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Our 2023 edition of QSL cards are all united within the main motto “30 years of Slovakia – 30 years of RSI”. The photos depict important buildings in the Slovak capital, Bratislava.
Building of the National Council of the Slovak Republic
Building of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic
Sunday, the 6th of November 2022, is Listeners’ Day on Radio Romania International
Dear friends, Sunday, the 6th of November 2022, will be Listeners’ Day on Radio Romania International, celebrated a week after the Romanian Radio Day marked on the 1st of November.
2022 will go down in history and, equally, in the collective memory, as a very special year, but not like the year when the whole world emerged out of the pandemic, as most of us would have expected.
On the morning of February 24, the old continent was shattered by an armed conflict, after almost 80 years of peace. Large-scale propaganda and disinformation campaigns, meant to create chaos and confusion, have also become part of the confrontation.
The information warfare is not a new kind of reality. However, its effects have become more visible than ever against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, because the war has brought a real explosion of fake news and disinformation with it.
In this year’s edition of Listeners’ Day on RRI we ask you what sources of information about the war in Ukraine are the most reliable for you? How can you identify fake news from real news? How vulnerable you think you are to disinformation? Have you removed from your list the sources of information proven to be spreading fake news and disinform the public? Which is the role that public radio, and an international radio station in particular, plays in your life during this period of time?
We are looking forward to receiving your answers, which will be included in our show on the 6th 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!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following notice from RTI’s French language service. Note that the following article was translated into English by Google. Click here for the version français.
This year, the French service offers direct broadcasting from RTI’s Tamsui station to France and Europe.
Frequency and times of the test phase
A test broadcast will take place on four different frequencies on Saturday, July 2, in 10-minute increments, as follows:
-Frequency 11995 kHz (Angle 325 degrees)?17:00-17:10 UT and 17:30-17:40 UT.
-Frequency 9545 kHz (Angle 315 degrees)?19:00-19:10 UT.
-Frequency 7240 kHz (Angle 315 degrees)?19:20-19:30 UT.
-Frequency 7250 kHz (Angle 315 degrees)?19:40-19:50 UT
Depending on the results obtained and your feedback on these broadcast frequencies, the two best results will be selected for the direct broadcast in August.
Live Stream Schedules
Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in August, at 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. UT and 7:00-8:00 p.m. UT.
A special QSL card is being printed for any listening reports received as part of this summer 2022 direct broadcast from the French service (test phase and official broadcast). Thank you for your support!
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’sRadio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors David Iurescia, Kris Partridge, and the Southgate ARC for the following tips:
Starting Monday, All India Radio (AIR) programmes in six neighbourhood languages, including in Dari, Pashto, Baluchi and Mandarin Chinese, will be available to listeners every day in the morning and evening. The AIR’s external services division has doubled the time for the programmes aired in Dari, Pashto, Baluchi, Mandarin Chinese, Nepali and Tibetan languages, the public broadcaster said in a statement on Sunday.
The programmes in these six languages will be aired on shortwave frequency and also live streamed on YouTube, NewonAir App, DD Free Dish, it said.
“The external services division of the All India Radio is expanding its transmission in six neighbourhood languages from January 3, 2022. These languages are Dari, Pashto, Baluchi, Mandarin Chinese, Nepali and Tibetan,” the public broadcaster said. [Continue reading…]
The three letters – QSL – constitute one of the codes originally developed in the days of the telegraph. All codes consisted of three letters beginning with “Q”. Later some of these “Q” codes were adopted by radio-telegraphists and radio listeners. QSL means “contact confirmed” or “reception confirmed”. Continue reading →
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!
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’sRadio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors David Iurescia, Ronnie Smith, Troy Riedel, Jack Dully, and the Southgate ARC for the following tips:
Radio Prague asks, “Would you like to be featured on our broadcast?” (Radio Prague via Facebook)
Our 85th anniversary is coming up on August 31st! We’re celebrating the occasion with a special broadcast that day and would love to hear from you – our listeners. If you’d like to send us your greetings, please record a message and send an audio file via email (to [email protected]) or Facebook. Due to time constraints, your recording should be around 30 seconds long. Please include your first name, where you live, how long you’ve been listening, and what you like most about Radio Prague Int’l.
The schooner Bowdoin is a century old this year. Now owned by the Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) as a training vessel, the ham radio history of the 88-foot (LOA) Bowdoin is often neglected. Constructed in Maine specifically for Arctic exploration, the vessel relied on amateur radio for communication during explorer Donald B. MacMillan’s Arctic Expedition of 1923 and on the MacMillan-McDonald-Byrd Expedition of 1925 — thanks in part to ARRL co-founder Hiram Percy Maxim, W1AW. The venerable vessel, the official vessel of the State of Maine and the flagship of Maine Maritime Academy’s Vessel Operations and Technology Program, recently underwent a complete hull restoration and refitting and has done a little touring to mark its centenary. Its home port is Castine, Maine.
