Author Archives: Thomas

Radio Waves: Shortwave is Holding its Own, Solar Storms and Internet Outages, Trust in News, and RSGB Convention Trailer

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!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dan Van Hoy, Dennis Dura, Rich Cuff, and the Southgate ARC for the following tips:


Shortwave Radios Keep Up With Tech (Radio World)

There’s still lots to listen to, and new ways to do it

Surprise! Shortwave radio as a broadcast medium is holding its own, despite the intrusion of the internet, transmission cutbacks by major broadcasters such as the BBC World Service and Voice of America and abandonment of the SW bands by other state-owned broadcasters.

Meanwhile, the ways in which people listen to SW radio transmissions are evolving, because SW receiver manufacturers are keeping up with the technological times.

Stayin’ alive

There is no doubt that the variety of stations on the SW bands has declined, due to the end of the Cold War — the propaganda war of which drove the medium in the 1950s and 1960s — and the emergence of the internet.

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Monitoring Times cover from September 1993

Yesterday afternoon, I spent a few hours sorting through old radio books and magazines. I discovered this issue of Monitoring Times from September 1993:

It was the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks yesterday so this cover image, and especially the feature headlines, caught my attention. Of course, this feature referenced February 26, 1993, when a bomb exploded in a parking garage of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City.

SRAA: Remembering September 11, 2001 through off-air recordings

Today marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11; a day where we honor all of those who were lost, their families/friends, and all of those who who served during and after the attacks.

This morning, I’ve been listening to a number of off-air shortwave radio recordings made on September 11 and 12, 2001. Many thanks to the amazing contributors at the SRAA who shared these with us over the years. For this radio enthusiast, these recordings brings back memories even more vividly than video coverage.

Recordings:

If you have off-air recordings of 9/11coverage that you would like to share, please contact us at the archive.

Sale at Radioshack.com through September 30, 2021

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

Radioshack.com has a promo code, “LABORDAY”, which takes $40 off $80 and expires Sept. 30.

This makes the Eton executive shortwave radios (and other brands such as Sangean) quite a bit cheaper, with free shipping, if folks are interested.

Click here to browse radios at Radioshack.com.

Thanks for the tip, Paul!

Giuseppe’s Homebrew “TFerrite 2” Mediumwave & Shortwave Antenna

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who shares the following:

Dear Thomas my friend,

I built another Tferrite, (TFERRITE 2), for medium waves–this time also with the shortwave option.

A single variable capacitor, 800 pf, and a primary winding on the 2 ferrites of about 46 turns, a secondary winding of 3 turns to pick up the signal and send it to the receiver.

On the PVC tube I wound 4 more coils, for the shortwaves, connecting the ends to the same variable together with the other ends.

I interposed a switch on one end to eliminate or insert shortwaves.

I am sending you these 3 links from my YT channel where you can see the tests I have done in these days with no propagation.

The yield in mediumwave is excellent, like the other one, yet also good for the shortwaves–to be so small it compares very well.

Let me know what you and the whole SWLing community think!

Thanks to you and a greeting from Italy, Formia on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
73. Giuseppe.

Videos

View on YouTube.

View on YouTube.

View on YouTube.

This is brilliant, Giuseppe! Thank you so much for sharing your homebrew antenna projects. It seems they work so well from your beautiful urban location in Italy!

Radio Thrift Shop broadcast on Sunday, September 12, 2021

Photo by Indira Tjokorda

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DJ Frederick, who writes:

Just a quick note to let you and SWLing readers know that Radio Thrift Shop will be broadcast this Sunday at 23:00 UTC via WRMI 9395 kHz.

Radio Thrift Shop is my long-standing (two decades & counting) show for LPFM stations.

Thanks

DJ Frederick

Fantastic! We’ll tune in!

1951 US Army Film: Independent Radio Station WMCA

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kris Partridge, who shares the following:

I belong to a FaceBook group “The Broadcasting Club” and [recently] there was posted a link to a YouTube video of a 70 year old 1951 US Army film called “The Independent Radio Station WMCA”. It’s worth a view to show what the thinking was 70 years ago:

From YouTube:

In 1951 the US Army made this film showing how an independent radio station operates. There was certainly a cold war propaganda motive for the US Army to produce this film, but today, when independent stations are a rarity, this film gives a detailed view of how a large market, independent radio station, WMCA New York, went about producing its programming and paying the bills in post war America.

If you enjoyed this video, consider becoming a member of the Antique Wireless Association at: https://antiquewireless.org/homepage/…

Subscribe to the Antique Wireless Museum channel and you’ll receive news of our latest video uploads.

Thank you so much for sharing this, Kris!