Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist Carlos Latuff, who shares illustrated radio listening report of a recent Radio Nikkei 1 report focusing on the aviation disaster that took place today at Reagan National Airpot in Washington DC.
Carlos notes:
Part of Radio Nikkei 1 “Nikkei Electronic News” (in Japanese) about the plane and military helicopter crash near Washington. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares illustrated radio listening report of a recent Radio Nikkei 1 broadcast.
Carlos notes:
*Better listened with earphones*
Part of Radio Nikkei 1 news bulletin (Nikkei Electronic News) in Japanese. BYD, a major Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, announced on the 24th that it will launch a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV) in the Japanese market at the end of 2025. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who shares:
Hi Thomas
I was doing some random tuning on shortwave this evening using the KiwiSDR at VK2ATZ in New South Wales, Australia, when I came upon a repeating music box-like tune on 13705 kHz that I thought had a familiar sound to it. It was like running into someone who you hadn’t seen in many years and trying to place where you knew them from. Yes, the sound was a bit different, perhaps even a little slower (age does that ?), but then it came to me, could it be Radio Japan, the overseas service of NHK? A quick check at Short-Wave.info revealed this was indeed NHK World Radio.
It felt like I had found an old friend, one that I knew from my high school days over a half century ago. Still recognizable after all those years, and it felt good to know that they are still around.
Attached are two recordings:
Radio Japan, interval signal and bilingual ID, as heard in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada on 9505 kHz in 1970:
NHK World Radio, interval signal and sign on in Thai on 13705 kHz, January 23, 2025 at 2300Z (via VK2ATZ KiwiSDR):
73
Dan Greenall
London, Ontario, Canada
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Carlos Latuff, who shares the following guest post:
Exploring Radio Radio Nikkeiby Carlos Latuff
It’s been a while since I listened to Nikkei Radio, a Japanese commercial broadcaster that operates on shortwave for a domestic audience. If I remember well, the signal was very weak and, since I don’t speak Japanese, I didn’t know what the content of its broadcasts was about. But today, with the possibility of recording the audio, transcribing it and translating it, it has become more interesting to follow its programs on shortwave here in Brazil, more specifically in Porto Alegre (distance between Nikkei’s transmitter in Chiba, Japan, and Porto Alegre, Brazil: 18779 km).
Nikkei Radio 1 was founded in 1954 and Nikkei 2 in 1963, and at the time it was called Nihon Shortwave Broadcasting Co., better known by the acronym “NSB”. Some Japanese electronics manufacturers have in the past released receivers dedicated to receiving the signal from these stations (see below).
Today, the Japanese company Audiocomm has radio models whose packaging states that this receiver is compatible with Nikkei Radio; note the image alluding to horse racing (see below).
I haven’t been able to acquire any of these devices (yet), since they were basically produced for the Japanese public. But any receiver with shortwave bands can tune into Radio Nikkei. I use my good old XHDATA D-808 with a long wire antenna. In Porto Alegre, the best propagation is between 08:45 AM and 06:15 AM (UTC). In the late afternoon, the signal also arrives, but with a fair amount of static.
Both Radio Nikkei 1 and Radio Nikkei 2 operate on the following frequencies:
Radio Nikkei 1:
Radio Nikkei 2:
On the station’s website https://www.radionikkei.jp/ you can find details of its programming, as well as broadcast times, including a table (in Japanese) with this information, which can be translated with the help of Google Lens.
Radio Nikkei also broadcasts its programming via streaming, however the platform used (radiko) is inaccessible to me here in Brazil (see message below).
Nikkei Radio is majority-owned by the business newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which means the station focuses mainly on the financial market. However, much of its programming, especially on weekends, is dedicated to horse racing, a popular sport in Japan. In addition to news, talk shows and music, the radio station also broadcasts evangelical preaching (!). One of these religious programs is called “True Salvation” and is sponsored by The Japan Gospel Mission, a Christian Protestant organization.
This heterogeneous mix of business, horses and Jesus Christ makes Nikkei Radio an interesting station to tune into, to say the least.
The radio listening sessions published here were made in the central Porto Alegre, Brazil, between January 15th and 19th, 2025.
(Domo arigato gozai masu Mr. Tagawa Shigeru for helping me with translation).
Click here to view on YouTube.
Click here to view on YouTube.
Click here to view on YouTube.
Click here to view on YouTube.
Part of Radio Nikkei 1 program “Health Network”, in Japanese. Topic: Winter diet and health. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares illustrated radio listening report of a recent NHK broadcast.
Carlos notes:
Part of NHK news bulletin (in Japanese) about the 30th anniversary of the Kobe earthquake. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following guest post and asks, “Wonder who can add to this list?“:
by Dan Greenall
https://www.radioheritage.com/ktrk-k-truck-1670-khz/
Example: WDKW 1630 “the Klaw” Dundalk High School near Baltimore, MD
Link to my recording made at a DX camp in Coe Hill, Ontario, Canada on April 20, 1997: https://archive.org/details/wdkw-the-klaw-1630
An internet search revealed the following;
Part 15 of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules allows some low-powered radio devices to operate without a license on the AM and FM radio broadcast bands. These devices are subject to certain restrictions, including:
Some examples of Part 15 radio stations include:
Often used by hobbyists, drive-in theaters, or on college or high school campuses.
These transmitters air a repeating loop of information, such as traffic or highway construction. They typically operate on empty channels on the AM broadcast band.
A custom product that can include special audio systems, USB / internet connectivity, cabinets, and antenna mounting styles.
Educational institutions can use a transmitter without a license if the signal coverage is limited to their property.
1610 kHz with low power, usually around 10 watts, such as the one I hear near the Blue Water Bridge between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan
Over a quarter century ago, these frequencies began to be used in the U.S. by BCB stations. I still have recordings of a half dozen of these from the early days.
WTDY 1670:
WNML 1670:
WMDM 1690:
KCNZ 1650:
KCJJ 1630:
KBGG 1700:
Also, here is a link to a column in Popular Communications magazine from February 1998.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares illustrated radio listening report of a recent broadcast of African News Panorama via Vatican Radio.
Carlos notes:
Vatican Radio’s African News Panorama, in English.
Angola parliament debates on banning the sale of alcoholic beverages in some places, African Union’s Extraordinary Summit on Agriculture in Uganda, Benin’s National Army attacked by Islamic militants. Listened in Porto Alegre.