The SWLing Post

(Source: Southgate ARC) FCC fines Amateur Radio licensee $25,000 for operating unlicensed FM station ARRL reports in an FCC Enforcement Bureau case going back to early 2015, a Paterson, New Jersey, Amateur Radio licensee has been penalized in the amount of $25,000 for allegedly continuing to operate an unlicensed FM radio station The FCC issued […]

(Source: Radio Romania International via David Iurescia) On November 1, Radio Romania celebrates 90 years since a first broadcast was aired in Romania. Since then, the institution has constantly coped with the challenges of a changing world. A decade after WWI, when all the territories with a predominantly Romanian speaking population that had been under the […]

From the Isle of Music, November 4-10, 2018: This week, our special guest is Alberto Lescay, leader of FORMAS, whose excellent Afro NuJazz album Escape won the Opera Prima (Best New Artist) category of Cubadisco 2018 and was also nominated in Jazz Fusion and Recording. This is an episode that you should not miss. The […]

Halloween is typically the most active day of the year for shortwave pirates. Halloween falls on Wednesday, October 31st, and although this is the middle of the week, expect pirates to emerge like The Great Pumpkin! Here are three things you’ll want to do Halloween night: 1. Hobby Broadcasting Blog Check out Andrew Yoder’s pirate radio […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who writes with an update to our previous post regarding the Radio Exterior de España shortwave expansion: Listening to [Monday] night’s recording, I note that during the English program, they mentioned that the foreign language programs in English, Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Sephardic (Ladino or Judeo-Spanish, I […]

Many thanks to Stephen Cass for the interview and excellent piece about the Radio Spectrum Archive in the IEEE Spectrum magazine: Building a Time Machine for Radio The Radio Spectrum Archive will let you listen to old broadcasts as if they were live Stephen Cass Thomas Witherspoon is building a time machine, of sorts. With it, you’ll be […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce Atchison (VE6XTC), who shares the following notes from a DXpedition over 30 years years ago. Bruce writes, “While going through some old blog posts, I found this one about a DXpedition I took in 1984.” HUNTING FOR RARE GAME. In past posts, I’ve mentioned my passion for radio. It […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who writes: While listening to my recording of yesterday’s Unique Radio broadcast over WINB, I noticed that the Radio Hobart International segment featured the second of a three-part interval signals special. Brought back many nice memories of long-gone shortwave stations. All three segments in studio quality can […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lennart Weirell, who writes: The posting about Mark’s shortwave recording of Radio Tahiti brings back memories from the 80s. In 1982 I visited Tahiti with my family during a holiday from Malaysia, where I was working at that time, and could listen to Radio Tahiti locally. Back in Malaysia I […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Pettifor, who writes: One of the great things about DXing and SWLing is the variety of music one can hear. One of my favorite stations to listen to on shortwave for “exotic music” was Radio Tahiti, Papeete, French Polynesia, when they were still on shortwave. If my memory serves […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) Daring spies who broadcast from behind enemy lines An ITV News report says: Owning just one of them in World War Two carried the death penalty, but Ian Keyser, G3ROO has more than a dozen – ensuring a piece of secret history is brought out into the open. So what are they? They are, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Rich Cuff and Mike Hansgen who share the following Op Ed piece from the Sydney Morning Herald: Warning: put down any power tools and ensure you’re not operating heavy machinery before you read the next sentence. We’ve been outflanked! Of course, unless you’re completely benighted or under some sort […]

(Source: Southgate ARC via Eric McFadden) Channel292 tests The Amateur owned and run AM Short-wave broadcast station CHANNEL292 will be starting testing on their new 41 metre broadcast band frequency of 7440 kHz from this weekend onwards. Rainer Ebeling DB8QC who owns and operates the station from near Ingolstadt in the state of Bavaria in southern Germany would […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood (K7UO), who I just listened to REE’s 30-minute English broadcast for this Friday with Alison Hughes and Justin Coe…! (REE is relayed on Hispasat so audio quality is superb.) Big news! Engliish is coming back to shortwave starting 29 October along with the other foreign languages.. The […]

Tuesday night, I attended a local radio club meeting with buddy Vlado (N3CZ). Neither of us had ever attended this particular club, although we both knew a number of the members. What was the first thing I spotted when I entered the meeting room? A pristine Zenith Model R-7000-2 Trans-Oceanic! Talk about a good omen! Turns […]

(Source: ARRL News) Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has scheduled a slow-scan television (SSTV) event to begin on Saturday, October 27, at about 1000 UTC. NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Department will support the event. SCaN manages NASA’s three most important communications networks — The Space Network (SN), Near-Earth Network (NEN), […]

(Source: Vatican Radio via Mike Hansgen) Shortwave Frequency Changes for the English Africa Service starting on 28 October 2018 to March/April 2019 Daylight saving time in Rome We wish to inform listeners that with the end of Daylight Saving Time in Rome on Sunday 28th October, there will be changes in the time and broadcast […]

(Source: RadioWorld via Bill Patalon) On AM revitalization, Peter Tannenwald asks, Are we really “revitalizing” AM, or are we walking around in circles? Late on Friday, October 5, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in a five-year ongoing effort to “revitalize” the AM radio broadcast service. The new […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed (K4CWM), who notes that Radio Exterior de España have announced they’re expanding their shortwave broadcast schedule. Ed has kindly translated the press release into English (click here to read the original in Spanish): Radio Exterior de España to increase its short wave broadcast schedule Radio Exterior de España, the international […]

Yesterday, a friend asked about tips for finding local radio stations throughout the US. His goal was to identify stations that he could then load into his WiFi radio and stream from abroad. Of course there are always online radio station aggregators like TuneIn, but often you either need to know the station ID or […]

From the Isle of Music, October 28-November 3: No interviews this week, rather we feature music from Libre de Pecado by Beatriz Márquez, which won the Gran Premio, Cancionistica and Grabación categories of Cubadisco 2018 plus music from Liuba Maríá Hevia, who was awarded a Premio Especial Extraordinario in Cubadisco 2018. The transmissions take place: […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Cap Tux, who shared a link to the following video on YouTube. This short video is brilliant and will be the reference I use when people ask about the intersection of radio and amateur astronomy: Click here to view on YouTube. Amateur astronomer Scott Tilley made international headlines when […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete (WB9FLW), who shares the following information regarding HobbyPCB’s much-anticipated portable transceiver which is now shipping. The price is a competitive $529.00. The following information comes from the HobbyPCB website: The IQ32 is 5W output, 80-10M Amateur Radio transceiver with powerful 32 bit processing providing high-end features at an […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce Atchison, who shares the following in response to our recent post about musician Holger Czukay: I love Holger Czukay’s music, especially with CAN. I especially love the song, “Animal Waves.” I also incorporated shortwave sounds in my own music. Here are video links to my YouTube page which […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who writes: Jakob the Liar (1999) A radio receiver plays a main role here next to Robin Williams in a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland in the second world war. Here I added three additional photos about the radios from the last year when we visited the Kraków […]

Earlier this year, I posted a review of the CC Skywave SSB: C. Crane’s latest ultra-compact travel AM/FM/WX/AIR/shortwave radio. If you’ve been following this little radio, you might remember that early first production models had issues—indeed, all six production units I tested had issues–that prevented me from releasing my full review before the end of 2017. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric McFadden (WD8RIF) who shares the following story from The Planetary Society: Earlier this week, on October 10, radio amateurs all around the world worked together to get the Chinese Longjiang-2 spacecraft to take an image of the Earth and the far side of the Moon. Radio commands were […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lilian Putina, who shares the following message from NHK World-Japan: Dear Listeners of NHK WORLD-JAPAN Radio services, Thank you very much for listening to NHK WORLD-JAPAN Radio services. We are writing to notify you that the NHK WORLD-JAPAN e-mail address (nhkworld@nhk.jp) will be unavailable from October 20. Replies to this […]

In the past few months, I’ve received a number of questions from our readers in the United States regarding the potential for radio prices to increase. Why could prices increase? Keeping in mind, I’m no expert in this field (seriously–!) I understand there are at least three factors that could influence prices: China As of […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Scott Gamble and Bill Mead who both share the following story via the CBC News: Joseph Hovsepian says he is part of the last generation that knows how to repair electronics Joseph Hovsepian has been repairing? radios for so long that he claims that he can sometimes smell the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Stefano Mollo (VK6WFM), who writes: I have been lately experimenting with DRM 30, with the aim of coming up with a cheap solution to get on air for next to no $$$, for small, local broadcasters that would either go pirate on FM or would not go at all due […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ivan (NO2CW), who writes: If anyone is interested in monitoring aircraft communications across HF, VHF and UHF, Thomas, N1SPY put together a demo video of what you can hear and how: Click here to view on YouTube. Brilliant instructional video, Tommy! Like you, I love both radio and aviation […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter, who notes: Pleased to let you know that Woofferton Transmitting Station celebrated 75 years of continuous operation yesterday 17th October 2018. It is now run by Encompass Digital Media to give it its full name! Woofferton has certainly experienced and propagated a lot of world history! Thank […]

(Source: Radio Romania International via David Iurescia) Dear friends, on Sunday, November 4th 2018 we invite you to Listener’s Day on Radio Romania International, to tell us about the role of radio in your life On November 1st, 2018, we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the first official radio broadcast in Romania. We are celebrating 90 […]

