The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans (W4/VP9KF), who writes: Oh no, I spotted another radio to identify in about a 1 second clip from “Death In Paradise”, Series 9, Episode 7. This should be easier, but is it? Bonus points for the name of the lizard! Oh! That’s a tough one. Thanks for […]

From the Isle of Music, December 13-19: This week, we present a musical retrospective of Candido Camero, and important innovator in the evolution of the usage of afrocuban percussion who passed away November 7 at the age of 99 years. The broadcasts take place: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area […]

Many thanks to Alex (EU1ME)–developer and manufacturer of the Belka DX and Belka DSP shortwave receivers–who shares information about a new version of the Belka-DX: [Based on customer feedback, we’ve] added a built-in speaker to the Belka DX version. It’s an option that I believe also can be useful when listening this radio (broadcasts for […]

President Franklin Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy”–the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by air. Today (December 7, 2020) is the 79th anniversary. This morning, I was once again reminded of an off-air recording I made in 2013 of the pirate radio station, Radio Free Whatever. Please enjoy […]

The following review was first published in the November 2020 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine: A review of the Mission RGO One ham radio transceiver by Thomas (K4SWL / M0CYI) Wow…I love this! If I am perfectly frank, that would sum up my initial impression of the Mission RGO One. It was the 2018 […]

I’m so pleased to see a fascinating new post from our friend London Shortwave this morning. In his latest article, London Shortwave demonstrates how he has been making super simple spectrum recordings by pairing the new Belka-DX receiver (which has an I/Q out port) with a Zoom H1 handheld digital recorder. The recorded I/Q files […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric (WD8RIF), who notes that the 27th episode of TX Factor was recently released. Here’s the show summary: Another post-lockdown special? – Indeed! And we hope you are safe and well and looking forward to some TX Factor action. In this final show of 2020, we visit the home of a well-known and […]

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 video featuring the Tecsun AN-200 on the Waters & Stanton YouTube channel: I told so many over the years that I honestly think the AN200 is one of the most useful and effective mediumwave antennas you can purchase. It’s portable and it pairs […]

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 and RX antenna guru, Grayhat, for another excellent guest post focusing on compact, low-profile urban antennas: A linear loaded dipole for the SWL by Grayhat What follows is the description of an antenna which may allow to obtain good performances even in limited space, the antenna which I’m about […]

For the next week or so, I’m going to have limited Internet service, but lots of radio time. I’m looking forward to it! There shouldn’t be an interruption here on the SWLing Post, but I will not have a lot of time to reply to questions via email. Feel free to continue sending your tips, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Shannon, who writes: Hi Thomas A little treat for my fellow readers of your blog (is that the right word?). The RTE interval signal, a rendition of O’Donnell Abú (“O’Donnell Forever”), that is played at 0529 daily, apart from the weekend when it’s played at 0629 (even interval […]

From the Isle of Music, December 6-12: This week, special guest Toni Basanta returns to share music from Expreso Rítmico and Grupo Los Yoyi, two popular dance bands in Cuba in the 1970-1980s, with us. The broadcasts take place: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern […]

For those of you who have been asking about the new Xiegu GSOC controller, I just updated my unit with the latest firmware (version 1.1). Firmware notes show that it addresses the following items: Xiegu GSOC FW V1.1 1. Solved the CW sidetone delay problem 2. Solved the problem of unstable system and occasional crash […]

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 […]

(Source: FCC.gov) CHAIRMAN PAI ANNOUNCES HIS INTENT TO DEPART FCC — WASHINGTON, November 30, 2020—Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that he intends to leave the Federal Communications Commission on January 20, 2021. Chairman Pai issued the following statement: “It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve at the Federal Communications […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his latest update to his B20 season guide to music on shortwave. Click here to download as a PDF.

I just received an announcement from C.Crane noting that their Cyber Monday sale discounts everything in their catalog by 10%. If you’ve been considering one of their radios or accessories, today is a great day to pull the trigger. It’s rare that C.Crane discounts are lower than 10%. Click here to check out C.Crane’s Cyber […]

I just received an email announcement from Radioddity noting their holiday sale which lasts through November 30, 2020. Much of their inventory has been discounted. They’ve also added “Flash Sale” packages which include the Xiegu G90, Xiegu X5105, and the new GSOC. If you’ve been considering the purchase of any of these items, I’d encourage […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Istvan Biliczky, who writes: We would like to remind you that the TOP 10 DX OF THE YEAR contest will start soon. From 1 December 2020. 00:00 UTC to 31 December 2020 24:00 UTC The contest is open for all shortwave listeners and free of charge. All the information […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Matt Blaze (WB2SRI), for sharing another brilliant audio comparison featuring benchmark portable radios: Medium wave selectivity shootout by Matt Blaze I did another monster medium wave portable receiver comparison, this time with the aim of comparing receivers’ ability to deal with weak signals in the presence of strong adjacent […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans, who passes along the following tips: Circuit Specialists have started Black Friday, but only 10% off everything. The code fer Circuit Specialists is CYBER2020 at checkout…10% off everything until midnight Monday. There’s also a raffle for free 100MHz 2x DSOs and some pen style 25MHz DSOs fer […]

Here in the States, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving today. It’s my favorite holiday because it’s all about giving thanks and spending time with friends, family, and eating some amazing food. Of course, it’ll be a bit different this year as families opt to meet virtually in an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19. I believe […]

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by author Ronald W. Kenyon who has written non-fiction books covering a variety of subjects, but primarily collections of essays and albums of photography. He was very proud to announce that his latest book, QSL: How I Traveled the World and Never Left Home, focuses on his pursuit […]

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, Dan Robinson, for the following guest post: Zenith Trans Oceanics Still Command Big Prices by Dan Robinson For many radio collectors and users, the Zenith Trans Oceanic R7000-2 is a must-have item in the collection. This was the final version of the Zenith Trans Oceanic line that stretched back […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Nick Hall-Patch, who writes: Since 1964, the International Radio Club of America has been documenting medium wave DXing and DXers’ efforts to improve their understanding of radio reception and to develop better listening techniques. During that time, over 900 articles have been written, that have furthered the art of […]

I just received a message from C.Crane noting that they’re discounting the excellent C.Crane CCRadio 2E $20 today (25 Nov 2020) until 11:59PM PT. Simply add the radio to our shopping cart and the price will be adjusted automatically. The CCRadio 2E, along with the CCRadio 3, is considered one of the best mediumwave portable […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gregory Ivanov, who writes: Hi, found this video–I think it’s pretty cool. Shows some impressive 3D propagation simulation, I haven’t seen before: Wow! That is fascinating. Thank you for sharing this, Gregory. 3D tools like this could be invaluable for predicting propagation even for hams and SWLs. Of course, […]

From the Isle of Music, November 29-December 5: This week, special guest Toni Basanta shares music from Monte de Espuma and Expreso Ritmico, two popular dance bands in Cuba in the 1970-1980s, with us. The broadcasts take place: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who writes: The YouTube channel Phuong DPRK Daily recently posted a video titled Listeners to Radio “Voice of Korea” in Pictures. This video offers a look at photos of VOK Voice of Korea (DPRK) shortwave listeners. I recognize the voice of one of the VOK newscasters as the […]

Just a heads up that Bioenno Power is having a 2020 Thanksgiving sale and offering a 10% discount with the coupon code “THANKS”. I’m a huge fan of Bioenno’s batteries and just pulled the trigger on yet another LiFePo battery. This time, a compact 3 aH battery. This will be more than enough battery to […]

Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Tom Gavaras, shares some of the most amazing off-air, studio, and personal recordings our archive. Recently, he submitted a very unique recording. Tom notes: Rudy Espinal of Radio Clarin (Dominican Republic) keynote speech at 1979 Association of North American Radio Clubs (ANARC) convention held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Convention took place […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Don (W7SSB), who shares the following story from Forbes.com: Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), the retail acquisition company that bought Pier 1 and Modell’s Sporting Goods out of bankruptcy and snapped up the Dressbarn brand after it liquidated, has a new rescue mission: Radio Shack. REV announced the deal today […]

If you’ve been thinking about pulling the trigger on an Airspy product, now’s the time! Airspy is once again offering huge discounts during their 2020 Black Friday promotion. For example, their Airspy HF+ Discovery SDR–which I consider to be one of the best HF SDRs on the market–is 30% off ($119 US). This is a […]

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 Pete Polanyk, who shares the following story that all started with a recording he submitted to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive: Remember I sent you that clip of Radio Canada (that went up on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive) that was on the other side of a punk tape? […]

While I’m very happy for my friends Fred and Barbara Osterman as they head into a well-deserved retirement, I’m very sad that Universal Radio will be closing. I’ve been a Universal Radio customer since before I was a licensed ham radio operator. They have been–and are to this day–the one ham radio radio retailer that […]

A WBCQ Thanksgiving Date/Time: Thursday, November 26, 10-11pm EST (November 27, 0300-0400 UTC) Frequencies: 6160 & 7490 kHz It has been a rough year for so many of us, and yet there is much for which we can be thankful. In that spirit, WBCQ The Planet, courtesy of time donated by Allan and Angela Weiner, […]

(Source: Pete Madtone) The final Free Radio Skybird programme of this year (bar the repeat two weeks later) is on Sunday November 22nd at 1200 UTC on 6070 kHz via Channel 292. It features DJ Frederick, Justin Patrick Moore with The Radiophonic Laboratory and Weed’s own One Deck Pete with “Tunes to cheer you up.” Tune in! #shortwavesnotdead #freeradioskybird

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Shannon, who shares a link to a transcript on the UK Parliament website and notes that “it’s not often” the topic of CMEs comes up in the House of Commons. (We have discussed them here, of course.) Here’s the transcript taken from the UK Parliament website: Paul Maynard […]

This autumn, I’ve received a number of emails from new readers who’ve dusted off the radio in their closet and decided to get back into shortwave radio listening and/or ham radio. I can’t recall another time I’ve gotten so many similar messages and I can only attribute it to the fact so many people across […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following announcement from Radio Romania International: Dear friends, RRI continues its traditional polling of listeners on short wave, the Internet and social media, with a new challenge, in spite of this complicated context generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. We would like to ask you which person […]

(Source: SDRplay via Mike Ladd) SDRuno 1.40.2 has been released. This is to fix the ini file corruption issue we posted about recently, but it also introduces some new features and more plugin functionality. Release notes can be found here: https://www.sdrplay.com/docs/SDRplay_SDRuno_Release_Notes.pdf Please note that the SDRplay plugins and community plugin installers that are included in […]

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, Christoph Ratzer, who recently shared the following video tour by Mika Mäkeläinen. Mika desxribes this video on YouTube: Join me on a virtual tour of the Aihkiniemi DXing base in Lapland, in northern Finland. This is a nonscripted five-cent tour looking at what the Aihkiniemi cabin can offer for […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, April TimeLady, who writes: In this email is a link to recordings I made from Japanese SDRs over the course of October 2020 and have uploaded to archive.org. This is the link: https://archive.org/details/JPSDROCT2020 The original files are in .wav, archive.org converts them to mp3 and flac. Files with sas in them […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN), who shares a link to HamEstate.com: an online site that simplifies the process of selling radio gear from family estates. I was not familiar with this site, but it appears they have good reviews. Possibly an option for families who’ve no one to help them sell […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul, who asks: What are good choices for ATU and 100W amplifier for the IC-705? [Also] will the Icom AH-4 antenna tuner work well with the IC-705? Great questions, Paul! 100 Watt Amplifiers I’ve limited experience pairing the IC-705 with external 100 watt amplifiers. I own the Elecraft KXPA100 […]