Tag Archives: Eric McFadden (WD8RIF)

Lavina Shaw: History of a Canadian railway brass pounder

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric McFadden (WD8RIF) who shares the following post by James Wade (WB8SIW) from the QRZ.com forums:

The CBC recently interviewed Lavina Shaw, Past International President of the Morse Telegraph Club. In this biographical documentary, Lavina talks about her experiences working as a railroad and commercial telegrapher as well as her experiences as a woman working in a man’s world. Like many telegraphers of her era, Lavina had a front-row seat to history.

In addition to railroad and commercial operations (telegrams, cablegrams), the telegraph was widely used in a variety of applications such as stock brokerage operations, commodities and board of trade work, press operations, and so forth. Even the telephone company used Morse telegraphy extensively for its internal operations well into the post war era.

Radio amateurs in general, and CW operators in particular, will undoubtedly find this video interesting, not just for the human interest content, but for its insights into the antecedents of radiotelegraphy.

The Morse Telegraph Club is a non-profit historical and educational association dedicated to preserving the history and traditions of telegraphy and the telegraph industry. MTC members and chapters demonstrate telegraphy at historical events, design and construct historically correct museum exhibits and conduct presentations on the history of telegraphy. MTC also publishes an excellent quarterly journal entitled “Dots and Dashes, which includes articles on telegraph history and first-person accounts of telegraph industry employees.

Click here to view on YouTube.

For more information on MTC membership, please contact James Wades (WB8SIW).

Thanks, Eric, for sharing this fascinating piece about Lavina Shaw!

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Summer 2019 Global Radio Guide now available as ebook

Radio Caroline North via Ross Revenge for Easter fundraiser

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(Source: Southgate ARC via Eric McFadden)

Join us this Easter, our 55th Birthday, for our Annual Fundraiser.

We will be broadcasting Radio Caroline North live from our radio ship, Ross Revenge, anchored in the estuary of the River Blackwater, from 9:00 am on Easter Friday until 2:00 pm on Easter Monday (all UK times).

You will be able to hear us on 1368 AM (courtesy of Manx Radio) in the north west of the UK (and parts of Ireland) and on our own 648 AM frequency in the south east, and also round the world online at www.radiocaroline.co.uk and on our mobile app.

In addition, you will be able to hear our regular Radio Caroline album format and Radio Caroline Flashback programmes on their normal channels, when they are not carrying the Radio Caroline North programmes.

It’s been quite a year, with our 648 AM and London DAB transmissions both building a substantial new audience for Radio Caroline.

However, with each expansion, our annual running costs increase substantially. And there’s lots more we would like to do.

This year, we have created a stylish Radio Caroline Bell teeshirt, based on a design that was originally used for the Radio Caroline Roadshows.

Starting on Easter Friday, and ending at midnight UK time on Easter Monday, if you are able to make a one off donation of 25 Pounds or more, or join the Radio Caroline Support Group (for a minimum monthly donation of 7.50 Pounds, cancellable at any time), we will send you your Retro Radio Caroline Bell teeshirt.

And remember, donations of any amount will always be gratefully received.

The donation button will go live on our website early on Easter Friday.

After deducting the cost of the teeshirt, we are planning to use approximately one half of your donations to maintain and expand our broadcast operations, and the other half for the maintenance and upkeep of Ross Revenge.

Happy Easter!

Radio Caroline

www.radiocaroline.co.uk
www.facebook.com/radiocarolineofficial
twitter.com/theradcaroline

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HF military communication exercise announcements on WWV/WWVH

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(Source: ARRL News via Eric WD8RIF)

The US Department of Defense (DOD) plans to start making use of a provisional time slot on WWV and WWVH to announce upcoming HF military communication exercises and how the Amateur Radio community can become involved in them. The announcements will occur at 10 minutes past on WWV and at 50 minutes past on WWVH. WWV and WWVH transmit on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz.

“DOD’s use of the broadcast time slot on WWV/WWVH will benefit the MARS program’s mission of outreach to the Amateur Radio community,” said US Army Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) Program Manager Paul English, WD8DBY. “The actual messages to be broadcast are coordinated by the DOD Headquarters that the MARS program supports.”

