Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer, who writes:
“The History Guy” (a terrific YouTube channel) talks about the technical marvel of uniting the four radio networks and soldiers overseas via shortwave at Christmas 1942 and 1943.
by Dan Greenall
Attention all SWL’s! For those of you with a little extra free time over the holiday season, I would highly recommend having a look at two books that were written by a couple of very respected DXer’s from the past. They are both available on the Internet Archive and their respective links can be found below.
I have mentioned this one before, but in case you missed it, you will find it here.
https://archive.org/details/shortwave-voices-of-the-world-richard-wood-ed-1-pr-1-1969
Newly uploaded, this one comes in two parts. Part One describes his early days and how his listening began, while Part 2 gets into the hobby in general.
https://archive.org/details/the-world-in-my-ears-part-1/the%20world%20in%20my%20ears%20part%201/
Happy reading!
Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility Minuteman ICBM Launch Control (Wikimedia Commons)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dennis Dura, who shares the following article about Cold War–era low-frequency communications, from Hackaday:
During the Cold War, the U.S. developed the Survivable Low-Frequency Communication System (SLFCS) — a radio network designed to function even after a nuclear attack. Using long-wavelength LF and VLF signals that can travel vast distances through ground and ionospheric waveguides, SLFCS provided a way to deliver emergency launch orders when all else failed. The system’s immense towers and buried loop antennas reflect an era when reliability was paramount — even under atomic conditions.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer for sharing this video from the YouTube channel “Today I Found Out” about the origins of the SOS distress signal:
How Did ‘SOS’ Become The Universal Distress Signal?
Three dots. Three dashes. Three dots. Even if you don’t know a single other letter of International Morse Code, chances are you immediately recognized the unmistakable rhythm of “SOS”. It is the universal distress signal, understood in nearly every country and language and appearing everywhere in pop culture including songs by artists as diverse as ABBA, Rihanna, and Great Big Sea. And with good reason: endlessly versatile, SOS can be tapped out on a telegraph key or spoken aloud over voice radio, flashed using a signal mirror or flashlight, written out in the snow or sand, or – if you happen to be held under duress – blinked out with your eyelids. But how did this seemingly random string of letters come to be the universal code for shit hitting the fan, and do the letters actually mean anything? Well, tune your radio transmitters, warm up your signalling fingers, and let’s find out, shall we?
Author: Gilles Messier
Host: Simon Whistler
Editor: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Samuel Avila
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, for sharing the following guest post:
by Dan Greenall
In the early 1970s, Radiodiffusion-Television Algerienne ran a modest shortwave service (no English) mainly for North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. A copy of their schedule from the 1972 World Radio TV Handbook is shown.
As a fledgling DXer in 1971, I was fortunate to hear their signal on 9510 kHz from my listening post in southern Ontario, Canada. Even better, they responded to my request for a QSL with this attractive card.
Fast forward a quarter century to 1996. The international service of Radio Algiers could be heard at times here in eastern North America on 15160 kHz with broadcasts that included English. Here is a brief recording from November 3 of that year that I am lucky to have saved.
In July 2022, two new 300 kW transmitters located at Ouargla and Bechar were put on the air after several years of planning. These were to be used for the Radio Coran service in Arabic, but in May 2023, Ifrikya FM (the African Voice) was born with the objective of providing a pan-African voice by broadcasting educational, informative, and cultural programming from an African perspective.
Although there is no English, they can be spotted on shortwave on 13640 and 13855 kHz after their 1900 UTC sign on. If you can hear the same programming on these two frequencies, you will know you have them.
Here are two recordings made on October 19, 2025 using a KiwiSDR near Sao Paulo, Brazil. They were made one hour apart, the first at 2000 UTC and the second at 2100 hours.
13855 was noticeably stronger than 13640 on this receiver.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer, who writes:
I’ve subscribed to this channel for some time. This video, which dropped the other day, will be of relevance to both SWLs and HAMS:
Rob does some deep dives into language. Including the surprising origins of many words in English and the lingering influence of both Anglo Saxon and Norman French.
Cheers
Fred
This is a brilliant video. Thank you, Fred!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following guest post:
by Dan Greenall
A few decades ago, the 90 metre shortwave broadcast band used to be full of interesting and challenging-to-hear DX signals. In the 1974 edition of The Complete Shortwave Listener’s Handbook, author Hank Bennett reports on what you might expect to hear on these frequencies. There is a copy of this book on the Internet Archive. Here is a link to that specific page.
Also, this sample page from White’s Radio Log in the 1972 Communications World magazine shows a number of stations that could be logged in 90 metre band.
Here are a few links to recordings from my personal collection that have survived through the many years. These were all made between 3200 and 3400 kHz from my listening post in southern Ontario, Canada.
[Note: Click on each broadcast link to open the associated Internet Archive page with more info.]
Radio Rabaul, PNG 1971
Radio Libertad, Santiago, Dominican Republic 1971
Today, it seems that only a handful of stations can be found broadcasting in the 90 metre band. These would include WWCR in Nashville, the Voice of Indonesia, KCBS Pyongyang and Radio Mosoj Chaski in Cochabamba, Bolivia. As well, the Canadian time signal station CHU still continues to use 3330 kHz.
A recent recording of Mosoj Chaski Radio, a Christian broadcaster logged using a remote SDR in Lima, Peru, is presented here.
Although not in English, listen carefully and you can hear them give their frequency of 3310 kHz in the 90 metre band as well as their location of Cochabamba, Bolivia.