Monthly Archives: July 2017

Editorial doesn’t mention RFE and VOA audio broadcasts

RFE and VOA audio services are broadcast over the air and are streamed online.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who writes:

The Washington Post’s Editorial Board put out this opinion piece this weekend entitled, “Russian propaganda has flooded U.S. airwaves. How about some reciprocity?”

I wrote to them at <[email protected]> and asked why they didn’t mention the U.S. Government’s considerable state media broadcast resources in their article.

Apparently they never heard of international broadcasting.

Maybe you could link to this article in the SWLing Post and encourage readers to write to the Washington Post’s Editorial Board to enlighten them.

It amazes me that people who work at high levels in a major U.S.-based news media outlet seem so ignorant about international broadcasting.

Thanks, Ed. It is interesting that while the article notes RFE and VOA’s TV program, Current Time (which is only available online), they fail to mention the substantial resources backing RFE/Radio Liberty and VOA’s on-air audio broadcasts that are also available to stream online.

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DRM test successful in crowded Johannesburg FM market

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(Source: Radio Mag Online via Larry W)

The trial has demonstrated that there is no interference with analog stations on either side of the digital signal in the crowded FM spectrum of Johannesburg

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Johannes von Weyssenhoff, representing the community station Wecodec in Johannesburg, presented the case of DRM to an international audience at the “Radio Days Africa,” an annual event taking place at the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg. His presentation also included results and findings of WECODEC’s ongoing DRM+ trial, the first of its kind on the African continent, according to DRM news.

The trial has demonstrated that there is no interference with analog stations on either side of the digital signal in the crowded FM spectrum of Johannesburg. The DRM power for the test is ¼ that of FM, giving similar coverage at 4QAM.[…]

Click here to read the full article.

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KIMF broadcast schedule via the HFCC

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KIMF transmitter site (Source: James Planck via Facebook)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ethan Best (KC9YDN), who notes:

KIMF’s schedule has been posted on the HFCC’s website:

http://hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A17&broadc=IMF

Thank you for sharing this, Ethan!

KIMF has actually been in the HFCC listings since at least 2014, even though they only recently received FCC approval to operate.

Check out these posts for more KIMF info and photos.

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Ed’s Homebrew Fruitcake Tin Radio

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed Ganshirt, who writes:

I had an old car radio from the 1940’s I salvaged the parts from, and a rudimentary schematic to build by. I decided to re-assemble in the container I stowed away the parts in. Nothing special just another AM broadcast radio in an unusual cabinet (fruitcake tin.)

I love it, Ed! It’s like a broadcast band version of Rex’s Tuna Tin QRP radios!

It must have been a challenge to mount all of the components on that tin. So how does she play?

Post readers: please comment and consider sharing your homebrew project!

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VOA museum marks 75th anniversary with gala

KIMF issued HF broadcasting license

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Many thanks to an SWLing Post contributor who notes that KIMF has been issued a high frequency broadcasting license by the FCC. For more information about KIMF check out this post from March 2017.

Click here to download the FCC public notice above as a PDF.

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Mark records “Pyongyang’s 6 am wake up call”

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This week, SWLing Post contributor, Mark Fahey, was featured in the NK News for his research in North Korea. While Mark has made a wide array of his work available through a media-rich (free) iBook, this particular article focuses on the “Morning Chorus” heard throughout Pyongyang in the early hours of the morning:

(Source: NK News)

Why does an eerie electronic ballad play across North Korea’s capital every morning?

It was early in the morning, but Mark Fahey had been awake for hours. A biomedical engineer turned North Korean propaganda expert, he had spent most of the night tinkering with a radio in his room at the Yanggakdo International Hotel, secretly recording the opening moments of Pyongyang FM Pangsong.

While he listened to the station’s typical offering of classical music and propaganda, another microphone and recorder were set up next to an open window to capture the sounds of the city as it roused itself awake. It was August 2011, and the sun hung low on the horizon. Fahey expected to pick up the sound of the dredging work taking place along the Taedong River.

Instead, he heard music.

“Pyongyang is deadly silent at night,” Fahey tells NK News. “If a lorry’s just passing through the city, you’re going to hear it. It’s so quiet. And at 6 am, you hear this kind of weird…” he hesitates. “It sounds like mind control music.”

Seeking an explanation, Fahey brought the tune up with his minder.

“They didn’t know what I was talking about,” he recalls, “but I don’t actually think that means they didn’t know what it was. They probably didn’t realize that I could hear it from where I was.”[…]