Photo by Joshua Anderson Slate
Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio
Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Tom Daly and the Southgate ARC for the following tips:
5G Conspiracy Theories Trigger Attacks On Cellphone Towers (NPR)
Dozens of cellphone towers and equipment boxes have been set aflame in Britain, apparently by people who believe 5G technology is helping to spread the coronavirus.
Milwaukee AM Station Temporarily Simulcasting SiriusXM Channel (North Pine)
Good Karma Brands has temporarily set aside the ESPN Radio lineup on WAUK/540 (Jackson-Milwaukee) and is simulcasting a COVID-19 information from a satellite radio channel.
The temporary programming is coming from SiriusXM’s Doctor Radio and coronavirus information channels. The simulcast on WAUK began Monday, April 20. It wasn’t announced how long it will continue.
WAUK operates in tandem with “ESPN Milwaukee” FM signal WKTI/94.5 (Milwaukee), with the AM station normally continuing to carry ESPN from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. while the FM side is in local programming.
Locally, Good Karma also owns News/Talk outlet WTMJ/620 (Milwaukee).[…]
USA: Fully-Remote Amateur Radio License Exam Administration (Southgate ARC)
The USA’s Ham Study group have released the latest update on the Fully-Remote Amateur Radio Exam Process
On March 26th, 2020, the first-ever fully-remote amateur radio exam was held to demonstrate the capabilities of these technologies and align with the needs of the W5YI VEC that authorized the trial.
Several other VE Teams have begun administering fully-remote exams using ExamTools.org along with video conferencing systems.
Read the Press Release at
https://blog.hamstudy.org/2020/04/fully-remote-amateur-radio-license-exam-administration/ […]
10 of the best music radio stations around the world (The Guardian)
Thousands of radio DJs are employed around the globe to play Anglophone pop and rock. If there’s such a thing as “world music” to them, it’s REM and Queen.
But there are many more radio stations around the world that play music from their own cultures, past and present, mainstream and marginal. When it comes to virtual travel, music is arguably the easiest and most enjoyable way to transport your brain out of Covidland to places you’ve visited – or plan to – in person.
The net is pretty chaotic, with dozens of aggregators and formats. But here are 10 soundscapes to explore. Turn up the volume to Mexican cantina level.[…]
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Headline for the top-of-article picture: “Sauron Goes High-Tech in His New Stronghold.” Not suggesting in any way that 5G is the doings of some dark wizard, but that picture is kind of creepy.
Anyway, as always, good content. Especially the article on the best music stations. Thanks Thomas.
I have heard alot of hype over 5G, good and bad. I tend to be overly cautious myself before trusting new things but from what i understand, the 5G stands for fifthe generation, not gigahertz, and the carrier wavelengths vary as to the available frequencies, depending on country and mobile network.
One reason we’ve been having all the TV channel repacks is for these airwaves to be auctioned off for new uses. Wouldn’t that mean UHF frequencies are some of those to be used for 5G?
The reason why 5G does not use UHF is because the antenna sizes required and the bandwidth available aren’t practical. Millimeter Wave spectrum is pretty much wide open and steerable phased array antenna systems are practical. There is also significantly more bandwidth available for sending data faster. The 5G technology takes cell concepts another step forward by steering a focused antenna beam to and from your phone to follow you around from various sites. This assures you higher data rates.
What creeps me out about 5G is that there are already venture capitalists (I’ve met them) salivating over getting the location data from the cell sites. For 5G to work properly it needs to know exactly where you are within a few centimeters. It can even be used to infer where you’re facing. This is creepy. Not only would it be able to detect the fact that you’re in the doctor’s office, but it can even infer which doctor you’re seeing.
That is why, despite the admonitions from the FCC against selling that 5G location data, there are many dirtbags waiting in the wings with piles of cash for phone location information. I don’t feel like sharing my life that much, and I suspect that many other people aren’t too crazy about it either.
Dear Guardian: Spotify playlists are not radio stations.
Radio No. 1, aka Radio Africa, is sitting right there waiting to be listened to. If you can’t find a station on an entire continent to hear, try again.
If you want to dip your toes into an ocean of insanity go to Youtube and search for “5G covid or corona”. You will find out that 5G caused bats to create the virus somehow. But the madness goes way beyond that. There are also people saying it causes cancer and untold things. And there is a vast conspiracy putting the towers up after dark without asking permission of the living people nearby. Also a number of people talk about burning them down. I reported a lot of the videos to Youtube saying they were promoting terrorism and some are gone now but they keep popping up. There are a lot of fraudulent products promising to protect you from 5G signals on Youtube also. The lack of any basic scientific knowledge or common sense there is appalling. Take a look but you were warned.