Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Thailand Coup: BBC World Service increases shortwave broadcasts

BBC World Service increases broadcasts to Thailand

26 May 2014. As authorities in Thailand take key national and international channels off air in the country, BBC World Service has increased its shortwave English-language radio broadcasts to Thailand, to continue the delivery of its independent news and analysis to audiences there.

From 01:00 GMT on Monday 26 May, BBC World Service expanded its availability via shortwave to Thailand by adding [ten] hours of broadcasts to its daily shortwave schedule (all times GMT):

01:00-03:00 on 11,600 kHz
03:00-05:00 on 7,370 kHz
05:00-11:00 on 11,700 kHz

Acting Director, BBC World Service Group, Liliane Landor says: “In times of national crisis, there is an acute need for accurate, trusted and impartial news. This is why, with our international TV news channel off the air in Thailand, we have increased BBC World Service radio broadcasts in the country.”

The above transmissions add to BBC World Service’s six hours of shortwave broadcasts at peak times for Thailand.

Ends//

For more information about the military coup in Thailand, and how it affects international broadcasting, please follow our tag: Thailand Coup

[Update 27 May 2014: Number of broadcast hours corrected. HT to Dan Ferguson and Richard Cuff]

An inexpensive battery charger for the Tecsun PL-880

8 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Steven, for sharing this very affordable battery charger for the Tecsun PL-880 batteries. Steven writes:

“I never purchased a stand-alone 18650 battery charger for my Tecsun PL880 radio because I felt the in-radio on wasn’t good enough. With several batteries it became a bit more of a problem keeping track and setting time aside to use the radio as a charger. Anyway, I came across amazing deal from Amazon that I just purchased.

For $9.68 out of pocket including slow shipping you get a super bright flashlight claimed to be 1000 lumens, which is probably a bit overrated. It also includes a double cell 18650 charger and one 3000ma 18650 battery – probably overrated too but all for under $10. I couldn’t pass it up.”

Click here to purchase from Amazon

I will pick up one of these chargers, too. Like you, I find that sometimes I would like to be listening to the radio instead of using it as a charger. I especially love the size of this charger–might just fit in my radio go bag.

Thanks again, Steven!

Thailand military suspends TV and radio programming

11 Replies

Thailand’s army chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, declared a coup today (Thursday, May 22), and detained key party leaders while suspending the constitution in “a bid to restore order” after nearly six months of ant-government protests.

General Prayuth Chan-ocha has also ordered all domestic TV and radio outlets to halt normal broadcasting and only include content the military provides until further notice. Only yesterday, a group of Thai media bodies accused the Peace and Order Maintaining Command (POMC) of violating the constitution when the POMC banned 14 satellite TV outlets. Now that the constitution is suspended, I suppose it is no longer an obstacle.

I’m curious if Radio Thailand will be on the air today–if so, I assume broadcasts will contain military sanctioned content. I would encourage you to tune to Radio Thailand and, if possible, even record a broadcast to archive if they are indeed on the air.

The following is Radio Thailand‘s English broadcast schedule per Shortwave.am:

9390 kHz, 1230-1300 UTC, Target: Oceania
9390 kHz, 1400-1430 UTC, Target: Oceania
9390 kHz, 1900-2000 UTC, Target: Europe
9390 kHz, 2030-2045 UTC, Target: Europe
15590 kHz, 0000-0030 UTC, Target: Eastern North America
15590 kHz, 0030-0100 UTC, Target: Western North America
15590 kHz, 0200-0230 UTC, Target: Eastern North America
17640 kHz, 0530-0600 UTC, Target: Europe

Thailand is no stranger to full-blown military coups; this is their twelfth since 1932. I’ll be following this story closely as events unfold.

Alex updates shortwave frequency charts for summer season

Last day of the 2014 Hamvention

1 Reply

Today is the the final day of the 2014 Dayton Hamvention. For exhibitors, it’s the slowest day of the weekend (Saturday is the busiest).

My voice is hoarse from speaking with so many people–it’s been great! Many thanks to the SWLing Post readers who stopped by our booth to talk radio.

This morning, I’m listening Pacific Break on Radio Australia with my buddy Eric McFadden while we eat breakfast and prepare to leave. I started listening to RA on my Tecsun PL-310ET and Eric (of course) brought out his Sony ICF-SW7600G and AN-LP1 for comparison. A little radio fun before the craziness yet to come.

We’re not staying in a hotel this year, and we have much quieter conditions for SWLing. Eric, as a I mentioned in a previous post, is retired from the Ohio Air National Guard; this year, he was fortunate enough to secure us a “TLF” (Temporary Lodging, Family) on Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Our TLF is a three bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house with a living room, laundry room, outdoor patio, yard and is surrounded by acres of green space. It’s about half the price of a local hotel, so we feel most grateful! Better yet, a TLF is like being at home: we can string up antennas indoors or outside and play radio.

Eric eating cereal and doing an informal A/B comparison. The AN-LP1 is attached to the dining room window.

Many thanks to Eric (WD8RIF) and his son, Miles (KD8KNC), for being such dedicated ETOW volunteers.

As I head out this morning, I thought I’d post a few more photos I took yesterday:

Though I wouldn’t have a clue how to operate this Collins 10B (above), I would love for it to adorn my radio table.

I’ve also taken photos of new products vendors displayed at the Hamvention. I plan to post them after returning home later this week.

If you’re visiting the Hamvention today, please stop by Booth BA411 and introduce yourself!

Dayton Hamvention flea market: a few photos

2 Replies

I had a little over one hour to check out the Dayton Hamvention flea market yesterday morning before manning our inside exhibitor’s table for Ears To Our World.

Here are a few radios that caught my attention:

I actually purchased the Hallicrafters SX-24 in this photo (above) for $60. I would have purchased the speaker as well but he wanted $200 (!!!) for it.