Yearly Archives: 2018

Heartland America’s Grundig Executive Satellit deals

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Figliozzi, who writes:

I figure you’re the best source to get word of this out. Heartland America (1-800-229-2901) (www.heartlandamerica.com) is selling refurbished Grundig Executive Satellit receivers for $129.99 (MSRP $229.99).

The ad states “Factory serviced to meet original quality standards – may have slight cosmetic blemishes”.

It is Item No. 1Z-94828.

I have one of these I bought earlier this year on a similar deal from Heartland America. It works and plays perfectly and if there is a blemish, I’ve yet to find it. This is an excellent portable at a bargain price.

Excellent, John!  Thanks for the tip!

Click here to view this deal at Heartland America.

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FTIOM & UBMP, November 25-December 1

From the Isle of Music, November 25-December 1:
This week, our special guest is Diego Gutierrez, whose album Palante el Mambo! won the Fusion category in Cubadisco 2018 and was nominated in the Tropical Fusion category of the Latin GRAMMY awards this year. Additionally, we will listen to recordings by the other Latin GRAMMY winners and nominees from Cuba, many of whom were also Cubadisco winners and/or nominees.
The broadcasts take place:
1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia and Oceania) with 100Kw, Sunday 1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0100-0200 UTC (New UTC) on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EST in the US). This has been audible in parts of NW, Central and Southern Europe with an excellent skip to Italy recently.
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 UTC (New CETs) on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.

Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, November 25 and 27, 2018
Episode 89 takes us to Spain, including an innovative new interpretation of Carmen.
The transmissions take place:
1. Sunday 2300-2330 UTC (NEW UTC) (6:00PM -6:30PM Eastern US) on WBCQ The Planet 7490 KHz from the US to the Americas and parts of Europe
2. Tuesday 2000-2030 UTC (NEW CET) on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany for Europe. If current propagation conditions hold, the broadcast should reach Iceland AND Western Russia due to a long skip.
Also recommended:
Marion’s Attic, a unique program produced and hosted by Marion Webster featuring early 20th Century records, Edison cylinders etc played on the original equipment, comes on immediately before UBMP on Sundays from 2200-2300 UTC on WBCQ 7490 Khz.

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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload includes the HawkEye 360 radio-wave emission seeker

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who shares the following:

Hi Thomas,

Just found: the launch of the SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was delayed today, part of the load is a new radio-wave emission seeker satellite system the Pathfinder from HawkEye 360:
https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-to-launch-70-satellites-radio-tracking-2018-11

Some parts from the article:

“An unprecedented rocket mission for SpaceX, called SSO-A, will launch 71 small satellites at once on Monday. Three of the satellites belong to HawkEye 360, a startup that aims to “see” radio-wave emissions all over Earth. HawkEye 360’s software will identify each unique radio signal and use it to track “dark ships” that may be trying to hide illegal activities.”

[..] The antennas of Pathfinder can detect a wide range of radio signals above about 1 watt in power. [..] This means the cluster can triangulate normally hard-to-pinpoint signals from satellite phones, push-to-talk radios, and marine radar. [..] In the future, they aim to launch five more three-satellite clusters, which will create a constellation that can map Earth’s radio signals once every 30 to 40 minutes. [..] Another planned use of Pathfinder is more down-to-earth: The technology could detect improper use of the radio-frequency spectrum, including interference between cell-phone towers.”

Thank you for the tip, Balázs!

I also discovered the following short video which introduces and describes the system:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Sounds like an amazing system although it certainly does feel a little “big brother”–!

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If elected, Labor commits to provide $2 million to restore ABC shortwave radio

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ian P, who shares the following story and interview via ABC News Northern Territory Country Hour. I strongly suggest listening to the full seven plus minute interview via the embedded audio player below:

Click here to download audio.

If elected next year, Federal Labor says it will provide the ABC with $2 million in funding to help re-establish shortwave radio services across the Northern Territory.

The ABC controversially switched off its shortwave service in January 2017, and defended the decision by saying it would “only affect a very, very small amount of people” and save taxpayers up to $1.9 million.

The decision was heavily criticised by industry groups such as the NT Cattlemen’s Association (NTCA) and the NT Seafood Council.

NTCA president Chris Nott welcomed today’s announcement by Labor and said the ABC’s decision was short-sighted.

“What people take for granted in the cities is a luxury for those of us in the bush,” Mr Nott said.

“We rely on the HF shortwave radio transmitters because we don’t have mobile and data coverage for AM and FM radio stations.

“The ABC can expand its modern day platforms all it likes but the truth is we don’t all have access to it and the ABC did not care at all about the impact of its decision.”

Federal Member for Solomon Luke Gosling, said the axing of shortwave had angered a lot of people and community groups.

“Many thousands will benefit from this [bringing back shortwave],” he told the Country Hour.

“I was lobbied by a really large cross-section of the community that spends time in remote areas and when shortwave was cut there was a lot of angst, so it will be a good thing to bring it back to keep people on the land and waters connected.”

Click here to read via ABC News.

Many thanks, Ian!

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SWLing Post Contest Question #2: A chance to win a piece of broadcasting history!

RCA Window from MI-7330

Last week, we announced a new contest to celebrate the SWLing Post‘s 10th Anniversary.

The prize is an amazing piece of broadcast history: a 75 year old round plate glass window that was fitted in the central main door of the RCA senders at the Woofferton, UK, transmitting site in 1943. This prize was generously donated by SWLing contributor and friend, Dave Porter (G4OYX).

Please read our original contest post (click here) which describes how you can enter to win.

The original post also contains the first of five contest questions which count as individual entries in the contest.

And now for our second question and second possible contest entry…

Please note: If you read the SWLing Post email digest, you will need to view our prize questions on the web to see the embedded form.

If the form below does not display, click here to open it in a new window.

Our second question:

We will post question #3 next week!

Click here to answer question #1.

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Radio Deal: Eton Field BT for historically low price of $70.99

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Christian, who writes:

Hi Thomas. Amazon have dropped the price of the Field BT yet again. This time to $70.99 shipped! This is now the lowest price I’ve ever seen for the Field BT. Perhaps they’re discontinuing the model? It’s a fine radio (very sensitive) with amazing audio. I paid a bit more for mine when it was on sale but I still think it was a good price. As I always say, this is Amazon so there’s no way to know how long this price will hold. I’m considering another one as a Christmas gift.

Thank you, Christian!

Click here to check out on Amazon.com (affiliate link).

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Alexa can now look up broadcast schedules with the Shortwave Signals skill!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who writes:

I’m pleased to announce that my Alexa skill has been approved by Amazon and is now available in the following countries:

Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Because single word skills are reserved for organisations and brand names, the skill name had to change and is now called ‘Shortwave Signals‘.

I’ve uploaded a video this morning with the finished skill in action:

https://youtu.be/dnSPsopEBnI

Click here to view on YouTube.

Amazing, Mark! Thank you for developing this Alexa skill!

I’ve been beta testing Mark’s Alexa skill and have been very happy with the results. It makes for a nice hands-free way of checking broadcast schedules while in the shack. And it seems like only yesterday when Mark was tinkering around with the idea to create this skill.

Bravo for making Shortwave Signals a reality, Mark!

If you own an Echo or Alexa-enabled device, simply open the Alexa App and search for the Shortwave Signals skill to activate it.

We only have one Amazon Echo device in our house–the one I evaluated for my WiFi radio primer a couple years ago. As Black Friday approaches, I’m going to keep my eye on the Amazon Echo Dot for my radio room–the 2nd generation units are quite inexpensive (as low as $29.99 for a certified refurbished unit).

Click here to search Amazon for an Echo device (affiliate link).

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