Zello: A PTT (push to talk) app surges in popularity with Hurricane Irma

(Source: The Washington Post via David Korchin)

As Hurricane Harvey dropped anchor over Southeast Texas last week, Zello became the go-to app for rescuers working to save thousands of people trapped by floodwaters.

Within days of Harvey’s arrival, the app saw a 20-fold increase in usage in Houston, according to Bill Moore, the Austin based startup’s the chief executive.

As Hurricane Irma hurtles across the Caribbean toward the coast of Florida, Zello continues to boom in popularity. The free Internet “walkie-talkie” app — which relies on cellphone data plans or WiFi and is designed to operate in places where signals are weak — became the top app on iTunes and Google Play Wednesday.

The latest influx began Tuesday and, at one point, Moore said, 120 people were registering for the app every second. In recent days, the app has also trended on Facebook and Twitter, offering another example of the pivotal role social media is playing in natural disasters.

“The heat map of where the registrations are occurring looks like the hurricane’s forecast path,” he added. “It’s very dense at the tip among the Caribbean islands and then fans out across Florida.”[…]

Continue reading at The Washington Post online.

I find Zello quite interesting. If you think about it, this app mimics the concept of traditional PTT/two-way radio which certainly has traffic management advantages during times of emergencies. Of course, Zello has many features traditional two-way radio does not (voice history, the ability to leave messages, native GPS and mapping functionality, etc.).

Zello does rely on some sort of Internet connectivity via 4G, 3G, WiFi, GPRS and/or EDGE. During disasters, these services may not always be accessible. Of course, amateur radio, CB and other traditional radio services do not require Internet connectivity.

Zello requires no license, no radio, nor any other accessories–just a smart phone–and is free. That’s a powerful combination and, as The Washington Post reports, Zello is obviously helping with Irma relief efforts. Thanks for the tip, David!

HF Radio blackouts in wake of solar flares

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(Image Source: NASA)

(Source: ARRL via Mike Terry)

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued a strong (G3) geomagnetic storm watch for September 7 through September 9. The SWPC said the watch for September 7 remains in effect due to the arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME) and the effects of a CME on September 4.

“Additionally, a G3 watch is now in effect for the 8 and 9 September UTC days in anticipation of the arrival of another CME associated with the X9.3 flare (R3 — strong radio blackout) on 6 September at 1202 UTC (0802 ET),” the SWPC said early on September 7. “Analysis indicates likely CME arrival late on 8 September into early 9 September.” The September 6 flare is being called the strongest in more than a decade.

Its effect on HF radio propagation has adversely affected the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN), currently operating on 20 and 40 meters as Hurricane Irma sweeps through the Caribbean.
As of September 7 at 1400 UTC, the solar flux index stood at 127, the sunspot number at 27, the A index at 11, and the K index at 4. All HF conditions are being deemed as no better than fair. The possibility of extended auroral displays could work to the benefit of VHF and UHF operators who aim their antennas north to take advantage of “buzz” mode. SWPC posts a 30-minute forecast of visible aurora.[…]

Click here to read the full article at the ARRL.

Also, check out Tamitha Skov’s forecast on YouTube:

Last night, I tested a couple of HF radios and all but the strongest shortwave broadcasters (WRMI, RHC) were wiped out. Even the strong stations sounded like weak DX. This is truly an HF blackout.

Problems with email delivery of the SWLing Post?

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A number of SWLing Post readers (about 1,200 of you) are signed up for and receive our posts via email. In the past two weeks, I’ve received a number of messages from readers noting that they haven’t been receiving any email digests.

If this is the case for you, I encourage you to try signing up once more through our current RSS-to-Email provider. Click here to sign up.

Please keep in mind: I’m planning to move our email delivery from Feedburner to a different service. I’ve been exploring options this month. If you have experience with RSS-to-email systems, feel free to comment!

From the Isle of Music Sept 10-16; UBMP moves to Sundays

Tecsun S-8800: Anon-Co publishes listing and price

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We now have a price for the Tecsun S-8800.

Anna at Anon-Co has notified me that they’ve published the listing for the new Tecsun S-8800. The price is $268.00 US with free shipping to the USA. She also noted that the S-8800 won’t actually be available until some time next week.

Note that my Tecsun S-8800 review is in final draft. It’s one of the longest reviews I’ve written. I will post it within a few days. Follow the tag Tecsun S-8800 for updates.

UPDATE: Click here to read our full Tecsun S-8800 review.

WRMI prepares for Hurricane Irma

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Hurricane Irma is currently a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds at 185 mph. (Image: NOAA.gov)

(Source: WRMI on Facebook)

Hurricane Irma:

Thank you to all of our listeners who have inquired about our hurricane plans. At the moment (early Wednesday local time), it appears that the eye of Hurricane Irma will come right over or very close to Okeechobee by Sunday or Monday.

We will stay on the air as long as possible and as long as it’s safe. Our transmitter building is quite prepared to withstand most hurricanes, and our antennas have survived many hurricanes in the past with little damage.

However, electrical power generally goes out during or after most strong hurricanes, and our generator will only power our lights, computers and air conditioning. Unfortunately we don’t have enough generator power to operate 14 x 100-kilowatt transmitters. So if the power goes out, we are off the air.

We may have enough power to maintain one frequency on the air even during a power outage, and it looks like this will probably be 9455 kHz.

At the moment, our Internet is down, but we hope it will be back up soon, although it could go out again later. We’ll keep you informed as best we can. Thanks again for your interest.

The current hurricane model does show Irma heading straight toward Okeechobee:

Here’s wishing WRMI the very best weathering this monster of a storm. Let’s also hope any SWLing Post readers in the path of Irma make it through without any problems.

Paul Walker featured on VOV webite

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(Source: Voice of Vietnam)

US listener: “Personal connection makes me want to listen to VOV”

(VOVWORLD) – The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) turns 72 this Thursday. Over the past 7 decades, VOV has served as a bridge linking Vietnam with people all around the world. Paul Walker, an American radio presenter and a loyal listener of VOV, says it is the personal connection that makes him want to listen to VOV and learn about Vietnam.

After a 6-hour drive from Washington we reached a small town in Pennsylvania near the border with Canada. It was a peaceful, quiet place with houses dating back more than 100 years. Paul Walker, a young radio presenter, met us in front of his house with his radio gears already set up.

With a small table and chair, 2 antennas, an analogue receiver, a tuner, and a digital recorder, Paul finds it interesting to listen to foreign radio programs. Paul said he picked up an obsession with radio when he was a kid and this passion has grown year by year. Now he is doing radio for a living.

“I started listening to the radio as a real young kid. In fact listening to the radio is what made me want to get into radio. I listened to that growing up and now I get paid to play music. I wanted to do it as a kid and that’s what I do now for a living. I’m actually a radio presenter here in the United States, play music on the radio, put together commercials, manage FB pages for radio stations and general stuff like that,” Paul said.

Paul started to listen to VOV in the summer of 2015 and since then VOV has become an indispensable part of his listening schedule.

Paul said he listens and sends in reception reports to VOV quite often with every detail he recorded with his radio equipment: “I like the music, especially when they play the older music. I also like to listen to news because I like the different perspectives, different opinion on it because other countries see things differently than we do and I like to hear that. I like the Letterbox program that is one of my favorites, I like to hear how other listeners tune into VOV and what they like about it and it seems like a fairly large amount of people like the music so I know there’re many of us out there. VOV’s English announcers are very friendly”[…]