Monthly Archives: March 2018

China consolidates three national networks to form the Voice of China

China Radio International will become a part of the new Voice of China.

(Source: CNN Money via Cap Tux)

Beijing has a new propaganda weapon: Voice of China

China is creating a new giant broadcaster to ensure its voice is heard loud and clear around the world.

Voice of China, as the new outlet will be known internationally, will be formed by combining three mammoth state-run national networks: China Central Television (CCTV), China National Radio and China Radio International. It will employ more than 14,000 people.

The merger was revealed in a Communist Party document on a sprawling government reorganization program, championed by President Xi Jinping to reinforce the party’s absolute control in all aspects of state governance.

State news agency Xinhua released the document Wednesday after it was approved by China’s rubber-stamp parliament.

With echos of the Voice of America radio service created by the US government during World War II, Voice of China is tasked with “propagating the party’s theories, directions, principles and policies” as well as “telling good China stories,” according to the document.

It will be under the direct control of the party’s central propaganda department.

The new broadcast juggernaut is being formed at a time when Chinese authorities face growing challenges to control their message in the age of the internet and social media. They are making strenuous efforts to maintain strict censorship at home while pouring money into propaganda projects abroad.[…]

Click here to read the full article at CCN Money.

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Dave’s review of the AOR AR-DV1 Digital Voice Receiver

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who has recently posted his review of the AOR AR-DV1 digital voice receiver.

As with many of Dave’s reviews, this evaluation takes a close look at HF and mediumwave performance which isn’t the AR-DV1’s strong suit. Dave notes:

“[Though] not what the receiver was designed for, RF performance on MW / HF bands (and the terrible audio quality) are mediocre at best.”

Click here to read Dave’s review.

Thanks, Dave! Your review reflects comments I’ve received from some Post readers who’ve purchased the AR-DV1 as well. Many were particularly upset with the audio quality. Of course, the AR-DV1 is marketed as a digital voice receiver, thus audio likely favors “narrow” voice audio.

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Ever Ready Model N attache case radio spotted in charity shop

William spots radios in “A Quiet Place”

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Screen shot source: Digital Spy.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, William Lee, who writes:

Upcoming full release of the 2017-2018 film “A quiet place”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Quiet_Place_%28film%29
and
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6644200/

It has some pictures in a local film-publicity magazine, one of which is Emily Blunt in front of a whole collection of old professional radios.

See some images can be found here.

“So the father’s basically setting up all these different safeguards to keep the family safe. So he set up basically, for all intents and purposes, a war room down in the basement of their house that’s underground. Underground is a lot safer than above ground because you make less noise.

[…]He’s basically, over the years, collected TVs and radios and all these different things that he can try to make contact, try to get information – obviously no volume on any of them. The TVs are actually a security network where he’s put up cameras all over the farm, so he can see where everyone is at all time.”

There are probably more radio pictures elsewhere.

Thanks for sharing, William! Looking through some of the screen shots, I do see at least one transceiver (image at top of page) but I can’t make out the model or manufacturer. I also see a number of scopes. I’m sure there are many more radios in this film!

I’ll add this post to our growing archive of radios in film.

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Ampegon Group encourages use of shortwave for “secure data transmission and high-speed communications”

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(Source: Ampegon)

(Source: Radio World via Mike Hansgen)

The author [Dr. Simon Keens] is head of sales and marketing for the Ampegon Group.

TURGI, SWITZERLAND — There are many innovative ways the industry can use shortwave broadcasting to provide secure data transmission and high-speed communications.

The modern world increasingly requires available real-time secure communications between centralized locations and often to many receivers in unknown locations thousands of kilometers away.

[…]Information transfer via the internet or via fiber optic cable was once the reference. However, the use of such technology means that the information is only delivered to fixed points. In addition, the use of third-party infrastructures provides a security risk and increases transport cost.

Today, near-instant communication to unknown, remote receivers using shortwave is being developed as a new secure means of communications without the need for external providers, delivering signals directly to multiple, or even mobile, destinations regardless of fixed infrastructure. Messages may be dispatched much faster, thus for situations where time is critical, each additional second could be profitable and even save lives.[…]

Click here to read the full article at Radio World.

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Colin’s review of the CC Skywave SSB

Wading River: WWII FBI covert radio station listed on the National Register of Historic Places

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(Photo: Camp De Wolfe)

(Source: Riverhead Local via Mike Hansgen)

A house on the bluffs at Camp DeWolfe in Wading River, covertly used as an FBI radio transmission station during World War II to gather military intelligence, has been added to the state and national registers of historic places.

FBI radio operators impersonating German agents used the Wading River Radio Station to communicate with the German intelligence service, according to the site’s registration form with the National Register of Historic Places.

Information covertly gathered by agents at the radio station was critical to inspiring the United States’ development of an atomic bomb.

The station was also involved in the Operation “Bodyguard,” which used counterintelligence to confuse and mislead the Nazi government about the upcoming Allied invasion of Europe.

The radio station operated from 1942 to 1945.

[…]In January 1942, FBI engineers installed radio equipment in the house, hid a large antenna in the woods, and built a diesel-powered generator using an automobile engine to avoid local suspicion about electricity consumption at the house, which was far greater than what was then the norm due to the radio operations. An FBI agent assigned to manage the operation moved in with his family — and two or three radio operators. The first floor was maintained as the agent’s family home, while the second and third floors were used for the FBI operation, according to the national register registration narrative. They remained there for the duration of the war.

[…]The FBI had been looking for a spot to locate the transmission station for the spying operation and were attracted by the home’s cliffside location and the site’s remoteness. According to the national register registration document:

“By January 1942 [an FBI radio engineer] had stumbled upon the Owen House located in the tiny fishing and farming hamlet of Wading River, New York. Located eighty miles east of New York on Long Island’s North Fork the spacious three story building sat on a cliff bordered on one side by Long Island Sound and acres of dense trees on the other three sides, and the only approach to the station was a bumpy, rutted quarter mile path. Even by today’s standards the house is not easy to find. In 1942 it would have been nearly impossible.”

An FBI agent’s inquiry took the Owen family by surprise. They were sworn to secrecy.[…]

Click here to read the full article at the Riverhead Local.

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