The longwave transmitters MacMillan used on his earlier missions had proved “unable to penetrate the screen of the aurora borealis,” then-ARRL historian Michael Marinaro, WN1M (SK), explained in his article, “Polar Exploration,” from the June 2014 issue of QST. In 1923, MacMillan turned to ARRL for help in outfitting his next expedition with better wireless gear. Marinaro recounted, “It was enthusiastically provided.” Maxim and the ARRL Board recruited Donald H. Mix, 1TS, of Bristol, Connecticut, to accompany the crew as its radio operator.
M.B. West, an ARRL Board member, designed the gear, which was then built by amateurs at his firm, Zenith Electronics. The transmitter operated on the medium-wave bands of 185, 220, and 300 meters, running 100 W to a pair of Western Electric “G” tubes. Earlier exploratory missions had used gear that operated on longwave frequencies. The shipboard station on board the Bowdoin was given the call sign WNP — Wireless North Pole. [Continue reading…]
In 1893, sending information across America is a time-consuming process. Letters travel slowly by land, and those who can afford it, send telegrams along a limited network of fixed wires. But two rival inventors have the same idea for improving things: wireless communication. Nikola Tesla is one of the most famous and successful thinkers of his day, single-handedly changing the way electricity is supplied and generated. Guglielmo Marconi is a young, uneducated Italian inventor who ignores scientific consensus and goes with his gut. Both want to rid the world of wires and send messages through the air. With millions of dollars on the line, the two men battle to dominate the new market and bring radio to the masses. [Click here to view episode on the History Channel.]
MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A Marion County woman is taking on her neighborhood association, in a matter she said puts her health at risk.
Michelle Smith, a Type 1 Diabetic, and a consultant determined that her neighbor’s ham radio hobby might have interfered with the doses of insulin being pushed out from her pump.
The 55+ community where she lives hired that consultant and told the neighbor to shut down his amateur radio station.
But a copy of the community’s rules shows a change was put in place that could pave the way for other similar antennas to be installed.
9 Investigates learned that Smith’s complaint went all the way to the state level.
She wants the Florida Commission on Human Relations to make a determination whether the community’s board and management is doing enough to protect her and others with medical devices.[…]
RTE carried out essential maintenance of the Long Wave transmitter in Clarkstown, Co. Meath for two months during which period RTE Radio 1 was not available on 252 kHz.
This essential maintenance of the transmitter was due to be carried out in 2020, but was postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions. For the health and safety of those carrying out the works, the transmitter had to be switched off for the works period. Any overhaul has to be completed during the summer months when there is good light and weather conditions.
Transmissions commenced once again last Monday with an output of 500 kiloWatt during daytime and 100 kiloWatt at nighttime.
During this shutdown, one could receive Radio Algeria transmitting on the same frequency with 1.5 megaWatt during the day and 750 kiloWatt at night, broadcasting a varied program.
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’sRadio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Peter Abzug, David Iurescia, and Dan Robinson for the following tips:
The Los Angeles Fire Department depends on help from amateur radio volunteers when fire threatens communications infrastructure. NPR looks at how ham radio operators are keeping residents safe.
Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning, or you’re just getting to know us: it’s you, and your faithful support, that has made KNOM America’s oldest Catholic radio station. Thank you!
KNOM has been broadcasting in Western Alaska since July 14th, 1971, when the station could first be heard in Western Alaska.
The continuing mission has been possible only by the hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and love of thousands of people: our staff and volunteers, listeners and community members, and thousands of loyal benefactors across the nation who keep the lights on and the transmitters running. KNOM stands on their shoulders.
[…]Fifty years into KNOM’s history, the radio station is deeply embedded in Western Alaska. As we look to the future, KNOM’s vision is to one day be ‘taken over’ by the region – existing entirely for, and by, Western Alaskans. As the very first song ever played on KNOM – “We’ve Only Just Begun”, by The Carpenters – proclaims, the mission is just getting started.
KNOM continues to live out its values each day – as it has for five decades – as a friend and companion offering respectful service based on Catholic ideals. It is centered on the four cornerstones of the mission: Encountering Christ, Embracing Culture, Empowering Growth, and Engaging the Listener.
KNOM continues in sharing God’s love for Western Alaska through embracing its strength and beauty and being invested, long-term, in the growth of the region.
By engaging each listener with respect and companionship, KNOM hopes to amplify stories of hope, courage, and resiliency in Western Alaska.
JEDDAH: The Saudi Radio plans to launch test transmission of a 24-hour Urdu service from the middle of September 2021, while the services will be formally launched on September 23, a Saudi official said.
The transmission will include programmes on Islam, the holy Quran, Ahadis and historical and world affairs.
Saudi Broadcasting Authority deputy chairman Faisal Ilyafi said this, while talking to a delegation of the Pakistan Journalists Forum (PJF).
The world transmission was started from the holy city of Makkah in September 1950 with a 15-minute slot for the Urdu programme, he said, and stressed that it is the need of the hour to face challenges and keep ourselves abreast of the changes in media.
The Saudi Urdu transmission has decided to continue its transmission on social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, FM, Shortwave, Satellite, and Twitter, he added.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has given approval to the project under the supervision of Media Minister Dr Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, he said, adding that the Saudi Information Ministry has also made several other languages part of the project.
The deputy chairman said any language has a supreme significance to disseminate news-cum-events, that’s why many foreign languages such as Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Hebrew and Chinese would be part of the transmission.[…]
Sea water diminishes the power of electrical transmission, challenges identified many years ago by the Navy and some of its partners who have been working on under communication for decades such as Northrop Grumman.
As Navy innovators work intensely to pioneer new methods of undersea communication, many might wish to reflect upon the decades of technical challenges associated with bringing any kind of undersea real-time connectivity to submarine operations. Historically, certain kinds of low-frequency radio have enabled limited degrees of slow, more general kinds of communication, yet by and large submarines have had to surface to at least periscope depth to achieve any kind of substantial connectivity.
The advent of new kinds of transport layer communications, coupled with emerging technologies woven into unmanned systems, are beginning to introduce potential new avenues of data processing and transmission intended to bring greater degrees of real-time undersea data transmission to fruition.
Sea water diminishes the power of electrical transmission, challenges identified many years ago by the Navy and some of its partners who have been working on under communication for decades such as Northrop Grumman. Northrop’s efforts date back to the World War II era and, along with the Navy and other industry contributors, helped pioneer the innovations that helped adapt RF communications architecture to sonar today. Considering this history, there are some interesting synergies woven through various elements of undersea warfare radio communications.
A 2014 essay by Carlos Altgelt, titled “The World’s Largest “Radio” Station,” details some of the historic elements of how the U.S. Navy pursued Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) undersea connectivity. Through its discussion of low-frequency ELF connectivity, the essay explains the technical challenges associated with undersea communication, which seem to align with how Northrop Grumman innovators describe how undersea communications will need to largely evolve in the areas of acoustics and optics.
As Altgelt notes: “As a result of the high electrical conductivity of sea water, signals are attenuated rapidly as they propagate downward through it. In effect, sea water ‘hides’ the submarine from detection while simultaneously preventing it from communicating with the outside world through conventional high-frequency radio transmissions. In order to receive these, a submarine must travel at slow speed and be near the surface, unfortunately, both of these situations make a submarine more susceptible to enemy detection.”[…]
Each Pyongyang household must report the number of TVs they own, and they face stiff punishments for hiding them
North Korea has ordered residents of the capital Pyongang to report the number of televisions in each household to stop them from watching banned shows from prosperous, democratic South Korea, sources in the country told RFA.
In North Korea, access to media from the outside world is strictly controlled, and TVs and radios are manufactured to only pick up domestic channels and must be registered with the authorities. But residents do find ways to access South Korean signals, either by using foreign televisions or modifying domestic ones.
Getting caught during routine inspections with a TV that can pick up illegal signals is a punishable offense. Residents with more than one television hide their illegal TVs during inspections, only to bring them out again to watch Seoul’s latest hot drama or variety show, former residents told RFA.
Authorities are aware of the deception and have issued a directive that every household in the city declare to their local neighborhood watch unit how many televisions they have.
“Residents are trying to hide them, but the judicial authorities are trying to find them. They are looking for TVs that can get South Korean TV channels in addition to the ‘official’ channels,” said a resident of Pyongyang, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
“Everyone knows that in Pyongyang, South Korean TV signals can be picked up in various areas,” the source said. He mentioned the Mangyongdae and Rangrang districts in the center of the city of 2.8 million.
In these areas the residents have been known to have two or three televisions in their homes, so they can watch the legal channels during inspections and watch South Korean broadcasts in secret,” the source said.
The source said that residents have developed clever ways to hide their illegal TVs.
