Artwork by Carlos Latuff
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes:
Hello Thomas,
I’m sad to know that the New Zealand meteorological agency MetService, has retired radiofax in July 1st, and is focusing on “modern solutions” of sending synoptic charts to vessels. In 2021 I received several radiofax charts from MetService in Porto Alegre.
https://about.metservice.com/our-company/national-weather-services/retirement-of-radiofax
This is a video I shot in 2020:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD), who shares the following guest post:
By Bill Hemphill WD9EQD
Over the years, I have owned many of the various Sony shortwave radios. From analog to digital, I would buy the latest and sell my current radio. For the past few years, I have been using mainly Tecsun radios and didn’t own any Sony radios anymore. This changed last year. I got the urge to acquire a few of the Sony’s that I remember so fondly. Over several months I bought off eBay four ICF-2010 (one of which works), two ICF-SW100 (one of which works), four ICF-SW1 (none of which works). After spending way too much money just to acquire two working Sony radios, I started realizing that any Sony radio was probably going to need re-capping – a chore which I am not skilled at. I could have saved money by just paying the high price for a radio that had already been completely re-capped and working.
During the many hours spent watching eBay, I would occasionally come across a Sony radio that I was not familiar with – the Sony ICF-SW800. This is a very unusual radio in that it has only two bands – FM and SW. And the SW band only covers 3.7 to 17.9 MHz It also has these small credit card size pre-programmed memory cards. I ended up buying a couple of the radios just to learn what was going on with the memory cards.
The radio is very plain and simple. Dull black plastic, telescoping antenna, nice flip out tilt stand on the back, very small LCD display that shows time when off or in stand-by and band (FM or SW), frequency and card Preset memory number when card is inserted. Following are photos of front of radio, without and with card inserted:
Removing the battery cover reveals a storage area for the cards when not in use:
The cards are slid into the slot on the right of the radio. There is a plastic cover over the keyboard. This cover is touch sensitive. The plastic has imbedded in it small dots which can detect which part of the screen is being touched. Without a card inserted, you can select the band (SW EXEC or FM EXEC) and directly enter a frequency using the 0-9 keypad. Or you can use the manual +/- tune keys.
I had originally thought that the memory cards must be storing the memories in circuitry within the cards. When I got the first radio and looked at the cards I was really surprised to see that they were just cardboard cards – no circuity. So how was the radio knowing which card was inserted and what was stored in the memory.
The radio comes with four double side cards. Three of the cards are for the memories while the fourth is a card used to set the clock. Following are photos of the “L” series cards:
As you can see some cards are pre-programmed for Radio Stations and some are Free Memories for you to program your own station. But since the memories are NOT stored on the cards, how does the radio know which card is inserted and which memory on the card is selected?
Each card has one or two white tabs on the left of the card. There are three possible tab locations. A review of the service manual and the wiring diagram shows that the locations of these tabs make up a binary code for 1 to 7. (only 7 is needed since the clock card is single sided while the other three cards are double sided) The clock card has all three white tabs and is thus seven (Tab 1 = 1, Tab 2 = 2 and tab 3 =4 for 1+2+4 = 7). Then each of the other cards are 1 thru 6 depending on the tab locations. The radio has infrared leds along with sensors. By shining a LED light onto the card, the radio can sense which card is inserted and then reference the correct ten memory locations in the storage..
The memories are stored in an EEPROM chip soldered into the radio. Depending on where the radio was purchased, a different set of memories would be pre-programmed into the chip in the radio. An associated set of memory cards would be provided with the radio. There were at least the following different set of memories manufactured with associated card sets as follows:
Area 5/AE7 Austria:
Area 3/AE7 Swiss:
Area AE6 Germany:
Area 2/AE7: Scandinavia:
Area 6/AE7 Portugal:
Area 7/AE7 Europe:
Area 7/AE7 International Sales Division in Europe:
Area US United States:
Area UK United Knigdom:
It should be noted that even though a memory is preprogrammed (in the chip), you could re-program the memory using the “WRITE” feature on the card. Most of the cards just show memory location 0-9 with no indication of the frequency. Some cards do indicate the radio station but not the frequency. For example, Card Series “A”, Deutsche Welle has DW 0 thru DW 9 on the card:
In the packing material that came with my US version, there is a small fold out piece of paper that lists the Memory Presets for each card along with the preset frequency, broadcast time and coverage area:
There is no way to know from the outside of the radio which memory chip was pre-programmed at the factory. The model number does not differentiate between the regions. If the back cover of the radio is removed, then there is a printed sticker on the circuit board denoting which region the radio is for.
For example, one of my radios has a sticker with “E” on it to denote that it for the Europe market:
At this point, Sony was trying to market to people who just wanted to listen to their favorite station, be it FM or SW. Thus a simple to use. pre-programed radio. Never mind the fact that radio stations may change frequencies, or even disappear entirely. At least the ICF-SW800 allowed the user to re-program all the memories.
Sony also made two other radios that used the cards for memory.
The first was the ICR-SW700. This was a two band receiver covering MW and SW.
The second radio was the ICF-M500 which was made for the Japanese market. This radio was FM/AM two band radio:
A big hi to all the SWLing Post Community, FastRadioBurst 23 here bringing you news of this week’s Imaginary Stations transmissions. Beamed to Europe via Shortwave Gold on Sunday 22nd October 2023 at 2000 hrs UTC on 3975 & 6160 kHz, we have Radio Ace featuring the Adventures of Flash Frisbone. If you love radio, you’ll love Radio Ace!
A few hours later via the transmitters of WRMI on Monday 16th October we have KBUS. The broadcast is at 0200 UTC on 9395 kHz and then repeated at 0300 UTC on 9455 kHz. Expect some Bus Driver’s classics, Conductor’s sing-a-longs and a collection of sound effects from various ticket machines. Step aboard and enjoy the trip!
For more information on the shows please email [email protected] and check out our old shows here.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes:
I made some adjustments and now I receive better quality radiofaxes. Since I started receiving radiofaxes in 2021, I had forgotten a fundamental detail.
To tune 1.9kHz lower than the advertised frequency. For example, the frequency of Kyodo News is 16971 kHz. I therefore tune in 16970 kHz. Of course, the fact that I tune in at 4:10 am in Brazil also makes a difference, as the propagation is quite good at that time.
Thank you for sharing that tip with up about moving down 1.9 kHz lower than the broadcast frequency. It certainly works–your decodes a very clean.
By Don Moore
I just updated my by-time listing of scheduled marine broadcasts in the MF 1600-3400 kHz range. This is primarily based on the by-location listings at the DX Info Centre website. Of special interest at the moment is Iqaluit Coast Guard Radio in Canada which uses six different transmitter sites in the Canadian Arctic. These seasonal broadcasts will be ending soon with the close of Arctic navigation.
The spreadsheet also includes a tab of selected scheduled marine broadcasts on HF frequencies. It does not include easier stations such as the US Coast Guard or the stations in Australia. See the DX Info Centre for complete by-frequency listings.
My by-time listings: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Uju43a0ftROV5Dt56IgY7CMwAecDaa6TVLs7iHaHj6I/edit?usp=sharing
DX Info Centre MF Listings: https://www.dxinfocentre.com/mb.htm
DX Info Centre HF Listings: https://www.dxinfocentre.com/marineinfo.htm
My article on MF Marine DXing: https://swling.com/blog/2021/12/guest-post-an-introduction-to-dxing-the-mf-marine-bands/
My article on Norwegian MF stations: https://swling.com/blog/2021/12/guest-post-don-targets-rare-norwegian-stations-during-newfoundland-dxpedition/
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:
Netflix has released The Club, a historical drama from Turkey, and the opening scene shows a classic old radio. Can anyone identify it?
Here’s another:
Update: and one more!
Please comment if you can ID these! Thanks, Dan!
Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dennis Dura, Mark Koskinen, Stuart Smolkin, and Ron Chester for the following tips:
The Hubbard station now is a full-time, all-digital operation
WWFD in Frederick, Md., has concluded the experimental phase of its MA3 HD Radio operation. It has notified the FCC that after five years, it will now continue to operate as a full-time all-digital AM station as is allowed under commission rules.
Dave Kolesar at a meeting of SBE Chapter 37 in Wheaton, Md.
The Hubbard-owned facility was the first AM station in the United States to convert to the MA3 mode, doing so under experimental authority in 2018.
Dave Kolesar, the engineer and program director who spearheaded the initiative and has given numerous presentations at engineering conferences about it, tells me that Hubbard recently asked the FCC to conclude the special temporary authority. [Continue reading…]
Segment connected Canadians, kept the country on time for over 80 years
The beginning of the long dash indicates exactly 1 o’clock eastern standard time.
For more than 80 years the beeps and tones of the National Research Council (NRC) time signal have connected Canadians at exactly 1 p.m. ET.
But as of Monday, CBC Radio One audiences won’t be listening for the beginning of the long dash — they’ll have listened to the end of it.
Variations of the daily message and the “pips” that sound along with it have played over CBC’s airwaves since Nov. 5, 1939 — forming a link that connects Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
CBC and Radio-Canada have announced they’ll no longer carry the National Research Council (NRC) time signal.
Monday marked the last time it was broadcast, ending the longest running segment on CBC Radio. [Continue reading and listen to the report on the CBC...]
The Aerospace Industry Association and the Air Line Pilots Association International have voiced interference concerns
Several aviation groups have recently expressed concern about the potential for interference on navigation systems if a proposal to increase power for digital FM stations in the United States is adopted. Now, HD Radio developer Xperi said it is working to address those concerns.
In comments filed with the FCC (MB Docket 22-405), the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) raised the possibility of interference between HD Radio stations at 107.9 MHz and the adjacent Aeronautical Radio Navigation Service (ARNS) band operating from 108.0 – 117.975 MHz.
The ARNS band is occupied by safety critical navigation and landing systems essential for safety of flight, according to the groups. They include Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) needed for landing during low visibility conditions at night and during inclement weather. [Continue reading…]
State broadcast leaders have unveiled details of a North Carolina Broadcast History Museum. Details were announced during a press conference that took place on Friday, October 13th at the Governor’s Mansion in Raleigh, NC.
The museum initiative is a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation dedicated to preserving North Carolina’s broadcasting legacy.
North Carolina has a rich broadcast history, dating back to March 1902, when radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden transmitted a 127-word voice message from his Cape Hatteras transmitter tower to Roanoke Island. Then fast forward to July 23, 1996, when WRAL-TV became the first television station in the United States to broadcast a digital television signal. The state has been and continues to be a wealth of pioneers and innovators in industry.
North Carolina has been and continues to be a wealth of pioneers and innovators in industry. The State has numerous famous broadcast personalities, including Andy Griffith (born in Mount Airy), Charles Kuralt and David Brinkley (both from Wilmington), National Sportscaster Jim Nantz (from Charlotte), and National Public Radio Newscaster Carl Kasell (from Goldsboro).
The Museum is seeking assistance from the public and people who worked in broadcasting to collect artifacts, documents, photographs and recordings that chronicle the history of prominent radio and television stations, broadcasters, programs and events. Through exhibits and collections, the Museum seeks to highlight the contributions made by North Carolina Broadcasters in shaping the industry and the state’s culture landscape.
The Museum is guided by a distinguished group of broadcast professionals that include Caroline Beasley, CEO, Beasley Media Group; Don Curtis, CEO, Curtis Media Group; Jim Goodmon, CEO, Capitol Broadcasting Co.; Wade Hargrove, media lawyer; Harold Ballard, Broadcast Engineer; Carl Venters, Jr., Broadcast Executive; David Crabtree, CEO, North
Carolina Public Media, Dr James Carson, Broadcast Executive; Jim Babb, Broadcast Executive, Cullie Tarleton, Broadcast Executive, and former member of the NC House of Representatives; Dave Lingafelt, Broadcast Executive, Carl Davis, Jr., Broadcast Engineer, Jim Heavner,
Broadcast Executive, and Mike Weeks, Broadcast Executive.
The North Carolina Broadcast History Museum web site will serve as a digital repository accessible by the public that will grow in content and importance as items are gathered and
displayed. The museum web site is under construction and currently available online at www.NCBMuseum.com. Future plans include a brick-and-mortar facility for education, inspiration and enjoyment.
For more information, please contact Michael Weeks, North Carolina Broadcast History Museum Board Trustees Chairman, at [email protected] or call 252-721-0470.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced on Tuesday the launch of radio technology that “cannot” be blocked by Russian jamming.
Fedorov, who also serves as Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation, wrote on Telegram that the Himera radio is “a unique technology that works despite enemy electronic warfare,” according to Ukrainska Pravda’s translation.
“The Russians cannot block the radio’s signals or decrypt it,” he said, adding: “The radio can also be integrated into a situational awareness system or used as a GPS tracker to search for and evacuate soldiers.”
Russia’s electronic warfare capabilities have long proved a thorn in Ukraine’s side, as Michael Peck previously reported for Insider.
Russia has managed to achieve “real time interception and decryption” of the Motorola walkie-talkie systems in widespread use by Ukraine, according to a May report by the Royal United Services Institute. [Continue reading…]
Please consider supporting us via Patreon or our Coffee Fund!
Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!
