Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans, who notes that R&L’s price on the Icom IC-7300 transceiver is currently $923.89 with discounts and coupons.
Radio Deal: Icom IC-7300 $923.89 shipped at R&L
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40th Anniversary Event: National Radio Archangel San Gabriel (LRA36)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adrian Korol, who writes:
LRA 36 National Radio Archangel San Gabriel turns 40 on October 20
The different services of RAE Argentina to the World have produced special programs of 10 minutes each that will be broadcast from Antarctica via LRA36 on 15476 kHz, days and times to be confirmed.
The languages ??of these special programs will be Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, Italian, German, Japanese and Chinese. The arrival to the Antarctic of the new valves of the transmitting equipment of LRA36 is imminent.
These broadcasts will have a commemorative eQSL. You can send your reports, message and greetings to [email protected]
Thanks for sharing, Adrian! We’ll be listening!
Encore – Classical music on Shortwave
Encore – Classical Music on Shortwave – Broadcast on Sunday afternoon in Europe (repeated Friday evening) and USA
Encore – Classical Music this weekend is being broadcast as usual by Channel 292 (Europe) on 6070 kHz at 15:00 UTC Sunday 13th October.
And by WBCQ on 7490 kHz at 00:00 – 01:00 UTC Monday 14th October
There is a repeat on 6070 kHz on Friday 18th October at 19:00 UTC.
This week’s programme starts with some Schumann piano played by Vladimir Horowitz in a live recording from 1965. Next some Rameau harpsichord music and a motet sung by the Silo de Pro choir. Something left of field after that from 1956 – early John Cage ‘Radio Music’ and three Britten divertimenti composed when he was in his early twenties. To end the hour – a Schubert Lieder and some of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto.
Both Channel 292 and WBCQ host live streams if the reception is poor in your location. Easy to find their sites with a google search.
Thank you for spreading the word about Encore – Classical Music on Shortwave. And thank you to everyone for letting us know how well the signal is received where you live.
Brice Avery – Encore – Radio Tumbril.
Regular Broadcast times are:
15:00 – 16:00 UTC Sunday, and repeated 19:00 – 20:00 UTC Friday on 6070 kHz (Channel 292 Germany).
00:00 – 01:00 UTC Monday on 7490 kHz 9WBCQ – Maine).
RadioTapes.com: a treasure trove of airchecks from the Minneapolis/St. Paul markets
Photo by Ar Meftah
One of our contributors on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, Tom Gavaras, has been sharing some brilliant airchecks. I also discovered that Tom runs an amazing site simply chock-full of Minneapolis/St. Paul airchecks. Tom writes:
Hi Thomas,
[…]As an FYI … I own/run a website called RadioTapes (www.RadioTapes.com). It features more than 2,000 airchecks of Minneapolis/St. Paul radio stations dating back to 1924. You will also find some shortwave recordings that I previously posted (on the Special Postings page).
In addition to my collection, the website includes airchecks provided by more 100 contributors. RadioTapes also has a Facebook page with 1,400 followers.
Post readers: I strongly suggest you check out Tom’s amazing archive of airchecks. If you ever lived in or DXed the Minneapolis/St. Paul market, you’ll certainly hear some familiar voices and IDs.
Thank you Tom!
Platja de Pals: Once a Cold War “front line” for Radio Liberty
(Source: CNN via Tracy Wood)
(CNN) — It’s March 23, 1959. The radio waves crackle and broadcast begins: “Govorit Radio Svoboda” (??????? ????? ??????? – “This is Radio Liberty speaking…”)
From the other side of the Iron Curtain, the radio broadcasts of US-funded Radio Liberty reached deep inside the Soviet Union. This was an opening line destined to enter Cold War folklore.What most of those clandestinely tuning in could not possible imagine is the unlikely location those broadcasts were coming from.
This quiet beach resort of Platja de Pals, Spain, tucked between the Mediterranean Sea and the greenery of pine groves and rice paddies, makes for an unlikely Cold War front line, but this is exactly the role it played for nearly half a century.
At this spot, some 150 kilometers north of Barcelona, Catalonia’s rugged Costa Brava opens up into a large bay lined by a long sandy beach, the perfect location for what was to be one of the most powerful broadcasting stations in the world.
Strategic location
In the mid-1950s, and after nearly two decades of international isolation for Francisco Franco’s Spanish dictatorship, the increasing tensions of the Cold War provided the background for a rapprochement between Spain and the United States.
In this new Cold War context, Washington took an interest in Spain’s strategic location. General Franco, himself a staunch anti-communist, was happy to oblige. In a landmark deal, the United States was provided with a string of bases on Spanish soil, while Franco’s dictatorship would see its relations with the West restored.
The setup of Radio Liberty’s broadcast station in Pals was a side effect of this new geostrategic reality.
From 1959 to 2006, this beach was home to 13 massive antennas (the largest of them 168 meters high, or more than half the size of the Eiffel Tower). This spot was favored not only because of the availability of space — the antennas were laid out in a mile-long line parallel to the shore — but also because it provided direct, unimpeded access to the sea. A physical phenomenon called tropospheric propagation makes it possible for radio waves to travel further over water.[…]
RRI Listener’s Day 2019
(Source: Radio Romania International via David Iurescia)
Dear RRI friends, Sunday, November 3, 2019 will be Listeners’ Day on RRI, a day of celebration for which you are kindly invited to send us your opinion about the role of international radio broadcasting now, 30 years after the fall of many communist regimes in Eastern Europe. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and many states in the former Communist bloc got rid of Communism, such as the Democratic Republic of Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary. In Romania, the Communist regime was ousted on December 22, 1989.
Whereas until then international radio broadcasters in eastern countries would air propaganda against western states, and western stations would criticize the eastern states, after 1989, many of these broadcasters started promoting the countries from where they were transmitting.
International radio broadcasters have turned, in each of these states, into stations promoting their own countries and airing the views of the respective states on various issues. International broadcasters have also become a means of exporting democratic values.
In this year’s edition of Listeners’ Day on RRI, we ask you what is today, in your opinion, the role of an international broadcaster? What do you expect from an international broadcaster? Do you have any memories that you can share with us, regarding your international listening experience in general, and as listeners of RRI in particular?
We are looking forward to receiving your answers, which will be included in our shows on November 3rd! You can email them to us, at [email protected], post them on Facebook or send them as a comment to this article on RRI’s website at www.rri.ro. If you like, you can also send us pre-recorded answers via WhatsApp, at +40744312650, or you can send us your telephone number so we can call you from the studio and record your opinions. Thank you!
Video: Comparing mediumwave performance of the Tecsun PL-990 and PL-680
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Steve Lebkuecher, who shares this video which compares the mediumwave performance of the PL-990 and PL-680:
https://youtu.be/m9osecPwiq4