Monthly Archives: March 2025

Polish Radio’s External Service Celebrated 89 Years

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following news:

Polish Radio’s External Service marks 89 years on air (Polskie Radio)

Public broadcaster Polish Radio’s External Service is celebrating its 89th anniversary on the air.

The station, launched on March 1, 1936, is part of Poland’s public radio network.

It broadcasts programmes on developments in Poland and the wider region, Polish foreign policy, the economy, business and foreign investment.

Polish Radio’s External Service, or Polskie Radio dla Zagranicy, aims to provide objective and impartial information about Poland and the country’s stance on international affairs. [Continue reading…]

 

A New Eye on the Sun: CCOR-1 and the Future of Solar Weather Monitoring

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jake Brodsky (AB3A), who writes:

One of the key instruments for predicting when solar weather events will
arrive here at Earth is the Chronograph. And one of the most widely used
Coronagraphs is the LASCO instrument onboard the SOHO spacecraft at
Lagrange Point 1 (L1). This is a place where the spacecraft orbits L1 in
a halo fashion, just like the James Webb Space Telescope at L2. The
advantage of L1 is that it gets a mostly uninterrupted view of the sun.

SOHO was designed for a two year mission. And here we are nearly 30
years later and the spacecraft is still working. However, the solar
panels have degraded over that time, the gyros are no longer working,
and though the spacecraft has lots of fuel, it is running on borrowed time.

The older LASCO C2 and C3 coronagraph images are amazing, considering
that they’re 30 year old technology. Still, after 30 years we can do
better.

Enter CCOR, or the Compact Coronagraph. The scientists at Naval Research
Lab decided to see what they could do to improve on LASCO. The result
was CCOR-1. CCOR-1 was launched on GOES-U which, upon arriving on
station in Geostationary Orbit, became GOES 19.

Since it arrived on station last July, I’ve been waiting patiently for
the images from the new coronagraph to become available. It’s taken some
time and it won’t be officially available until April. However, you can
see what it looks like under the “experimental” instruments on NOAA’s
web page.

See https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/ccor-1-coronagraph-experimental

Unlike the LASCO instrument onboard SOHO at L1, Geostationary orbit
doesn’t offer an uninterrupted view of the sun. Often you’ll see the
moon photobombing its way through the image. And there are times when
the Earth may block the view of the sun. However, CCOR-1 reports
reliably every 15 minutes, whereas LASCO images can be delayed for many
hours until the SOHO spacecraft antenna points back at Earth.

When the CCOR-1 data is ready for scientific use, it will become an
important backup for the aging SOHO spacecraft. Also note that NOAA is
planning to launch a new replacement for SOHO at L1 called the Space
Weather Follow On to L1 or SWFO.

Solar weather is critical for many uses, besides just shortwave radio.
These include predicting degraded GPS accuracy, Satellite Operations,
Power Grid Operations, and in extreme cases, even alerting pilots of
excessive radiation risks when flying in the vicinity of the North and
South poles.

Have a look at the CCOR-1 images. It is much better at illuminating the
corona of the Sun, though it does have limitations based upon where it
is located.

73,

Jake Brodsky,
Amateur Radio Station AB3A

Solar Ham Logo

Solar Ham Website News

A website I have used (and supported) regularly for the last 18 years is currently off-line, taking, according to the site’s founder, “an extended break” for the foreseeable future. The SolarHam.com site, operated by Kevin Gibeau, VE3EN, has been an amazing resource for solar weather news for amateur radio folks, astronomers, and, I suspect, hobbyists and professionals from many fields.

I, like many others, will miss the site, and wish Kevin well, and look for his (hopefully soon!) return.

Here is the note posted today on the Solar Ham Space Weather Website:

After 19 years SolarHam will be taking an extended break. The current world events and life in general has made me want to refocus my attention on what matters most, my daughter, my family and my health. Thank you all for the support over the past two decades, I really cannot thank you enough. Space Weather will always remain a passion of mine, but as of right now my heart is not fully committed and that is not fair to you my followers. I hope to return once I feel well enough. Sorry for the sudden departure and I hope you understand.
Kevin (SolarHam).

Robert, K4PKM

Don Moore’s Photo Album:  Guatemala (Part Three)- Guatemala City Continued

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Don Moore–noted author, traveler, and DXer–for the latest installment of his Photo Album guest post series:


Photo Source: Dennis Sylvester Hurd via Wikimedia Commons

Don Moore’s Photo Album:
Guatemala (Part Three) – Guatemala City continued

by Don Moore

More of Don’s traveling DX stories can be found in his book Tales of a Vagabond DXer [SWLing Post affiliate link]. If you’ve already read his book and enjoyed it, do Don a favor and leave a review on Amazon.

When I started DXing in 1971, and for several decades afterwards, the most widely logged Guatemalan shortwave station by DXers was Radio Cultural on 3300 kHz. It was also known as TGNA, the call letters of that 90-meter-band frequency. The medium wave outlet on 730 kHz was TGN. The station also used 5955 kHz and 9505 kHz, but those frequencies were always harder to hear because of interference from more powerful international broadcasters.

Back then this Evangelical broadcaster was owned and operated by the Central American Mission of Dallas, Texas, but only received a portion of its funding from the CAM. Additional funding came from local donations in Guatemala and another important source was selling time to American Evangelical preachers to air their prerecorded English language religious programs. These programs were broadcast late at night, when propagation into North America and Europe was best, and were always preceded by an English station identification. That made it an easier log for DXers who didn’t understand Spanish.

TGNA was the station I most wanted to visit when I arrived in Guatemala City in June 1983. But Guatemala DX Club members informed me that the station had been temporarily closed down because of “philosophical disagreements” with the government. They were off the air and would remain so for several weeks. I made four more visits to Guatemala City over the next year but somehow never found the time to visit the station. It wasn’t until my visit in December 1987 that I finally stepped inside their front door. That visit became the subject of the first article I wrote for Monitoring Times magazine in June 1988.

Wayne Berger, station manager and chief engineer, and missionary Bob Rice gave us a very long tour of the station. Wayne and Bob had built or rebuilt most of the station’s technical equipment and even some of the infrastructure. On the day we arrived they were welding a broken door back on its hinges. Wayne had built the 3300 kHz transmitter, shown in the next picture, out of spare parts.

Main studio control room at TGNA in 1987.

At the time of my visit, TGNA had two pennants. The larger one was mostly reserved for local listeners. The smaller one was sometimes included with QSLs to lucky DXers.

But neither of those compared with these traditional handmade weavings given by listeners for the station’s 37th anniversary in August, 1987. (I just wish my color photos had survived.)

English ID from Radio Cultural, 3300 kHz, as heard in Pennsylvania 23 November 1979 at 0427 UTC:

Audio Player

Radio Cultural, 3300 kHz, as heard in Michigan 23 March 1989 at 1101 UTC:

Audio Player

Easter in Guatemala

Of all the things I’ve seen in my travels, the Easter processions of Guatemala certainly rank near the top. I am fortunate to have been in Guatemala twice for the holiday, in 1982 and 1984, and I plan a return trip in the next few years. Processions take place all over Guatemala during Easter week, but the most elaborate take place on Easter Thursday and Good Friday in Guatemala City and, especially, in Antigua, the old capital twenty kilometers to the west. There are several processions both days in each city and each procession takes several hours. Continue reading

Carlos’ Illustrated Radio Listening Reports and Recordings of NHK World and Radio Ciudad (February 28, 2025)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares illustrated radio listening report of recent NHK World and Radio Ciudad broadcasts.


NHK World

Click here to view on YouTube.

Radio Ciudad

Click here to view on YouTube.

Short: RaNi Music/Radio Nikkei 2