Category Archives: News

Vatican Radio launches Latin news program

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares this piece from the Vatican News:

‘Hebdomada Papae’: News in Latin on Vatican Radio

Saturday, 8 June, sees the launch of “Hebdomada Papae, notitiae vaticanae latine redditae” (The Pope’s week in review: Vatican news bulletin in Latin), on Vatican Radio.
By Linda Bordoni

Starting on Saturday, 8 June, a 5-minute weekly news bulletin in Latin will be broadcast to the world on Vatican Radio frequencies through the Italian language audio channels. Of course you will also be able to follow it on our web portal and listen to it on podcast, and it will soon be available on the English-language audio frequencies as well.

The bulletin goes to air thanks to the collaboration of the Vatican’s Latin Letters Office, a department of the Secretariat of State where Church documents are written in or translated into Latin. The bulletin will be edited by veteran Vatican Radio journalist Alessandro De Carolis.

A challenge for the future

Vatican Radio’s Editorial Director, Andrea Tornielli, describes ‘Hebdomada Papae’ as a real, informative news bulletin.

“We did not conceive it with a nostalgic look to the past, but as a challenge for the future,” he said.

Noting that Latin is the official language of the Catholic Church, he said Latin already “resonates daily on the frequencies of Vatican Radio, which every morning broadcasts Mass in Latin.”

This weekly initiative, he explained, aims to breathe new life into the language.

‘Anima Latina’

Straight after the news bulletin, Vatican Radio Italy, whcih broadcasts news and other programmes on the frequencies dedicated to the Italian language, will also provide an in-depth programme entitled “Anima Latina, radio colloquia de lingua ecclesiae.”

“Anima Latina”, dedicated to the rediscovery of the value and beauty of the Latin language, will feature Father Waldemar Turek, Director of the Latin Letters Office.

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Radio Venceremos: A Salvadoran Civil War underground station

Radio Venceremos (Image source: Biblioteca UTEC)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce Atchison, who who shares this short video from the early 1980s showing a glimpse inside Radio Venceremos:

Click here to view on YouTube.

From Wikipedia:

Radio Venceremos (Spanish; in English, “‘We Shall Overcome’ Radio”) was an ‘underground’ radio network of the anti-government Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) during the Salvadoran Civil War. The station “specialized in ideological propaganda, acerbic commentary, and pointed ridicule of the government”. The radio station was founded by Carlos Henríquez Consalvi (Santiago).

Despite the end of the war in 1992, the network continues to broadcast. The war years of the station and its national and international influence were documented in the Spanish-language book Las mil y una historias de radio Venceremos and its English translation, Rebel radio: the story of El Salvador’s Radio Venceremos, by the author José Ignacio López Vigil (translator: Mark Fried), a book recorded by the American Library of Congress. An exhibit honoring Radio Venceremos, including a studio room with original equipment, forms a prominent part of the Museum of the Revolution in Perquín, Morazán, El Salvador.

I also found this film on YouTube (The Radio Venceremos Story) which sheds a little more light on the station. The recording is low-resolution, but the subtitles are legible:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Have any DXers logged and confirmed Radio Venceremos? Please comment!

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WRTH A19 Bargraph Frequency Guide

(Source: WRTH via John Hoad)

WRTH A19 Bargraph Frequency Guide

Now Available – Buy your CD or Download today!

We are delighted to announce the availability of the new WRTH Bargraph Frequency Guide for the A19 season. The CD contains the complete, and monitored, A19 international broadcasts on LW, MW and SW, and fully updated domestic shortwave, displayed as a pdf colour bargraph.
There are also other pdf and xls files to help you get the most out of the Bargraph. All these files are also available on a downloadable Zip file.

If you have not yet got your copy of WRTH 2019 then why not buy one now. Readers in the USA can also buy from Amazon.com or Universal Radio Inc.

The CD and Download are only available from the WRTH site. Visit our website to find out more and to order a copy.

I hope you enjoy using this new Frequency Guide.

Nicholas Hardyman

Publisher

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OTR: CBS Radio Workshop episode includes interval signal from “Radio Rhodesia”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who passes along this interesting radio show from the CBS Radio Workshop and a description from his friend, Art Chimes.

Art writes:

Airing in 1956-57, The CBS Radio Workshop was an anthology series that featured a wide range of productions, often in experimental formats. On Nov. 11, 1956, the program was “Report on the Weans,” an adaptation of a satirical article by Robert Nathan published in Harper’s Magazine, “Digging the Weans.”

It is 6,000 years in the future. The American continent is unpopulated, but archaeologists from Africa — apparently now the center of civilization — are digging in various sites, uncovering artifacts of the 20th century people who once lived there. In a gentle satire of anthropology, we find the experts completely mis- (or over-) interpreting their findings, such as Macy’s bargain basement, which they think is a tomb full of items to be used in the afterlife.

The magazine article [click here to download PDF] is a straightforward parody of an academic paper. The radio show, however is presented as a report broadcast on “Radio Rhodesia” on the mega-, micro- and strato-beams, complete with an interval signal used at the beginning and end that features bird chirping. (I can’t help you on the particular species, sorry.)

Click here to download recording of full show.

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Wow! Check out the new Eton Elite Satellit!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Brent Levit, who notes a new Eton receiver in the latest  Universal Radio print catalog: the Eton Elite Satellit.

Click to enlarge.

Raise your hand if you see the similarities between the Elite Satellit and the famous Eton E1 (photo below)?

The Eton E1-XM

Brent also notes:

“Universal Radio has a $399.00 price tag. It also states in the catalog that it would be available late summer 2019.”

Brent, thank you for the tip and thanks for snapping that photo.

UPDATE: Brent just shared the following photo of the product page.

Click to enlarge:

Okay…just TAKE MY MONEY!

Of course, I’ll find out everything else I can about the Elite Satellit and report back. I’ll also review this receiver as soon as I can snag one!

To follow Eton Elite Satellit updates, bookmark this tag.


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Hamvention Highlights: The Polar Explorer 500 watt transmitter

Each year at the Dayton Hamvention I enjoy checking out the latest radio products and services. This year (2019) I found an exceptional number of innovations and will share these in Hamvention Highlights posts. If you would like to check out 2019 Hamvention Highlights as I publish them, bookmark this tag: 2019 Hamvention Highlights


The Polar Explorer

Compared to others, the Polar Explorer booth at the 2019 Hamvention was quite modest. As you can see in Polex Technology photo [at the top of this page], they only had an Elecraft KX3, a laptop, and their Polar Explorer on the table.

So what is the Polar Explorer exactly?

At first blush, the Polar Explorer looks like a 500 watt amplifier, but then you notice that it has both a microphone and key connected directly to it. The Polar Explorer also has a color backlit screen/display–and the one at the 2019 Hamention was attached to an Elecraft KX3 QRP Transceiver.

Turns out the Polar Explorer isn’t an amplifier at all–it’s an external 500 watt transmitter. As noted on the Polar Explorer website:

The Polar Explorer is a breakthrough in transmitter design which brings much higher efficiency to SSB and CW transmitters. Most ‘linear’ amplifiers run at around 55 to 60% efficiency, which means a lot of extra power supply capacity is required, along with extra cooling and dissipation capacity. By increasing efficiency, The Polar Explorer significantly reduces power supply requirements as well as cooling. From this, significant reductions in cost, size, and weight can be realized for a given power output level.

[…]The Polar Explorer interfaces to your transceiver using the CAT interface to obtain frequency and mode information. It automatically follows the transceiver as you QSY or change modes. Your transceiver never transmits; The Polar Explorer handles those functions, and includes a T/R relay to protect your transceiver.

By connecting your transceiver to the Polar Explorer, you’re essentially bypassing and delegating the transmitter portion of your transceiver to it. Your transceiver still provides the receiver section and full interface/user experience–the Polar Explorer provides the muscle.

Note that the Polar Explorer is a project in development. I know that at least initially it has been designed to interface with the Elecraft KX3, but I imagine additional compatible transceivers will be added in due time.

At the 2019 Hamvention, the company was seeking beta testers that would be willing to pay for the Polar Explorer–essentially in kit form–at cost. If all goes well, they hope to finish all beta testing by the end of the year and potentially start production in early 2020.

As for the price, I don’t think they have a firm number yet, so I would either contact them directly or watch their website for updates.

If you’re interested in becoming a beta tester or learning more about the Polar Explorer, I encourage you to check out the Polex Technologies website!


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Radio deal: Eton Executive Traveler $36.22 shipped

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christian, who notes that the price of the Eton Executive Traveler continues to go down on Amazon. Christian notes:

The price is now less than $37US shipped. I’m sure the price will continue to decline until inventory is sold out but I’ve a feeling that once they’re gone, they’re gone. Truly a bargain for this little receiver that had a sales price of $79.99 for years.

Thanks, again, Christian for the tip!

Click here to view this deal on Amazon (this affiliate link supports the SWLing Post).

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