Tag Archives: Photos

Radio Waves: What Listeners Like, Renaissance of Radio, WOR in Photographs, DIY Faraday Cage

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!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dennis Dura, Mark Erdle, and Jock Elliott for the following tips:

‘It’s what listeners like’: AM radio purveyors on the Palouse hope automakers heed call to keep their medium alive (The Spokesman-Review)

The rolling, green-turning-golden hills just outside Steve Shannon’s studio window at the offices of Inland Northwest Broadcasting north of downtown Moscow aren’t just pretty to look at.

They’re also the reason the AM radio dial remains important in this expansive, rural stretch of the country.

FM broadcasting is based on line-of-sight, but the pesky thing about AM waves is that they pass through anything, Shannon explained. And they reach a monthly audience that’s still more than 82 million strong across the country, most of them in areas just like the Palouse, according to a fall 2022 survey by broadcast tracking company Nielsen.

“People are tuning in to AM because they are listening to content they can’t get anywhere else,” said Shannon, operations manager for the group that is behind six stations on both the AM and FM dial broadcasting in Moscow and Colfax.

The future of the format seemed in jeopardy just a few short weeks ago, when broadcasters convened in Washington D.C. and pushed federal lawmakers to pressure carmakers who were pondering an end to AM receivers in new cars. Electric vehicles, growing in popularity and headed for a likely continued boom, especially with Washington outlawing the sale of new gas-powered cars beginning in 2035, create interference with a signal that can make AM transmissions difficult to hear, according to automakers.

That pressure, which included the introduction of legislation that would have required manufacturers to install AM receivers in new cars, appears to have made the point. In late May, Ford’s chief executive officer announced on social media it had reversed course and would provide the service in all 2024 Ford and Lincoln models after planning to remove it from some models because of higher costs and lack of listeners. [Continue reading…]

The renaissance of AM radio: a confluence of social, regulatory and technical revitalization (Cardinal News)

AM radio, a pioneering force in the world of broadcast communications, has for several decades been an essential medium for disseminating information and entertainment. However, its appeal has been progressively diminishing due to social, regulatory and technical challenges. Nevertheless, this scenario presents an opportunity for a significant revival.

The decline of AM radio can be traced back to significant changes in content, notably the reduction in locally focused programming. Many AM station owners made strategic decisions to move away from content that directly catered to local communities, often replacing local news, events and issue discussions with syndicated programming. These changes left a void of locally relevant content, reducing listeners’ connection with stations.

The Federal Communications Commission’s abolition of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 exacerbated the situation. This doctrine, which required broadcasters to present contrasting views on controversial issues of public importance, ensured a balanced discourse on the airwaves. Its repeal led to increased broadcasts favoring extreme political views, either heavily liberal or conservative. While this trend may have appealed to specific audience segments, it risked alienating listeners seeking balanced discourse.

Compounding these programming shifts, religious content on the AM band has considerably increased. While serving an essential audience, the sheer volume of these broadcasts reduced the variety and balance of programming, possibly leading potential listeners to turn away. [Continue reading…]

Radio Station WOR in Photographs – 1939 (AWM on YouTube)

In 1939 photographer Ralston B. Collins made a photo album of metro New York radio station WOR. This album is from the J. R. Poppele Collection at the Antique Wireless Museum.

Building a Simple Faraday Cage, by OhioGalt (SurvivalBlog.com)

This article describes the effects of EMP and CME and how to build a simple inexpensive Faraday cage.

Most readers of the SurvivalBlog are aware of the potential damage from either a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) or an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and the impact on everyday electronics. With an EMP, an electromagnetic pulse is generated at high altitudes from a nuclear explosion damaging sensitive electronics. A CME damages electronics in a similar way with the release of a large solar flare from the sun reaches carrying magnetic fluxes and plasma toward earth. These magnetic fluxes interfere with Earth’s magnetic fields and create current surges in power systems and electronics. As of this writing, there is several C and M class flare activity causing some Amateur Radio blackouts on the lower bands. To follow active solar weather visit Spaceweather.com. [Continue reading…]

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Mark’s collection of vintage micro radios

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Pascoe, who writes:

Hi, Thomas.

I rarely see photos of micro radio collections, so I thought some of your subscribers may be interested in seeing my little collection.

These are all late 50s to 60s radios made in Japan and hand soldered. Just over 50% of them are still working ( Deoxit is my best friend) l live in Adelaide Australia and recently retired doing the customary downsizing thing. Now I live in a small townhouse and have what must be one of the smallest radio shacks, 1m x 1/2 metre!

With a 50 ft long wire running front to back above my roof. I’m not an overly experienced SWL, and I have a question. I have 3 SW radio’s with 5 antenna attachment points. Is there a recommended antenna splitter that goes 1 into 5 without any interference ? I currently manually connect/disconnect my antenna’s.

Thanks Mark Pascoe.

These are simply amazing, Mark! I don’t believe anyone has ever shared photos of their micro radio collection before, so we’re most appreciative. There are some amazing designs in this collection!

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Marwan discovers vintage radios in the family

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marwan, who writes:

Hello Thomas,

I hope this email finds you well and you will enjoy the photos I am attaching.

Two weekends ago my wife and I and went to see our grand daughter who lives and hour and a half away. On our way back we decided to drop by my sister in law’s house. I had not seen my sister in law since she moved in with her new boyfriend.

It was a beautiful day and we joined them on their outside porch. The first thing that caught my eye when we arrived were the two 1950’s Fords, and a double rear wheels motorcycle he was working on in his shack. They were beautiful, polished and spot less machines.

I made a comment on how her boyfriend must like to collect old vehicles. My wife said, well you need to take a walk inside the house and see what else he has got in there. My goodness. I really thought I was at some museum of old antique items.

There were too many things to list here so I am going to limit it to the radios he had. One of the rooms he has is filled with old radios, and an old TV. On top of the TV there were three shelves with various old radios that I had to take photos of.

On the other side of the room he had a Crosley Super II. It is not working but still had the speaker(s) on the inside. Gary had ran a cable from an old receiver he had to the speaker(s). He played music from his receiver to the Crosley and oh my.

The crisp sound that came out of that cabinet was amazing. I could not believe how crisp the sound was, made me wished I had a Crosley like that one. The sound filled the room, it was so magical to listen to it.

I was so exited and grateful we passed by their house and wanted to share some of the photos I took with you and your subscribers.

Cheers,

Marwan

Thank you for sharing these, Marwan. I hope that he restores that Crosley Super II. That is certainly a magnificent console radio! He’s got some beautiful radios in his collection!

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Frans add a Decca manual antenna tuner to his urban listening post

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frans Goddijn, who writes:

Hi Thomas:

I bought a vintage antenna tuner, one that does not need a power source, very basic just a box with some beautiful coils and nice big variable capacitors and it works for the big magnetic loop antenna here.

I have four GRAHN loop antennas which each have their box with dials to fine tune the signal but the big loop didn’t have that yet.

The tuner works well, filters out some noise but I must say the iCOM radio also managed to select good signal from the loop with its own tuner system and the DSP noise filter at the speaker end of the system further clears up the voice sounds.

Video:

Best regards,

Frans

The internals of manual antenna tuners are simply hypnotizing, aren’t they? You’ve a beautifully-built tuner there that is functional and will outlive us all!

Thank you for sharing!

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Balazs spots vintage radios in film and in a Budapest pub!

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

Happy New Year! Some pictures in two topics:

1.) First, a nice Zenith H511 Consoltone (MW) got a few seconds of screen time recently in the fourth episode of the third (final) season of “His Dark Materials” series:

2.) At the end of December in an old pub in Budapest (Helvecia) I ran into some more or less old radios as a part of the eclectic decoration. Since these are partly Eastern European, they may be less well known elsewhere (deep in the basement, so even if they were still functioning, not many radio signals would reach them anymore):

With best regards,
Balazs

Wow! I love those pub radios! I especially love the dial markings on the R 926 A!

Thank you for sharing these images, Balazs!

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Don Moore’s Photo Album: Bolivia 1985

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Don Moore–noted author, traveler, and DXer–for the latest installment of his Photo Album guest post series:

Don Moore’s Photo Album: Bolivia 1985

by Don Moore

After finishing Peace Corps, my ex-wife and I spent six months traveling around South America in 1985. In mid-June we crossed the border to southern Bolivia from Argentina and took an overnight train to the mining center of Oruro. We also visited Cochabamba and the capital of La Paz before heading to Peru ten days later. We would have stayed longer but 1985 was the worst year ever for Bolivia’s typically unstable economy and the country was being wracked by labor strikes and food shortages. But I did manage to visit about a dozen Bolivian shortwave stations.

Photos

La Cruz del Sur was founded in 1949 by Canadian missionary Sydney H. Hillyer and the Canadian Baptist Mission. It broadcast on 4875 kHz shortwave for many years. My last log of it was in 2003.

La Cruz del Sur QSL from the 1980s.

La Cruz del Sur pennant from the 1980s. Continue reading →

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Don Moore’s Photo Album: Santa Bárbara, Honduras

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Don Moore–noted author, traveler, and DXer–for the following Photo Album guest post series:

Don Moore’s Photo Album: Santa Bárbara, Honduras

by Don Moore

I first set foot in Latin America in January 1982 when I arrived in Tegucigalpa to begin three months of Peace Corps training. Three months later I moved to my Honduran home, the town of Santa Bárbara in the western mountains. For the next two years I worked as a teacher and resource person at the Escuela Normal Mixta de Santa Bárbara, a specialized high school that trained its students to teach primary school.

Santa Bárbara had a shortwave station, La Voz del Junco on 6075 kHz but it was rarely reported because it broadcast irregularly and was usually blocked by big international broadcasters when it was on the air. I had never heard it but I met Miguel Hasbun, the owner-manager, on my first visit to Santa Bárbara when he picked me up hitchhiking north of town. He told me that the shortwave transmitter had been broken down for a while but that he was going to fix it ‘soon’. Over the next year I kept inquiring about the shortwave and he finally did fix it. After that the station broadcast irregularly for the next year or so, mostly in the morning. I served as volunteer veri-signer and issued around fifteen QSLs. I even issued one to myself.

Santa Bárbara had one other radio station, Ondas del Ulúa on 1140 kHz medium wave (later 1150 kHz). They also announced 4770 kHz shortwave in their canned IDs and station staff assured me they would be adding shortwave “soon”. It never did happen but the WRTH did list the frequency as future plans for several years.

Audio:

Ondas del Ulúa 1982 sign-off announcement mentioning 4770 kHz.

The department of Santa Bárbara had one other radio station, Radio Luz y Vida on 1600 and 3250 kHz in the town of San Luis. The founder, manager, and veri-signer for Radio Luz y Vida was a missionary from Oklahoma named Don Moore. Needless to say, this caused a lot of confusion in the DX world as some people assumed he and I were the same person. On the map, San Luis is only about thirty kilometers from Santa Bárbara but getting there involved a five-hour journey on two buses. I only went once and the other Don Moore was out of town, so I never met him. I did meet two nurses who were working at the mission’s health clinic.

Photos

These pictures were all taken in 1982 to 1984 while I lived in Santa Bárbara [click on photos to enlarge].

La Voz del Junco’s yellow sign on main street in downtown Santa Bárbara. The small tower on the left was the corner of what had been an army post but was being used as a regional prison in the early 1980s. I once went there every day for a week to supervise student-teachers doing adult literacy classes for the inmates. It was not a pleasant place to be.

Entrance to La Voz del Junco. The girl is examining a poster for the night’s showing at the makeshift movie theater that Don Miguel operated nearby. Continue reading →