Shortwave listening and everything radio including reviews, broadcasting, ham radio, field operation, DXing, maker kits, travel, emergency gear, events, and more
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David (G4EDR), who writes:
I enjoyed reading about the vintage shortwave radio book memories from Bob W6ACU and it prompted me dig out the book which got me started in SWLing back in 1970. It was in a series of illustrated teach yourself books and the title was ‘Radio’ written by David Gibson G3JDG [see cover above].
I borrowed it from the school library and renewed the loan so many times the librarian suggested I should buy my own copy so that someone else could have the chance to borrow it! I still have my own copy of the book bought with my saved pocket money for the sum of 15 shillings. That was before the UK changed to decimal currency (15 shillings is 75p in decimal).
The book covered basic radio theory and several construction projects including a crystal set and an atu which I made and I also learned all about amateur radio and QSL cards.
That was the start of my life long obsession with radio. How things have changed over 50 years! Thank you for allowing me to rekindle those happy early days of this fantastic hobby of ours.
73, David – G4EDR.
Thank you, David, for sharing your memories with us. It’s amazing, isn’t it, the impact one book or one radio can have on one’s life!
I’ve got a copy of the book! – “Better Shortwave Reception” by William Orr, W6SAI. My “First Edition” is dated 1957. It has both cartoons as you mentioned. It was probably the earliest SWBC book I had, that’s why I remembered it.
Bob also scanned some of the pages and images to share with John and the SWLing Post community. Bob notes:
I scanned the well-worn front cover, three of the cartoons inside and another page that readers may find interesting – the Auroral Zones from the East and West Coasts.
I probably got this book in 1959 or 60 and kept it all these years, along with my early vintage WRTV Handbooks. (The rest of the Handbooks from about 1970 on were given to Ray Robinson of KVOH for reference purposes).
I always liked the Auroral Zone map because when I first started DXing on the East Coast in 1959 at the height of the Solar Cycle there were frequent solar storms that totally disrupted reception of the many European stations that transmitted to North America at that time. The map clearly shows why the VOA picked Tangier and Manila for relay stations!
Select images from “Better Shortwave Reception” by William Orr, W6SAI
Thank you so much, Bob! The moment I saw these images–especially the cover–I, too, remembered this book! I love the cartoons!
Post readers: Does anyone else remember this book? What are your favorite shortwave books? Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John (KC8RZM), who writes:
I wonder if anyone at SWLing can help me identify this book on shortwave listening from my childhood.
It was an older book when I checked it out from the local library mid-1970s but what I remember specifically is that it had a cartoon of a truck driver delivering, and by delivering I mean dropping on the ground, a new shortwave receiver plus the horrified look on the new owners face. The caption read (from memory) “here’s your new radio buddy (or pal).”
I checked that book out of my local library and pestered my parents to buy me a short wave radio kit.
Assembled the kit (probably inhaling a decent amount of lead vapor from the soldering) and started listening.
VOA was one of the first stations I heard and thought…what an interesting place the US sounds like compared to the small isolated Scottish village I grew up in (21-mile journey to school each way on narrow twisting roads that sheep could freely roam on, and did, all the time), what with all that NASA stuff going on there. I can still hear in my head the VOA host that presented a show on jazz.
So that book, SW listening, and VOA started me on the road to becoming an American citizen!
What a fantastic story behind that book, John! I hope one of our amazing readers can help you identify it! Please comment with any helpful info!
In the article, they give a link to an article “This excerpt describes the fallout that came from a gang of international scam artists bootlegging Sealand passports.”
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jack, who writes:
Greetings,
I was going through some old paperwork that belonged to my father-in-law, and I found a Christmas Greeting Card postmarked December 1956.
The card contains greetings from the Antarctic, received by the Radio Amateurs of Greater Syracuse, then forwarded to my father-in-law at his posting at NAAS Barin Field in Foley, Alabama.
I thought you might find this old piece of amateur radio history to be interesting. I attached images of the card.
I am new to the SW listening world, and I have found your blog to be very helpful. My Tecsun PL-660 is keeping me quite busy.
Regards,
Jack
Photos
(Click to enlarge)
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this, Jack! I think we all need a little “Christmas in July” cheer right about now!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoy the SWLing Post and happy that Tecsun PL-660 is serving you well. It’s a great little radio!
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’sRadio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Tony, Mike Terry, and the Southgate ARC for the following tips:
Sealand is an unrecognized micronation off the coast of England, established in the 1960s and issuer of stamps, passports and occasional offshore business shenanigans (“BECOME A LORD“). But Sealand is also a rotting sea fortress in need of constant maintenance. Atlas Obscura met the two caretakers who spend two weeks at a time doing what they can to keep the statelet running smoothly. Dylan Taylor-Lehman’s feature article is a great introduction to the place, if you’re not familiar with it or its wild history.[…]
Understanding bitcoin is difficult. And so we cast around for the perfect metaphor. Bitcoin is email. Digital gold. eCash.
Here’s a new one. Bitcoin is ham radio.
Bitcoin is old-fangled. It takes days to download the Bitcoin blockchain, just like it took forever to download software back in 1994. In an age of instant email and real-time Zelle payments, a bitcoin transfer takes 60 minutes to safely settle. It’s more volatile than gold, a relic of our previous monetary system. Thousands of computers are constantly replicating each others’ work, making it vastly inefficient. And lastly, there’s no privacy. Like a medieval marketplace, everyone can see everybody’s holdings.
All of these features are anachronistic. But they do sum up to something unique. What exactly is that thing?
A ham radio allows its operator, otherwise known as an amateur radio operator, to use certain bands in the radio spectrum to communicate by voice or code. This is an old technology. Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi became the first ham radio operator in 1897 when he transmitted Morse code across Salisbury Plain in England.
It seems odd that something as archaic as ham radio continues to exist in a world with email, Snapchat, iPhone and Facebook. A ham transmission can only be used over a couple of kilometers. No emojis. No video. No gifs. Forget about privacy! Anyone can listen into your radio conversation.
Yet, ham radio is a very active niche. Associations all over the world keep the hobby going. According to the American Radio Relay League, there are some 764,000 ham radio operators in the U.S. Japan has more than a million. The International Amateur Radio Union pegs the global number of amateur radio licensees at 3 million.
Like ham radio, Bitcoin is for hobbyists. I’m not talking here about all of the frenetic speculators who keep their coins at Coinbase. I’m talking about users who can run a full node, use Lightning, securely store their own coins and make frequent transactions with the stuff. This pool of bitcoiners is tiny. It’s probably smaller than the number of active licensed ham radio operators.[…]
In this video Howard WB2UZE and John K2NY of the Long Island CW Club talk to David W0DHG about their CW training program
The club started in 2017 offers over 45 hours of CW classes EACH week, and has grown to over 600 members from all 50 states and 15 countries all over the world.
On July 4, 1970, the countdown started. Originally hosted by Casey Kasem, American Top 40 played “the best selling and most-played songs from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Canada to Mexico,” as he stated on the first program broadcast 50 years ago as of tomorrow.
On any given week, American Top 40 could feature a ballad, next to a country song, next to a funk song, next to a rock song. The show became a national obsession but 50 years ago, it was considered a risky idea.
“You remember, at the end of the ’60s, Top 40 was not the most popular format,” Casey Kasem told NPR in 1982. “And here we were coming along with a show called American Top 40, and people said, ‘You must be nuts!’ “[…]
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood (K7OU), who writes:
I found a modern replacement for RDP- English. Perhaps even better!
My Portuguese knowledge remains limited to two quarters of university courses; similar Spanish cognates help bridge the Luso-English comprehension gap. Could I find an English-language radio show that would help revive my interest in Portugal, Brazil, and other Portuguese-speaking countries? Yes!
First as a backgrounder, Rádio Difusão Portuguesa International Service in English suspended programs several decades ago. RDP next completely left the shortwaves. Today, RDP Internacional continues to provide its global Portuguese-speaking audience non-stop content from Lisbon. The station broadcasts via satellite and streams via the Internet. Listeners in North America can tune in using a three-foot dish on Galaxy 19 Ku (12152 MHz, s/r 20000).
Now the good news. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a wonderful English-language broadcast that more than fills the RDP-English void. The show even resides on my daily **must-listen** list.
The “Portuguese-American Hour”, sponsored by Fresno State University’s Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI), is the one-hour broadcast targeting anyone who is interested in the Portuguese-speaking world. The top-level focus is on the daily life of the Portuguese who settled in California (mostly from the Azores) and the following generations’ struggles to retain their rich traditions. The show has segments on music, history, food, literature, culture, etc. The topics covered the clearly go beyond California and US borders.
The brains behind the show is PBBI’s Dr. Diniz Borges who made a career as a Portuguese language high-school and college professor. He brings a wealth of knowledge and a seemingly unlimited list of radio guests. (Dr. Borges also spent some earlier years on California Portuguese-language radio; he retains a superb on-air presence.)
The show is heard Monday-Friday at 1600-1700 Pacific US Time (2300Z-2359Z currently) on KGST AM 1600 in Fresno, California. The station streams at https://www.multicultural1600am.com/ .
For the radio-hobbyist, PBBI now is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Portuguese-language radio broadcasting in the US, apparently started in the summer of 1920 by the unlicensed “Radio Vasco da Gama” in central California. There have been several segments on this unique ethnic broadcasting story and more related interviews are coming. (Check the last few show archives.)
Thank you so much for sharing this Tracy! To give readers a taste of the Portuguese-American Hour, I’ve embedded their latest episode (the one I’m listening to as I publish this post) below:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David (G4EDR), who writes:
