Monthly Archives: December 2019

Reminder: Christmas on-air event to honor Radio Luxembourg

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alexander (DL4NO), who writes:

For a very long time Radio Luxembourg was *the* pop music radio in Europe, especially in Germany and GB. At a time when Germany only had its public radio system, the Radio Luxembourg was the one and only. But this is history.

At Christmas, several German shortwave broadcasters, organized by Radio DARC, will transmit on 6070 kHz in memoriam of Radio Luxembourg from Vienna. See the attached flyer [above].

Excellent! Thank you for the heads-up, Alexander!

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Christmas Carols from Antarctica on Shortwave

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McMurdo Station, Antarctica. (Source: USAP.gov)

(Source: ARRL News)

A program of Christmas carols will be broadcast from Antarctica on Christmas Eve. The transmissions on 7995 kHz USB will begin on December 23 at 2300 UTC, coordinated by McMurdo Communications Operations (MacOps) — known as “The Voice of Antarctica.”

Each year, the station’s residents celebrate the holiday by singing Christmas Carols to those at remote Antarctic field camps. Participation will be from stations scattered throughout the Antarctic continent.

“The radios and antenna systems are optimized for on-continent communication, so we will be lucky to hear them in other parts of the world, but it has happened in the past,” said Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, who is handling QSL requests and who has participated as part of the chorus in past years while studying in Antarctica. Frissell shared some links of previous concerts, one recorded at McMurdo Station and one from the University of Twente WebSDR in the Netherlands.

Click here to read the full article at the ARRL.

UPDATE: Check out this episode of Short Wave–an NPR podcast–wher they interview the scientists involved in this tradition:

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Video: “Tribute to a Century of Broadcasting”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill (WD9EQD), who writes:

You probably have already seen this, but from The ARRL Letter, November 21, 2019:

Art Donahue, W1AWX, of Franklin, Massachusetts, has posted his “Tribute to a Century of Broadcasting” video in recognition of the centennial of formal radio broadcasts. The video features a complete scan of the AM broadcast band (530 – 1700 kHz), with station IDs for all 118 AM radio channels.

Following is ARRL Link:

Radio Amateur’s “Tribute to a Century of Broadcasting” Video Debuts on YouTube

Following is YouTube link to the video:

It was a lot of fun to watch the video, hear the on-air id checks, and compare what he heard to the list of stations that I have heard.

Thanks for sharing this, Bill–I missed reading about this in the newsletter.  This goes to show you that the AM dial is chock-full of stations here in North America. Those who complain that it’s “dead” simply aren’t listening.

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Encore – classical music on shortwave this weekend.

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This weekend Encore – Classical Music on Radio Tumbril will again broadcast on a new frequency via WWCR in Tennessee.
Saturday 21st December 21:00 UTC 9350 kHz – this is the afternoon in US and Canada and the signal should carry to part of western Europe too.
This replaces the 01:00 Broadcast by WWCR on 6115 kHz.
Encore – Classical Music this weekend is – of course – being broadcast as usual by Channel 292 (Europe) on 6070 kHz at 15:00 UTC Sunday 22nd December.
And by WBCQ on 7490 kHz at 01:00 UTC Monday 23rd December.
There is a repeat on 6070 kHz on Friday 27th December at 19:00 UTC.
There may also be a trial second repeat on 7440 kHz from Channel 292 at 10:00 UTC on Saturday – try tuning in – it can be a nice clean signal.
Do let us know how well you can pick up Encore at your location by emailing to [email protected]. We try to reply to all emails and will send eQSL cards for full reports.
This week’s programme has four movements of the second Branedburg concerto by Bach, more from the excellent contemporary composer – Jim Perkins, some piano music by Gottschalk and Rachmaninov, three Schubert songs and a serenade by Elgar. Tune in if you can.
Both Channel 292 and WBCQ as well as WWCR can be pulled live off the internet if the reception is poor in your location. Easy to find their sites with a google search.
In the meantime – thank you for spreading the word about Encore – Classical Music on Shortwave. And thank you to everyone for letting us know how well the signal is received where you live.
Brice Avery – Encore – Radio Tumbril.
Regular Broadcast times are:
15:00 – 16:00 UTC Sunday, and repeated 19:00 – 20:00 UTC Friday on 6070 kHz Channel 292 (Germany).
21:00 – 22:00 UTC Saturday on 9350 kHz WWCR (Nashville).
01:00 – 02:00 UTC Monday on 7490 kHz WBCQ – (Maine).
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Carlos seeks help identifying signals

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes:

Attached are two different recordings.
Both made in South Brazil.

– Florianópolis, 26/11/2019, 19h13 (Brasilia time) 12015 kHz

– Porto Alegre, 12/12/2019, 20h11 (Brasilia time) 7455 kHz

Searching on the Web I found these two frequencies related to US Navy NATO RTTY station STANAG 4481:

Are you able to confirm this?

Thanks for your inquiry, Carlos! Unfortunately, I cannot confirm this. If your radio had been in SSB mode, it would have made the RTTY pop out and we could have perhaps confirmed at least the RTTY mode with FLDIGI. I’m hoping a savvy SWLing Post reader can help you ID these transmissions. Please comment!

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An Enigma machine just fetched over $106K at auction

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(Source: Bloomberg.com)

A rare “Enigma” machine, used by Nazi Germany to create military communications code thought to be unbreakable, sold at auction for more than $106,000.

The 28.5-pound cipher machine went to an internet buyer on Saturday, according to Heritage Auctions. It comes with operating instructions, a case with an engraved Third Reich emblem — and a rich lore including how British scientist Alan Turing helped crack the code.

One of the unit’s 26 light bulbs is broken, according to the description.

It’s not the first time a Nazi code creator has traded hands for such a sum. In May, an Irish private collector swiped up a different encryption machine, known as the “Hitler mill” because of its hand crank, for 98,000 euros ($109,000) from a Munich auctioneer, according to the Telegraph.[…]

Click here to continue reading the full article at Bloomberg.com.

Click here to view the auction page.

SWLing Post contributor and friend, Dan Robinson, and I once visited the National Cryptological Museum at Fort Meade and got to try our hand at using an Enigma machine. It’s an absolutely brilliant bit of mechanical engineering, of course. I highly recommend this museum to anyone interested in radio, computers or cryptography.

If you’d like to learn about another fascinating bit of over-the-air WWII technology–the SIGSALY network–I strongly encourage you to check out this post from our archives.

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Special VORW Radio International Holiday Broadcasts!

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Hello readers! I am pleased to announce that there will be special broadcasts of VORW Radio International on Christmas Day!

This special program will feature an enjoyable mix of Christmas Music and Miscellaneous Discussion. There might be a few other songs added to the playlist as well – in short, I hope for this to be a fun show for listeners on Christmas Day.

This broadcast will be sent from radio station WWCR and a QSL will be given to any and all listeners who submit reception reports.

The show will be on 4 frequencies:

Wednesday 1500 UTC (10 AM Eastern / 9 AM Central) – 7490 kHz – WWCR 100 kW – North America

Wednesday 1500 UTC (10 AM Eastern / 9 AM Central) – 13845 kHz – WWCR 100 kW – North America and Europe

Wednesday 2200 UTC ( 5 PM Eastern / 4 PM Central) – 9350 kHz – WWCR 100 kW – North America and Africa

Thursday 0100 UTC (8 PM Eastern / 7 PM Central Wednesday) – 4840 kHz – WWCR 100 kW – North America

Reception reports and feedback are most appreciated at [email protected] and I hope you can tune in!

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