The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who shares this article from Radio World. Here’s an excerpt: Headsets Deliver FM to Mobile Devices, No Chip or Internet Required [The BLACKLOUD SOUNDOT AF1] headsets are nothing like the ones you might remember from your first Sony Walkman. According to information provided by Blackloud, SounDots feature patented […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who shares this short video from BBC News: Click here to view via the BBC News website.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TheReportOfTheWeek, who writes: With every month, a few changes are made to the schedule of VORW Radio Int. The latest change is the resumption of broadcasts via WBCQ at 2100 UTC on 7490 kHz, targeting Eastern North America. Also, here is the full broadcast schedule, each show features some […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, The Professor, who shares the following review of the RFA200 external ferrite antenna: A Quick Review of the RFA200 The Professor I’ve considered saying something here about RFA200, as I bought one of these not long after its existence was announced on this blog a few months ago, but […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Moshe Ze’ev Zaharia, who submits the following videos of his reception of Radio Kuwait at 10:30 UTC on April 6, 2018 from his home in Israel. Moshe notes that the signal was of blowtorch strength and, for at least 45 minutes, there was an ever-present delay/echo. Moshe’s receiver is a […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Hansgen (K8RAT), for passing along this press release from SunSDR: The 3B7A Saint Brandon team is now active from Saint Brandon and we are exited! This is the first major DXpedition that will be using only SDR transcievers in its setup.[…] Using past experience from their successful FT4TA expedition […]

(Source: The VOA Museum via David Snyde) Museum Icon Passes Away The National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting mourns the loss of one of its major leaders and benefactors. Clyde Haehnle passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 8th. Over the years, this icon in the development of broadcasting technology, not only locally but nationally, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Richards (AA7EE), who writes: Thomas – I know you’ve posted before about the NBC chimes, so I thought you might be interested to know that CHRS, the California Historical Radio Society, has acquired one of 8 original NBC chime machines. They don’t think that more than a dozen […]

UPDATE: Many thanks to Mike Barraclough who notes that a report today is that this has been averted. Click here to read. (Source: Southgate ARC) Germany – up to 10 million people could be hit by threatened radio shut down The airwaves across many parts of Germany could fall silent next week due to a […]

Many thanks to Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD) who is one of our newest contributors at the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA). Bill approached me at the Winter SWL Fest this year noting that he has a wide variety of radio-related audio recordings to share with the SRAA and the SWLing Post. This week, Bill shared two fascinating […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kevin Turinsky, who writes: Just spotted a curious radio stack in an upcoming movie reviewed by The Economist: Take a look: “A Quiet Place” is high-concept horror at its best John Krasinski transforms a B-movie conceit into a smart, nerve-shredding film IN MOST cinemas, films are preceded by a […]

The SWLing Post Blog has recently featured a few posts on “Space Weather” & Geomagnetic Storms. As an amateur astronomer, I receive many daily space-related emails in my INBOX right along with the SWLing Post Daily Digest. I thought this might be of interest: From Spaceweather.com An unusually wide hole in the sun’s atmosphere is […]

Last month, on “Pi Day” (March 14, 2018) an upgraded Raspberry Pi 3 B was announced on the Raspberry Pi website. The new $35 B+ sports a few performance enhancements over the original–most notably: A 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU Dual-band 802.11ac wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.2 Faster Ethernet (Gigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0) […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Direwolf131, who recently commented on one of the Sangean ATS-909X reviews in the Post archives. Direwolf131 writes: I’m a few years after Steve’s comments but I will have a go at it, at least anecdotally speaking. I’ve owned a half dozen Sangean ATS-909’s, which includes two of the 909X’s, and […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) The Danish Shortwave Club International have made their Domestic Broadcasting Survey covering broadcasters up to 25.9 MHz available for free download The document is in three parts: Part 1 (page 3) covers the Tropical Bands Survey (TBS) and active clandestine stations Part 2 (page 7) covers the Domestic stations on international shortwave bands above […]

(Source: ARRL News via Mike Hansgen) In late March, Paul Kelley, N1BUG, of Milo, Maine, completed what may have been the first transatlantic 2200-meter contact by a US radio amateur under Amateur Radio rules. Signals in this part of the spectrum and lower previously have spanned the Atlantic in one direction, and Canadian radio amateurs […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, The Professor, who shares the following review of the XHDTA D-328: First off, this is the best radio I’ve ever operated… that cost me less than ten dollars new. When I saw the promotion on the SWLing Post for free or half price radios, I had to bite, especially […]

