I just found out that Dan Lewis, from RNI’s Mailbag show, created a site to share and preserve his programs that aired over the years on WWCR, WBCQ, WRNO, and NYC area microbroadcasters such as Stereo 9 FM.
The first archived show is from December 23rd, 1990 and aired on WWCR.
Dan’s site can be found at: http://danlewisradioguy.blogspot.com/
As he says, “Give a listen if you dare.”
The Hallicrafters S-20R Sky Champion
On the subject of being reunited with a special radio, I found this story in the Illinois newspaper, the Quincy-Herald Whig:
For David Nagel of Quincy, it was Father’s Day in August.
The 81-year-old Nagel received an unexpected gift Wednesday night from his son, John, who lives in Texas.
David Nagel had just finished hearing — and taking part in — a discussion about a Hallicrafters S-20R receiver at a meeting of the Western Illinois Amateur Radio Club, a model that had first piqued his interest more than 60 years ago. At the end of the meeting, Nagel was presented with the genuine article — a Hallicrafters S-20R that his son had restored and shipped to Quincy to surprise his dad.
[…]David Nagel said he never thought he would ever own one of the Hallicrafters S-20R receivers again after letting his original model go in the mid-1960s.
[…]Over the past five years or so, John Nagel said, he had heard his father talk about his old radio, the Hallicrafters S-20R receiver and how he wished that he had not traded it in those many years ago.
“I had a great time with that receiver when I was young,” David Nagel said. “It kept me off the streets at night.”
Last year was when John Nagel got serious about trying and find his dad a replacement.
“After beginning to buy and build my own radio setup, last May I found an S20-R receiver listed on eBay,” he said. “I decided to buy the radio and make it a gift to my father. I purchased the radio, had it shipped to a guy in Michigan who restores them. The restoration included the cabinet as well as the inside electronics.”
Read the full article at the Quincy Herald Whig.
Bob Padula at Warrandyte State Park, near Melbourne, Australia
I recently discovered that Bob Padula, long-time shortwave radio enthusiast and publisher of The Australian DX Report, has an online project entitled The History of Shortwave Radio In Australia. It’s a thorough and informative read and is available free of charge.
BBC World Service – Bush House
(Source: London Evening Standard)
Thousands of fragments of BBC history, ranging from “on air” lights to a picture of Sir Paul McCartney broadcasting live to fans in Russia, are going under the hammer in a huge auction.
The lots are all from Bush House, the Aldwych home of the BBC World Service for the past 71 years, which the Corporation vacates tomorrow. Entire studios are among the items for sale and are expected to attract bids of up to £10,000.
Elizabeth Sewell, managing director of specialist auctioneers Peaker Pattison, which is handling the sale, said: “A lot of overseas radio stations are interested in buying the large studios such as S6, which is the one Paul McCartney used to broadcast to Russia. We’ve had enquiries from India, Pakistan and all across the former eastern bloc.”
Turntables and reel-to-reel tape decks in the auction have attracted huge interest from club DJs who use them for mixing dance tracks. Online bidding for the first 1,500 lots has already started and will end on July 25. A second tranche of lots will be sold in September. The highest bid so far is £910 for a Steinway baby grand piano.
Many of the lots reflect the huge diversity of cultures represented at Bush House, where 68 language services were broadcast, ranging from Maltese to Welsh for Argentinian Patagonia.
They include maps of India, Mexico, central Africa and the main theatre of the Second World War, as well as a painting of the BBC motto “Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation”.
As well as the former Beatle’s famous 1989 broadcast, there are photographs of Mikhail Gorbachev, Bob Geldof, Charlton Heston, Sir Bobby Charlton and Yes Minister actor Paul Eddington.
Staff at Bush House have now relocated to the newly refurbished Broadcasting House in Portland Place. The BBC European Service moved into Bush House in 1941 after bomb damage at Broadcasting House, followed in 1958 by the rest of the Overseas Service.[…]
Read the full article at the London Evening Standard.
Diamond Jubilee at Buckingham Palace (photo: BBC)
Ten years ago, my wife–then fiancée–and I lived in the UK, and were fortunate enough to attend The Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebration on the vast lawn at Buckingham Palace. It was without doubt the largest party I’ve ever attended, packed to the gills with the British public–a thoroughly amazing event, featuring a who’s who of past-and-present British musicians and personalities, encouraging attendees to join them in their bit of fun–and, of course, God save the Queen.
Yesterday, I re-lived the energy of that party as I heard (and recorded) the follow-up event these ten years later–The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, on the BBC World Service–as heard from remote Ascension Island.
When hearing live events like this on shortwave–especially ones like this that celebrate national heritage–I know I’m listening to history in the making. The crowds applauding and cheering in a live broadcast over shortwave reminds me of a former era when British Expats across the globe relied on the BBC World Service to connect them with ol’ Blighty.
Ascension Island, marked with an "A" (image: Google Maps)
I recorded these broadcasts from my home in the southeastern US, hearing the BBC World Service relay station on the tiny, isolated Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. The broadcast was heard at first on 15,400 kHz, then moved to 9,915 kHz coinciding with their normal broadcast schedule. The broadcast, while completely intelligible, is weak in the beginning, but gains considerable strength by the end. There are summer static crashes heard as storms moved through the southeast US. I divided the broadcast into two parts, coinciding with my shift from one frequency to the other.
I also included a BBC WS news broadcast in Part 2 which followed the end of the show.
Either use the embedded Archive.org audio player below, or simply click here to download the mp3 files for Part 1 and Part 2.
I used the WinRadio Excalibur to record both of these segments. Its synchronous detection helped deal with fading (QSB) present at the beginning of the recording.
Once again, history is made…and archived on shortwave radio. Enjoy!
I’ve always found the Dayton Hamvention flea market to be a great place to find antique radios, but this year, the selection (along with the weather) seems to be exceptional.
I’ve attached a few photos I took yesterday morning as a gallery below. Simply click on a thumbnail to enlarge. Enjoy
I just discovered a film produced by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Film Unit in the 1950s explaining the principles behind the first accurate atomic clock. The clock was designed by Louis Essen and built at the National Physical Laboratory in 1955.
This film gives fascinating insight into the physics that run atomic clocks like those behind the WWV and CHU time stations. Better yet, the science is easy to swallow with the traditional “BBC” style voice narration. Enjoy!