The SWLing Post

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Special Broadcast: WBCQ’s 4th of July in the Park Date/Time: Saturday, July 4, 8pm-9pm EDT (0000-0100 UTC July 5) Frequencies: 6160 and 7490 kHz 4th of July concerts at the bandshell (usually a concert band or orchestra sometimes followed later by a rock or country band) are a long tradition throughout the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who writes: Recently I’ve been watching some pandemic-themed movies and found “The Last Man on Earth”, a pretty good 1964 post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film (which was remade in 1971 and 2007 with different titles.) In this film, the main character (well played by Vincent Price) uses an […]

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 28-July 4: This week, violinist/composer/guitarist/bandleader Christopher Simpson helps us present Absolución, the debut album of his group Elevación. It was nominated in the Pop Rock category of Cubadisco 2019. The broadcasts take place: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern […]

This past weekend my wife suggested that I do a Parks On The Air (POTA) activation. I think she wanted me out of the house so that she could prepare a birthday and Father’s day surprise with my daughters. Of course, I happily obliged. My motto in French: “Profitez-en bien!” or “Make the most of […]

I’ve just learned via Paul (N0CTF) that Gerry Thomas of Radiosplus passed away on June 19, 2020. Many of you are likely familiar with Gerry’s excellent antennas and accessories, especially the Quantum Loop series and Q-Stick. Gerry was always very kind to work with and obviously a very talented engineer. He will certainly be missed.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Stutzer, who recently shared the following listener post: I started SWLing as a teenager. My favorite uncle gave me a Hallicrafters S-120. My dad hung a longwire under an eave and through a casement window frame into my bedroom. I marveled at all the AM international stations broadcasting […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christian, who writes: Thomas: the original (not Elite) Eton Mini is on sale for $26.00 shipped from Amazon.com right now. The price for this radio has been around $30-33 in the past few months. As I’ve said before, I like the mini. Nice functional little radio. Click here to view on […]

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 of 40+ located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a DX-worthy catch! After […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frank (ON6UU), who shares the following guest post: Building EA3GCY’s DB4020 QRP Transceiver kit by Frank Lagaet (ON6UU) In May, I discovered via a newsletter that a new kit was available from Javier EA3GCY in Spain. I was immediately sold as this was a kit from my favourite kit […]

SWLing Post contributor, Pete Madtone just shared the Free Radio Skybird graphic above announcing their broadcasts on Sunday, June 21st (today), and repeated on Sunday, June 28th, 2020 at 1100 UTC on 6070 kHz (Channel292). Thanks for the heads-up, Pete!

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 […]

The BBC Antarctica winter solstice broadcast will take place on June 21, 2020 at 2130-2200 UTC. Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who confirms the three frequencies the BBC plan to use this year: 5790 kHz from Woofferton UK 7360 kHz from Woofferton UK 9580 kHz from Ascension Island Recording the Midwinter Broadcast […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD), who shares the following guest post: My First DX Contest by Bill Hemphill, WD9EQD Being a recent new member of NJARC, this is my first time competing in this contest. I have always been a big fan of BCB DXing and have recently got back into […]

Yesterday, my family packed a picnic lunch and took a drive through Madison County, North Carolina. It was an impromptu trip. Weather was forecast to be pretty miserable that afternoon, but we took the risk because we all wanted to get out of the house for a bit. Although that morning I had no intention […]

A number of SWLing Post readers have been contacting me this month regarding the lab599 TX-500 Discovery QRP general coverage transceiver. Since its announcement around this time last year, a number of radio enthusiasts have been seeking any updates or information regarding price and availability. Spoiler alert: Sadly, I have no meaningful updates at present. […]

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, Al Holt, who shared the following QSL and note on Twitter: The posting about WRM and its originating from Denmark got me thinking about my early days SWLing and the wonderful QSL card I got from R. Denmark. I hope to tune WRM on 19m soon! Thank you for […]

As I’ve noted in the past, I love my Elecraft KX2 and routinely use it for SWLing. I just learned that Elecraft has published a new KX2 firmware update that even includes some minor tweaks for AM mode reception. A proper nod to the SWLs in the Elecraft community. From the release notes: AM Receive: […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Harald Kuhl, who shares the following from Stig Hartvig Nielsen with World Music Radio. I’m testing a new audio feed for the 15805 kHz transmitter. Hopefully more stable than the previous one, which sometimes would run 24 hrs without a single drop out – at other times produce drop […]

From the Isle of Music, June 21-27: This week, a special conversation recorded in the home of César López in January with three members of the Cuban Sax Quintet including music from their album Saxofones Live Sessions, a winner of Cubadisco’s Grand Prize in 2019. The broadcasts take place: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible […]

You might have noticed from recent posts, I’ve been on a bit of a POTA (Parks On The Air) kick lately. I’ve been enjoying taking the Xiegu G90 to the field and seeing just how well it performs under intensive use on battery power. So far, it has certainly proven itself to be a capable […]

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 of 40+ located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a DX-worthy catch! After […]

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 the British DX Club who shares the following information about a BBC Midwinter Broadcast test being held later today: The annual 30-minute Midwinter broadcast to British Antarctic Survey staff in Antarctica is scheduled by BBC WS for Sunday 21st June. Ahead of this, two frequencies will be tested Sunday 14th June 2130-2145 […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alexander (DL4NO), who shares the following announcement from Markus (DL8RDS): This year’s Software Defined Radio Academy is taking place as an online conference. Because of the great number of contributions, we are spanning the conference over two days: Saturday June 27 and Sunday June 28 2020. We also decided […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD), who shares the following guest post: Benefits to Social Distancing I have discovered that there is a positive side effect of social distancing. With so many organizations using Zoom and other video methods for their meeting, the volume of great videos to watch has drastically increased, […]

Over the past few weeks, I have been building curated lists of ham radio transceivers. It all started when I needed to learn about multimode VHF/UHF transceivers for my EME project. As I got deeper into the process, I decided to make my master list of VHF/UHF multimode transceivers public. The goal with the list […]

Regular Broadcast times of Encore are: 10:00 – 11:00 UTC Saturday 6070 kHz Channel 292 to Europe – Now Simulcast on 7440 kHz Repeated: 01:00 – 02:00 UTC Sunday 5850 kHz, Simulcast on 5010 kHz WRMI to the US, Canada and Central America. 16:00 – 17:00 UTC Sunday 7440 kHz Channel 292 to Europe 21:00 – 22:00 UTC Sunday 3955 kHz Channel 292 to Europe 02:00 – […]

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 the crew at KiwiSDR.com who have made simple subdomain style forwarding links to open and explore popular KiwiSDR portals: Receiver list: rx.kiwisdr.com Map view: map.kiwisdr.com Signal-to-noise ratio based scores: snr.kiwisdr.com Thank you–this makes it so much easier to remember KiwiSDR portal addresses!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jim Meirose, who recently logged a mystery signal and is asking for our help to identify it. Jim notes that it sounds much like a time signal and can be found on 4,806 kHz. Jim lives in the north east US and is receiving the station each morning between […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his latest update to his A20 season guide to music on shortwave and notes: I attach an updated copy of my “Music Programmes on Shortwave” PDF file (version 4) for the current A-20 broadcast season which I hope you will find of interest. This will probably […]

From the Isle of Music, June 14-20: This week, a timba fiesta. Wil Campa helps us present his new album Nuevo Zapato, then El Noro helps us present his new album El Espejo. The broadcasts take place: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including […]

Yesterday, I was in my hometown helping my parents with a few projects. Around noon, I realized that I had a good four hour window of free time–a true rarity these days! I had two fully-packed go bags in the car: one with my trusty Elecraft KX2, and one with my recently acquired Xiegu G90. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dziugas, who recently contacted me with the following question: Hello, I have a question – what is the legit distance to ask for a QSL card? As a Lithuanian, I have sent (and succeeded) with requests to Hungarian, Czech and Estonian stations. But would it be fine according to […]