Good news for listeners in Europe: Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, a program of world music (including Americana), novelty and comedy songs which currently airs on WBCQ 7490 on Sundays, is adding a transmission for Europe effective May 1. This new transmission will air on Channel 292 Tuesdays from 2000-2030 UTC on 6070 Khz (right after […]

From the Isle of Music, April 8-14: April is Jazz Appreciation Month around the world, and we are going to celebrate by taking a look at some of the roots of modern Cuban Jazz in both Cuba and the United States. This week, we are going to dive into some of the epic Cuban Jam […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Aaron Kuhn, who shares the following guest post: XHDATA D-328 Radio Review by Aaron Kuhn Disclosure: This radio was supplied at a 99% discount by the manufacturer, costing me only $0.15. About Me I live in the Philadelphia Suburbs, where there’s ample FM Stations, good AM Coverage, and also […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) India to employ long wave radio technology Two towers, about three times the height of the Qutab Minar, are likely to be erected at as-yet-undecided locations in the country for disseminating Indian Standard Time. The National Physical Laboratory, an organisation charged with ensuring that Indian time stays accurate, has signed an agreement […]

I’m in the process of writing up a review of the C. Crane CCRadio-EP Pro, but a number of readers have been asking about how pronounced muting is between frequencies while band scanning. To be clear, the CCRadio-EP Pro is not a true analog set like the original CCRadio-EP (even though it looks like an […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ian P, who writes: Bob Padula noted some interesting information on his latest podcast–this was also played on last weeks episode of Wavescan. [In summary] the Shepparton site is still intact and on standby mode yet not staffed and is now Heritage Listed. The property is still for sale […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who follows up after his post last week about a possible SWL Net via the Yaesu WIRES-X network. Dave’s making the net a reality–here are the details: YAESU “WIRES-X” SWL – RX Net : Right now considering once a month on the FIRST Thursday at 7 […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tudor Vedeanu, who has kindly shared details about his portable Raspberry Pi system which now can run the AirSpy HF+ SDR. Tudor writes: I bought the RPi to use it as a Spyserver for my Airspy HF+ SDR. My main radio listening location is a small house located on a […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) Work the World with WSJT-X Video of the talk given by Professor Joe Taylor K1JT about the FT-8 and WSPR modes at the 2018 MicroHAMS Digital Conference on March 24 Budd Churchward WB7FHC writes: Dr. Joe Taylor, K1JT, author of many of the weak signal digital modes and co-author of the very popular FT-8 […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, 13dka, for the following guest post: A review of the XHDATA D-808 by 13dka After all the recent buzz about the new XHDATA D-808 I had to get one. I got mine 3 weeks ago and I couldn’t help comparing it a lot with my PL-660. The PL-660 lends […]

(Source: Southgate ARC via Kris Partridge) ‘Who can I trust to give me the real news?’ Where and how should American citizens access trustworthy news, how do journalists determine real from fake news, and how can the average citizen identify fake news and avoid accidentally promoting it through social media? These questions and more are of […]

(Source: WUNC’s The State of Things via Kim Elliott) During the Cold War, the U.S. Department of State sent jazz musicians around the world to sell the American way of life. This initiative took place in the 1950s, during segregation and the beginning of the civil rights movement. Jazz was gaining popularity on the international […]

(Source: ARRL via Eric McFadden, WD8RIF) Space Station’s Slow-Scan Television System to be Active in April The Amateur Radio Slow-Scan Television (SSTV) system on the International Space Station (ISS) is expected to be active in April on 145.800 MHz (FM). The Russian segment’s MAI 75 SSTV has announced transmissions on Monday, April 2, 1505 – […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who notes that NHK World Radio Japan has posted their A-18 Schedule (March 25 – October 28) for download. Click here to download a PDF copy.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who asks: How many of you Amateur Radio folks reading this web page have WIRES-X capability (either with a local node on your own or have access to it via a repeater) ?? I ask this as a possibility of a casual net of some kind […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard B, who shares a link to this article from The Guardian highlighting the amount and type of personal data Google and Facebook collect on their users. While some readers may not be surprised, this could still be eye-opening to some. The article includes sections highlighting the type of data […]

