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The mothballed Shepparton shortwave broadcast station could be coming back online.
South Australian senator Nick Xenophon will introduce legislation to parliament this week to force the ABC to bring back domestic and international shortwave broadcasts.
The broadcasts were shut down last week, after decades of the shortwave signals being listened to by people from across the pacific region and around the world.
A spokesperson for Mr Xenophon said a bill would be introduced sometime this week to bring back the domestic shortwave broadcasts in the Northern Territory, as well as the international Radio Australia broadcasts, which were beamed to the world from Shepparton.[…]
Someone recently described my shack in Oxford as ‘an impressive mess’…. and that really is just about the most positive comment I’ve ever received regarding my listening post! So, my apologies for displaying the mess in public, but in response to having been asked many times by subscribers to Oxford Shortwave Log to ‘share my shack’, here it is, well most of it at least, in all it’s unadulterated glory.
The primary reason however for this post is to share my most recent transatlantic medium wave catches using the brilliant Elad FDM DUO and Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop antenna. This excellent combination continues to pull in really nice DX, although not so much very recently as propagation has been fairly rubbish. However, since early to mid December, the dynamic duo have managed to pull in a number of transatlantic medium wave signals, including Radio Rebelde, Cuba on (670 and 710 kHz), KVNS Texas, CHIN Radio, Toronto, WFED Washington DC, WWNN Health and Wealth Radio, Pompano Beach, Florida, and huge signals from WMEX Boston and WWKB Buffalo, New York. Embedded reception videos and text links follow below and in the mean time, I wish you all great DX!
Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.
The B16 International broadcasting schedules update file is now available for free download from www.wrth.com – click on the ‘latest PDF updates’ link and follow the instructions. The file details the latest frequency and station changes from both international and clandestine/target broadcasters. We hope you find this file a useful accompaniment to the printed WRTH.
Some claim these were used by the FCC for surveillance. I can believe that as IFR is a professional manufacturer of commercial radio test equipment. I have their 500A service monitor.
Beautiful receiver, but this one is way overpriced. They usually start around a grand or so with a “Make Offer” contingency. One was sold in December for $481.
Thank you for sharing this, Mario! Knowing the IFR is essentially a piece of test equipment, I’m very curious how it might compare with a similarly-priced tabletop (broadcast) radio.
Like a lot of shortwave radio listeners, since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed tuning my radio to parts of the world where events are unfolding. There’s something tangible–something that is transportive–when you listen to a news coming directly from the source, on air and originating from halfway across the planet.
I believe, listening to government broadcasters, you get a much better picture of what is actually happening. For example, sometimes the broadcaster devotes the whole news hour to an important event, or (perhaps even more telling!) doesn’t mention anything at all! The Voice of Turkey comes to mind as a recent example.
Yesterday evening, I tuned to Radio Romania International–one of my favorite little international broadcasters.
I was happy to hear that RRI at least featured the protest as their very first news item.
This recording was made on 5,960 kHz starting at 0100 UTC on February 06, 2017. Receiver used was a WinRadio Excalibur with a large horizontal delta loop antenna here in North Carolina. The following recording includes a few minutes of the RRI interval signal. Enjoy:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN), who writes:
This antenna coupler was the companion for the RF-2200, they come up once in a while on eBay. Just some radio memorabilia/trivia to store away in the SWL file of brain hihi.
Thank you, Mario! Until last year or so, I wasn’t aware the RF-220 had a matching coupler. I’m sure radio collectors would jump on one of these in good condition. It’s a lot to pay for a simple coupler, though this seller appears to accept best offers.
The great thing about eBay is if you’re looking for something rare and are willing to pay for it, the world is your oyster.
On the other hand, there’s exactly what Mario implies: many of us find eBay to be an amazing resource for discovering rare radio items, tucking them away in the dark recesses of our radio brains, which then helps us spot them when they pop up at local hamfests, swap meets, yard sales or thrift stores!
(Source: Shepparton News via Richard Cuff)
