Category Archives: International Broadcasting

BBC Monitoring: A tour of Caversham Park

A tour of Caversham Park before it closes – the home of BBC Monitoring – a historical BBC World Service department which has been monitoring some of the world’s most seismic events for 75 years

Caversham Park became the BBC Monitoring Headquarters in 1941 and in light of recent news that, due to a £4million pound funding cut, it’ll be closing its doors for good, Rajan Datar visits the iconic building.

Coordinating Editor, Chris Greenway gives a tour of the building and a sense of its history, while Lina Shaikouni gives a taste of what the service provides today.

Over to You – The Home of BBC Monitoring
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p044jj9h

First broadcast on Saturday, August 20 the podcast should now be available at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002vsn8/episodes/downloads

Update on Radio Australia outage

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Hawkins, who left the following comment in reply to our previous post about Radio Australia’s outage:

This message found on the ABC/Radio Australia website this morning…

The ABC is running a technical outage of the international shortwave service until Friday the 19th of August to test reception in the region.

Listening to shortwave requires a specialist shortwave radio. We direct our broadcasts at peak listening times in our target areas of the Pacific using multiple frequencies. We recommend that where possible, you use an outside antenna to improve reception. Shortwave signals may be subject to interference from other broadcasters’ signals, electronic devices such as computers, microwave ovens, TVs, car engines and fluorescent lights.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/waystolisten

Thanks for passing this along, Dan. This is the longest technical outage I’ve ever noted from Radio Australia.

Radio Australia outage: Response from ABC Reception Advice

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I just received the following message from ABC Reception Advice after inquiring about Radio Australia being off the air. I’m sure many of you also received the same message:

Thank you for your recent correspondence with regards to the Radio Australia Broadcasts on Shortwave Radio in the SW Pacific. We are currently working with our transmission provider on a number of shut downs over the past week and again over the next week to investigate a range of technical and commercial issues for the service.

In the meantime the services are still on air via our satellite services on Intelsat IS18 and IS20 as well as our FM network across the targeted markets in the SW Pacific (for detailed information please see http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/waystolisten and of course Radio Australia is online at http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/listen

Kind Regards,
ABC Reception Advice

I can’t remember Radio Australia being off the air such a long time for maintenance.

DX’pedition: first test of deployable 200 metre longwire antenna by Oxford Shortwave Log

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A view looking toward Oxford Shortwave Log DX’pedition territory; a wood in rural Oxfordshire

Regular viewers of my youtube channel will know that I spend much of my shortwave listening time out in an Oxfordshire wood where QRM is negligable and Tropical Band stations can be heard with, at times, unprecidented signal-to-noise. Regular viewers will also be aware that I enjoy experimenting with different antenna set-ups, particularly pushing the boundaries with longwires coupled to portables. Having applied my rather modest practical skills, I constructed a 200 metre deployable 200 metre longwire antenna and finally got around to testing it, with my Elad FDM DUO and Sony ICF-2001D. There are a number of reception videos still to be uploaded to the Oxford Shortwave Log youtube channel, howvever, the immediate information and entertainment of SWLing Post readers, I have included two here. 🙂

The first is the more commonly heard Emisoras Pio XII from Boliva on 5952.5 kHz using the Sony and the second, the much more rarely reported Radio Chaski from Peru on 5979.9 kHz using the Elad. Both reception videos were very encouraging. In fact, I would go so far as to say they demonstrated excellent reception witihin the framework of their respective contexts. Emisoras Pio XII was almost booming with unprecidented signal strength and clarity, whilst Radio Chaski was heard with discernible audio. Neither station had been received as well at my QTH or the woods, previously.

Direct link to reception video of Emisoras Pio XII from Boliva on 5952.5 kHz

Direct link to reception video of Radio Chaski from Peru on 5979.9 kHz

I hope this gives other DXers ‘food for thought’ with regard to experimenting with antennas and perhaps more importantly, making significant improvements to SNR by removing themselves from the ubiquitous blanket of QRM generated by all of those devices at home that are intrinsic to modern life. Thanks for watching. 73.

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.

