Category Archives: International Broadcasting

Sale of Radio Australia site pushed before senate report

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Nigel Holmes, who writes:

ABC anxious to annihilate HF as soon as possible. (ABC is Broadcast Australia’s largest customer by far, BAs income from Auntie is the ABCs largest sink of funds after salaries – several hundred million bucks per year)

http://www.sheppnews.com.au/2017/05/11/88161/radio-australia-for-sale

Radio Australia for sale

For sale, one large semi-rural 229ha block. Key features include large-scale grazing potential, two irrigation channels and a shortwave antenna that can broadcast to all over the globe.

The former shortwave broadcasting station that for decades sent the Radio Australia broadcast around the world was quietly put on the market a couple of weeks ago.

[…]The sale could throw into jeopardy any move to restart shortwave broadcasting, as it is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the country.

South Australian NXT senator Nick Xenophon visited the site earlier in the year, and later introduced a bill to the senate to restart shortwave broadcasting.

The bill was sent to a senate inquiry and was due to report by August.

Former radio engineer at the site Gary Baker has been campaigning for the resumption of shortwave, and was not happy the site was on the market.

‘‘If the ABC has to start broadcasting internationally again this could cost taxpayers millions of dollars, which would be stupid,’’ Mr Baker said.

A sign in front of the property indicates that the closing date for expressions of interest in the property is in June.

Click here to read the full article at The Shepparton Times.

ABC opposes restoration of shortwave services

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(Source: RNZ via Dennis Dura)

ABC opposes bill to restore Pacific shortwave service

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has made a Senate submission opposing a bill which would force it to restore its shortwave services for the Northern Territory and the Pacific.

The bill was introduced by South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon after the ABC switched off its shortwave transmitters in late January.

The ABC is opposed to the bill and said in its submission that its passing would impinge on its independence by directing the ABC to use broadcast technologies for diminishing audiences and at significant maintenance costs.

Continue reading at RNZ’s website…

Shepparton property listing and photos

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rafman, who shares the following info regarding the Shepparton broadcast site “Land Banking Opportunity” posted on Sunday. Rafman writes:

I found an excellent slide show & the the listing at

http://property.cbre.com.au/properties/490-verney-road-shepparton-north-vic-3631/

[T]hey’re marketing it as “agricultural”

Thanks, Rafman. Here’s the current property description from the ad:

490 Verney Road, SHEPPARTON NORTH, VIC, 3631
For Sale
By Expression of Interest

Significant Land Banking Opportunity

CBRE Agribusiness is pleased to present for sale 490 Verney Road, Shepparton North. Strategically positioned in Shepparton’s northern growth area, the property offers a large scale grazing opportunity with land bank potential.

Key features of the offering include:

– Significant and strategic 229* hectare landholding set across five freehold Certificates of Title

– Located moments from the Shepparton Town Centre (5* minutes) and just over two hours from the Melbourne CBD and Melbourneâ??s International (Tullamarine) Airport

– Situated opposite the highly regarded Goulburn Valley Grammar School

– Extensive road frontage of over 3,300* metres including Goulburn Valley Highway (417* metres), Verney Road (1,286* metres) and Grahamvale Road (1,606* metres)

– Access to irrigation with 12ML* high reliability water entitlement

– Two constructed irrigation channels

– Future Urban Development Opportunities (STCA)

– Site adjoins Low Density Residential and General Residential Zoned land to the west

*approximately

One SWLing Post reader, who works in real estate in Australia, explained to me that:

“An Expression of Interest (EOI) sale is a bit like a combination of an auction and private treaty sale. Typically, the property will be on the market for a set amount of time (often 1-2 months). During that time, potential buyers evaluate the opportunity, then submit their confidential bids with any conditions via the agent. When the consideration period ends, the seller reviews the offers and picks the best. EOIs are often used for unique properties like Shepparton.

They’re plugging the agricultural potential with the idea that an investor might “land bank” the purchase…meaning, buy the site, then use it for agriculture (grazing, etc.) until zoning and capital are in place for future urban development. Unless the buyer has very deep pockets and local political pull, it would likely take many years to have things set for residential development. If this were zoned residential already, it would be indicated (IN BOLD!) in the listing. Hi hi!”

Thank you for the clarification. I also understand that the site is still being managed and serviced by BA engineers and technicians.

