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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who writes:
Hi Thomas,
I started re-watching one of the sci-fi TV series I watched when I was a kid the seaQuest DSV (1993), it’s interesting how many current topics were in it 30 years ago (environment pollution, artificial meat, VR, AI, drones, etc) and the trivia at the end of the episodes by Bob Ballard from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
In the Season 1 Episode 16 a radio appeared also next to the protagonist played by Roy Scheider, see attached.
with best regards,
Balazs
Wow! Thank you, Balazs. I had completely forgotten about this show. Like you, I did watch a number of episodes back in college. What a great shot of his radio!
And I’ve just seen the first episode. Aside from some inevitable
anachronisms such as a dial that looks a lot like that of a signal
generator and a dial measured in MHz (That designation didn’t come
until the 1960s) It’s a good story and VERY radio centric.
Also, SWLing Post contributor, Les Polt, notes a few of the radio quirks he found in the series:
This series on Netflix, based on a best-selling novel, shows a German officer listening to an illegal Resistance broadcast on his short wave receiver in occupied France during WWII. The receiver dial clearly is marked “MHz”, which was not adopted until 1970. I also heard a character referring to a “transceiver”, a term not in use that far back.
I’d be curious to identify the receiver.
This screenshot also shows a radio direction finder, presumably of German World War II vintage.
Many thanks, Les, for the screenshots and notes! I, too, and curious if anyone can ID that dial–perhaps it’s just a set mark up?
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes:
Hey Thomas, just got a broadcast (Nov 5, 2023) on 21640 kHz, from 15h30 to 16h00 UTC here in Rio de Janeiro. A potpourri of pop rock songs and then a female voice says ‘this is the end, have a nice day’.
Both Carlos and I assume this could be a shortwave pirate. If you can help Carlos identify this station, please comment!
Good day all SWLing Post Community, FastRadioBurst 23 here bringing you news of this week’s Imaginary Stations transmissions. Beamed to Europe via Shortwave Gold on Sunday 12th November 2023 at 1000/1400 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and 2100 UTC on 3975 kHz, we have a special Peruvian Edition of Skybird Radio International. Expect some wonderful music in a true South American style.
A few hours later in the early hours of Monday 13th November via the transmitters of WRMI we have a different episode of Skybird Radio International at 0300 UTC on 9395 kHz and then repeated at 0400 UTC on 9455 kHz. Tune in chill out and listen to the sound of this world of ours.
For more information on the shows please email [email protected] and check out our old shows here.
Much ink has been used recently on the topic of carmakers dropping AM reception capability in cars, especially in EVs. Hence the “for and against” discussions in the U.S., at least, about the “AM for Every Vehicle Act.”
Shortwave reception, with is large coverage possibilities, has often been criticized for its audio quality which can be noisy and subject to annoying levels of variations. In cars, there are other drawbacks like less than optimum antennas, which are mostly tuned for vertical polarization while shortwave is horizontally polarized.
It is undeniable that analog AM Shortwave reception in cars can be quite unreliable, also due to lower average-SNR over time. But all these negative points are not always present. In some places (take Nigeria and the BBC broadcasts) the shortwave transmissions are great, in a quality that is not much different from that of a FM broadcast. [Continue reading…]
Westminster’s famous bell will be heard live from next week after years of only occasional appearances
It is one of the most recognisable sounds in the UK, and one that hasn’t been heard on BBC Radio 4 since New Year’s Eve last year, but from next week the famous bongs of Big Ben will be heard once again on the station.
The most famous bell in the UK will be heard live once again on Monday 6 November, just before the 6pm news bulletin and again before midnight. Listeners will be able to hear the chimes again before Radio 4’s Westminster Hour political discussion programme at 10pm on Sundays.
And after years of only occasional appearances, the chimes will form part of Radio 4’s regular schedule where they will be heard live twice daily and three times on Sundays after new microphones and a live set-up were installed.
To mark the nation’s two-minute silence this Remembrance Sunday, Big Ben will also be heard live on 11 November at 11am, and the bongs will air at 3pm on Christmas Day, before the king’s speech is broadcast on Radio 4. [Continue reading…]
It has been 75 years since Radio New Zealand started broadcasting on short-wave into the Pacific region.
Using two 7.5 kilowatt transmitters in Titahi Bay, near Wellington, Radio New Zealand began short-wave broadcasts to Australia and the Pacific in 1948.
RNZ Pacific’s Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor has this report.
Earlier this week we posted a note from John who only recently took a deep dive into the world of Radiofax transmissions, inspired by Carlos Latuff‘s recent posts.
I mentioned to John that he’ll hone his skills the more he captures these Radiofax transmissions. John just sent the following update:
Thanks, Thomas!
Indeed you are correct.
Having more luck decoding the Boston service… remembered I have a Sony AN-LP1 external antenna and so I unpacked and unraveled it and plugged in to the D-808 … drop that noise floor and…
12179kc USB Fine Tune +50
Above is the best example I have so far with HF FAX.
I guess it’s rather easy to decode these overall once you get the noise floor down, and fine tune the signal. These transmissions can take several minutes to complete which allows for a great deal of fade during that time.
Radio has filled my off-hours for the best part of 50 years now. I should no longer be surprised to find something I had overlooked like this that just adds to the fun and challenge of it.
72s and 3s.
John Johnson
N8ELK
Thank you so much, John, for sharing this with us! That is a brilliant decode, indeed!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his B-23 (version 1.0) season guide to music on shortwave. Alan provides this amazing resource as a free PDF download:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who writes:
