Help record the 2015 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast on June 21

18 Replies

Every year, the BBC broadcasts a special program to the scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team. The BBC plays music requests and sends special messages to the small team of 40+ located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a DX-worthy catch!

Regular SWLing Post readers know that I’m a huge fan of the Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast (and without fail, it falls on my birthday each year!).

Hit the record button!

Halley VI: The British Antarctic Survey's new base (Source: BBC)

Halley VI: The British Antarctic Survey’s new base (Photo credit: British Antarctic Survey)

This year, I’m calling on all SWLing Post readers and shortwave radio listeners to make a short recording (say, 30-60 seconds) of the show and share it here at the Post.

The recording can be audio-only, or even a video taken from any recording device or smart phone. It would be helpful to have a description and/or photo of your listening environment and location, if possible.

If you submit your recording to me, I will post it here on the SWLing Post–and insure that the BBC World Service receives the post, too. The recordings will be arranged by geographic location.

Are you in?

If you’re interested in participating, mark your calendars for June 21st! I’ll post updates and frequencies about the Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast here on the SWLing Post. Please follow the tag: Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast…and get ready for some cool solstice fun!

[UPDATE: Click here for the latest broadcast frequencies.]

Art Bell’s “Midnight In The Desert” to be broadcast on shortwave via WTWW and WBCQ

7 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Mike, who informs us that Art Bell is returning to the airwaves with a new radio show called Midnight in the Desert. Like Coast to Coast AM, (which Bell retired from several years ago) Midnight in the Desert will also focus on paranormal activity.

Mike also points out that Bell has also announced Midnight in the Desert will be broadcast on WTWW (5,085 kHz). WTWW will start airing the show July 20, 2015 from 9:00 pm – Midnight Pacific time.

Indeed, after looking at the list of radio stations rebroadcasting Midnight in the Desert, I noted that WBCQ, in Maine, will also carry the show on 7,490 and 9,330 kHz.

For more information and updates, check out Art Bell’s website.

Bonito’s new high and low pass filters

1 Reply

Dennis Walter at Bonito has just informed me about two new product’s they’re offering: high and low pass filters. From the Bonito blog:

LP060 Low Pass Filter

The elliptically-formed low pass filter LP060 from NTi suppresses all frequencies above 60 MHz. Highly effective antennas combined with near-by strong FM stations often overburden the input of the radio and cause interference and phantom signals.

The LP060 was developed aiming at the highest possible suppression in the 88MHz – 108 MHz FM band, whereas as the 6m amateur radio band at 50MHz is still totally within the pass band. For the greatest possible effectiveness, the low pass filter should be inserted directly before the receiver input.

Attenuation values (typ.):
52MHz: -1dB
60MHz: -3dB
80 MHz: -55dB
88-110 MHz: -90dB
110-150MHz: -75dB
150-200MHz: -70dB
200-400MHz: -65 dB

Dimension: 88mm x 31mm x 25mm (3,46 x 1,22 x 0,98 inch)

Input and output are DC-blocked (max. 50V DC)

Attention: Only suitable for reception, high HF (>10dbm) will cause permanent damage! When using end-fed active antennas: Because the filter is DC-blocked, it has to be inserted between the receiver input and the power inserter.

Successfully tested with: Elad FDM-S1 and FDM-S2, FiFi-SDR1.0 and 2.0, PM-SDR, Winradio Excalibur, RFSpace SDR-IQ

HP0020 High Pass Filter

The elliptically-formed high pass filter HP0020 suppresses all frequencies below 2 MHz. Strong or near-by transmitters in the long- or medium wave range can cause interferences and intermodulation in the shortwave range, which can effectively be suppressed with this filter. The HP0020 filter is very steep, so that signals in the upper medium wave range are already suppressed effectively. For the greatest possible effectiveness, the low pass filter should be inserted directly before the receiver input.

Attenuation values (typ.):
<0.50 MHz:-55dB
1.0MHz: -45dB
1.6 MHz:-35dB
2.0MHz: -3dB
>2.5 MHz: -1dB

Input and output are DC-blocked (max. 50V DC)

Dimensons: 88mmx31mmx25mm (3,46 x 1,22 x 0,98 inch)

Attention: Only suitable for reception, high HF (>10dbm) will cause permanent damage!
Because the filter is DC-blocked, it has to be inserted between the receiver input and the power inserter.

Click here to read the full press release on Bonito’s blog, or purchase via Bonito’s web store. I imagine Universal Radio will start stocking these soon as well.

Thanks for the shout out, Click!

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Voice of Turkey, English language service

2 Replies

For your listening pleasure: the Voice of Turkey English language service.

This program was recorded on June 7, 2015, starting around 2205 UTC on 9830 kHz. I started recording the program a few minutes after the top of the hour when a digital transmission on the same frequency finally went off air. I made this recording with the TitanSDR Pro hooked up to my horizontal delta loop antenna.

You will actually hear a few seconds of the digital broadcast at the very beginning of the recording. Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Audio Player

00:00

Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

99% Invisible: “Voices on the Wire”

4 Replies

Many of you know that I’m a huge fan of 99% Invisible–a podcast and radio show about “design, architecture & the 99% invisible activity that shapes our world.”

This past week, 99% Invisible’s episode, Voices on the Wire, featured Tony Schwartz, a recording pioneer, and Frank Conrad, a broadcasting pioneer. While not specifically about shortwave radio, you’ll hear how the ether weaved its way through both of their histories.

I should mention that Roman Mars, creator of 99% Invisible, is quite a fan of shortwave radio. Indeed, in the past, he’s featured our friend, David Goren, of Shortwaveology.net.

You can listen to Voices on the Wire and read the show notes on 99% Invisible’s website. Click here to download the episode as an MP3 file, or simply listen via the embedded SoundCloud player below:

Note that the Tony Swartz segment was originally produced by The Kitchen Sisters, Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, from their series Lost and Found Sound; the segment on Frank Conrad was originally produced by Radio Diaries.

And, hey…if you happen to be chatting with Roman Mars anytime soon, ask him to do more shows on shortwave radio: a technology I consider to be the ultimate invisible medium!

The Panasonic RF-2200: an early birthday gift

21 Replies

This week, I purchased a radio that I have lusted after for years: the Panasonic RF-2200.

I justified this eBay purchase because June is my birthday month and…well…do I need anymore justification!?! Just look at this beautiful analog dial:

In truth, I’ve been wanting a benchmark portable medium wave receiver for ages, and I believe there are few better than the venerable RF-2200.

I picked the RF-2200 this morning and I’ve only had it on the air a few minutes. It effortlessly picked up my local benchmark medium wave and FM stations. The audio fidelity is brilliant and the ‘2200 appears to have a very low noise floor. I haven’t had a moment to truly cruise the shortwave bands, but I plan to over the course of this week and shall report back.