Category Archives: International Broadcasting

Wartime radio: The secret listeners

After publishing the post about Geoff Hanley and the Radio Security Service last week, I discovered this brilliant 1979 documentary from the BBC which highlights civilian involvement in radio-based intelligence during WWI and WWII.

Here’s a description from the East Anglian Film Archive:

“It was the tireless work of amateur radio enthusiasts during World War I, that initially convinced the Admiralty to establish a radio intercept station at Hunstanton. Playing an integral role during the war, technological advances meant that radio operators could pinpoint signals, thus uncovering the movement of German boats, leading to the decisive Battle of Jutland in 1916.

Wireless espionage was to play an even more important role during World War II, with the Secret Intelligence Service setting up the Radio Security Service, which was staffed by Voluntary Interceptors, a band of amateur radio enthusiasts scattered across Britain. The information they collected was interpreted by some of the brightest minds in the country, who also had a large hand in deceiving German forces by feeding false intelligence.”

Click here to watch the 30 minute film.

REE: Interview with Javier Sanchez, Head of Spectrum Strategy

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Ed, who has kindly downloaded and processed this Radio Exterior de España interview with Javier Sanchez, the Head of European Spectrum Strategy and Research and Development for REE.

The interview covers REE’s spectrum strategy and also the closure of shortwave radio services on October 1, 2014. While Mr. Sanchez is focused on delivering content via new channels (DAB and IP radio, for example), he believes it is a mistake to close all shortwave radio broadcasting as it still has both financial and content delivery advantages over newer methods.

Listen to the full interview via the embedded player below:

The part of the interview focusing on REE’s shortwave radio service begins at 13:30.

Again, many thanks for sharing this, Ed!

Radio Exterior de España to abandon shortwave October 1st

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Harold Woering, who recorded the announcement by Radio Exterior de España which mentions the imminent cuts to all shortwave radio broadcasts on October 1, 2014.

I’m confident this time REE’s exit will be permanent unlike the last time REE left the air in 2012.

The announcement is clear, and so is the opinion of the show host who recognizes why shortwave radio is a more accessible platform for many.

Listen to Harold’s recording below from REE’s English language broadcast service Saturday night on 6,055 kHz (00:00 UTC Sunday):

The Mighty KBC is moving to 7,375 kHz

Editor in Chief leaves Radio Netherlands

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Many thanks to Jonathan Marks, who shares this article from the populist Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf on Saturday.

If you can’t read Dutch, here’s a link to the article via Google Translate.

I believe RNW has struggled with identity and purpose since abandoning all radio broadcasting and most programming in 2012. I’m still confused as to why they dropped The State We’re In; an award-winning program which had a loyal listenership and could have stood on its own.

Playa de Pals transmitter site history and documentary

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Photo courtesy: http://www.radioliberty.org

In response to Listening to WWV at the source, SWLing Post reader, David (EA4998URE SWL) comments:

What a “coincidence”. Hopefully, before the summer holidays officially end, I will be off to another shortwave transmitter site. Well, to the remains of it. I will be visiting the former RFE/RL (and VOA in the last years of operation) site in Playa de Pals, near the Catalan city of Girona and also very close to my main QTH in Barcelona. The Pals RFE/RL site was from where a 1MW signal was transmitted by feeding the same audio signal to 4 Continental transmitters.

Their output signals where put in phase, then the big Group D dipole curtain was divided into two “halves” by switching the feed lines in the appropriate way. Each half of the curtain received 500KW from two transmitters. So the total was 1000KW, or 1MW. If we add the antenna gain, the ERP was in the order of several megawatts. This was a signal directed to Eastern Europe, and more specifically to Moscow, via single-hop propagation. I suppose receivers in Moscow released plenty of smoke and had to be replaced every time they were tuned to a RFE/RL signal from Pals. Hahaha!

The curtains were demolished in 2006 and because the place is abandoned now and has been repeatedly sacked, the station buildings are in a very poor situation, specially in the inside. Almost no radio hardware survives, but what is still there is quite interesting. […]

There is an excellent website (www.radioliberty.org) which is a virtual museum of all things related to the Pals station. It was created and is maintained by a former worker of the station. The language in the English version of the website is a bit “macaronic” in some parts of the site, but I think this is a minor issue given the excellent amount of information kept there.

There is also a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/PalsRadioStation) which keeps videos for the above website. Some of them are really long and very complete.

Finally, although not part of the Pals station virtual museum website, there was even a documentary made, after the demolition of the antennas, as a tribute to the station. It can be watched in the following link although parts of it have not been translated to English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJnxsSL3bbY

Many thanks, David!

After you visit the Playa de Pals site, later this year, please share your experience with us!

Radio Exterior de España: new management and possible change

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SWLing Post reader, David, writes from Barcelona:

I would like to let you know that changes are coming to my country’s SW broadcast station, Radio Exterior de España.

As they say in the latest “Listeners Club” program in the English Language broadcast, new bosses have come, the situation is chaotic now, and everything now is “up in the air”.

They may simply undergo a simple schedule change, but there’s a strong possibility as well, that REE went completely off the air. I think it is news worth spreading.

Here is a link to the latest “Listeners Club”, which includes comments on the issue: http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/emision-en-ingles/english-broadcast-listeners-club/2735360/

Many thanks, David. Please keep us informed if you hear any news.