Radio Taboo FM in rural Cameroon

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!

Why UNESCO Believes in Radio (Red Tech)

Chief, Media Development and Media and Information Literacy at UNESCO Mirta Lourenço shares insight on radio’s evolution and challenges. She explains how the international organization is working to support radio stations around the world to ensure they’re able to accomplish their crucial mission.

RedTech: How do you view the role of radio in our society?

Mirta Lourenço: Thanks to radio, we benefit from many essential public services that we seldom reflect on. These include global positioning systems, satellite navigation, environmental monitoring, intelligent transport systems, space research, etc. Radio broadcasts offer information and the possibility for people to participate, regardless of their literacy levels and socio-economic situation.

The medium is also especially suited for multilingualism. Audiences may need to hear programs in their primary language, particularly if said language is local and endangered, or in the case of refugee radio or isolated communities. Also, when literacy levels are low, local languages are crucial to the populations’ access to information, as radio constitutes the main source for reliable journalism. History has shown us that radio is the most effective emergency communication system and in organizing disaster response.

All this does not mean that radio broadcasting is free from challenges. Radio’s challenges, in general, are more about the independence of public, private and non-profit radio stations so that they can continue to be channels for dialogue and be free from official or commercial interests, and about the diversity of editorial content and program types, reflecting the variety of the audiences and the increased multi-culturalism in societies. Part of the issue lies in the representation in the newsrooms. One other challenge is the diversity of format. Radio stations have been increasingly good at listeners’ participation in the broadcasts, but they have a bit of difficulty in allowing listeners to participate in the editorial process and programming.

For governments, the challenge could be to achieve pluralism in radio – a mix of public, private and community broadcasters. Also, in view of the growing demand for mobile and related communications, the management of the radio-frequency spectrum is, or should be, a critical concern since it is a finite resource. Immediate access to radio frequencies is essential to save lives — frequencies must be protected in disaster situations.[Continue reading…]

With Reciva Dead, Internet Radio Manufacturers Manage the Fallout (Radio World)

Discounted upgrades, supporting multiple sources help to avoid a repeat of this problem

The impact of Qualcomm shutting down its Reciva internet radio aggregation platform earlier this year continues to reverberate through the internet radio manufacturing industry. The loss of this platform means Reciva-enabled internet radios can no longer connect to audio streams on the web — rendering them effectively useless.

Sangean Electronics is one of the manufacturers left stranded by the Reciva shutdown.

“The official date was April 30, 2021,” Sangean Marketing Director Andrew Wu said. “The response we got [from Qualcomm] was, ‘We have decided to withdraw this discretionary service, for business reasons. We wish you well in finding alternative solutions’.”

“It’s not the first internet radio platform to shut down,” said Wu. “But it is the first time for a supplier to not offer any viable solutions.”

“The shutdown was difficult on both the brands and customers who used Reciva-based devices,” said Greg Fadul, CEO and cofounder of Grace Digital, another internet radio manufacturer. “For Grace Digital, it’s been very difficult. We are a family-run business and we were partners and friends with the Reciva team. However, over the years Reciva was sold twice and the companies that acquired them decided that they would no longer support the legacy servers.”[Continue reading…]

“Radio Helped Make Me at Home in Texas” (Wall Street Journal, 18 Nov 2021)

Dayton Hamvention is a ‘Go’ (Southgate ARC)

Dayton Hamvention 2022 is not just going to be a premier hamfest but a reunion, as organizers prepare for the first gathering at the Xenia Fairground and Expo Center in Ohio after two years of cancellations.

Hamvention’s general chairman Rick Allnut WS8G said in a phone interview that committees have been meeting and volunteers are committed to making up for the time lost to pandemic cancellations.

Hamvention will be happening on Friday May 20th through Sunday May 22nd with an international reception scheduled on Thursday May 19th. Rick said the registration site is already taking bookings from vendors and inside exhibitors and individual visitors can already buy their tickets. All details are available on the hamvention.org website.

RIck said: “Tickets are all printed and ready to go.”

https://hamvention.org/

No regrets! Pandemic purchases that made us happy (BBC News)

Lockdown was an isolating experience for many people, but for John Emery it was an amazing opportunity to make new friends nearby and overseas.

The maintenance engineer has always had an interest in amateur radio, but pandemic restrictions actually gave him the chance to fully embrace his hobby.

He was able to save enough money to afford the equipment needed. With radio exams forced to move online, he also had the time to get fully qualified.

He says he has since joined a radio club and regularly speaks to other amateur radio enthusiasts across Europe.

“I have made new friends,” the 55-year-old from Derbyshire says. “This helped with living alone and there are hundreds of people who have done the same.”[Continue reading…]