Shortwave listening and everything radio including reviews, broadcasting, ham radio, field operation, DXing, maker kits, travel, emergency gear, events, and more
Spoiler Alert: As we approach the SWLing Post’s 10th Anniversarynext month, Dave is generously donating a little piece of Wooferton’s history that one lucky reader will win! Interested? Stay tuned!
From the family sheep station in Shag Valley, East Otago, amateur radio operator Frank Bell sent a groundbreaking Morse code transmission received and replied to by London-based amateur operator Cecil Goyder.
Frank and his older sister Brenda were radio pioneers. Invalided home from the Western Front in 1917, Frank revived a boyhood interest in wireless communication while recuperating. He helped pioneer the use of short radio waves to communicate over long distances, initially through Morse-code telegraphy. He achieved a number of firsts, including New Zealand’s first overseas two-way radio contact with Australia and North America. But it was his radio conversation with London that made world headlines.
When Frank turned his attention to running the family farm, his sister Brenda took over the wireless station, becoming New Zealand’s first female amateur radio operator. In 1927 she was the first New Zealander to contact South Africa by radio. After the Second World War, Brenda Bell moved into professional radio as a writer and broadcaster for Dunedin station 4YA.
A vintage radio from Kim Andre Elliott’s collection.
I was just chatting with my buddy Dave Cripe (NM0S) who recently snagged a cool Soviet-era vintage portable radio at ShopGoodwill.com. It’s a beauty:
I’ve always been fascinated with Soviet and Eastern European designs from the 60s, 70s and 80s, but I’ll be the first to admit that I know little-to-nothing about them.
I’m curious if any readers could shed light on some of their favorites makes and models? Are there any exceptional performers? Any that are highly valued? If you have photos, consider sharing them as well. Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Stan (WA1LOU), who writes:
Besides being a radio aficionado, I also dabble in philately and subscribe to a couple of stamp magazines.
The cover of the October 15 issue of Linn’s Stamp News caught my eye displaying a QSL card from Swan Island (HR6SWA) (see attached). As it turns out, the magazine contains an extensive article about the history of Swan Island and its various inhabitants (including the RF variety).
Being a philately magazine, the article concentrates on how mail was handled to and from the island, but its mention of the radio operations is interesting nonetheless. The article is well illustrated and includes a number of QSL cards from the various Swan radio operations.
I found the article interesting from both a radio and philately perspective.
And I’m sure glad I kept the envelope that delivered my Radio Americas QSL card!
I bet you are happy you kept that envelop, Stan!
Thank you for sharing this. While I’ve never been a stamp collector, I’ve always had a deep appreciation for stamps from around the world. I’m sure much of this has to do with being a radio listener and receiving QSL cards and listener material with all of those amazing stamps affixed.
Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post contributors including, Mike, Dan, Ron and Bob who all shared this article from the BBC World Service:
The bombs used by Allied forces during World War II were so large, they weakened the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The air raids turned towns to rubble and ash, but now new research shows shockwaves could be felt up to 1,000 km above the UK.
Chris Scott, from the University of Reading said: “I was absolutely astonished [when I found out].
“Each raid released the energy of at least 300 lightning strikes.”
It’s now hoped the research will give us a better understanding of how natural forces such as lightning, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes can affect Earth’s upper atmosphere.
[…]But Chris Scott admits “these were very temporary effects which heated the atmosphere very slightly.”
[…]Chris Scott said: “This [research] is really important if we’re going to understand the ionosphere as a whole.
“We know the ionosphere is controlled by solar activity but it varies much more than can currently be explained.”[…]
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who writes:
Whilst watching the 1998 movie The Interview on Netflix, I spotted a Kriesler Radio Company Super-Power Long Range Panoramic 11-71 made in Newtown (Sydney) Australia about
1:11 into the movie (the opening scene.)
I’d never heard of the Kriesler Radio Company before, probably because they were in Australia. The Super-Power Long Range Panoramic 11-71 was made in the late 50’s is beautiful, and it has interesting bandspread markings.
I agree, Ed! The bandspread/dial on the Kriesler is beautiful. I was not at all familiar with this Australian radio–thank you for sharing!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ron, who reminds us that today is Class D CB radio’s 60th anniversary. From Wikipedia:
On September 11, 1958 the Class D CB service was created on 27 MHz, and this band became what is popularly known today as “Citizens Band”. There were only 23 channels at the time; the first 22 were taken from the former amateur radio service 11-meter band, and channel 23 was shared with radio-controlled devices. Some hobbyists continue to use the designation “11 meters” to refer to the Citizens Band and adjoining frequencies.
My dad was an avid CBer when I was a kid. He had an FCC-issued license and belonged to a healthy community of CBers in our part of the state. He had a beautiful yellow Robyn T-240D (same as pictured above) as a base station, and a mobile CB installed in every car. After the FCC dropped the licensing requirement, his activity on the bands slowed down although it did give me a chance to hop on.
My best friend (who lived about 1/4 mile away) and I used to keep in constant contact with our 40 channel 5 watt CB walkie talkies. It was great fun.
Of course, it was a treat when I would catch some “skip” and make contact with someone two states away with that same walkie talkie.
Like it or hate it, a lot of radio enthusiasts and ham radio operators cut their teeth on CB radio.
I was certainly one of them.
CB radio is still a pretty dynamic public radio space today. True, it’s a bit of a free-for-all and if you can’t tolerate profanity and “colorful metaphors” then you best stay away.
