Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans, who shares info about the new Analog Devices MxFE and notes that it could be a game changer in the world of software defined radio:
This does sound like a very robust and powerful platform although I’m not an engineer so can’t speak to how it might be integrated in affordable SDR receivers and transceivers..
Here’s another information page with specifications about the platform.
Please comment if you’re familiar with this platform!
Halley VI: The British Antarctic Survey’s new base (Source: British Antarctic Survey)
Click here to read an update to this post (17 June 2021).
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who follows up with the following information about the 2021 Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica:
As usual, there was a test of this year’s possible frequencies yesterday (14 June) from 21:30 to 21:45 UTC.
They were:
As has been the case in past years, three of these frequencies will be chosen for the actual broadcast. Here in NB yesterday, good signals were received on 6170, 7305, and 9505 kHz. 6035 kHz was not heard.
Thank you for sharing this, Richard!
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 Tracy Wood, Dennis Dura, John Forsyth, and the Southgate ARC for the following tips:
When David Goren was 13 years old, he and his family went to visit their Uncle Lou.
“He was usually just railing about my long hair or criticizing rock and roll,” he recalled. But this time was different. “He gave me an old radio of his that had a shortwave band on it. I really didn’t know what that was. I asked my dad, and he was like, ‘You won’t hear anything on that!’”
David was curious, though, so after he got home, he turned it on, started fidgeting with the dial, and was amazed to discover sounds and music from around the world![…]
Click here to read the full post and click here to subscribe to the Far From Home podcast.
How subcarrier radio signals made room for hidden FM stations—and helped ensure that everyone has access to the news
A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.
In our modern era, we tend to choose devices with as many functions as possible, and we bristle at the thought of an object with a single use—hence why umbrellas can be so frustrating to carry around. But sometimes, a single use case is exactly the right level of functionality. This is something I’ve been thinking about recently after I got my hands on a fairly large radio that has literally one function: You turn it on and a specific station plays, and there’s no surface-level way to do anything else with it.
This is a weird device—but for its niche, this device, called a subcarrier radio, was perfect. And it was one of many niches that subcarrier radios made possible.
What the heck is a subcarrier radio signal?
In 1985, a South Florida Sun-Sentinel article discussed a potentially lucrative offering for the owners of FM radio stations: ways to make extra money from parts of the licensed signal they weren’t already using.
This phenomenon was not unusual at the time; the practice had been around for decades. But what the article highlighted were the numerous ways radio signals were being used that the average listener was likely not even aware of—for background music, for stock reports, even to transmit computerized data.
And while station owners weren’t earning a ton of extra money—a single lease brought in US$1,400 a month (about $3,500 today)—for a struggling station, the additional revenue could mean the difference between being in the red and being in the black.
The thing that allows many radio stations to monetize their signals in this way is, essentially, a technical gap inside the FM broadcast signal. These gaps, or subcarriers, are frequencies that aren’t being used for the primary signal but could find secondary uses in more specialized contexts.[…]
ARISS report there will be an ‘Amateur Radio on Shuttle, Mir and ISS’ Slow Scan TV (SSTV) event from June 21-26. Transmissions from the International Space Station will be on 145.800 MHz FM using PD120
The ARISS team will be transmitting SSTV images continuously from June 21 until June 26. The images will be related to some of the amateur radio activities that have occurred on the Space Shuttle, Mir space station and the International Space Station.
The schedule start and stop times are:
Monday, June 21 – Setup is scheduled to begin at 09:40 UTC (transmissions should start a little later).
Saturday, June 26 – Transmissions are scheduled to end by 18:30 UTC.
Downlink frequency will be 145.800 MHz and the mode should be PD120.
Those that recently missed the opportunity during the limited period of MAI transmissions should have numerous chances over the 6 day period to capture many (if not all 12) of the images.
Check the ARISS SSTV blog for the latest information
http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/
The signal should be receivable on a handheld with a 1/4 wave whip. If your rig has selectable FM filters try the wider filter for 25 kHz channel spacing.
You can get predictions for the ISS pass times at
https://www.amsat.org/track/
Useful SSTV info and links
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/
Scientists have measured the shortest unit of time ever: the time it takes a light particle to cross a hydrogen molecule.
