The SWLing Post

(Source: Deutsche Welle via Mike Hansgen) Beethoven on the air: the DW signature tune When Deutsche Welle went on the air 65 years ago, the broadcaster opted for a melody from “Fidelio” for its signature tune. Ludwig van Beethoven’s opera is about an act of liberation. A political prisoner is starved and nearly tortured to […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who writes: I put up a couple of videos on my “Willow Slough DX” YouTube channel nine hours ago that may rate at least an Arte Johnson (Laugh-in) “verrry interestink”. These are two videos of the North Korean shortwave station Voice of Korea operating with their new time […]

(Source: The Independent via Mike Hansgen) Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s press regulator on Friday said it was suspending broadcasts by the BBC and Voice of America (VOA) by local radio stations ahead of a constitutional referendum on May 17. The head of Burundi’s National Communications Council told journalists in the capital Bujumbura that […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares a rare Eddystone 40A find on eBay. Dan notes: What is interesting also about this is the similarity to the Drake SW8 — notably the carrying handle. 40A s are rarely seen on the used market, and in line with other older Eddystone equipment, they […]

Today is popularly known as Star Wars Day––and I’m reminded of one of my favorite posts, featuring Star Wars sound designer, Ben Burtt, who to my surprise, contacted me to answer a question I published here on the SWLing Post. Once again, here it is. Enjoy! And “May the fourth be with you!” SWLing Post readers […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary DeBock, who shares the following notes from his Cook Islands Ultralight DXpedition: Checking out transoceanic DX propagation at an exotic ocean beach site can provide the hobby thrill of a lifetime– if a DXer is lucky enough to choose the ideal time, place and gear to make the […]

In response to the spaceweather.com article about a lack of sunspots I posted yesterday, SWLing Post contributor, Rob Wagner (VK3BVW), replies: Oh Thomas! Really? It’s not all doom-and-gloom, you know! The low-frequency part of the SW spectrum is proving very good value at the moment. And the mediumwave guys are telling me that there’s plenty […]

From the Isle of Music, May 6-12: This week, musicologist and producer Gretel Garlobo helps us explore Trovuntivitis, a contagious musical movement that broke out in Villa Clara province Then, we listen to some excellent Afrocuban Fusion from Los Hermanos Arango. Four opportunities to listen on shortwave: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond […]

Unfortunately, this is not news to brighten your day. According to Spaceweather.com, sunspots are disappearing faster than expected: Sunspots are becoming scarce. Very scarce. So far in 2018 the sun has been blank almost 60% of the time, with whole weeks going by without sunspots. Today’s sun, shown here in an image [above] from NASA’s […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) Antique Wireless Association Valve QSO Party The AWA Valve QSO Party is a phone contest held over two sessions on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 May 2018. On Saturday afternoon the AM session will be on the air from 13:00 to 17:00 UTC and on Sunday the SSB session will run from 13:00 to […]

SWLing Post contributor, Matt, writes: Thomas: I know you’re a self-proclaimed pack geek and so am I! You published a photo of your EDC pouch in a post last year. Just a teaser really! What is that pouch and I assume you have a larger carry bag as well? Can you provide more details? I’m ever […]

With North Korea in the global spotlight, I’ve been making every effort to listen to the Voice of Korea on shortwave. Unfortunately, from here on the east coast of North America, conditions have simply not been in my favor. Fortunately, a couple of SWLing Post and SRAA contributors have had my back. Yesterday, Richard Langley, uploaded […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Brian (W9IND), who shares the following announcement regarding the next Armed Forces Day Crossband Test: The Army Military Auxiliary Radio System will host this year’s Armed Forces Day Crossband Test, scheduled for May 12, 2018. This annual event is open to all radio operators, and will not impact any […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary DeBock, who shares the following note about his recent Cook Island DXpedition: The farthest DX received during the Cook Island DXpedition (on Aitutaki island) was 657-All India Radio in Kolkata, India, at 8,072 miles (12,991 km). Recorded by accident during a sunrise check of the Korean big guns at […]

This is an amazing video – hand-made vacuum tubes! About 17 minutes long – well worth the watching if you have any interest at all in old equipment! You can find the video here Enjoy! Robert Gulley, AK3Q, is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Robert also blogs at All […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alexender (DL4NO), who shares the following comment in response to our recent post about LED bulb QRM: The DARC does even more: It is planning a long-term project with some 50 automatic monitoring stations with standardized, calibrated antennas and according to standardized methods to document the changes. Every monitoring […]

