The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christian, who writes: The price of the Eton Executive Traveler just hit an all time low on Amazon at $35.13. This is a lot of radio for the price which includes free shipping. If you’ve been following this thread over the past few months you’ll know that the price […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adi, who writes: Hi Thomas, here is Shanghai International Audio Exhibition with the new toys: https://kknews.cc/zh-cn/digital/plamvgp.html Check out all of the photos and commentary (in Chinese) by clicking here.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ron, who shares his thoughts on comparing two portable longwave antennas: To begin, for reference, check out this post where The Professor reviews the RFA200. Also, check out the following video from the replies of that post: Both the RFL-200 and the Q-Stick came in today. Performance of both […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Peter Marks, who writes: A report two years in the making has been released (actually it was a few days ago but there was no fanfare. I’ve posted about it here: https://blog.marxy.org/2019/10/review-of-australian-broadcasting.html An interesting conclusion in the report on page 128 is that the authors estimate that shortwave broadcasts […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lennart Weirell, who shares the following in reply to our recent posts regarding Radio Malaysia and Radio Sarawak: Back in early 80-ies (1981-1984) I lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I used my Panasonic DR-28 with a short indoor wire to listen. Of course some of the loggings were […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans, who shares a link from Atlas Obscura featuring the Museo de la Radio in the Parque de los Venados station in Mexico City: Upon entering the Parque de los Venados station of the Mexico City subway system, you may be surprised to find that you’ve also entered a museum. Here, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gerard Koopal, who shares the following announcement for Skyline Radio: SKYLINE RADIO GERMANY – 20 YEARS ON AIR! – PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD! WE WANT THE AIRWAVES – IF ROCK IS GONNA STAY ALIVE! Shortwaveradio.de kindly gave us another possibility to be on air with some brand new shows […]

(Source: Radio New Zealand) The signal was lost in August when the main transmitter’s rusty mast on Rarotonga was dismantled. Radio Cook Islands’ general manager Jeanne Matenga said Blue Sky, which manages the network, reactivated a smaller transmitter near the airport late last week. She said the government seemed to be worried about the absence […]

(Source: Radio Today) RTÉ Radio 1 has reappeared on 252 LW after being off-air for the last six weeks for significant remedial works. The essential maintenance work will ensure the service can continue for at least another couple of years, according to a Fine Gael TD. Chair of the Oireachtas Communications Committee, Hildegarde Naughton, welcomed […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Fields, who writes: Something I always appreciate on the SWLing Post are articles and comments suggesting bags and cases. A while back I wound up with an account on wish.com – a site that sells “stuff from China” for lack of a better description. Some things are junk, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kris Partridge, who writes: You recently posted about the on going GCHQ exhibition at the Science Museum here in London. I now offer you two more GCHQ items. Both radio related. First one from BBC Radio: How Scarborough saved the world The Secret History of GCHQ Stories from the intelligence […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Robert Richmond, who shares two images of the Tecsun H-501 dated June 21, 2019 from this radio forum. As Robert notes, “Probably a prototype, so YMMV.” Very true–it’s quite possible further changes could be made to the design or silkscreening before a full production run. The photo above with […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans, who writes: From the SWLing roving foreign correspondent. A couple of weeks before going to London on our recent trip, I was idly looking through the Science Museum web site when I spotted a special exhibit ‘The Secret War’ put on by ‘members of GCHQ’. It had to be booked […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gaétan Teyssonneau, who shares a link to Radio Romania International’s broadcast schedule for the B19 season. Click here to download (PDF).

(Source: ABC Pacific Beat via Michael Bird) https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/radioaustralia/radioaustralia/audio/201910/pba-2019-10-07-van-shortwave.mp3 Click here to listen. In the age of social media and internet technology, shortwave may be seen as traditional technology — but it still plays an important role in reaching far-flung communities, with Vanuatu’s public broadcaster now investing millions of dollars to boost its shortwave service. The […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter, who writes: This is a recent posting of a trip out to the Knock John Fort and also of a new book about life on a sister fort, Roughs Tower. Report – – Knock John Sea Fort – May 2018 | Noteworthy Report The fort is still […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans, who notes that R&L’s price on the Icom IC-7300 transceiver is currently $923.89 with discounts and coupons. Click here to view this deal at R&L Electronics. Click here to read our review of the Icom IC-7300.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adrian Korol, who writes: LRA 36 National Radio Archangel San Gabriel turns 40 on October 20 The different services of RAE Argentina to the World have produced special programs of 10 minutes each that will be broadcast from Antarctica via LRA36 on 15476 kHz, days and times to be […]

Encore – Classical Music on Shortwave – Broadcast on Sunday afternoon in Europe (repeated Friday evening) and USA Encore – Classical Music this weekend is being broadcast as usual by Channel 292 (Europe) on 6070 kHz at 15:00 UTC Sunday 13th October. And by WBCQ on 7490 kHz at 00:00 – 01:00 UTC Monday 14th […]

One of our contributors on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, Tom Gavaras, has been sharing some brilliant airchecks. I also discovered that Tom runs an amazing site simply chock-full of Minneapolis/St. Paul airchecks. Tom writes: Hi Thomas, […]As an FYI … I own/run a website called RadioTapes (www.RadioTapes.com). It features more than 2,000 airchecks of […]

(Source: CNN via Tracy Wood) (CNN) — It’s March 23, 1959. The radio waves crackle and broadcast begins: “Govorit Radio Svoboda” (??????? ????? ??????? – “This is Radio Liberty speaking…”) From the other side of the Iron Curtain, the radio broadcasts of US-funded Radio Liberty reached deep inside the Soviet Union. This was an opening […]

(Source: Radio Romania International via David Iurescia) Dear RRI friends, Sunday, November 3, 2019 will be Listeners’ Day on RRI, a day of celebration for which you are kindly invited to send us your opinion about the role of international radio broadcasting now, 30 years after the fall of many communist regimes in Eastern Europe. The Berlin […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Steve Lebkuecher, who shares this video which compares the mediumwave performance of the PL-990 and PL-680: Click here to view on YouTube.

Many thanks to SLWing Post contributor, Mike Ladd with SDRplay, who shares the following guest post: Basics to decoding WEFAX using an RSP and SDRuno by Mike Ladd SDR I use: RSPduo from SDRplay using the Hi-Z input. Any model RSP’s can tune WEFAX transmissions. https://www.sdrplay.com/rspduo/ Antenna I use: Megaloop FX from Bonito. In an […]

(Source: Radio World) Is medium wave in decline? Some people think so. In the 1950s radio was declared mortally wounded by TV. But then FM with its new music rescued it, becoming one of the most successful technologies and platforms ever. Radio survived and thrived but AM should have died at the hands of the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Justin Moore, who writes: [I recently published a post] on the history of the 1990’s Japanese Satellite radio station St. GIGA (here http://www.sothismedias.com/home/the-lunar-phases-of-st-giga ). They were a station that played ambient music and nature recordings and other stuff whose programming schedule was based on the movement of the tides. Very […]

(Source: Southgate ARC via Eric McFadden) Broadcaster KUNC reports that a little-known radio station in Fort Collins might one day save the world An array of radio towers sits behind security fences amid farms and pastures north of Fort Collins. This is home to WWV, the country’s oldest radio call letters. The station’s high-frequency broadcasts […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, S. Thomas Bradley, who shares the following: I just upgraded my receiver from my trusty old FRG-7 (I bought it new back in the 70’s) to a Tecsun PL-880. For my own benefit I have gathered together all of the PL-880 hidden features I could find on the web […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rich Stahl (WR3V), who shares his frugal but effective mediumwave DXing setup: My MWBC directional reception on the cheap (see photo above): Tecsun PL-310ET $40.85 Tecsun AN200 loop $12.95 Walmart Lazy susan $7.95 Cardboard box -0- Total $61.75 Who says its an expensive hobby? Indeed! That’s a very basic, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Steve Lebkuecher, who shares this video which compares the speaker audio of the PL-990 and PL-680: Click here to view on YouTube. I would love to hear a comparison with the PL-880 since the PL-880’s audio is also superior to that of the PL-680.

(Source: NIST Blog via Eric McFadden) NIST Radio Station WWV Celebrates a Century of Service By Laura Ost What technological application has had musical, timekeeping, navigational, scientific, traffic-control, emergency-response, and telephone applications? Answer: WWV, one of the world’s oldest continuously operating radio stations. NIST received the call letters WWV a century ago, in 1919. Since then, […]

In response to Paolo’s recent post regarding Internet scams, SWLing Post contributor, 13dka replies: Sellers should be aware too: the same scammers have various schemes to scam sellers as well, and these fake ads play a role in those too, IIRC one popular variant is that the scammers try to buy your item, and offer […]

(Source: Deutsche Welle via David Iurescia) It served as a symbol of communist power and remains a remarkable landmark of the now reunited city: the Fernsehturm on Alexanderplatz was inaugurated on October 3, 1969. With its iconic glittering sphere, the TV Tower looks over the once divided city that has been reunited since 1990. The 365-meter-high […]

Encore – Classical Music on Shortwave – Broadcast on Sunday afternoon in Europe and USA with a repeat on Friday Encore – Classical Music this weekend is being broadcast as usual by Channel 292 (Europe) on 6070 kHz at 15:00 UTC Sunday 6th of October. And by WBCQ on 7490 kHz at 00:00 – 01:00 […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike (KA3JJZ), who writes: Have you ever heard of the SW Radiogram digital broadcasts? These are produced by Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott and started way back when as the VoA Radiogram. They are now carried on 2 other stations (WRMI and WINB) on a schedule (check every week for […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans, who notes that R&L’s price on the Icom IC-7300 transceiver is currently $948.89 with discounts and coupons. Click here to view this deal at R&L Electronics. Click here to read our review of the Icom IC-7300.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul, who shares the following story from the RTL-SDR.com blog: Last month we posted a collection of reviews about the MLA-30 which is a budget magnetic loop antenna designed for receiving HF signals. The overall consensus from the reviews was that it worked decently for the price, but of course could […]

(Source: ABC News via Michael Bird) To NASA personnel, he is VK5ZAI. To his neighbours at Pinks Beach, a small coastal town in South Australia, he goes by Tony. In his 30-year association with the US space agency, Tony Hutchison has been called upon to help in times of crisis, moderate calls between astronauts and […]

(Source: Trans World Radio via Marcus Keulertz) Due to changes to the media landscape and subsequent decline in demand for shortwave radio broadcasts in South Africa, TWR will be reducing our English morning broadcasts in the 49, 60 and 90 metre bands on October 27th – followed by a retirement of these broadcasts on December 31st. We […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marty, who shares a link to the following video (in Chinese) of the new Tecsun PL-990: Click here to view on YouTube.

I assume people who read this blog have so many things in common, one of them is a love for gadgets, especially radios and SDRs. To others, a radio is a radio, but not to us. We invest so much money and time to obtain and play and experiment with different tools and compare them. […]

Earlier this year I published what I called an “initial” review of the CommRadio CTX-10 QRP transceiver, promising an eventual final review. The reason for this is that I sensed there were important CTX-10 updates on the horizon, and I wanted to re-evaluate the rig once the upgrades had been implemented through firmware. This final […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul W4/VP9KF, who shares the following report from the UK’s National Hamfest: Your travelling foreign correspondent took in a visit to the UK’s National Hamfest held in Newark, Notts. We arrived right on opening time (10am) and were the first in the door. There was a ‘rush’ to the SDRPlay […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) Al Williams WD5GNR writes on Hackaday about bouncing amateur radio signals off the moon One of the great things about ham radio is that isn’t just one hobby. Some people like to chit chat, some like to work foreign countries, some prepare for emergencies, and there are several space-related activities. There are hundreds […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paolo Viappiani (SWL I1-11437), who shares the following guest post: Some Tips For Avoiding Internet Scams by Paolo Viappiani – SWL I1-11437 pviappiani@tin.it Recently, I have been amazed by the growing number of frauds that foul up the radio market on the Internet (I was scammed too), so I […]