{"id":52572,"date":"2022-04-23T08:32:02","date_gmt":"2022-04-23T12:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=52572"},"modified":"2022-04-23T08:32:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-23T12:32:02","slug":"radio-waves-border-blaster-early-days-resistance-on-the-radiowaves-towers-with-flared-skirts-and-palau-restores-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/radio-waves-border-blaster-early-days-resistance-on-the-radiowaves-towers-with-flared-skirts-and-palau-restores-am\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Waves: Border Blaster Early Days, Resistance on the Radiowaves, Towers With Flared Skirts, and Palau Restores AM"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

Welcome 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

\n

In border radio\u2019s early days, psychics and mystics ruled the airwaves (Mexico News Daily)<\/a><\/h2>\n

Charlatans originally built powerful ‘border blaster’ stations to evade scrutiny by US authorities<\/strong><\/p>\n

In radio\u2019s early decades, among the oddball attractions found on the airwaves from 1920 to 1940 included a husband-and-wife team of psychics broadcasting from the U.S.-Mexico border under the stage names of Koran and Rose Dawn who became so popular that their extensive following helped them create a secondary income source: an organization called The Mayan Order.<\/p>\n

Those who applied for membership and received its periodicals, the founders suggested, could harness the ancient Mesoamerican civilization\u2019s secrets.<\/p>\n

The pair were just two of the many psychics and other broadcasters of questionable integrity on the airwaves along the Rio Grande during radio\u2019s beginnings. These characters built \u201cborder-blaster\u201d stations of such epic size and scope that they could transmit from the Mexican side of the border into the United States.<\/p>\n

Author John Benedict Buescher\u2019s new book, Radio Psychics: Mind Reading and Fortune Telling in American Broadcasting, 1920\u20131940, unearths Koran and Rose Dawn\u2019s forgotten story, as well as those of about 25 other border-blaster radio personalities on the Rio Grande who were heirs to a longtime American fascination with the occult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised how really dominant this stuff was in the early days of radio,\u201d Buescher said. \u201cRadio historians typically have just waved it off, not really focused on it, didn\u2019t really take it seriously.\u201d [Continue reading…<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Ukraine’s resistance on the radiowaves (DW Video)<\/a><\/h2>\n

Ukraine is fighting with more than weapons. The airwaves are also a frontier. Ukrainian computer specialists and radio operators have managed to jam Russian communications or intercept them. revealing some shocking details of the war’s brutality.<\/p>\n

Click here to watch the view at DW’s website.<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Well-Dressed Towers May Wear Flared Skirts (Radio World)<\/a><\/h2>\n

Cox, Dawson explore the benefits of umbrella-spoke feed for MW towers<\/p>\n

Ben Dawson and Bobby Cox will talk about flared skirts at the NAB Show.<\/p>\n

\u201cA flared skirt is a set of symmetrically spaced cables around the tower, which attach electrically near the top of the tower, extend outward from the tower along a path similar to the top guy cables, and then turn back in toward the tower base at a point roughly halfway down the tower,\u201d said Cox, senior staff engineer at Kintronic Labs.<\/p>\n

\u201cInsulators at this midpoint insulate the cables from ground. The cables terminate on an insulated feed ring encircling the tower base above ground level, similarly to a conventional skirt feed. The antenna is driven between this feed ring and RF ground. The resulting flared skirt takes the shape of a diamond, looking rather like umbrella spokes.\u201d<\/p>\n

These systems are used to provide a feed arrangement for grounded towers that is mechanically simple but has certain attractive aspects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wide bandwidth characteristics of the flared skirt make these antenna designs extremely useful for multiplexing several AM stations onto a common antenna,\u201d said Dawson, consultant engineer at Hatfield & Dawson. [Continue reading…<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Palau restores AM radio service (RNZ)<\/a><\/h2>\n

After erecting a new tower Palau’s state broadcaster has restored its AM radio service.<\/p>\n

The previous AM tower was destroyed during Typhoon Bopha, in 2012.<\/p>\n

Rondy Ronny, head of programming said that the new AM tower and radio service will benefit all the 16 states of Palau.<\/p>\n

“A lot of the outlying states are not able to connect into the internet and just don’t have that capability or have very high tech phones like how we do here in Koror. People don’t expect people from Angaur, from Babeldaob to be on their phones all the time.”<\/p>\n