(Source: DailyNK via Andrea Borgnino) North Koreans continue to seek out foreign radio despite crackdown Police in North Korea have recently focused their attention on cracking down on listeners of South Korean radio broadcasts in another sign of the government’s dual-approach to warming ties with the South, according to a source inside the country. Speaking […]

(Source: RTL-SDR.com) Nexmon SDR: Using the WiFi chip on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ as a TX capable SDR Back in March of this year we posted about Nexmon SDR which is code that you can use to turn a Broadcom BCM4339 802.11ac WiFi chip into a TX capable SDR that is capable of transmitting any arbitrary signal from IQ data within […]

(Source: Southgate ARC via Mike Hansgen) LED Bulb RF Pollution – Elektor Magazine investigates DARC, the German national amateur radio society, are requesting amateurs to send LED bulbs which pollute the RF spectrum to the magazine Elektor for investigation A Google English translation reads: Elektor-Verlag GmbH calls all readers and especially all radio amateurs to send non-compliant […]

This was posted today in Radio World: Bills head to Senate accompanied by applause from stakeholders The House has unanimously passed the Music Modernization Act, a compromise bill that creates a framework for better compensating artists for digital plays of their music and making it easier for music rights organizations to collect those fees from […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, @UlisK3LU, who notes that New Jersey pirate radio station operator, Winston Tulloch (KC2ALN), has been fined $25,000 for operating an unlicensed station on 90.9 MHz FM. According to the FCC, the hefty penalty comes after after multiple requests to halt broadcasting starting in February 2015. The station was finally taken […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Thomas Cholakov (N1SPY), who shares his latest video explaining the operation of a simple homebrew AM loop antenna: Click here to view on YouTube. Brilliant video, Thomas! I love the fact you included a demonstration with your SDRplay RSP1A as well. Via the spectrum display, it’s easy to see the […]

From the Isle of Music, April 29-May 5: International Jazz Day is April 30, and this year the official concert site is St. Petersburg, Russia, but in 2017, Havana was the official concert site, and this week we listen to some of that 2017 concert. Four opportunities to listen on shortwave: 1. For Eastern Europe […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who writes: [Found this radio on] Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 05 Episode 03 (on a spaceship in the future): Great catch, Balázs! Can anyone name this modern ham radio transceiver? Please comment! I’ll add this post to our growing archive of radios in film.

(Source: Southgate ARC) Possible ISS SSTV on Wednesday The latest ARISS schedule notes that the 145.800 MHz FM Slow Scan Television on the International Space Station may be tested on April 25 The callsign to be used will be RS0ISS and the SSTV test will be with Kursk in Russia and is expected to start […]

(Source: Columbia Journalism Review) ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2017—the day before Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico—the evening news team at WORA-TV in the coastal city of Mayagüez broadcast its final program before shutting down the station ahead of the storm. “If Maria was going to be the monster everyone was predicting,” says Carolina Rodriguez […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary (W4EEY), who writes: I want to recommend an excellent presentation on RF Interference from the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) Convention in 2015. The presenter is Ian White, GM3SEK, who has a Blog website here: https://gm3sek.com/ You can find the presentation video on YouTube here: Click here to […]

(Source: ABC11.com via Mike Hansgen) The distinct Art Deco style clearly defines the WPTF radio station as a 1940’s classic. With rounded windows and curved edges, the building looks tiny on the outside, but cuts deep underground into a shelter that allowed announcers to broadcast through wars and hurricanes. Today, it’s hidden behind tall shrubs, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Moshe, for sharing the following video: I uploaded this video I made in a rush, holding our baby in one hand and my smartphone in the other one… The receiver is my Ben-Gal Verdi. I caught the station by accident, while tuning to VOA 15580kHz to listen to Boarder […]

I get just as excited as my kids when I receive any communications from the International Space Station. This past week, we fit an ARISS contact fit into our hectic schedule during lunch break. I gave both of my kids a handheld radio and we all listened together as the ISS passed overhead. Right on schedule, we […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric McFadden, for sharing the following announcement for International Marconi Day. Eric states, “I love the presentation of this invitation!” Me too, Eric!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, The Professor, who shares the following guest post: A 1960s Signal Sniffer by The Professor I just recently purchased a radio that on eBay that looks very intriguing, especially if you happen to DX AM Radio. It’s a mid-60s portable made in Japan – a Nova Tech Pilot II […]

