Shortwave listening and everything radio including reviews, broadcasting, ham radio, field operation, DXing, maker kits, travel, emergency gear, events, and more
From the Isle of Music, October 22-28
No interviews this week, rather, we will explore the Electronic & Electronic-Acoustic Music category of Cubadisco 2017 plus listen to some excellent Cuban Jazz from the early 2000s.
Four opportunities to listen on shortwave:
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 Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UTC on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EDT in the US)
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
Soul Masala……
Episode 33 of Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot will be mostly some excellent Indian/Soul/Jazz fusion with the usual surprise or two on the side. This will be different.
Sunday, October 22 at 2200-2230 UTC (6:00pm-6:30pm EDT US) on WBCQ 7490 Khz, for the Americas and parts of Europe.
It’s still a couple weeks away, so be sure to mark the next Global HF Pirate Weekend on your calendar.
The idea behind the Global HF Weekends are to promote friendship through radio around the world. The hope is that listeners will be able to hear different stations and for broadcasters to reach distant locations. Anyone may participate. I’ve already heard from a few stations who plan to broadcast and I’ve been in contact with a number of listeners.
The last one, which occurred during the first weekend of April, resulted in some success with intercontinental broadcasting. Four North American pirates all operated around 0600 UTC between 6920 and 6950 kHz and were heard in New Zealand. A South American station ran 24/7 tests on 6930 kHz across Global HF Weekend and was reported in Germany, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and South America with only 10 watts. One Dutch station was logged in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Kentucky, New York, Maryland, and Virginia. Other stations were active specifically for the weekend, but just for a local or regional audience.
We’ll see how many stations show up during the next weekend. It seems unlikely that stations will be using 13 meters this time and much more likely that stations will be trying the 6900-kHz range and possibly 31 and 25 meters.
November 3-5, 2017
Maybe 15010-15090 kHz, probably 6200-6400 kHz and 6800-6990 kHz
Of course, these were general frequency ranges used by pirates during prior Global HF Pirate weekends. Some stations will surely operate on frequencies and times outside of these ranges. In fact, the way conditions have been lately, frequencies at or below 15 MHz seem like they will be more effective for intercontinental broadcasting. These will be updated on the Hobby Broadcasting (http://hobbybroadcasting.blogspot.com/) blog as it happens and also check the loggings on HF Underground (https://www.hfunderground.com/).
You are invited to take part in our 2017 edition of Listener’s Day on RRI, a show devoted entirely to you, our listeners
Dear friends,
Sunday, November 5, 2017, we will be airing our annual show “Listener’s Day on Radio Romania International”. As usual, we will be happy to take your contributions which will form the basis of our show. Our topic for this year is fake news and confidence in mass-media.
The last few years have seen a sharp drop in public trust in the media. This development has, to a certain extent, been affecting the press, radio and television, both in the private and public sectors. From the media’s ingressions in politics and the economy to sensationalizing the news and the consumerist rush to control the audience, the reasons behind this waning public confidence are diverse. They often include error-filled reporting and more often than not reflect people’s reliance on social media as a source of information. The latter are in most cases ridden with fake news, a phenomenon very widespread across social networks, whose general purpose is to manipulate public opinion.
So, this year on “Listener’s Day” we are asking you “How much confidence do you have in the media?”
We look forward to receiving your contributions, whether in writing (by e-mail, on Facebook, through the form on the RRI website, or by fax or post) or in audio format (if you agree, we can call to record your contributions). Our contact details are, as always: Radio Romania International, 60-64 General Berthelot, sector 1, Bucharest, PO Box 111, post code 010165, fax 00.40.21.319.05.62, e-mail [email protected]. Our web page is at www.rri.ro.
Hope to hear from you soon!
As a result of numerous responses to another video I posted on my YouTube channel a few weeks ago, I have now prepared a video that gives you a detailed look at using the Behringer Xenyx Q802 USB mixing console.
The unit is wired up to four receivers, then sent off to a pair of powered speakers. I cover how the mixer is connected to the radios and the speakers, explain the various controls available to the shortwave radio listener and amateur radio operator, the advantages of using this system in the radio shack, and offer a few tips when buying a mixing console such as this Behringer unit.
If you have a few receivers kicking around in your radio shack, this is one way to hook them all together and send their audio on to your favourite monitoring speakers. Thanks for taking the time to watch this little video. As always, comments and feedback are most welcome.
73 and good DX to you all,
Rob Wagner VK3BVW
Rob Wagner, VK3BVW, is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. He also blogs at the Mount Evelyn DX Report. He also has a grab bag of assorted radio videos to check out at his YouTube Channel.
That’s BJ on the left and me on the right at our favorite burrito joint.
A few weeks ago, I had lunch with my good friend, BJ Leiderman. If you ever listen to public radio programming, especially NPR, you’ve probably heard BJ’s name.
BJ is a musician, singer, and composer, and has written the bulk of the theme music you hear on National Public Radio (NPR). His music is hard to get out of your head. Every time I listen to NPR shows like Marketplace, Morning Edition, Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, Car Talk, or Science Friday, I hear BJ’s catchy tunes.
Moreover, BJ is an awesome fellow. But it’s dangerous hanging with him because he’s also…well, an enabler, when it comes to sound gear.
Often, when we hang out, I walk away from the meet-up with a new app, a new song in my head, or the sudden need for a new piece of kit.
Friday was a prime example. You may notice that I’m wearing headphones in the photo at the top of the page. Here’s how this played out…
BJ asked if I had seen one of his latest animated music videos–one that is was featured on his new album, “BJ.” Instead of simply showing the video to me on his phone and/or playing the music through his iPhone’s speaker, BJ ran to his car and came back with a set of Bose Quiet Comfort 35 Noise-Cancelling headphones, then handed me his phone with the video queued up.
We were in a crowded, noisy restaurant during the lunch hour, but when I put on the headphones, all ambient sounds were instantly and utterly squelched. As his video played, it sounded like I was sitting in a recording studio listening to monitors. Absolutely phenomenal.
The headphone’s noise-cancelling technology is so good, in fact, I could barely hear my own voice as I spoke.
The audio fidelity was spot-on, too––there’s a nice balance from bass to treble. Though I’m sure your audio player’s EQ could customize this.
I walk around all of the time with a cheap pair of in-ear headphones in my pocket for use with my phone, radios, or simply to decrease ambient noise while I’m trying to work or sleep.
BJ, being the cool and compassionate character he is, had this fun song animated by young adult artists with autism at Exceptional Minds Animation Studios in LA, with the support of Howard Hoffman.
In real life, his dog Maizey is a sweetheart, and certainly BJ’s fuzzy brown soulmate.
With no end in sight for the recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, the radio industry is putting its best foot forward to help the folks on the ground.
This week, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations, and a number of U.S. broadcasters announced they would fund the donation of 10,000 battery-operated radios to Puerto Rico, with the goal of providing information for those in need.
The battery-operated radios could prove an important resource, as just 16 percent of the island currently has power weeks after Hurricane Maria caused dramatic damage.
NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith emphasized that the situation underlines radio’s role “as a lifeline to communities desperate for information and support.”[…]
I’m very happy to receive this news. At Ears To Our World, we’ve been trying to find the right way to send radios to the areas in Puerto Rico that are still without power. So far, it’s been difficult as distribution lines are clogged and we don’t want to interfere with the delivery of medical supplies, clean water and other basic necessities.
Very happy the NAB has donated so many radios and I hope they can reach the people who need them in good time.
Spread the radio love
Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. Ads are what helps us bring you premium content! Thank you!
