Category Archives: International Broadcasting

Seeking a recording of the VOA Greece Station ID

My friend, Gary Wise (W8EEY), recently wrote with an inquiry; I’m hoping an SWLing Post reader can help…

Gary writes:

“As you might know I was the Station Manager of the VOA Greece Transmitting Station when it closed down in 2006. I’ve been contacted by one of the Greek employees. They are planning a reunion of former employees in April and would like to put together an audio montage of station sounds. They have some material, but would like to find a recording of the Greece Station ID (and possibly the one from Rhodes too). This was a male announcer stating that “This transmission came to you from Greece” or words to that effect.

Would you have such a thing, or know who might? I know the crew would greatly appreciate anything you might have along these lines.”

I don’t believe we have a recording of this in the SW Radio Audio Archive, nor in my local archives.

Does anyone out there have a recording of the VOA Greece Station ID? Please comment below or contact me.

Spread the radio love

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Berlin International, Final episode of DX-tra

4 Replies

Many thanks to Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Richard Langley, who writes:

[The following is a] recording of the penultimate English broadcast from Radio Berlin International (RBI) and the last broadcast in the particular time slot. It was also the last broadcast of the popular DX program DX-tra.

RBI ceased broadcasting at the end of the day on 2 October 1990, the day before German reunification took place.

In addition to the final episode of DX-tra, the recording features the news (in progress as the recording starts a minute or two after 00:45), Commentary, RBI Press Review, and Spotlight on Sport. There are several “goodbye” songs including “The Final Countdown” by the Swedish hard rock band Europe, and “Goodbye Blue Sky” by Pink Floyd and some announcer goodbye comments like “the voice of the disappearing German Democratic Republic,” “that was it,” and “the last day of the good old GDR.”

The 45-minute recording ends with the familiar RBI interval signal and, at 01:30 UTC, the first part of the German-language transmission, also the last in its time slot.

This recording was made in Hanwell, NB, Canada, with a Sony ICF-7600D receiver and supplied wire antenna draped around Richard’s home office. This recording begins around 0045 UTC, October 2, 1990 on a frequency of 9,730 kHz.

Click here to download this recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Spread the radio love

Yes, there is a shortwave…!

5 Replies

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no shortwave. Uncle DX Dash! says, “If you see it on the SWLing Post, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a shortwave?

Virginia E. Layer
330 Independence Ave., S.W.

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a digital age. They do not believe what can’t be heard or seen on their smart phone. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by Google. They seek credit cards, not QSL cards.

Yes, Virginia, there is a shortwave. It exists as certainly as sound and circuits and tubes exist, and you know that these abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no shortwave! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no heterodynes, no band openings, no propagation to make tolerable this existence. It would be a world without London Calling.

Not believe in shortwave! You might as well not believe in the ionosphere. You might get your papa to hire men to listen to all of the wi-fi radios of the world, but even if you did not hear shortwave, what would that prove? The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see ground waves dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can casually conceive or imagine all the wonders there are heard and unheard in the listening world. For that, you must wear headphones.

No shortwave! Thank goodness! It lives, and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, shortwave will continue to make glad the hearts of listeners.

Happy Holidays from your friends at Dashtoons and the SWLing Post!

With apologies to The New York Sun. Our tongue-in-cheek editorial borrows from the timeless classic, “Is There a Santa Claus?” printed in the September 21, 1897, issue of The New York Sun. Click here to read the original.

Spread the radio love

The Spectrum Monitor: only $24 for a year’s subscription

1 Reply

On occasion, the things you enjoy most, you forget to share with your friends. Not sure why this happens, but this is certainly the case with the Spectrum Monitor magazine (TSM). I’m long overdue to properly pitch TSM to my readers, which I feel is an absolute bargain at just $24 per year.

Why? Many of you may recall that it was only July of last year when we learned about the closure of The Monitoring Times magazine. I had always loved the magazine–not only were the management and editors a great group, but the magazine content was some of the best in the communications business when I began writing features and reviews for MT. But the owners of MT, Bob and Judy Grove, were ready to retire; ultimately, they decided to close their magazine down rather than sell it off.

Shortly after the announcement, MT‘s managing editor, Ken Reitz (KS4ZR), decided to make a go of a new publication. Albeit wholly digital, this magazine was to cover the same scope and content depth as MT, and would be known as The Spectrum Monitor (TSM).

In January of this year, TSM launched, and like many SWLing Post readers, I was eager to see if the content met the benchmark MT had set for so many years.

I needn’t have worried. Ken had corralled many excellent contributors, in many cases drawing upon previous writers for MT. And in the past year, I don’t believe it’s a stretch to say that in many respects, TSM not only met that benchmark, but has actually even exceeded it. TSM is now–unquestionably–a good, solid, thoroughly enjoyable publication.

Each issue is packed with topics covering the radio spectrum: shortwave, ham radio, vintage radio, pirate radio, scanning, public service, satellite, AM/medium wave and host of digital/mobile technologies, as well. Really, everything a listener could hope for.

Initially, I had my doubts. I frankly wasn’t sure whether I’d like reading a “digital-only” radio publication, or whether other readers would. I confess to being a bit “old school;” as a radio listener, I like to hold a radio in my hands, to physically tune it; as a reader, I prefer holding a printed publication in hand, to turn the (paper) pages…How would I feel with an e-reader or laptop, instead? Would reading that way feel like work?

But TSM soon swayed me toward the digital as both reader and as a columnist. As a writer, there was less stress on word count. If it was a bit short, or lengthy– as my October column was–I soon found it mattered less. In a digital publication, page count is comparatively irrelevant as long as content is worthwhile and captivating for the reader. And as a reader, I appreciated that the columnists that I was reading would have the freedom to write at length, too.

Secondly, a digital publication gave its writers an opportunity to infuse columns with a multi-media element–something I’d become accustomed to as a blogger here on the SWLing Post. When I published a review of a radio, I could include actual audio clips in the article. If I wrote about pirate radio, for example, I could embed actual pirate radio recordings. Brilliant! And, again, more fun for the reader.

Also, including links or references to external websites is a cinch in a digital format, and quite easy for the reader to check out. Instead of copying a long gangly URL from a printed page, you simply click on a link as you would on a website, such as on this one. Second nature, really.

Finally, in a digital publication, I found writers could use more full-color images in their articles. I really enjoy the addition of the images; they make articles come to life…

So, I soon learned to relax with the e-reader just as I had with the printed Monitoring Times. No pages to turn, but then again, not so different from reading…well, a blog like this. I’ve received excellent feedback from TSM readers, too, many of whom admitted their initial bias against a “digital” magazine had since been withdrawn completely.

I continue to enjoy reading TSM every month. And although–due to time constraints–I’m no longer TSM‘s primary shortwave radio columnist, I still enjoy writing for TSM when time permits, so you will see my reviews and features pop up in TSM now and again.

But why take my word for it? Check it out for yourself–it’s one of the best magazines for the radio enthusiast, digital or print…And at only $24 annual cost, it’s a terrific and affordable last minute Christmas gift for a friend, family member, or–let’s be honest–for yourself.

Afraid to commit to a one year subscription? Individual issues of TSM are available online for $3 each. If you like what you’re reading (you will), you can then purchase a one year subscription, and the cost of your issue will be refunded.

If you’re lucky enough to receive a subscription to TSM in your stocking, I can assure you that you’re in for a real treat. Happy reading!

Spread the radio love

An SWL perspective on US/Cuba relations

3 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, London Shortwave, who has posted an article on his blog regarding US/Cuba relations after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced, last Tuesday, the re-establishment of relations. London Shortwave has included recordings from the VOA, Radio Marti and Radio Havana Cuba.

Click here to read the full article on London Shortwave’s blog.

Spread the radio love

Speech by James Harding focuses on future of BBC News and Current Affairs

1 Reply

Many thanks to Jonathan Marks who shares a link to this speech by James Harding, Director of BBC News and Current Affairs. This public event was hosted by City University London on 18 December 2014.

The full speech by James Harding can be read on the BBC Media Centre website–I have included some excerpts below:

“2014 has been a year of exceptionally diverse and demanding stories – the Scottish referendum; the floods; Rotherham; UKIP; the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup; Ebola; Ukraine; IS; Boko Haram; the Malaysian airliners; Hong Kong. And, at the same time, huge change within BBC News.

