The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter, who shares a link to the following video. As Dave notes, “A knowledge of Dutch would be an advantage but is not essential!” Click here to view on YouTube.

In 2013, I wrote the following feature for the Monitoring Times Magazine. Looking back, I realize that I never posted this article on the SWLing Post. Since we’re in the midst of the summer travel season here in the northern hemisphere, I thought I’d post this feature from five years ago. I’m also adding a […]

Once again, SWLing Post readers did an amazing job of capturing off-air clips of the BBC Midwinter broadcast to Antarctica! Thank you so much for submitting your recordings! I managed to listen to a bit of the broadcast myself in the parking lot of the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. I only […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill (WD9EQD), who writes: Shortwave Station WTWW is promoting Field Day with a special shortwave broadcast. From their Web Page: http://wtww.us/ Call in toll free at: 833-390-5085 Promote The Ham Radio Hobby To The Entire World On A Powerful International Shortwave Radio Station – WTWW BY Calling In From Your […]

If you live in North America and have an interest in becoming a ham radio operator, this is the weekend to check out what amateur radio is all about, and meet local radio enthusiasts. It’s Field Day! What is Field Day? I’ll quote from the ARRL, who sponsors the event: “ARRL Field Day is the […]

Every year, the BBC broadcasts a special program to the scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team. The BBC plays music requests and sends special messages to the small team of 40+ located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a DX-worthy catch! After […]

(Source: British Journal of Photography) David Titlow is Eyeballing 1970s Citizens Band Radio culture Before mobile phones and social medias, there was Citizens Band Radio – a now largely defunct technology whose culture has been unearthed by David Titlow. With the project going on show at PhotoEast festival from 24 May – 24 June, we […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares a recording he made of the Voice of Korea on June 14, 2018. This English broadcast focuses on the Singapore summit and is, no doubt, historic in its content. [Note that we’ve posted other recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.] TomL notes: Recorded on my […]

From the Isle of Music, June 24-30: This week, our special guest is Joaquín Betancourt, whose many roles in music in Cuba include the direction of Joaquín Betancourt y su Joven Jazz Band, a big band that is an important ensemble for young Jazzistas in Cuba. We interviewed him in the Conservatorio Amadeo Roldan in […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ulis Fleming (K3LU), who writes: I wanted to pass along some information regarding the NSS Annapolis radio station. Last year’s cards were sent out for Armed Forces day with one generic card with all the callsigns. This year the ops at NSS will be sending cards direct on their […]

Many of you might remember Allen Willie’s story from our SWLing Post “Listener Posts” collection. On Sunday, Allen shared the following note with his radio friends. He has kindly given me permission to post it here because, frankly, it’s a most impressive accomplishment from an amazing life-long radio listener: Fifty years ago today ( June 17, 1968 […]

Every year, the BBC broadcasts a special program to the scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team. The BBC plays music requests and sends special messages to the small team of 40+ located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a DX-worthy catch! After […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Hansgen, who shares a link to episode #146 of the excellent Radio Survivor Podcast: Inspired by an episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, we travel all the way to Antarctica to learn about mysterious community radio station, Ice Radio. Sadly, we learned of Anthony Bourdain’s death on the […]

(Source: NewsInEnglish.no via Mike Hansgen) Thousands of ordinary Norwegian citizens aren’t the only ones frustrated and dissatisfied after Norway’s forced transition to DAB radio. It meant shutting down FM radio, and now NATO may find itself in conflict with the civilian DAB frequencies it was granted for exercises in Norway. Norwegian politicians and authorities were […]

