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 Edward (EI9LE) and David Iurescia for the following tips:

Livestream on RTL: Beidweiler longwave radio transmitters to be demolished on 6 November (RTL Today)

The date has finally been announced for the long-awaited demolition of the former radio transmission masts in Beidweiler. The three masts are set to be blown up at 3pm on Friday 6 November, organised by the Germany company Liesegang, based in Hürth (D). The necessary preparations are in motion.

As the event has garnered interest from Junglinster residents to beyond the borders, RTL will be streaming the demolition live. The three masts belong to the Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), a subsidiary of RTL Group.

From 1972 until 1am on 2 January 2023, the masts were used to transmit French-speaking RTL radio programmes to France.

[Continue reading…]

Cyclone Watch Service activated as South Pacific cyclone season begins (RNZ)

The South Pacific cyclone season officially begins 1 November and continues through to the end of April 2027.

There are occasions when tropical cyclones can develop outside of the cyclone season, more recently Tropical Cyclone Wati which impacted parts of the Cook Islands group.

Earth Sciences New Zealand is predicting elevated cyclone activity for parts of the Pacific in the coming cyclone season.

RNZ Pacific’s Cyclone Watch Service has become an important communications lifeline for Pacific nations and territories over the years, who are affected by the ever-increasing number of tropical cyclones in the Region.

The Cyclone Watch Service operates during the cyclone season in the South Pacific which is November through to the end of April. Once cyclone alerts are issued, RNZ Pacific will broadcast hourly updates of these bulletins, and whenever the situation changes.

[Continue reading…]

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RTL Ends Longwave Service (Radio World)

On 234 kHz, the new year rang in with static, not bells or fireworks. As had been announced in October, French broadcaster RTL switched off its longwave broadcasts on January 1, 2023.

Long-time RTL presenter Georges Lang marked the occasion with a bittersweet tweet: “Voilà, c’est fini… Goodbye good old Long Waves, you did a good job for a so long time. You belong now to the history of Radio-Luxembourg and RTL.”

Groupe M6, which owns the station, noted that maintaining longwave broadcasts from the Beidweiler, Luxembourg, transmission site consumed about 6,000 megawatt-hours of electricity each year, roughly equal to the average annual energy consumption of 3,000 French people. [Continue reading…]

US releases top Cuba spy Ana Belén Montes after 20 years in prison (The Guardian)

SWLing Post contributor, Ed, shares this story and notes:

Some SWLing Post readers might be interested to learn that one of the few spies ever caught in the U.S. using shortwave numbers station transmissions to receive instructions is Ana Belén Montes, who was just released from prison after serving 20 years of her 25-year sentence.

Former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, 65, freed after being found guilty of espionage in 2002

One of the highest-ranking US officials ever proven to have spied for Cuba has been released from prison early after spending more than two decades behind bars.

Ana Belén Montes pleaded guilty in 2002 to conspiracy to commit espionage after she was accused of using her leading position as a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) official to leak information, including the identities of some US spies, to Havana. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison at the age of 45. Continue reading →