Ronny said that the new tower will be crucial to Palauans during natural disasters. [Continue reading at RNZ…<\/a>]<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/podcast.radionz.co.nz\/pacn\/dateline-20220421-0600-palau_am_service_restored_years_after_typhoon_bopha-128.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\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 Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio.\u00a0Enjoy! In border radio\u2019s early days, psychics and mystics ruled the airwaves (Mexico News Daily) Charlatans originally built powerful ‘border blaster’ stations to evade scrutiny by […]<\/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":[373,56,960,433,3,305,288,43],"tags":[7441,329,9777,634,1264,9688,2615],"class_list":["post-52572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-broadcasters","category-international-broadcasting","category-mediumwave","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","category-shortwave-radio","tag-border-blasters","tag-dw","tag-palau","tag-radio-world","tag-rnz","tag-russian-invasion-of-ukraine","tag-ukraine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-dFW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50766,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/radio-waves-radio-and-education-border-blasters-fm-switch-delayed-per-dcms-and-a-quick-temporary-am-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":52572,"position":0},"title":"Radio Waves: Radio and Education, Border Blasters, FM Switch Delayed per DCMS, and A Quick Temporary AM Antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"November 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/WHKY-AM-Towers-Transmitter-Site.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/WHKY-AM-Towers-Transmitter-Site.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/WHKY-AM-Towers-Transmitter-Site.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/WHKY-AM-Towers-Transmitter-Site.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/WHKY-AM-Towers-Transmitter-Site.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52593,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/radio-waves-first-bnr-overseas-broadcasts-russian-milcomm-intercepts-mount-merapi-community-radio-and-saskatchewans-oldest-station-turns-100\/","url_meta":{"origin":52572,"position":1},"title":"Radio Waves: First BNR Overseas Broadcasts, Russian Milcomm Intercepts, Mount Merapi Community Radio, and Saskatchewan’s Oldest Station Turns 100","author":"Thomas","date":"April 27, 2022","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! The fascinating story of the first overseas broadcasts BNR (Radio Bulgaria) In 1936 BNR, then under the name of Radio\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\/2018\/12\/RCA-Vintage-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/RCA-Vintage-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/RCA-Vintage-Dial.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/RCA-Vintage-Dial.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/RCA-Vintage-Dial.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65671,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/radio-waves-remembering-cbs-radio-taking-back-the-airwaves-women-led-radio-stations-russian-great-firewall-and-wlrh-audience-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":52572,"position":2},"title":"Radio Waves: Remembering CBS Radio, Taking Back the Airwaves, Women-Led Radio Stations, Russian Great Firewall, and WLRH Audience Crisis","author":"Thomas","date":"March 25, 2026","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! Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dennis Dura, NT, and Mark Pascoe for the following tips: Remembering CBS Radio\u2019s Beginnings\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\/10\/Marconi-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Marconi-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Marconi-Dial.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Marconi-Dial.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61851,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/radio-waves-35-years-of-rnz-and-bulgarian-national-radios-new-qsl-cards\/","url_meta":{"origin":52572,"position":3},"title":"Radio Waves: 35 Years of RNZ and Bulgarian National Radio\u2019s New QSL cards","author":"Thomas","date":"January 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio.\u00a0Enjoy! Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor\u00a0David Iurescia for the following tips: RNZ Pacific - 35 years of broadcasting to the region (RNZ) January 24, 1990, the same day the Auckland\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/BNR-QSL-Card.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/BNR-QSL-Card.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/BNR-QSL-Card.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/BNR-QSL-Card.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55222,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/radio-waves-new-massive-over-the-horizon-radar-evolution-of-receivers-tour-of-eisenhowers-air-force-one-and-abc-on-cricket-in-1930s\/","url_meta":{"origin":52572,"position":4},"title":"Radio Waves: New Massive Over-The-Horizon Radar, Evolution of Receivers, Tour of Eisenhower’s Air Force One, and ABC on Cricket in 1930s","author":"Thomas","date":"January 3, 2023","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! US Begins Installing \u2018Mighty\u2019 Over-The-Horizon Radar In Palau That Can Detect Objects Thousands of KMs Away! (The EurAsian Times) The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Boat-Anchor-Dial-2-e1531303366290.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Boat-Anchor-Dial-2-e1531303366290.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Boat-Anchor-Dial-2-e1531303366290.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Boat-Anchor-Dial-2-e1531303366290.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52355,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/radio-waves-pacific-broadcasting-podcasting-ancestor-shortwave-powerful-necessary-spamming-russia-comms-and-wrmi-tour\/","url_meta":{"origin":52572,"position":5},"title":"Radio Waves: Pacific Broadcasting, Podcasting Ancestor, Spamming Russia Comms, WRMI Tour, Shortwave Necessary, and SW Revival a Non-Starter","author":"Thomas","date":"April 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Kenwood-HT-AM-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Kenwood-HT-AM-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Kenwood-HT-AM-Dial.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Kenwood-HT-AM-Dial.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52572","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=52572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}