Category Archives: Broadcasters

Radio Romania International: 2017-2018 Winter Broadcast Frequencies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the RRI 2017-2018 Winter Broadcast Frequencies (effective 29/10/2017 to 24/3/2018):

You can also listen to RRI’s English language programming live over the internet using the same SW broadcast schedule given above. All you need to do is go to the “RRI Live!” section in the top-right of our website, choose channel “2” for English and then select your desired audio format (WMA, MP3 or ACC).

Listen to English language programming on demand via the RRI website
RRI broadcasts in English are also available for listening on demand via our website. The “On Demand” feature is located immediately below the “RRI Live!” section in the top-right of the RRI homepage. To listen again to a programme all you need to do is select the date of broadcast from the drop-down list and then click the desired programme. Our programmes become available for listening on demand two hours after the original broadcast.

RRI and social media

RRI can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Google+, Flickr, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, SoundCloud and Instagram.

RRI via mobile phone in the US and on TuneIn

Did you know that if you’re in the US you can also listen to RRI broadcasts on your mobile phone? Our English language programmes are available both live and on demand via the following AudioNow “call-to-listen” phone number: 716.274.2526. Calling this number incurs no extra charge above the equivalent of a standard US mobile phone call.
Our programs are also available on TuneIn (Radio Romania International 1)

Click here to view on RRI’s website.

648 kHz: Radio Caroline gets a permanent home on the MW broadcast band

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Radio Caroline circa 1960’s.

(Source: ARRL News via Eric McFadden, WD8RIF)

Radio Caroline, the latter-day incarnation of the famous shipboard pirate radio station that beamed rock music to the UK in the 1960s and 1970s, has obtained a license to operate permanently on 648 kHz at 1 kW ERP. A transmitter imported from Europe has been undergoing necessary modifications to suit the MW frequency, which falls between the 10-kHz-spaced AM Standard Broadcast Band frequencies in the US.[…]

Click here to read the full article on the ARRL website.

Space Flight: Colin’s collection of Radio Moscow recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive

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One of the joys of running the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA) is that, over time, more and more people have become aware of it and submit recordings they’ve had in their private collections for decades.

Quite often, SRAA off-air recordings were originally made on reel-to-reel or cassette tapes which degrade with time. When SRAA contributors take the time to digitize these recordings, and share them via the SRAA, they put these collections in the hands of hundreds of archivists. We’re grateful each time we receive one of these shortwave or mediumwave/AM recordings.

You can imagine my excitement when I received the following message from one of our newest contributors, Colin Anderton:

“As a space flight nut, I have many recordings from the 1970s from Radio Moscow. They used to broadcast on the medium wave, and I used to record the news bulletins during some of the space flights. In particular, there was a period between December 1977 and March 1978 when Soviet cosmonauts first lived aboard the Salyut 6 space station. I recorded each days’ news reports on the flights, and also some additional items about them.”

Colin’s recordings are amazing. Here’s a sample from December 10, 1977:

We’ve started publishing Colin’s recordings on the archive at regular intervals.

Click here to listen to Colin’s recordings on the SRAA.

Interestingly, I discovered that Colin also has a website dedicated to NASA highlight recordings from the space age. Several months ago, he spent a considerable amount of time making the public domain series more listenable–removing voice-actuated recorder noises, tape clicks, etc.

Colin has made his collection of re-engineered NASA recordings free to download on his website. If you download and enjoy his recordings, consider dropping him a donation. If you’re into spaceflight like I am, you’ll certainly enjoy this collection:

apolloaudiohighlights.com

Colin, once again, thanks so much for adding your off-air recordings to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive!

Indeed, thanks to the many contributors who make the archive such a treasure trove of broadcast recordings! Click here to browse the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Hurricane Damages Arecibo Radio Telescope

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Arecibo Observatory

(Source: National Geographic via Eric WD8RIF)

Hurricane Damages Giant Radio Telescope—Why It Matters” at National Geographic, written by the daughter of Frank Drake, pioneer SETI investigator:

Scientists and ham radio operators have confirmed that the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico—arguably the world’s most iconic radio telescope, which has a dish stretching a thousand feet across—has come through Hurricane Maria mostly intact, but with some significant damage.

More importantly, the observatory’s staff sheltering on-site are safe, and the facility is in good enough condition to potentially serve as a local center for the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, reports Arecibo deputy director Joan Schmelz.

