Tag Archives: RRI

Radio Waves: Future of AM in UK, BBC and Nuclear War, SAQ Unable to Air on Alexanderson Day 2022, ITU Ham Station Celebrates 60 years, and RRI International Quiz

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Opinion: The Future of AM Radio
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (FrequencyFinder.co.uk)

Summary

AM radio in the British Isles is now in terminal decline with audiences dropping and many transmitters closed already. The majority of the remaining transmitters will likely close by the end of 2027. Over the next few years, the BBC and major commercial broadcasters will be looking to minimise their AM transmission costs by reducing transmission powers at the high-power sites and closing some of the low-power transmitters serving small audiences.

A coordinated AM shutdown may then follow at some point, most likely in 2027, though some independent broadcasters may continue using AM beyond this. This article explores these issues in more detail.

Click here to download the full PDF of this article.

The Last Word – The BBC and Nuclear War (Atomic Hobo Podcast)

This episode of the Atomic Hobo podcast focuses on the role of the BBC before and after nuclear attack:

https://soundcloud.com/user-494087291/the-last-word-the-bbc-and-nuclear-war

Click here to listen via Soundcloud.

SAQ unable to air on Alexanderson Day (The Alexander Association)

Note: the The Alexander Association has announced that they will be unable to put SAQ on the air this year on Alexanderson Day. There are no more details other than the title of their post (the content still reads as if the transmission will happen as planned).

Check the Alexander Association website for more details.

ITU’s ham radio station celebrates 60 years on air (ITU)

By Nick Sinanis, callsign SV3SJ, President of the International Amateur Radio Club (IARC), and Attila Matas, callsign OM1AM, Vice-president and Station Manager, IARC

Did you know that the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies owns and operates its very own radio station?

Residing at the headquarters of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the 60-year-old amateur station operates under the callsign 4U1ITU.

It started broadcasting on 10 June 1962 and was officially inaugurated the following month by then UN Secretary-General U Thant and ITU Secretary-General Gerald Gross – himself a ‘’ham” radio enthusiast known by the personal callsign W3GG.

Recognized as a unique “country” in the ham radio community, 4U1ITU operates in accordance with privileges extended by ITU and the Government of Switzerland. It has also earned the DXCC (or ham radio “century club”) award from the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), confirming air contacts with 100 or more countries.

From its long-time home on the 5th floor of the Varembé Building in Geneva’s international district, this unique broadcasting outlet still today serves as a model for the highest standards of amateur radio station operation everywhere.

From one to a million

4U1ITU’s first contact, or “QSO” in ham radio parlance, was made with a German station called DL4VK. Further QSOs followed, amounting to over 1,300 contacts worldwide in the first 24 hours.

In the six decades since, ITU’s radio station has made over a million contacts using Morse code carrier wave (CW), voice (SSB), and digital operational modes, based on more than 20,000 two-way QSOs with radio amateurs around the world.

4U1ITU can operate on most of the frequency bands allocated to amateur and amateur-satellite services as identified in Article 5 of the Radio Regulations.

Aside from letting licensed radio amateurs in ITU, its Member State representatives, and its conference and meeting delegates contact fellow radio hams, the station promotes international goodwill and cooperation across the community. It also allows hands-on demonstrations of amateur radio communications for delegates and meeting participants. [Continue reading…]

RRI Voice of Indonesia: International Quiz 2022

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Carlos’ Shortwave Art and recordings of Radio Dos and Radio Romania International

Radio Dos (Rosario, Argentina – Mediumwave)

Carols notes:

Radio Dos, AM 1230 kHz, broadcasting in Spanish from Rosario, Argentina.

- Part of news bulletin.
- War in Ukraine
- With barricades, Kiev braces for a Russian attack, shops closed, citizens prohibited of leaving their homes.

Listened with a Cold War-era portable radio set (Wahda, 6 transistors).

Porto Alegre, Brazil, March 23, 2022, 03h33 (UTC).

Click here to view on YouTube.

Radio Romania International

Carlos notes:

Part of Radio Romania International news bulletin, 17800 kHz, broadcasting in English.

- Romanian foreign minister wants EU conference on Russian advance in #Ukraine
- Russian shelling of Mariupol
- HALF A MILLION OF UKRAINIAN REFUGEES ALREADY CROSSED THE BORDER WITH ROMANIA!
- Romanian-Jordanian economic meeting

Broadcast listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, March 21, 2022, 12h01 pm (UTC).

Click here to view on YouTube.

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Radio Romania International to broadcast programs in Ukrainian

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Bornino, who shares the following news via National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine. Please note that this following has been translated from Ukrainian to English via Google Translate. Click here for the original.

Radio Romania will broadcast programs and newscasts in Ukrainian

Radio Romania will broadcast news and special programs on its national, regional stations and on international frequencies in Ukrainian. The initiative will facilitate access to information for Ukrainians who have temporarily relocated or are passing through Romania due to Russian aggression.

Radio Romania stressed that in the difficult international situation caused by the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the radio provides real-time listeners in Romania with proven news, paying special attention to Ukrainian-language broadcasts.

The stations of Radio Romania , covering the border areas – Radio Sigit , Radio Iasi and Radio Constanta , as well as Radio Chisinau , broadcast daily 3 news programs from the International Radio Romania in Ukrainian under the following program:

- Constanta and Iasi – 9:00, 14:00 and 18:00;
- Sigit – 6:00, 11:00 and 14:00;
- Chisinau – 10:00, 15:00 and 20:00.

Radio Sigit broadcasts a special program from Monday to Friday for 40 minutes a day, providing relevant information and messages from Ukrainian citizens who have crossed the border with Romania, as well as messages received by phone and other relevant information.

To these should be added regular regional programs in Ukrainian:

- Radio Cluj – 20 minutes a week, Sunday, 7:00 – 7:20;
- Timisoara Radio – 1 hour per week, Sunday, 18:00 – 19:00;
- Radio Resita – 30 minutes a week, Monday, 20:15 – 20:45;
- Radio Iasi – 30 minutes a week, Thursday, 20:30 – 21:00.

Radio Constanta also plans to include information in Ukrainian in its daily newscasts in cooperation with the Ukrainian community in Tulcea. Audio news in Ukrainian and text in Romanian are also adopted by the Rador news agency under the heading “Ukraine – News in Ukrainian – War in Ukraine” .

International Radio Romania broadcasts shortwave, live broadcasts on the Internet, on the website www.rri.ro and on Soundcloud. Three programs in Ukrainian – at 18:00, 20:00 and 22:00, 26 minutes a day – focusing on the current situation in Ukraine, as well as the Romanian communities in Ukraine and the Ukrainian communities in Romania. Broadcasts of RRI (International Radio Romania) in Ukrainian can be listened to on request on the RRI website and on Soundcloud. The on- air content is available online at the link .

Earlier, Radio Romania launched a broadcast of Ukrainian Radio on its websites Radio Romania and Rador . And the Romanian public broadcaster TVR has started broadcasting a special program for temporary migrants from Ukraine, received via satellite from Ukrainian public and commercial TV channels. Such an initiative will help Ukrainians in crisis to receive informational support.

It will be recalled that Ukrainian Radio can be listened to in the FM and AM bands throughout the country . Due to the expansion of mid-wave broadcasting, the Ukrainian Radio signal covers most of the territory of Ukraine, including small settlements, which do not reach the signal of existing FM transmitters.

All channels of the Public Radio have switched to the transmission of the Ukrainian Radio signal, they can be listened to in the mobile application suspilne.radio and on the website ukr.radio .

Click here to read the original article.

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Carlos’ Shortwave Art and recordings focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art, this time along with shortwave recordings taking a look at the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

China Radio International and the Voice of America:

Carlos notes:

Excerpts from news bulletins of Voice of America (USA) and China Radio International about the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war on February 24, 2022.
Shortwave broadcasts listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Radio Romania International

Carlos notes:

Part of Radio Romania International news bulletin, 17800 kHz, broadcasting in English.
– United Nations and influx of refugees due to war in Ukraine.
– US and other countries to sanction Russian banks. Broadcast listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, February 27, 2022, 12h02 pm (UTC).

Click here to view on YouTube.

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Radio Waves: Radio 77, RRI Personality of the Year, Radio Repair in Iraq, and Bernard’s Collection of 500+ Radios

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Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

The DJ Who Broadcast to One Listener for 40 Years (Narratively)

The Deke Duncan show on Radio 77 had it all — the latest hits, bouncy jingles, and a DJ who was born to be on the airwaves. In the 1970s it ran around the clock, several days a week, playing to the smallest audience in the world: Deke’s only listener was his wife. Radio 77 was based in a shed in Duncan’s backyard in a small English town, and everything on the show was a figment of his imagination. “My ultimate ambition would be to broadcast my radio station to the rest of Stevenage,” he told the BBC’s Nationwide TV show, when they visited his shed in 1974.

In a new podcast episode from Snap Judgement and Narratively, Duncan, now 75, reveals how he made up the news, the weather, and even the commercials — and kept Radio 77 alive for over forty years. It was Britain’s ‘pirate’ radio stations that inspired him, he said, recalling the rock’n’roll ships that broadcast illegally from international waters in the 1960s. But the young DJ’s dreams had been dashed when the BBC turned down his job application.

“They said, ‘I suggest you go away and get yourself a real job,’” Duncan recalled. (Check out an original Radio 77 show, recorded in 1974.) [Continue reading…]

RRI Personality of the Year (Radio Romania International)

Dear friends, RRI continues its traditional polling of listeners on short wave, the Internet and social media, with a new challenge, in a further complicated context generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. We would like to ask you which person you think left their imprint on the world in a positive way in 2021.

We are preparing to designate, based on your options, “The Personality of the Year 2021 on RRI”. Will this person be a public person, an opinion leader or a regular person with a special story? The decision is yours. We would also want to ask you why you picked that particular person. Continue reading →

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Radio Romania International: Listeners’ Day 2021

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RRI’s Tiganesti-based shortwave transmitter centre (Photo source: Radio Romania International)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following notice from Radio Romania International:

Listeners’ Day on Radio Romania International

Sunday, the 7th of November 2021, will be Listeners’ Day on Radio Romania International, celebrated a week after the Romanian Radio Day marked on the 1st of November. 2021, just like the previous year, has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has profoundly changed our lives, keeping us apart from family and friends and influencing our way of spending free time.

Bombarded with all sort of news and information, we realised that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between true and false stories. During the pandemic, public radio and TV stations have been doing their best to offer quality journalism and reliable information. This effort has been repaid, as most people have returned to public stations as their main source of reliable information.

In this year’s edition of Listeners’ Day on RRI we ask you, again, what has been your most trusted source of information on the pandemic? Have you removed from your list the sources of information proven to be spreading fake news and misinform the public? Which is the role that radio, the public radio in particular, plays in your life at this time of uncertainty?

We are looking forward to receiving your answers, which will be included in our shows on the 7th of November! You can email them to us, at [email protected], post them on Facebook or send them as a comment to this article on RRI’s website at www.rri.ro. If you like, you can also send us pre-recorded answers via WhatsApp, at +40744312650, or you can send us your telephone number so we can call you from the studio and record your opinions. Thank you!

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