Monthly Archives: February 2022

FTIOM & UBMP Farewell to Europe Marathon March 8


Farewell To Europe Special Marathon
Channel 292, 6070 kHz
March 8, 0800-2400 CET (0700-2300 UTC)

From “Uncle Bill” Tilford, producer and host of From the Isle of Music and Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot:
Personal financial circumstances beyond my control recently made it necessary for me to discontinue broadcasts of my programs from stations in Europe, and Channel 292 has made the wonderful gesture of throwing us a going-away party – a 16 hour marathon of some of our favorite From the Isle of Music and Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot episodes on 6070 kHz on March 8 from 0800-2400 CET (0700-2300 UTC).   Working with the station and interacting with its listeners  has been a joy these past few years,  and I am deeply humbled by this act of generosity.  I hope to be able to return to broadcasting from Europe some day.  In the meantime, I have personally selected some favorite episodes of both shows from the past few years for this special event.   Let us make the most of  this bittersweet moment. 
– “Uncle Bill” Tilford

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Radio Waves: Virtual Winter SWL Fest March 4-5, 2022, SDRplay Updates, Contact with Ukraine Radio Ops, and Hams in Poland Provide WinLink Options

David Goren (left) and Richard Cuff (right) during the Shindig live broadcast at the Winter SWL Fest.

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!


Winter SWL Fest: March 4-5, 2022, Online using the Zoom webinar platform

The Winter SWL Fest is a conference of radio hobbyists of all stripes, from DC to daylight. Historically, every year scores of hobbyists have descended on the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania suburbs for a weekend of camaraderie. The Fest is sponsored by NASWA, the North American Shortwave Association, but it covers much more than just shortwave; mediumwave (AM), scanning, satellite TV, and pirate broadcasting are among the other topics that the Fest covers. Whether you’ve been to every Fest (all 34, starting with the first year at the fabled Pink & Purple Room of the Fiesta Motor Inn) or this year’s will be your first, you’re sure to find a welcome from your fellow hobbyists, even if it’s a “virtual” welcome!.

In 2022, the 35th Annual (!!) Winter SWL Fest will again be going virtual courtesy of the Covid-19 pandemic.  All activities will be conducted online via the Zoom webinar platform.

Registration will be $10 per computer screen to defray the Zoom hosting expenses.  If you already have a PayPal ID you can simply send $10 from your account to swlfest [at] naswa.net.  If you aren’t a PayPal member you may also register online via PayPal here.  Paper registrations will not be processed for 2022.

Your hosts, Richard Cuff and John Figliozzi, work throughout the year to ensure that attendees have a great time over the weekend, and by all accounts, they succeed stunningly. How else could this event have lasted for 35 years (egad) — even with a Pandemic — and draw people from around the world to southeastern Pennsylvania? Won’t you join us?

Click here to join the 2022 Winter SWL Fest!

SDRplay Updates on Hardware Shortages (RTL-SDR Blog)

As we all know many electronic components are currently in shortage, and this global shortage is affecting some SDR manufacturers like SDRplay. Recently on their blog SDRplay have provided some updates on their hardware shortage situation. They write:

As we have mentioned before,  due to the worldwide shortage of electronic components, we are suffering from production delays at both our manufacturing subcontractor operations here in the UK.  This means that many of our resellers have completely run out of RSP1A and RSPdx devices.

However we are pleased to say that this week, we have  been able to build some additional units.  This means that by the end of next week (February 25th), our resellers should have more stocks of RSP1A and RSPdx.   More RSPduos are promised for mid to late March.

It is highly likely that even after the latest production runs are delivered, some of our resellers will run out again in the weeks ahead.  Meanwhile we are working to do all we can to secure more critical components for our manufacturers. This includes tweaks to the designs so that they can accommodate alternative more readily available parts.

Many thanks to customers who have been left waiting to buy, and to our resellers for your patience as we navigate though this situation.

A list of our authorised resellers can be found here: https://www.sdrplay.com/distributors/

[Read this full post on the RTL-SDR Blog…]

Meet the Jersey man using his radio set to make contact with people in Ukraine (Southgate ARC)

A man in Jersey is using amateur radio equipment to make contact with people caught up in the fighting in Ukraine.

Paul Mahrer spoke to more than 1,700 Ukrainian radio operators last year, but says all communication has been lost since the country declared martial law. Continue reading

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The Cipher Machines and Cryptology website has moved to a new location

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dirk Rijmenants, who shares the following update:

Dear cryptography enthusiasts,

The Cipher Machines and Cryptology website moved to a new location!

Since you visited our website, contacted me, read about cryptography,
downloaded the various simulators or participated in some the challenges, I
would like to inform you that the entire website moved to the new address
www.ciphermachinesandcryptology.com. The website now also supports
hppts (SSL/TLS) so that you can visit us secure and anonymous.

If you want to stay in contact, then please visit the new website and add
the link to your favorites or bookmarks. I chose to inform you before the
old domain is terminated permanently because it takes a while before Google
indexes new website, and Google search results might still send you to the
old obsolete address for a whole.

If my website is linked on your website, then I’ be most grateful if you
adjust that link to the new website. Of course, you can also share the new
website with your friends and on social media. Spread the word! The more we
share it, the sooner search engines find it ;-]

The reason for the change of server and domain is due to the old provider
decided stopping all their user web spaces. More about the move is found on
our latest blog post.

My apologies for any inconvenience.

Dirk Rijmenants

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Ukraine: BBC adds two shortwave broadcasts, NEXUS adds MW service

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Borgnino (@aborgnino), who notes:

On shortwave, the BBC is adding 2 shortwave broadcasts to Ukraine on 5875 kHz from 8/10 UTC and on 15735 kHz from 2/4 UTC.

On medium wave, NEXUS- of Milan in Italy on 1323 kHz and proposes broadcasting for Eastern countries from 7/11 p.m. CET

Thank you for sharing this, Andrea.

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WRMI Resumes Broadcasts of Radio Ukraine International

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following news from WRMI:

WRMI Resumes Broadcasts of Radio Ukraine International

Due to the increased interest in the current situation in Ukraine, WRMI has resumed its relays of the daily English language broadcast of Radio Ukraine International, the official overseas service of Ukrainian Radio. RUI can be heard daily, except Friday, at 1200-1230 UTC on 5010 kHz.

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