Category Archives: News

Encore – Classical Music on Shortwave – Saturday Sunday Friday

This coming weekend Encore – Classical Music on Radio Tumbril will be broadcasting on a third frequency again:

The folks at WWCR in Tennessee are transmitting the show for the fourth week running at 01:00 UTC Sunday 8th (Saturday evening 7th local in US) on 6115 kHz.

However – next weekend Saturday 14th December we will change frequency and time to 9350 kHz at 21:00 UTC from WWCR

This change is in order to further improve reception in the US and Canada still further and move Encore to Saturday afternoon (local) in the US.

Reception should also be possible in the western half of Europe.

Encore – Classical Music this weekend is – of course – being broadcast as usual by Channel 292 (Europe) on 6070 kHz at 15:00 UTC Sunday 8th December.

And by WBCQ on 7490 kHz at 01:00 UTC Monday 9th December.

There is a repeat on 6070 kHz on Friday 13th December at 19:00 UTC.

Do let us know how well you can pick up Encore at your location by emailing to [email protected]. We try to reply to all emails and will send eQSL cards for full reports.

This week’s programme starts with a late string quartet by Mozart and is followed by an arrangement of a traditional Irish tune by Percy Grainger. The overture and an aria from Händel’s Orlando next, then the 4th movement from Schubert’s Trout Quintet. A field recording, a large chunk of Copland’s Appalachian Spring, some Rimsky-Korsakov and a clarinet sonata make up the rest of the hour.

Both Channel 292 and WBCQ as well as WWCR can be pulled live off the internet if the reception is poor in your location. Easy to find their sites with a google search.

Thank you for spreading the word about Encore – Classical Music on Shortwave. And thank you to everyone for letting us know how well the signal is received where you live.

Brice Avery – Encore – Radio Tumbril.

Regular Broadcast times are:

15:00 – 16:00 UTC Sunday, and repeated 19:00 – 20:00 UTC Friday on 6070 kHz Channel 292 (Germany).

01:00 – 02:00 UTC Sunday on 6115 kHz WWCR (Tennessee).

01:00 – 02:00 UTC Monday on 7490 kHz WBCQ – (Maine).

Spread the radio love

Video: Tube radio transmitter designs from the 1920s

4 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans (W4/VP9KF), who shares the following article from Hackaday:

The origin of the term “breadboard” comes from an amusing past when wooden bread boards were swiped from kitchens and used as a canvas for radio hobbyists to roll homemade capacitors, inductors, and switches. At a period when commercial electronic components were limited, anything within reach was fair game.

[Andy Flowers], call sign K0SM, recently recreated some early transmitters using the same resources and techniques from the 1920s for the Bruce Kelley 1929 QSO Party. The style of the transmitters are based on [Ralph Hartley]’s oscillator circuit built for Bell Telephone in 1915. Most of the components he uses are from the time period, and one of the tubes he uses is even one of four tubes from the first Transatlantic contact in 1923.[…]

Click here to continue reading at Hackaday.

Spread the radio love

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Christmas Eve Broadcast

Leave a reply

Photo by Jens Rademacher on Unsplash

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Harald Kuhl (DL1AX), who shares the following announcement from the NDR regarding the annual Gruss an Bord Christmas Eve broadcast. Harald notes:

This year on December 24 Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) will again broadcast its program “Gruss an Bord” on shortwave.

They verify reception report by a detailed QSL card.

[email protected]

Press release below (translated via Google) with schedules and frequencies:

“Greetings on board”: How to receive the broadcast

It has tradition and exudes a very special pre-Christmas mood: On Christmas Eve greetings are sent to the seafarers around the world from 8:05 pm – 10:00 pm and from 11:15 pm – midnight on NDR Info. And on the most different channels and technical ways, so that the greetings and messages can be guaranteed to be received on all seven seas.

The ship’s crews have several options to receive the program “Greeting on board”. Also the shortwave belongs to it.
The livestreams of the program (20.05 to 22 clock and 23.15 clock to 24 clock MEZ) can be found here: NDR Info and NDR Info Special. In addition, there is the possibility to listen to the program via the NDR radio app. NDR Info can also be received via FM, DAB + and DVB-S radio, NDR Info special only via DAB + and DVB-S radio.

So that all crew members on board – on the seas or in the harbors – can receive the traditional program, the NDR radio has also rented shortwave frequencies:

From 19:00 to 21:00 UTC (20:00 to 22:00 CET), the shortwave transmits over the following frequencies (UTC is the abbreviation for Universal Time Coordinated):

“Greeting on board” via shortwave

Frequency target area
6.080 kHz Atlantic – North
11,650 kHz Atlantic – South
9,800 kHz Atlantic / Indian Ocean (South Africa)
9,740 kHz Indian Ocean – West
9,570 kHz Indian Ocean – East
6.030 kHz Europe

Between 21:00 and 23:00 UTC (22:00 – 24:00 CET) the shortwave transmits over the following frequencies:

“Greeting on board” via shortwave

Frequency target area
6.145 kHz Atlantic – North
9,830 kHz Atlantic – South
9,590 kHz Atlantic / Indian Ocean (South Africa)
9,740 kHz Indian Ocean – West
9,675 kHz Indian Ocean – East
6.155 kHz Europe

NDR Info sends the “Greeting on board” from 20:05 to 22:00 CET. This is followed by the transmission of the Christmas Mass from the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Bochum-Wattenscheid from 22 to 23.15 CET. Then you will hear the second part of “Greetings on Board” until midnight CET.

Spread the radio love

Grimeton Radio / SAQ Christmas Eve Broadcast

Leave a reply

SAQ Current QSL card received by Harald via the QSL bureau

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Harald Kuhl (DL1AX), who shares the following announcement from Grimeton Radio SAQ:

Scheduled transmission from Grimeton Radio / SAQ on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2019

On the morning of Christmas Eve, December 24, we will try to start the old Alexanderson 200 kW transmitter, from 1924 and send out a Christmas message on VLF 17.2 kHz CW. The transmitter will be tuned up from around 08:30 (07:30 UTC) and a message* will be transmitted at 09:00 (08:00 UTC).

Guests are welcome to attend the transmission at the radio station in Grimeton from 08:00 local time. The Alexander association will arrange coffee and Christmas cookies, free of charge. No entrance fee.

For those of you who can not attend, we will broadcast the event live from Grimeton, Sweden on our YouTube Channel.

NEW !
ONLINE RECEPTION REPORT FORM – PLEASE NO E-MAIL REPORTS!
We are introducing a new online SAQ reception report form to be used by listeners to report reception of any SAQ transmissions. We are kindly asking listeners not to send SAQ reception reports via E-mail.

QSL-reports to SAQ are kindly received via:

– Reception report form at alexander.n.se/receptionreport
– or via: SM bureau
– or direct by postal mail to:

The Alexander Association
Radiostationen Grimeton 72
432 98 GRIMETON
S W E D E N

The SK6SAQ amateur radio station will be QRV on the following frequencies:
– 7.035 kHz CW or
– 14.035 kHz CW or
– 3.755 kHz SSB

Two stations will be on the air most of the time.

WELCOME!
World Heritage Grimeton Radio station and The Alexander Association

For further details visit grimeton.org or alexander.n.se

Spread the radio love

VE7SL explores DXing the utilities

1 Reply

Photo: US Coast Guard

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric McFadden (WD8RIF), who shares a link to this excellent article by Steve (VE7SL) where he explores his success DXing utility stations on shortwave:

(Source: VE7SL)

DXing The Utilities (Part 1)

After building the house here on Mayne Island, in the early 90’s, it was several years until I was able to set up a dedicated station. In the meantime, I limited my radio activities strictly to listening. I had a nice Icom R-71A set up in a hall closet and spent my radio-time, mostly on weekend evenings, listening to maritime CW, HF aeronautical traffic and, of course, NDBs below the broadcast band.

My HF receiving antenna consisted of three inverted-V’s … one for 160m, the second for 80m and the third for 40m … all fed from the same coaxial line at the top of a 70′ Balsam. It didn’t take long to realize what an exceptional radio location I had, living right at the edge of the ocean, with dozens of miles of saltwater in most directions other than due west.

I really enjoyed following evening airline flights across both the North and South Atlantic, and in the early winter afternoons, following the commercial air-traffic all over Africa. Even though listening on 5 or 6MHz, I was amazed at how strong the signals from airliners over Africa at 30,000 feet or more could become, this far to the west. In the early mornings, directions were reversed and traffic from the far east, right into India, was fairly common. Often, small single-engine planes, usually run by various missionaries, could be heard while on the ground, taxiing at remote field locations and calling in via HF radio to request takeoff and flight-following.

Now QSL’s have always been one of my top radio interests and it wasn’t long before I started sending and collecting verifications for both the aircraft and the ships I was hearing … once I had figured out how to get my reception reports to their proper destinations.[…]

Click here to continue reading Part 1 of “DXing the Utilities.”

Click here to read Part 2.

Spread the radio love

Jeff’s Drake R8 has been online for 24 years and counting

5 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jeff Chilton, who writes:

I’ve been finding myself at your excellent SWLing Post site frequently of late.

I wonder if you’ve seen my online shortwave receiver website. It’s been online since 1995, when it looked like this:

It still controls the same old Drake R8 receiver at my house, but I recently rebuilt the pages and server code to make the interface more interactive and improve the audio streaming. It’s now at:

https://www.chilton.com/R8

It is still new, and there’s a lot of Javascript involved so could be a compatibility issue but please do give it another try.

Thanks, Jeff! I’ve spent a little time tuning the R8 and the interface is quite intuitive. With that said, readers, ergonomics was not the original Drake R8’s strong suit. If you’ve never used one, it takes a while to learn to use change filters, select modes, etc. via the row of six buttons above the keypad and encoder.

Also, Jeff’s R8 is not the U Twente web SDR–I’m guessing it can only handle one operator at a time, so we’ll see how this goes as everyone checks it out today!

Click here to check out Jeff’s Drake R8.

Spread the radio love

Free Radio Skybird returns December 8th and 15th

Leave a reply

(Source: Pete Madtone)

Next Sunday 8th December at 1700 UTC/UK will be a new transmission from DJ Frederick’s Free Radio Skybird on 6070 kHz shortwave via Channel 292 and if you haven’t got a suitable radio it can also be heard on the SDR link on their site here. The show will be rebroadcast the week after on Sunday 15th December at 1100 UTC/UK also on 6070 kHz.

This month’s programme will feature: Justin Patrick Moore’s Radiophonic Laboratory, Steve with Indie Science Radio and our very own One Deck Pete presenting the Skybird Mailbag. Also there’ll be an airing of Pete’s “Bouncing off the ionosphere” that has new tunes from: UK DD, Koko, Maxime Tisne-Versailles, Amy Root and Ernest Freeman.

The programme will be available on DJ Frederick’s Soundcloud page a day or so before transmission date if you want to hear it in true stereo but we here prefer the show via the ionosphere. Tune in and turn on! #shortwavesnotdead #madtone #freeradioskybird