Category Archives: News

WRMI Open House: Celebrating 5 years in Okeechobee

(Source: Jeff White at WRMI)

This coming Saturday, December 1, marks the fifth anniversary of WRMI’s transmissions from Okeechobee, Florida. Every year at this time, we have an Open House, which doubles as a Christmas party, for station staff, clients and local friends. WRMI listeners are also very welcome to attend this Open House. You can stop by anytime between 11 am and 6 pm local time to meet station employees, take a tour of the facility and enjoy some food and drink. Our address is: 10400 NW 240th Street, Okeechobee, Florida 34972. And our telephone is (305) 559-9764. We hope to see some of you here on December 1st.

Update: Discontinuation of NWS High Seas and Storm Warnings on WWV and WWVH

11 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mohamed, who comments with an update about the loss of NWS High Seas and Storm Warnings on WWV and WWVH. Mohamed writes:

The decision to terminate the broadcasts has not been retracted. It has only been delayed to January 31, 2019:

(Source: National Weather Service)

NOUS41 KWBC 151610
PNSWSH

Service Change Notice 18-102
National Weather Service Headquarters Silver Spring MD 1210 PM EST Thu Nov 15 2018

To: Subscribers:
-NOAA Weather Wire Service

-Emergency Managers Weather Information Network -NOAAPORT
Other NWS Partners, Users and Employees

From: Craig Hodan, Chief Dissemination Systems Branch

Subject: Discontinuation of NWS High Seas and Storm Warnings
over NIST Time Frequency Broadcasts Effective January 31, 2019

Effective Thursday, January 31, 2019, at 200 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) or 1800 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the NWS will discontinue dissemination of High Seas and Storm Warnings portion of the National Institutes of Science and Technology (NIST) time frequency broadcasts as issued by WWV and WWVH “shortwave” radio covering the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific.

This service is being terminated because weather information in the current broadcast format does not support frequent enough updates for changes in marine weather and cannot provide enough detail in the allotted window required by mariners to avoid hazardous weather. Additionally, alternative technologies and numerous media outlets that provide weather information in various formats have overtaken the need for providing weather information through the NIST frequency signals.

Other sources of marine weather and high seas alerts and detailed forecasts are available over satellite, telephone, the Internet, Marine Fax, Radio Fax and VHF radio. Currently the NWS, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the U.S. Navy (USN) provide multiple dissemination methods for storm positioning, high sea areas, observations, forecasts, outlooks and warnings for both coastal and oceanic marine zones near the United States using Navigational Telex (NAVTEX), Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and High Seas SImplex Teletype Over Radio (HFSITOR) in compliance with World Meteorological Organization (WMO) policies and the International Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention.
Please refer to the following websites for more information on how to use these technologies:

1. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/navtex.htm (NAVTEX)

2. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/gmdss.htm (GMDSS)

3. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/hfsitor.htm HFSITOR)

4. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/inmarsat.htm (SAFETYNET)

5. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/marine/vhfvoice.htm (USCG VHF)

For additional information, please contact:

Gregory Zwicker
National Weather Service
Dissemination Systems Branch
301-427-9682
[email protected]

National Service Change Notices are online at:

https://www.weather.gov/notification/

NNNN

Catching coastal shortwaves with the CC Skywave SSB

18 Replies

After Thanksgiving Day (here in the States) my family took a little camping trip on the coast of North Carolina. We spent a few nights near Holden Beach and Oak Island–some of my favorite parts of the NC coast.

Weather was splendid on Sunday, so we took a long walk on the beach and, of course, I packed a portable radio–this time, the CC Skywave SSB.

The Skywave SSB is a pricey portable, but it has certainly become my choice travel radio as it covers so many radio bands (AM/MW, FM, SW, AIR and WX). It’s also incredibly portable and can hang with the best in terms of sensitivity and selectivity.

I didn’t check propagations conditions on Sunday, but there were signals booming in from everywhere. I took a few short sample videos:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Being away from sources of radio interference and standing next to (and occasionally in—!) the Atlantic Ocean certainly helped a great deal with reception.

I had planned to put my Elecraft KX2 on the air while here, but simply didn’t have the time to fit it in with family activities.

Post readers: Do you have any radio vacations on the horizon?

Cyber Monday Sale on the Google Home Mini $25

2 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Freitas, who adds the following note to our post about the Echo Dot Cyber Monday sale:

It is also worth noting that the Google Home Mini (a similar product) is also having the same sale. You can snag one for about $25 on most retailers. If you’re invested in the Google ecosystem, then it is definitely worth checking out.

Click here to checkout the Google Home Mini.

Wow–this is a great deal as well. Keep in mind, though, that the Alexa Shortwave Signals skill will not work with Google Home products at present–it only works with Amazon products with the Alexa system.

I’m very tempted to grab a Google Home Mini and see how effectively it works as a WiFi radio. Like the Amazon Echo system, it uses TuneIn as an aggregator.

Thanks for the tip, Chris!

Update: I did purchase the Google Home Mini, but found the price a bit cheaper through BestBuy since they include free shipping.

Click here to check out the Google Home Mini at Best Buy.

C. Crane Cyber Monday Sale: 10% off all products

Cyber Monday deals on the Echo Dot $19.99 – $24.00

1 Reply

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christian, who writes:

Hi Thomas. Last week you mentioned using the Echo Dot with Mark’s Shortwave Signals Alexa skill. At the time the best price was $29.95 for a refurbished unit. Today [Cyber Monday] Amazon is selling the Dot for $19.95. Just snagged one. First thing I’ll install is Mark’s Signals app!

Thanks, Christian, that’s a great price! Turns out, Amazon is also featuring a number of their Alexa-enabled products in the Cyber Monday sale. The 3rd generation Echo Dot (the latest) is also deeply discounted at $24.00.

Keep in mind, the Echo Dot also makes for an excellent WiFi radio as it uses the TuneIn aggregator. Simply ask Alexa to play the station you wish to hear. When paired with a good Bluetooth speaker, the audio is fantastic.

See links below:

Echo Dot 2nd Generation $19.99. (affiliate link)

Echo Dot 3rd Generation $24.00. (affiliate link)

Thanks for the tip, Christian!

Talking shortwave and spectrum on the Radio Survivor podcast

5 Replies

Last week, I had the honor of speaking with Eric Klein and Jennifer Waits on the excellent Radio Survivor podcast. It’s rare that in one show I get to spread so much shortwave radio love–thanks for making that happen Radio Survivor:

Perhaps you are like me and you have wished that you could go back in time and spin a radio dial and just listen to and browse the full radio spectrum from another time and place. Our guest on the show, Radio Anthropologist Thomas Witherspoon, is building a website for just such a thing. It’s called the Radio Spectrum Archive and it is not magic, it uses a piece of technology called a software defined radio that makes recording a full spectrum of Shortwave, AM and even FM radio (if you have the computing power to handle the load) a very real possibility. Thomas Witherspoon is also the primary contributor to The Shortwave Listening Post (www.swling.com) so we are going to learn a few things about the wonder that is shortwave radio on planet earth.