Category Archives: International Broadcasting

Radio Waves: RTI Receives Top-Rank, Vatican Radio interview, and the Complications Communicating with Voyager I

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Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

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 David Iurescia and Mike Robinson for the following tips:

Rti secures top ranking in global popularity among Japanese-language shortwave broadcast (RTI)

Radio Taiwan International (Rti) has been recognized in the 2024 JARL Ham Fair by securing first place in both the popularity ranking for shortwave stations and the best regular Japanese language broadcasting service.

The JARL Ham Fair is an annual event held during the summer, celebrating radio and broadcasting activities. Rti’s top rankings in both categories mark a major shift from its pre-pandemic standing, where Rti consistently ranked third.

Rti’s President Chang Jui-chang , who led a delegation to Japan last month to foster bilateral exchanges, expressed that this victory not only reflects Rti’s continuous efforts to improve its Japanese-language programming but also underscores the long-standing support and affection from its Japanese listeners.

One of the key developments this year was the resumption of the Double Ten National Day shortwave broadcast in Japanese, which further enhanced Rti’s service to its Japanese audience. Chang stressed that listeners are the lifeblood of any radio station, and Rti will continue its commitment to excellence in its Japanese programming to strengthen Taiwan-Japan ties and deepen mutual friendship.

Vatican Radio, a reference point for international broadcasting. History, facilities and broadcasts (exclusive interview) (FM-World)

Designed personally by Marconi, Radio Vaticana has been a key player in international broadcasting since the early 20th century, particularly in terms of technology. FM-world discussed this with Costantino Pacifici, who was Technical Director of the station for many years.

As the centennial of the radio approaches, the director of this publication asked us to do a quick overview of amplitude modulation stations. We had the opportunity to interview Centrale Milano, AM Italia, and OMItaliane.

But we immediately had the idea to talk about the most prestigious of all European radio stations: the station of Radio Vaticana.

With the help of RAI, we managed to secure a direct contact that led to this exclusive interview, focusing on the peak “broadcast” years of Vatican Radio: when broadcasts from the Holy See were joined by those from Santa Maria di Galeria, and when stereo transmissions began on 96.3 MHz. Here’s the report of the interview with Dr. Costantino Pacifici, which took place in mid-October 2024. [Continue reading…]

NASA is now talking to Voyager 1 with a radio that hasn’t been used since 1981 (BGR)

NASA can’t catch a break when it comes to Voyager 1, apparently. That’s because the US space agency has now revealed that the only thing keeping Voyager 1 communications running at the moment is a radio that hasn’t been used since 1981.

If that sounds like a bit of a nightmare, well, you aren’t wrong. But, it also isn’t the first stop that NASA has had to make on the nightmare train that has been its attempts to keep Voyager 1 working as optimally as possible over the past year.

In fact, this is just the latest in several Voyager 1 communications hiccups. The last hiccup began to show its ugly head in December 2023, when NASA revealed that Voyager 1 was sending back garbled data in its daily communications. That issue persisted for months, with some even believing that Voyager 1 was lost to us as far back as February. [Continue reading…]

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Join Us: Become a Contributor for the SWLing Post!

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The SWLing Post has been online since 2008, and over the years, I’ve seen our readership grow into a vibrant, international community of radio enthusiasts who support each other.

From the beginning, my goal for the SWLing Post has never been to focus on me, but rather to highlight the diverse ways people enjoy radio and to share news about international broadcasting. To achieve this, I’ve invited select individuals to contribute as guest writers and provided them with accounts to post their own content.

As our community has expanded, I want to open the door even wider and invite more of you to contribute directly to the SWLing Post. This will help alleviate the bottleneck of getting timely information out, especially as I am currently in one of the busiest stages of my life.

If you’re interested in receiving a volunteer contributor account, which will allow you to create and submit posts for approval and publication by me or one of our editors, please contact me via email or leave a comment on this post.

To qualify for a contributor account, please note the following requirements:

Community Involvement: We prefer to see that you’ve been an active, long-standing member of our community by commenting on posts. If you’re new to us, we will first need to review and post your contributions before granting you an account. This is due to the high volume of spam guest post requests we receive—often dozens each week.

Comfort with WordPress: You should be comfortable creating posts in WordPress, the platform we use for the SWLing Post. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to train individuals on WordPress, but numerous tutorials are available since it’s the most popular blogging platform in the world.

We are looking for original content that reflects the genuine spirit and kindness of our community. Our goal is to ensure that contributions are not only informative and engaging but also embody the warmth and enthusiasm that characterize our shared love for radio. As long as your content is respectful, informative, and true to the spirit of radio enjoyment, it will align with our standards and be a valuable addition to the SWLing Post.

If you’re interested, please comment on this post or email me directly, and I will get back to you via email.

Thank you!

Thomas Witherspoon (K4SWL)

Alan Roe’s A-24 season guide to music on shortwave (version 4.0) & program grids for BBC WS, VOA and CGTN English services

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his A-24 (version 4.0) season guide to music on shortwave. Alan provides this amazing resource as a free PDF download:

Click here to download Music on Shortwave A-24 v4.0 (PDF)

As always, thank you for sharing your excellent guide, Alan!