Shepparton IHFTS for sale: land banking opportunity

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Nigel Holmes, who shares the photo above and notes:

Better get your cameras & long lenses oiled & hard hats, safety glasses & ear plugs ready. Or see your bank manager about an investment loan. I wonder if Babcock want a site down here?

Certainly not encouraging in terms of any future for this former Radio Australia transmission site. I imagine there would be a substantial up-front cost to simply tear down the existing infrastructure.

Thanks for the tip, Nigel!

VORW Radio International expands with shortwave broadcasts to South America

1 Reply

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John from VORW Radio International, who writes:

Thanks to the support of our VORW Radio listeners, I am proud to announce that VORW Radio International now has a transmission to South America on 9955 kHz!

Each broadcast features a mixture of my commentary and listener requested music. You’ll hear a great variety of music in this program, from Classical to Classic Country, from Rock to Smooth Jazz, you’ll hear it all!

If you’re interested in listening, the updated broadcast schedule is as follows:

Thursday 1200 UTC – 9875 kHz – Tashkent 100 kW – East Asia
Thursday 2000 UTC – 11580 kHz – WRMI 100 kW – Western Europe
Thursday 2200 UTC – 9955 kHz – WRMI 100 kW – South America
Friday 0000 UTC – 9395 kHz – WRMI 100 kW – North America
Friday 0000 UTC – 9455 kHz – WRMI 100 kW – Central America
Friday 0000 UTC – 7490 kHz – WBCQ 50 kW – North America

Questions, comments, reception reports and music requests may be sent to [email protected]

Reception reports will receive a QSL!

John, I’m so impressed with the number of relays you now have on shortwave–you’re truly a global broadcaster! Keep up the good work!

WRMI now relaying Radio Tirana on shortwave

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(Source: WRMI)

Recently Radio Tirana in Albania ended its broadcasts on shortwave. Radio Tirana’s programs were legendary during the years of the Cold War, when it was one of the strongest signals on the shortwave bands. Its programming is entirely different now in a free Albania, but the signal was quite poor in recent years, at least in the Americas.

Now, WRMI will be relaying Radio Tirana’s daily English program Monday-Saturday at 2300 UTC on 5850 kHz to North America, beginning today, April 27, 2017.

The Bonito Boni Whip goes from strength-to-strength: hardcore DXing in compact package

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Hi there, subscribers to the Oxford Shortwave Log YouTube channel and regular readers of this excellent website will be aware that I have been using a Bonito Boni whip E-field wideband antenna for a couple of months now. You may have seen my previous post here, detailing some excellent initial DX results achieved with the Boni Whip. What makes this antenna so compelling for a DXer such as myself is simply that it’s so light and compact; I can literally take it anywhere. Currently it lives in a small flight case (see above & below) on the back seat of my car, with either my Sony ICF-SW55 or Eton Satellit, a home-brew battery pack (that literally cost pence) and some peripheral bits and pieces; spare batteries, cables etc. I think it’s probably already clear that if you consider the Boni Whip’s performance as a function of portability and price, it’s out there on its own – I’m not aware of another antenna that can match it. Of course, there are H-field antennas, such as the excellent Wellbrook active loops that will effectively reject QRM, if that’s an issue for the user, but at a significant cost delta.

Since my last posting, I have continued to use the Boni Whip regularly on my DXpeditions and upload the reception videos to my YouTube channel. I have been nothing but totally impressed with this antenna, to the point that I’ve actually been surprised by the signals I’ve caught and recorded with it. Recent catches include a number of low-power stations from Brazil, including Radio Bandeirantes – Sao Paolo, Radio Voz Missionaria – Camboriu (on the 49 and 31 metre broadcast bands) and Radio Aparecida. Some of these signals are incredibly difficult to hear in Europe at all, let alone well and yet the ultra-compact Boni-Whip running off AA batteries, coupled to the (equally brilliant) Eton Satellit managed it with aplomb. Other catches include Zambia NBC Radio 1 – Lusaka and a signal from Bangladesh Betar that sounded as if the transmitter was 5 miles down the road!

All-in-all, I’m extremely satisfied with the performance of the Bonito Boni Whip and highly recommend it to those DXers requiring a high-performance, compact antenna, for use at home in electrically quiet environments or on any DXpedition. You certainly won’t be disappointed.

Please find embedded reception videos below and text links that will take you to the Oxford Shortwave Log YouTube channel. Thanks for reading/watching/listening and I wish you all great DX.

Click here to watch on YouTube

Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.