Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Troy Riedel, who writes:
“This [Executive series] sale has been going on since 18 March (and Amazon now lists that it will end in “5 days”):”
Many thanks for the tip, Troy!
Those are both great prices: the Traveler for $47.04 and the Satellit for $156.69 shipped.
Timing is great as I’ve had a number of readers ask about purchasing the Satellit lately.
Click here to view the Eton Traveler III Executive on Amazon.
(Source: ABC News)
Saying goodbye to Radio Australia on the shortwave after 37 years
Kevin De Reus has lived in the same 24-kilometre-radius his whole life.
Born and raised in Iowa in the US, Kevin now calls his grandfather’s farm — just 12 kilometres from where he grew up in central Des Moines — home.
He is married, has five children and has worked at the same company for 20 years.
And while he admits he has not travelled much in his 52 years, it hasn’t stopped Kevin from listening to the news from Australia since 1980 — with the help of a shortwave radio.
Listening from the other side of the world
Even half a world away, he says the broadcast was one of the clearest of the stations he listened to.
“Radio Australia always held a special place in my heart just because it was in the South Pacific and I didn’t know much about that area — and the signal was always good from that part of the world,” he says.
“Most recently, over the last two to three years as I was listening in the morning hours here on 9.580, the signal was so good. It really was about the only English broadcaster at that time of the day that had news and information.“Most mornings I would get up and turn on the shortwave radio at 7:00am (local time) and listen to the news from Australia and then I would drive to work.
“So many of the stations just aren’t on the air anymore. BBC doesn’t broadcast to North America anymore. I can’t even hardly hear the Voice of America in English anymore to tell you the truth. So Australia had the strongest signal.
“That’s why it was hard for me to hear [Radio Australia] was going to go off the air.”[…]
Click here to continue reading the full article on ABC News.
I believe Kevin De Reus did a fine job explaining the appeal of being a shortwave radio listener.
Though I gather a lot of international news these days with a WiFi radio (especially since Radio Australia left the shortwaves), I still prefer listening to shortwave.
It’s just how I’m wired.
KIMF transmitter site (Source: James Planck via Facebook)
KIMF transmitter building (Source: James Planck via Facebook)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Barraclough, who writes:
Photos of the site were posted in December. Mauno Ritola posted in the WRTH Facebook group January 26 that “James Planck informs, that KIMF Battle Mountain NV, USA plans to start operation around 1st April on shortwave. Time will tell, if the plan is realistic.”
Click here to view photos on Facebook.
Many thanks, Mike, for sharing this info. Note that these Facebook photos are listed as public, so a Facebook account is not needed for viewing.
[UPDATE: This issue has now been solved. Click here to read our full review.]
Recently, Tecsun announced and released onto the market the new S-8800 receiver. Thomas Witherspoon has indicated that sensitivity, selectivity and audio fidelity are very good for this new unit.
BUT…..in his post on February 12, 2017, entitled Tecsun S-8800 Update, Thomas discovered that his new S-8800 has a serious fault, one that could potentially drive radio enthusiasts mad! In tuning around the dial, he found the radio has many “birdies”. In the same post, he notes that Bertrand Stehle F6GYY also found birdies on 4 spots in the mediumwave band and 63 frequencies across the entire shortwave spectrum. Not good!
In reading the comments that followed Thomas’ post, I noted that a few writers seemed a little confused about what a birdie is and how it differs from radio frequency interference. Hopefully, the following explanation will shed some light.
The term “birdie” is, I guess, derived from the type of sounds that are emitted from a receiver having this problem. It can take on a variety of forms, like a squealing or whistling sound, or perhaps a warbling sound, or a hash noise, or indeed, even a silent carrier. In a particular radio, a birdie could appear on one or many frequencies across longwave, shortwave, mediumwave or into the VHF spectrum. And it will usually be permanently there on the same frequencies every time.
Occasionally, you will find birdies smack bang on the very frequencies where you might want to do some listening. But, unfortunately you can’t really do anything to get rid of these nuisances because the design faults are in the the receiver itself. You can test to see if what you are listening to is a birdie by simply disconnecting the antenna. If the squealing/whistling/warbling/hash/silent carrier is still there without any antenna, then it’s a birdie – an internally generated carrier by the receiver’s own circuitry.
Click here to continue reading the full story.
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.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Servo, who writes:
While going through the FCC Daily Digest for my own hobby website, I came across the International Authorizations section and happened to take a look today. To my surprise, a license to cover has been filed for HF station KIMF in Beowawe, NV! I can’t remember the last time a new HF station filed to go on the air in the US.
Do you know anything about this station? Here is a link to the FCC’s data page on the station; I’ve attached a PDF copy of the license form, which lists both the operating frequencies as well as times, power and modes they’ve asked for. It looks like they will run a combination of AM and USB across three frequencies.
[…]I went to the license coordinates to see if anything was visible on Google Satellite View, but it’s just empty desert. So I have no idea what’s really going on, but generally once a license to cover is filed, that means the station is built and ready to go on the air. At least in the world of AM, FM and TV broadcasting!
Here’s the frequencies/times/power/mode listed in the PDF, in case you can’t view it:
6065 kHz – 01-06 UTC 50 kW AM
9300 kHz – 08-12 UTC 100 kW USB
13570 kHz – 00-04 UTC 100 kW USBAnyway, I figure you or one of the intrepid readers of your blog will have the scoop. Thanks for your time!
Click here to download the KIMF station license application (PDF).
Wow–many thanks, Tom! This filing catches me by surprise as well, but it does ring a bell. Perhaps an IMF representative contacted me in the past or I met someone from IMF at the Dayton Hamvention? I simply can’t remember.
Based on the application, IMF had to file for an extension due to several delays in building the transmitter site in Nevada. I’m guessing the Google satellite imagery was taken before site construction began.
It appears International Missions Fellowship (the parent organization who is filing this FCC application) currently operate the Radio Missiones International station in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on 3340 and 5010 kHz.
Here’s a note about the Nevada transmission site from the IMF website:
In the USA we have purchased a property near Battle Mountain, NV where we are working to build a powerful Shortwave Station which will be beamed at Mexico and Asia. It can be heard also in North America. We plan to build more stations after this. We have also just built a radio control center and small studio in Corona, CA to send programs to these transmitters via satellite/internet. It is now in operation. You can hear KIMF by clicking on the IMF Missionary Radio link below.
Listen to IMF Missionary Radio
Listen to Radio MI, Honduras
Post readers: Can anyone shed some more light on KIMF and this license to cover? Please comment!
From the Isle of Music, Week of March 26- April 1, 2017
This week, in honor of the International Rueda de Casino Multi Flash Mob day that takes place April 1, our special guest Juanito Gómez, a leading figure in the Rueda de Casino dance movement in Cuba, will discuss the development of the Rueda de Casino phenomenon (in Spanish), and we also will have some excellent Cuban dance music that is popular with casineros.
Three opportunities to listen via shortwave:
1. For the Americas and parts of Western Europe:
WBCQ, 7490 KHz, Tuesdays 0000-0100 UTC (Mondays 8pm-9pm EDT in the Americas)
2. For Europe and beyond,
Channel 292, 6070 KHz, Fridays 1100-1200 UTC (1200-1300 CET) and Saturdays 1200-1300 UTC (1300-1400 CET)
Episode 5 of Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, a musical variety program that features genres from A-Z, will air on WBCQ the Planet, 7490 KHz, Thursday, March 30 from 2300-2330 UTC (7:00pm-7:30pm EDT in the Americas). Brought to you by Tilford Productions, which also brings you From the Isle of Music.
(We aren’t showing on the WBCQ website yet, but we’ll be on.)
Check us out, and let us know what you think! Reception has been quite good in parts of Western Europe of late.
Episode 5 is our belated “welcome” to Spring and the related time change.
(Source: Vatican Radio via London Shortwave)
Vatican Radio’s English SW broadcast to Asia come to an end
Vatican Radio’s English shortwave broadcast for Asia has come to an end, with its last transmission going out Friday evening, after nearly 60 years of service. However this does not mean it has disappeared altogether. What ultimately closed on March 24 as Vatican Radio’s English Service for Asia, is however very much alive online on Vatican Radio’s website. The gradual phasing out of Vatican Radio’s shortwave frequencies is seen as part of the reform of the Roman Curia or the central administration of the Catholic Church here in the Vatican, called for by Pope Francis. The Pope established the new dicastery or office of the Secretariat for Communications on June 27, 2015, ?bringing 9 media bodies of the Vatican, including Vatican Radio, under the Secretariat’s direction, with the purpose of overhauling, streamlining and ultimately merging them as a cohesive unit.
What ended on March 24 as Vatican Radio’s English Service for Asia began way back in 1958. The only ?English programme of Vatican Radio then, headed by Jesuit Father Thomas O’Donnell, was repeated a number of times in different directions, ?including towards Africa and South Asia. It was a weekly 10-minute news broadcast for India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. However, the need for special programmes adapted to the ?distinctive cultural needs and tastes of Africa and South Asia gave way to independent programmes for ?these two regions. ?In 1964 South Asia got a boost when Pope Paul VI visited Bombay (today Mumbai), India for the 38th International Eucharistic Congress from 2nd to 5th of December. Hence in May 1965, the Indian Section officially came into being with a 10-minute broadcast twice a week each in the evening in Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam , while English went on air daily Monday through Saturday. In 1982, all the four languages began re-broadcasting their evening programmes the following morning. Three years later – on May 12, 1985, the Malayalam programme got extra airing time, broadcasting for 15 minutes in the morning, whereas the rest continued broadcasting for 10 minutes.
In 1986, Pope John Paul II visited India from January 31 to February 11. Just prior to this visit, on January 7th that year, Hindi, Tamil and English were given extra time, and so all the four languages began broadcasting daily for 15 minutes each, in the morning, which was a feature programme. The evening transmission consisted of 6 minutes of news only. By the end of 1986 the evening 6-minute news increased to 10 minutes and was repeated the following morning.
On March 25, 1990, Hindi, Tamil Malayalam and English began broadcasting for 15 minutes each, repeating it the following morning. And from Sept. 23, 1993, the four languages were transmitting for nearly 20 minutes each, repeating the evening programme twice the following morning.
It was on Oct 24, 1993 that the fifth language, Urdu, that is spoken mainly in Pakistan but is also widely followed in India, especially in the north, was added to the Indian Section. It began with a 7-minute Sunday programme, as part of the Hindi programme. On March 30, 2003 Urdu became a stand-alone programme, broadcasting for 15-minutes on Sundays and Wednesdays, and repeated the following mornings. The Urdu programme however closed down in September, 2013, after nearly 20 ?years of service.
On May 16, 2015, Vatican Radio marked the 50th anniversary of its Indian programmes with a ?Holy ?Mass and a reception.