Monthly Archives: January 2023

Radio Waves: Shively Labs Broadcast Antennas, Fedora SWL, F-150 Lightning AM, and Young Listeners on the Decline

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

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 contributor Dennis Dura for the following tips:

Public radio engineers await fate of major antenna maker (Current)

The potential sale of one of the country’s only major manufacturers of high-power FM broadcast antennas is causing concern among public radio engineers who have long depended on the company for challenging projects such as directional antennas and multistation combiner systems.

Antennas and combiners made by Shively Labs carry the signals of many major stations, from Boston’s WBUR to Dallas’ KERA/KXT to Seattle’s KUOW. Shively’s headquarters in Maine boasts one of the few test ranges needed to fully prepare complex directional antenna systems for real-world performance.

Founded in 1963 by former RCA engineer Ed Shively, the company has been owned since 1980 by Howell Laboratories, an engineering firm that now has a wide range of product lines. Those include water purification systems, dehydrators and an increasing amount of contract work for the U.S. Navy.

While its military and commercial marine business has grown, broadcast antennas have become a smaller piece of the company’s portfolio, said Shively VP Angela Gillespie. [Continue reading…]

How to become a Shortwave listener (SWL) with Fedora Linux and Software Defined Radio (Fedora Magazine)

Catching signals from others is how we have started communicating as human beings. It all started, of course, with our vocal cords. Then we moved to smoke signals for long-distance communication. At some point, we discovered radio waves and are still using them for contact. This article will describe how you can tune in using Fedora Linux and an SDR dongle.

My journey

I got interested in radio communication as a hobby when I was a kid, while my local club, LZ2KRS, was still a thing. I was so excited to be able to listen and communicate with people worldwide. It opened a whole new world for me. I was living in a communist country back then and this was a way to escape just for a bit. It also taught me about ethics and technology.

Year after year my hobby grew and now, in the Internet era with all the cool devices you can use, it’s getting even more exciting. So I want to show you how to do it with Fedora Linux and a hardware dongle. [Continue reading…]

Did AM Radio Just Get Hit By “Lightning”? (Radio World)

There’s something missing from the newest F-150 Lightning truck

These days, the auto industry is as disrupted as broadcast radio. Like the radio companies – a group of independent operators, each moving down a different pathway – automakers are highly individual companies. Continue reading →

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Report and photos from first LRA 36 broadcast of the season

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adrian Korol, who shares the following announcement. Please note that this announcement has been machine translated–click here to read the original announcement in Spanish (PDF):

First Short Wave Emission of Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel Radio LRA 36 From the Esperanza Antarctic Base

Last Saturday, January 21, at 12:15 (15:15 UTC) Argentine time, the Antarctic shortwave radio station LRA 36 “Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel”, located at Base Esperanza, began the program “Uniendo Voces”, from the cycle 2023 summer special of the RAE service, Radio Argentina abroad POR 15476 kHz (usb)

The program was carried out by Juan C. Benavente, a member of the Joint Antarctic Command and a professor at the National University of Quilmes; Marcelo Ayala, a journalist from LRA 1 Radio Nacional Buenos Aires, and Principal Corporal Nicole Valdebenito in the technical operation, a member of the Antarctic staff of that Argentine base. The proposal and general coordination is in charge of the director of RAE, the journalist and host Adrián Korol, who for years has coordinated the annual broadcasts of LRA 36.

In this first program, the Antarctic Joint Commander, Brigadier General Edgar Fernando Calandín; the head of the Esperanza base and current director of LRA 36, Lieutenant Colonel Gustavo Cordero Scandolo. For his part, the director of RAE spoke by telephone on the air before the closing of the program, emphasizing the importance and international repercussions of these wave broadcasts.

The broadcast was followed by diexers, radio listeners and radio amateurs from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States, Spain, Germany, Japan, Ukraine, Belgium and France. Online SDR receivers (kiwisdr and websdr) in Latin America were active during the transmission with all their channels occupied and tuned almost entirely to the LRA36 frequency.

In addition, the Antarctic station LRA 36 is the only one that transmits on shortwave from Antarctica and also does so on FM for local coverage on the 96.7 MHz frequency, and on the Internet, from the site www.radionacional.com.ar/emisoras/Antarctica.

With the broadcast on Saturday, the start of the radio programming of the Special Summer Cycle is completed, which is part of the Antarctic Culture Agenda 2023 “Culture is Sovereignty”, an initiative for the sixth continent developed between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Defense, through the Joint Antarctic Command (COCOANTAR).

The other radio activities in the cycle include the broadcast of “Panorama de Noticias”, hosted by journalist Marcelo Ayala, which is broadcast on LRA 1 in Buenos Aires, and the activation of station LU1ZV from Base Esperanza on amateur radio bands.

The airing was in charge of Nicole Valdebenito and Esteban Romero, members of the Navy and Air Force respectively.

ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, a new 90-minute broadcast will be made on short wave on 15476 kHz (USB) at 12 local time (15 UTC) with repetition at 4 local time (19 UTC)

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Paul spots a Lafayette HE-30 in the film “Robbery”

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

Hi Thomas,

A few weeks ago, I watched the movie “Bullitt”, starring Steve
McQueen, and shot on-location in San Francisco. The centerpiece of
that movie was a thrilling car chase through San Francisco; McQueen
did a lot of the driving himself. The director was Peter Yates, who is
English. He went on to direct “Breaking Away”, every cyclist’s
favorite movie.

Yates had directed an earlier movie, “Robbery”, a fictionalized
account of the Great Train Robbery of 1963. I purchased the DVD, and
watched that one tonight. That movie also featured a harrowing car
chase, this time through London. After robbing the train, the crooks
hole up in the basement of an abandoned building on a Royal Air Force
airfield. To keep tabs on the cops, they’re monitoring the airwaves
with what appears to be a Lafayette HE-30.

I’ve attached a screenshot of the scene which shows the radio most
prominently (sorry, it’s a little fuzzy).

Here’s a description of the radio:
http://www.valveradio.net/radio/lafayette-he-30.html

What a beautiful radio! Thank you for sharing this, Paul. I’ve never seen Robbery, so I’m adding it to my watch list!

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Carlos’ Shortwave Art and recording of the Voice of Korea (January 22, 2023)

Dan notes a beautifully restored vintage Zenith in “Hunters”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

Following up on the item about the Grundig SAT 700 in a scene of Last of Us, the series “Hunters“, with Al Pacino, about Nazi hunters, featured a beautifully restored Zenith wood cabinet radio in the second to last of 8 episodes.

The Zenith is seen sitting between an elderly German couple who were helping to hide a Jewish family from the Nazis.

Hunters is an excellent, if sometimes hard to watch, series which brought Pacino back to TV. The scenes with the Zenith radio were almost as long as the one in Last of Us containing the Grundig 700.

What a gorgeous Zenith, Dan. Thank you for sharing this and your notes about Hunters.

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Even more Seeburg on shortwave

Balázs spots radios in “The Last of Us” Episode 1

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

Some radios from the first episode of the new post apocalyptic (video game adaptation) series “The Last of Us”.

with best regards,
Balazs

Great catch! Thank you for sharing this with us, Balázs! These images are pretty dark, but I bet some readers will be able to ID some of those radios in the background!

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