We are changing at a time when there’s a lot less money available. We had to make £50 million of savings this year, after four consecutive years of cuts. And many people in BBC News are, understandably, unhappy. Losing 415 jobs is incredibly painful for the individuals directly involved and the waves it creates are acutely felt by all of our teams of journalists and production staff.

We have had to make some hard choices. We have restructured – a restructuring focused on two things: enabling original journalism and the digital transformation of BBC News.

The digital transformation of BBC News, of course, did not start this year and it certainly will not finish to the strains of Auld Lang Syne. But we have been driving innovation and improvement. The mobile sites are now responsive in 30 languages; the Twitter breaking news feed topped 10m users; BBC News is the most retweeted news source worldwide; BBC Trending has gone from obscurity to the envy of newsrooms everywhere; the Weather app is the most popular we’ve ever done. And, most significantly, the new BBC News app went into BETA testing yesterday. We will roll it out in the New Year. It represents a huge step forward on two fronts that really matter in mobile: personalisation and video. What you need to know, wherever you are, whenever you want it.

We have renewed the case for the BBC’s contribution to the revival of local journalism. We have shown a willingness to take on the wrong-headed argument that the problems of the local newspaper industry are the BBC’s fault; and we have shown a willingness to work with the local newspapers in meaningful partnerships. Someone said to me this week that the definition of partnership is “the mutual suspension of loathing in the pursuit of resources”. Well, I hope it can be more than that, as there is a real issue of information inequality in this country. Rich, old, white people are getting a better diet of news than poorer, younger and non-white people. And that’s increasingly true in national vs local news. Redressing the balance is one of the reasons we’ve doubled the regional news coverage in England in the 10 O’Clock news hour in the months ahead of the election.

[…]At the same time, we are making the most of the fact that the BBC is the world’s most global news service. Not just because it serves a worldwide audience of more than 250 million people. But because it has the voices and views, experience and contacts of the World Service – the language services, Monitoring, Media Action, World News – at the heart of it. And since the journalists at Bush House moved into New Broadcasting House, the World Service teams on the 5th floor are driving our reporting and analysis like never before. This week, Shaimaa Khalil, a former World Service correspondent, has been reporting from Peshawar, backed in no small part by the Urdu Service, the service that edited and published Malala Yousufzai’s blog long before she was a Nobel prize winner. Hard to recall that back in 2008, when the Taliban imposed a ban on girls’ education in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, no-one had heard of the schoolgirl from Mingora before BBC Urdu reporters set out to capture the impact the conflict was having on the pupils involved.

[…]But the primary role of the World Service Group, of course, is to serve audiences outside of the UK. And I was struck by the remarks made by the chief executive of Guardian Media Group, Andrew Miller, in October. I’d better be careful – he’s speaking after me!

Andrew has criticised the BBC’s recent expansion in Australia. He said the BBC’s move into Australia, where the Guardian launched a local online edition last year, threatened to distort the market and had no benefit for UK licence fee payers.

Well. What has the BBC done? Actually, we decided to tailor the BBC.com homepage for the local audience. And to do so, we appointed two people – a local editor and a homepage editor. Hardly a distortion of one of the world’s most competitive news markets, nor, I think, a threat to the Guardian’s ambitions there.

And, more importantly, I don’t want to see the World Service, now that it is funded by the licence fee payer, losing its appetite to serve people around the world. There are plenty of global news providers – CCTV, Russia Today, Al Jazeera – who would love to see the BBC reined in globally. I make no apology for our ambitions for the World Service. When it started broadcasting in 1932, John Reith warned listeners to keep their expectations low. Instead, it far exceeded them. We want to go on doing that. It is, to my mind, Britain’s best loved and most respected export. We should build it up, not tear it down. It’s a global news service that is trusted, respected and relied upon by a quarter of a billion people around the world. Our ambition is to double our global audience by 2022 to half a billion.

And even in our connected world, reliable, independent information is more needed than ever. Throughout the long history of the Cold War, the BBC World Service was broadcasting behind the Iron Curtain to a people denied the basic right of freedom of speech. The world does not stand still, and the Berlin Wall has long been reduced to rubble. So while today we are driving digital growth through mobile and social products we are also looking at how we can develop a service that might work for North Korea. And, I must say, we find ourselves increasingly reflecting on the position of the media in Russia and Turkey.

[…]Nobody knows what the outcome of next year’s election will be. The job of all news organisations is to ensure that voters arrive at polling day armed with the information they need. And, while politicians may discuss the BBC, our job is to put the public first. We will not be deterred or distracted by criticism, nor allow the debates about BBC funding mechanisms get in the way of our journalism. It’s been fashionable in the last few years to disparage journalism or despair of its future. It’s plain looking at the world today that it’s never been more important or more needed. 2015 is certainly going to be interesting. And I expect I may be ducking out of the odd meeting, to take a call, roll my eyes and swear.”

Spread the radio love

WRTH 2015: A look inside

5 Replies

I received my copy of the 2015 World Radio and TV Handbook (WRTH) directly from the publisher last week. As many SWLing Post readers know, I always look forward to receiving this staple radio reference guide each year. While other reference guides have dropped out of the scene, WRTH has remained strong and the publication’s quality has been wonderfully consistent. In fact, I noticed in the Editorial that this is 69th edition of WRTH: obviously, a publication with longevity.

WRTH’s team of noted DXers from around the world curate frequencies and broadcaster information by region; while I’m not sure how they orchestrate all of this, the end result is truly a symphony of radio information. In addition to broadcaster listings, WRTH’s radio reviews, feature articles, and annual HF report make for excellent reading.

But the WRTH isn’t just a frequency guide: the publication always devotes the first sixty or so pages to articles relating to various aspects of the radio hobby. Following, I offer a quick overview of these.

The first article always features a WRTH contributor (indeed, it’s this very network of contributors that make WRTH and its listings such a success): this year, Mauno Ritola tells us how he got interested in the hobby and what being a contributor means to him. Many of you will recognize Mauno’s name–he’s quite a prominent Finish SW and MW DXer (and a very nice fellow, as well).

The second set of articles is always my favorite: WRTH receiver reviews.

This year, WRTH reviewed the CommRadio CR-1a (un update of their very positive CR-1 review last year). They also review the Tecsun PL-600 (above), the SDRplay software defined radio, the MFJ-1046 Preselector, and the Apache ANAN-10. The 2015 WRTH also has a special review section that features two HF noise and loop antennas: the AOR LA400 indoor loop and the Wellbrook ALA 1530S+ Imperium Loop (which wins the WRTH Award for Best Antenna). As I’ve come to expect from this publication, these are all great comprehensive reviews.

The SDRplay

The following article is “Wooferton: 70 Years on the Air,” written by Dave Porter, one time Senior Transmitter Engineer at the site. In a few pages, you’ll gather the technological history of the site, dating back to a rather bumpy start in WWII.

Following this, noted DXer and WRTH contributor, Max van Arhem, speaks to The Future of DXing. He proposes that with the decline of international broadcasting on the shortwaves, there is still much challenge in the hobby–especially by broadening DXing in the FM and medium wave bands. [Indeed, I’ve certainly seen an increase of questions about medium wave DXing here on the SWLing Post. I hope to cover more of these topics in 2015.]

Lord Howe Island

WRTH often features a snapshot of the radio scene in various parts of the world. This year, WRTH Contributor, David Foster, writes about his recent trip to remote Lord Howe Island and what he discovered about the radio landscape there. As a keen traveler myself, I found his article fascinating (Lord Howe Island is now on my travel list!).

As a bonus, WRTH includes a feature/review of the benchmark Watkins-Johnson 8711A receiver. Not only does the article speak to the mechanics and virtues of the 8711A, but it also places this particular model within the context of the Watkins-Johnson legacy.

The final sections of articles are dedicated to the WRTH Digital Update and HF propagation report/forecast.

As expected, this is another great edition of the World Radio TV Handbook. As I’ve said many times, though I use online frequency databases fairly regularly, there is just no replacement for a good printed frequency guide–especially for all of my off-grid DXing.

For DXers who collect QSL cards, you’ll find that broadcaster contact information in WRTH is often more up-to-date than a broadcaster’s own website.

Not only does WRTH contain more in-depth information on broadcasters and schedules, but it makes for quick reference, and doesn’t require a computer or Internet connection–much like, well, your shortwave radio.

Purchase your copy of WRTH 2015 directly from WRTH’s publishers, or from a distributor like Universal Radio (US), Radio HF (Canada) or Amazon.com. Happy reading–and listening–in 2015!

Spread the radio love