The SWLing Post

While some SWLs and radio listeners dislike Web-based SDRs because they don’t feel like “real radio” there’s no denying that they do offer up listening opportunities you might not otherwise be able to enjoy from home. Case in Point Friend and SWLing Post contributor, Pete Madtone, has been enjoying dropping in on a local Slow […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Madtone, who shares the following announcement: This Sunday 4th July 2021 Free Radio Skybird is being beamed out of the WRMI transmitter from Miami on 9395 kHz at 2300 utc (12 midnight UK time). Expect some free radio goodness from DJ Frederick and the Free Radio Skybird crew. Tune in here on Sunday if you’ve no shortwave radio.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, sometime in July 2021 (possibly tomorrow?) the email subscription service we’ve used since 2008–Feedburner–will be shutting down. We’ve invested in a new email service that is actually much better than the old one. Please sign up for the new service in the form below or via this dedicated sign […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, for the following guest post: Vintage JRC Receivers in Japan Set Price Records by Dan Robinson While used market prices for older vintage communications receivers have been dropping significantly in recent years, prices for some classic “premium” receivers — particularly rare marine radios made by Japan Radio […]

From the Isle of Music, July 4-10: This week, our guest is Maikel Dinza, winner of the Popular Dance Music category in this year’s Cubadisco for his album Manigua. The broadcasts take place: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia […]

As mentioned in a previous post, we are migrating from Feedburner to a new email subscription service called Aweber. Feedburner has announced that they will discontinue all email delivery at some point in July 2021. If you are currently a subscriber to the SWLing Post email digest, you will need to subscribe to the new […]

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, Dennis Dura, who shares the following promo from Airspy: This summer, we offer 20% OFF on #Airspy products from June 28th until July 4th 2021. https://airspy.com/purchase

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frank Sturzaker, who writes: I am a new SW listener in the UK and am using an elderly Sony ICF SW100E picked up from selling website here in the UK fairly cheaply as a starter. It gets excellent reviews and seems to do what is required very well. A […]

If you’re one of the 1,700 people who have an email subscription to the SWLing Post via Feedburner, please take note: No more Feedburner In July 2021, the email delivery system we’ve used for daily email newsletters, Feedburner, is scaling back their operations and will discontinue email delivery. This means, if you subscribe to the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Markku (VA3MK), who writes: I just received this stand today, works and fits well with my orange Tecsun PL-368. Click here to view at CountyComm. What a nice and simple little stand! Thanks for sharing this, Markku. This would work (I assume) with any of the CountyComm and Tecsun […]

I’ve just learned that KFOG will broadcast a special remix edition via WRMI (9395 kHz) on Sunday June 27, 2021, at 2300 UTC.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors, Eric McFadden and Mike Agner, who share the following announcement from MFJ: MFJ to sell Eton Shortwave Receivers! Elite 750 A 360-degree rotating AM antenna enhances the radio’s ability to pull in weak AM signals. You can listen to AM, FM , SW, LW, SSB and aircraft band frequencies, and you […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who shares the photo above of the radio beacon at the Brazilian Navy in Tramandai, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. What a gorgeous photo, Carlos! Can anyone identify that antenna configuration?

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who shares the following video of sounds he heard on HF. Carlos adds, “Are we in the Twilight Zone or Lost in Space? They sound like effects from a 60’s/70’s sci-fi movie!” Those sounds are wild! The stuff of Star Wars. My only guess is that it’s […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ulis (K3LU), who shares the following note via his Twitter feed: “Comrade Africa” – a historic look at the GDR’s (Radio Berlin International) Cold War era shortwave broadcasts to Africa via the BBC World Service: https://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download/proto/https/vpid/p07zc40r.mp3 Click here to listen to the documentary at the BBC World Service.

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 […]

From the Isle of Music, June 27-July 3: Part 2 of 2 parts: This week, our guest is Rodney Barreto, winner of the Making Of category in this year’s Cubadisco and a nominee in Jazz for Drummer Negrito. He also performed in several other nominees and winners of Cubadisco. Our conversation will be in English. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following guest post: Big news in these days of declined shortwave by Dan Robinson It is rare — no super rare — that we get any good news these days about shortwave broadcasting. Remember the excitement a few years ago when Guinea returned to […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who writes: Dear Thomas, I want to share my latest version of my case / antenna for Tecsun S-8800 to make it immediately operational: simply open and listen. In addition to the loop inside the case with a 3-meter wire at one of the ends that […]

In the comments section of this post, I’d like you to share your recording of the NNC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica! In years past, I’ve created a post with all of the Midwinter recordings curated in one article. This usually takes me 12+ hours to prepare over a couple of weeks as many of the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mikael, who writes: The Big Gun Friendship Net, an amazing and friendly net! It was late or earlier here in France, when I switched on my Tecsun PL-660 with its wire antenna plugged in. As always, I was scanning the 40 meters band. I obtained my ham licence in […]

Every year, the BBC broadcasts a special program to the scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team. The BBC plays music requests and sends special messages to the small team–35 individuals this year–located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adi, who writes: Hi Thomas, Recently I received from AliExp two 18650 3000mAh batteries to replace the aging original XHDATA for my D-808. As you can see they are ~3mm longer than the original. They still fit, but the spring is crushed to its minimum and the cover will […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Michael Schuster, who writes: The Shenzhen HanRongDa HRD-747 is now spotted in the wholesale supply channel at US$53, minimum order 2 pieces. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/HRD-747-Portable-All-Band-Mini_1600253429230.html The Ali listing has some closeups showing the display and key functions, battery compartment, sockets, and even a brief video demonstrating airband reception. Thank you for […]

I just received the flyer above for a new program. I’ve no other details but am certainly looking forward to the broadcast!

Canada D’eh Date/Time: July 1, 10-11PM EDT (July 2, 0200-0300 UTC) Frequency: WBCQ The Planet, 6160 & 7490 kHz July 1st is Canada Day, and since RCI is no longer blessing shortwave listeners with its presence on the short waves, Fred Waterer, a genuine Canadian, and “Uncle Bill” Tilford, an American who is frequently mistaken […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Sheldon Harvey, who writes: Hi, Thomas Gilles and I have a special edition of the International Radio Report in which we discuss the new Tecsun H-501X portable shortwave receiver. The special edition is available exclusively on our show’s YouTube channel. Here is the link to the video: Thank you […]

Many thanks to Richard Hollingham with Boffin Media, who writes: Hi – I’m (proudly) the Executive Producer of the Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast. It’s made by Boffin Media for the BBC….I’m about to deliver this year’s edition. In terms of the broadcast itself, following the test on Monday, the BBC’s decided to transmit on all four […]

A quick reminder that the rebroadcast of Radio Gum Tree Episode 2 will take place tomorrow: June 18, 2021 at 9:45 EDT (or June 19, 2021 at 01:45 UTC) on on 5850 kHz. You can find the program notes for these Test broadcasts at this web site address: www.radiogumtree.com/?p=54 Many thanks for putting together this […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post: Got reception issues? An idea worth considering: the “Horizontal Room Loop.” by Jock Elliott (KB2GOM) When my radio room was in the front of the house (on the east side), it was easy to run a feedline to a large RF-hungry […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans, who shares info about the new Analog Devices MxFE and notes that it could be a game changer in the world of software defined radio: This does sound like a very robust and powerful platform although I’m not an engineer so can’t speak to how it might […]

Click here to read an update to this post (17 June 2021). Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who follows up with the following information about the 2021 Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica: As usual, there was a test of this year’s possible frequencies yesterday (14 June) from 21:30 to 21:45 UTC. They were: […]

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 […]

From the Isle of Music, June 20-26: Part 1 of 2 parts: This week, our guest is Rodney Barreto, winner of the Making Of category in this year’s Cubadisco and a nominee in Jazz for Drummer Negrito. He also performed in several other nominees and winners of Cubadisco. Our conversation will be in English. The […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David (G4EDR), who writes: I know that you and many of the readers of the SWLing Post like to tune into the annual BBC WS Antarctic Mid Winter broadcast. I requested some information from the BDXC (of which I am a member) about this year’s broadcast and got the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, 13dka, who shares the following guest post: The IC-705 in action at the dike by 13dka When I got the IC-705 in late October 2020, I didn’t get that much chance to enjoy it at the dike: After a couple of initial tests and 2 nightly “FYBO” MW DX sessions in November, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Van Hoy (VR2HF), who notes that he spotted a number of radios including the Kenwood TS-930S in the new Netflix series, Sweet Tooth (see above). He writes: [Also] seen in the last minutes of the final episode of season one: An AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australasia) Teleradio Model 110H […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who notes: Episode 2 of Radio Gum Tree will be rebroadcast this coming Friday night June 18, 2021 at 9:45 EDT on on 5850 kHz in case anyone missed it. Episode 3 should be on June 25. You can find the program notes for these Test broadcasts at this web site […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chip, who writes: I remember reading a number of years ago that the NRO/NSA was the largest consumer of magnetic tape, utilized for pre-detection recordings of various spans of spectrum, all over the world. I’m wondering if those tapes become declassified at some point, and if they are available […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Madtone, who shares the following: KFOG takes to the high seas via Channel 292 on Sunday June 20th 2021 at 1200 UTC (11am UK time) and on Saturday June 26th at 0900 utc (8am UK time) on 6070 kHz. Expect tunes in a nautical style and “see the glimmer from a distant lighthouse, as the buoys ding and the (radio) […]

There’s an interesting post from spaceweather.com about two scientists who believe they have found evidence of solar activity which might indicate a super-cycle rivaling the best solar cycles ever recorded. (I, for one, would be thrilled for this since the last such super-cycle seems to have been before I was born, and that was a […]