Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John, who writes:
The video below started with a curious investigation of a mysterious button found on 1980/90 era cassette recorders…. just to end up as being essential knowledge that we probably never had back on the day during our listening sessions.
I think the blog readers will love the most recent video from VWestlife:
Click here to view on YouTube.
Thank you for sharing, John!
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 Ulis Fleming, Dennis Dura, and Tracy Wood for the following tips:
The prized retro audio components are mostly manufactured in Russia and China. Now, a small Georgia company is rebooting US production.
ROSSVILLE, GEORGIA, ON the border with Tennessee, doesn’t look like a tech town. It’s the kind of place where homey restaurants promising succulent fried chicken and sweet tea are tucked among shuttered businesses and prosperous liquor stores. The cost of living is moderate, crime is high, politics are red, and the population has withered to 3,980.
But in the view of entrepreneur Charles Whitener, Rossville is the perfect place to stage a revival in US technology and manufacturing—albeit with a device that was cutting edge when the Ford Model A ruled the roads.
Whitener owns Western Electric, the last US manufacturer of vacuum tubes, those glass and metal bulbs that controlled current in electric circuits before the advent of the transistor made them largely obsolete. Tubes are still prized for high-end hi-fi equipment and by music gear companies such as Fender for their distinctive sound. But most of the world’s supply comes from manufacturers in Russia and China, which after the transistor era began in earnest in the 1960s helped sunset the US vacuum tube industry by driving down prices.
Whitener, a 69-year-old self-described inventor, vintage hi-fi collector, and Led Zeppelin fanatic, bought and revived AT&T’s shuttered vacuum tube business in 1995. The business has ticked along in the era of cheap overseas tubes primarily by serving the small market for vacuum tubes in premium hi-fi equipment with a model called the 300B, originally designed in 1938 to enable transoceanic phone calls. [Continue reading…]
100 years is an incredible milestone for any business or organization! In this Valley PBS Original Documentary, we take you back in time as we explore the origins of KMJ as a conservative talk radio station as well as the long-lasting legacy and impact of their century-long run on the air and in the hearts & minds of their listeners.
Click here to view on YouTube.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dennis Dura, who notes that the 2023 Edition of The Domestic Broadcasting Surve is available for download at:
Many still rely on radio broadcasts for news, entertainment across continent
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Just the size of his hand, the radio set hung in the busy marketplace stall is essential to Mark Nyabanda.
“I can’t do without it,” said the 25-year old, taking a break from selling fertilizer in Mbare market in the capital, Harare, to listen to a radio weather report warning of possible floods.
Radio bulletins also provide him with information on disease outbreaks, political news and entertainment, he said.
“I don’t trust these new technologies,” he said, referring to social media. “They are full of falsehoods. We saw it during the coronavirus outbreak.”
In many Western countries, conventional radio has been overtaken by streaming, podcasts and on-demand content accessed via smartphones and computers.
But in many of Africa’s 54 countries, with a combined population of 1.3 billion people, traditional radio sets are widely used, highlighting the digital divide between rich countries and those still struggling to have reliable internet.
Radio sets are all over the place in Zimbabwe. Rural livestock herders dangle them from their necks while tending animals while those in the cities listen to their radio sets for news. [Continue reading…]
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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Cuff, who shares this brilliant article from the archives of NASWA: https://www.naswa.net/journal/1996/04/techtopics199604
RTÉ has announced that it is ceasing the long wave 252 service for Radio 1 from next month.
The move was originally announced in 2014 but was postponed because of protests from Irish organisations in Britain.
RTÉ said in a statement that the LW 252 is no longer sustainable as the transmitter in Summerhill, Co Meath uses up 2.5% of the organisation’s energy use.
The current cost is €250,000 a year and this could rise to £400,000 next year, it says.
When the move was announced originally there were complaints from Irish people in Britain, particularly the elderly, who would no longer be able to get RTÉ Radio 1 on their transistor radios.
The closure was deferred – initially for three years – but the long wave service will now end on Friday 14 April.
However Radio 1 will be available in Britain to listeners on Freestat (channel 750), Sky (channel 0160) and Virgin Media (channel 917).
It will also be available on streaming devices including RTÉ Radio Player and Irish Radio player apps.
In Ireland it will continue to be available on FM as well as through TV channels and online. [Continue reading at RTÉ…]
RTÉ Radio 1 will cease broadcasting on Long Wave 252 from Friday 14th April 2023.
The station continues to broadcast on FM, on Saorview and Saorsat, along with RTÉ Radio Player and Irish Radioplayer apps.
In the UK, Radio 1 will still be available on Freesat, Sky, and Virgin Media, along with online streaming services such as smart speakers.
The phasing out and closure of the Long Wave service was one of the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission Report which was published by the Government in July 2022. This was part of a wider recommendation aimed at ensuring RTÉ could invest available resources in innovation and digital services. [Continue reading at Radio Today…]
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Jernakoff, who writes:
Last Saturday evening, I was cruising through the SW bands and came across music and talk on 2640 kHz, a rather odd (I would think) frequency on which to find such a broadcast format.
