Tag Archives: shortwave

Terry remembers monitoring an eventful Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Terry Cominos, who shred the following story following our recent post about the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Terry writes:

Here is my story…

It must have been 20 plus years ago whilst monitoring the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on my AOR AR3000.

Around midnight the yacht “Mem” announced a man was lost overboard. They were turning back to find him. The Captain of the oil tanker “Ampol Serel” on his way to Sydney declared he was turning back to assist in the search.

It was a long night with several yachts searching and the “Young Endeavour” providing radio relay support.

More than an hour passed before the “Ampol Serel” arrived on the scene with its powerful search light.

The search was hampered by a swell yet before first light “Ampol Serel” picked up a reflected flash off a life vest.

The sailor was eventually found by a competing yacht and taken on board where he was examined and treated for hypothermia by a doctor onboard.

Several years later I visited the Australian Maritime Museum where the life vest is on display.

That morning I learned a lot about the sea, radio and human nature…

Thank you for sharing this, Terry, and reminding us  that those of us who monitor radio sometimes have a front row seat to events as they unfold.

Source: OneTubeRadio.com

I recall this 1957 Hallicrafter ad from Boy’s Life magazine which of course implies that we may even be in a position to help.

The thought of hearing or assisting–remote as it may have been–certainly had an influence on me when I first started exploring the shortwave bands from my bedroom with a Zenith Transoceanic some forty years ago.

Thanks again for sharing, Terry.

Post readers: Have you ever been witness to events as they unfolded on the air?  Please share your story!


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Any reviews of the JINSERTA Mini portable radio?

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marc Thomas, who writes:

I was wondering if anyone has tried this $40 receiver that seems to have an exceptionally broad frequency coverage:

SW: 2-30MHZ, 5KHZ STEP
AM: 520-1720, 9K/10K STEP SEL
FM: 87.5-108MHZ, 0.1MHZ STEP
AIR: 118-138MHZ, 5K/50K STEP SEL
VHF: 30-223MHZ, FM-N/FM-W
CB: 25-28MHZ, 5KHZ STEP

Links to several sellers:

Link to the manual on this page:
http://www.beliteaircraftstore.com/radiant-pocket-radio-receiver/

Not sure I like the proprietary looking battery.

Thanks.

I am not familiar with this radio, Marc, other than I can see the physical similarities with the Eton Mini. The Eton Mini, however, does not have the VHF coverage of this radio.

Post readers: Is anyone familiar with the JINSERTA Mini? If so, please comment!

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Updated Frequency: Special VORW Radio International Holiday Broadcast

Please note that the frequency for the VORW Radio International Holiday Broadcast has changed. Please read the announcement below which includes the new frequency of 9350 kHz:

Hello Shortwave Listeners! In addition to our regularly scheduled broadcasts of VORW Radio International every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday – I am pleased to announce that there will be a special holiday broadcast on Christmas Day!

This show will feature some mixed talk and music of all genres (including some holiday songs) and a newly designed E-QSL will be sent out to any and all reception reports received! Here is the schedule:

Tuesday 2100 UTC (3 PM Central / 4 PM Eastern) – 9350 kHz – WWCR 100 kW – North America

Reception reports and feedback are most appreciated at [email protected] and I hope you can tune in!

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Special VORW Radio International Holiday Broadcast

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John, with TheReportOfTheWeek who writes:

Hello Shortwave Listeners! In addition to our regularly scheduled broadcasts of VORW Radio International every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday – I am pleased to announce that there will be a special holiday broadcast on Christmas Day!

This show will feature some mixed talk and music of all genres (including some holiday songs) and a newly designed E-QSL will be sent out to any and all reception reports received! Here is the schedule:

Tuesday 2100 UTC (3 PM Central / 4 PM Eastern) – 12160 kHz – [UPDATE 12/22/18] 9,350 kHz WWCR 100 kW – North America

Reception reports and feedback are most appreciated at [email protected] and I hope you can tune in!

