Category Archives: FM

Public Broadcasting Cuts Hit Hard in Remote, Rural Communities

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Richard Langley for sharing a recent CBC article that explores the real-world consequences of funding cuts to public broadcasting in the U.S.: Trump-era plan to cut U.S. public broadcasting could hit rural communities hard

While discussions around federal budgets become politicized, it’s important to step back and examine the tangible, local effects such changes will bring — especially in rural and underserved communities where over-the-air (OTA) public radio may be the only consistent, reliable information lifeline.

One such community is served by KSKO 89.5 FM, a public radio station based in McGrath, Alaska, and operated by longtime SWLing Post friend and contributor, Paul Walker. KSKO serves villages across the Upper and Middle Kuskokwim region, many of which have no access to high-speed internet or even cellular service. As KSKO’s press release puts it:

“The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a plan […] to rescind $9 billion in previously allocated federal funding. This includes a devastating $1.1 billion cut to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), effectively eliminating all federal support for KSKO Radio.

As a result, Kuskokwim Public Broadcasting Corporation will begin scaling back operations in a way that allows us to remain on the air for as long as possible.”

This is not an isolated case. Here at SWLing Post HQ in Swannanoa, North Carolina, we’re still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which caused massive infrastructure disruption across the state. When systems failed in the aftermath of the storm (read one of my journal entries here), over-the-air radio stepped up.

A photo of one of the many sections of our mountain road that was washed away in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

According to Ele Ellis, CEO of Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR), (quoted in the CBC article):

“We hear stories upon stories of people telling us, ‘OK, well, we got a crank radio or we had a crank radio, and we knew you’d be on.’ […] Some would crank up the volume and put the radio on a mailbox, and neighbours would gather to listen… That’s what they had to do to get information that was going to help them live.”

Having grown up in rural western North Carolina myself, I can personally attest to how vital BPR is to so many remote communities. For some, it’s the only station they can receive. If CPB-funded stations like BPR and KSKO lose their transmitter sites due to budget cuts, that critical connection vanishes — not just news, but local announcements, weather alerts, and emergency communications.

Whether or not one agrees with the politics behind these decisions, there is a real-world human cost of eliminating public broadcasting support. While PBS and NPR will certainly survive, it’s the small rural member stations — the ones that reach into mountain hollows and villages across the tundra — that go silent.

We encourage readers to support their local stations (like KSKO and BPR) if they’re able, and to advocate for the preservation of public media access in remote communities.

Combined with recent, severe cuts to the National Weather Service (which has real-world impact), these public broadcasting reductions represent a dangerous erosion of the tools we depend on during times of crisis.

For rural America especially, it’s a recipe for turning natural disasters into human tragedies.

A Love for Radio: WTND 106.3 FM and the Legacy of Tom and Darryl

Surprise Russian FM Signals in Southeast Finland

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Markku for sharing this Yle News story about an FM propagation opening along Finland’s eastern border. On a warm July morning, residents of Lappeenranta suddenly found their radios picking up multiple Russian FM stations—some from as far away as St. Petersburg, over 200 km away!

The cause? A temperature inversion and high-pressure system.

Click here to read the full story.

WA2XMN Revives Armstrong’s Legacy with 90th Anniversary Broadcast on 42.8 MHz

42.8 MHz WA2XMN FM Goes On The Air!

6/19/2025

By Conrad Trautmann, N2YCH

Stephen Hemphill, WA3ZAE, the owner of Solid Electronics Laboratories, fired up a vintage FM tube Phasitron transmitter on 42.8 MHz to put WA2XMN on the air at exactly 12:30 pm EDT today from the famous Armstrong Tower in Alpine, New Jersey. “W2XMN” was the call sign of Edwin Howard Armstrong’s experimental FM station that went on the air in 1936. “WA2XMN” is the official FCC call sign for the station Hemphill constructed with the cooperation of the tower site owners to commemorate Armstrong’s contribution to radio, Frequency Modulation.

W2XMN building at the Alpine Tower site

Hemphill explained that he attended a Society of Broadcast Engineers meeting that was celebrating Armstrong’s accomplishments, which sparked the idea of going on the air again on that original frequency. He thought it would be perfect to aim for the 70th anniversary of the first public broadcast of wideband FM. That anniversary celebration and broadcast was held on June 11, 2005. Today’s broadcast marks 90 years since that first FM Broadcast and 20 years since the commemorative event.

Hemphill built a transmitter based on the design of a General Electric BT-1-B, but on the lower frequency than what we now know as the standard FM band. Once turned on, the transmitter made 250 watts with no problem with a little headroom to spare and after warming up and settling in, had less than one watt reflected into 400+ feet of 1 ¼” transmission line into a vertical “ringo” antenna on the top, Western facing arm of the famous tower.

Stephen Hemphill poses with his Phasitron FM transmitter tuned to 42.8 MHz

Dual Eimac 4-250a power amplifier tubes

Armstrong Tower in Alpine, NJ (the vertical antenna is up there, trust me)

The audio broadcast today was mostly replays of the 70th anniversary event recordings. A temporary studio was set up in the tower site office building. The event was also streamed live over the internet.

WA2XMN temporary studio and audio processing.

Stephen Hemphill at the controls

The main audio mixing console used was a Gately Electronics Attache Case six channel mixer. Audio processing was done with a vintage Orban Optimod 8100A.

Gately Electronics Attache Case Mixer (apologies to all audio engineers for the pinned meters)

During the event, a web site address for enthusiasts to provide reception reports was given out. While we don’t have those reports yet, I contacted an amateur radio friend who was able to hear the station clearly 61 miles away in Ronkonkoma, NY on the eastern end of Long Island. That’s pretty good coverage for 250 watts!

Coupled with the special event broadcast was the annual picnic gathering of the New York Chapter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Chapter 15. Roughly 45 people attended and in addition to seeing the WA2XMN transmitter, they also got a first hand look at a few of the old Empire State Building FM Master antenna elements. Here’s a photo of your author standing next to one for perspective. I’m 6’ 5”.

To read more about this antenna and its history, visit this page researched and written by Paul Thurst, KH2R, owner of the “Engineering Radio” blog.

Conrad, N2YCH with an Alford antenna element from the Empire State Building

Sporadic-E and FM DXing

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Alan, who shares this Radio World piece which explores the fascinating world of long-distance FM reception via sporadic-E (E-skip), including rare double-hop events: Double-Hop Dreams and the Mystery of Long-Distance FM

A great read for anyone interested in the world of VHF propagation!

Alan also shared these resources:

Australian Bureau of Meteorology – Propagation Modes: Learn about various propagation mechanisms, including transequatorial propagation.
HeyWhatsthat.com Path Profiler: Calculate great-circle paths, view terrain profiles, and check Fresnel zones. Ideal for evaluating DX paths and terrain obstructions.
FCC FM Query: Look up FM station data, including transmitter location, ERP, and HAAT—helpful for assessing potential reception range, even for low-power stations.

Thanks, Alan!

Armstrong Broadcast Returns to New Jersey on June 19, 2025

Emergency radio? You bet!

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By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM

Recently, this blog featured great coverage of the use of battery-powered radios during the recent blackout in Europe.

It was a serious business: electric power, cell phone networks, internet, all gone in a moment, followed by an instant information vacuum. Battery-powered portable radios and local broadcasters with backup power came to the rescue, providing information as they could.

You can find the SWLing blog coverage here:

And when Hurricane Helene slammed western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, radio was an invaluable resource. It was two-way radio, but the point remains the same: radio can be of great help when the lights go out.

So, here’s the upshot: when the lights go out, the cellphone is mute, and the internet is down, you need a means of gathering information so you can figure out what’s going on and what actions you might need to take . . . and that means of gathering information would be a battery-powered radio capable of – at a bare minimum – receiving your local broadcasters on medium wave and/or FM, and, if you live in North America, also capable of receiving weather radio.

My strong personal preference is for radios that can be powered by standard-size (like AA, AAA, and D cells), off-the-shelf, readily-available, consumer-grade, non-proprietary batteries. Why? Because, during a long-duration emergency, when my standard-size rechargeable cells run out of juice, I can drop in some off-the-shelf alkalines and keep using my radio.

With that in mind, here are three radios that I like. All three deliver worthy performance on AM, FM and weather bands (and sometimes additional bands) and can be powered by off-the-shelf batteries. I have used all three over extended periods and can recommend them without reservation.

CCrane Skywave SSB 2

The CCrane Skywave SSB 2 is a radio that brings a lot of capabilities in a diminutive package (3” W x 4.75” H x 1.1” D). It can receive: AM: 520 – 1710 kHz (10 kHz Steps), AM: 522 – 1620 kHz (9 kHz Steps – International), FM: 87.5 – 108 MHz (Regular Mode), FM: 76 – 108 MHz (When 9kHz is Selected), Shortwave: 1711 – 29999 kHz, (Includes SSB Fine Tuning in increments of 10Hz, providing the ability to listen to long-distance ham radio communications), Aviation: 118 – 137 MHz with scan capabilities, and Weather Band with alert capabilities.

It will run for about 65 hours on a pair of AA batteries. It comes with an adapter that can be used to connect to a long-wire antenna for improved reception of shortwave and SSB signals.

The CCrane Skywave SSB was the first radio I purchased when I got back into shortwave listening, and I have employed it to monitor AM, FM, ham communications, air band, and weather alerts. It is a pint-sized powerhouse that delivers a ton of versatility, and I really enjoy using it.

CCRadio SolarBT

The CCRadio SolarBT measures 6 inches wide by 3 inches high by 2.5 inches deep and weighs just a bit over a pound with batteries installed. The CCradio SolarBT can receive AM (MW) band from 520 to 1710 kHz, FM from 87.5 to 108 MHz (76-108 MHz in expanded mode), and 7 NOAA Weather Radio channels from 162.400 MHz to 162.550 MHz. In my opinion, it provides a step up in performance on the AM, FM, and weather bands.

What really sets the SolarBT apart is the flexibility of powering it. There are five options: (1) an 18650 Li-ion 3.7 volt rechargeable battery which provides around 50 hours of playing time (the manual advises fully charging the internal battery before use), (2) 3 AA batteries (not included, but good for about 40 hours of playing time. Don’t use Lithium batteries, the manual warns.), (3) a 110 mA solar panel (park the radio in a sunny window to keep it trickle charged), (4) a wind-up dynamo generator (300-500 mA at about two rotations per second. 90 seconds of winding will power the radio for 8-13 minutes or will charge your cell phone enough to make a few quick calls), or (5) a 5-volt DC, 1000 mA micro USB cable or optional AC adapter.

To quote from my original review of the SolarBT: “The SolarBT may be small, but, in my opinion, it punches above its weight and provides excellent sensitivity for its size on the AM, FM, and weather bands. You might buy it as an emergency radio, but my guess is that you will soon discover the joy of DXing with it.”

CCRadio 2E

The CCRadio 2E is large – 11″ W x 6.5″ H x 4″ D – but very capable. The CCrane company calls the 2E its “flagship,” and I can see why: in my experience, the 2E delivers exceptional performance in receiving AM, FM, and NOAA Weather Band with Weather Alert. In addition, it can also receive the 2-Meter Ham Band, which could be a vital source of useful information during an emergency.

In normal operation, the 2E can run off house power. But when the electricity goes off, it switches automatically to four internal alkaline D cells (user supplied), which offer roughly 170 hours of operation at a moderate volume level with the display light and weather alert feature off.

When my sister-in-law admitted that she didn’t have an emergency radio, I gave her a 2E. Why? Well, in part because of the exemplary performance, in part because of the long duration on batteries, and in part because it operates much like a car radio. I found her favorite stations, stored them, selected the strongest weather station, and also found and stored the local ham repeaters. Then I explained it to her: “Press this button to turn it on, this button to select the band you want, then press the buttons on top to select the station you want.” Easy-peasy.

The 2E isn’t just an excellent emergency radio, it’s a really great general purpose radio that will please habitual radio listeners and delight DXers who hunt for distant stations.

What if . . .

I can almost hear what you are thinking: ‘Yes, that is all well and good, but what if I already have a radio that I really like that runs on rechargeable batteries?”

Fair enough. My answer would be: buy some additional batteries that fit your radio, charge them up, and make sure that you keep them topped up from time to time.

And if your favorite radio does not receive NOAA weather band and you live in North America, get yourself a dedicated weather radio to fill in the gap. I own and can recommend the Midland WR120 Weather Alert Radio. It offers excellent performance and very sophisticated alert programming options.

So get yourself prepared, radiowise, for the next emergency . . . and enjoy your radios in the meantime!