I’ve been helping a friend’s daughter study for her Technician Amateur Radio License. Besides my tutoring, she’s only been studying with a free phone app thus far and essentially learning the answers to the questions. I know she really needs a book that can provide context for each question. Since there was no need to […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN), for sharing the following guest post: TYT Frequency Counter/Tone Meter Review by Mario Filippi (N2HUN) All photos courtesy of author Most hobbyists own some type of transceiver whether it is a handheld, mobile, or base station. Some examples are amateur radio HF/VHF/UHF transceivers, Citizen’s Band radios, FRS […]

(Source: Global Voices via Mike Hansgen) How RootIO Broadcasts Radio in Uganda Using a Bucket The open-source toolkit allows users to broadcast using just a smartphone and a transmitter Radio is still and continues to be a powerful medium across most of the African continent. Not only is radio used to share community information but […]

From the Isle of Music, April 22-28: Our celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month continues with special guest Michel Herrera, an important young saxophonist/composer/bandleader/producer, who will converse with us about his newest recording and the newest generation of Jazz musicians in Cuba. We will also listen to some of his excellent music. Four opportunities to listen […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary DeBock, who shares the following notes from his Cook Islands Ultralight DXpedition: Cook Islands (Aitutaki) Ultralight DXpedition from April 8-13 A gorgeous environment, with thrilling long range DX! Ruth and I took this trip as the 38th anniversary of out first meeting at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong […]

On April 18, consider setting your scanner or handheld VHF radio to 145.80 MHz around 15:57 UTC; you may be able to hear the downlink from the International Space Station. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact will be between between NA1SS (on the ISS) and KD2IFR at a school in Central Islip, NY. […]

(Source: Futurity) Radio receiver ‘listens’ for dark matter particles Researchers have developed a way to “listen” for the signs of dark matter axions, the particles that may make up dark matter. Forty years ago, scientists theorized a new kind of low-mass particle that could solve one of the enduring mysteries of nature: what dark matter […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following news from Radio Slovakia International: RSI addressed by President On Thursday, RSI celebrated 25 years of its existence at a special event. Besides welcoming the newly appointed Culture Minister ?ubica Laššáková, the Education Minister Martina Lubyová, the US Ambassador Adam Sterling, the Russian […]

Without a doubt, C. Crane Company has become an established name in our radio community as a retailer and manufacturer that focuses on the world of broadcast listening. The company’s ads, website, and blog all promote broadcast listening as a viable and important part of our evolving media landscape. Their radio products are all designed […]

(Source: Chicago Tribune) Art Bell, a radio host best known for a paranormal-themed nightly show syndicated on hundreds of stations in the 1990s, died at his home in southern Nevada, authorities said Saturday. Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly announced in a Facebook video that Bell died Friday in Pahrump. He was 72. An autopsy will […]

Last week, I picked up the first season DVDs for the TV science fiction series “V” at our local library. I somehow missed this series when it was first produced in 2009–however, I do remember clearly the original 1984 series. In the second half of the first season, a small group of resistance fighters created […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) The ESA just discovered a second magnetic field surrounding our planet A trio of satellites studying our planet’s magnetic field have shown details of the steady swell of a magnetic field produced by the ocean’s tides. Four years of data collected by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Swarm mission have contributed to […]

SWLing Post readers: check out this amazing audio documentary by our friend David Goren about the legendary hip hop pirate radio station WBAD. It’s part of a new series from KCRW called Lost Notes. David shares the following note: “Endless thanks to DJ Cintronics, and Dren Starr for sharing their stories. Thanks also to Myke […]

Recently, there have been numerous articles regarding FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s efforts to increase pirate radio enforcement. This article in The Outline is a worthy read and features our good friend David Goren prominently: The FCC wants pirate radio stations off the air Immigrant communities rely on these unlicensed broadcasts to stay connected to their roots. Now […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Hansgen (K8RAT), for sharing the latest forecast from Tamitha Skov: Click here to view on YouTube.