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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Cuff, who shares the following announcement:
David Goren (left) and Richard Cuff (right) during the Shindig live broadcast at the Winter SWL Fest.
Registration for the 2024 “Winter SWL Fest” is now available!
The Fest will be May 10th & 11th, 2024.
The Fest will be a combination in-person and Zoom event, and will be held at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania – just north of Philadelphia. We have a block of rooms set aside for the Fest at a special rate; this block will only be available until April 18th, 2024. After that date our special rate may no longer be available, and the hotel itself may sell out.
In-person registration is limited to 65 participants, so register early if you don’t want to get shut out; there is no limit to the number of Zoom participants.
You can find out more information there, and access the group reservation link for the hotel and also register for either the in-person or the Zoom event.
We apologize if you’re seeing this announcement in multiple places; we wanted to get the news out there as quickly as possible since we have tight deadlines this year.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Cuff, who notes that the Eton Elite Executive shortwave portable is on sale via LifeHacker for $150. Click here to check it out!
A ceremony has been held to mark 80 years since the start of radio service at Japan’s only station broadcasting programs overseas on shortwave bands.
The KDDI Yamata Transmitting Station in Koga City in Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo, is used by NHK World Radio Japan.
About 50 officials from NHK, KDDI and other entities took part in the ceremony on Wednesday.
The chief of the communications ministry’s Kanto Bureau of Telecommunications, Tsubaki Yasufumi, said remotely at the event that he honors the station’s 80 years of stable operations. He also said he hopes for continued efforts so that programs from Japan can be broadcast overseas.
Terada Kenji of the NHK Engineering Administration Department said shortwave broadcasting served as a lifeline on many occasions such as the 2014 coup in Thailand. He said he wants to express gratitude to all the people involved in shortwave broadcasting.
After the ceremony, the head of the station, Saito Toshimitsu, said it plays an important role in providing information from Japan. He added that he will keep working hard so that the station will be passed down to younger generations.
Operating a KiwiSDR in Iceland from my vacation spot in Québec (circa 2018).
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Cuff, who writes:
Radyo Pilipinas is one of those English language stations that are not very likely to make to my Pennsylvania location, even under excellent conditions, simply because propagation of their frequencies wouldn’t reach eastern North America when they’re on the air.
Web tunable SDRs change all that…I caught them today from 0315 to their 0330 signoff on 15640 and 17620, in English, with a chatty travelogue program.
I was listening via an Indonesian Kiwi SDR located in Jakarta.
I’m left wondering — is there interest in reporting logs like this? We wouldn’t normally include them in the regular Loggings column in the NASWA Journal, because I’m not tuning my radio, I’m in front of a computer screen tuning half a world away.
FWIW, Radyo PIlipinas broadcasts in English daily from 0200 to 0330 on 15640, 17700 (announced but not heard) and 17620 kHz.
73 – Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA (virtually in Jakarta, Indonesia…)
Wow–what a great question, Rich.
I suspect some DXers have very strong feelings about WebSDR loggings, both for and against.
In terms of loggings columns with various radio clubs and organizations, I suppose it’s up to the governing body to decide. As you say, I suspect it will come down to whether or not remote radio operation counts. With a KiwiSDR, for example, you’re controlling a remote receiver–one that is physically located in a known geographic spot–and the audio is being piped over the Internet. I know it wouldn’t be in the spirit of the thing if you submitted logs implying you’d logged Radyo Pilipinas from your home receiver and antenna. If, however, you disclose that you were using a remote RX station in Jakarta, the logging would be accurate. Whether or not it’s allowed is a separate issue.
Anyone care to share their constructive comments? What do you think about WebSDR loggings? Please comment.
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’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors, William Lee, Stana Horzepa, Rich Cuff, and Marty for the following tips:
This iconic Los Angeles landmark has been emitting secret messages since it opened. However, only those with a keen eye for Morse code can decipher what they say.
It was the former president of Capitol Records, Alan Livingston, who got the idea to have the light on top of the building send out a signal in Morse code. The word chosen for this secret message was “Hollywood.” When the building opened in 1956, Samuel Morse’s granddaughter Leila Morse had the honor of turning the light on.
Some are interpreting this as meaning that – every – AM will be switching to digital leaving a Jillion AM only receivers with nothing to listen to (except for electrical gizmo noise). I give more credit than that to the owners of AM Radio Stations. I would highly doubt if any market would see all of their AM’s go digital. Perhaps in an ownership that had two AM’s it might make sense to have one of each.
[…]Other question is, what will the company that owns HD Radio (EXPERI) want to extract from the owner of an AM station that’s willing to put everything on the line and go all digital?
The bottom line is there appears to be a lot of interest in this proposal. The FCC’s process will likely draw a number of comments, pro and con. This will be an interesting process to watch. I can say one thing, never did I ever dream that we would be debating this issue![…]
Numbers stations—shortwave radio transmissions of monotone coded messages—are inherently creepy. But call sign UVB-76 has outcreeped them all by playing the same jolting tone from Russia since 1982. Similar broadcasts are useful for sending messages where snoops might intercept digital comms, so “the Buzzer” could simply assist spies. But it plays far fewer words and digits than confirmed espionage outlets, so some suspect it’s a science project that bounces radio waves off the ionosphere to detect solar flares. The most intriguing theory posits that it’s a doomsday device that will go silent should Russia suffer a nuclear attack, thus triggering retaliation.
My theory is that these mysterious sounds are actually the intro to a Pink Floyd song, possibly from their 1969 album Ummagumma. Because the early Floyd albums, before Dark Side of the Moon, are no longer heard on-air, the Russians stole this music knowing we’d never notice. Ooh, gotta go… I hear the black helicopters coming…[…]
When iHeartMedia announced this month it would fire hundreds of workers across the country, the radio conglomerate said the restructuring was critical to take advantage of its “significant investments … in technology and artificial intelligence.” In a companywide email, chief executive Bob Pittman said the “employee dislocation” was “the unfortunate price we pay to modernize the company.”
But laid-off employees like D’Edwin “Big Kosh” Walton, who made $12 an hour as an on-air personality for the Columbus, Ohio, hip-hop station 106.7 the Beat, don’t buy it. Walton doesn’t blame the cuts on a computer; he blames them on the company’s top executives, whose “coldblooded, calculated move” cost people their jobs.[…]
Amateur radio enthusiasts have proved themselves useful during the recent bushfires after traditional telecommunication channels broke down.
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is a skill and international hobby whereby enthusiasts use specific radio frequencies to communicate with each other.
In Australia, users must complete an exam to obtain a license through the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
It was volunteers with these skills who were called in to assist during the recent New South Wales bushfires.
Neil Fallshaw is vice-president of WICEN NSW Communications, a group of volunteers with amateur radio licenses who can help in emergency situations.
He said about 30 members provided a temporary radio system in the Bega, Cobargo, Narooma, and Bermagui areas after some of the local radio infrastructure was damaged or had lost power.
“We deployed one of our radio repeaters on the mountains. We put a radio repeater system on that mountain to cover a portion of the south coast,” Mr Fallshaw said.
He said that radio system assisted the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association and Bega Valley Shire Council staff to communicate from bushfire-affected towns like Bermagui and Cobargo.
“They normally use just mobile phones, but the mobile phones in the area were down because of fire damage,” Mr Fallshaw said.[…]
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Agency for Global Media’s Chief Executive John Lansing said he will be leaving his post at the end of the month.
Lansing, a veteran government broadcast and cable television executive, was named four years ago by U.S. President Barack Obama to be the first chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees the Voice of America, Radio and Television Martí, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
Lansing made his mark at the agency early on by championing a free press.
“Despite some very dark moments, we have not been silenced. We will continue to report the truth. We will continue to find new ways to get independent reporting and programming to global audiences who rely on it,” he said this year on World Press Freedom Day.
USAGM board Chairman Kenneth Weinstein said in a statement, “John has put USAGM on solid footing to advance our mission to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. … The Board is very grateful for, and deeply impressed by, the results achieved during his tenure.”
Lansing has boosted the networks’ global weekly audience by more than 100 million and expanded the agency’s use of platforms from encrypted live broadcasting to shortwave radio to push content into countries that jam or ban American programming.
Under his watch, the agency also created Current Time, a network broadcasting news, features and documentaries for Russian speakers in 2017. Polygraph and Faktograph are websites aimed at combating a stream of disinformation by Russia state-controlled media. A new Persian-language service, VOA365, also started broadcasting earlier this year.
In a statement released late Thursday, Lansing said he would be starting a new position at chief executive at National Public Radio, a publicly funded nonprofit membership media organization based in Washington.
Lansing acknowledged challenges ahead for the agency with countries such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran trying to control information and spread their influence throughout the world.
“Please keep abiding by the highest standards of professional journalism. Please keep fighting for press freedom. Please keep telling the truth. The world needs you now more than ever,” he concluded in his statement to employees.
Weinstein said in his statement, “It is the Board’s top priority to find the best individual to run USAGM upon John’s departure.”
GUELPH, ON – Wellington Brewery has announced details of a second annual set of bourbon barrel-aged imperial stouts that are due for release later this month.
UVB-76 (11.9% abv) takes its name from a mysterious shortwave radio station that broadcasts a repeating buzz tone that is occasionally interrupted by a voice in Russian that includes many names in its messages.
The series debuted last year with four beers released as part of Wellington’s 2017 DecemBEER promotion. For 2018, two of last year’s versions – Roman (straight bourbon barrel-aged) and Mikhail (Mexican hot chocolate style with cinnamon, cocoa, vanilla, and spicy chillies) – will be returning, and will be joined by two new variants – Nikita (Neapolitan style with vanilla beans and strawberry) and Alexei (coffee).
The beers can be pre-ordered now via Wellington’s online store, and will be released at the brewery on Saturday November 24th with a launch event that will feature eight further versions available exclusively on draught. For more details, see the full event announcement.
