Category Archives: Guest Posts

Mysterious radio signals

Greetings all SWLing Post community, here’s more about what the Imaginary Stations crew will be getting up to via those shortwaves this week on Saturday 11th October 2025 at 1100 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then again on Sunday 12th October 2025 at 0900/1300 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and at 2100 UTC (new time slot) on 3975 kHz and 6160 kHz.

We can’t tell you anything about the theme of this show, but we can say it will be transmitted by Shortwave Gold. Listeners are encouraged to contact us and let us know what they think the theme is by tuning in and making a link with the tunes played and there will be a special e-QSL for the winner. Full details of how to contact us will be contained in the broadcast. Tune in and see if you can guess the theme.

On Wednesday 15th October 2025 at 0200 UTC via WRMI we have an episode of Radio Ace. It’ll be full of everything radio related, and will there be any appearance from Flash Frisbone this time? Does he still exist? Has he changed his name? Or has he left the radio altogether and become a car mechanic? You’ll only know if you tune into Radio Ace.

For more information on all our shows, please write to us at [email protected] and check out our old shows at our Mixcloud page here.

FastRadioBurst23

A Radio Postcard from Seoul

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Mark Hirst, who shares the following guest post:

A Radio Postcard from Seoul

Hechi is a mascot for the Seoul Metropolitan Government

by Mark Hirst

I recently spent a very memorable week in Seoul, motivated to travel there by Hallyu or the Korean Wave, a cultural phenomena exemplified by the TV show Squid Game, animated movie K-Pop Demon Hunters, boy band BTS, and girl group Blackpink.

While I can credit Netflix and its huge library of Korean TV and film content for introducing me to K-drama, it was KBS World Radio and its Weekend Playlist programme on shortwave that led me to K-pop.

Early on in my holiday planning, I discovered that KBS has a public exhibition called KBS ON located in their headquarters building. Later during the trip, radio would appear unplanned in one of the other museums I hoped to explore.

Travelling to Seoul of course was a unique radio listening opportunity to hear and record stations that would otherwise require a Web SDR or internet streaming. Armed with a relatively recent copy of WRTH, I was able to compile a list of radio stations with the intention of making some short audio and video recordings.

What follows is a description of my experiences at KBS ON, some historical references to radio at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, and notes about the radio stations I was able to hear during my stay.

All photos are my own.

The Korean Broadcasting System

The Korean Broadcasting System or KBS is the national broadcaster of Korea, providing radio, TV, and internet based content to its national audience. KBS World is the outward facing arm of the organisation providing similar services to an international audience.

The headquarter buildings of KBS are located in Yeouido, an area of Seoul that also hosts Korea’s National Assembly Building. Technically a river island, Yeouido is bordered by the Han River, offering spectacular views of central Seoul and a skyline familiar to K-drama fans everywhere.

The main KBS building is a short walk from Yeouido station on Line 5 and Line 9 of the Seoul metro system. Your route takes you through Yeouido Park where you can see a preserved Douglas C-47 cargo plane dating from the Korean War.

The main building sits along side several other KBS related areas including the KBS Hall and KBS Art Hall. Even to the untrained eye, it’s obvious that the facility is communications related with a prominent red and white antenna tower on the main building, with red scaffolding on an adjacent block housing another tower and communication dishes.

Other notable locations at the site include a roadway and building entrance where K-pop idol groups arrive every Friday to record Music Bank, a programme that showcases the latest hits of the music genre. This photo opportunity is so popular with fans that it has a dedicated playlist on the KBS World English YouTube channel.

KBS ON Exhibition Hall

The KBS ON Mural featuring the mascot Kong

The KBS ON exhibition is part of a range of locations promoted by the official visitor guide to Seoul, details of which can be found here.

Accessing the exhibition is through distinctive blue bordered doors into a large reception area. The exhibition proper then begins at the top of a short flight of stairs.

Although all sections of the tour are in Korean, section overviews are also provided in other languages. QR codes link to audio commentaries to provide the remaining explanations for non-Korean visitors.

The audio commentary supports the following languages:

Korean
English
Simplified Chinese
Japanese
Bahasa Indonesia
Vietnamese
Spanish

The tour proceeds through a series of linked sections and topics which are described below.

KBS History

This section is comprised of information panels outlining the origins of KBS. Originally known as the Gyeongseong Broadcasting Station (callsign JODK) beginning in 1927, the name KBS emerges in 1945 following the liberation of Korea from Japan. KBS was established as a public broadcaster in 1973.

On Air

Through a series of large screens, this section describes the various channels KBS provides including terrestrial TV, international radio, cable, and Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, a radio transmission technology developed in South Korea.

Current Affairs / Culture programme

As a public broadcaster, this section highlights the current affairs and educational output of KBS.

Virtual Studio

This interactive section demonstrates the familiar ‘blue screen’ or chroma key technology used in news and weather forecasts. Visitors are encouraged to present their own Korean weather forecast!

Drama

The visitor is treated to a display of props and magnificent costumes from Korean period dramas, with panels and displays highlighting the role of KBS in driving growth in the K-drama industry.

Props and Costumes

Entertainment programme

Supported by large screens, this area showcases a range of local programming including talent and variety shows.

Music Bank

While the shows in the previous sections will be unfamiliar to most, Music Bank is more well known to overseas fans of K-pop. This high profile programme features live performances every Friday evening from the big names of the genre with a lottery system for fans to attend recordings.

