Author Archives: Thomas

WI2XLQ: Brian Justin’s annual longwave broadcast Dec 24-26

Canadian Reginald Aubrey Fessenden in his lab believed circa 1906 (Source: Radio Canada International)

Now an annual Christmas tradition, Brian Justin (WA1ZMS) will put his longwave experimental station WI2XLQ on the air to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Reginald Fessenden’s first audio transmission.

WI2XLQ will be on the air from 17:00 UTC Dec 24th on 486 kHz and run for 48 hours until 16:59 UTC on Dec 26th.

Listener reports may be sent to Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, at his QRZ.com address.

If you would like more information about Brian Justin and WI2XLQ, check out our interview with him in 2013. Indeed, I successfully heard the 2013 WG2XFG broadcast and posted this audio clip on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Additionally, SWLing Post reader, George Stein has a very personal connection with radio pioneer, Reginald Fessenden: click here to read his story.

Radio Deal: Eton Field BT $89.99 shipped

Amazon just posted an impromptu sale on the Eton Field BT–the lowest price I’ve ever seen for for a new unit: $89.99 shipped!  If you’ve been considering the Eton Field BT, you might pull the trigger now as  Amazon sales can change at any time.

Click here to view on Amazon.com (affiliate link)

Click here to read Troy’s review of the Field BT and comparison with the Tecsun S-8800.

Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation to end MW, but maintain shortwave & FM services

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Nigel Holmes, who shares the following:

SIBC [Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation] has ended its MF service on 1035 kHz.

Delivery on FM & HF has been retained. Audience surveys indicated HF delivery was more effective than MF. The decision will be reviewed in 2018

http://www.sibconline.com.sb/special-announcement-from-sibc-management/

Thank you for the tip, Nigel!

Alex updates site and adds broadcast reference sheet

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alex, has just informed me that he’s updated his website. Alex writes:

Christmas Greetings from the U.K.!
After 8 months[…] I have fully updated my website.

I have added a new feature: Top 20 Stations – hour by hour – December 2017 [click to download PDF]

It is all based on my UK listening, but is relevant for most of Europe. And there is still the global BBC World Service sheet too.

Thank you Alex! We’ll check it out! Click here to view Alex’s website.

4KZ Update and Reception Report Information

Many thanks to Al Kirton, group general manager of radio station 4KZ, who writes with an update to our post from earlier today:

We are pleased to advise that as part of our 50TH Anniversary celebrations, Radio 4KZ shortwave 5055 kHz commenced transmission yesterday afternoon. Reports have come in from as far as Monterey, California USA.

Unfortunately, during the next 2 weeks we will be running on half power at 500 watts.

Transmission is from the 4KZ (am 531 – 8kW) & 4AY (am 873 – 1 kW) site at east Innisfail in Tropical North Queensland. We use a USA made LPB 1.2 kW shortwave transmitter feeding an Inverted V antenna at about 14 metres high at the peak. The transmitter audio is via an Australian-made Crusher digital audio limiter.

The system is designed to cover the Cape York area of Queensland and the Northern outback. Fortuitous reception is available at times over a much wider area.

Transmission hours will be approximately 0500 to 2300 hours GMT (3pm to 9am Queensland time.)

We welcome reception reports. All confirmed reports will receive a 4KZ shortwave QSL card. No return postage is required.

Reports should be sent to me, Al Kirton [email protected]

Or by regular mail to: Radio 4KZ, PO Box 19, Innisfail Queensland 4860 Australia.

Excellent!  I will certainly do my best to put 4KZ in the logs, but it will be a challenge doing it from the east coast of the US. Still, perhaps propagation will surprise me one evening!

For more about 4KZ on shortwave, and to follow updates, simply follow the tag: 4KZ

Radio Deal: Eton Satellit via RadioWorld Canada

SWLing Post contributors, Golan and DanH, have both reminded me in comments that RadioWorld Canada has a fantastic price on the excellent Eton Satellit (the original, non-executive version).

If you live in Canada, or better yet the GTA, you should purchase directly from RadioWorld Canada on their website or in their store–only $99.99 CDN! Click here to view the product page at RadioWorld.

As DanH notes, if you live in the USA, you can also take advantage of this sale via eBay:

The price is approximately $108 US with free shipping via UPS–a fantastic value.

Click here to view this deal on eBay.

As Oxford Shortwave noted earlier today, the “brilliant” Eton Satellit is his “mainstay travel receiver.” He chooses the Satellit over other receivers in his arsenal for tropical DXing.

If you’ve been considering a Satellit, bite the bullet while RadioWorld still has stock!

Breaking News: Australian broadcaster 4KZ now on shortwave!

The 4KZ transmitter is located in Innisfail, Australia

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil Brennan (VK8VWA), who notes that 4KZ started broadcasting today in Australia. Phil notes:

At last! ID for 4KZ confirmed at 0750 [UTC] Wednesday 20 December on 5,055 kHz.

Thank you, Phil–and thanks for following this development so closely over the past few weeks.

I tried tuning to 5055 kHz at my home in eastern North America, but of course conditions weren’t ideal to receive a 1,000 watt AM signal from Australia. I wasn’t ready to give up, of course, so I turned to the KiwiSDR network.

The following recording was made on December 20, 2017 starting around 11:33 UTC on 5,055 kHz . The receiver is a KiwiSDR located in Goulburn, NSW, Australia.

Click here to view on YouTube.

No details yet on where to send reception reports, but I will ask the station manager and post his reply in an update.

Post Readers: Please comment if you’ve also logged 4KZ!