Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

All India Radio kicks off 80th anniversary today

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) On October 1, 1939, the All India Radio made its first broadcast for foreign listeners — a Pashto service started by the then British rulers to counter the Nazi Germany propaganda during World War II.

The national radio broadcaster has decided that the 80th anniversary of the historic event will be marked by year-long celebrations beginning this week right up till October 1 next year.

The external services of the All India Radio (AIR), though began with the aim of serving the propaganda of the British colonialists, have now transformed into the “voice of India” at the world stage, officials said.

“Last year, the decision was taken that October 1 will be observed as External Broadcasting Day and Monday will be the first such occasion. All Indian missions abroad will observe the External Broadcasting Day,” Amlanjyoti Mazumdar, Head External Services Division, AIR, told PTI.

“The missions are going to circulate the material that we have sent them to sensitise the listeners in their respective countries about AIR’s external services,” he said.[…]

Click here to read the full article at India.com.

IEEE Spectrum Magazine: “This Artist Made a Radio Out of a Kitchen Sink”

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(Source: IEEE Spectrum via Ed C)

Amanda Dawn Christie’s work commemorates the fading glory of shortwave radio

By Stephen Cass

Some artists work in oils, say, or marble. Amanda Dawn Christie works in radio. Not radio in the sense of performing on air. But radio in the sense of the giant cultural and technological phenomenon that is broadcasting, and specifically shortwave broadcasting.

For decades, shortwave was the only way to reach a global audience in real time. Broadcasters such as the BBC World Service and Voice of America used it to project “soft power.” But as the Internet grew, interest in shortwave diminished.

Christie’s art draws from shortwave’s history, representing it in sculpture, performance, photography, and film. Her focus is the life of the Radio Canada International (RCI) transmitter complex, located in Sackville, New Brunswick, near Christie’s hometown. The transmitter was in operation from the 1940s until 2012. “Those towers were always just a part of the landscape that I grew up around,” says Christie. It took a radio-building workshop to spark her interest: “I built a radio out of a toilet-paper tube…. I thought I did a great job because I picked up Italian radio. It turned out I did not—I was just really close to this international shortwave site.”[…]

Continue reading the full article at the IEEE Spectrum Magazine.

So great to see SWLing Post friend, Amanda Dawn Christie, featured in the IEEE Spectrum! Thanks for the tip, Ed!

Update: Photos of WBCQ station construction

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lee Reynolds, who shares these images and notes after a recent visit to WBCQ in Monticello, Maine:

Looks as if the basic antenna construction is all done up there now.

Thank you, Lee. Wow–that is an amazing antenna! I can only image what the foundation of that tower would entail! Thank you for the updates!

Click here to see Lee’s previous photos.

Ed spots a Super-Power Long Range Panoramic 11-71 in “The Interview”

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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.)

More information here: https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/kriesler_11_71_117.html

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!

I’ll add this post to our ever growing archive of radios in film.

SDRplay video guide to using SDRuno’s recording function

Balázs spots a number of radios in “Fear the Walking Dead”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who discovered a number of scenes in Fear the Walking Dead that feature various radios. Balázs notes:

In the last episodes (after a hurricane) various two way radios were quite frequently used.

Thanks, Balázs! That looks like a Kenwood HF transceiver on the table. Anyone know the model? Please comment!

Of course, I’ll add this post to our ever growing archive of radios in film!

“Shortwave radio evolves into an IoT network”

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(Source: Maritime Digitalisation & Communications via Richard Cuff)

KNL Networks is building a mesh network of base stations on ships for securely transmitting operational and machinery data to shore

Shortwave radio can be used for data transmissions from ships to shore and between vessels as an alternative, or even complementary, service to satellite communications.

This is a long way from shortwave radio’s use for voice communications at sea, but KNL Networks has developed this technology to generate a data transportation network. It has built a mesh of multiple base stations and terminals on ships to provide a backbone for internet-of-things (IoT) solutions.

The dedicated IoT network is combined with military-grade security, pole-to-pole coverage and affordable pricing to make maritime IoT connections smarter, said KNL Networks chief executive Toni Linden.

He explained to Maritime Digitalisation & Communications that this shortwave radio network does not have the complexity or issues of satellite communications and can be scaled through simple vessel additions. “We have reinvented shortwave radio so that it is fully digital and automatic,” he said.[…]

Click here to read the full article.