Vertigo

This section demonstrates AI based technology developed by KBS to allow a single fixed camera to track individual members of an idol group simultaneously as they sing and dance on stage. Previously, these so-called ‘fancam’ shots required a separate camera for each performer incurring extra costs and logistics problems.

Examples of Vertigo in action are shown on large screens, featuring performances by girl groups STAYC and Illit.

Visitors can step on to a virtual stage adjacent to the displays where a single camera will automatically track your face and body without physically moving. Continue reading →

Vatican Radio – Then and Now

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following post:

When I began shortwave listening back in 1969, Vatican Radio was one of the first stations I came across. That same year, the late Dr. Richard E. Wood authored a book called “Shortwave Voices of the World” in which he writes some notes about the station that you can read here [PDF].

In fact, Vatican Radio was established in 1931 by none other than Guglielmo Marconi. It wasn’t until sometime after World War 2 that the present-day transmitter site was set up at Santa Maria di Galeria. A nice view of it is pictured on this 1970 QSL card.

By the early 1970’s, short English language broadcasts to North America were still included in their schedule as you can see from these pages in the 1972 World Radio TV Handbook [click to enlarge].

In 1983, Ken MacHarg, a former host of the DX Partyline on HCJB, was the author of a now out-of-print book entitled “Tune In The World”. Read Ken’s comments about Vatican Radio here.

Though their published interval signal (see WRTVH) was “Christus Vincit”, Vatican Radio could also be recognized by the bells of St. Peter’s, which you will hear in this recording from 1971 that I made from my listening post in Ontario, Canada: https://archive.org/details/vatican-radio-1971

In more recent times, I have read that shortwave broadcasts to North and South America, as well as Europe, ended in 2012. In addition, English language shortwave transmissions to Asia ended in 2017, though they could still be found online. A list of their current English language broadcasts, as found on short-wave.info is shown here:

Here is a recording made August 11, 2025 using a remote SDR in the UK, complete with “Christus Vincit” interval signal, as they began their African service on 9705 kHz.

Also included is a recording from September 30, 2025, as they ended a transmission on 15595 kHz.

Another trip forwards, sideways and backwards in (shortwave) time

A trip via KTAB to Peru

Preserving Radio History in Your Community

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:

I have lived in southern Ontario, Canada my entire life, have been DXing since the late 1960’s and have held the amateur radio call sign VE3HLC for over 50 years. Most of this area’s AM broadcast stations had been considered “pests” over the years as I searched for more distant targets, until recently, when many of these began quietly slipping from the airwaves. While this opened up some new frequencies to DX, I soon began to feel that I had lost some old friends, many that I had known since childhood.

When I retired in 2018, I decided to spend a little time trying to preserve some radio history of stations in southern Ontario communities that have played a part in my life. This might include audio clips, QSLs, station booklets, and other types of ephemera, and I would try to place this information where it could be easily accessed by future historians or anyone else who is interested. In the end, I chose to use the Internet Archive (archive.org), where most uploaded information can be viewed (or heard) and downloaded for free.

CFPL, London, Ontario 980 kHz (still on the air)

“Communications in the Community” is a hardcover limited edition (2000 copies) souvenir book printed in 1966 by the Special Printing Unit of The London Free Press in London, Ontario, Canada. It includes historical information about the London Free Press (newspaper) and CFPL radio and television. I was lucky to find this item at a church rummage sale nearly 20 years ago.

CFPL began its life as CJGC in 1922. I acquired one of their QSL cards from 1925 through an eBay purchase a few years ago.

The above and more can be found by clicking on this link.

https://archive.org/details/page-16

CKOC, Hamilton, Ontario 1150 kHz (still on the air)

CKOC radio in Hamilton also started up in 1922. My parents met while working at the station in the late 1940’s. My brother and I (both radio amateurs), along with a few friends were given permission to operate on “Field Day” weekend in 1985 from their old abandoned transmitter site at Elfrida, Ontario.

This area has long since been developed to build homes and shopping areas.

“This is Hamilton, Ontario and the story of broadcasting station CKOC” is an undated booklet (I am guessing circa 1950) that I was able to purchase on eBay. Also found on eBay were two verifications, one from 1931 and the other from 1983.

You can find these scans and more by following this link.

https://archive.org/details/page-13_202209

CKNX, Wingham, Ontario 920 kHz (still on the air)

This station began in 1926 using the unusual call sign 10BP. It would remain that way until 1935. I managed to secure this QSL from 1932 through eBay, signed by its founder W.T. “Doc” Cruickshank.

Interesting stories of how the station began can be found at this link.

https://www.communitystories.ca/v1/pm_v2.php?id=story_line&lg=English&fl=0&ex=386&sl=2541&pos=1&pf=1

CKCR, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario 1510 kHz (no longer on the air)

In 1924, this station began briefly in nearby Brantford, Ontario. It quickly moved to Kitchener-Waterloo and existed until 1965 when it became CKGL. The CKCR call sign was picked up later in 1965 by a station in Revelstoke, BC.

Another eBay purchase, I found this QSL with a not-to-scale map of southern Ontario from 1934.

More Ontario QSL’s can be found in my broadcast band gallery at this link: https://archive.org/details/ckoc-hamilton-on-1983

I would encourage others to save parts of the local radio history in their city, state, province or country and give back to the hobby that we have enjoyed for so many years. I would also be happy to hear about any efforts you have made!