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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Jernakoff, who writes:
Last Saturday evening, I was cruising through the SW bands and came across music and talk on 2640 kHz, a rather odd (I would think) frequency on which to find such a broadcast format.
The music was of the soft pop variety (for example “Vou de Taxi” by Angelica; “A Time For Us – Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet” by Jack Jones; “A Lua E Eu” by Cassiano), and it sounded to my ears that the on-air talent (male) was speaking (between songs) either in Portuguese or in a Brazilian dialect of said language.
I have attached an audio clip of this broadcast [see below] which begins at 0158 UTC (on 26-March-2023). The recording is a little over 13-minutes long and ends when the signal abruptly leaves the air.
Note that there is a seeming mention in the recording of the words ‘Brazil’ and ‘Brasilia’ at the 4:40 and 5:03 time points, respectively. I have no clue where this signal originated, and I’m hoping that you or one of your many readers might be able to help ID this one. As far as I’m aware, there is no station that broadcasts on this frequency at least with this kind of programming. The signal seemed too strong to be a harmonic of a station broadcasting on, say, 1320 kHz. Perhaps a pirate? A mystery to me…
Thanks for sharing this recording, Pete!
If you can help Pete ID this mystery recording, please comment!
Ralph notes that, “DXing directly influenced my seeking an international life” and thus fueled his passion to write novel about traveling and exploring local scenes throughout Asia and the Pacific.
Pacific Dash isn’t a novel about DXing, rather, “a fictional first-person account of Dash Bonaventure, a young 1960s American whose life journey drags him across Asia.”
Please note that the following post was originally published on Tales of the Orient and is being re-posted here with permission from Ralph Perry.
Meet Chet Nairene, the American author of ‘Pacific Dash’, a new novel that follows the Asian adventures of Dashiell Bonaventure, from an Illinois farm to glitzy Macau casinos
Hi Chet, tell me more about your new book, Pacific Dash
Greetings, Simon!
Pacific Dash is a fictional first-person account of Dash Bonaventure, a young 1960s American whose life journey drags him across Asia. Dash is utterly impulsive (his next prudent plan will be his first), but makes up for that with outsized good luck and karma. The story begins in 1968 with him as a reluctant expat student at the then-new Hong Kong International School. International adventures immediately start to find him. Dash covers a lot of ground, for several decades spending time in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, HK, Macau, Taiwan and Myanmar. He finds himself in love and at other times in trouble. One day at a Bali losmen (a cheap homestay), things really take off when meets Little Fatty, an engaging and chubby Malaysian businessman who hooks Dash up in the illegal casino business, located offshore from Singapore.
Dash gets around! How did you come up with the story?
Ever since taking up fiction writing, I had been juggling several good story ideas, but Pacific Dash (my “backpacker novel”) was always the one I wanted to lead with. I knew it would be pure fun for the reader and a pure joy for me to write. My primary goal is to entertain and transport readers to exotic places, crammed with interesting people, odd experiences and cultural nuggets. I wanted to share so many of the things I love about Asia – the wonderful people, the food and spirituality, the bars and temples, beaches and even gambling. So, what better way to introduce all that than through the eyes of a young foreigner who is totally unprepared for what he’s about to encounter?
What led you to start writing your own fictional literature?
It’s funny, but during my career as an expatriate executive in Asia, friends often said (usually after a few too many beers and colorful stories), “You really ought to write a novel.” Yeah, right, someday. But upon retiring I started to think, hey, why not?
Like Dash, I understand that you also lived in Asia for more than 25 years, how much of your own story is in the book?
As the old writing adage goes: ‘Write about what you know.’ And I certainly know Asia. Many (but not all) of Dash’s experiences are based upon things that happened to me or to my friends. Therefore, while the resulting story is off-kilter and quirky, it should also have an authentic ring. But Dash and I are punched from different molds.
He is something of the accidental, unintentional traveler in Asia. I, on the other hand, made happen my desire to live and work in Asia. It was just something in my DNA and I had to obey. My fascination with Asia, Africa and Latin America all probably began with my childhood hobby, tuning into foreign radio stations on shortwave.
The powerful solar storm supercharged auroras as far south as Colorado and New Mexico.
The most powerful solar storm in nearly six years slammed Earth today (March 24), but strangely, space weather forecasters didn’t see it coming.
The geomagnetic storm peaked as a severe G4 on the 5-grade scale used by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to assess the severity of space weather events. The storm’s unexpected ferocity not only made auroras visible as far south as New Mexico in the U.S., but it also forced spaceflight company Rocket Lab to delay a launch by 90 minutes.