The folks at XHDATA have reached out to me with a deal for SWLing Post readers who live in the US and have an account with Amazon.com. They have just introduced an inexpensive portable radio, the XHDATA D-328, and are looking for new reviews on Amazon.com. The first ten SWLing Post readers to contact them […]

A lot of SWLing Post readers have been contacting me lately noting that they’ve received their Muzen OTR/Radio Caroline FM radio and Bluetooth speaker. Muzen started shipping the new OTR to their backers this week. I received my OTR yesterday and am completely in love with this little gem. Without a doubt, it’s one of […]

Many thanks to an SWLing Post contributor who shares the following FCC enforcement items: RADIO EQUIPMENT SEIZED FROM TWO ILLEGAL RADIO STATIONS IN BOSTON https://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2018/db0328/DOC-349973A1.pdf STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MICHAEL O’RIELLY ON ACTION AGAINST TWO BOSTON PIRATE RADIO “STATIONS” https://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2018/db0328/DOC-349972A1.pdf Notes: These news releases do not indicate whether the U.S. Marshals Service and FCC agents personally […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrew Yoder, who shares details about the upcoming Global HF Pirate Weekend: Next Global HF Weekend – March 30, 31, and April 1, 2018 The idea behind the Global HF Weekends are to promote friendship through radio around the world. The hope is that listeners will be able to hear […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Richards, who notes that Ozy Radio is now broadcasting on 4,835 kHz. Bill also shares the following recording: Click here to download.

Yesterday, I spent part of the better part of the day at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI): a place that has begun to feel like a home away from home. As you might imagine, radio astronomy observatories are places with very low levels of radio frequency interference. Since I had a few hours on […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) WWII role of the RSGB and Voluntary Interceptors A new RSGB web page highlights the role of Voluntary Interceptors in the Second World War and the crucial involvement of the Society At the outbreak of WWII in 1939 MI5 established a unit known as the Radio Security Service (RSS) to detect and […]

(Source: RadioWorld via Mike Hansgen) The station is now operating 24 hours seven days a week on AM NEAR COLCHESTER, England — Well into its second half-century of broadcasting, Radio Caroline has begun the next phase of its operations, returning to wide-area AM transmissions for the first time in nearly 30 years. Although by no […]

Dear Post readers: If you tried to contact me yesterday, you likely received a “Message not delivered” reply. After turning off our old web server yesterday morning, I discovered late in the day that our “MX” records (which route email) did not convey with the DNS settings. Our host updated the records and it seems […]

(Source: Radio World via Richard Langley) BBG Sets Itself a Series of Five-Year Goals Agency points to security, need to keep pace with changing media landscape The Broadcasting Board of Governors has a definite goal for the next five years — advance America’s national interests, work in tandem with the current administration’s national security strategies, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Hawkins, who writes: The Academy Award for Best Picture of 2018 goes to Guillermo de Toro’s “The Shape of Water.” This celebrated shortwave radio appears several times in the move as a prop for the Cold War-era control room of Richard Strickland (played by Michael Shannon). Oh what […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares the following update about his homebrew Backpack Shack 2.0 portable loop antenna: Quick Field update by Tom Lebryk This is just a quick Field Update for my Backpack Shack 2.0 antenna. It is not the most powerful antenna but in the right location it can be useful, especially […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley who shares the following item from Kim Elliott. Note that this news is dated February 22, 2018 (yes, it was lost in my drafts folder!): Broadcasting Board of Governors budget request includes plans for shortwave Kim Andrew Elliott 22 February 2018 The Broadcasting Board of Governors, consisting […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) Introducing CATSync – The new CAT tool for WebSDRs Oscar, DJ0MY, has developed a new software tool for radio amateurs and SWLs. CATSync allows the user to control public WebSDR receivers with a real rig connected via CAT. It supports the classical Web-SDR servers as well as the newer Kiwi SDR servers publically […]

Earlier this week, I took delivery of the latest radio from C. Crane: the CCRadio-EP Pro. C. Crane sent me an early production model for evaluation. Since posting an announcement last November, several SWLing Post readers have contacted me and asked if I would take a look at this next iteration of the venerable CCRadio-EP. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dennis Dura, who shares the following article from The Sydney Morning Herald (my comments follow): Australians like AM radio, but it’s just about impossible to find a good quality digital radio with AM. Lots of digitals get FM, so why no AM? It’s because Australia is an unusual market for radios. […]