Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Shortwave is an alternative source of news while Internet and phone service to the Kingdom of Tonga are cut

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who writes:

Internet and phone service between the Kingdom of Tonga and the outside world was disabled after an undersea cable was cut between Tonga and Fiji.

(Source: Radio New Zealand)

“Tonga’s submarine cable to Fiji was severed on Sunday night, meaning there were no phone or internet services for several days.

Interim satellite links have since been provided but the bandwidth is nowhere near what Tonga needs.

The deputy chief executive of Tonga Communications Corporation, Sione Veikoso, said the company is now providing extra capacity.

[F]ull restoration may be possible within a week but it could take a month.”

Speaking on the Radio New Zealand Pacific program Dateline Pacific (evening edition for 25 January 2019) deputy chief executive of Tonga Communications Corporation, Sione Veikoso said that two cables were cut. Click here to listen to the audio.

I heard the RNZ Dateline Pacific program on RNZI (shortwave), 9700 kHz at 11:13 UTC 1-25-2019.

Thanks for sharing, Dan. Yes, in times like these, shortwave radio makes for an easy, accessible way to get information directly from the source. Radio New Zealand International should be an easy catch in Tonga.

I’m filing this under the tag: Why shortwave radio?

Are government shutdowns a potential haven for pirate radio stations?

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SWLing Post Bill Patalon sent me this piece from the ARRL stating that amateur radio applications have been on hold at the FCC as most of the agency has been closed in the US government shutdown. It appears the government will reopen now, at least for the next three weeks.

Thinking about the closure of the FCC and its effect on licensed operators, also made me think about unlicensed radio operators: a.k.a. pirate radio stations.

Are government shutdowns a potential broadcast opportunity for pirates that might not otherwise take to the air?

I’m curious if anyone noted new shortwave or FM pirate stations during the US government shutdown. Did the respite from FCC enforcement bring anyone out of the woodwork? Please comment!

PS: Can you do us a favor? In comments, please stay on topic (radio) and refrain from political arguments. Many of us appreciate the SWLing Post as a refuge from the toxic back-and-forth prevalent on so many other sites. If you would like to engage in political discourse, please check out Reddit. Thank you!

Radios in Godzilla 2 trailer

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ron Chester (W6AZ), who notes that the new Godzilla film contains a number of boat anchors.

What I think is so funny is how they’ve altered the logging/fine tune dial of the Hammarlund SP-600 to look like signal strength meter! For someone who has owned an SP-600, this is a little strange to say the least!

Click here to view on YouTube.

Inside the HanRongDa HDR-737 wide frequency receiver

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Nad, who writes:

I bought an HRD-737 a few weeks ago off AliExpress. Was going to write a review but now feel there is no point because it has so many major and minor problems beyond those already reported.

Decided to take mine apart. The photo is attached.

Click to enlarge.

It appears to me that the HRD-737 could be the first attempt at an SDR-based pocket sized receiver. Wondering if you or someone the experts at SWLing Post can offer any insight in this regard. Identifying marks on the ICs have been removed. The metal can in the middle could be a wideband programable oscillator of some kind?

Thank you for sharing, Nad!

Readers: can you shed some light on the HDR-737 receiver design based on this internal photo? Please comment!

Former RCI Sackville transmitter site’s “slow transformation”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who writes:

[Here’s] an interesting article about former RCI transmitter site (Sackville):

Former RCI transmitter site – slow transformation
By Marc Montgomery

The former RCI transmitter site near Sackville New Brunswick, sold to a First Nations group, is now in the process of being absorbed into native reserve land and some as yet undetermined use.

During the Second World War as Canada was working towards creating a shortwave service, an ideal site for the transmission of radio signals was found in New Brunswick. Located on the Tantramar marshes, it was ideal ground for propagation of signals from the complex array of antenna wires and towers.

The service was ended over six decades later as a result of severe budget cuts in 2012. The site was later purchased by Mi’kmaq First Nations in 2017 and plans are slowly taking shape to transform the 90 acre site into reserve land. That process involves consultations with neighbouring municipalities, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the New Brunswick provincial government and other indigenous communities. It’s expected to take two years, during which time the Mi’kmaq will decide the use for the land, whether cultural or economic or a combination.[…]

Click here to read the full article and view photos at RCI.

Cap spots an Icom and Yaesu in Netflix Sci-Fi film IO

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Cap Tux, who spotted two ham radio rigs in IO. Cap notes:

ICOM IC-740, Yaesu FT-901DM and Shortwave make an appearance in Netflix Sci-Fi film IO:
Mentions “transmitting on frequency 9043kHz and listening on frequency 9560kHz daily, that’s the 31m band”.

https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80134721

Thanks for sharing, Cap! I’ll add this post to our ever growing archive of radios in film!

Balázs spots a wide variety of radios in film

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who shares the following radio sightings and notes:

The Priest’s rig from the last episode of “The Walking Dead“

A Yaesu in “Jurassic World – Fallen Kingdom“

Some emergency/weather radios in the “The Darkest Minds“

The Last Ship S05E01
After a cyber attack a backup comm solution for the US Navy.

Night of the Living Dead (1968/1990)
In the original a radio broadcast was the first information source, in the remake only a small one was used at the end.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
In a remote shack.

+1: The “Álmodozások kora” (Age of Illusions (US) / The Age of Daydreaming (Int)) was the first (Hungarian) feature film of the director István Szabó (winner of an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1981 (Mephisto), English language films: Meeting Venus (1991), Sunshine (1999), Taking Sides (2001), the Oscar nominated Being Julia (2004) and The Door (2012)) in 1965 about a group of young electrical engineers. Two scenes from it about the radios, unfortunately I found the hungarian speaking version only online, but I think maybe it can be still interesting: https://ok.ru/video/228250552961

33:58-35: A custom rig receiving 4 european stations (Paris, London, Rome, Prague) on different speakers at the same time

1:05:43-1:07:20: “How radio works” animation

(and there was a short scene also where they talk about the The Pioneer Railway and how they learned the morse code there)

I found another (splited) version of the movie now with english subtitles, the new links and timings:

https://ok.ru/video/904027376280
33:58-35:28: A custom rig receiving 4 European stations (Paris, London, Rome, Prague) on different speakers at the same time

https://ok.ru/video/904028097176
20:00-21:39 “How radio works” animation

The same actor (András Bálint) 13 years later have a short ham radio scene (new year greetings in english) in another movie (BUÉK, 1978). I checked the callsign from the wall (HA5FA) and probably it was already a real one, belongs to Jen? Matzon, active member of the radio amateur community (DXCC Honor Roll, etc.) now a Silent Key.

Wow! Many thanks for sharing all of these radio spots, Balazs! Funny thing is I remember so well those shots from Night of the Living Dead even though I likely watched it 40 years ago! I guess I never forget a Zenith!

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