Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his B-23 (version 3.0) season guide to music on shortwave. Alan provides this amazing resource as a free PDF download:
Click here to download Music on Shortwave B-23 v3.0 (PDF)
As always, thank you for sharing your excellent guide, Alan!
This dedicated page will always have the latest version of Alan’s guide available for download.
Many thanks to SWLing Post and SRAA contributor, Dan Greenall, who shares the following guest post:
by Dan Greenall
MANY of us who are licensed [Canadian] amateurs can appreciate the fact that we are no longer subject to an annual licence renewal fee. As of April 1, 2000, that practice was discontinued by Industry Canada as a new streamlined authorization procedure was put in place for the amateur radio service. This came as a pleasant surprise to many who were paying $24 per annum per licence up until that point.
What many of us may not realize is that, prior to 1953, Canada had a licensing system in place for your radio receiver. Under the Radiotelegraph Act of 1913, a government minister (for most of this period, the Minister of Marine and Fisheries) had the power to license radio broadcasting stations and to charge a $1 licence fee on each receiving set. By 1929 three hundred thousand licenses were bought at $1.00 each.
An article appearing on the Friends of Canadian Broad- casting website a few years ago stated that the annual licence fee for receiving sets doubled to $2.00 in 1930. It was also noted that this was a lot of money during the Depression days that followed and two bucks could buy more than 40 loaves of bread. As a result, so the story goes, “harassed citizens” would try to outwit approaching government collectors by passing word along in time for their neighbours to shut off their radios and lock their doors.
During much of this period, radios that were made in Canada bore a “Warning” sticker such as the one in the accompanying photo. It stated that anyone convicted of operating the receiving set without first having obtained the proper licence could be liable to be fined for up to $25 and have their equipment confiscated. As noted in the book Radios of Canada by Lloyd Swackhammer, the penalty in 1924 was $50.
As you can see from the attached copies, such licences were being issued by the Department of Marine Radio Branch in 1936. In 1937, it was the responsibility of the Department of Transport – Radio Division.
Then in 1938, the DOT upped the fee to $2.50. It was another 15 years until this practice was finally abandoned.
So the next time you sit back and flip on the switch of your receiver, you might now have a greater appreciation of a privilege that most of us now take for granted.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Stefano Rampazzo, who recently contacted me regarding his new iOS app called SWList.
SWList pulls all of its radio schedule information from the excellent EiBi list and stores it locally of offline use.
Here are a few screenshots from my iPhone 12 (click images to enlarge):
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you might give this app a try. It isn’t free, but at $3.99 it’s an affordable app.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia, who shares the following press release from Radio New Zealand:
Released at 2:34 pm on 12 December 2023
RNZ has powered down for the last time its 34-year-old shortwave Thompson transmitter, known as “Transmitter 1”, one of two shortwave transmitters that deliver analogue and digital radio broadcasts to the Pacific.
It is part of the preparation for the installation of a new Swiss-made Ampegon shortwave transmitter at its Rangitaiki site.
This project is a milestone for RNZ. For the past 75 years, it has been using shortwave radio to broadcast to the vast Pacific region. Replacing the old transmitter marks a significant step in futureproofing of the service.
Transmitter 1, the 100-kilowatt Thompson unit, was installed just outside of Taup? in 1989, just in time for the Commonweath Games held in Auckland in 1990. Only capable of transmitting in analogue, servicing Transmitter 1 has become an increasingly challenging task with many of the parts for the transmitter now obsolete.
Its replacement, an Ampegon shortwave transmitter capable of both digital and analogue transmission is currently being shipped to New Zealand after being built in Ampegon’s Switzerland factory. However, before the new transmitter can be installed, Transmitter 1 needs to be decommissioned with any useful parts kept as spares.
RNZ’s Transmission Engineer Specialist Steve White said the challenge for the switchover is having an existing transmission building that limits space.
“It will take around four weeks to completely dismantle Transmitter 1 which was built into the building so it’s not just a case of unplugging it and wheeling it out. We need to isolate the transmitter from the main switchboard as well as drain the fluids that help cool the transmitter before breaking it into parts.”
The new Ampegon transmitter will arrive in January and take an estimated six weeks to install, six weeks to commission and a further period of training. At this stage it is expected the transmitter will be operational from 1 May 2024.
When Transmitter 1 is replaced, there will be two transmitters capable of both analogue and digital transmissions, ensuring a complete backup should one of the transmitters stop working.
In the meantime, RNZ Pacific Manager Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor said they were making sure all of RNZ’s Pacific partners were aware of the alternative ways to access RNZ content.
“While digital transmissions will continue, the decommissioning of Transmitter 1 will mean the analogue service will be reduced during the transition period. However, RNZ can still be heard via satellite, and we will be working with our partners in the Pacific on the alternative options of downloading or livestreaming through our website. RNZ Pacific also has an important role during Cyclone season, delivering critical information to the region and this will be prioritised during this period of single transmitter operation.”
RNZ Chief Executive and Editor in Chief Paul Thompson said the importance of the service for the region cannot be underestimated in terms of the content provided.
“Our voice reaches and is welcomed in all parts of the Pacific. During the Tonga eruption, when the undersea cable was cut, RNZ Pacific short wave was a lifeline source of information,” he said.
RNZ’s Charter includes the provision of an international service to the South Pacific in both English and Pacific languages. As part of Budget 2022, the Government announced $4.4m dollars capital funding for a new transmitter for RNZ Pacific.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chuck Rippel (K8HU), who writes:
With so many SWBC outlets choosing to go off air, I find that I really miss Indian music. This time of year was ripe for a number of regional Indian outlets on 60M to be audible on ECNA during local evening, peaking around 0100Z. A fairly skillful DX catch was AIR Port Blair transmitting on 4760.0.
Port Blair is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is located on South Andaman Island with the Bay of Bengal on the west coast and the Andaman Sea off the east, they are actually located a bit closer to Burma than India. Don’t put a visit to Andaman Is on your bucket list though, The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Act of 1956 prohibits travel to the island, and any approach closer than 5 nautical miles (9.3 km), in order to protect the remaining tribal community from “mainland” infectious diseases against which they (likely) have no acquired immunity.
No more shortwave but wait, the programming is still available VIA webcast, URL below. The programming heard here so far has been in Bengali and Hindi but surprise, at 2230Z and 1737Z, I was surprised to hear the news read in English. The Andaman Islands observe Indian Standard time or UTC +5:30 which put their TOH at the EST: 30 or, our BOH.
So, treat yourself to some Naan Bread, spool up your web browser and click on:
https://onlineradiofm.in/stations/air-port-blair-pc
Thank you, Chuck!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jack Dully, who writes:
Happy Holidays to Y’all!!! Thomas, I have bought about 5 antennas from the eBay seller”Lowbander” over the last few years. […]They are well constructed, strong and really bring in signals on the fringe. He has a small operation, I believe, but dedicated to making the best antennas he can. His antennas will last through storms and such but grab signals like a fly on honey, no kidding. Perhps other SWLing Post members don’t know of these excellent antennas at what I think is a good deal and worth the cost for years in the air. Thanks.
Clic here to check out Lowbander’s antenna offerings on eBay.
Note: this is an eBay partnership link–purchases support the SWLing Post at no cost to you.
Thank you for the tip, Jack!
Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post contributors who have shared this article from Tedium.co which takes a deeper dive into the issues and politics surrounding AM radio in EV automobiles in the US.