Tag Archives: Dave Porter

Celebrating ten years of the SWLing Post––and a chance to win a piece of broadcasting history!

Ten years ago, I created a blog.

I designed the SWLing Post as a simple site where I could share a few links and articles about my favorite topic: radio.  And maybe educate a few new listeners about the hobby.

Never would I have imagined that within a few years, the site would grow to over 7,000 daily readers.

It’s still hard for me to comprehend. It’s also hard to believe that ten years have passed since I started the Post. Incredible.

Of course, what makes this site so special is the community of dedicated SWLing Post readers, contributors and supporters. People who show up to share in the radio discussion everyday.

For this reason, I want to make the following twelve months special for the SWLing Post community.

And so…let’s have some fun!

Starting this month, until November 2019, we’re going to put together a series of contests and activities to help celebrate ten years of the SWLing Post.

Let’s get started today!

Our first prize is phenomenal…

RCA Window from MI-7330 (note that wooden base is not included)

This exceptional prize, an RCA transmitter window has been generously donated by our long-time friend and contributor, Dave Porter (G4OYX). Thank you so much, Dave!

Dave describes this unique prize as “a piece of broadcast history” from the Wooferton Transmitting station in the UK;

Click to enlarge

At 75 years old it is a round plate glass window that was fitted in the central main door of the RCA senders, installed in 1943.

The window is 12.25,” 315 mm in diameter, and is 5 mm thick. The glass is tinted in a shade of light blue and the RCA trademark letters are etched out in sunken relief.

It was one from the last pair of senders, either Sender 85 or Sender 86, both retired and removed in 1980. (S81 – S84, the previous four were removed in 1963.)

The pair of windows were retrieved by Jeff Cant and one was presented to long-time BBC/VOA staffer Mr Dick Lett on his retirement in 1988. Jeff kept the other. Mr Lett has recently died and his daughters returned the plate to Jeff. It is this plate that is the [prize] gift in this competition.

Jeff gave it to Dave Porter who thought [that] rather than keep it himself, it would be a good donation to this celebration of ten years of the SWLing Post.

Wow…when Dave volunteered this as a prize for the SWLing Post, I almost fell out of my seat. Frankly, I’m already envious of the lucky winner!

Here’s how you can enter to win this piece of shortwave history!

Each week, starting today–at the bottom of this page–we’ll post a question about the Woofferton Transmitting Site. There will be a total of five questions with the final question posted on December 10th. The contest will close on December 14 and a winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

We’ll embed a Google quiz form with each question, and provide a space for you to answer the question. This is the only way to enter the contest as the Google form exports the results to a spreadsheet that we’ll use to pick a winner. Note: Please don’t email or comment with your answer, as the system won’t count it as a valid entry.

Each correctly answered question will count as an entry in the contest. Since we’ll have a total of five questions, this means you could have a total of five contest entries.  Good luck, Post readers!

Details & Fine Print

This contest is open to all SWLing Post readers and contributors, with the obvious exception of myself and Dave Porter, who donated this piece.

Each entry will require your name, email address, and shipping address. These details will be used to contact you and ship your prize to you, should you win. These details will also be one means of making sure multiple entries aren’t being made by one individual for each question (if we suspect someone of doing this, we would simply delete all of their associated entries.).  But I’m sure we’re all good sports here.

All email addresses, names, and shipping addresses will be deleted once a winner is selected, to protect your privacy.

All correct entries will be entered on a spreadsheet, which will assign each entry a sequential number. We will then pick a random number with the random number generator and thus choose the winner.

Please note: If you read the SWLing Post email digest, you will need to view our prize questions on the web to see the embedded form.

Ready?  Let’s get started! (FYI: Question #2 will be posted next week.)

If the form below does not display, click here to open it in a new window.

Our first question:

Many thanks again to Dave Porter for his generosity in offering us this wonderfully unique piece of broadcasting history and for kindly agreeing to ship it to the winner! 

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Woofferton Transmitting Station: 75 years of continuous operation

Photo by Flickt user Shirokazan via Wikimedia Commons.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter, who notes:

Pleased to let you know that Woofferton Transmitting Station celebrated 75 years of continuous operation yesterday 17th October 2018.

It is now run by Encompass Digital Media to give it its full name!

Woofferton has certainly experienced and propagated a lot of world history!  Thank you for sharing Dave!

If you’d like to dive deeper into the station’s history, check out this book published around the time of Woofferton’s 50th Anniversary. Also, click here to check out Dave’s video tour of the Woofferton Transmitting Station.

Spoiler Alert: As we approach the SWLing Post’s 10th Anniversary next month, Dave is generously donating a little piece of Wooferton’s history that one lucky reader will win! Interested?  Stay tuned!

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BBC RMP transmitting site up for sale (again)

(Source: Dorset Echo via Dave Porter)

It helped the BBC broadcast its radio programmes across Europe.

Now the vast site of the former radio transmission station in the west Dorset countryside is set for a new lease of life.

The Rampisham Down site next to the A356 Maiden Newton to Crewkerne road, which extends to more than 180 acres, is on the market with a guide price of £2.5 million.

It includes commercial land, and a huge area for grazing – which could be used for a ‘recreational business’.

Rampisham Down was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 2014 for its special grassland and heathland habitats.

British Solar Renewables (BSR) wanted to build a huge solar park there, but after a lengthy planning battle – in which the decision was ‘called in’ by the government’ – the company shelved its plans.

A site nearby not deemed of high importance for wildlife was instead chosen for the solar park and given planning permission.

This solar park could help to power the new venture at Rampisham Down, it is said.

All but one of the original telecommunications towers, which helped to broadcast the BBC World Service in Europe until the station was decommissioned in 2011, have been removed.

The remaining tower has become a nesting platform for peregrine falcons, as part of work by BSR, in conjunction with Natural England, to restore the land and make it a home for wildlife.[…]

Click here to read the full article at the Dorset Echo.

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A Radio Laser 558 revival

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter, who writes:

Radio Laser aka Laser 558 was an 80’s pirate station off the coat of England. Looks like one of the main movers is hosting a revival.

Dave shared the following email from Laser 558:

7 April 2017

Dear David,

Hopefully you have now had chance to read through Radio Adventures of the Communicator book? I hope you enjoyed reading and it was informative? I am interested to hear any comments, questions or suggestions you might have.

There is still considerable mileage in the Laser brand – hobby pirates using the Laser brand enjoy considerable success.
You don’t need me to tell you how successful Laser was. Few of us in the 1980s thought the memories would last so long, yet hundreds have bought my recent books about Laser, and many would like to work on a new Laser project. Maybe it’s because interest in 80s music has never been higher, or maybe deep down, everyone wants to be a pirate, even if only at weekends!

Our project is to Relaunch Laser
I’ve joined with other broadcast professionals to relaunch the Laser project from a ship. We believe that a reborn Laser venture would be economically viable, and it will be fun and exciting as well as profitable. A “little bit of naughtiness” invariably gives a project a whiff of extra desirability, it attracts more interest from anyone with a freedom-loving rebellious streak. The original Laser team and I were already aware of this when planning the station in 1983 and that basic tenet is just as true today. This is however 100% legal.

I felt that you would want to be involved and not miss this wonderful opportunity. The chance of a lifetime to be part of an exciting fun project. YOU could be working with experienced Laser engineers and some of her best known DJs. This is a golden opportunity to be a part of a radio venture on board a ship; one that the public can visit and get enthusiastic about.

The Pirate Ship
Our ship is chartered, licensed and insured for the public to visit and can berth in any of five dozen harbours and docks around the UK. Both radio and TV studios are being constructed on board along with a public performance area. With on board dining facilities, it means our audience can join us to experience life on board and enjoy a live performance by one of the artists recording that week. As well as recording facilities we are offering the ship for filming, just like the Radio Veronica ship in Amsterdam. The ship will be the main location for a feature length movie to be shot on board which the producers hope to expand into a TV series; we’ve seen some scripts and it’s very exciting. Members of our team may even be seen on screen!

This project is much more than just a radio station. We have been testing a Laser Tribute stream for some time and more recently our Laser TV Channel 558 has been streaming too. This will have both live and pre-recorded programmes. The music and videos showing on our ‘test transmissions’ now are taken from genuine 1980s Laser discs; we have a very wide library of all the hits from the era, and more, but Channel 558 will be more than just 80s. You can watch CHANNEL 558 right now on your computer or a smartphone – just click here or the test card at the top of this page. (some interesting adverts at :15 and :45!)

EVENTS
We’re currently lining up special events to publicise both the Pirate Ship and the radio brands:
Live Laser Lover Road Shows from various indoor and outdoor locations.
Laser Weekends at a UK Holiday Camp.
Laser Party Nights live from the radio ship each weekend.
BROADCAST EXPANSION
Programmes will be made available to local radio stations for rebroadcast, perhaps overnight. A DCMS consultation exercise currently taking place is expected to remove the restrictions on networking, which will substantially expand the possibilities of our daytime shows also being carried on other stations.

Our radio programmes will also be made available to the new local DAB muxes and we may take a channel on the national DAB, if reasonable terms can be agreed.

GOING FORWARD
What need to expand our team to include more help to help us relaunch LASER in some style and carry our plans out in full. The opportunities for this project are limitless, and this time around, its all legal! This exciting new opportunity is a metamorphosis of pirate radio into a legitimate and even more enjoyable operation; using today’s technology and communications capabilities, with a tried and tested brand identity.

News will be published HERE when we are ready to release it. I’m sure that you would like to be involved in what will be the most fun-packed radio party ever. If you confirm that you really ARE interested and we can take things from there.

Hope to hear further from you,

Best 73
Paul Rusling
Email: [email protected]

Many thanks, Dave, for sharing the news. Sounds like Laser 558 has some ambitious goals ahead!  Pretty amazing. We’ll continue to follow their progress.

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British mast owner Arqiva on the block and attracting international attention

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter (G4OYX), who shares the following item from The Telegraph:

An array of international infrastructure investors from the US, Asia and Europe are sizing up the £6bn mobile and broadcasting mast giant Arqiva as its current owners prepare to put the company on the block.

The crucial infrastructure provider, currently owned by Macquarie and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), is being eyed by at least half a dozen buyers, City sources said.

Discussions are at a preliminary stage, with a formal process to begin in the next few weeks, but known suitors include CKI, the Hong Kong-listed holding company controlled by Asia’s richest man Li Ka-shing. […]

Continue reading at The Telegraph.

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