Monthly Archives: September 2020

September radio news items from Hungary

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balazs Kovacs, who shares the following headlines from Hungary:

Some Hungarian radio news from September, FM / online / DAB+

FM: The last independent radio station could be forced off airwaves
https://ipi.media/hungarys-last-independent-radio-station-could-be-forced-off-airwaves/

Online: RFE/RL Relaunches Operations In Hungary
https://www.rferl.org/a/rfe-rl-relaunches-operations-in-hungary-amid-drop-in-media-freedom/30826537.html

DAB+: all DAB+ broadcasts in Hungary ceased (by 5th September)
https://www.worlddab.org/countries/hungary
(remark: it was always only a test broadcast with a few stations and only in Budapest)

A lot going on in Hungary! Thank you, Balazs!

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Faulty TV to blame for 18 month broadband outage

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jeremy, who–in light of our recent discussions about RFI–shares the following news item from the BBC:

The mystery of why an entire village lost its broadband every morning at 7am was solved when engineers discovered an old television was to blame.

An unnamed householder in Aberhosan, Powys, was unaware the old set would emit a signal which would interfere with the entire village’s broadband.

After 18 months engineers began an investigation after a cable replacement programme failed to fix the issue.

The embarrassed householder promised not to use the television again.

The village now has a stable broadband signal.

Openreach engineers were baffled by the continuous problem and it wasn’t until they used a monitoring device that they found the fault.

[…]”Our device picked up a large burst of electrical interference in the village.

“It turned out that at 7am every morning the occupant would switch on their old TV which would, in turn, knock out broadband for the entire village.”

The TV was found to be emitting a single high-level impulse noise (SHINE), which causes electrical interference in other devices.

Mr Jones said the problem has not returned since the fault was identified.[…]

Click here to read the full story at the BBC.

Thank you for sharing this, Jeremy. I can guarantee that if the TV was emitting enough noise to interfere with broadband, it likely also affected the HF, MW, and LW radio bands!

What baffles me is the amount of time it took for the engineers to track down the source in such a small community. A skilled RFI engineer would have likely discovered what was causing the noise by looking at the spectrum analyzer–quite often the signal shape and frequency are indicators. In addition, a little signal “fox hunting” could have proven useful. With that said, noises aren’t always easy to locate and can travel along unexpected paths.

I certainly don’t blame the resident for remaining anonymous!

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Guest Post: Spanish TV series “El Ministerio del Tiempo” prominently features Arganda del Rey transmitter site

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood (K7OU), who shares the following guest post:

Arganda del Rey Transmitter Building

SWLing.com now takes “Spot the shortwave radio set in the movie or show” to new heights –

“Spot the shortwave radio station in the TV series”

The former Radio Exterior de España (REE) shortwave transmitter site at Arganda del Rey forms the backdrop for the fourth season of the hit Spanish TV series “El Ministerio del Tiempo” (the Ministry of Time). The show’s premise – unlike today’s superpowers with their high-tech kinetic weaponry, Spain’s 21st century advantage lies in the nation’s time-traveling skills.

Grand Entrance looking down on actor

The show’s producers tip their hat to the “Centro Emisor de Onda Corta” facility as the Ministry of Time’s “headquarters” relocates this season to this historic broadcast complex. The large engineering library, old shortwave transmitters, electric rectification hardware and even antenna field form a ready-made stage.

Power rectification units

Up into the early 1990’s Arganda del Rey served as a shortwave and medium wave site. When all the shortwave services finally migrated over to Noblejas (40 km SE) the Arganda del Rey center continued as the long-standing medium wave location for Radio Nacional de España’s Radio 1 (585 kHz 600kw) and Radio 5 (657 kHz 50kw). Arganda is now completely inactive with the last transmissions being DRM tests on 1359 kHz with 10 kilowatts. The facility was replaced by Madrid’s Majadahonda site.

