The Hummel Park Radio Station Site, near Omaha, Nebraska, is up for auction.
Ed writes:
This surplus Federal property includes two towers, including a tall
rotatable HF array and sizeable building:This property could probably be purchased cheaply at auction by anyone who wants to start an HF radio station at the center of CONUS.
Hey, we can dream, can’t we?
(Source: Sealord on the HF Underground)
Looking through some of my archived recordings from the past month, I found this broadcast from The Crystal Ship, on the TCS Relay Network.
Conditions were a little tough at the time and you’ll hear some some SSB interference near the end, but the mix is worth it. I started this recording around 1:15 UTC on February 26th, 2013, on 6.9255 MHz, capturing the last third of the show (based on HF Underground logs).
Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Standard Pirate Radio Disclaimer: This is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast, and as such, may include strong or colorful language or lyrics. In general, if you are easily offended by the words, ideas, music lyrics, or music herein, you should slowly…back… away…
(Image source: s***youhate.tumblr.com)
This past weekend, I recorded a number of pirate radio stations; one of them was The Voice of Alex Radio Show: a tribute station for a girl whose life was taken by a drunk driver in 2011.
I recorded The Voice of Alex Radio Show on 6925 kHz upper side band on March 10th, 2013, around 23:30 UTC.
Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Kudos to VOA research analyst Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott for his remarkable innovation: VOA Radiograms (i.e., digital text messages sent over shortwave broadcast radio), and for promoting this concept through the Voice of America. His persistance, with support from forward-thinking shortwave broadcasters like WBCQ, WRMI and The Mighty KBC, who have all broadcasted his digital messages, has paid off. Classic technology meets current in this new communication mode which makes internet disruption absolutely irrelevant, and which is even impervious, to a great degree, to interference.
This weekend, the VOA Radiogram will become a reality:
(Source: VOA Radiogram)
VOA Radiogram will “soft launch” this weekend. Here is the transmission schedule (all days and times are UTC):
Saturday 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sunday 0230-0300 5745 kHz (Saturday evening in North America)
Sunday 1300-1330 6095 kHz
Sunday 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the IBB Edward R Murrow Transmitting Station in North Carolina.
The digital text modes to be transmitted this weekend on VOA Radiogram are as follows. Each text transmission will be one minute, unless otherwise specified. Asterisk * denotes RSID: if your RxID is on, Fldigi will automatically switch to this mode and audio frequency. The other modes you can decode from your recording.
- BPSK31 on 2000 Hz*
- QPSK31 on 1000Hz, BPSK31* on 2000 Hz
- QPSK31 on 1000Hz*, PSK63F on 1500Hz, BPSK31 on 2000 Hz
- QPSK63 on 1000 Hz, PSKR125 on 1500 Hz*, BPSK63 on 2000 Hz
- QPSK125 on 1000Hz, PSKR250 on 1500 Hz*, BPSK63 on 2000 Hz
- QPSK250 on 800 Hz, PSKR500 on 1500Hz*, BPSK250 on 2200Hz
- QPSK500 on 800 Hz, PSKR1000 on 1500 Hz*, BPSK500 on 2200 Hz
- PSKR500 on 1000 Hz, PSK63F on 1500 Hz, PSKR125 on 2000 Hz, and PSKR250 on 2500 Hz* (5 min 40 secs). The latter portions of the PSKR250 and 500 transmissions are formatted for Flmsg. (In Fldigi, Configure > Misc > NBEMS > under Reception of flmsg files, click Open with flmsg and Open in browser, and below that state the location of the flmsg.exe file.)
- MFSK32 image on 1500 Hz (54 seconds)
In future weeks, after the “hard launch” of VOA Radiogram, only one mode will be transmitted at one time. This will ensure the highest possible signal-to-noise ratio and the best possible chances for a successful decode.
See also how to decode the modes.
Send reports to radiogram(at)voanews.com
Follow @voaradiogram
Keep up-to-date with all future broadcasts, digital modes and methods for decoding on the VOA Radiogram website, and by following them on Twitter: @voaradiogram.
(Source: SW Radio Africa)
By Nomalanga Moyo
14 March 2013The illegal seizure of wind-up radios reached new levels this week with reports that the police are now using primary school pupils to source information about the receivers.
Villagers in Lupane revealed that the police have been visiting schools and asking little children in Grade 0 and Grade 1(aged between 4 and 6 years) whether their parents own or listen to any radios.
This follows reports that suspected state security agents on Tuesday raided several homesteads at Mpofu village in the Gwampa area and confiscated the wind-up radios.
Speaking to SW Radio Africa one villager who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said the police have been going to schools, writing down names, and then visiting those suspected of owning the radios by night.
She said although the agents will be wearing civilian clothes, the villagers know it is the police since they have been announcing their ban on radios.
Our source said she suspects the police are aware of the popularity of shortwave radios in the area, hence they are now confiscating them.
“The police have been announcing that villagers should not be in possession of these radios. Their reason is that we listen to news broadcasts from outside the country which criticise ZANU PF.
“Such harassment by the state security agents normally escalates during election time, which indicates that we are not free to exercise our individual choices if we can’t even listen to different views offered by these shortwave radio stations,” she added.
On Tuesday an MDC official from Mpofu Village, Cosmas Phiri, told the NewsDay newspaper that MDC members were raided shortly before midnight on Monday.
Phiri, who was with some of the affected villagers, told NewsDay that a group of state security agents confiscated at least 10 radios from more than 10 people.
The night raids have stirred up fear within the community, following threats that those who refused to surrender their radio receivers will be abducted and “made to disappear” invoking memories of Gukurahundi.
Since the announcement of the constitutional referendum date on February 15th, Zimbabwean police have embarked on a nationwide campaign targeting civic society organisations and individuals.
On February 19th the police announced a ban on ‘specially designed’ radios, which they argued will be used to promote hate speech ahead of the polls.
Following the ban several organisations have been raided, including community radio initiative Radio Dialogue where police seized more than 180 wind-up radio sets and arrested its managing editor.
Last month, officers ransacked the offices of poll observers ZESN as well as those of violence monitoring group the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), in search of the so-called “illegal” radios.
The police have since arrested ZPP head Jestina Mukoko and charged her with, among other things, illegally importing short wave radios.
Thanks, Rich, for passing this news along. Read the full article and follow news on the radio ban at SW Radio Africa.
Alvin Lee (19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
This past weekend, Radio Ronin Shortwave broadcast a tribute to guitarist Alvin Lee, who passed away on March 6th.
As always, Ronin’s AM signal came in loud and clear on 6.925 MHz, starting around 00:15 UTC (March 11th, 2013).
Listen for yourself by downloading the audio as an MP3, or simply listening via the embedded player below. Of course, I included Ronin’s (most excellent) interval signal in this recording: