Category Archives: Ham Radio

BBC Newshour and the first shortwave Transatlantic Tests

Former BBC World Service HQ – The Bush House

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors, Doug and Kris, who both share a link to BBC Newshour which was broadcast yesterday (Dec 12, 2021).

The final segment of the show focuses on the birth of international shortwave radio and the first Transatlantic tests. You can listen to this report over the next month via the BBC Sounds website. This is the final piece in Newshour and starts at the 45:05 mark. Very much worth your time!

Click here to listen to this segment on BBC Sounds (starting at 45:05).

100th Anniversary of Transatlantic Tests: Special event station using a 1921 replica transmitter

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1BCG Transmitter in 1921 (Source: 1BCG.org)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark (AE2EA), who shares the following announcement:

2021 marks the 100th year anniversary of the historic Transatlantic Tests, where radio amateurs using the call sign 1BCG were responsible for the first successful radio communication across the Atlantic Ocean on “short waves.”

On December 11, 2021 the Antique Wireless Association will recreate these historic transmissions on 160 meters from the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut, using a replica transmitter constructed by volunteers at the Antique Wireless Association. This special event is your opportunity to relive a historic moment in amateur radio history.

More information can be found here http://1BCG.org

Here’s a summary:

The 1BCG replica transmitter will be operating as W2AN/1BCG on 1.820 MHz, plus or minus, using CW, from The Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut. Transmissions from W2AN/1BCG will be one-way, just like the original transatlantic tests in 1921. You can get a SWL certificate for this Special Event by sending a copy of the transmitted message to [email protected]

Schedule: Transmissions start on December 11, 2021, on 1.820 MHz, +/-, at 1800 EST or 2300 UTC, then every 15 minutes thereafter for a total of five hours thusly; 1815, 1830, 1845, 1900, 1915, 1930, 1945, 2000, 2015, 2030, 2045, 2100, 2115, 2130, 2145, 2200, 2215, 2230 and the last transmission at 2245 EST.

Mark ~ AE2EA
Antique Wireless Association

I will definitely be listening! Thank you so much for sharing this, Mark!

Large archive of CW off-air recordings from Italy

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, LUIGI Ciampoli (IZ4KBW), who writes:

Some time ago with a friend of mine I created a very big archive of CW QSO recordings available for everybody who want to listen to CW traffic. The idea was born by the need to give to newcomer HAMS material to train on real CW traffic on the bands (with QSB, QRN, QRM, etc.).

So we started to record our ragchewing, ordering files with date/calls of participants/frequencies/keys used and WPM speed of QTC. At the beginning it was not a serious matter, but nowadays the archive counts thousands of records with local and international radio friends…hours and hours of “swinging morse code.” Some of these QSOs are made with ex professional RT involved on radio ham bands spending time talking about the past golden era and having QSO with OMs on the radio.

We released this large archive of recordings in a Google drive folder that can be shared. The archive is located at the following link : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XaF3Mvwa6WvgOCzZjp0NwzgnYdNHsW2Q

de IZ4KBW/op Luigi

Sample recording made on November 21, 2021. I8QFK, IZ8VKW, IU1MRY (Using a Paddle on 7036 kHz):

Thank you for sharing this, Luigi! What a wonderful idea. I think I will approach you about adding a few of these to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive as well as there are very few ham radio CW recordings.

Click here to check out IZ4KBW’s CW QSO off-air recording archive.

Radio Waves: Cassette’s Role in Creation of Internet, AU2JCB Special Event, Joel Hallas (W1ZR) SK, and Shortwave Chatter

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Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Datta (VU2DSI), Kim Elliott, Ron, and the Southgate ARC for the following tips:

How the Cassette Tape Helped Create the Internet (WNYC Studios)

In 1983, Simon Goodwin had a strange thought. Would it be possible to broadcast computer software over the radio? If so, could listeners record it off the air and onto a cassette tape? This experiment, and dozens of others in the early 80s, created a series of cassette fueled, analog internets. Our friend Simon Adler at Radiolab reports.

This is a segment from our November 26th, 2021 program, How Cassette Tapes Changed the World. [Read and listen to this piece at WNYC Studios…]

AU2JCB operation 19 NOV to 14 DEC 2021 (Datta, VU2DSI)

AU2JCB is a special event callsign to commemorate the birth date (30 NOV) & to pay homage & tell about the great INDIAN scientist Aacharya JAGADISH CHANDRA BOSE who is recognized as the “Father of Wireless Communication” by the scientific community of our world.
VU2DSI- Datta Deogaonkar will operate with this AU2JCB special event call sign. Continue reading →

A selection of Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2021 Radio Deals

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While I’m not exactly in the market for anything other than a few radio accessories, I have been checking out some Black Friday Deals online. I must admit that there seems to be even more deals this year than there were last year.

A few retailers worth checking out (in alphabetical order):

Airspy

As we mentioned in a previous post, AirSpy is once again offering huge discounts via their international distributors. This is a great time to snag the HF+ Discovery.

C.Crane

C.Crane has a small selection of items on deep discount for Black Friday including two of their popular SoftSpeaker pillow speakers and an LED flashlight. Click here to check out their deals.

Elecraft

US manufacturer, Elecraft, has included a number of products in their Black Friday sale. Note that some items may have a 6-8 week lead time. I’m a massive fan of their KX2 and KX3 transceivers–they currently have shack-in-a-box KX2/KX3 packages in their promotion. Click here to check out their sale.

GigaParts

GigaParts always has an impressive number of items in their Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. They have the super popular Yaesu FT-891–which is a great general coverage transceiver for broadcast band listening–for $629.95. I also noticed they have the Icom IC-R6 wideband handheld receiver in stock for $185.95. Click here to check out all of their deals.

Ham Radio Outlet

HRO has a number of radio items in their Black Friday sale. In particular, they have the SDRplay RSP1A wideband SDR for $99.95. They also have the Yaesu FT-891 for $629.95. They’ve many more deals, so check out their homepage for details.

Ham Test Online

Ham Test Online is offering a sale on their online license self-paced programs. Everyone in my family used this system for at least one license level and it worked brilliantly. From their newsletter:

Take advantage of our Black Friday Cyber Weekend Sale from Black Friday through Cyber Monday (November 26-29). If you’ve been wanting to get your license or upgrade, do it now and save $10 on each of our courses and $35 on the FCC fee:

Technician — $19.95 (33% off the $29.95 list price).

General — $24.95 (29% off the $34.95 list price).

Extra — $29.95 (25% off the $39.95 list price).

Renewal — $14.95 (50% off the $29.95 list price).

Click here to check it out at Ham Test Online.

Main Trading Company (MTC)

Two readers note that MTC is having a year sale which includes a Tecsun PL-880 for $169 and a number of radios and accessories.

Click here to check out their home page.

Radioddity

Radioddity’s Black Friday sale includes 15% off site-wide. They’re one of the biggest Xiegu retailers, so if you’ve been considering a G90, X5105, or the new X6100 for example, this would be a great time to purchase. Click here to check out their deals (use the discount code BFCM).

Any others–?

Please comment with any special deals you’ve found and I’ll add them to this post!

Radio Waves: UNESCO on Radio, Fallout After Reciva, Local Radio Appeal, 2022 Hamvention a Go, and Pandemic Ham

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Why UNESCO Believes in Radio (Red Tech)

Chief, Media Development and Media and Information Literacy at UNESCO Mirta Lourenço shares insight on radio’s evolution and challenges. She explains how the international organization is working to support radio stations around the world to ensure they’re able to accomplish their crucial mission.

RedTech: How do you view the role of radio in our society?

Mirta Lourenço: Thanks to radio, we benefit from many essential public services that we seldom reflect on. These include global positioning systems, satellite navigation, environmental monitoring, intelligent transport systems, space research, etc. Radio broadcasts offer information and the possibility for people to participate, regardless of their literacy levels and socio-economic situation.

The medium is also especially suited for multilingualism. Audiences may need to hear programs in their primary language, particularly if said language is local and endangered, or in the case of refugee radio or isolated communities. Also, when literacy levels are low, local languages are crucial to the populations’ access to information, as radio constitutes the main source for reliable journalism. History has shown us that radio is the most effective emergency communication system and in organizing disaster response.

All this does not mean that radio broadcasting is free from challenges. Continue reading →

Patricia hears a mystery signal on 7075 kHz

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Patricia, who writes with the following inquiry:

I wonder if anyone has heard and identified the station or signal I heard on 7075 kHz at 0745 October 30, 2021 on my C. Crane Skywave, and I live in southern California. I would like to know where this signal originates, sounding something like a numbers station, no voice, but a whooshing sound. I have heard it may be a ham frequency or a signal from space. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Patricia G.

Thank you for your question, Patricia.

I believe what you’re hearing is the ham radio digital mode called FT8.

FT8 is a weak signal digital mode that is extremely popular in the ham radio world these days. The mode isn’t designed around relaying lengthy messages, rather it’s designed for short, very formulaic exchanges.

Each message of up to 13 characters takes 13 seconds to send. For FT8 operators to be successful, they try to keep very accurate timing on their computing device controlling the transceiver. When the whole group is coordinated well, you’ll hear groups of signal tones singing all at once in 13 second intervals with a couple seconds of space between messages.

Here’s what FT8 sounds like in SSB mode:

It’s possible it sounded quite different, however, if you were listening in AM mode.

If this doesn’t sound like what you heard, perhaps you can check the comments for any other possibilities, but my guess is it’s FT8 as it’s a pretty strong chorus of tones!

Great question, Patricia!