For your listening pleasure: almost three hours of music–ranging from modern to folk–and a little Greek commentary, from the Voice of Greece.
Recorded today, May 13, 2013 on 9.42 MHz starting around 01:52 UTC.
Click here to download the full recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Myke, over at ShortWaveMusic, has made his entire 2012 season of ShortWaveMusic freely downloadable on SoundCloud.
This series was recorded from December 31, 2011 – January 16, 2012 throughout the West African country of Mali. The series contains some remarkable field recordings taken from both the shortwave and medium wave bands.
Note that Myke’s ShortWaveMusic series and travels are supported by Kickstarter donors. I don’t know where Myke’s travels will take him next year, but when the time comes we will post an announcement along with a link for supporters.
Now put on your headphones, close your eyes and you will be transported to Mali:
For full SoundCloud features, click here for the 2012 series on SoundCloud.
(Source: VOA Radiogram)
VOA Radiogram for the weekend of May 11 and 12 will feature long stretches of VOA News in plain text, using the MFSK 32 and 64 modes. No Flmsg or Flamp this time. This weekend’s program will also include our first test of slow scan television (SSTV).
Here is the lineup:
MFSK16 (2:28) Preview
MFSK32 (12:08) VOA News stories
The first of the three stories will be in Spanish. This is to determine how letters with accent marks appear on your display. The second VOA news story will be followed by an accompanying MFSK32 imageMFSK16 Intro to the next mode
MFSK64 (3:34) VOA News story
MFSK16 Intro to the next mode
SSTV Scottie DX (4:31)
There are several software programs that decode SSTV, including Digital Master 780 (DM780) andMMSSTV. A free receive-only SSTV decoder is RX-SSTV from users.belgacom.net/hamradio/rxsstv.htmMFSK16 (1:11) Closing announcements
Closing music, accompanied by the surprise mode of the week
Please send reception reports to [email protected]
Screenshots and audio samples are welcome, especially audio of less than perfect reception conditions.
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.
This week one of my favorite public radio programs, Marketplace, aired an interview with Matthew Prince, CEO of website security firm CloudFlare. Marketplace’s host, Kai Ryssdal, asked Price why Syria’s Internet is so vulnerable to shut-down. You see, on Tuesday Syria’s Internet had completely shut down by 2:48 PM EST and remained down for a total of 19 hours. Price’s explanation:
“Certain countries have limited access to the internet. In the case of Syria, there are only four connection points, and they’re all run by the national Syrian telecommunications company.”
Interesting. Other countries that are similarly vulnerable include Greenland, Cuba, North Korea, Libya, and Tunisia.
A few months ago, I wrote a post on this very topic, entitled: Syria stifles the Internet while Canada stifles shortwave. I’m pleased and gratified that Popular Communications Magazine picked up my article; it’s published in their April 2013 issue.
Shortwave radio is not the solution to all communications needs, of course, but it is certainly the only international broadcast medium I know of that is impossible for a country like Syria to completely shut down. As I’ve said before, shortwave radio has no regard for national borders, requires no subscription, no apps, no computers, and is nearly impossible to trace to the individual(s) using it. It is free speech, for free.
For more insight into Syria’s insecure Internet, listen to this full segment from Marketplace via the embedded player below:
Tagged under our growing category: Why Shortwave Radio?
Looks like Dream has been ported to Android:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/drm/
Thanks to Richard Cuff for bringing this item to my attention:
(Source: The Age – National Times)
The ABC could soon abandon international shortwave radio broadcasts to China and Indonesia, ending more than 70 years of beaming news and current affairs on high frequency into Asia.
But the public broadcaster’s management insist it will not flick the switch on shortwave services of Radio Australia to Papua New Guinea and tiny Pacific nations for now.
ABC international chief Lynley Marshall said the older shortwave technology was still relevant in the Pacific, despite a drive to make mobile and internet devices the ”primary” way of delivering news.
Staff had grown increasingly alarmed in recent months that the shortwave service to the Pacific would be canned – including a popular Tok Pisin [a service we recently mentioned] to PNG – raising fears expats and locals would be vulnerable to dangerous news blackouts during natural disasters or regional strife.
Radio is the cheapest and most widespread source of news in poorer Pacific provinces. Most nations run only a 2G mobile network with little coverage outside capitals. When Prime Minister Julia Gillard visits Port Moresby on Thursday almost twice as many locals will hear news of the trip on radio than see it on television or read it in newspapers.[…]
Richard also posted this relevant comment in the SW Programs discussion list:
[…]I believe this would be the service more audible in Western Europe.
However the Pacific service – which is the service we’re more likely to hear in North America – appears to be safe for now, as mobile/Internet technologies aren’t adequate enough in that region.
Radio Australia has become my staple, reliable shortwave radio news and entertainment source. I certainly hope RA does not cut services in the same manner as RNW or RCI.
The clandestine station Radio Free Sarawak—who we most recently mentioned in connection with the Malaysian elections–has announced that they are going off the air. There is a note of finality in their announcement (below), yet they do leave some ambiguity by declaring, “We will be taking a break until further notice.”
[UPDATE: Radio Free Sarawak back on the air 12 August 2013]
Listen to their final broadcast (studio copy) embedded below:
(Source: Radio Free Sarawak)
While most PR supporters are still reeling from the results of the GE13 amidst widespread rigging that are essentially acts of treason, activists and ordinary people alike are not giving up on booting out the BN government The have set their sights on the 11th state election that will have to be conducted latest by early 2016.
Meanwhile, take a listen to the analysis of Dr Mohd Faisal Syam Abdol Hazis from the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak of the results in the state.
Last but not least, we hear the sadness, anger, frustration and nevertheless, determination of RFS and PR supporters to realise the dream of changing the government in the near future.
p/s Today’s show will be our last. We will be taking a break until further notice. Thank you for your support. It will be a memorable 18 months! We hope you had enjoyed the experience as much as we did.