Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Curtis, who shares the following video from NBC Left Field:
Hawaii’s recent false nuclear missile alert showed us how reliant we are on cell phones and modern technology—and how unprepared we are if they become inaccessible. But in case the unexpected happens, an unlikely group of hobbyists—ham radio operators—are standing at the ready and may save us all.
Amazon has just posted an excellent price for the Eton Grundig Edition Traveller III shortwave portable: $35.83 shipped! This is the lowest price I’ve seen for the Traveller III since December when it hit this lowest price for a very brief period of time. As with any Amazon spricing, this could end at any time.
From the Isle of Music, February 11-17, 2018
More of Alejandro Falcón and his new album Mi monte espiritual; also some great music from Yunior Terry, Yosvany Terry and Estrellas de Areito.
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 0100-0200 UTC on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EST in the US). This is running on a backup transmitter due to a recent fire.
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
From the Isle of Music is not available for listening on demand but some broadcasts can be heard online during the time of the broadcast using Web SDRs or the WBCQ website (during their broadcast) if you are not receiving the radio signal.
Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, Sunday, February 11
Episode 49 of Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot sends us to Canada and Scotland with a slice of Swiss.
Sunday, February 11, 2300-2330 UTC (6:00PM -6:30PM Eastern US) on
WBCQ The Planet 7490 KHz shortwave from the US to the Americas and parts of Europe
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who adds the following to our growing archive of radios in film. Mark writes:
A clutch of radios, this time from Brooklyn 99:
The first is what looks like a scanner behind Terry Jeffords, then an unidentified radio in the book case behind Captain Ray Holt, and finally what I think is a AOR 8600 on the table next to Amy Santiago.
Many thanks, Mark! You have very sharp eyes–especially spotting the AOR on the table in the last scene!
Please comment if you can identify this radio gear!
Okay SWLing Post readers: I need you to dig through your off-air recordings for something pretty obscure…
Over at the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, I frequently receive inquiries from educators, researchers, historians, and enthusiasts looking for very specific off-air recordings, often for some worthy project or other. It’s quite a thrill when I can lay hands on just what’s being sought in our rather deep recordings archive.
I recently received just such an inquiry from producer Meghan Keane at NPR, and though we were not able to provide immediate help, I’m quite intrigued by the subject and thus not quite ready to give up the search. Meghan writes:
My name is Meghan Keane and I’m a producer for NPR’s Invisibilia. I’m working on a story about Somalia and music, and am currently looking for some archival sound.
Around 2010, many radio stations in Somalia broadcasted animal noises and gun shot noises to protest Al-Shabab. I am hoping to find audio of that to use in my story. Please let me know if you have any leads!
Fascinating stuff. I do recall a news story about Somali radio broadcasts including animal and gun shot noises back in the day, but I never actually heard a broadcast on shortwave or mediumwave.
Post readers: Can you help Meghan track down such a recording? If you can, please comment and/or contact me!
(Image: spaceweather.com)
(Source: Southgate ARC)
With Solar Minimum right around the corner, sunspot counts are at an almost 10-year low. So it came as a surprise yesterday when a relatively large sunspot emerged near the sun’s eastern limb.
AR2699 has a primary dark core larger than Earth with many smaller magnetic condensations trailing behind it, in all stretching more than 75,000 km across the sun’s surface.
Rare “solar minimum sunspots” are capable of intense explosions just like sunspots during more active phases of the solar cycle.
Visit Spaceweather.com for more information and updates.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Luke Perry, who writes:
I am experiencing a issue with my shortwave reception at my part-time home. I have been helping out my mother so I have brought over my Sony portable, along with the Sony active antenna. I have a constant ‘clicking’ sound starting at about 5 kHz or thereabouts that make listening unbearable. As the video shows the problem is non-existent below 4 kHz. I tried moving the radio throughout the house thinking it could be something in the room and still get the same interference.
I was hoping that the filter on the active antenna would help but it does little to remedy the problem. I have no issues with MW or FM reception at all.
I have made a short YouTube video to document the problem in the hopes that one of the blog readers can identify it. I looked online at other instances of RFI and I could not find one that is similar. Hope that someone can help me!
https://youtu.be/OcEWAkdfmWw
Click here to view on YouTube.
After listening to the first few seconds of your recording, I thought it sounded a bit like an electric fence controller. However the interval between pops is nearly random, which suggests a different source. I suppose it’s possible a faulty fence controller could do this. I believe the only way you could defeat this noise (without shutting it down at the source) would be to use a radio with a durable noise blanker. Of course, I know of no portable radios with an NB function (though most SDRs and tabletop receivers include an NB).
Post readers: Can help Luke ID the source of this noise? Does it sound familiar to you? Please comment!