Category Archives: Nostalgia

RBI: “The radio station at the heart of an India-GDR friendship”

The radio station at the heart of an India-GDR friendship

The untold story of a shared history is now coming to light.

Berlin, Germany – The 1980s represented a turbulent and transitional period in global affairs. The end of the Cold War was drawing closer, a new era of Thatcher-Reagan neoliberal economic politics was being ushered in, and India was reeling following the assassination in 1984 of its prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Keen to keep up with global current news and affairs, Arvind Srivastava, then a young student studying for a master’s degree in history in Madhepura, a town in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, would gather daily with a group of fellow students. Together, they would tune in to Radio Berlin International (RBI) and its Hindi-language socialist-tilting radio programmes.

From 1959 until German reunification in 1990, RBI served as the German Democratic Republic’s (GDR, or East Germany) international mouthpiece, transmitting news, views and values across the world through its multilingual broadcast platform.

For Srivastava, now 57, and a writer and poet, RBI played a pivotal role in illuminating his global vision during the Cold War.

“In the eighties, most of my friends and I were undergraduate or postgraduate students studying history and political science. In that era of information technology, radio was the only powerful medium,” he tells Al Jazeera.

“When the world was divided into two camps, by nature our country was very close to Soviet ideology. We were curious, and it was a matter of urgent pride for us to be part of the global mobilisation against imperialism, colonialism and racism.”

Srivastava founded the local listeners’ club, also known as a Lenin club, in Madhepura. The club was one of many across India’s Hindi-speaking regions including Punjab and Haryana in the north, Bihar in the east, and the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, where students and workers who shared the GDR’s political values listened to RBI together. [Continue reading and listen to this story on Al Jazeera…]

Trailer

Note: if you turn on subtitles, YouTube will translate the dialog in this video.

Schulman Auctions posts new lots of radio gear for January 2022

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi, who writes:

There is a lot of gear for auction from Schulman Auctions. There are several shortwave radios and other vintage gear, even crystal radios. Eye candy for radio buffs.

73’s,

Mario, N2HUN

Thank you for the tip, Mario! Click here to check out the catalog of radios up for auction.

Anyone recognize this “DEER” Chinese transistor radio?

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes:

I just bought this fully operational AM-only pocket radio made in China at the traditional flea market of Praça XV, in Rio de Janeiro, for only 25 reais (around US$ 4.39). It looks more like a response from the Chinese market to pocket radios manufactured in Japan in the 70s.

Maybe one of your readers has more information about this model.

If you have more info about this small AM transistor radio, please comment! Thanks for sharing, Carlos!

Rob notes several radios in Fleksnes Fataliteter

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rob Gray, who writes:

Happy Holidays Thomas!

As I see those that like to raise awareness of radios in TV and movies, here’s my submission. A Swedish friend of mine sent this to me and it’s a little rough to follow without knowing the language, but there are certainly radios in the episode!
73,
Rob

The radios get going around 3:53 and 4:35, 11:15, etc.

As a side note, I’m happy to see the chess board properly oriented, I’ve frequently seen the board rotated 90 degrees from proper in programs, and even on display in Russian museums!

Thank you so much for sharing this, Rob!

Radio Waves: Eiffel Tower Radio 100 Years Ago, Raspberry Pi Radio Time Machine, Barrie ARC Thrives in Pandemic, and The Voice of Ganymede via JUNO

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Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dan Srebnick, the Southgate ARC and Geneva Witherspoon for the following tips:

Signal of strength: Eiffel Tower celebrates a centenary of radio broadcast (RFI)

A hundred years ago this week, France’s most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower, was first used as an antenna for radio programmes. Looming high above the city’s uniform skyline, the tower was an obvious choice to pioneer public radio in France, proving the country’s prowess in broadcast technology.

On 22 December 1921, just three years after the end of WWI, “Radio Tour Eiffel” broadcast its first ever show, a live performance featuring legendary singers.

The trial was the beginning of a long series of broadcasts that continues today, with 45 television stations and 32 FM stations – including RFI – broadcasting from the Eiffel Tower.

According to the Lille-based publication Le Réveil du Nord of 24 December 2021, “a concert by wireless telephony took place at the Lille Theatre”.

Famous artists of that era, the legendary Sacha Guitry, the soprano Jeanne Hatto, the tenor Maurice Dutreix and others sang in a microphone in a room in the Eiffel Tower, from where it was broadcast to a “wireless phone set” in the hall of the Lille theatre.

“A large audience attended this session,” according to the dispatch. [Continue reading…]

Nostalgic Raspberry Pi Radio Tunes to Music From Past Decades (Tom’s Hardware)

The Raspberry Pi makes an excellent gift on its own, but getting one in a custom Time Machine Radio is remarkably fulfilling. This holiday, a maker known as Byte-rider created a custom Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W-powered radio for his father. Continue reading →

Experimental Station WI2XLQ will recreate 1906 Fessenden transmissions again this Holiday season

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Canadian Reginald Aubrey Fessenden in his lab believed circa 1906 (Source: Radio Canada International)

(Source: ARRL News)

Experimental Station will Recreate 1906 Fessenden Transmissions

Experimental station WI2XLQ will be on the air on 486 kHz AM for the Reginald Fessenden commemorative transmission. Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, is the licensee. He will transmit for 24 hours starting at 2000 UTC on December 24, with a repeat transmission starting at 2000 UTC on December 31. Justin will use a homebrew 1921-era MOPA exciter with Heising modulation, followed by a modern 500-W linear. The transmission will be the same as in past years — two violin pieces that Fessenden claims to have played as one of the very first voice transmissions from his Brant Rock, Massachusetts, radio lab site. “While doubt remains that such a transmission ever took place, Fessenden did perform some crude voice transmissions over a few miles distance in early December near Washington, DC, as a demonstration for the US Navy,” Justin said. “So, perhaps some credit is due Fessenden for his efforts to transmit the human voice in an era of spark transmissions.”

If you would like more information about Brian Justin and WI2XLQ, check out our interview with him in 2013. Indeed, I successfully heard the 2013 WG2XFG broadcast and posted this audio clip on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Alan Roe’s Updated 2021 Guide to Holiday Programming on Shortwave!

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares the latest and likely final version of his 2021 Guide to Holiday Programming on Shortwave. Alan notes:

Here is a further updated edition (version 4) of the compilation of Holiday Programmes covering Saturday 18 December 2021 to 2 January 2022.

[…]The programmes listed are not necessarily seasonal.

Regular weekly music programming, where no special advance programme information has been provided, are not included in this list, but please refer to my Music on Shortwave list already uploaded to the files section.
I hope that you find it useful.

Additions and corrections are most welcome to [email protected]

Best wishes for Christmas and a Happy New Year
Alan Roe, Teddington, UK

Click here to download this guide as a PDF (updated December 23, 2021).

Thank you so much for sharing this, Alan! So many great choices over the holidays!