This dedicated page will always have the latest version of Alan’s guide available for download.

Programme Grids

Alan notes:

I also attach copies of my shortwave programme grids for the English services of BBC WS, VOA and CGTN in case these are of interest. Click links to download:

Radio Waves: Baofeng HTs Used by Militants, Ham Radio Memory, and Radio Sunshine

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Radio Seribatu FM Tower

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

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 Dan Robinson, William Pietschman, NT, and Tracy Wood  for the following tips:

Walkie talkie made by Chinese firm link militants across groups (Hindustan Times)

Baofeng walkie talkie sets are common among Maoists, insurgent groups, and anti-military forces in India and Myanmar, aiding communication in remote areas.

Made by China’s Fujian Baofeng Electronics Co., huge numbers of these walkie talkie sets have been seized wherever there is insurgency. They are inexpensive, hardy, easy to use, and have a range of 5 km, which can be extended to 10 with an easy hack. [Continue reading…]

Commander 1 Brigade Nigerian Army Donates Baofeng Radios To Civilian Joint Task Force In Zamfara State (EONS Intelligence)

The Commander, 1 Brigade Nigerian Army, Gusau, Brigadier General Sani Ahmed donated 100 sets of BAOFENG Communication Radios (Walkie-Talkies) to members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in a brief ceremony at Headquarters, 1 Brigade Gusau Zamfara State

In his remarks, the Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Sani Ahmed said the donation of the Baofeng Radios is part of his Corporate Social Responsibilities to the host communities and to enhance the operational capacity of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in the state. He added that this will aid the CJTF to carry out their responsibilities in securing lives and property in their respective communities effectively. [Continue reading…]

Electric ‘Ripples’ in the Resting Brain Tag Memories for Storage (Quanta Magazine)

[Note: this is not a radio article, but mentions a connection to ham radio.]

György Buzsáki first started tinkering with waves when he was in high school. In his childhood home in Hungary, he built a radio receiver, tuned it to various electromagnetic frequencies and used a radio transmitter to chat with strangers from the Faroe Islands to Jordan.

He remembers some of these conversations from his “ham radio” days better than others, just as you remember only some experiences from your past. Now, as a professor of neuroscience at New York University, Buzsáki has moved on from radio waves to brain waves to ask: How does the brain decide what to remember? [Continue reading…]

Radio Sunshine – Niue (Now streaming)

SWLing Post Tracy Wood writes with the following note:

The Internet audio stream for Niue’s Radio Sunshine now appears to be active, albeit not 24×7. The station operates locally on FM but formerly was a top AM DX target.

Niue is a self-governing dependency of New Zealand.

On the technical side, the audio stream URL unfortunately appears to be somewhat dynamic as it’s using a “radioplayer” Javascript. The player (and stream) can be found at the tvniue.com homepage, the official radio/TV corporation of the island.

Fans of Oceania radio can add this one to other area countries that stream such as Nauru, Kiribati, and Samoa.

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RTVE approves additional shortwave transmitter and “secures the future of the public shortwave service”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors, Paul Jamet and Tracy Wood for sharing the following article (translated into English) from RTVE:

RTVE secures the future of the public shortwave service of Radio Exterior de España

The RTVE Board of Directors has unanimously approved the purchase, installation, and implementation of a new shortwave transmitter. This is the first of five new transmitters that Radio Exterior de España (REE) urgently needs to guarantee the continuity of this public service.

The new transmitters will replace the current equipment, which has far exceeded its useful life and whose frequent breakdowns put the continuity of shortwave broadcasts at risk. They will be responsible for carrying the shortwave signal to West Africa, the Middle East, North America, and South America.

With this decision, RTVE fulfills its public service obligation set out in the Framework Mandate and in Law 17/2006 of June 5, which establishes that the Corporation must “aim to serve the widest audience, ensuring maximum continuity and geographic and social coverage, with the commitment to offer quality, diversity, innovation, and ethical standards.”

This is a great advance that ensures the continuity of REE’s public service to Spaniards who are outside our borders and to foreigners interested in Spain. This commitment by the Corporation comes after years of uncertainty. In 2014, the closure of REE’s shortwave was implemented for a few months. It was in 2018 that an eight-hour daily shortwave broadcast was achieved again.

The power of shortwave

REE’s shortwave carries the voice and vision of Spain to the entire world. For this reason, the director of the station, Luis Manuel Fernández Iglesias, has advocated in his speech before the RTVE Board of Directors to “involve the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture of Spain in the future of Radio Exterior, both in the design of its programming and in the financing of this public international broadcaster, such as REE.”

As seen in the invasion of Ukraine, shortwave escapes control and censorship, guaranteeing the democratic right to truthful and honest information. Another advantage is its free nature for listeners and the low cost and investment needed for its reception anywhere. These circumstances make it very attractive, especially for fishermen, merchant seamen, missionaries, or Spanish volunteers who carry out their work where the internet signal does not reach.