Because of its deep water well and generator, the observatory has been a place for those in nearby towns to gather, shower, and cook after past hurricanes. It also has an on-site helicopter landing pad, so making sure the facility is safe in general is not just of scientific importance, but is also relevant for local relief efforts.

News about the facility has been primarily coming from Arecibo telescope operator Ángel Vazquez, who managed to get to the site and start communicating via short-wave radio in the early evening of September 21.

According to initial reports, the hurricane damaged a smaller, 12-meter dish and it caused substantial damage to the main dish, including about 20 surface tiles that were knocked loose.

Also because of the storm, a 96-foot line feed antenna—which helps focus, receive, and transmit radio waves—broke in half and fell about 500 feet into the huge dish below, puncturing it in several places, says Pennsylvania State University’s Jim Breakall, who talked with Vazquez.[…]

Click here to read the full article.

WAPA Radio: “Radio Voice of Calm in the Storm”

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(Source: US News)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) – News anchorman Luis Penchi has slept about three hours a night since Hurricane Maria turned his radio station into one of the few sources of public information on this battered island.

Working more than 25 hours straight during the height of the devastating storm, the lay Franciscan friar and grandfather has emerged as a light in the darkness for Puerto Rican listeners trapped in a virtual telecommunications blackout.

The powerful storm knocked out electricity, internet, television and cell service for the U.S. territory’s 3.4 million people. When other radio stations went dark, WAPA 680 kept plugging, delivering a 24-hour stream of news, advice, messages and pleas for assistance from listeners desperate to connect with loved ones.

Barefoot and wearing shorts and a wooden crucifix at the San Juan station on Wednesday, the bright-eyed Penchi credited retro technology for helping WAPA power through the maelstrom, along with some divine intervention.

“I believe it was an act of God. This is the chosen station,” the 62-year-old said with laugh.

In the days and hours since the storm broke, the Spanish-language station has become a cornerstone of news, sending out bulletins across the devastated U.S. territory about relief efforts, road conditions and missing people. In the words of one of its owners, Carmen Blanco, WAPA turned into the unofficial “voice of the government” about the hurricane.

[…]Inside are echoes of an earlier age that for now is the norm in Puerto Rico. With power limited to the station’s generator, there is no air conditioning. Electronic frills have been reduced to the minimum. At the reception area, a woman wrote messages for broadcast on a typewriter.

Anchor Penchi credits such old-school resourcefulness for the station’s durability. He said WAPA stayed on the air because it had maintained its old analogue broadcasting capacity alongside its digital equipment.

Payam Heydari, an expert in radio technology at the University of California, Irvine, said basic analogue equipment tends to provide robust transmission over long distances. In comparison, he said, digital technology is highly dependent on electricity to power the relays needed to carry a signal.

“Therefore as soon as power goes down, so do the relays” on a digital signal, Heydari said.[…]

Continue reading this full article at US News and World Report…

Skywave Radio Schedules now on the Google Play store

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Skywave Schedules App will allow you to search a comprehensive, regularly updated, database of shortwave radio broadcasts.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Cap, who has just notified me that his shortwave radio schedules app for Android–Skywave Radio Schedules–is now available via the Google Play store.

You might recall that Cap first shared this app in Beta form and invited us to share feedback and comments. Cap has spent weeks incorporating our suggestions and making changes in the background–Skywave Radio Schedules feels refined and responsive. Best yet? It’s free and has no ads. Amazing.

Cap does note that you should uninstall any previous versions of this app before installing it from the Google Play store.

Thank you, Cap! Great job making this app a reality.

Click here to view Skywave Radio Schedules on the Google Play store.

North Korea “aggressively” jams new BBC broadcasts

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(Source: The Telegraph)

The BBC’s new Korean-language service is being “aggressively targeted” by North Korean jamming of its broadcasts.

The service was launched on Monday and delivers a mixture of global news, sport and radio features to the whole of the Korean Peninsula for a three-hour window that starts at midnight local time.

Broadcasts are going out on two shortwave frequencies, from Taiwan and Tashkent, while the hour-long segment from 1am is relayed on medium wave from Mongolia, according to a report on the 38 North web site, operated by the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

“As listening to foreign radio is illegal, the government makes a great effort to prevent people from doing so”, the report states. “At the most basic level, it modifies radios so they cannot be tuned to anything but state-run channels, although that can be later reverse engineered.

[…]The BBC broadcasts are going out after midnight, which will make it easier for listeners with access to short wave to tune in secretly.

Read the full article at The Telegraph…