Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of a recent NHK World broadcast.
Carlos notes:
Part of Thursday’s NHK radio news bulletin about 7.1 earthquake that hit Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. Listened in Florianopolis, Brazil.
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 Dennis Dura, and Alan for the following tips:
To the extent that you have an opinion on something like high-frequency (HF) radio, you probably associate it with amateur radio operators, hunched over their gear late at night as they try to make contact with a random stranger across the globe to talk about the fact that they’re both doing the same thing at the same time. In a world where you can reach out to almost anyone else in an instant using flashy apps on the Internet, HF radio’s reputation as somewhat old and fuddy is well-earned.
Like the general population, modern militaries have largely switched to digital networks and satellite links, using them to coordinate and command their strategic forces on a global level. But while military nets are designed to be resilient to attack, there’s only so much damage they can absorb before becoming degraded to the point of uselessness. A backup plan makes good military sense, and the properties of radio waves between 3 MHz and 30 MHz, especially the ability to bounce off the ionosphere, make HF radio a perfect fit. [Continue reading…]
Where have these things been all my life?
There is a new breed of RF receivers known as software-defined radios, and they are revolutionizing the way in which people listen to shortwave (SW) radio, or indeed any form of radio broadcast.
SDRs combine plug-in radio receiver dongles/boxes with personal computers, with the computer serving as the user interface. What makes this interface so useful is that the listener’s screen displays a wide swath of the bandwidth being tuned to, with each station’s signal shown as a visual vertical line that moves and grows/shrinks with its signal strength.
In other words, the listener can literally see what is happening across the band in real time, rather than having to turn the dial or push the Up/Down scanning buttons on a conventional shortwave radio, checking one station at a time. [Continue reading…]
Long Awaited and Finally Released – RTL-SDR V4 Support!
Today the new Release 1.5.1 of STARWAVES DRM SoftRadio App has been released. The following improvements can be expected:
– Added audio output device selector in settings (cog wheel icon) / audio tab,
starting with Android 12:
default, Earpiece, Speaker, Headphones, Bluetooth, HDMI, USB
– Added support for “RTL-SDR Blog V4” Receiver Dongle (all bands)
– Added support for “HackRF” Receiver Dongle (all bands)
– Improved robustness after signal loss or reconfiguration
– Improved sync status display in tuning dialog
– Unknown image formats no longer opened in external web browser window
– Updated decoder modules
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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of these Furusato No Kaze and Nippon No Kaze il bon ue broadcasts:
Carlos notes:
Opening of Japanese government shortwave radio programs aimed at Japanese citizens abducted by DPRK between 1977 and 1983: “Furusato No Kaze” (in Japanese) and “Nippon No Kaze il bon ue” (in Korean). Broadcasted from a transmitter in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and listened in Florianopolis, Brazil.
Click here to listen on YouTube.
Many thanks to SWLing Post and Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Dan Greenall, who writes:
Hi Thomas
From the early 1970’s, where sadly, some of my original logbooks went missing many years ago.
ANTEL, the Administracion Nacional de Telecommunicaciones in Montevideo, Uruguay used to use its telephone time announcement instead of a voice mirror – so they got their name ‘La Senal’ in the 1970’s. Their voice announcements in SSB mode were in Spanish and the station could be found on frequencies all over the shortwave spectrum, including 5772 kHz (CXL20), 8037 kHz (CXL21), 10770 kHz (CXL24), 11660 kHz (CXL25), 14575 kHz (CXL26), 16047.5 kHz (CXL28), and 19525 kHz (CXL33). The accompanying recording was made on January 9, 1971 on about 13550 kHz.
La Senal Uruguay Jan 9 1971 13.55:
In those days, it paid to belong to a good DX club (such as SPEEDX) or I may not have been able to identify this station at all. I was also able to get my hands on a used copy of the Klingenfuss guide to utility stations which had very detailed frequency and callsign information. Unfortunately, I let this valuable resource go a number of years ago.
Around the same time (early 1970’s), I heard and recorded this similar styled transmission, except it was in the French language, and which remains unidentified to this day. I have no exact date/time heard or frequency information for this one.
All recordings made in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. (40 miles SW of Toronto)
Mystery French Time Station:
Any guesses will be greatly appreciated.
73
Dan Greenall
Readers, if you can help Dan identify this recording, please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art of recent broadcasts from the Voice of Korea, NHK, and KBS.
