DRM propagation map for Europe (image courtesy: The Mighty KBC)
The Mighty KBC has announced that they’re going to broadcast in DRM again on the 22, 23, 25 & 26 of December from 16:00 – 18:00 UTC. This is in addition to their previous announced December specials. The DRM broadcasts will come from a 100 kW transmitter and curtain antenna in Kostinbrod (Sofia) Bulgaria on 9,755 kHz DRM.
Tune in and let us know if you heard The Mighty KBC in DRM.
We’ve mentioned Myke Dodge Weiskopf before on the SWLing Post, he’s a radio producer, historian, broadcast artist, multi-instrumentalist, sound recordist, and composer based in Los Angeles, CA.
Myke travels around the world with his trusty Eton E1 and recording equipment in tow to capture both sounds from the ether and live performances. He then makes them available on his website, Myke.me.
He’s now planning a recording trip to isolated island of Socotra and needs your help. He has a Kickstarter campaign which outlines plans for his trip. Watch the video below and consider helping him by contributing to his goal of raising $3,500 US.
As a follow-up to my previous post on Radio Exterior de Espana, I can confirm that I’m hearing REE on all of their scheduled frequencies today.
We’re not totally sure why their analog shortwave broadcasts were cut last week, but it could certainly have been a knee-jerk reaction to the financial woes in Spain and at RTVE.
Again, if you’re an REE fan, I suggest you contact them ASAP ([email protected]) and show your support. Tell them what you listen to and why. Though services have been re-established, I suspect REE shortwave broadcasts may be on the chopping block again in the near future.
This week, Radio Exterior de España (REE) suddenly dropped many of their analog shortwave broadcasts. I waited to mention this on the SWLing Post because, even though they were no longer on the air, I had heard no rumors beforehand and I had recently been in contact with them.
SWLer, Mark Coady, made a post on Facebook today with a message from REE stating that there was a lot of internal confusion and frustration regarding REE suddenly dropping shortwave services. They also mentioned that REE is planning to restore shortwave services again, possibly as soon as this weekend. I just received a short message from an REE contact to the same effect.
So, we will see if they restore services this weekend or early next week. I personally enjoy listening to REE’s services in English and French. I especially love their music, when they play it.
If you’re an REE fan, I suggest you contact them ASAP ([email protected]) and show your support. Though services are being re-established, shortwave broadcasts may be on the chopping block again in the near future.
WRTH has announced that their 2013 edition is now available online. Every year, I look forward to searching a new WRTH’s pages for the first time. What is the WRTH (World Radio and TV Handbook)? Click here to read my reviews of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 editions of WRTH. In the 2010 edition, I even include an interview with the publisher, Nicholas Hardyman.
To order your copy of WRTH 2013, go to this page on WRTH’s website.
The message contains the all-too-familiar 5 character groupings we’re used to hearing in numbers station broadcasts
This news story about a recently discovered WWII carrier pigeon message has been floating around the Internet over the past few days.
(Source: CNN)
Not even the British spy agencies that inspired James Bond can solve the mystery of a secret World War II message recently found on the skeleton of a carrier pigeon in a house chimney.
The meaning of the encoded message apparently died about 70 years ago with the wayward pigeon that David Martin found in his smokestack in Bletchingley, Surrey County, England.
Martin recently discovered the bird’s remains with the surprisingly intact message inside a small red canister attached to a leg bone.
[…]Hand-written on a small piece of paper labeled “Pigeon Service,” the note consists of five-letter words. Those words don’t make sense: The jumble begins with “AOAKN” and “HVPKD.” In all, the message consists of 27 five-letter code groups.
Indeed, the only hope the UK intelligence agency, the GCHQ, stands in deciphering the message (click here to see the full message) would be to find the appropriate, specific decipher key. Most likely, this message–like numbers station (a.k.a. spy numbers) messages–was a one-time communiqué, with a one-time decipher key. This type of encryption is incredibly effective as they provide little to no context for deciphering.
But again, that’s a part of the magic and mystery many of us find so fascinating about numbers stations. The messages are (still) everywhere and broadcast publicly, yet, we have no clue of the meaning.
If you’ve never heard a numbers station, check out this audio of the numbers station, “The English Man” I recorded earlier this year:
Also, you should check out the many numbers station audio files in the Conet Project on Archive.org. Listen to a sample in the embedded player below:
As 
DRMNA.info says:
“Let Dr. Elliott take control of your PC!”
I agree.
On several occasions now, Dr. Kim Elliott has transmitted digital messages via shortwave radio in an assortment of digital modes. We’ve mentioned this in the past (and we even posted a tutorial on decoding his WBCQ message).
Early Sunday morning (UTC–Saturday night for many) The Mighty KBC will once again broadcast some of Elliott’s digital messages from 00:00-02:00 UTC on 9,450 kHz. This time, they’ll even broadcast two different messages in two different modes simultaneously (details below). No Johnny, this isn’t your granfather’s shortwave:
(Source: Kim Elliott)
The Mighty KBC, 21 Nov 2012: “This UTC Sunday, 25 November, more digital text during the broadcast of The Mighty KBC at 0000 to 0200 on 9450 kHz. At about 0130 UTC, PSK125 will be centered at 1300 Hz on the waterfall, MFSK32 at 2200 Hz. Decode one from the radio, and the other from your recording. Just before 0200, only one mode, MFSK32, will be transmitted, centered at 1500 Hz. For this message, please have Fldigi and Flmsg (both available from www.w1hkj.com), as well as your web browser, all running on your PC. If all goes well, at the end of this transmission, the message should pop up in new windows of Flmsg and your browser. (In Flmsg, click Configure, then Misc, then NBEMS, then check Open with flmsg and check Open in browser.)
[Elliott’s comments] “UTC Sunday 25 November at 0000 to 0200 UTC is the same as Saturday evening, 24 November, 7 to 9 pm Eastern Time in North America. This transmission on 9450 kHz is via a leased transmitter in Bulgaria.
To decode the two text transmissions, download Fldigi and Flmsg from w1hkj.com. Configure Fldigi to work with your PC’s sound card.
Also, in Fldigi, click Configure, Misc, NBEMS. Under NBEMS data file interface, click Enable. Under reception of flmsg file, click Open with flmsg and Open in browser.
During reception, patch audio from the earphone or line out jack of your radio to the microphone input of your PC. You may have to experiment a bit with audio settings. You should see a “waterfall” on your Fldigi display.
If all goes according to plan, when the text message just before 0200 UTC (9 pm Eastern) is completely received, it should pop up in a new window of your default web browser.
By the way, if you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan of The Mighty KBC. Not only do they broadcast an excellent mix of music on shortwave radio, but they’ll also blast these digital messages to their listeners. Thanks, KBC!
Again, please comment if you decode these messages!