Radio Australia off the air this week

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Nikolich (N9OVQ), who writes:

Radio Australia has been off the air all week. My buddy Ron Howard in California contacted [email protected] regarding this issue, and received this response:

“Thank you for your recent correspondence with regards to the Radio Australia Broadcasts on Shortwave Radio in the SW Pacific. We are currently working with our transmission provider on a number of shut downs over the past week and again over the next week to investigate a range of technical and commercial issues for the service.

In the meantime the services are still on air via our satellite services on Intelsat IS18 and IS22 as well as our FM network across the targeted markets in the SW Pacific (for detailed information please see http://goo.gl/2Y7xS3 ) and of course Radio Australia is online at http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/listen.

Thank you also for your audio clip of ABC Alice Springs NT!

Kind Regards,

ABC Reception Advice (Communications Networks)”

Tom, you have more than 10,000 people regularly following your blog. Can you encourage your readers to contact Radio Australia and tell them how important their shortwave transmissions are to them? I have been listening to this station continuously since 1972 and I would be crushed if they left the air. I begin most mornings by listening to their loud, clear English language shortwave signal on 9,580 kHz.

Thanks, Mike. Like many other SWLs, I too have noted that Radio Australia has been off the air this week. Without a doubt, Radio Australia is my staple source of news on shortwave these days and a part of my morning ritual (cup of coffee and RA–!).

I will send them an email immediately.

Post readers: if you enjoy Radio Australia, please take Mike’s advice and contact them at your earliest convenience.

Radio World: The evolution of shortwave radio

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who shares the following article by James Careless in Radio World Magazine.

The article includes interviews with Andy Sennitt, Kim Andrew Elliott, Nigel Fry, and even yours truly. The following is a short excerpt taken from the introduction of the article:

(Source: Radio World)

OTTAWA, Ontario — With the advent of radio in the 20th century, the shortwave band (1710–30,000 kHz) soon became a hotbed of long-distance radio broadcasting. Used primarily by state-run international broadcasters, plus ham radio operators and ship-to-shore radio communications, the shortwave band was prized due to its astoundingly broad reach.

That reach was — and is still — made possible by the tendency of ground-based shortwave radio transmissions to bounce off the ionosphere and back to earth; allowing shortwave broadcasts to “hop” repeatedly, increasing a broadcast’s range while minimizing its decay.

[…]At the height of the Cold War, the shortwave bands were packed with content as the Voice of America and West Germany’s Deutsche Welle (Voice of Germany) traded ideological punches with Radio Moscow and East Germany’s Radio Berlin International. This is because analog shortwave radio broadcasting was the only way for both sides to make their political cases cross international borders: There was no satellite TV, let alone any internet.

Read the full, in-depth article on the Radio World website…

This article is well worth reading and one of the more in-depth pieces I’ve seen in a trade publication or news site recently.

I should add that I completely agree with James Careless’ conclusion:

“[T]he research that went into this article suggests that the shortwave band is sufficiently alive to be still evolving.”

The fact is, the shortwave landscape is not what used to be in the Cold War. Many of those big voices have left the scene and, in the process, left the door open to others.

The shortwaves are a dynamic communications space that continues to evolve.

That’s why I keep listening.

Want to read more about the future of shortwave radio? Click here to read Does Shortwave Radio Have a Future?

Cold War Clandestine Radio from Greece

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UPDATE: The links to Cold War Radio Radio Vignettes below became inactive just prior to publication. Richard Cummings has kindly assembled the texts I referenced and made a PDF booklet available for SWLing Post readers. Click here to download.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Kim Elliott who (some time ago) shared a link to a series of posts by Richard Cummings from his website, Cold War Radio Vignettes.

Cummings is the author of Cold War Radio: The Dangerous History of American Broadcasting in Europe, 1950-1989 and Radio Free Europe’s “Crusade for Freedom” Rallying Americans Behind Cold War Broadcasting, 1950-1960.

Cumming’s blog is updated frequently and features many fascinating historical “vignettes” regarding Cold War radio broadcasting.

Kim specifically mentioned a series of posts with a focus on Cold War American broadcasting from Greece, suggesting SWLing Post readers might enjoy this bit of Cold War history. I completely agree!

Below, I’ve linked to a total of six posts Cummings published on the topic. Enjoy: