Category Archives: Longwave

RTÉ longwave extended until 2017

RTÉ postpones long wave closure until January 19, 2015

This is a follow up to a previous post:

(Source: RTÉ)

RTÉ is postponing the closure of its long wave radio transmitter, the Managing Director of RTÉ Radio has told the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications.

Jim Jennings said what was evident was that more time was needed to engage with groups affected.

The closure has been postponed to 19 January 2015.

RTÉ had previously announced that it would be ceasing its service from the Clarkstown long wave transmitter on 27 October and migrating its Radio One service to digital platforms.

Mr Jennings said the decision to cease any RTÉ public service is not something that RTÉ takes lightly or without serious consideration.

He said: “We know that such decisions affect audiences who enjoy and rely on RTÉ’s services.

“However, we also know that the public expect us to manage our operations and services efficiently and evolve our services as technology changes and audiences adapt.”

“In balancing these broad considerations we have come to the decision that now is the right time to cease our long wave Radio One service after ten years on air.”

Continue reading on the RTÉ website.

In North America, RTÉ longwave is a tough DX. Still, during the quiet conditions of December, I may just try to catch them one evening.

Though the RTÉ website has already removed the long wave frequency from their Ways To Listen page, you can find them on 252 kHz.

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DXpedition at a radio astronomy observatory: Want to join me?

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Yesterday evening, prior to my presentation at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI), I took the opportunity to do a little portable shortwave listening on the PARI campus.

Shortwave-Radio-Astronomy-PARI

One of the great things about listening to shortwave, mediumwave or longwave at a radio astronomy site is the blissful absence of any radio noise. Radio astronomy requires seriously RF-quiet conditions, and all the better for SWLing, too. My little Tecsun PL-380 receiver easily detected most everything on the 31 meter band; All India Radio (and the Voice of Korea on the same frequency), for example, was as strong as a local station.

DX among the radio telescopes: Sound fun–?

Next year, in October 2015, I might just organize a radio listening DXpedition at PARI. It would be a wonderful opportunity to DX in an RFI-free environment in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina, on the 200+ acre campus of an active radio astronomy observatory and former NASA tracking station. (Really, how cool is that?!?)

PARI has agreed to handle all of the arrangements, and even provide some dorm rooms and camping space to the first registrants. There will be a fee for the event (to pay for the facilities and PARI staff time) but any profit would benefit PARI’s science education mission. The fee would be based on the number of attendees and how many nights we operate–I’d aim for two nights, on a Friday and Saturday (October 9 & 10, 2015).

If you would be interested in a shortwave listening DXpedition at PARI in Rosman, North Carolina, USA, please contact me or comment below. Click here to track the distance to PARI.

Note: the autumn foliage, for which the NC mountain region is famed, will be at or near its peak during the time of the DXpedition.

PS–Bonus: A dish in motion

As I departed the PARI site late Friday, an astronomer programmed the rotation of the East radio telescope, an awe-inspiring 26-meter parabolic antenna. I snapped a couple of shots with my iPhone. It was truly impressive, this massive radio telescope slowly turning to some distant star or galaxy to acquire new data. See for yourself (for a sense of scale, see the fence at the base):

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RTÉ underestimates need for longwave service

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(Source: The Irish Post)

WITH fewer than three weeks to go until RTÉ Radio 1 brings its historic longwave service on 252 to an end, the Irish community in Britain has responded with fury and dismay.

The move, which was announced with just over a month’s notice, is part of the Irish broadcaster’s new focus on digital platforms.

But the decision to cease transmission, from October 27, was described as a “bitter blow” to Irish people in Britain as well as parts of the North of Ireland.

Eddie Walsh, who is PRO of The Workers’ Party (Britain) in Nottingham, said: “Other options are not open to all of us. I cannot get RTÉ on my car radio except on longwave and I certainly do not want to listen to it on my computer. The current radio ads only refer to the island of Ireland, thus not even mentioning those of us on this side of the Irish Sea.”

He added: “I would suggest that the station has underestimated the number of listeners.”

Meanwhile Irish Post reader Sean O’Rinn said: “I have a small radio beside my bed and listen to RTE on 252 every night. There is no way that I can use any digital apparatus in its place. There must be thousands of Irish people here in England who are in a similar position — we will become completely isolated from our native home.”

The loss of the longwave service comes after the broadcaster closed its London offices in 2012. Tom McGuire, Head of RTÉ Radio 1, estimates that no more than 2,000 people use its service.

RTÉ said that 98 per cent of its Radio 1 listeners would be unaffected by the move. It added that to measure longwave listening numbers in Britain would prove “a prohibitive service cost”.

Continue reading online…

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George Stein’s connection to the 1906 Fessenden Christmas Eve broadcast

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Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (October 6, 1866 – July 22, 1932)

Some of you may recall that last year, I posted an announcement about WG2XFQ; this station annually airs Brian Justin’s longwave broadcast honoring Reginald Fessenden’s famous Christmas Eve’n 1906 AM voice transmission. I had been lucky enough to capture a recording of this commemorative event on WG2XFQ in 2013.

Just yesterday, I was contacted by SWLing Post reader, George Stein (NJ3H), who had just discovered my recording–and, in turn, shared his own recording of the WG2XFQ transmission. In George’s message, he casually mentioned that he has a close family link to the original Fessenden Christmas Eve broadcast, which I find of great interest. George writes:

“My grandfather, Adam Stein, Jr., was Fessenden’s chief engineer and was present for the Christmas Eve broadcast from Brant Rock, Mass in 1906. He is also mentioned in the Fessenden biography by Helen Fessenden, of which I have a copy…

In scientific journals from that time…it was reported that my grandfather’s voice was the first heard across the Atlantic (Machrahanish, Scotland) in Nov/Dec 1906. This occurred during testing at Brant Rock and was picked up by Fessenden’s man in Scotland.”

All I can say is, Wow! This is an amazing bit of history. Of course, I sent a reply to George asking for more information and permission to post this, which he kindly granted. George continues with an excerpt from S. Belrose, Communications Research Centre Canada:

“In November 1906, Fessenden and colleagues were conducting experimental transmissions using his newly-developed HF alternator, between stations at Brant Rock and Plymouth, Massachusetts. The station at Brant Rock was modulated by a carbon microphone connected in series with the antenna lead.

About midnight, on an evening early in November, Mr. Stein was telling the operator at Plymouth how to run the dynamo. His voice was heard by Mr. Armor at the Macrihanish, Scotland station with such clarity that there was no doubt about the speaker, and the station log book confirmed the report.

Fessenden’s greatest triumph was soon to come. On 24 December, 1906, Fessenden and his assistants presented the world’s first radio broadcast. The transmission included a speech by Fessenden and selected music for Christmas. Fessenden played Handel’s Largo on the violin. That first broadcast, from his transmitter at Brant Rock, MA, was heard by radio operators on board US Navy and United Fruit Company ships equipped with Fessenden’s radio receivers at various distances over the South and North Atlantic, as far away as the West Indies. The wireless broadcast was repeated on New Year’s Eve.”

The Brant Rock staff and operators: Fessenden is seated in the middle and to his right is his son (Reginald Kennelly), holding Mikums, his cat. Mr. Pannill is on the far left. Standing next to him is Jessie Bent, the secretary. Mr. Stein is on the far right. (Radioscientist)

[Above] A picture of Fessenden’s team at Brant Rock, Mass in 1906. Radio pioneer Charles Pannill is shown in the picture. My grandfather, Adam Stein, Jr., who was Fessenden’s chief engineer, is also shown in the picture.

A postcard showing Fessenden’s wireless antenna in 1906 at Brant Rock.

George continues:

In December 2006, a special event amateur radio station, W1F, was on the air from Brant Rock to commemorate 100 years since Fessenden’s Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve broadcasts. Stephan Barreres, K2CX, put a team together for the special event. I was fortunate to be included with the fine team he had assembled.

All that remains of the Fessenden antenna is the tower base.

The picture was taken in Dec 2006, with NJ3H standing in front.

The plaque on the base was provided on the 60th anniversary of the 1906 broadcast.

NJ3H at the operating position of W1F, 30 December 2006

The following is George’s audio and screen cast while he received the Christmas Eve reenactment broadcast on 25 December 2013; WG2XFQ broadcast from Forest, VA by WA1ZMS, this recording was made by George in Stephens City, VA on a Microtelecom Perseus SDR and a Wellbrook loop.

For those of you not familiar with Reginald Fessenden, I encourage you to read about him; he was a Canadian inventor who performed pioneering experiments in radio, including the use of continuous waves (CW) and the early—and arguably the first—radio transmissions of voice and music. Check out some of our archived posts on Fessenden and read more about him at this online Fessenden museum.

George, again, many thanks for sharing a little history about your grandfather and your own way of honoring his work.

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And now, the Shipping Forecast…

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When I lived in the UK, I would often fall asleep and/or wake up to the Shipping Forecast: a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles.

Though I had, of course, no real need of the Forecast, on many occasions it lured me like the voice of a hypnotic siren (especially, I must admit, when read by a woman). When I moved back to the US in 2003, I missed hearing the Forecast on the radio, but thankfully one can listen to it at Radio 4 online. Although the online stream lacks the delectable sonic texture of long wave radio, the Forecast still has the power can still reel in its listeners.

Last December, I followed a brilliant series on NPR which highlighted the BBC Shipping Forecast. I intended to publish it here on the SWLing Post at the time, but somehow lost it in the shuffle of a busy travel season. Fortunately, NPR has archived audio from the series online. I love their introduction:

“It is a bizarre nightly ritual that is deeply embedded in the British way of life.

You switch off the TV, lock up the house, slip into bed, turn on your radio, and begin to listen to a mantra, delivered by a soothing, soporific voice.

“Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties, Cromarty, Forth, Tyne, Dogger ….” says the voice.

You are aware — vaguely — that these delicious words are names, and that those names refer to big blocks of sea around your island nation, stretching all the way up to Iceland and down to North Africa.

The BBC’s beloved Shipping Forecast bulletin covers 31 sea areas, the names of which have inspired poets, artists and singers and become embedded into the national psyche.

Your mind begins to swoop across the landscape, sleepily checking the shorelines, from the gray waters of the English Channel to the steely turbulence of the Atlantic.

Somewhere, deep in your memory, stir echoes of British history — of invasions from across the sea by Vikings, Romans and Normans; of battles with Napoleon’s galleons and Hitler’s U-boats.

Finally, as the BBC’s Shipping Forecast bulletin draws to a close, you nod off, complacent in the knowledge that whatever storms are blasting away on the oceans out there, you’re in your pajamas, sensibly tucked up at home”