The music was of the soft pop variety (for example “Vou de Taxi” by Angelica; “A Time For Us – Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet” by Jack Jones; “A Lua E Eu” by Cassiano), and it sounded to my ears that the on-air talent (male) was speaking (between songs) either in Portuguese or in a Brazilian dialect of said language.
I have attached an audio clip of this broadcast [see below] which begins at 0158 UTC (on 26-March-2023). The recording is a little over 13-minutes long and ends when the signal abruptly leaves the air.
Note that there is a seeming mention in the recording of the words ‘Brazil’ and ‘Brasilia’ at the 4:40 and 5:03 time points, respectively. I have no clue where this signal originated, and I’m hoping that you or one of your many readers might be able to help ID this one. As far as I’m aware, there is no station that broadcasts on this frequency at least with this kind of programming. The signal seemed too strong to be a harmonic of a station broadcasting on, say, 1320 kHz. Perhaps a pirate? A mystery to me…
Thanks for sharing this recording, Pete!
If you can help Pete ID this mystery recording, please comment!
Many thanks to SWling Post contributor, Paul Jamet, who writes:
Hi Thomas,
After the HRD-737 : https://swling.com/blog/2019/01/inside-the-hanrongda-hdr-737-wide-frequency-receiver/
and the HRD-747 : https://swling.com/blog/2022/03/paul-is-impressed-with-the-hanrongda-hrd-747/
here is the HanRongDa HRD-A320
Does anyone have any information about this new receiver released by HanRongDa?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005320277700.html
With the WB band, this receiver seems intended mainly for the North American market.
I found this web page with interesting documents rarely made public:
HanRongDa HRD-A320 High Performance Mini All Band Radio Bluetooth Receiver User Manual: https://device.report/manual/7151781
The user manual is also available: https://device.report/manual/7174111
But what about reception performance? Who has tested the new HanRongDa HRD-A320?
Have a nice day. Back soon.
Paul JAMET
Thank you for sharing this, Paul. I was not aware of the HanRongDa HRD-A320. Post readers, if you have any experience with this radio, please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, noted DXer, and author, Ralph Perry (a.k.a. Chet Nairene), who notes that he was recently interviewed by Simon Ostheimer on Tales of the Orient regarding Ralph’s latest novel, Pacific Dash.
Ralph notes that, “DXing directly influenced my seeking an international life” and thus fueled his passion to write novel about traveling and exploring local scenes throughout Asia and the Pacific.
Pacific Dash isn’t a novel about DXing, rather, “a fictional first-person account of Dash Bonaventure, a young 1960s American whose life journey drags him across Asia.”
Please note that the following post was originally published on Tales of the Orient and is being re-posted here with permission from Ralph Perry.
Enjoy!
Meet Chet Nairene, the American author of ‘Pacific Dash’, a new novel that follows the Asian adventures of Dashiell Bonaventure, from an Illinois farm to glitzy Macau casinos
Greetings, Simon!
Pacific Dash is a fictional first-person account of Dash Bonaventure, a young 1960s American whose life journey drags him across Asia. Dash is utterly impulsive (his next prudent plan will be his first), but makes up for that with outsized good luck and karma. The story begins in 1968 with him as a reluctant expat student at the then-new Hong Kong International School. International adventures immediately start to find him. Dash covers a lot of ground, for several decades spending time in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, HK, Macau, Taiwan and Myanmar. He finds himself in love and at other times in trouble. One day at a Bali losmen (a cheap homestay), things really take off when meets Little Fatty, an engaging and chubby Malaysian businessman who hooks Dash up in the illegal casino business, located offshore from Singapore.
Ever since taking up fiction writing, I had been juggling several good story ideas, but Pacific Dash (my “backpacker novel”) was always the one I wanted to lead with. I knew it would be pure fun for the reader and a pure joy for me to write. My primary goal is to entertain and transport readers to exotic places, crammed with interesting people, odd experiences and cultural nuggets. I wanted to share so many of the things I love about Asia – the wonderful people, the food and spirituality, the bars and temples, beaches and even gambling. So, what better way to introduce all that than through the eyes of a young foreigner who is totally unprepared for what he’s about to encounter?
It’s funny, but during my career as an expatriate executive in Asia, friends often said (usually after a few too many beers and colorful stories), “You really ought to write a novel.” Yeah, right, someday. But upon retiring I started to think, hey, why not?
As the old writing adage goes: ‘Write about what you know.’ And I certainly know Asia. Many (but not all) of Dash’s experiences are based upon things that happened to me or to my friends. Therefore, while the resulting story is off-kilter and quirky, it should also have an authentic ring. But Dash and I are punched from different molds.
He is something of the accidental, unintentional traveler in Asia. I, on the other hand, made happen my desire to live and work in Asia. It was just something in my DNA and I had to obey. My fascination with Asia, Africa and Latin America all probably began with my childhood hobby, tuning into foreign radio stations on shortwave.