Category Archives: Radio History

Video Presentation: WLW Radio -100 Years – Behind The Scenes by Dave Snyder

A view of the iconic WLW tower taken from the neighboring VOA Bethany site and museum.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Snyder, who shares this presentation outlining the history of WLW for the National VOA Museum of Broadcasting YouTube channel.

Video description:

Behind the scenes pictures from the efforts of Powel Crosley, Jr. creating the famous WLW Radio Station, including the largest USA AM broadcast transmitter at 500,000 watts.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Most excellent! Thank you for sharing this, David.

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Celebrating World Radio Day 2022!

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Today is UNESCO World Radio Day and this year the theme of trust highlights the importance of radio as an accessible form of information.

Below are some of the many projects celebrating World Radio Day:

Cities and Memory: Shortwave Transmissions

As mentioned in a previous post, we at the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive are truly honored to have been a resource for this incredible and diverse sound project organized by Cities and Memory.

We encourage you to explore the creative work from over 120 artists and composers.

A great many of these remarkable dynamic works draw on a wide array of recordings from the SRAA; the resulting compositions and soundscapes are rich with sonic textures, evocative collages of sound and memory, which emerge into further sources of inspiration.

Our profound thanks to Cities and Memory––and all of the participating artists––for this truly brilliant collection which you can check out on the Shortwave Transmissions project page.

BBC World Service Documentary: “World Wide Waves ’22: The sounds of community radio”

As we mention in a previous post, this brilliant radio documentary focusing on community radio is available on the BBC World Service website and BBC Sounds.

Here’s the description:

For World Radio Day 2022, we tune in to radio stations around the world that connect communities, spark conversations, keep traditions alive and give a voice to their listeners. From Aboriginal Koori Radio in Australia to a community station in India run by rural women from the lowest Dalit caste, the airwaves carry intimate wisdom, vital knowledge, beats and tunes that keep reminding us who we are.

Note that this piece was produced by our friend David Goren, of Shortwaveology fame. Continue reading →

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Guest Post: Control of Electromagnetic Radiation (CONELRAD)

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post:

Control of Electromagnetic Radiation (CONELRAD)

As recalled by Bob Colegrove

In his comment on my recent posting, Tinkering with History, Mario noted the dial on the featured radio, the General Electric P755A, sported two small triangles, one between 6 and 7, and the other between 11 and 14. He noted that these were civil defense markers intended to show the frequencies of 640 kHz and 1240 kHz, respectively, and that these were characteristic of AM radios produce in the US roughly between 1953 and 1963. Since two full generations have been born and raised to adulthood since that time, and I can’t find any related posting here, I thought it might be useful to bring this subject to light.

In spite of otherwise economic prosperity and general wellbeing, these years were nevertheless filled with anxiety about the prospects of all-out war. Children of the time (myself included) were being shown how to hide under their school desks, and some of their parents were going so far as to construct air-raid shelters in their basements, and stock them with enough provisions to supposedly outlast any catastrophe. So it was that CONELRAD came into being in 1951. The idea was, that in case of a National emergency, all radio and TV stations would go off the air, and only certain medium wave radio stations would stay on either 640 kHz or 1240 kHz. They would remain on for a few minutes and then other stations would take over in a round robin arrangement – this to deter homing by hostile bombers. Needless to say, quickly changing over transmitters and antennas to one of these two frequencies did not bode well for the equipment and there were many failures in subsequent tests. Note that, as originally conceived, the system did not provide for local weather emergencies or other situations.

The banner photo at the top of this posting shows a portion of the Hallicrafters S-38E receiver which conformed to Government law of the time required for marking all AM dials. An S-38E just like it was my first genuine multi-band radio in 1959. Assuming good alignment, the dots next to the CD triangles indicated the 640 kHz and 1240 kHz frequencies. When a test came on, you didn’t have to fish for it, since CONELRAD was the only service transmitting.

Going back to the radios described in Tinkering with History, GE took this one step further. The figure below shows a portion of the dial on a GE P806A. Note the nub on the outer edge of the dial under the triangle at 1240 kHz. There is another nub on the edge at 640 kHz. Together with the raised triangular dial pointer molded on the cabinet, they provided a braille system, so that someone visually impaired could easily tune to a CONELRAD frequency.

As technology improved, CONELRAD transitioned to the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) in 1963, and subsequently the Emergency Alert System in 1997. A more thorough description of CONELRAD can be found on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CONELRAD. Reprint of an April 1955 Radio & Television News article describing the construction of a transistor CONELRAD receiver is at https://www.rfcafe.com/references/radio-news/conelrad-radio-television-news-april-1955.htm.

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Radio Waves: Russia Shuts Down DW, History of WGY, W2AN/1BCG On The Air, and Summits On The Air

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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!

German anger as Russia shuts international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (BBC News)

Germany and the EU have condemned Russia’s decision to shut down the Moscow bureau of international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).

All DW’s staff have lost their press accreditations and the channel is barred from broadcasting in Russia.

Germany’s culture minister said the move was “not acceptable in any way”.

Russia argued it was retaliating after German regulators decided a new Russian state-run TV channel, RT DE, did not have a suitable licence to operate.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova appeared to offer an olive branch to the German government on Friday, saying that if Germany moved to “normalise the situation”, then Russia would too.

RT has channels in English, French and Spanish and launched its German-language satellite channel in December 2021, using a licence from Serbia, outside the European Union. [Continue reading…]

Exhibit showcases history of radio station WGY (WAMC)

The City of Schenectady, home of General Electric, was once a nursery for broadcasting. One of the nation’s first commercial radio stations began broadcasting 100 years ago. A new exhibit at the Museum of Innovation and Science is celebrating the history of WGY.

WGY was created by GE in 1922 and still operates today under different ownership as a news/talk station. The station’s history is currently on display at miSci in a photo exhibit called WGY: Radio’s Laboratory Celebrates Its Centennial.

Chris Hunter, the museum’s Vice President of Collections and Exhibitions, took me on a tour of the exhibit located in a new gallery inside the museum.

“So, it was about 10th commercial station licensed in 1922. And because it was formed by GE’s publicity department, and not so much the engineers that formed a lot of the other early radio stations, they really placed a premium on entertainment and, kind of, the development of broadcasting.” [Continue reading…]

W2AN/1BCG On-The-Air Again for two-Way QSO’s (AWA)

After a successful AWA on-air sending of the historic 1921 Trans-Atlantic message in December of last year, using the AWA replica of the 1921 transmitter, plans are now in place to do it again only this time to offer two-way QSO’s with all stations wishing to participate.

The QSO party begins on Saturday evening, February 26, at 6:00 p.m. EST, or 23:00 GMT. AWA operators at the museum site in Bloomfield, NY will begin calling CQ on 1.821 MHz, CW, and will listen on or about that frequency for callers. We will work as many folks as we hear in order received and continue to do so until all amateur stations on the planet are in the log or propagation goes away, which ever happens first!

No QSL’s are required for you to receive a nice full sized color certificate confirming your QSO with W2AN/1BCG. Simply send your QSO information via email to [email protected] and the personalized certificate will be sent to the sending email address.

Inside the Summit-Obsessed World of Ham Radio (Outside Magazine)

n a gray Friday afternoon last spring, Steve Galchutt sat high atop Chief Mountain, an 11,700-foot peak along Colorado’s Front Range. An epic panorama of pristine alpine landscape stretched in almost every direction, with Pikes Peak standing off to the south and Mount Evan towering just to the west.

It was an arresting view, and the perfect backdrop for a summit selfie. But instead of reaching for his smartphone, Galchutt was absorbed by another device: a portable transceiver. Sitting on a small patch of rock and snow, his head bent down and cocked to one side, he listened as it sent out a steady stream of staticky beeps: dah-dah-di-dah dah di-di-di-dit. “This is Scotty in Philadelphia,” Galchutt said, translating the Morse code. Then, tapping at two silver paddles attached to the side of the radio, he sent his own message, first with some details about his location, then his call sign, WG0AT.

At this point, a prying hiker could have been forgiven for wondering what, exactly, Galchutt was doing. But his answer—an enthusiastic “amateur radio, of course!”—would likely only have further compounded their confusion. After all, the popular image of an amateur-radio enthusiast is an aging, armchair-bound recluse, not some crampon-clad adventurer. And their natural habitat is usually a basement, or “ham shack,” not a windswept peak in the middle of the Rockies. [Continue reading…]

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Guest Post: “Tinkering with History”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post:

Tinkering with History

By Bob Colegrove

One of the attractive aspects of radio as a hobby is that it has so many specialties to channel our time. Just for the sake of classification, I would group these into two categories, listening and tinkering. I think the meaning of each category is fairly intuitive. Probably few of us approach our interest in radio in the same way. Most of us have dabbled in more than one listening or tinkering specialty. Perhaps we have been drawn to one particular area of interest, or we may have bounced around from one to another over a period of time. I know the latter has been my case.

