Category Archives: Current Events

Attend the 26th Annual Winter SWL Fest

For those of you readers who often feel you’re alone in your enthusiasm for radio, I highly encourage you to attend the NASWA-sponsored SWL Fest in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania this year. The ‘Fest is jam-packed with radio-related information and attended by many radio kindred spirits. Forum topics this year will include the following :

From the WBCQ Archives – Larry Will
The Annual Pirate Forum – George Zeller
QRP: Operating and Listening at Low Power – Skip Arey
Economically Enhancing Your Collection thru Auctions and Flea Markets – Ed Mauger
Defeating Jammers with Text By Shortwave – Kim Andrew Elliott/Thomas Witherspoon
The Shortwave Shindig – David Goren (Friday night confirmed)
The Other Side of Satellite Monitoring – Dave Marthouse
More! All About Loop Antennae – Jef Eichner

If you’re interested in attending the SWL Fest, too, go to the official website and register!

Radio documentary on history of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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ABC reporter, and later RN documentary maker, Tim Bowden on patrol with a US Marine squad near Da Nang in Vietnam. (1966) [Photo: ABC]

(Source: John Figliozzi via InternetRadio Digest)

ABC Radio National will broadcast a weeklong series highlighting the history, development, key moments and future of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on the occasion of its 80th Anniversary, from December 24-28. Details from:

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/specialbroadcasts/abc-80th-anniversary/4373618

There is a 16 hour difference between New York and Melbourne during our standard time winters; 19 hours between Los Angeles and Melbourne. “Live” broadcast, therefore, will be at 2 am, Dec. 23-27; repeated at 9 am, Dec. 24-28. No word yet on whether or for how long a podcast of this series will be made available.

John Figliozzi

The Mighty KBC repeating digital tests this weekend

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Caution: Don’t try this test if you’re driving an 18-wheeler!

The Mighty KBC is repeating the digital test they broadcast last weekend.

If you tune in (9,450 kHz, from 00:00-02:00 UTC) you should try decoding their digital message. If you configure FLDIGI according to their instructions, below, their broadcast should automatically launch your web browser with a message:

Because shortwave reception conditions were poor in many parts of the world last weekend, we will repeat the same digital text transmissions this weekend on The Mighty KBC.

These will be during the broadcast Sunday at 0000 to 0200 UTC (Saturday 7 to 9 pm Eastern Time in North America) on 9450 kHz. At about 0130 UTC, MT63-1000 will be centered at 1000 Hz, and PSKR125 will be centered at 2200 Hz. At just before 0200, MT63-2000 will be centered at 1500 Hz. Both MT63 modes will use long interleave.

Install both Fldigi and Flmsg from www.w1hkj.com.

In Fldigi, go to Configure > Modems > MT-63 > check 64-bit (long) interleave, 8-bit extended characters, and Allow manual tuning. Also, go to Configure > Misc > NBEMS > check Open with flmsg and Open in browser and, below that, indicate where your flmsg.exe file is located. If everything works, a shortwave transmitter in Bulgaria will open a new window of your web browser.

BBC celebrates 90 years of radio with a global simulcast, you can contribute

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(Source: BBC)

The BBC today announced plans for an unprecedented global simulcast across its radio networks – including every UK station (local, network and national) and many World Service outlets – curated by Damon Albarn to mark 90 years of radio.

The simultaneous broadcast, called Radio Reunited, will take place on November 14 at 17:33 GMT – 90 years since the first broadcast from the British Broadcasting Company in 1922 – to a potential global audience of 120 million people across every inhabited continent.

The three-minute transmission will be based on recorded messages from listeners around the world on the theme of the future. Each of an estimated 60 BBC radio stations will choose one message and many of them will then be mixed together and set to a musical score specially composed by the Blur frontman.

It will form the centrepiece of the on-air celebrations to mark 90 years of BBC Radio, which will also feature a wide range of special programming across BBC stations, full details of which will be announced nearer the time.

[…]Damon Albarn said: “I love the idea of stations across Britain and the World Service coming together, with all of our different lives and circumstances, even if it’s only for a few minutes. It’s a powerful idea.”

