on Sunday, April 10, 2022, at 2200 UTC on 9395 kHz!

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: Voice of Korea, 11910 kHz, broadcasting in English from Kujang, North Korea, listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil. April 5, 2022, 19h10 (UTC). News bulletin (excerpt): “…In case South Korea adopts military confrontation […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Egil (LA2PJ), who writes: Hi Thomas, In the middle of march, Steve Allen (KZ4TN) posted this article showing a case for the BELKA-DX. I found his idea so good that I ordered two of the small boxes, using the Amazon link given in his article. The boxes arrived here […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post: You and the ionosphere . . . a reader participation post By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Here’s a shocker for you: we live at the bottom of the sky. Above us there are multiple layers of the atmosphere, pressing down on us at 14.7 pounds […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Madtone, who writes: [L]ast night while I was having my dinner, a lovely Marconi crystal set came on Antiques Roadshow that a chap had rescued from a skip! In the end it was valued for £1000-£1500. A sort of radio you’d love in a museum cabinet at home. […]

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting […]

I’m very honored to have been interviewed by John Walsh who produces the excellent program Wireless on Flirt FM in Ireland. John reached out to discuss the relevance of the shortwave radio medium, particularly through the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here’s the show description: In the April 2022 edition of Wireless, we […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adi, who writes: Hi Thomas, this video just popped for me on YouTube. I searched the SWLing Post and didn’t find it, it’s not new so maybe you missed it. Thank you, Adi. I’m almost positive I’ve posted this one before–but if I have it’s been so long it […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tim Brockett, who writes: Good Morning Thomas. I enjoy receiving your daily posts. They are informative, helpful and sometimes enlightening. I wanted to alert you to a change in frequency for Ballsmacker Radio. I tuned into them on Friday, March 26 at 6960 kHz. They came in well at […]

(Source: Greek City Times via Alokesh Gupta) Voice of Greece granted a reprieve – still broadcasting for 2 more months (Greek City Times) The closure of the analog broadcast of the Voice of Greece has been delayed, even temporarily. With a decision taken last Wednesday and signed by ERT CEO George Gabritsos, the public radio […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Irish, who writes: Good afternoon Mr. Witherspoon, Just wanted to follow up on a contact for fixing several shortwave radios from the primarily the 70s and 80s, preferably someone located in the DC Metropolitan area, Virginia or North Carolina. These would include the Zenith R-7000-2 and General Electric […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Meara, who shares this most recent post from his excellent SolderSmoke Podcast blog: Mike WU2D Looks at the “Dream” SW Receivers of the 1960s and 70s (Video) Wow, I really liked Mike’s walk down memory lane. I saw several of my own dream receivers: S-38E. Indeed, this little […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark (AE2EA), who shares the following video from the Antique Wireless Association. Here’s the video description: Cooling Radio Station was at the UK end of a point-to-point, shortwave signal beamed from Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The site of the station was carefully selected as the antenna, MUSA (Multiple Unit Steerable […]