Geomagnetic storms are disturbances to Earth’s magnetic field caused by solar material from coronal mass ejections (CME) — large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun’s atmosphere. It turns out that this particular geomagnetic storm was triggered by a “stealth” CME which — as the name suggests — is rather tricky to detect. [Continue reading…]
Gottheimer also supports federal spending on AM infrastructure to assure continuity of service
A congressman from New Jersey wants the government to add AM radio to the list of safety equipment that carmakers must include in their vehicles.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer has called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to “add AM radio to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to require that all automakers, including EV manufacturers, include AM radio as a stock feature in their vehicles. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards are the minimum safety standards that a manufacturer must meet when making a vehicle — including requirements related to airbags, brakes, seatbelts, tires, controls and displays.”
The National Association of Broadcasters welcomed his effort.
Gottheimer, a Democrat who represents a district along the state’s northern border, held a news event next to a Tesla dealership in Paramus, N.J., along with New Jersey Broadcasters Association Executive Director Jordan Walton. [Continue reading…]
An AI-generated radio DJ could be coming to your local radio station.
RadioGPT, a GPT-4-powered radio content generator from media company Futuri, is set to debut next month in radio stations in the US and Canada, Axios Cleveland reported.
Powered by the same tech that ChatGPT draws upon, RadioGPT aims to man radio airtime spots with AI-generated scripts and voices, as well as tailored local news content.
You can listen to a demo from the company that gives you a preview of what the AI-generated DJ voices sound like — which tell listeners that they are, in fact, fully AI — sprinkled between curated songs. The page includes snippets of RadioGPT-generated voices presenting news, weather, and traffic updates.
“Anything a radio human can do, I can do better,” one of the AI hosts can be heard saying in between songs. “Every voice you hear is 100% AI.” [Continue reading…]
The FCC is using its new powers to ask from the maximum fine from an Ecuadorian pirate radio station that’s run for more than 15 years.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is using a new law to fine a pirate radio station operating in New York City for more than $2 million. For 15 years, Impacto 2, which has been operated by two brothers, has broadcast Ecuadorian news, culture, sports, and talk-radio on 105.5 FM in Queens. The feds have tried to shut it down repeatedly, but have never succeeded.
The FCC announced the fine in a press release last week. “The Commission proposed the maximum penalty allowable, $2,316,034, against brothers César Ayora and Luis Angel Ayora for pirate radio broadcasting in Queens, New York,” the release said. The FCC also said it was trying to seize $80,000 in equipment from a man broadcasting pirate radio in Eastern Oregon.
The Ayoras have been on the FCC’s radar since 2008 when they started broadcasting Impacto 2 for the Ecuadorian community in Queens: “The brothers César and [Luis] Angel Ayora in September 2008 founded the first Ecuadorian FM radio station in New York City. . . The station never sleeps, because a team of communication professionals are working for you 24 hours a day,” their website, which is currently down, said. The station is broadcast over the internet and has moved around the FM spectrum several times over the years. [Continue reading…]
Hi SWLing Post community, Fastradioburst23 here letting you know about a transmission of KZOO, another installment of the imaginary radio stations show to be broadcast this weekend via the good folks at WRMI.
It’s on Sunday 26th March 2023 at 2200 UTC on 9395 kHz and will feature those strange and wonderful instruments that wouldn’t be encouraged in your music class. After the broadcast the studio audio will appear on the KMTS mixcloud here.
Wellbrook Communications will cease trading at the end of April 2023. This is due to retirement. I would like to thank everyone for their custom over the past 27 years.
No doubt, the venerable Wellbrook loop has helped thousands radio enthusiasts mitigate RFI/QRM and make it possible to once again DX from home.
Okay, let’s get this straight to begin with: I’m not on C.Crane’s payroll; I get nothing for what you are about to read. I have bought two of their radios with my own money, and they sent me one for review.
Today I received an email from C.Crane, headlined “How to make a shortwave antenna.” It links to an online article, written by Bob Crane, with the same title. Here’s the link.
It explains, clearly and concisely, how to make your own shortwave antenna, and it also adds some safety warnings. Check it out; it’s worth reading and maybe home-brewing your own antenna.
What makes this a high degree of cool is that C.Crane also sells shortwave antennas . . . and yet they tell you how to make your own if you so choose. Nice.
Frankly, I’ve been a fan of the C.Crane company for years. Now I am a bigger one.
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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Jernakoff, who writes:
