The SWLing Post

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. […]

(Source: CNN Money via Cap Tux) Beijing has a new propaganda weapon: Voice of China China is creating a new giant broadcaster to ensure its voice is heard loud and clear around the world. Voice of China, as the new outlet will be known internationally, will be formed by combining three mammoth state-run national networks: […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who has recently posted his review of the AOR AR-DV1 digital voice receiver. As with many of Dave’s reviews, this evaluation takes a close look at HF and mediumwave performance which isn’t the AR-DV1’s strong suit. Dave notes: “[Though] not what the receiver was designed for, […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who writes: A vintage radio appeared briefly in one of my local charity shops. A little Googling turned up this video (part 1 of 2) showing an example in operation: Click here to view Part 1 on YouTube. Click here to view Part 2 on YouTube. Wow–thanks […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, William Lee, who writes: Upcoming full release of the 2017-2018 film “A quiet place” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Quiet_Place_%28film%29 and https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6644200/ It has some pictures in a local film-publicity magazine, one of which is Emily Blunt in front of a whole collection of old professional radios. See some images can be found here. […]

(Source: Radio World via Mike Hansgen) The author [Dr. Simon Keens] is head of sales and marketing for the Ampegon Group. TURGI, SWITZERLAND — There are many innovative ways the industry can use shortwave broadcasting to provide secure data transmission and high-speed communications. The modern world increasingly requires available real-time secure communications between centralized locations […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Colin Newell of DXer.ca who shares part one of his review of the CC Skywave SSB. Colin’s review is nothing short of glowing and he obviously has a first production unit that isn’t plagued with the DSP noises five of my review units had. As I stated in my […]

(Source: Riverhead Local via Mike Hansgen) A house on the bluffs at Camp DeWolfe in Wading River, covertly used as an FBI radio transmission station during World War II to gather military intelligence, has been added to the state and national registers of historic places. FBI radio operators impersonating German agents used the Wading River […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who shares information about the new flagship handheld scanner from Uniden: the SDS100. Here are the details from Uniden’s press release: SDS100 Coming Soon Uniden creates another first with the SDS100 True I/Q Scanner, the first scanner to incorporate Software Defined Radio technology to provide incredible […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Hansgen (K8RAT), who shares the following film by RKO Radio Pictures via YouTube. Click here to watch on YouTube. Here’s the film description: Made during WWII by RKO Radio Pictures, AIR WAVES gives a brief history of the radio, and shows the development of the technology as it progressed […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) David, AA6YQ, author of DXLab – ‘Better DXing Through (Free) Software’, posted the following: ‘Jupiter Research Foundation Amateur Radio Club (JRFARC) has integrated an HF transceiver with an autonomous ocean-going drone. Our mission is to deploy a ham radio station that roams the world’s oceans while providing an opportunity for amateur radio […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Hansgen, who shares the following documentary film about the evolution of broadcast radio. This film was actually created for a senior thesis presentation at St. Michael’s College. The film “includes interviews from BBC World Tonight & Joe Reilly (Former President NYS Broadcasters Assn), Empire Broadcasting The Jockey, Clear Channel, […]

(Source: The Telegraph via Mike Hansgen) BBC to keep broadcasting on FM For years fans of wireless radios have campaigned to stop the apparently inevitable march of progress as Britain prepares to switch off its crackling analogue signal and become totally digital. But now, the BBC will announce that it has shelved plans to force […]

At the Winter SWL Fest this year, we had an open forum hosted by Skip Arey and Dan Robinson called “Shortwave Memories” where SWLs were invited to speak about what shortwave radio has meant to them throughout their lives. I was a fantastic session chock full of nostalgia. I was asked to speak and started […]

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 It’s still a couple weeks away, so be sure to mark the next Global HF Pirate Weekend on your calendar. The idea behind the Global HF […]

(Source: NPR) The “substantial doubt” that iHeartMedia’s corporate leaders expressed around the company’s likelihood of surviving another year, mentioned in its quarterly financial report last November, has been put to rest. iHeartMedia, the country’s largest radio broadcaster with around 850 stations and a leading outdoor advertising company, is filing for bankruptcy after spending years trying […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul McDonough, who notes that CountyComm is once again offering $20 off the price of their GP5-SSB this weekend: Click here to view the sale at CountyComm. Click here to read out review of the GP5-SSB.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who notes that he discovered, “some radio equipment in the latest episode of The Walking Dead series”: Can anyone ID the rigs above? Please comment! I’ll add this post to our ever growing archive of radios in film.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Hansgen (K8RAT), who shares the following “Modern Marvels” documentary on the history of radio: Click here to view on YouTube.

The past three weeks have been exceptionally busy. Not only did I log about 1,500 miles on a trip to DC and Philadelphia for a most excellent Winter SWL Fest, but the Winter Fest this year truly lived up to its name, and managed to carry on during a snowstorm and ensuing widespread power outage that […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following announcement from NHK WORLD: Expansion under a new brand – NHK WORLD-JAPAN Launches in April – NHK WORLD, the international broadcasting service of NHK, makes a fresh start as NHK WORLD-JAPAN in April. The new name is intended to establish wider global recognition […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia, who shares this announcement by Radio Romania International which contains their 2018 Summer Broadcast schedule effective March 25, 2018:

(Source: Radio World via Bill Patalon) GatesAir is suspending the sale of new AM transmitters. When a prominent radio engineer passed along word to Radio World that he’d sought a quote from the manufacturer on a new transmitter but was told the company had discontinued the model and was assessing its AM line, we sought […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Adams (W9LBB), who left the following comment on our Tecsun PL-880 review: Just a note re. kudos to Anon-co re. customer support. I got a PL880 late last year, and LOVED it; so much so that I ordered a second one, the “special edition” version, both radios from Anon-co. […]