Ministerio de Tiempo viewers first get a hint of the radio connection as the character “Alonso de Entrerríos“ (played by José Ignacio “Nacho” Fresneda García) drives towards the new headquarters. In the background we see the old Radio 5 antenna array. As the character Alonso approaches the building he looks up and sees the historic “Radio Nacional de España” lettering above the building entrance thus confirming the “Headquarters” original purpose.

Cross Dipole Antenna

A DXer might mistake the Radio 5 array for a shortwave NVIS antenna but instead it is a rare medium-wave cross-dipole arrangement; it was also this antenna that RTVE used for the DRM tests. The only remaining shortwave antennae at Arganda del Rey are some abandoned log-periodics which support a growing stork colony.

Satellite TVRO hobbyists also may recognize the “Arganda del Rey” municipality. HISPASAT has established its main uplink facility in a nearby industrial park in this same Madrid suburb.

Radio textbooks and HF transmitter in background…

Many thanks to DXer Pedro Sedano, General Coordinator of the Asociación Española de Radioescuchas (aer.org.es), for confirming the complete abandonment of Arganda del Rey from an RF-perspective. Also contributing is Ulis Fleming, K3LU, who several months earlier identified a NO-DO newsreel that helped tie the pieces together.

Links

An English-language description of the facility is here:

https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/centro-emisor-onda-corta-rne-arganda-rey

“ Located on the Chinchón road, alongside the Arganda Bridge, this former Radio Nacional de España building, opened in 1954, is today popular for being the new headquarters of The Ministry of Time in its fourth season, the successful TVE series, as well as having appeared in other productions, such as a post office in Velvet Collection (Movistar +), and as the Medical Research Centre in La Valla (Antena 3).”

“The building, now abandoned, forms part of a set of buildings located on both sides of the road in which RNE had the headquarters of the medium and short-wave radio stations, houses and warehouses, whereby the most representative is this monumental property that was home to the short-wave radio station. “

“The building was designed by the architect, Diego Méndez, following the guidelines of classic architecture from the Franco era. Inside, the entrance hall stands out, a square room decorated with polychromatic marbles, presided by an impressive staircase with two flights of stairs, which is also in marble. On the first floor, there is all of the machinery for generating the necessary voltage and current for the short-wave transmitters, and the third floor has a library with important telecommunications books and articles.”

LAT-LON: 40°18’47.09″N 3°30’34.95″W

Show Wikipedia URL (in English):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_ministerio_del_tiempo

Additional URLs (all in Spanish)

Series Website: https://www.rtve.es/television/ministerio-del-tiempo/
A “NO-DO” newsreel showing the 1954 inauguration of two 100-kw shortwave transmitters and the building interior in context. https://www.rtve.es/filmoteca/no-do/not-604/1481595/
Site overview with links to a four-part video tour. https://historiatelefonia.com/2019/07/12/centro-emisor-de-onda-corta-radio-nacional-de-espana-en-arganda-del-rey/
RTVE publicity photos showing building and interior set (with shortwave transmitter in background) https://www.panoramaaudiovisual.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/MdT_EdificioRNE_DavidHerranz.jpg https://www.panoramaaudiovisual.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/MdT_RNE-archivo1_DavidHerranz.jpg
RTVE press release about the Centro Emisor https://www.rtve.es/rtve/20200401/ministerio-del-tiempo-rueda-integramente-escenarios-naturales-su-cuarta-temporada/2010843.shtml
Site Description (Historic) with Interior/Exterior Views http://archivo.ayto-arganda.es/patrimonio/fp.aspx?id=23
http://archivo.ayto-arganda.es/patrimonio/BusquedaPatrimonio.aspx?id=23#

— Tracy Wood (K7OU)

Thank you so much, Tracy, for putting this post together!

Now I wish my Spanish comprehension was better as I’d love to watch this show–sounds like a fascinating story line! And the transmitter site is pure radio eye candy! Brilliant!

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Post-storm power outage leads Emilio to find the RFI-spewing source of his problems

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Many thanks to SWling Post contributor, Emilio Ruiz, who shares the following guest post:

Apprehending an RFI-generating monster!

At the beginning of the year, I was sad because, at home, an awful RFI noise appeared. The next few months the noise increase until S9!!. Day and night my receivers and my feelings were so dampened with this terrific RFI–only the lower Broadcast Band (900 to 540 Khz) was relatively immune to it.

Yesterday, we had a storm and the mains electricity service went off, so I connect a 12 volt battery to my RT-749b military surplus transceiver and the received signals were very clean like the “good old days”.

(Above: Listen W1AW loong distant from my QTH in Chiapas Mexico).

When the power electricity come back on, so did the RFI too!!

(Above: W1AW gone)

Remembering the recently publish post in SWLing Post about RFI, I did some testing by
cutting the electricity to my home (the main switch) and the RFI was gone!! So I discovered the RFI lives in my house–not in the outside wires!!

I put batteries in my old shortwave portable radio and searched (like Ghostbusters) all outlets contacts, one by one, connect and disconnected each device.

And I found the guilty party!

Exhibit A: The Mitzu laptop power supply

On December 2019, the power supply of my son’s laptop broke, so I bought a cheap substitute.

The RFI produced by this little monster could be heard at a distance of about 200 meters from my QTH!!! (Much like an old transmitter spark gap–!)

Even this cheap power supply apparently featured ferrite toroids on the wire but turns out it is fake!! It was only a plastic ball!

Exhibit B: Fake toroids!

The wires were also not shielded. No doubt one of the worst switched-mode power supplies I could have purchased.

Exhibit C: The Mitzu RFI generator wire without shield, only pair wires!

I found a old Acer power supply with same specs and I replaced out the RFI monster one.

And now? The shortwave bands are clean again.

(Video: Testing my Kenwood R-600 rx with Radio Exterior de España… plugging and unplug the Mitzu monster RFI generator).

So I wanted to share what happened to me, so perhaps it can be useful for other SWLing Post blog friends.

Watch these little switched mode power supplies from all devices in your home. Replace them if you detect RFI levels that harms SWLing. Consider disconnect all devices (vampire consumption–or phantom loads) if not in use; the radio waves and electric bill will be grateful to you!

WOW! What a difference! Emilio, that was great investigative work on your part. It’s as if that switching power supply was specifically designed to create RFI! No shield and fake toroids? That’s just criminal in my world!

Thank you so much for sharing your story. Hopefully, this might encourage others to investigate and apprehend their own local RFI monsters!

(And by the way, Emilio, I love that RT-749b military transceiver!)

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Radio Waves: A “Calm” Solar Cycle 25, WWJ History, Czech Radio’s Digital-Only Future, and UK Ham Radio Exam Stats

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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 Ron, Mike, and the Southgate ARC for the following tips:

As Disasters Roil Earth, A New Sun Cycle Promises Calmer Weather — In Space (NPR)

Giant flares and eruptions from the sun can cause space weather, and stormy space weather can interfere with everything from satellites to the electrical grid to airplane communications. Now, though, there’s good news for people who monitor the phenomenon — the sun has passed from one of its 11-year activity cycles into another, and scientists predict that the new cycle should be just about as calm as the last.

That doesn’t mean, however, zero risk of extreme weather events. Even during the last, relatively weak solar cycle, drama on the sun triggered occasional weirdness on Earth like radio blackouts, disruptions in air traffic control, power outages — and even beautiful aurorae seen as far south as Alabama.

Over each solar cycle, the roiling sun moves from a relatively quiet period through a much more active one. Researchers monitor all this activity by keeping an eye on the number of sunspots, temporary dark patches on the sun’s surface. These spots are associated with solar activity like giant explosions that send light, energy, and solar material into space.

Counting of sunspots goes back centuries, and the list of numbered solar cycles tracked by scientists starts with one that began in 1755 and ended in 1766. On average, cycles last about 11 years.

Based on recent sunspot data, researchers can now say that so-called “Solar Cycle 24” came to an end in December of 2019. Solar Cycle 25 has officially begun, with the number of sun spots slowly but steadily increasing.[…]

WWJ in Detroit: A 2020 Centennial Station (Radio World)

Iconic AM station just celebrated the 100th anniversary of its first broadcast

It was shortly after World War I that Clarence Thompson, a partner of Lee de Forest, formed a new company Radio News & Music Inc. in New York. His goal was to encourage newspapers to broadcast their news reports by wireless, using de Forest transmitters.

The franchise offer — available to only one newspaper in each city — offered the rental of a de Forest 50-watt transmitter and accessories for $750. Just one newspaper signed up for the deal; it was the Detroit News, led by publisher William E. Scripps.

He had been interested in wireless since investing in Detroit experimenter Thomas E. Clark’s wireless company in 1904. Scripp’s son, William J. “Little Bill,” was an active ham radio operator, operating a station in the Scripps home.

People Might Laugh

Scripp proposed accepting the Radio News & Music offer and building a Detroit News radio station in 1919, but he met resistance from his board of directors. It was not until March of 1920 that he was given the go-ahead to sign a contract.

The de Forest transmitter was shipped to Detroit on May 28, 1920, but was lost in transit; a second transmitter was constructed and sent on July 15. This delayed the installation of the station until August.[…]

Czech Radio has expanded DAB + coverage to 95 percent of the population and announced the switch-off of medium waves (Digitalni Radio)

NOTE: This is a machine translation of the original post in Czech.

Czech Radio has entered another, important phase of radio digitization. To date, the ?Ro DAB + multiplex signal has reached 95% population coverage. Ten new transmitters were launched in Bohemia and Moravia. You can find a detailed description of them below.

DAB + technology is becoming a common distribution channel for Czech Radio, which will be placed on the same level as analogue FM / FM broadcasting. All marketing activities will already include the “DAB + More Radio” logo. ?eské Radiokomunikace is planning to start certification of receivers next year in order to protect customers and facilitate orientation in the range for them and retailers.

According to the CEO of Czech Radio, René Zavoral, the public service media is proceeding in accordance with a long-term strategic plan. The head of communication and press spokesman Ji?í Hošna describes the step as a turning point that can affect the direction of the entire radio market.[…]

UK amateur radio exam report released (Southgate ARC)

The RSGB Examinations Standards Committee (ESC) report covering 2019 is now available for anyone to download

The report contains statistics for the both the RSGB amateur radio exams and the Air Cadets Organisation (ACO) exam which Ofcom considers to be equivalent to the RSGB Foundation.

Ofcom has been concerned about the participation of women in amateur radio and STEM disciplines. They requested the ESC to publish figures for the number of women taking the exams. Unfortunately the results are disappointing with only 9.9% of all exams being taken by women.

Download the ESC report from
https://rsgb.org/main/blog/examination-standards-committee-reports/2020/09/18/examinations-standards-committee-report-2020-for-activities-during-2019/

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NASA Video: The Solar Cycle as seen from space

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave (K4SV), who shares this video courtesy of NASA Goddard:

The Sun is stirring from its latest slumber. As sunspots and flares, signs of a new solar cycle, bubble from the Sun’s surface, scientists are anticipating a flurry of solar activity over the next few years. Roughly every 11 years, at the height of this cycle, the Sun’s magnetic poles flip — on Earth, that’d be like the North and South Poles’ swapping places every decade — and the Sun transitions from sluggish to active and stormy. At its quietest, the Sun is at solar minimum; during solar maximum, the Sun blazes with bright flares and solar eruptions. In this video, view the Sun’s disk from our space telescopes as it transitions from minimum to maximum in the solar cycle.

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing, Dave!

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Sangean SR-36: Paul discovers the basic AM/FM DSP receiver

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

This seems to be a new basic radio from Sangean:

Click here to view on Amazon (affiliate link supports the SWLing Post)

I’m not sure a radio could get more basic than this one: AA batteries, one volume control, one tuning control, built-in speaker, and a headphones jack.

Thanks for sharing, Paul!

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