Tag Archives: Shipping Forecast

Radio Waves: Waves Around Earth’s Core, New Australian Communications Minister, Shipping Forecast Future, and Hams Accused of Being Spies

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!


Giant Magnetic Waves Have Been Discovered Oscillating Around Earth’s Core (Science Alert)

Earth’s interior is a far from quiet place. Deep below our surface activities, the planet rumbles with activity, from plate tectonics to convection currents that circulate through the hot magmatic fluids far underneath the crust.

Now scientists studying satellite data of Earth have identified something inside Earth we’ve never seen before: a new type of magnetic wave that sweeps around the surface of our planet’s core, every seven years.

This discovery could offer insight into how Earth’s magnetic field is generated, and provide clues of our planet’s thermal history and evolution – that is, the gradual cooling of the planetary interior.

“Geophysicists have long theorized over the existence of such waves, but they were thought to take place over much longer time scales than our research has shown,” says geophysicist Nicolas Gillet of the Université Grenoble Alpes in France.

“Measurements of the magnetic field from instruments based on the surface of Earth suggested that there was some kind of wave action, but we needed the global coverage offered by measurements from space to reveal what is actually going on.

“We combined satellite measurements from Swarm, and also from the earlier German Champ mission and Danish Ørsted mission, with a computer model of the geodynamo to explain what the ground-based data had thrown up – and this led to our discovery.”

Earth’s magnetic field is the subject of much fascination for scientists. Research to date suggests that the invisible structure forms a protective ‘bubble’ around our planet, keeping harmful radiation out and the atmosphere in, thus allowing life to thrive. [Continue reading…]

Michelle Rowland sworn in as new Communications Minister (TV Tonight)

Michelle Rowland sworn in as new Communications Minister

Australia has a new minister leading regulation in the screen sector.

Michelle Rowland M.P. has been sworn in as the new Communications Minister under PM Anthoyn Albanese.

Replacing Paul Fletcher, she has previously been shadow communications minister in opposition.

“It is an honour to be sworn in as Minister for Communications and to serve the Australian people under an Albanese Labor Government,” she said.

“This portfolio has the potential to further enable an Australia where connectivity and content enriches our quality of life, informs us, drives productivity and empowers us to fulfil our potential. I am dedicated to ensuring Australians, in our cities and regions, are united and connected. Now, let’s get to work” [Continue reading…]

‘A link across time’: how shipping forecast will outlast Radio 4 long wave (The Guardian)

Boats have not needed the broadcast for decades but radio bosses know nostalgia for it runs deep

Radio 4’s shipping forecast is a national institution, with millions of listeners reassured by the thought that, somewhere out at sea, British fishers are patiently waiting by their radios to find out whether there is a gale warning in Rockall or Cromarty.

Yet the announcement that Radio 4’s long wave signal will be shut down as part of the BBC’s latest cuts has left many wondering how the country’s fishing fleet will cope without access to the four-times-a-day updates.

The slightly less romantic reality, according to Mike Cohen of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, is that his members have not needed Radio 4 for decades. Modern fishers have far more accurate devices to warn them about the wind and rain: “Even the small 15-metre boats in Bridlington have satellite internet these days. I’ve had video calls from people in the middle of the sea.”

Yet that does not mean they are immune to the charms of Sailing By, the music that heralds the forecasts and was designed to help captains adjust their radios: “That theme tune is a link to other times, other people, other places. There’s as much a fondness among fishermen for that as there is for the rest of us.”

When the fishers’ trade body asked its members how they felt about the shipping forecast one said it “acted as a link across communities, a link across time”. Another added: “For us it is a bygone age but for many older folk it is a reassuring connection to the past.”

The BBC plans to end dedicated programming on its Radio 4 long wave frequency next year, which could mean the loss of two of the current four shipping broadcast updates. The early morning and late night forecasts will remain on FM, DAB and online broadcasts. But the loss of the long wave signal – accessible far from the British mainland – confirms they will essentially be nostalgia pieces, more about waking the nation up or lulling listeners to sleep. [Continue reading…]

Two Brits arrested in Albania as police accuse them of spying after seizing radio gear (Southgate ARC)

Two Britons were quizzed on allegations of espionage by officers at Tirana International Airport in Albania after police discovered sophisticated Kenwood radios in their luggage

Two Britons have been arrested by Albanian spooks and accused of spying after border police found radio transmitters in their luggage.

The pair were quizzed on allegations of espionage by officers at Tirana International Airport after they discovered sophisticated Kenwood radios in their luggage.

They told the officials they were IT engineers who were carrying the amateur gear to indulge their hobby while on holiday in Albania.

One suspect was registered as using a “ham radio” in the Tirana region on online profiles, which also say he specialises in “electronic warfare”.

Albanian police confirmed that they have opened a probe over allegations of “spy activities” and “espionage”.

A source said: “It’s highly unusual to be carrying this sort of equipment and even more strange for someone to be stopped and accused of being a covert agent.”

The two Britons were held on May 30 and then allowed to return to the UK. However they remain under investigation, police say. The electronic kit by Kenwood – which makes a range of cutting edge communication devices – was sent to the Albanian Criminal Laboratory for further examination.

You can read the full Daily Mirror article at
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/two-brits-arrested-albania-police-27191861


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Video: How the UK shipping forecast is made

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David (G4EDR), who writes:

I know that you and many of your readers of the SWLing Post (myself included) have a fascination with the UK Shipping Forecast so thought you may be interested in this YouTube video showing how the Met Office prepare the forecast for broadcasting.

Thank you, David! Yes, indeed, I love the shipping forecast. I must admit that I’m pleased (and not terribly surprised) to see that forecasts are not based purely on computer models, but on the expertise of experienced meteorologists.

Thank you for sharing!

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An Exceptional Shipping Forecast

Image: Corrie Corfield

Yesterday, I took note of the following Twitter message and image (above) from Corrie Corfield, who is a Newsreader/Announcer for BBC Radio 4:

I’ve been reading the Ships on @BBCRadio4 for nearly 30 years & this is the first time I’ve had a TROPICAL storm. Becoming EXTRA tropical to boot ?#BraceYourselfForErnesto

To listen to episodes of the shipping forecast via Radio 4 online, click here.

(Oddly, the one she notes seems to be missing!)

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The Shipping Forecast featured on 99% Invisible

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric McFadden (WD8RIF), who notes that one of my favorite podcasts, 99% Invisible, has featured The Shipping Forecast in their latest episode:

Four times every day, on radios all across the British Isles, a BBC announcer begins reading from a seemingly indecipherable script. “And now the Shipping Forecast issued by the Met Office on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency,” says the voice over the wire. “Viking, North Utsire; southwesterly five to seven; occasionally gale eight; rain or showers; moderate or good, occasionally poor.” Cryptic and mesmerizing, this is the UK’s nautical weather report.

The Shipping Forecast is “part of the culture here,” muses Charlie Connolly, author of Attention All Shipping: A Journey ‘Round the Shipping Forecast. “It’s a much loved institution. People regard it as poetry.” Connolly grew up listening to the forecast. Even now, as an adult, he sets his alarm so he can tune into the early morning forecast.

The story of this radio program starts (well before the BBC itself) in the 1850s with a man named Admiral Robert FitzRoy. He was the captain of the Beagle, the ship that brought Charles Darwin to the Galapagos.

FitzRoy had a long, sometimes controversial career, but later in his life he became fascinated with the study of weather prediction.[…]

Continue reading and listen to this episode at 99PI.

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of The Shipping Forecast and have featured it in past posts. Thanks for the tip, Eric!

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Atlas Obscura: “This weather report has been making waves for 150 years.”

Photo by Michael Browning on Unsplash.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric McFadden (WD8RIF), who notes that the excellent website, Atlas Obscura, recently featured The Shipping Forecast:

Why a Maritime Forecast Is So Beloved in the United Kingdom

For the penultimate song on their 1994 album Parklife, Blur chose the swirling, meditative epic, “This Is a Low.” The song envisions a five-minute trip around the British Isles as an area of low pressure hits.

“Up the Tyne, Forth, and Cromarty,” sings the lead singer Damon Albarn, “there’s a low in the high Forties.” The song’s litany of playful-sounding place names, including the improbable “Biscay” and “Dogger,” may seem obscure to listeners abroad, but to a British audience, they resonate.

The song’s lyrics were inspired by the Shipping Forecast, a weather report that is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Sailors working around the coasts of Britain and Ireland, recipients of the wrath of the North Atlantic and North Sea, are the ostensible beneficiaries of the forecast.

But, for listeners who tune in while tucked in bed rather than sailing the high seas, the reassuring sound—a simple, steady listing of conditions in the seas around the British Isles, broken down into 31 “sea areas,” most of which are named after nearby geographical features—is something more akin to the beating pulse of the United Kingdom, as familiar as the national anthem or the solemn chimes of Big Ben.[…]

Continue reading the full story via Atlas Obscura.

Thanks for the tip, Eric!

SWLing Post readers know that I’m quite a fan of The Shipping Forecast. We’ve posted a number of articles about the Forecast on the SWLing Post in the past–click here to read through our archives.

When I lived in the UK, I would often fall asleep and/or wake up to the Shipping Forecast. Here in the States, I can listen to the forecast live via the U Twente WebSDR, but I rarely remember to do so.

And, of course, I can navigate to the Radio 4 website and stream current and past forecasts on demand, but I find the audio a little too clean and full fidelity. I prefer listening to my maritime poetry via Amplitude Modulation (AM)!

To satisfy my desire for some AM forecasts, this morning I fed my SSTran AM transmitter with audio from the Radio 4 website, then made a recording with my AirSpy HF+ SDR.

Here’s my AM version of the Shipping Forecast:

Click here to download as an MP3.

For the record: this is what you get when you combine a radio and shipping forecast geek!

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The Shipping Forecast celebrates 150 years

(Source: The Guardian)

Consternation, mourning and national soul-searching greeted the temporary silencing of Big Ben last week, but at least another favourite fixture of the nightly and early morning radio is to continue. The hymnal cadences of Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, through Shannon, Rockall, Malin all the way to south-east Iceland, will be heard as usual on Thursday, as the shipping forecast celebrates 150 years of uninterrupted service.

The shipping forecast, the longest continuous weather forecast ever made, has been a public service since 1867 when it was used to warn of storms. The warnings were first issued using the electric telegraph until radio became available. Storm warnings were sent over the telegraph wires to harbours, where signals were hoisted to warn ships at sea.

When the BBC was formed in the 1920s, the maritime forecast became a fixture of the daily wireless programme where it would remain with occasional modifications and a break during the war when the broadcast was discontinued for fear it would help the enemy. The forecast was still made, however, and disseminated to the Royal Navy.

Though today’s seafarers have access to many more sources of meteorological data, and many radio listeners famously use the late-night incantatory broadcast – never more than 380 words, and always following the same strict format – for soporific rather than navigational purposes, the broadcasts still fulfil a vital safety role.[…]

Continue reading the full article at The Guardian.

If you love The Shipping Forecast like I do, check out our archived posts.

I especially love these posts by SWLing Post contributors Dave Porter (G4OYX) and Kris Partridge (G8AUU) who have both inadvertently caused the shipping forecast to repeat!

Long live The Shipping Forecast!

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