Category Archives: Books

EQUINOX: A novel that blends sci-fi with ham radio

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader and author, DM Barrett (N4ECW), who recently shared the following press release which features his latest book:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EQUINOX Blends Science Fiction And Amateur Radio

1 May 2019 (Tampa, Florida)

A new science fiction narrative, EQUINOX, has taken amateur and shortwave radio into the cultural mainstream in its version of a limited alien invasion story line.

“It’s been quite a while since the world depended on amateur and shortwave radio as lifelines. In EQUINOX, both are critical for the success of The Resistance.” – DM Barrett, EQUINOX author

DM Barrett, callsign N4ECW, lives and breathes amateur radio. He is well known in the ham radio community having developed and manufactured several different specialized radio antennas through his former company, Transworld Antennas. He holds two earned doctorates with majors in law, economics, and religion.

The EQUINOX story line begins on a warm, slightly breezy day on Florida’s east coast as the vernal equinox marked the beginning of spring. Suddenly, there was a thunderous crash, a blinding light, and a vortex swirling in the blue Atlantic. The invading alien army arrived. The world surrendered. The Resistance made a stand.

When the science fiction novel was recently released as a Kindle Unlimited eBook, it moved steadily into Amazon’s top ten science fiction eBooks in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Australia. After only a few days, the paperback version of EQUINOX was ranked in Amazon’s top third for science fiction paperbacks.

DM Barrett may be contacted at [email protected] or by text to 931-239-3760.

EQUINOX and other books by DM Barrett can be ordered online through Kindle, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

If you are a radio amateur or shortwave enthusiast, or you are just interested in the topics, don’t miss the chance to join others that are enjoying the science fiction novel, EQUINOX.

I have been sent a paperback preview copy of Equinox and plan to read it in the coming weeks.

Equinox can be purchased from the following retailers:

Amazon.com paperback $14.95 and Kindle eBook $2.45 or free via Kindle Unlimited (affiliate links)
Barnes & Noble (paperback $14.95 and Nook eBook $2.49)

Also, the author notified me that there are a limited number of paperback copies available on eBay for $14.95. These copies are a First Printing and are autographed by the author. Click here to view on eBay.

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Summer 2019 Global Radio Guide now available as ebook

The Cat’s Whisker – 50 Years of Wireless Design

Now available: The 2017-2018 Pirate Radio Annual

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Thomas Ally, who notes that Andrew Yoder has released the 2017-2018 Pirate Radio Annual.

Here’s the announcement from the Hobby Broadcasting Blog:

2017-2018 Pirate Radio Annual is done and I’ve received the copies back from the printer already! This edition is 308 pages and contains an audio CD-R (playable on standard CD players) with clips from 87 different pirate stations from around the world, nearly all from 2016 and 2017. This edition contains 181 illustrations and entries for approximately 307 stations reported in North America in 2016 and 2017 (280 North American shortwave stations and 27 from Europe and South America).

It also contains some “articles” on the Common and Precious Beacon, Radio Pirana International from South America, and upcoming Global HF Pirate Weekends/propagation for reaching different parts of the world.

This edition will cost $20 ($16.50 + $3.50 shipping) in the U.S. I took the packed book to the post office for the international shipping cost and was shocked to discover that it will cost $24 to ship it anywhere in Europe (so, $38.00 = $16.50 + $21.50 to Europe) I’ll eat a couple dollars of the cost because the shipping is so high. It’s so expensive that it will soon pay for airfare to Europe just to deliver copies!

This price is good for the next month (up through 5/1/2019). I’m not sure if I’ll keep the price the same or raise it at that time.

Please send check or money order to:

Hobby Broadcasting
PO Box 109
Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214

or send the money via PayPal to info [at symbol] hobbybroadcasting.com. If you trust that I won’t run off with the money to Sealand, please use the “Friends and Family” option so that PayPal won’t charge a fee.

4/2 update: One final note about ordering via PayPal: Could you please include your shipping address with the PayPal order? The PayPal messages haven’t included addresses and when I sign into PayPal and click on the “more information about this transaction,” the address still isn’t coming up. So, I’ve been e-mailing people for addresses, which could delay shipping.

Thanks for the tip, Tom! I just ordered my copy!

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Giveaway alert: Joe Carr’s Loop Antenna Handbook

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–UPDATE: A WINNER HAS BEEN PICKED. THIS CONTEST HAS BEEN CLOSED. THANK YOU!–

Lately I’ve gotten a lot of questions from readers about magnetic loop antennas, certainly a popular topic on the SWLing Post. Good discussions underway.

So, when I discovered an extra copy of Joe Carr’s excellent Loop Antenna Handbook on my bookshelf this morning, it occurred to me to share it with you, readers. I think I won this copy at a Winter SWL Fest a couple years ago; it’s chock-full of Joe’s handy tips and solutions to antenna questions and installation conundrums. It’s still in great shape, and I’m sure will find a good home with a lucky SWLing Post reader.

Interested? Here’s how you can participate…

The Loop Antenna Handbook is chock-full of antenna theory and practical construction projects.

If you’d like to participate in this giveaway, here’s how: Simply comment on this post, telling us about your favorite radio! Give us the make/model, and just share a few comments about why you love it above all others.

This can be any radio: a shortwave portable, an SDR, a vintage radio, a ham radio transceiver, a handheld, a scanner, an aviation radio, whatever…or, yes, more than one, if you simply can’t choose.

I’ll select a winner at random on Sunday, April 7, 2019.

This contest is open to anyone, anywhere! I’ll post the prize to the winner directly wherever you are. (Note: Well, if you’re an astronaut on the ISS, I’ll have to send it to your drop box!)

I’ll also plan to compile and publish the full list of radio favorites in a future post…stay tuned for that.

Click here to comment on your favorite radio…

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WRTH 2019 B18 Updates & Questionnaire

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(Source: WRTH)

Dear WRTH reader,

We have uploaded a pdf of updates to the B18 schedules in the International section of WRTH 2019. Visit Updates and click the “International Updates” link to download the file from the WRTH store.

If you haven’t yet got your copy of WRTH 2019 you can buy one NOW using this link.

Readers in North America can also order copies from Universal Radio or Amazon.com.

Please take a few minutes to give us your thoughts about WRTH on the 2019 Questionnaire.

I hope you find the update useful.

Best wishes,

Nicholas Hardyman

Publisher

Purchase your copy of WRTH 2019 directly from WRTH’s publishers, or from a distributor like Universal Radio (US), Amazon.com (US), Radio HF (Canada), or check BookDepository.com (International).

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Book Review: “Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Kolesar, who shares the following review:

Just finished another excellent read: Hilmes and Loviglio’s collection “Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio.”

Very little scholarship exists about the cultural impact of radio in America, and this volume explores the history highlights (long partial list): the initial fight over the nature of broadcasting in the 1920s and 30s (educational vs. commercial), stratification of programming and channels with regards to representation of women, people of color, and gays during the Depression, WWII, and the pre-televison era, the discovery of the teenage market in the 1950s that led to the Top 40 format, the commerical Underground radio movement of the 60s, the creation of NPR and the associated decimation of student-run university stations, the rise of commercial (in everything but name) religious broadcasting and and its corrupting effects on the religious experience and political discourse, the 1980s male-dominated talk radio genre as an effort to roll back feminism, the 1996 Telecom bill and the creation of LPFM and the proliferation of pirate radio as responses to it, and finally, the digital radio future and its public service obligations.

For those who love the medium, this is a great reminder of why we work in it, how it’s succeeded and yet failed to live up to its potential, and what the future may hold as new technologies enter the audio landscape.

Thanks, Dave—sounds like this collection spans a wide variety of radio cultural histories. I did some searching and found that, of course it’s on Amazon.com, but also available used on a number of sites including Barnes and Noble.

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