Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Voice of Russia to abandon shortwave in April 2014

It appears that after all of the rumors from last year, and after the cuts to shortwave broadcasts earlier this year, the Voice of Russia has decided to stop broadcasting on shortwave entirely.

This morning, Alokesh Gupta shared the following message from Elena Osipova at the Voice of Russia World Service Letters Department:

“This is just a short message to thank you for your letter and let you know that the Voice of Russia is closing shortwave broadcasts as of April 1st. Our programs will be available online at http://voiceofrussia.com/play/

We hope you will stay with the Voice of Russia and hope to hear from you soon again.”

2nd Update: Shortly after publishing this original post, SWLing Post reader Stephen Cooper, noticed a VOR twitter account announcing the final date as April 30, 2014–I now believe this account to be fake:

Update 2 (10:00 UTC on March 21, 2014): I just received the following message from Elena Osipova at the Voice of Russia World Service Letters Department:

Dear Mr Witherspoon,

This is to thank you for your message and confirm the information about the upcoming cancellation of the Voice of Russia’s short- and medium wave transmissions as of April 1, 2014.

Best regards,

Elena Osipova
Letters Department
World Service
Voice of Russia

I remember when the Voice of Russia and Radio Moscow absolutely dominated the shortwaves, especially in my early years as a radio listener. Times have changed for this broadcaster who has been the mouthpiece for Russia and the Soviet Union.

On a side note, if you have the ability to record the Voice of Russia in its final days on the air, please consider submitting and sharing your recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Many thanks!

Amanda Dawn Christie shares footage of RCI towers falling

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Documentary filmmaker, Amanda Dawn Christie, has been gathering footage to create Spectres of Shortwave: a 90 minute documentary film focusing on the Radio Canada International Sackville transmitting site. Little did Christie know when she started shooting the film several years ago that the site would not only be be shut down but dismantled.

Christie recently shared back-up footage of the towers falling. She describes her videos on Vimeo:

“In the spirit of the founding principles of the CBC and public access to information, i am sharing the back up videos i shot this week of the RCI shortwave towers falling. I retain the copyright to these images, but i do want to share them with anyone who would like to watch them sooner rather than later (given that my film will still be a few month in post production before release). i would also like to thank the CBC for giving me permission to film, and all of the workers on site for being so cooperative and supportive.”

Click here to continue reading and to watch Christie’s footage on Vimeo.

It’s with a heavy heart that I watch these majestic towers fall. After all, I’ve been pretty vocal about how foolish I think Canada is for destroying Sackville. Still, I’m glad someone is documenting it properly. Click here to follow Spectres of Shortwave on Facebook, set to be released later this year (2014). I’ll certainly post updates about the film here.

RF Nomad: Synthesizer meets radio

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For electronic musicians who love the sonic texture of shortwave radio, check out the RF Nomad, under development by Evaton Technologies.

Evaton describes the RF Nomad module:

“RF. Radio Frequency. The stuff that Marconi made famous. Or maybe it made Marconi famous. Either way, it’s not just for listening to hockey games anymore.

The RF Nomad voltage-controlled sideband shortwave receiver Eurorack module is currently in final stages of prototype evaluation.

The RF Nomad adds the squealy, squelchy, noisy, unpredictable vintage sounds of shortwave radio to your modular. But this is no ordinary shortwave; it’s been designed to be extra noisy, extra squealy, extra gritty, and just downright nasty. No built-in output filtering means that a rich spectrum of harmonic content is available on the audio output jack. Audio levels can be driven to distortion. CV control lets you add your own creative spin on sound design.

Hissy interstation audio. Squealy heterodynes. Fading stations. Atmospheric noises. Faint voices in foreign languages from distant broadcast stations. Fire and brimstone. It’s all in there, just like your granddad’s old tabletop shortwave.

But, the RF Nomad adds a twist: The tuning is voltage controlled. Sure, when you were a kid, you discovered you could make spacy noises on Papa’s shortwave by slowly turning the tuning dial. But just how fast could you twist that dial? Faster than an audio-rate LFO? Hardly. Voltage controlled tuning means that the RF Nomad will let you explore sounds you never imagined you could get out of a shortwave receiver.”

Check out this demonstration video:

Many thanks to Mitsuhiko Kagawa for the tip!

Mehmet Burk reviews the Kaito KA550 self-powered radio

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Many thanks to Mehmet Burk of ReliefAnalysis.com for sharing his most positive review of the Kaito KA550 self-powered shortwave radio.

[Note: I’ve updated this post to link to the Kaito KA550. I initially linked to the older KA500 by mistake. Apologies!]

Click here to read his full review:
http://www.reliefanalysis.com/2014/03/review-katio-ka550-terrific.html

The Kaito KA550 currently retails for about $59.00 US shipped.

VOA Site A for sale: surplus property notice

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Surplus Notice

Want to purchase a shortwave transmitter site? VOA Site A ia a mirror image of the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station and is being sold as surplus property:

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: Site “A” Transmitting Station is approximately 2,822 acres with improvements containing 54,318 square feet of rentable area. The main transmitter building was constructed in 1957. In addition to the main building, there are small ancillary buildings on the site, along with 40 transmitter antennas and 160 towers, concrete foundations, asphalt paving, wood distribution poles and fencing on the property.

Click here to download the surplus notice.

Many thanks to Jonathan Marks for the tip!

Shortwave Radio Recordings: The Shortwave Shindig

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Matthew Williams, who recorded The Shortwave Shindig on 7,570 kHz at 2:00 UTC on March 15, 2014. Matthew was using his Kenwood TS-590S and an 80 meter doublet antenna at his home in New York state.

Here’s his recording, hot off the press:

If others were able to record The Shortwave Shindig, please comment with a link to your recording, your location and your receiver. I will post them on them on Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Many thanks for making this recording, Matthew!

Check out David Goren’s website Shortwaveology.net and his Facebook page for more shortwave radio productions.

Off air recording of the Shortwave Shindig?

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Are there any SWLing Post readers out there who could make an off air recording of the Shortwave Shindig broadcast tonight (22:00 EST, 02:00 UTC)? If so, please comment! I would like to share your recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Please note the type of radio used and what part of the world you live in. The more recordings, the merrier! Thank you!

The Shortwave Shindig goes live on shortwave Friday 3/14/14 from the 27th Annual Winter SWL Festival in Plymouth Meeting, PA. The Shindig signs on for one hour at 10 ET/0200 UTC on 7,570 khz via WRMI’s new Okeechobee facility. Please join us for a celebration of the art and culture of long distance listening.