FTIOM & UBMP, September 29-October 5

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From the Isle of Music, September 29-October 5:
This week, our very special guest is Feliciano Arango, an important force in the evolution of both Cuban Jazz and Timba. He will present the explosive new album by Los Hermanos Arango, Bendita Guanabacoa. Don’t miss this episode!
The broadcasts take place:
1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia and Oceania) with 100Kw, Sunday 1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Sofia, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
If you don’t have a shortwave radio or are out of range, you can listen live to an uplink from a listening radio in the Netherlands during the broadcast at
http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/?tune=9400am
2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UTC (New UTC) on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EST in the US).
If you don’t have a shortwave or are out of range, you can listen to a live stream from the WBCQ website here (choose 7490)
http://www.wbcq.com/?page_id=7
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
If you don’t have a shortwave radio or are out of range, you can listen live to an uplink from a listening radio in the Netherlands during the broadcast at
http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/?tune=6070am

Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, September 29 and October 1:
Episode 132 presents Rai from Algeria.
The transmissions take place:
1.Sundays 2200-2230 UTC (6:00PM -6:30PM Eastern US) on WBCQ The Planet 7490 KHz from the US to the Americas and parts of Europe
If you don’t have a shortwave or are out of range, you can listen to a live stream from the WBCQ website here (choose 7490)
http://www.wbcq.com/?page_id=7
2. Tuesdays 2000-2030 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany for Europe.
If you don’t have a shortwave radio or are out of range, you can listen live to an uplink from a listening radio in the Netherlands during the broadcast at
http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/?tune=6070am

Tripp Lite dual ferrite USB cables

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I found this tip from Lorne Waters on the SDRplay Facebook page:

I was having a lot of trouble with local noise and not getting really good signal spikes. Well I took a chance after reading many articles on using better USB cables. The picture below is what I purchased from amazon. It’s a USB with dual ferrite cores mounted at each end. Well this did wonders for me. It’s like less than 10 bucks. Well worth it. Try it for yourself. Using with SDRplay RSP1a.

Click here to view on Amazon.com (affiliate link supports the SWLing Post).

Lorne has a good point. All of my SDR USB cables have at least one in-line ferrite choke. Cables with dual chokes like the Tripp Lite are pretty rare. Note that this USB cable fits SDRs (like SDRplay models) with a USB-B port. I’ve had a difficult time in the past finding dual ferrite choke USB-A to Mini or Micro USB ports. In those cases, I often employ these inexpensive snap-on ferrite chokes.

Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio extra program from September 08, 1984

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), who writes:

Rosebud Reservation location in South Dakota

One of Glenn Hauser’s more interesting “extra” programs to me over the years was his radio 1981 summer vacation recordings to South Dakota (near the Nebraska border).

Attached is the entire WRNO recording of that program (which aired on Sep 8, 1984). This was before he “air numbered” the programs.

Station KINI web site (station active today) : https://www.rosebudmedianetwork.com/
Stream : http://listen.streamon.fm/kini

Click here to download the audio.

Amazing, Dave! Thank you for sharing this recording.

Post Readers: Keep in mind that you can still comment on this WOR post for a chance to win an Eton Mini receiver! This giveaway will close on Friday, September 27, 2019.

Radio World: “Historic Woofferton Boasts a Modern Twist”

Initial impressions of the ALT-512 QRP transceiver

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So the ALT-512 QRP SDR transceiver has landed at SWLing Post HQ. This little rig is on loan from Aerial-51 and I’ll be spending the next month or so putting it through the paces.

I can already tell that the ALT-512 has some strong points:

It’s incredibly portable and easy to take to the field, providing you have a battery and resonant antenna (or external ATU).
The color backlit display is quite readable at any angle despite being rather information-dense.
I really like the waterfall display. It’s large enough to be quite useful.
The ALT-512 can connect directly to your computer for digital modes like FT-8. No external sound card needed.
The menu system contains a wide array of features and options for granular tweaks and modifications.
The ALT-512 includes the European 4 meter band.
Although I prefer using headphones with small radios, the ALT-512’s small internal speaker does a fine job.
Rob Sherwood tested the ALT-512 (indeed, this very unit) recently and added it to his receiver test data. It performed quite well especially considering the price.

Any negatives so far? Nothing major:

No internal ATU or battery options. At this price point (799 EUR), I wouldn’t expect either of these.
The ALT-512 is not general coverage. This is a negative for those of us who like SWLing, but a positive for ham radio use as the ALT-512 sports band-specific bandpass filters to reject out-of-band strong stations. You can tune to some stations above the 40M band and also the full mediumwave band and below (down to 100 kHz), although I wouldn’t expect stellar performance in those regions.

So far, I’m very pleased with the ALT-512’s performance.

Next, I’ll be taking it to the field and see how easily I can activate a few POTA (Parks On The Air) sites! Stay tuned!

Click here to check out the ALT-512 at Aerial-51.

Giuseppe captures LRA36 special on the coast of Italy with a portable receiver

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Dan records the LRA36 special broadcast

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

As the DX/SWL community knows, LRA-36 Radio Arcangel San Gabriel in Antarctica Argentina put on a special broadcast on September 21st for listeners around the world. This had some pre-publicity via an announcement from the station, so chances are many people heard it.

My listening began at around 1253 UTC when I was surprised to find the broadcast already in progress, though the time was originally set for 1300-1415 UTC. Because the Paradinho, Brazil Kiwi site was full I tuned to one of two Iceland-based SDRs at 1253 to find an Argentine song often used by the station in progress, then sign on announcements, including what sounded like English greetings to listeners, followed by a program that consisted mostly of two female announcers in conversation, punctuated by occasional drop-ins by a male announcer with ID’s and sending “abrazos” (embraces/hugs) to listeners.

At 1400 UTC, there was a period of CW ID followed by some more discussion until about 1415 when they went into straight music. Programming actually lasted through 1430 when I tuned away — the transmitter was not on when I checked at noon EDT, but the station said they intended to repeat the special program later in the day. Here is video of the beginning of the program as heard at 1253 UTC, as well as the CW ID at 1400.