Tag Archives: Shortwave Radio

“Shortwaves for Freedom” campaign is funding VOA and RFE/RL programming

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who brought the “Shortwaves for Freedom” fundraising (crowdsource) campaign to my attention.

I’ve confirmed with WRMI that this campaign is legitimate and that they are purchasing time from WRMI to broadcast VOA and RFE/RL into Russia and Ukraine.

Here’s the description of the mission behind their campaign:

The people in Russia, as well as those in Ukraine and other countries where Russian, Ukrainian and English are spoken in the imperiled region, need to hear the truth about the carnage President Putin has unleashed.

With Moscow silencing foreign media in Russia, threatening to send reporters to jail and censoring all war information, objective outside information is critically needed not only for Russia, but also for Ukraine and surrounding countries.

Such content, produced by the U.S. government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is being disseminated on the internet and TV. But these Russian, Ukrainian and English language programs are not being distributed through the simplest technology that skirts censorship and internet shutdowns — shortwave (and medium wave) radio.

The parent agency of VOA and RFE/RL, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, apparently has decided not to air such transmissions (unlike the BBC). As these programs are in the public domain, we plan to air them live and on tape delay by purchasing air time on commercial shortwave stations in the United States and Europe. These powerful transmitters (with hundreds of thousands of watts and large antenna systems) can easily reach Russia, Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe where hundreds of millions of people still listen to radio. These potential listeners will be alerted through social media as to what frequencies and times to listen for these critical programs.

We need your help to pay for the transmission costs until there comes a time when USAGM (like BBC) can be persuaded to utilize its own facilities (which are paid for by U.S. taxpayers).

Even a small donation will make a difference as airtime can be obtained for as little as $50 for a 30-minute slice of airtime that can be potentially heard around the world. Of course, the more money we raise gives us access to more powerful transmitters and more airtime.

This group has been started by members of the general public, policy professionals, academics, radio enthusiasts and others who feel this is a critical mission at a critical time. Help us be a part of world history. After all, jazz music aired by the VOA and the allure of blue jeans is credited with bringing down the Iron Curtain as much as anything else!

You can play a crucial role in this exercise of soft power to counter the guns, rockets and missiles of the Russian army intent on exterminating the Ukrainian nation and possibly other freedom-loving sovereign states.

Click here to check out this campaign.

After confirming this campaign with Jeff, I contributed.

Although I’m fully aware that Russia’s younger citizens may have never even heard of shortwave, my guess is that some in the older generation have. According to a report I read recently, Russia’s older generation are the ones who tend to trust Russian state media and propaganda.

But as this CCN report points out, Russian state media is showing a consistent false narrative to all of its citizens and are also making it nearly impossible for any other independent news sources to broadcast within or into Russia. Many international broadcasters have been pulling out of Russia for fear of being arrested. The penalties if you’re labeled as “fake news” or if you protest what the Kremlin is doing in Ukraine are stiff–many carry 15 year jail sentences.

If you’d like to support this effort, check out the Shortwaves for Freedom campaign on FundRazr.

How VOA’s Communications World Started

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, for the following guest post:

Dan Robinson

How VOA’s Communications World Started

by Dan Robinson

NOTE: This exclusive is being published simultaneously with the North American Shortwave Association (NASWA) journal in its March 2022 edition.

Voice of America recently observed its 80th birthday. Readers may recall that in the mid-1980’s into the 2000s, VOA broadcast a program about communications, but which was in fact designed specifically for shortwave listeners.

Communications World as it was known owed its existence to my efforts in the late 1970’s and into the early 1980’s to persuade VOA managers to put such a program on the air, The story is told in detail here for the first time.

In a SWL career that began in the late 1960’s, I was an enthusiastic consumer of DX programs broadcast by stations at the time, from Radio Netherlands to HCJB and others. I always wondered why VOA wasn’t among them, and I was determined to make some progress on this.

First steps came in 1975 as I was attending The American University and began making contacts at VOA in downtown Washington, DC. This would become a multi-year effort to induce VOA to re-start a DX’ing program. I say “re-start” because I would later learn that VOA once had such a program, but aimed at radio amateurs.

These early efforts included at one point a meeting with the head of a major think tank on K Street in Washington. I can only imagine their reaction when two college age kids (I was accompanied by ace DX’er Taylor “Pitt” McNeil) arrived seeking help in selling a federal agency on a hobbyist show.

I never learned whether anything came from that meeting. In my final two college years, I interned with ABC News, where I observed network operations, including the evening news with Frank Reynolds, and also interned with local station WASH-FM.

By 1979, my contacts at VOA had led me to part-time work in its English to Africa, Worldwide English, and central news divisions. In 1980, I was formally sworn in as a full-time VOA news writer. My objective was to become a VOA foreign correspondent, which I would achieve in 1983. But putting VOA back on the board, so to speak, with a SWL program remained high on my priority list.

A pilot for the show needed to be produced. It needed a name. What came to mind was something containing the word communications, to have wider appeal. So, there it was: the VOA Communications Magazine.

My time in VOA’s central news operation included work on all three shifts over 24 hours. On the side, I set about putting together a script for VOA Communications Magazine – conceptualizing what elements would go into it. By 1983 – just before I departed for Nairobi as VOA’s new East Africa correspondent – we were ready to record the pilot.

The show began by recognizing World Communications Year, and a message noting that we would cover SW hobby news, international broadcasting developments, satellites and computers, news about receivers and antennas, along with letters from listeners.

WRNO New Orleans had gone on the air on shortwave. I thought that would make an interesting segment. Shortwave broadcasting had not yet started its downward slide. Stations remained on the air in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Transmitter manufacturers still had customers. New stations were coming on air.

I served as host of the Communications Magazine pilot. Bob Arnold, who was doing science reporting for VOA at the time, voiced a roundup of broadcasting news. Included were some of my personal recordings, including Voice of Kenya and Radio Mozambique.

In the news, Kenya was reported planning international broadcasting (we now know this never happened). Ghana was expanding domestic radio. The U.S. was helping Liberia expand rural radio. We noted ELBC and ELWA, and played a recording of ELWA.

Iran was installing what were expected to be the world’s most powerful transmitters. There was news from Singapore, and a recording of Radio Singapore. Malaysia planned two 500 kw transmitters. I noted existing domestic Malaysian stations, and included a recording of Radio Malaysia Sarawak.

Arnold reported on the explosion of the production, distribution and storage of information, including an interview with Wilson Dizard, then with Georgetown University.

Dipping into the mailbag I read letters and reception reports from VOA listeners in Denmark, Sweden (one of whom used a Grundig 3400 receiver), Australia (who used a Panasonic RF-2800), and Japan (who used a Kenwood R-1000).

My interview with Joseph Costello of WRNO concluded the pilot, and began with a recording I had made of a WRNO test transmission. Costello pointed to “a couple of thousand pieces of mail per month,” and surprising response from New Zealand and Australia, though WRNO’s signal was beamed northward.

Private shortwave stations were granted to reflect the culture and lifestyle of the United States, Costello said. By partially simulcasting WRNO-FM, listeners heard about life in New Orleans, with coverage of the Jazz and Heritage Festival, and progress reports on Mardi Gras. WRNO was considering a morning Spanish service beamed to central and south America

Doug Flodin of Drake-Chenault discussed the purpose of KYOI. And we reported on other shortwave broadcasters preparing to go to air, including Radio Miami International, and KNLS from Alaska.

Based on my pilot for VOA Communications Magazine, VOA green lighted what would become Communications World, hosted first by Gene Reich, who later would join Worldspace, the satellite radio pioneer that filed for bankruptcy in 2008, and later by Kim Elliott.

This is the first time I have told the in depth story of how Communications World came into being, which likely never would have existed had it not been for my efforts to bring this kind of program to Voice of America. The full 1983 pilot for Communications World is available on the Internet Archive and below:

Carlos’ Shortwave Art and recordings focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares his radio log art, this time along with shortwave recordings taking a look at the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

China Radio International and the Voice of America:

Carlos notes:

Excerpts from news bulletins of Voice of America (USA) and China Radio International about the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war on February 24, 2022.
Shortwave broadcasts listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Radio Romania International

Carlos notes:

Part of Radio Romania International news bulletin, 17800 kHz, broadcasting in English.
– United Nations and influx of refugees due to war in Ukraine.
– US and other countries to sanction Russian banks. Broadcast listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, February 27, 2022, 12h02 pm (UTC).

Click here to view on YouTube.

Carlos’ Shortwave Art and Recording of China Radio International

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares yet another example of his radio log art, this time for China Radio International. Carlos notes:

China Radio International, 11885 kHz, Xianyang, China.
Ukraine crisis, interview with managing editor of “China Report Magazine”.
UK’s role, US intelligence reports, Germany interests, etc.
Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, February 15, 2022, 00h30 (UTC).

Click here to watch on YouTube.

Carlos’ Shortwave Art and Recording of Okinawa Fishery Radio

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares yet another example of his radio log art, this time for Okinawa Fishery Radio. Carlos notes:

Okinawa Fishery Radio Station, Okinawa, #Japan, 8761 kHz (USB), broadcasting weather reports and navigation alerts to Japanese fishing boats.

Heard in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Feb 9, 2022, 08h59 (UTC).

Click here to listen on YouTube.

Jock explores “The Essential Listening Post Part II – When the lights go out”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post:

Photo by Parker Coffman on Unsplash

When the lights go out: The Essential Listening Post – Part II

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM

What’s the most valuable commodity in an emergency? Information.

Without information, it is very difficult to make decisions of what actions you should – or shouldn’t – take. Fortunately, as swling.com readers know, radio can come to your rescue.

As an example, I offer for your approval this minor incident that happened just a few mornings ago.

At 4:30 am, I awoke. That’s not particularly unusual; I get up early lots of mornings to run the Commuter Assistance Network on ham radio.

What made this morning unusual were the things I couldn’t see: the digital clock across the room, the tiny LED lamp that illuminates the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. They were both dark. In fact, the only light that I could see was the LED from the uninterruptable power supply for the computer in the next room. It was pulsing, indicating the power from the mains was out.

With the help of a flashlight kept within easy reach of the bed, I made my way downstairs. A peek out the windows revealed the surrounding area was dark; no lights in local houses, no street lights. A house across the ravine behind my house had a single light, but it had the bright white look of an emergency lantern. So this outage was wider spread than just the lane where I live. But how widespread was it? In early February in upstate New York, it’s winter; temperature about 6 degrees Fahrenheit on this particular morning. The thermostat on the wall has already dropped below where the furnace should have kicked on. With no electricity; no furnace.

With no house power, I had no internet, so I couldn’t look things up to find out why there was no house power. Because we use Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), with no internet, no house phone.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Well, dummy, fire up your smart phone, and in a few moments you’ll have your answers.”

To that I say: “Not so fast there, pardner.”

I consulted with a ham radio friend who makes his living in the commercial radio business. He consults with many companies, including cell phone companies, so he knows what he is talking about.

It turns out there are three things that could render your smart phone useless.

The first is whether your local cell tower(s) have battery back-up. Most do, but how many hours the batteries will run the cell tower can vary widely from just a couple of hours to perhaps eight. Depending upon when the power went out, you may or may not be able to connect.

The second is that many cell phone towers themselves connect to the rest of the network through wire or fiber optic cable. If a vehicle has taken down a pole, or a falling tree has taken down a cable, the network may be disrupted.

Finally, if there is high demand for your local cell phone tower, you may not be able to make a connection. My commercial radio “guru” relates that he went to an event at a local community college. There is a cell tower right on the property, but he had great difficulty connecting simply because so many people were trying to use the tower.

During emergencies, cell phone networks frequently go into gridlock because of high demand, so it’s a good idea to have other means of gathering information. An interesting aside: some years ago, I heard a presentation from one of the hospital administrators who was in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. They were unable to make voice phone calls, but apparently they could sometimes send and receive text messages.

Getting back to my small lights-out incident, I was in the actual act of firing up a radio to check out what local broadcasters on the AM (medium wave) band had to say, when the lights came on, the furnace started, and internet and phone service were restored. My greatest inconvenience was having to reset a couple of digital clocks.

But it raised a serious question: what should be your essential listening post if the lights go out, the fertilizer hits the ventilation equipment?

First and foremost, a battery-powered radio capable of receiving your local broadcasters. You need to know – or find out – which ones have back-up power so they can keep transmitting. Knowing that will do two things for you: first, tuning in to a station with back-up power will hopefully get you the information you need, and second, if stations that don’t have back-up power are off the air, that will give you an indication of how widespread the power outage is.

Knowing the extent of the blackout can be important. A couple of decades ago, on an August afternoon, my better half and I took our young son to a local park where there was a water fountain that the kids could run through. When we got home later, the power was out. I saw the neighbor standing in her yard and asked if she had reported the outage. “No point,” she said. “Why?” I asked. “Because the lights are out from Canada to Virginia.” Oh.

In addition to knowing which stations are likely to be on the air, it’s also good to know which local stations have news staff that are likely to collect and broadcast information that is needed during an emergency.

Second, if you live in the United States or Canada, you need a weather radio. Every state in the Union has bad weather of one sort or another . . . and some of them can kill you. NOAA weather radio is an excellent source of information. It’s free, and it does a fine job of delivering weather-related info in a concise and useful format.

Third, it would be very useful to have a scanner or ham radio capable of receiving your local 2 meter repeaters. This could be an additional source of useful information in a crisis.

So, are there any radios that I would recommend for “The Essential Listening Post” when the lights go out?

Yes, there are.

The C.Crane CCRadio 2E

First on my list would be the C.Crane CCRadio 2E (or CCRadio3). It receives AM, FM, NOAA Weather Band with Weather Alert and the 2-Meter Ham Band. It will run on house power or, if the lights are out, over 200 hours on batteries. By all accounts, it offers excellent performance on AM and FM, and it is one of the most sensitive NOAA weather radio receivers I have tested. I bought one and can heartily recommend it.

CC Skywave SSB

The CCrane Skywave SSB receives AM, FM, NOAA Weather band plus Alert, Shortwave (1711-29.999MHz) with SSB, VHF Aviation Band. It doesn’t receive the 2 meter ham band, but it will receive hams on HF frequencies, which might come in handy in an emergency. It is not quite as sensitive as the CCrane 2E on NOAA weather frequencies, but, as I reported last year it was the most sensitive NOAA weather radio receiver I took to Sodus, NY. It is very small and portable and will run for over 50 hours on batteries. I bought one and can heartily recommend it.

The Eton FRX3+

The Eton FRX3+ is an interesting alternative for a “when the lights go out” radio. This battery-powered radio receives AM, FM, and NOAA weather radio with alert. It has a couple of LED lights for navigating in the dark and can be charged by a built-in solar panel, hand-crank, or USB cable, and can even be used to charge your cell phone. Eton Corp. sent me one of these, and I find that it offers worthy performance on AM and FM, and excellent sensitivity on NOAA weather radio. Recommended.

In the future, I hope to offer some additional useful information about NOAA weather radio as well as a comparison of different ways to receive NOAA weather radio, including dedicated weather radio, consumer radio, scanner, and ham handi-talkie.

-Jock Elliott