Radio Reunited is one of the key broadcasts to mark the anniversary. Two of the other major programming projects launched today to celebrate 90 years of BBC radio are:

– The Listeners’ Archive – on October 11 the BBC begins a major initiative to recover the lost gems of the broadcasting archive by calling an ‘amnesty’ on recorded media. Listeners are asked to scour their lofts, garages and cupboards for tapes, cassettes and other recordings of BBC radio programmes from 1936 to 2000, and hand them in at BBC Centres around the UK on ‘Amnesty Day’. BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5live, BBC Local Radio in England and the BBC Nations are all involved. Central to the project will be a series of shows on Radio 2 and 6 Music around the 90th anniversary, where clips of the recovered content – and possibly whole programmes – will be played, and introduced by the person who originally recorded them. [Continue reading…]

The BBC has full details of how you can participate. I would hope that there are some readers of the SWLing Post who may have recordings to share for The Listener’s Archive. I believe I have some old recordings of the BBC WS on New Year’s Eve 1999–if I can only find them!

Scandinavian Weekend Radio special broadcast this weekend

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Scandinavian Weekend Radio will broadcast for 24 hours during the Finnish DX Association’s 50th Annual Summer Meeting, Friday, August 3 and Saturday August 4, 2012.

Try to catch Scandinavian Weekend Radio’s broadcasts when conditions are favorable for your part of the globe. Their online radio schedule could be a bit confusing for those of you new to SWLing–I’ve produced a simple broadcast schedule with times in UTC below:

Friday, August 3rd, 2012

21:00 – 22:00 UTC on 6,170 and 11,720 kHz
22:00 – 24:00 UTC on 6,170 and 11,690 kHz

Saturday, August 4th, 2012

00:00 – 07:00 UTC on 6,170 and 11,690 kHz
07:00 – 08:00 UTC on 5,980 and 11,720 kHz
08:00 – 13:00 UTC on 6,170 and 11,720 kHz
13:00 – 14:00 UTC on 6,170 and 11,690 kHz
14:00 – 16:00 UTC on 5,980 and 11,690 kHz
16:00 – 18:00 UTC on 5,980 and 11,720 kHz
18:00 – 21:00 UTC on 6,170 and 11,690 kHz

NOTE: As Glenn Hauser mentions in the comments, “Might point out the power is only 100 watts. If anyone ever hears it outside Europe, we`d like to know.”

Radio Australia’s live coverage of the London 2012 Summer Olympics

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This morning, I’ve been enjoying Radio Australia’s live coverage of the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

In an era where Olympics coverage is tightly controlled by television networks (and swallowed with a generous amount of sponsorship ads) it’s a relief to know that I can hear live, uninterrupted coverage via Radio Australia on shortwave.

Here’s a recording from 9,580 kHz at 14:00 UTC today (coverage begins after the news):

Radio Australia is well known for their sports coverage. Indeed, I’ve heard their dedication to cricket, football and rugby coverage secures their listenership throughout Asia and Oceania.

I believe it. Thanks, RA!

Radio Northern Star: test transmission

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(Via Cumbre DX and Svenn Martinsen on Facebook)

Test transmission from Radio Northern Star on Shortwave.

Starting on Friday July 6th 0330 UTC/GMT (0530 Norwegian Time/CET) Radio Nord Revival in Sweden will be relaying the programmes of Radio Northern Star in a long test transmission on Shortwave 5895 kHz in the 49 meter band with a power of 10 kW. The test will last until Saturday morning July 7th. We welcome written reception reports to Radio Northern Star, Box 100, N5331 RONG, NORWAY. Email may also be used:[email protected].

For listeners outside Scandinavia we would also like recordings of the transmission, but please do not send large files as attachments to emails. If you want to send large files, send them on a CD to the address above. Be sure to include return postage if you’d like regular mail replies. Correct reports will be answered by QSL letter.

Radio Northern Star is an independent commercial radio station broadcasting on the web and available broadcasting platforms. Our website may be found here:
http://www.northernstar.no/