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Catching coastal shortwaves with the CC Skywave SSB

After Thanksgiving Day (here in the States) my family took a little camping trip on the coast of North Carolina. We spent a few nights near Holden Beach and Oak Island–some of my favorite parts of the NC coast.

Weather was splendid on Sunday, so we took a long walk on the beach and, of course, I packed a portable radio–this time, the CC Skywave SSB.

The Skywave SSB is a pricey portable, but it has certainly become my choice travel radio as it covers so many radio bands (AM/MW, FM, SW, AIR and WX). It’s also incredibly portable and can hang with the best in terms of sensitivity and selectivity.

I didn’t check propagations conditions on Sunday, but there were signals booming in from everywhere. I took a few short sample videos:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Being away from sources of radio interference and standing next to (and occasionally in—!) the Atlantic Ocean certainly helped a great deal with reception.

I had planned to put my Elecraft KX2 on the air while here, but simply didn’t have the time to fit it in with family activities.

Post readers: Do you have any radio vacations on the horizon?

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Switzerland: Museum Tinguely to host a sonic journey

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Justin Moore, who writes:

This may be of interest to your readers in Switzerland (and nearby!). From Bruce Sterlin’s Beyond the Beyond blog at Wired:

“From October 24, 2018 to January 27, 2019, Museum Tinguely will host a sonic journey giving access to works of radio art from the last hundred years in a unique way. As visitors navigate the space with headphones and specially programmed smartphones, their movements act as “human radio dials,” activating works (current and historical, well-known and unknown) by artists including Antonin Artaud, John Cage and László Moholy-Nagy through to Michaela Mélian, Milo Rau and Natascha Sadr Haghighian. The installation was designed by the artist, architect and musician Cevdet Erek and realized by Meso Digital Interiors. The resulting interplay of sound and space is both technically sophisticated and aesthetically striking, giving visitors an immersive experience of the world of radio. In the second part of the exhibition, diverse aspects of the theme of radio will be discussed in 14 themed weeks, offering visitors a chance to engage and experiment actively with this fascinating medium.

Over the hundred years since its emergence, the radio medium has been explored by musicians, composers, writers, philosophers and fine artists (and many others who do not fit into such categories). They have examined the production of programs, ways of recording, transmitting and receiving, and the possibilities for recording broadcasts. In the first exhibition of its kind, Radiophonic Spaces brings together more than 200 pieces for radio from around the world with the aim of documenting this sustained engagement with the medium by artists of all fields, and allowing visitors to hear it. Unforgettable broadcasts that existed only in obscure archives can be experienced afresh, presenting the history of a medium whose rootedness in actuality means it gives a picture of the century of its existence. The major disasters of the last hundred years are revisited here, as are the great technical and social achievements of the period—to current positions such as Documenta Radio (2017). The “sonic journey” combines artistic approaches to radio art and broadcasting with a scholarly project led by the research group on experimental radio at the Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar. The results of this creative interplay unfold in an immersive journey featuring some 200 gems of international radio art. Historical and contemporary works are related to one another: from Antonin Artaud, John Cage and László Moholy-Nagy through to Michaela Mélian, Milo Rau and Natascha Sadr Haghighian. With the help of a headphone system, visitors gain access to individual works of radio art, triggered by their movements. In a space designed in cooperation with the artist, architect and musician Cevdet Erek and realized by Meso Digital Interiors, visitors immerse themselves acoustically in this art form. This experience resembles the reality of using an actual FM radio: looking for channels until a voice, a piece of music or a sequence of sounds prompts the listener to stay a while longer, or at least to note the frequency so as to be to return to the channel and the voice later. The range of channels on offer is confusing, overwhelming, sometimes too much, but it reflects both the sprawling variety that characterizes the medium and the possibility to decide quickly what to listen to.”

https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2018/10/radiophonic-spaces-museum-tinguely/

https://www.tinguely.ch/en/ausstellungen/ausstellungen/2018/radiophonic-spaces.html

Many thanks for the tip, Justin!

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