Author Archives: Thomas

“Medium wave’s sunset in Europe”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan, who shares the following article from Red Tech:

Medium wave’s sunset in Europe (Red Tech)

GENEVA — European medium-wave transmitters are going silent. On April 1, the BBC shut down the nine transmitters that had previously brought BBC Radio 4 in AM to the whole country. Since January 2018, the British public broadcaster has started to switch off the AM transmitters for its local stations. Looking ahead, it plans to abandon the band totally by 2027 at the latest.

This trend goes beyond the BBC. In the last years, British commercial broadcasters have also switched off AM transmitters. In the case of Bauer Media, not a single AM transmitter remains operational.

The United Kingdom is the last fortress of AM transmission in Europe. Over the last 15 years, many other countries disconnected their last AM transmitters — Austria (in 2008), Switzerland (2010), Ireland (2012), Germany (2015), Belarus (2016), Albania (2017) and Belgium (2018), to name a few. More than 20 European countries have ceased AM transmission. Across the continent, less than 100 AM services remain active.

Notwithstanding, AM still resists against all odds in markets such as Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain, among others. However, many big broadcasters still relying on this technology have often reduced their transmission power without receiving complaints from the audience. This is a strong signal about how the future may look like. [Continue reading…]

Amazon’s Prime Day: Radios and accessories on sale

Today is Amazon’s Prime Day and there are a number of radios and accessories at a heavier discount than they normally would be. I’ve been browsing this morning and made a list of some of the shortwave radio products included in the sale. Please note that the following links are Amazon affiliate links that also support the SWLing Post at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

There are actually many more models of shortwave radios (click here) and ham radio accessories (click here) in the sale today. I’ll try to add other items of interest today.

Carlos’ Shortwave Art from NHK and Radiofax via Kyodo News

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of a recent broadcast of NHK Japan.


Carlos notes:

Part of NHK news bulletin, in Japanese, about Trump assassination attempt.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Kyodo News Radiofax

[T]his is the radiofax I got today from Kyodo News, with two front pages dedicated to the assassination attempt. Click here for the original radiofax audio file.

Special QSL Card: RTI Direct from Tamsui July/August 2024

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gérard Koopal, who writes:

Dear Thomas,

See below for a schedule from RTI stating their direct transmissions/programs from Tamsui Taiwan in German starting this Friday [July 12].

Reports can be sent to: [email protected] or by post: Radio Taiwan International, German Service, P.O. Box 123-199, Taipei 11199, Taiwan.

They also state that there will also be programs in French from August 9 until September 1 on Saturday and Sunday on the same times and frequencies directly from Tamsui.

All reports will receive a special QSL card.

The following announcement from RTI was translated to English via Google Translate:

RTI Direct from Tamsui July/August 2024

Dear listeners,

Radio Taiwan International will once again be broadcasting German-language programs on several days this year directly from the Tamsui transmitter in Taiwan.

Broadcast dates and frequencies:
The broadcast times are given in UTC (CEST=UTC+2)

1700-1730 UTC 11995 kHz

1730-1800 UTC 9545 kHz

July 12th (Friday)

July 13th (Saturday)

July 14th (Sunday)

July 19th (Friday)

July 20th (Saturday)

July 21st (Sunday)

July 26th (Friday)

July 27th (Saturday)

July 28th (Sunday)

August 2nd (Friday)

August 3rd (Saturday)
04.08. (Sunday)

Please send reception reports by email to: [email protected]
or via the online form: https://de.rti.org.tw/index/content/id/8
or by post to: Radio Taiwan International, German Service, P.O. Box 123-199, Taipei 11199, Taiwan

We will again confirm reception reports with a special QSL card!

further information:
https://de.rti.org.tw/radio/programView/id/2001

We would also like to point out that in August and September (August 9th to September 1st, 2024) RTI will also broadcast French-language programs directly from the Tamsui transmitter on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the same frequencies at the same times.

Kind regards
Your RTI editorial team
[email protected]
https://de.rti.org.tw/

Bob shares a 1968 off-air recording of Radio Australia

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Purse, owner and curator of the excellent Inches Per Second audio archive and blog, who recently posted a 1968 recording of Radio Australia. This recording is in the queue to be published on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, but I thought I’d share it here first since I know there are so many Post readers who are fans of Radio Australia.

Bob shares the following notes with his recording on Inches Per Second:

Periodically, I have shared parts of the large collection of shortwave recordings, most of them of Australian programming, which I picked up… somewhere, at some point. I’ve shared most of it, at this point, but have a few tapes left. I held off on this because the quality is fairly poor, then near the end becomes abysmal, but I thought I should share it, since there is an audience for these recordings. The newscast heard here makes it clear (specifically, the golf results, among other stories) that at least part of this tape is from the second week of March, 1968.

Note that this recording will also be available on the SRAA on August 16, 2024. Thanks again for sharing this, Bob!

Carlos’ Shortwave Art and recording of Rádio Mitre (July 14, 2024)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art and recording from Rádio Mitre:


Carlos notes:

“…World commotion, Donald Trump assassination attempt. It was at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. While the Republican candidate was giving his speech, several shots were heard and immediately afterwards he fell with a wound to his ear…”

Click here to view on YouTube.

Radio Waves: Baofeng HTs Used by Militants, Ham Radio Memory, and Radio Sunshine

Radio Seribatu FM Tower

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 contributors Dan Robinson, William Pietschman, NT, and Tracy Wood  for the following tips:


Walkie talkie made by Chinese firm link militants across groups (Hindustan Times)

Baofeng walkie talkie sets are common among Maoists, insurgent groups, and anti-military forces in India and Myanmar, aiding communication in remote areas.

Made by China’s Fujian Baofeng Electronics Co., huge numbers of these walkie talkie sets have been seized wherever there is insurgency. They are inexpensive, hardy, easy to use, and have a range of 5 km, which can be extended to 10 with an easy hack. [Continue reading…]

Commander 1 Brigade Nigerian Army Donates Baofeng Radios To Civilian Joint Task Force In Zamfara State (EONS Intelligence)

The Commander, 1 Brigade Nigerian Army, Gusau, Brigadier General Sani Ahmed donated 100 sets of BAOFENG Communication Radios (Walkie-Talkies) to members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in a brief ceremony at Headquarters, 1 Brigade Gusau Zamfara State

In his remarks, the Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Sani Ahmed said the donation of the Baofeng Radios is part of his Corporate Social Responsibilities to the host communities and to enhance the operational capacity of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in the state. He added that this will aid the CJTF to carry out their responsibilities in securing lives and property in their respective communities effectively. [Continue reading…]

Electric ‘Ripples’ in the Resting Brain Tag Memories for Storage (Quanta Magazine)

[Note: this is not a radio article, but mentions a connection to ham radio.]

György Buzsáki first started tinkering with waves when he was in high school. In his childhood home in Hungary, he built a radio receiver, tuned it to various electromagnetic frequencies and used a radio transmitter to chat with strangers from the Faroe Islands to Jordan.

He remembers some of these conversations from his “ham radio” days better than others, just as you remember only some experiences from your past. Now, as a professor of neuroscience at New York University, Buzsáki has moved on from radio waves to brain waves to ask: How does the brain decide what to remember? [Continue reading…]

Radio Sunshine – Niue (Now streaming)

SWLing Post Tracy Wood writes with the following note:

The Internet audio stream for Niue’s Radio Sunshine now appears to be active, albeit not 24×7. The station operates locally on FM but formerly was a top AM DX target.

Niue is a self-governing dependency of New Zealand.

On the technical side, the audio stream URL unfortunately appears to be somewhat dynamic as it’s using a “radioplayer” Javascript. The player (and stream) can be found at the tvniue.com homepage, the official radio/TV corporation of the island.

Fans of Oceania radio can add this one to other area countries that stream such as Nauru, Kiribati, and Samoa.


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