{"id":34893,"date":"2018-11-18T08:50:41","date_gmt":"2018-11-18T12:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=34893"},"modified":"2018-11-18T08:50:41","modified_gmt":"2018-11-18T12:50:41","slug":"alexa-can-now-look-up-broadcast-schedules-with-the-shortwave-signals-skill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/alexa-can-now-look-up-broadcast-schedules-with-the-shortwave-signals-skill\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexa can now look up broadcast schedules with the Shortwave Signals skill!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20598\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume.jpg 800w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume-624x413.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many thanks to <em>SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Mark Hirst, who writes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I&#8217;m pleased to announce that my Alexa skill has been approved by Amazon and is now available in the following countries:<\/p>\n<p>Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>Because single word skills are reserved for organisations and brand names, the skill name had to change and is now called &#8216;<strong>Shortwave Signals<\/strong>&#8216;.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve uploaded a video this morning with the finished skill in action:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dnSPsopEBnI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/dnSPsopEBnI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to view on YouTube.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Amazing, Mark! Thank you for developing this Alexa skill!<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been beta testing Mark&#8217;s Alexa skill and have been very happy with the results. It makes for a nice hands-free way of checking broadcast schedules while in the shack. <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/mark-is-developing-an-alexa-skill-to-search-shortwave-broadcast-schedules\/\">And it seems like only yesterday<\/a> when Mark was tinkering around with the idea to create this skill.<\/p>\n<p>Bravo for making <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s\/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dalexa-skills&amp;field-keywords=Shortwave+Signals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shortwave Signals<\/a> a reality, Mark!<\/p>\n<p>If you own an Echo or Alexa-enabled device, simply open the Alexa App and search for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s\/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dalexa-skills&amp;field-keywords=Shortwave+Signals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shortwave Signals<\/a> skill to activate it.<\/p>\n<p>We only have one Amazon Echo device in our house&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/wi-fi-radio-primer-part-3-review-of-the-grace-digital-mondo-and-amazon-echo\/\">the one I evaluated for my WiFi radio primer a couple years ago<\/a>. As Black Friday approaches, I&#8217;m going to keep my eye on the Amazon Echo Dot for my radio room&#8211;the 2nd generation units are quite inexpensive (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Certified-Refurbished-Echo-Dot-Generation\/dp\/B01DFKC6CQ\/ref=sr_1_4?s=amazon-devices&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1542540063&amp;sr=8-4&amp;keywords=echo+dot&amp;tag=swlcom01-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">as low as $29.99 for a certified refurbished unit)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/search\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_sr_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=swlcom01-20&amp;keywords=Amazon Echo&amp;index=aps&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=xm2&amp;linkId=6f2553cb5d0b5ea0fae31fd650278bf5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to search Amazon for an Echo device (affiliate link).<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who writes: I&#8217;m pleased to announce that my Alexa skill has been approved by Amazon and is now available in the following countries: Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Because single word skills are reserved for organisations and brand names, the skill name had [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836,3,438,651,43],"tags":[7344,5332,5458,7343,7429],"class_list":["post-34893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-products","category-news","category-schedules","category-schedules-and-frequencies","category-shortwave-radio","tag-alexa","tag-amazon-echo","tag-mark-hirst","tag-shortwave-schedules-alexa-skill","tag-shortwave-signals-alexa-skill"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-94N","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34398,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/mark-is-developing-an-alexa-skill-to-search-shortwave-broadcast-schedules\/","url_meta":{"origin":34893,"position":0},"title":"Mark is developing an Alexa skill to search shortwave broadcast schedules","author":"Thomas","date":"October 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been an owner of the Amazon Echo\u00a0smart speaker since it was first released and even reviewed it here on the SWLing Post a couple years ago. Although it's not a perfect device--and many feel IOT products like this invade their privacy (rightfully so)--it is a nice hands-free way to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Products&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Top.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Top.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Top.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Top.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35025,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/guest-post-how-to-use-the-shortwave-signals-alexa-skill\/","url_meta":{"origin":34893,"position":1},"title":"Guest Post: How to use the Shortwave Signals Alexa skill","author":"Thomas","date":"November 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst--developer of the Shortwave Signals Alexa skill--who shares the following tutorial: How to use the Shortwave Signals Alexa skill Introduction Alexa skills come in all shapes and sizes, from the trivial random fact skill, to a fully fledged news reader. Some have little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Guest Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Amazon-Echo-Volume.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34958,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/cyber-monday-deals-on-the-echo-dot-19-99-24-00\/","url_meta":{"origin":34893,"position":2},"title":"Cyber Monday deals on the Echo Dot $19.99 &#8211; $24.00","author":"Thomas","date":"November 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christian, who writes: Hi Thomas. Last week you mentioned using the Echo Dot with Mark's Shortwave Signals Alexa skill. At the time the best price was $29.95 for a refurbished unit. Today [Cyber Monday] Amazon is selling the Dot for $19.95. Just snagged one.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Deals&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Deals","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/deals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Echo-Dot-3rd-e1543239135971.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Echo-Dot-3rd-e1543239135971.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Echo-Dot-3rd-e1543239135971.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34974,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/cyber-monday-sale-on-the-google-home-mini-25\/","url_meta":{"origin":34893,"position":3},"title":"Cyber Monday Sale on the Google Home Mini $25","author":"Thomas","date":"November 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Freitas, who adds the following note to our post about the Echo Dot Cyber Monday sale: It is also worth noting that the Google Home Mini (a similar product) is also having the same sale. You can snag one for about $25 on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-26-at-10.07.37-AM-1024x403.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-26-at-10.07.37-AM-1024x403.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-26-at-10.07.37-AM-1024x403.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56506,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/radio-six-international-60th-anniversary-celebration-with-24-hour-broadcast-on-sw-and-mw-june-6-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":34893,"position":4},"title":"radio six international: 60th Anniversary Celebration with 24 hour broadcast on SW and MW, June 6, 2023","author":"Thomas","date":"May 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tony Currie, who shares the following announcement: radio six international SCOTTISH RADIO STATION CELEBRATES 60th ON SW AND MW On 6th June 1963, four schoolchildren gathered in the attic of a house on the Ardrossan seafront in Ayrshire to launch their very own radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mediumwave&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mediumwave","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/mediumwave\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Radio-Dial-e1530836181998.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Radio-Dial-e1530836181998.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Radio-Dial-e1530836181998.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Radio-Dial-e1530836181998.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56588,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/20th-edition-of-the-global-radio-guide-summer-2023-now-available\/","url_meta":{"origin":34893,"position":5},"title":"20th Edition of the Global Radio Guide (Summer 2023) Now Available","author":"Thomas","date":"May 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor, Gayle Van Horn (W4GVH), who shares the following announcement: 20th Edition of the Global Radio Guide (Summer 2023) Now Available While the world looks on in awe at dazzling displays of aurora, reaching ever closer to our planet\u2019s equator, radio hobbyists are equally excited at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Cover-640x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}