Carlos notes:
Part of Voice of Korea news bulletin about floods in the DPRK:
“…Shortly ago, floods and heavy rains seriously and consecutively damaged some areas of the country, including North Phyongan and Jagang provinces. In this regard, the 22nd emergency enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea was held in an afflicted area in the city of Sinuiju, North Phyongan Province, from July 29 to 30 to take urgent rehabilitation measures.
Prior to the meeting, the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un inspected the flooded areas, together with the premier of the Cabinet and secretaries of the Central Committee of the WPK.
Many public buildings, facilities, roads and railways, including more than 4,100 houses and nearly 3,000 hectares of farmland, were flooded in the city of Sinuiju and Uiju County located on the lower reaches of the Amnok River…”
https://youtu.be/
Click here to view on YouTube.
Carlos notes:
Excerpts from NHK (Japan) and KBS World Radio (South Korea) news bulletins about heatwaves. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, via shortwave.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Julian Stargardt, who writes:
SWLing fans might like to know that at the moment on eBay there are about a dozen Sony ICF 6700 receivers for sale [eBay partnership link].
The ICF 6700 is the more reliable version of the better known ICF 6800 – the ICF 6800 is notorious for failing detector circuits and the complexity and difficulty of repair.
Hitherto the ICF 6700 has been less commonly seen.
I have an ICF 6700 it’s an interesting receiver designed to look like a professional rig but lacking features like passband and notch that a pro rig of the day would have. It’s not a bad receiver and with its preselector system of tuning has an extremely quiet noise floor. It also is rather stable.
How does it compare with a good modern DSP, eg, Tecsun PL 330, PL 880, PL990, or PL8800? No comparison. The current crop of top of the line receivers are better. As is the Sony 2010 / 2001D.
But if you’d like a nice looking table top with good audio and you like retro solid state, then the Sony ICF 6700 is not a bad choice.
Cheers
Julian
Click here to search for the Sony ICF-6700 on eBay.
[this partnership link supports the SWLing Post.]
Thank you for the tip, Julian! I would also note that, as with any eBay item, you should check the seller’s feedback score and read the description of the item carefully. Some units are in excellent condition and some need repair. Also, shipping varies greatly with these listings.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia, who shares the following news release via the DRM Consortium:
On August 1st the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister came to RNZ House in Wellington to mark the start of the use of the new analogue and DRM transmitter, replacing a 34-year-old transmitter at the Rangitaiki broadcast site.
In a $4.4-million-dollar project, the public broadcaster RNZ has installed a new Swiss-made Ampegon shortwave transmitter.
Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief Paul Thompson said it’s a significant infrastructure upgrade and secures the future of the RNZ shortwave service into the wider Pacific.
RNZ Pacific broadcasts into the wider Pacific on shortwave 24 hours a day, broadcasting in English and Pacific languages, in collaboration with 22 broadcasting partners across the region.
“The attraction of the shortwave service is that it delivers our unique voice and content to all parts of the Pacific via a signal which can carry over great distances, and achieve good audiences,” said Thompson.
“RNZ Pacific is an essential source of information, especially so during the cyclone season or during a crisis such as the Tonga eruptions,” he said.
RNZ’s Transmission Engineer Specialist Steve White said the project to replace the 34-year-old transmitter at the Rangitaiki broadcast site near Taupo had gone smoothly – being on budget and achieved without disruption to service. “We have appreciated the close working relationship with Ampegon for the new transmitter installation,” he said.
RNZ broadcasts into the wider Pacific on shortwave 24 hours a day, collaborating with 22 broadcasting partners across the region.
Click here to read the original article at DRM.org.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan, who shares the following context:
Please look for this signal from the newest brand new high frequency (SW) transmitter.
It’s on air 00:00 – 04:48 UTC daily on 17675 kHz AM aimed at the Southern Pacific Ocean from 66 Matea Rd, Rangitaiki, Bay of Plenty, co-ordinates -38.8426 176.4297
https://www.drm.org/radio-new-zealand-uses-new-drm-shortwave-transmitter-for-wide-coverage/
There is a link in that article which goes to the RNZ Pacific website which has not been updated for the new transmitter.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/listen shows no changes to duration and times of transmissions at all with the exception of a new time slot for the new transmitter outlined above.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/qsl to make reception reports.
The RNZ Pacific have been heard in both AM and DRM on the West Coast of North America and occasionally in Europe.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/rebroadcasters
A DRM receiver including KiwiSDRs can receive the DRM signal anywhere in the coverage area not just in the communities.