That time, for the record, is 247 zeptoseconds. A zeptosecond is a trillionth of a billionth of a second, or a decimal point followed by 20 zeroes and a 1. Previously, researchers had dipped into the realm of zeptoseconds; in 2016, researchers reporting in the journal Nature Physics used lasers to measure time in increments down to 850 zeptoseconds. This accuracy is a huge leap from the 1999 Nobel Prize-winning work that first measured time in femtoseconds, which are millionths of a billionths of seconds.
It takes femtoseconds for chemical bonds to break and form, but it takes zeptoseconds for light to travel across a single hydrogen molecule (H2). To measure this very short trip, physicist Reinhard Dörner of Goethe University in Germany and his colleagues shot X-rays from the PETRA III at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), a particle accelerator in Hamburg.[…]
Defense Minister Benny Gantz reiterated on Wednesday his belief that Army Radio should not continue in its current format as part of the Israel Defense Forces.
“I think that IDF soldiers must be kept as far as possible from any political involvement, and the station should be apolitical, and it has long stopped being so,” Gantz said in response to a query from Shas MK Moshe Abutbul on the Knesset floor. “I don’t think there is any way to operate Army Radio in its current form, largely due to the political angle.”[…]
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Halley VI Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica (Source: British Antarctic Survey)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David (G4EDR), who writes:
I know that you and many of the readers of the SWLing Post like to tune into the annual BBC WS Antarctic Mid Winter broadcast. I requested some information from the BDXC (of which I am a member) about this year’s broadcast and got the following reply:
The broadcast will be on Monday 21 June from 2130-2200 utc. There are usually three extra SW frequencies beamed to Antarctica, these have not yet been confirmed but last year’s frequencies (which may be the same this year) were 5790 and 7360 via Woofferton and 9580 via Ascension.
This year its also being carried on most of the World Service English streams from 2132-2200, however the only shortwave outlets at this time are to Africa on 11810 and 12095 via Ascension. For those of us in the UK it should also be on the BBCWS DAB stream at the same time.
Its slightly shorter via the regular WS streams so to hear the full broadcast we should listen to the special Antarctica frequencies.
Thank you for sharing this and for the reminder, David!
I look forward to the Midwinter broadcast every year! It falls on my birthday and almost without fail also happens when I’m travelling. This year will be no exception.
I will still welcome photos and recordings as in years past as I love sharing these! I might ask, however, that readers and listeners simply leave their videos, audio, and notes in the comments section of the relevant post. Maybe I can even offer a little prize to a random listener–that would be fun!
Stay tuned! Please comment or contact me should you learn of the frequencies the BBC will use this year!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Van Hoy (VR2HF), who notes that he spotted a number of radios including the Kenwood TS-930S in the new Netflix series, Sweet Tooth (see above). He writes:
[Also] seen in the last minutes of the final episode of season one: An AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australasia) Teleradio Model 110H HF SSB transceiver.
Interesting history about AWA:
[Also spotted] test equipment plus all kinds of other gadgets in the zoo sanctuary.
Very cool–thank you for sharing this, Dan! That Teleradio Model 110 looks like a fascinating set! I’ve never seen one before.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who notes:
Episode 2 of Radio Gum Tree will be rebroadcast this coming Friday night June 18, 2021 at 9:45 EDT on on 5850 kHz in case anyone missed it. Episode 3 should be on June 25.
You can find the program notes for these Test broadcasts at this web site address. I will not be archiving the broadcast on the internet due to music copyright concerns.
Many thanks for putting together this Comb Stereo series, TomL!
For more information, check out TomL’s initial announcement.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chip, who writes:
I remember reading a number of years ago that the NRO/NSA was the largest consumer of magnetic tape, utilized for pre-detection recordings of various spans of spectrum, all over the world.
I’m wondering if those tapes become declassified at some point, and if they are available through FOIA requests. Were they just bulk erased, destroyed or sold at GSA auction along the way.
Do you know if anyone has ever queried into their existence, and if they have been electronically preserved to some other digital medium?
The idea that our government records huge chunks of spectrum, fuels thoughts in my mind of huge spans of non-classified spectrum from across the years. All the DX shortwave outlets captured for posterity.
Thank you for sharing this note, Chip.
Of course, I’ve always been interested in adding recordings like this to the Radio Spectrum Archive. If these recordings exist, I would love to see them added to the Internet Archive–who stores Radio Spectrum Archive recordings– so that they could be shared and enjoyed by all.
Post readers: If you have any information on this, please comment!