Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

And the living is easy…

The Joys of Traveling Light

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM

I had intended to travel light; I really did . . . but I betrayed my best intentions.

Instead of a “minimal” radio go-bag, I had stuffed a small cross-body bag with: a ham radio handi-talkie (a Yaesu VX-6R) with high-performance antenna, extra batteries for the handi-talkie, a car plug-in adaptor for the handi-talkie, a scanner (Uniden 436) with high-performance antenna, extra batteries for the scanner, a CCrane Skywave SSB, and a CCrane CC Buds Solo In-Ear Single Earbud.

But when I got near the shore of Lake Ontario, what did I actually use . . . what gear brought me the most radio joy? The CCrane Skywave SSB and the Solo Earbud. In particular, during the early morning hours with sweltering heat, epic humidity, and threatening severe thunderstorms, I found myself happily listening to a trio of NOAA weather radio stations, one of which included a marine forecast for Lake Ontario, and all of which helped us to plan our activities.

Then, at 2130Z, on June 21, I took a crack at hearing the 2024 BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica. Here’s my report:

Listening from Sodus, NY, near the shores of Lake Ontario, on a barefoot CCrane Skywave SSB, AM mode (tried SSB, it didn’t help). No recording.

9585, 9870 — heard nothing.

11,685 — very difficult copy, surging static. Could hear male and female voices but couldn’t discern what they were saying, occasional music (?)
Around 2140 — child’s voice saying “we miss you.”
Music at end.

So would it have been easier to copy the Midwinter Broadcast with my Big Gun SW receiver and the 50-foot horizontal room loop? Of course.

Was it fun to try anyway with a shirt-pocket-sized radio and a dinky whip antenna? Absolutely.

Sometimes traveling light delivers fun despite its limitations.

Carlos’ Shortwave Art and Recording of NHK (June 24, 2024)

AWA Presentation: Working at WWVH in Hawaii

3 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Erdle (AE2EA), who writes:

Hi Thomas,

Steve Johnston, WD8DAS, gave a presentation to the AWA last night about his job at WWVH, the time and frequency shortwave station in Kauai, Hawaii. I have to admit that I’m envious of someone who has the job of Engineer in Charge of a multiple transmitter shortwave station on the beach in Hawaii.

His presentation is here:

Mark Erdle AE2EA

Thank you for sharing this, Mark!

Please share your recording of the 2024 BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica here!

33 Replies

Halley VI: The British Antarctic Survey’s new base (Source: British Antarctic Survey)

In the comments section of this post, I’d like you to share your recording of the BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica!

Time and frequencies

Our intrepid contributor, Richard Langley, reports the following message from the British Antarctic Survey:

The BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast will be transmitted at 21.30 GMT on 21 June on shortwave frequencies: 9585kHz, 11685kHz and 9870kHz.

Please comment with your recording on this post!

Listening to the 2017 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast from the back of my vehicle in Saint-Anne-de-Beaupré, Québec, Canada.

I’ve created this dedicated post where you can comment and include links to audio and video of your 2024 Midwinter Broadcast recordings. This will allow you to post your logs and recordings at your convenience without my availability becoming the bottleneck.

Here’s the format I’d like you to leave in your comment of this post:

Name:

Listening location:

Notes: (Include frequencies and any details about your receiver and antenna.)

Link to audio or video: (YouTube, Vimeo, Internet Archive, SoundCloud, etc.)

Video and Audio Recordings

There is no way to directly upload audio in your comments, however, you can link to the recordings if you upload them to the Internet Archive (which I’d highly recommend) or any of the video streaming services like YouTube and Vimeo–or audio services like SoundCloud.

To be clear: I will not have the ability to upload your videos for you–so please don’t email me your video files–you’ll simply need to upload them to a service above and share them here with a link in the comments. 🙂

As with each year, I’ll make sure the BAS team and the BBC receive a link with all of your recordings!

Help record the 2024 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast later today (June 21, 2024)

Every year, the BBC broadcasts a special program to the scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team. The BBC plays music requests and sends special messages to the small team located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a DX-worthy catch!

After successful listener events from years past, I’m once again calling on all SWLing Post readers and shortwave radio listeners to make a short recording (say, 30-60 seconds) of the BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast today and share it here on the SWLing Post. Details on this below.

Time and frequencies

Our intrepid contributor, Richard Langley, reports the following message from the British Antarctic Survey:

The BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast will be transmitted at 21.30 GMT on 21 June on shortwave frequencies: 9585kHz, 11685kHz and 9870kHz.

Recording the Midwinter Broadcast has become an SWLing Post community tradition! Read our previous post for more details.

I’m especially fond of this broadcast as it always falls on my birthday and it’s always fun capturing this unique DX!

Share your recording and notes with us!

Comment with your recording!

During the Midwinter broadcast, I will publish a dedicated post where you can comment and include links to audio and video of your 2024 Midwinter Broadcast recordings. When this post is available, I will link to it here. This will allow you to post your logs and recordings at your convenience without my availability becoming the bottleneck.

So that there’s no confusion, I’ve turned off comments on this post so that comments are left on the appropriate article.

Here’s the format I’d like you to leave in your comment of the dedicated post: