Tag Archives: Paul Walker

Paul Walker to speak about DXing in remote Alaska

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who writes:

I’ve been asked by a ham radio club to do a presentation on DXing in rural central Alaska. I spent about 16 months in Galena, back in 2016 and 2017 while working as the program director for a public/community radio station.

It was a very unique situation with some special considerations one might not have to deal with elsewhere. I spent a lot of time and money experimenting there and had some pretty amazing results.

I will also briefly discuss what it was like as a radio broadcaster in Alaska and the technical challenges we faced in the course of doing business every day.

The presentation will be done using the Zoom smartphone app and website. You don’t need to have or enable the camera on your phone or computer to participate and there will also be options to simply dial in and listen by phone as well for those who don’t want to use the computer or have a smart phone.

The presentation will be on Friday October 30th at 8pm eastern time. Pre registration is required but its very simple and easy. I’d love to have you there. Please spread the word to any ham clubs, dxing clubs, email lists, facebook groups or messages boards.

Register in advance for the meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItcuGhpz8tEtHwAmriwdCX7Sv-coWdSNt2

Longtime Post readers might recall Paul’s photos and recordings from Galena, Alaska–click here to read through the archives.

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WHRI ceases Voice of Vietnam relays

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following note from Gilles Letourneau, the CIDX, and International Radio Report:

WHRI has ceased relaying Voice of Vietnam to North America since its purchase by WBCQ. Please take the time to write them and let them know it would be important to keep shortwave alive and maybe suggest they could relay via WRMI, here is the contact page
Contact | THE VOICE OF VIETNAM (vovworld.vn)

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KJJR DX Test on Saturday (May 2, 2002)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following announcement:

KJJR 880 Whitefish, MT(Kalispell) will test for 1 hour at 10kw non directional Saturday May 2nd 12:01am to 1am mountain time. It will consist of morse code, sweep tones, along with various telephone sound effects

There will be no paper QSL’s issued for this test. Only emailed confirmation. Send an email to [email protected] with “KJJR 880 DX Test” in the email (You MUST put that in that subject line so I don’t accidentally delete it thinking it’s spam!). The reply will likely be a simple email reply with details of the station and confirming the details of what/when you heard it. You WILL get a reply from me in due course, please give me some time!

This is done on short notice and being kept simple as to not burden anyone involved. Thanks to Les Rayburn for creating the test material and Todd Clark for generously offering up the station. I’ve already seen communication between him and the station, asking them to block out an hour from the logs, so he can tinker around with things at the tower site.

Thanks for the heads-up, Paul! Here’s hoping a few MW DXers can log this test.

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Radio Waves: B&W to Color, Antenna Wins, Hearing Voices in the Walls, and Beached Whales

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 Ron, Paul Walker, and Troy Riedel for the following tips:


Colorizing black and white photos (Antique Radio Forum)

Ron shares this link to a discussion about vintage black and white photos that have been auto-colorized.[]

State law protects ham radio operator, frustrates neighbors in Windsor Twp. (York Dispatch)

A Windsor Township resident whose neighbors are upset over her amateur radio tower is within her rights to have the antenna on her property, township officials confirmed Monday.

An engineer went out to the site in the 400 block of White Rose Lane to inspect the 40-foot tower and ensure it didn’t pose a safety threat to neighbors, township engineer Chris Kraft told the board of supervisors at a meeting Monday.

“Based on that review, we feel the tower is structurally safe,” he said.

Lindsey Fowler is the homeowner who built the tower on her property last September. Fowler is a licensed amateur radio operator, according to Federal Communications Commission records, and her license is valid through December 2021.

[…]Marc McClure, one of the neighbors who lives near Fowler, told the board in October that he and several other neighbors were opposed to the tower and said it should be removed, according to minutes from the Oct. 21 board meeting.

McClure said the tower was an eyesore in the neighborhood and that he and others were concerned about the structural safety of the tower were it to fall, as well as the potential unknown health hazards from exposure to radio frequencies.

The neighbors were also worried about a decrease in their property values, McClure said.

[…]In Pennsylvania, amateur radio operators’ rights are protected by state statute, and municipalities are not allowed to unreasonably restrict the installation of towers fewer than 65-feet high.

And now that the township has confirmed there’s no safety risk to Fowler’s neighbors, township officials said the dispute is outside of their purview.[]

Lockport family says mysterious voices, music come from house’s walls; local radio station may be source (ABC 7)

LOCKPORT, Ill. (WLS) — A family in Lockport said strange sounds, including music and talk radio, has been coming out of their walls and keeping them up at night off and on for about six years.

“There are voices in the wall and I don’t know what it is,” said 9-year-old Brianna Smith.

It may sound like an episode of the popular Netflix show “Stranger Things,” but the mysterious sounds Brianna is hearing are real.

“It has been waking me up at night,” she said.

The sounds are coming from the bedroom walls of her home in the middle of the night.

“It kind of keeps us up at night,” explained Brianna’s father Richard.

Richard said the family doesn’t have any speakers in their walls. He captured some of the late night noise on his phone and sent it to the ABC7 I-Team. The music was faint, but the I-Team could hear it.

“It’s one of our favorite songs, but not at 10 o’clock at night,” Richard said.

Richard Smith called Lockport police, who took two detailed reports about the bizarre problem. In one, the officer noted that he could hear “voices and music” and “talking about Christ.” Then the officer said he heard a commercial for the Christian radio station AM 1160.[]

The Surprising Way Solar Storms Can Beach Whales (Spaceweater.com)

Space weather isn’t just for humans. Whales are experiencing it, too. A new study published this week in the research journal Current Biology shows that solar storms can confuse whales and cause them to strand on beaches–and the mechanism is surprising. Get the full story on Spaceweather.com.[]


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KKOH 780 kHz off the air tonight

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who writes:

If you know any DXers out in western US… pass the word:

Saturday night/Sunday Morning, at 12 AM Pacific KKOH 780 will be off the air for about 6 hours to do some maintenance.

Thanks to Chief Engineer Daniel Appellof for letting me know well ahead of time so I can pass the word

[…]Listen after the off air time is done because KKOH will come back on at 50KW non directional and will have 10-30 minutes of dx test material…. sweep tones, morse code, telephone dial tones and telephone off hook noises and such.

[UPDATE] We’re going to get about 15 to 20 minutes of DX Test material at 50kw non-directional tonight at 12 midnight before he shuts it off.

Thanks for the tip, Paul.  I’m sure west coast US DXers will certainly enjoy this opportunity!

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Saudi’s broadcasting company changes name

(Source: Saudi Press Agency via Paul Walker)

Riyadh, Shawwal 24, 1439, July 08, 2018, SPA — The Saudi Broadcasting Corporation has changed its English title into Saudi Broadcasting Authority, according to an announcement by its board of directors which reached the decision at a meeting held recently under the chairmanship of its chairman Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad, Minister of the Media.

In remarks today, Dawood bin Abdulaziz Al-Shiryan, Executive President of the authority, said that the abbreviation of the new name SBA is designed to remove confusion with the recently-launched Saudi Broadcasting Channel (SBC).
–SPA
17:50 LOCAL TIME 14:50 GMT
0019

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Deutsche Welle may have dropped English language shortwave service

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Paul Walker who notes that, according to their latest schedule, Deutsche Welle has dropped English language shortwave services. Paul shared the following links:

Current shortwave schedule:
http://www.dw.com/downloads/41133929/b17webkw.pdf

Linked from this page:
http://www.dw.com/en/dw-radio-programs/a-1777509

English only gets one hour a day on satellite
http://www.dw.com/downloads/41133930/b17websat.pdf

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