(Source: Radio World via Mike Hansgen) RANGITAIKI, New Zealand — Radio New Zealand Pacific, the official international arm of Radio New Zealand, is using Digital Radio Mondiale digital radio transmission/reception equipment to feed studio-quality audio to some of its 20 relay stations in the Pacific Ocean region. The others use satellite feeds or web downloads. The locations being […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Steven Crawford, who writes with the following inquiry: [I’m searching for] good quality USB powered battery chargers for AA and D size rechargeable batteries. Wall outlet chargers are common but quality USB powered battery chargers appear much less common…less common than the packable solar panels with USB ports such […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who spotted this fascinating account in The Mayo News: Michael Commins on his remarkable communication from inside North Korea THE Korean peninsula dominates world news coverage this week. […]Around 1988, after becoming engrossed in the hobby, I also bought the acclaimed Sony 2001D shortwave radio from Padraig […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Evandro Stanger, who writes: Good news. Grimeton Radio will be on air again on July, 1. See the link below: (Source: The Alexander Association) Grimeton Radio / SAQ Transmission on July 1st, 2018. The annual transmission on “Alexanderson Day” with the Alexanderson alternator on VLF 17.2 kHz with the call SAQ […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares the following guest post as a his Backpack Shack 3 evolves: Backpack Shack 3 – Part 2 by TomL Wanting MOAR options for my recent amplified whip antenna experiment, I decided to add a second antenna input to the kitchen cutting board (can I call it a “Breadboard”? […]

(Source: NPR via Eric McFadden) NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks to Brigitte Alepin, the creator of “Radio Dodo,” or Sleepytime Radio, a program that creates bedtime stories for Syrian refugees. Click here to read the full transcript or listen to the story via NPR.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce F, who writes: Here is a photo of a radio from the 2004 – 2009 TV series “Battlestar Galactica“. This radio is perhaps unique and worthy of careful study! Why? Because not only was it NOT MADE on Earth, but there is no connection in its design with […]

Many thanks to Thomas Cholakov (N1SPY) who shares the following video where he explains how radio receivers work and builds a radio receiver: Click here to view on YouTube. As always great video, Thomas! Keep up the good work!

(Source: BBC via Mike Barraclough) Paddy Feeny, the legendary voice of “Saturday Special” (now Sportsworld) for 36 years has sadly passed away aged 87 after a short illness. Paddy hosted the show from 1959 until his retirement back in 1995. BBC correspondent Mike Costello was a colleague of his, and remembers him with admiration as […]

From the Isle of Music, June 17-23: This week, we present some wonderful new Son Cubano from Septeto Santiaguero and Adalberto Álvarez y su Son, some recent TIMBA from JG and some Charanga from Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco. 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern […]

A few weeks ago, we posted an announcement that spectrum analyzer software was being developed for the SDRplay RSP software defined radio series. Many thanks to Andy, at SDRplay, who shares the following announcement: We are pleased to announce the availability of the first cut of Spectrum Analyser software developed by Steve Andrew specifically for […]

(Source: BBC Blog) BBC Monitoring is a specialist part of BBC News, part of the World Service group. We have experienced journalists and linguists who follow and track international media in foreign languages, in over 150 countries and about 100 languages. We monitor that information, we report and analyse it, and we work on a […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who writes: I recorded and edited clips from two Voice of Korea SW broadcasts in English at different times earlier today (UTC). The radio clock in this video is fairly accurate and is set to UTC. The VOK announcer reads a list of VOK English language broadcast times […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Srebnick (K2DLS), who notes that Whistler currently has a selection of refurbished scanners on sale with a manufacturer’s warranty including the new TRX-1 handheld: Click here to view the sale at Whistler. These are great prices! Thank for the tip, Dan!

In February 2013, Leo Sarkisian and his sweet wife, Mary, invited me to their home and studio in Maryland and I recorded what turned into a 3+ hour audio interview. Sitting with him, time seemed to disappear as I was absorbed by stories about his travels and experiences. He was so kind and gracious–he even […]

For the past week, I’ve been away from home spending time with my mother at the hospital while she recovers from a surgery. I’ve got a number of reviews and evaluations in the pipeline, but thankfully no shortwave or HF radios on the table this week (although the ELAD FDM-S3 and CommRadio CTX-10 are just […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, London Shortwave, for sharing the following Have Your Say review of Australian Broadcasting Services in the Asia Pacific: Review of Australian Broadcasting Services in the Asia Pacific – Terms of Reference The Government is undertaking a review of Australian media services in the Asia Pacific, including the role of […]

