{"id":51558,"date":"2022-01-25T23:44:24","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T03:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=51558"},"modified":"2022-01-25T15:49:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T19:49:24","slug":"radio-waves-data-rx-via-web-sdrs-mystery-signals-from-space-public-medias-role-in-democracy-and-pirates-spam-uvb-76","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/01\/radio-waves-data-rx-via-web-sdrs-mystery-signals-from-space-public-medias-role-in-democracy-and-pirates-spam-uvb-76\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Waves: Data RX via Web SDRs, Mystery Signals from Space, Public Media’s role in Democracy, and Pirates SPAM UVB-76"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio<\/h2>\n

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em>\u00a0readers.\u00a0 To that end:\u00a0Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s<\/em> Radio Waves<\/em>, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio.\u00a0<\/strong>Enjoy!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em> contributors Marty, Troy Riedel, and Rich Cuff for the following tips:<\/p>\n

\n

Receiving data with web based shortwave radios (Nuts and Volts)<\/a><\/h2>\n

Your computer and the Internet give you free access to over 100 web based shortwave receivers that you can use as if they were your own. Unfortunately, employing these radios to decode data transmissions can be very difficult or impossible \u2014 unless you know the secret.<\/p>\n

[…]A while back, I discussed how to receive data signals with a low cost shortwave radio (N&V<\/em>\u00a0May 2015<\/a><\/strong>). Now, the concept takes on a new dimension since we are using virtual radios not in our possession.<\/p>\n

As astonishing as it seems, many of these Web based shortwave receiver data signals can be processed and decoded using just your PC and some free decoding software. Yes, some signals are encrypted, and can\u2019t be decoded. Fortunately, there are plenty of unencrypted data signals around to keep us busy for a long time.<\/p>\n

However, as will be discussed later on, it does require a special trick to allow you to pipe the streaming audio signals from the Web to the decoding software. In this article, I will show you how to use these Web based shortwave receivers to access data transmissions and to get started in this exciting hobby. [Click here to read the full article…<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Unknown objects at the heart of the Milky Way are beaming radio signals, then mysteriously disappearing (Business Insider)<\/a><\/h2>\n

Ziteng Wang found a needle in an astronomical haystack.<\/p>\n

Wang, a physics PhD student at the University of Sydney, was combing through data from Australia’s ASKAP radio telescope in late 2020. His research team had detected 2 million objects with the telescope and was classifying each one.<\/p>\n

The computer identified most of the stars, and the stage of life or death they were in. It picked out telltale signs of a pulsar (a rapidly rotating dead star), for example, or a supernova explosion. But one object in the center of our galaxy stumped the computer and the researchers.<\/p>\n

The object emitted powerful radio waves throughout 2020 \u2014 six signals over nine months. Its irregular pattern and polarized radio emissions didn’t look like anything the researchers had seen before.<\/p>\n

Even stranger, they couldn’t find the object in X-ray, visible, or infrared light. They lost the radio signal, too, despite listening for months with two different radio telescopes. [Continue reading…<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Do countries with better-funded public media also have healthier democracies? Of course they do (Nieman Lab)<\/a><\/h2>\n

But the direction of causality is tricky. Do a democracy\u2019s flaws lead it to starve public media, or does starving public media lead to a democracy\u2019s flaws?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a new book coming out in the U.K. this week called The BBC: A People\u2019s History, by David Hendy. Its publisher calls it a \u201cmonumental work of popular history, making the case that the Beeb is as much of a national treasure as the NHS\u2026a now global institution that defines Britain and created modern broadcasting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cross the pond: While Americans generally like PBS and NPR, I wouldn\u2019t expect them to come up quickly if you asked someone on the street to begin listing national treasures. (I\u2019m even more sure America\u2019s health care system would go unmentioned, too.) Who \u201ccreated modern broadcasting\u201d in the U.S.? It certainly wasn\u2019t the two public broadcasters that didn\u2019t hit airwaves until 1970. And what TV network is a \u201cglobal institution\u201d that \u201cdefines\u201d the United States abroad? Apologies to PBS Newshour, but that\u2019s CNN.<\/p>\n

No one says \u201cAuntie Peebs.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s obvious that the U.S. approached the new broadcasting technologies of the 20th century in ways wildly different from their European peers \u2014 and in ways that reflect on the countries themselves. American radio began wild and unregulated, experimental, a bubbling font of creativity \u2014 and then quickly became commercialized, optimized for mass audiences and massive profits. The BBC, which turns 100 this year, was more structured, more statist, more controlled \u2014 but has remained more central to residents\u2019 lives, more civic-minded, and more beloved. [Continue reading…<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Pirates Spammed an Infamous Soviet Short-wave Radio Station with Memes (Vice)<\/a><\/h2>\n

The UVB-76 numbers station took a break from being a suspected communications tool of Russian intelligence to blast ‘Gangnam Style’<\/p>\n

Pirates hijacked an infamous short-wave radio station, which dates from the Soviet era but is still online today, and used it to broadcast everything from Gangnam Style to audio that draws memes when inspected under a spectrum analyzer.<\/p>\n

For decades the numbers station known as UVB-76 has emitted an enigmatic series of beeps and a voice reading numbers and names, in what people suspect is a long running communications method for Russian intelligence. Since the broadcast is public, pirates are able to use their software-defined radio (SDR) transmitters to effectively flood the frequencies with noise and memes.<\/p>\n

The recent barrage of attacks on the station come as Russia prepares to invade neighbouring Ukraine, where radio enthusiasts speculate at least some of the pirate broadcasts originate. [Continue reading…<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\n

Do you enjoy the SWLing Post?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Please consider supporting us via\u00a0Patreon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or our\u00a0Coffee<\/span>\u00a0Fund<\/span><\/a>! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0readers.\u00a0 To that end:\u00a0Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[56,960,3,297,43,1167],"tags":[4114,4789,9634,581,8259,614,5392],"class_list":["post-51558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-international-broadcasting","category-news","category-pirate-radio","category-shortwave-radio","category-whats-on-shortwave","tag-digital-modes","tag-fast-radio-bursts","tag-public-media","tag-radio-astronomy","tag-radio-waves","tag-uvb-76","tag-web-sdrs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-dpA","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42236,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/radio-waves-eugene-aisberg-filter-design-abc-workers-face-cuts-and-data-via-web-sdrs\/","url_meta":{"origin":51558,"position":0},"title":"Radio Waves: Eug\u00e8ne Aisberg, Filter Design, ABC Workers Face Cuts, and Data via Web SDRs","author":"Thomas","date":"March 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Broadcasting\u00a0 Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0readers.\u00a0 To that end:\u00a0Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s\u00a0Radio Waves, a collection\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Allied-2682-Dial-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Allied-2682-Dial-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Allied-2682-Dial-1024x678.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60376,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/radio-waves-radio-apocalypse-sdrs-and-updated-starwaves-drm-app\/","url_meta":{"origin":51558,"position":1},"title":"Radio Waves: Radio Apocalypse, SDRs, and Updated StarWaves DRM App","author":"Thomas","date":"August 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio.\u00a0Enjoy! 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