The initial announcements are set for the period April 20 – May 3, which coincides with the “Vital Connection” interoperability exercise to be held in Wisconsin. Future time slots will coincide with the Vital Connection exercise Ohio in June; DOD COMEX 19-3 in August, and the DOD COMEX 19-4 in October. Following the proof of concept this year, DOD anticipates making use of the WWV/WWVH broadcast time slot full time, year-round.[…]

Click here to read the full article via the ARRL News.

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All India Radio: Teaching students English via radio

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(Southgate ARC via Eric McFadden)

The Hindu reports the news broadcasts from All India Radio are being used to teach students English

To make learning English interesting and interactive for high school students, the district administration has undertaken a novel initiative.

All 149 high schools, 11 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and 11 model schools in the district have been instructed to implement All India Radio (AIR) English news listening programme as part of listening enhancement programme, English learning and general awareness development activities for students of class 8 and 9.

The students are required to tune in to the five-minute English news broadcast at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. every day in their respective classrooms and note down the points.

hat is followed by simple questions and discussions for another five minutes in the class to check their IQ levels, vocabulary, general knowledge and grasp on current affairs.

Radio on phone

All schools are equipped with radios, which were produced a few years ago when the government implemented ‘Meena prapancham’ radio telecast programme on adolescent girls’ education. In case the schools don’t have a radio, teachers are asked to use cell phones for tuning in to radio news.

Read the full story at
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/they-learn-english-by-hearing-the-news-on-radio/article25431278.ece

All India Radio
http://allindiaradio.gov.in/Services/External/Pages/Default.aspx

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Channel292 broadcast tests this weekend on 7440 kHz

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(Source: Southgate ARC via Eric McFadden)

Channel292 tests

The Amateur owned and run AM Short-wave broadcast station CHANNEL292 will be starting testing on their new 41 metre broadcast band frequency of 7440 kHz from this weekend onwards.

Rainer Ebeling DB8QC who owns and operates the station from near Ingolstadt in the state of Bavaria in southern Germany would appreciate all signal reports which can be sent simply via the form on the channel292.de website at http://www.channel292.de/deutsch/kontakt/
or
http://tinyurl.com/y78etubo in Google translated English.

Don’t forget the existing frequency of 6070 kHz in the 49m broadcast band will still carry Channel292’s existing programs. The planned programs for both frequencies are available on the Channel292.de website.

73 Ed DD5LP

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ARRL takes minor exception to wording of FCC Enforcement Advisory regarding uncertified two-way radios

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric McFadden, who shares the following ARRL response to the FCC Enforcement Advisory we posted last week. The following was published in the ARRL News:

ARRL has taken a minor exception to the wording of a September 24 FCC Enforcement Advisory pertaining to the importation, marketing and sale of VHF and UHF transceivers and is in discussion with FCC personnel to resolve the matter. The Enforcement Advisory was in response to the importation into the US of certain radio products that are not FCC certified for use in any radio service, but identified as Amateur Radio equipment.

“While much of this equipment is actually usable on Amateur bands, the radios are also capable of operation on non-amateur frequencies allocated to radio services that require the use of equipment that has been FCC-certified,” ARRL said. “Such equipment is being marketed principally to the general public via mass e-marketers and not to Amateur Radio licensees.”

[…]“In several places, the Enforcement Advisory makes the point that ‘anyone importing, advertising or selling such noncompliant devices should stop immediately, and anyone owning such devices should not use them,’” ARRL pointed out. “The Advisory broadly prohibits the ‘use’ of such radios, but our view is that there is no such prohibition relative to licensed Amateur Radio use — entirely within amateur allocations — of a radio that may be capable of operation in non-amateur spectrum, as long as it is not actually used to transmit in non-amateur spectrum.

ARRL has had extensive discussions about this issue with FCC Wireless Bureau and Enforcement Bureau staff, and those discussions are ongoing.[…]

Click here to read the full news article.

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