Last month, we posted a link to an article that explained why traders might use shortwave radio for high-speed, faster-than-optical-fiber communications. The article by Bob Van Valzah originally appeared on the blog, Sniper in Mahwah & Friends where they’ve just posted part two in the series: I have previously claimed that trading over shortwave radio is real […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, William Lee, who shares the following article from Radioinfo.com.au: Radio Tomorrow with James Cridland We believe that the days when all media will be distributed over the internet are not too far away.” Those are the words of the BBC’s Chief Technology and Product Officer, the very nice Matthew […]

(Source: Southgate ARC) Over-the-horizon communication on Mars ARRL highlights a post by The Space Weather Woman, Dr. Tamitha Skov, that notes the role amateur radio technology could play in over-the-horizon radio communications on Mars I am still smiling at the huge response I got to a post I put up on Twitter this week. A newbie […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce Fisher, who writes: I recorded this short piece of the soundtrack from the 3rd episode of the Picnic at Hanging Rock mini series– it’s being used as a part of the music to an eerie scene, and there is no telegraph or radio related visual corresponding to it. […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kim Elliott, who shares this brilliant article from The Paris Review: On The Radio, It’s Always Midnight By Seb Emina “Ultimately, we don’t belong in the world governed by time,” says Michael Cremo, a guest on KNWZ, a radio station in Palm Springs, California. “As beings of pure consciousness, […]

(Source: ABC News vi Kim Elliott) Parents of children in South Australia’s outback are calling for the state’s School of the Air to become independent so it has more control over how students learn. The school at Port Augusta in the state’s north has marked its 60th anniversary of delivering lessons to students in remote […]

From the Isle of Music, June 10-16: This week, we present some wonderful Cuban and Cuban-American Jazz recordings, most of them new. 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia and Oceania) with 100Kw, Sunday 1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, […]

(Source: The Guardian via Larry W) Insomniacs across the world give the nod to John Watson, who has ambient music producers queueing up to feature on his channel John Watson is the first to admit that his DJ skills put people to sleep. Luckily for him, that is the point. For the past four years […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Steven Crawford, who writes: Came across this article about a communications system that was a precursor to sat comms for the Air Force and thought it may be of interest to your followers. (Source: Abandoned Spaces) Equipped with up to 80 radio stations, this remnant of the Cold War […]

Many thanks to @experimradio who notes that Michael Pack has been nominated as CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and shares the following information links. Michael Pack’s nomination announcement via WhiteHouse.gov: NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE: Veronica Daigle, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense, vice Frederick Vollrath, resigned. Peter A. Feldman, […]

(Source: BBC Media Action) Our radio drama Life in Lulu which depicts the lives and trials of people living in a small village in South Sudan and its regular listeners include inmates at Tonj prison. Henning Goransson Sandberg, our Research Manager, talks about his visit there to understand what they took from the programme. The […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares the following guest post: Backpack Shack 3 – Amplified Whip Antenna by TomL So, having enjoyed using the Ferrite Sleeve Loop I created last year, I have wanted something a little more sensitive and less bulky. I will eventually create a much BIGGER FSL antenna on the order […]

(Source: BBC World Service via Julie M) For 75 years the BBC ran a monitoring service based in an English stately home. Its job was to listen to foreign broadcasts from all around the world. But in 2018 the BBC decided the building was no longer needed. David Sillito spoke to veterans of the monitoring […]

A number of SWLing Post readers have been asking about the status of the Titus II portable DRM/SDR radio. I’ve been checking the project website, but had not seen an update in a long time, so I contacted the company. Mike, with PantronX, kindly replied with the following update: As you might be aware, we […]

(Source: Star Tribune via Mike Hansgen) Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when from out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of … a sound effects man with a pair of coconut shells. Radio theater, which was killed off by television, is being resurrected on the air — and the […]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who writes: Here you have a new video from Radio Prague “A visit to Czech Radio”. Enjoy!!! Click here to view on YouTube.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ulis, who shares the screenshot above–from the FX series Archer–via Twitter and notes: Hats off to the artists of @archerfxx for their very detailed illustration of an aircraft #shortwave radio in the latest episode of Archer. Though only shown for a second it caught my eye! Bravo! @SWLingDotCom @swlbcl […]