Tinkering might start with a simple curiosity about what makes the radio play, or hum, or buzz, and progress to an obsessive, compulsive disorder in making it play, hum or buzz better. Unfortunately, over the past 30 years or so, the use of proprietary integrated circuits, as well as robotically-installed, surface-mounted components have greatly short-circuited what the average radio tinker can do. For example, I have noticed a lot more interest in antennas over that period, and I think the reason is simple. The antenna is one remaining area where a committed tinker can still cobble up a length of wire and supporting structure and draw some satisfaction. But the complexity and lack of adequate documentation have largely kept newer radio cabinets intact and soldering irons cold. Bill Halligan knew you were going to tinker with his radios, so he told you how they were put together. The fun began when you took your radio out of warranty. If you did get in over your head, there was usually somebody’s cousin not far away who could help you out. The following is a sample of how one resolute tinker managed to overcome the problem of locked-down radios in the modern age. Continue reading →

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Presentation: Crystal Radio History, Construction, and Contesting

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Many thanks to SWLing Post Contributor, David Day (N1DAY), who shares the video presentation below, offering even more insight into his most recent guest post on the topic of crystal radio DXing.

David has also posted this presentation on his website and notes that he’s happy to share the presentation slides without copyright. David notes:

[…]I have purposely not copyrighted this work so that anyone is free to modify it as they see fit. The only thing I ask is that if you make changes that you do not copyright the derivative work as your own intellectual property so that others can benefit from your knowledge and build upon it as well.

That’s brilliant, David! Thank you.

Presentation:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Click here to check out N1DAY’s website.

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Radio Waves: Dynamic GPS Tutorial, BBC’s First Female Employee, Rugby CW ID in Tubular Bells, and Roger Wallis Passes Away

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

GPS Tutorial by Bartosz Ciechanowski

Check out this amazing, dynamic deep-dive into the world of GPS.

The BBC’s First Female Employee: Isobel Shields (The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa)

Episode 41 (aka Season 3 episode 2):

On January 2nd 1923, John Reith interviewed Miss Frances Isobel Shields for a job at the BBC, to be his secretary. At the time the BBC had four or five male staff members. Miss Shields started work on January 8th, instantly making the BBC a 20% female organisation. It’s been greater than that ever since.

This episode’s fab guest is Dr Kate Murphy: academic, former producer of BBC’s Woman’s Hour and author of Behind the Wireless: A History of Early Women at the BBC. Her book is brilliant and highly recommended for a deep dive into the subject.

Hear Isobel Shields’ tale, plus the women who broadcast before her: Britain’s first DJ Gertrude Donisthorpe, 2LO’s first children’s presenter Vivienne Chatterton, and one of our first broadcast comedians Helena Millais. (You can hear their fuller tales if you go back to the earlier episodes on this podcast.)

And hear about some of the women who joined the BBC soon after Miss Shields, like telephonist Olive May and women’s staff supervisor Caroline Banks. Plus hear about some of John Reith’s unusual management practices, from taking his secretaries to the cinema to his brutal firing criteria.

But we dwell on his hiring not firing, as well tell the origin story of British broadcasting. [Continue reading…]

Hidden Morse Code in Tubular Bells (Madpsy’s Palace)

The link between The Exorcist, Amateur Radio and Alan Turing.

A quick look at how the movie The Exorcist from 1973 has links to the late great Alan Turing via Mike Oldfield’s album Tubular Bells, Scotland and Amateur Radio. It’s Halloween so figured why not throw some horror in the mix.

When Mike Oldfield recorded Tubular Bells in 1973 he had no idea his first album on Virgin Records would be chosen as the soundtrack to The Exorcist later that year. Neither did he know that recording with Virgin Records would have an unintended consequence of hiding a secret message which dates back to 1926, shortly after World War One.

Tubular Bells was famously recorded at The Manor Studio which was owned by Richard Branston and used as a recording studio for Virgin Records. The building is located in Shipton-on-Cherwell, England. Mike was given one week to record the album, on which he played almost all the instruments himself.

The album initially struggled to sell. Then, later the same year, it was chosen as the soundtrack for the movie The Exorcist. It then experienced massive success and has since sold over 15 million copies worldwide. [Continue reading…]

Roger Wallis from “The Saturday Show” on Radio Sweden passes away

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lennart Wennberg, who notes:

Just got the news that Mr Roger Wallis has died at the age of 80.

I remember him from Radio Sweden’s Saturday Shows on MW in the 70s. He was “Big Bad Roger” and hosted together with Kangaroo Kim.

Lennart Wennberg
Sweden

From Wikipedia:

Roger Wallis (8 August 1941 – 22 January 2022) was a British-born Swedish musician, journalist and researcher.[1]. He was an adjunct professor of multimedia at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.[2]

Between 1967 and 1981, Wallis was the main presenter of the English language The Saturday Show on Radio Sweden. Wallis also co-wrote “Judy, min vän”.

Wallis died on 22 January 2022, at the age of 80.