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 […]

The following article first appeared in the January 2020 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. The AirSpy HF+ Discovery and a new era of portable DXing I admit it: I used to be a bit of an old-fashioned radio curmudgeon. One of those, “I like my radios with knobs and buttons” likely followed by, “…and no […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Van Hoy (VR2HF), who writes: Like many, I enjoy listening to HF ATC traffic, all on USB, of course. I’ve been doing it since my teen years. Recently, I discovered ARINC posts live frequencies on their Webpage for both the Atlantic and Pacific. The pages will need to […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike, who writes: Hi Thomas, I just noticed that Amazon has an inventory of KiwiSDRs for sale. I’m planning to snag one even though I don’t plan to put it online (because my IPDSL connection is just too slow). I’ve always wanted one and let’s just say I’ll be […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Harald Kuhl, who writes: The A20 WRTH Bargraph Frequency Guide is available now. http://www.wrth.com/_shop/?product=wrth-a20-bargraph-download I think it’s very helpful for the shortwave listener. Kind regards, stay safe and have a nice weekend. Many thanks, Harald, I agree: the WRTH Bargraph is an excellent, intuitive reference for checking broadcast schedules. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Walter Panella (IU2MEH), who writes: I have written a software that connects to a ham radio dx cluster and repeats the dx spot to its clients while adding spots based on list files. This to show markers on SDR Console or similar software to see broadcasting stations, for example, […]

Regular Broadcast times of Encore are: 10:00 – 11:00 UTC Saturday 6070 kHz Channel 292 to Europe – Now Simulcast on 7440 kHz Repeated: 01:00 – 02:00 UTC Sunday 5850 kHz, Simulcast on 5010 kHz WRMI to the US, Canada and Central America. 16:00 – 17:00 UTC Sunday 7440 kHz Channel 292 to Europe 21:00 – 22:00 UTC Sunday 3955 kHz Channel 292 to Europe 02:00 – […]

Earlier this week, I took delivery of a new Xiegu G90 general coverage QRP transceiver. I’m reviewing this portable rig for The Spectrum Monitor magazine. Although this Chinese manufacturer has been around for a few years, this was my first purchase of a Xiegu product. I’ve had the G90 on the air from home for a […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Nils (DO6AN), who shares the gorgeous stamp (above) celebrating twenty years of radio in the DDR. Thank you, Nils!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, April TimeLady, who writes: This is a collection of Japanese SDR recordings I made over the month of May. Labelling may be “off” and I can’t find sources for some of the call letters of the stations I’ve heard; WRTH is only so useful, but it is still very useful anyway. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul, who shares a link to Letters of a Radio-Engineer to his Son by John Mills. The book, originally published in 1922, is in the public domain and shared/hosted on the Project Gutenberg website. It is a fascinating read. Mills does a rather amazing job explaining complex electronic principles […]

SWLing Post contributor, Pete Madtone just shared the Free Radio Skybird graphic above announcing their broadcasts on Sunday, June 7th, and repeated on Sunday, June 14th, 2020 at 1100 UTC on 6070 kHz (Channel292). Thanks for the heads-up, Pete!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ferrie, who recommends the SigDigger digital signal analyzer written by Gonzalo Carracedo (EA1IYR). According to the project’s Github page: SigDigger is a graphical, digital signal analyzer I wrote in Qt5 for Unix systems like GNU/Linux or MacOS. Unlike existing alternatives, SigDigger is not based on GNU Radio. Instead, it uses […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans, who shares this article from Hackaday that highlights a crystal radio built completely on a smart chip credit card by Billy Cheung. Hackaday notes: This is possible because the smart chip on many credit cards contains a diode. It’s then a simple matter of hooking up the […]