Tag Archives: Shortwave Radio

Carlos Latuff’s shortwave radio logs are a work of art

For those who don’t know, our friend and SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, is not only a devoted radio enthusiast, but also a prominent political cartoonist in Brazil and throughout the world.

Recently, Carlos has been posting his shortwave logs on his Twitter feed and they’re pretty amazing.

Carlos’ shortwave logs not only include comments and notes from each broadcast, but also his own artwork.

Here’s Carlos’ recording of Vatican Radio which accompanies the log at the top of this post:

Click here to check out Carlos’ Twitter feed where he posts his political cartoons and, yes, even the occasional shortwave listening log!

If you’ve been a reader of the SWLing Post for long, you’ll notice that we’re not a space for political discussions; there are much better options out there on the Internet. Here, we stick to the world of radio, but we can’t help but highlight this intersection and Carlos’ creative logs.

In fact, Carlos, I might nudge you for that Vatican Radio recording and your artwork to post on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive!

The SI-307: Another Si473X portable receiver

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

Hello Thomas,

I was checking AliExpress in search of Hanrongda HRD 747 (still nothing yet) and accidentally I’ve found something which might be interesting.

For now there’s not much information about this device, but it seems that somebody produced a handheld equivalent of well known Si473X receivers.

Name is SI-307

https://aliexpress.com/item/1005003010068279.html

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184956500398

Currently there are no details, but they’re mentioning SSB support, which might suggest, that they’re using a well known Si4735-D60 or Si4732-A10 chip. Also it is unknown if device might be programmable as original (non-handheld) version of this receiver. Speaker seems to be built in.

Might be interesting to know, if anybody from The SWLing Post has decided to risk ~100 USD to check this out 🙂

PS: Thanks for your outstanding work, I’m checking The SWLing Post daily 🙂

Thank you, Konrad! Yes, I think you’re right in that this is simply another Si473X-based receiver.

Interesting: the aluminum alloy chassis almost seems to be snap-together. The connection tabs remind me of radio kits that use circuit board material at the chassis.

Also, the buttons and labels on the front faceplate seem so “homebrew.”

Like Konrad, I would be interested if anyone has tried this radio. I’m not sure I’d be ready to fork out money on it quite yet, although it is certainly an interesting take on the Si473X.

Thank you, again, Konrad!

The new SIHUADON D-808 portable shortwave radio

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

Hi Thomas,

Yesterday I found this short animation:

So I went to their website to look at this nice black and amber screen new model.

https://xhdata.com.cn/ (strangely enough, they sell there Tecsun stuff also)

I don’t plan on buying it any time soon as I don’t think they added “memories scroll” as there is in the R108.

So any of the members here can comment on the Black SIHUADON D-808 ?

Regards, Adi

Thank you for sharing this, Adid!

I’m also very curious if any SWLing Post readers have purchased the SIHUADON D-808 and could comment on any differences (other than the superficial ones) with it and the XHADATA D-808. 

WRMI will air a second series of Texas Radio Shortwave programs

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Edward, who shares the following announcement:

WRMI to air second series of European free radio and low-power licensed stations

WRMI will air a second series of Texas Radio Shortwave programs featuring European free-radio and low-power licensed stations during September, October, and November.

The one-hour programs will be broadcast every Friday at 9 p.m. ET (Saturday at 0100 UTC) by WRMI, Okeechobee, Florida, on Texas Radio Shortwave’s “regular” frequency of 5950 kHz.

Dates and featured stations in Series 2 are as follows:

September 4-5 = Radio Clash (Somewhere in Europe)

September 11-12 = Radio Merlin (UK) *

September 18-19 = Crusin’ Radio (UK)

September 25-26 = CoolAM Radio (The Netherlands) *

October 2-3 = Radio Monique International (The Netherlands) *

October 9-10 = Radio Blackstone International (The Netherlands)

October 16-17 = Charleston International Radio (Germany) *

October 23-24 = KR1 (The Netherlands)

October 30-31 = To Be Announced

November 6-7 = To Be Announced

November 13-14 = To Be Announced

November 20-21 = To Be Announced

November 27-28 = To Be Announced.

*Series 1 station invited to produce a program for Series 2.

eQSLs will be available from individual stations. TRSW will not issue verifications for these programs.

These popular stations are heard regularly in Europe but seldom in North America because of propagation conditions.

Thank you for the tip, Ed!

Photos from the 2021 WCARS Hamfest

This past weekend (July 24, 2021), my buddy Vlado (N3CZ) and I attended the 2021 Western Carolina Amateur Radio Society (WCARS) hamfest in Waynesville, North Carolina.

Due to Covid-19 lock-downs and social distancing, this was the first hamfest we’d attended in 18 months. I think all of us were having serious hamfest withdrawal, so this regional hamfest was very well-attended. Who knows what will happen in the future with regards to Covid–numbers are climbing sharply again here in NC–so I think many of us were there enjoying everything “while the gettin’ was good.” It helped that even the indoor area is incredibly spacious and had a constant airflow.

It was so great seeing so many friends, readers, and subscribers. Thank you for stopping by our tables.

Photo Gallery

This gallery has about 117 photos. So that the images don’t all load from the SWLing Post homepage, you may need to click on the “Continue reading…” link below to expand the post and view the photo gallery.

Continue reading

Five Beeps: Can you identify Carlos’ mystery signal?

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes from Brazil:

[Please check out this] audio sample of a signal I heard today (July 20, 2021) around 07h17 UTC on (at least) 4 different frequencies, simultaneously:

– 16166 kHz
– 16716 kHz
– 16747 kHz
– 16839 kHz

Always the same. Five beeps repeating in intervals of 30 seconds. 
Another mystery to be solved by your readers.

Thank you for sharing this, Carlos. Hopefully, a reader can comment and ID these beeps for us!

REE Noblejas Site Celebrates 50 Years

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood, who shares the following article and translation:

REE Noblejas Site celebrates 50 years.

Radio Exterior de España’s “Amigos de la Onda Corta” latest show marks the history of the 50 years of the Noblejas Broadcast Center.

Program Summary (loose translation)

Noblejas is the voice of Spain in the world, the only shortwave site that Radio Exterior de España currently has to broadcast the country’s events.

The RNE Shortwave Broadcast Center No. 2 was inaugurated on July 21, 1971. It is the largest space in dimensions that the Spanish Radio Television Corporation currently has. For half a century, Noblejas has been the voice of Spain to the world, the only transmission site that Radio Exterior de España currently has after the closure of the centers in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1982, Arganda del Rey (Madrid) in 1985 and Cariari de Pococí (Costa Rica) in 2013. It occupies 144 hectares (355 acres) and has a main building with three floors offering 8,000 square meters of useful area, housing four transmitters with which the REE signal is transmitted to all of the Americas, West Africa, the South Atlantic, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. The antenna field consists of 27 directional curtain arrays that encompass some three kilometers in length. The Noblejas transmission center has been operating for 50 years. It was only absent for two months (from October to December 2014) when the government wanted to halt REE shortwave broadcasts (ed. – RTVE budget cuts.) Fortunately, the broadcasts returned, and listeners still can enjoy eight hours of daily broadcasting on that band.

(The “Amigos” program notes the station still has available four 100 kilowatt units capable of 6-26 Mhz. REE broadcasts in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Russian, English and Sefardí.)

Spanish Audio is here:
https://www.rtve.es/play/audios/amigos-de-la-onda-corta/amigos-onda-corta-50-anos-del-centro-emisor-noblejas-15-07-21/5987840/

Documentary film clip of Francisco Franco at the station’s inauguration is here starting at the 50-second mark:
https://www.rtve.es/filmoteca/no-do/not-1490/1486589/