Yearly Archives: 2017

Wireless Nights on BBC Radio 4 features London Shortwave

One of London Shortwave’s portable spectrum capture systems

I am very happy to share that the BBC Radio 4 program Wireless Nights, Series 5, features our own community member London Shortwave this week. The show aired tonight (March 27) and the audio is now available to stream via the Radio 4 website. I’ve also embedded the audio below:

Here’s the description of the show from Radio 4:

Megahertz

Wireless Nights,Series 5

Jarvis Cocker navigates the ether as he continues his nocturnal exploration of the human condition.

On a night voyage across a sea of shortwave he meets those who broadcast, monitor and harvest electronic radio transmissions after dark.

Paddy Macaloon, founder of the band Prefab Sprout, took to trawling the megahertz when he was recovering from eye surgery and the world around him became dark. Tuning in at night he developed a ghostly romance with far off voices and abnormal sounds.

Artist Katie Paterson and ‘Moonbouncer’ Peter Blair send Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata to the moon and back, to find sections of it swallowed up by craters.

Journalist Colin Freeman was captured by the Somali pirates he went to report on and held hostage in a cave. But when one of them loaned him a shortwave radio, the faint signal to the outside world gave him hope as he dreamed of freedom.

And “London Shortwave” hides out in a park after dark, with his ear to the speaker on his radio, slowly turning the dial to reach all four corners of the earth

Jarvis sails in and out of their stories – from the cosmic to the captive – as he wonders what else is out there, deep in the noise

Producer Neil McCarthy.

I found Megahertz absolutely captivating! I’m very impressed with how all of the personal adventures in radio, including an array of motivations, were weaved together.

And brilliant job, London Shortwave! It was fun to go on a park outing with you and your spectrum capture gear!

Click here to listen to Megahertz on BBC Radio 4.

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SDRplay RSP-1 OEM Metal Case

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

The SDRplay RSP-1 OEM Metal case is ready for order and shipment Worldwide

Includes:

1x Black aluminum metal enclosure with two labeled side panels, 1x Broadcast FM band-stop filter plus SMA Male to SMA Male barrel adapter,

1x Black semi-hardshell carry case,

1x Thermal pad to keep the RSP-1 cool and mechanically stable inside the enclosure and

1x Accessory set including enclosure screws, GND lug bolt set and 3M anti-slip rubber feet.
Can be used to upgrade the SDRplay RSP-1 ONLY to a metal enclosure. Helps block RF interference.

Note that owners of the very first RSP-1’s with F-Type connectors may require an additional F-Type pigtail adapter, or a MMCX to SMA pigtail to be able to use the BCFM filter internally. The BCFM filter can still be used externally.

Click here to view the RSP-1 metal case at Amazon.com (availability expected March 27).

Thank you, Rafman! I have the first generation RSP-1, so appreciate the note about using the filter internally via an adapter. That’s a nice enclosure.

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eBay find: The Braun T-1000

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Korchin (K2WNW), for sharing a link to this Braun T-1000 on eBay.

With two days left on the auction and already 73 bids, I believe David is correct in assuming this radio might fetch upward of 900 Euro. Braun models certainly tend to fetch premium prices. The T-1000 is possibly my favorite Braun portable and I certainly wish I had one. I love Dieter Rams’ designs.

Note that shipping seems very modest at 6 Euro worldwide via DHL. I would check on that pricing prior to bidding if outside of Europe. This seller has a 100% rating with over 400 transactions on eBay. Again, thanks for the tip, David!

Click here to view on eBay.

Any lucky SWLing Post readers own a T-1000? I’d love a review!

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The first maritime radio distress call

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(Source: The Telegraph via Mike Barraclough on Facebook)

On 17 March 1899, the East Goodwin Sands Lightship, operating under a licence from the General Post Office, BT’s predecessor, sent a signal on behalf of the merchant vessel Elbe, which had run aground on the treacherous Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent.

The message was received by the radio operator on duty at the South Foreland Lighthouse, who was able to summon the aid of the Ramsgate lifeboat.

Goodwin Sands featured again a few weeks later when, on 30 April 1899, the East Goodwin Sands Lightship sent a distress message on her own account when she was rammed by the SS R F Matthews.

Rather than the now-famous signals of “SOS” or “Mayday”, the recognised call sign for ships in distress at the time was “CQD”. Devised in 1904 by the British Marconi Society, it was popularly mistaken to mean “Come Quick – Danger” or, more bleakly, “Come Quickly – Drowning!”. However, its actual official meaning came from the land telegraph signal CQ – “sécu” from the French word sécurité – followed by D for Distress.

The “SOS” Morse code signal – three-dots/three-dashes/three-dots – was established as an International Distress Signal, agreed at the Berlin Radio Conference on 3 October 1906 – though the signal wasn’t formally introduced until 1 July 1908.

Continue reading the full story at The Telegraph online.

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On Sale: Executive Editions of Satellit and Traveler III

ABC News: Portrait of a devoted shortwave radio listener

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(Source: ABC News)

Saying goodbye to Radio Australia on the shortwave after 37 years

Kevin De Reus has lived in the same 24-kilometre-radius his whole life.

Born and raised in Iowa in the US, Kevin now calls his grandfather’s farm — just 12 kilometres from where he grew up in central Des Moines — home.

He is married, has five children and has worked at the same company for 20 years.

And while he admits he has not travelled much in his 52 years, it hasn’t stopped Kevin from listening to the news from Australia since 1980 — with the help of a shortwave radio.

Listening from the other side of the world

Even half a world away, he says the broadcast was one of the clearest of the stations he listened to.

“Radio Australia always held a special place in my heart just because it was in the South Pacific and I didn’t know much about that area — and the signal was always good from that part of the world,” he says.
“Most recently, over the last two to three years as I was listening in the morning hours here on 9.580, the signal was so good. It really was about the only English broadcaster at that time of the day that had news and information.

“Most mornings I would get up and turn on the shortwave radio at 7:00am (local time) and listen to the news from Australia and then I would drive to work.

“So many of the stations just aren’t on the air anymore. BBC doesn’t broadcast to North America anymore. I can’t even hardly hear the Voice of America in English anymore to tell you the truth. So Australia had the strongest signal.

“That’s why it was hard for me to hear [Radio Australia] was going to go off the air.”[…]

Click here to continue reading the full article on ABC News.

I believe Kevin De Reus did a fine job explaining the appeal of being a shortwave radio listener.

Though I gather a lot of international news these days with a WiFi radio (especially since Radio Australia left the shortwaves), I still prefer listening to shortwave.

It’s just how I’m wired.

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More info about KIMF

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KIMF transmitter site (Source: James Planck via Facebook)

KIMF transmitter building (Source: James Planck via Facebook)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Barraclough, who writes:

Photos of the site were posted in December. Mauno Ritola posted in the WRTH Facebook group January 26 that “James Planck informs, that KIMF Battle Mountain NV, USA plans to start operation around 1st April on shortwave. Time will tell, if the plan is realistic.”

Click here to view photos on Facebook.

Many thanks, Mike, for sharing this info. Note that these Facebook photos are listed as public, so a Facebook account is not needed for viewing.

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