(Source: New Zealand History via Andrea Borgnino) First trans-global radio transmission to London From the family sheep station in Shag Valley, East Otago, amateur radio operator Frank Bell sent a groundbreaking Morse code transmission received and replied to by London-based amateur operator Cecil Goyder. Frank and his older sister Brenda were radio pioneers. Invalided home from […]

(Source: Tom Taylor Now) The FCC’s busting more pirates in smaller markets. True, the Dallas office issues two Notices of Unlicensed Operation for an 87.9 in Houston, run out of New Beginnings Fellowship Church. But agents from Dallas also found a pirate FM at 93.5 up in the smallish Texas Panhandle town of Amarillo. (That […]

From the Isle of Music, October 21-27: Our special guest this week is Samuel Formell, leader of the legendary Los Van Van, whose new album Legado won a Special Prize in Cubadisco 2018.. The transmissions take place: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Hughes, who notes that Tecsun Radios Australia have announced a new DRM stand-alone receiver: the Q-3061. When I first received Alan’s tip, I was surprised that I had not been been given some advance notice or even a hint about Tecsun developing and producing a DRM radio. Then I saw […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) After recently being demonstrated at the Tokyo Hamfair, we are pleased to announce that the new RS-R30I (for iOS)/RS-R30A (for Android) remote control software for the IC-R30 Communications Receiver is now available to download for FREE from the App Store and Google Play. The RS-R30I and the RS-R30A enable you to wirelessly connect to […]

Thanks to all of you for indulging me yesterday as I tried to decide whether or not I should keep my beloved TRS-80 Tandy Color Computer 2 (CoCo 2). I conducted a survey asking this very question. As of this morning, 158 readers responded to the survey, 81.4% replied (rather, shouted) “Keep it!”: And so […]

Many thanks to Ken Reitz (KS4ZR) who reminds us that the School Club Roundup started today: [T]his is it! The start of the fall term SCR is today. Challenge yourself to work as many school clubs as possible and see if you don’t feel optimistic about the future of amateur radio. Here are the SCR rules: http://www.arrl.org/school-club-roundup […]

[Click here to read the follow-up to this post.] We radio enthusiasts are a nostalgic bunch. Let’s just admit that and get it out of the way. I’ve always found it difficult to let go of vintage radios, but over the past three years I have. I used to have well over a dozen boat […]

I was just chatting with my buddy Dave Cripe (NM0S) who recently snagged a cool Soviet-era vintage portable radio at ShopGoodwill.com. It’s a beauty: I’ve always been fascinated with Soviet and Eastern European designs from the 60s, 70s and 80s, but I’ll be the first to admit that I know little-to-nothing about them. I’m curious […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and resident shortwave music specialist, Justin Moore, for sharing the following from his blog, Sothis Medias: Holger Czukay was another musician who was fascinated with the sounds of shortwave listening. He brought his love of radio and communications technology on board with him when he helped to found the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Stan (WA1LOU), who writes: Besides being a radio aficionado, I also dabble in philately and subscribe to a couple of stamp magazines. The cover of the October 15 issue of Linn’s Stamp News caught my eye displaying a QSL card from Swan Island (HR6SWA) (see attached). As it turns out, […]

(Source: Fortune via Mark Fahey) Switzerland Is Doing Away With Over-the-Air TV. Could the U.S. Do the Same? Rabbit ears and other TV antennas could be useless in Switzerland before too long. The Swiss government has given the country’s public broadcaster approval to turn off its digital terrestrial TV (known as over-the-air to most people) […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Christian, who writes: Hi Thomas. Amazon have dropped the price of the Field BT once again. This time to $79.00 shipped! This is the lowest price I’ve ever seen for this model. I already have one now but thought I’d “share the love.” This is Amazon, so who knows how long […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave (NM0S), who left the following comment on our previous post regarding wireless electric transmission: This company [Viziv] had been known as Texzon until recently, and must have apparently had a recent change of name. Their main published paper is found here: Click here to download PDF. Basically they […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Michael Taniwha, who shares the following story from KWTX (my comments follow the article excerpt): CARL’S CORNER, Texas (KWTX) An oddly shaped, but prominent, roadside construction project along Interstate 35-East just north of Carl’s Corner is actually a high-tech study into the feasibility of transmitting electricity from place to place without […]

(Source: BBC News) BBC World Service announces biggest expansion ‘since the 1940s’ The BBC World Service will launch 11 new language services as part of its biggest expansion “since the 1940s”, the corporation has announced. The expansion is a result of the funding boost announced by the UK government last year. The new languages will […]