I have a soft spot in my heart for Art Bell. As a former overnight DJ and grad student who kept relatively nocturnal hours for a good portion of the 90s, I admired Bell’s unique ability to engage guests and callers in topics that ranged from scientifically plausible (the theory that there have been multiple […]
In the days since the disastrous earthquake in Nepal amateur radio operators have been lending critical communications assistance, especially in places where power, telephone, wireless and internet service has been interrupted. Nepal has only 99 licensed amateur radio operators, which is why hams from other countries have traveled to the country to help. The country’s […]
The Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the Voice of America and other such services, has issued a report on short wave radio. Bottom line: it isn’t looking great for the BBG’s commitment to the service. From the report: “The BBG must use shortwave where it is most effective. In the past, shortwave audiences were […]
I was in a local independent book and magazine shop this weekend when a nicely designed magazine on a display table immediately drew my attention. I had never seen Uppercase Magazine before. But the sleek cover art mixing up a radio with knitting needles as the antenna and a stylized ball of yarn as the […]
Family Radio-owned shortwave radio station WYFR is slated to resume broadcasts on December 1, following the sale of the station facility to Radio Miami International (WRMI). As we reported earlier this year, WYFR ceased broadcasts on June 30, 2013. Many in the shortwave community were saddened by the loss of this historic station, as it […]
As the Shortwave Listening Post reminds us, Halloween is a peak broadcast day for unlicensed shortwave pirates. For folks with a shortwave radio, SWLing blogger Thomas instructs, “Turn on your radio anytime today, but especially around twilight and tune between 6,920 – 6,980 kHz. Pirates broadcast on both AM and SSB; you’re bound to hear […]
The SWLing Post tips us off to a changing of the guard in one corner of the radio publication world. Monitoring Times is the magazine that has served enthusiasts tuning in to all manner of radio signals, from shortwave, AM and FM to the obscure territories of longwave, amateur satellite and military communications. After 33 […]
As I publish this piece Wednesday evening it is increasingly likely there will be military attacks on Syria by the US, Britain and allies in response to evidence that the Syrian government carried out chemical weapons attacks on its own citizens. It is certainly a tense situation, and for the people of Syria the situation […]
Meet the latest innovation in digital communications technology: a radio receiver built the year that Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It is a 1938 Philco console rigged by shortwave operator Gerhard, W6XH to pick up a Voice of America Radiogram. These radiograms are basically radio propelled text messages transmitted via the multiple-frequency shift […]
The New York Times has an interesting profile of former BBC journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown, a prominent voice in the struggle against deforestation in Malaysia. The daughter of a colonial era Malaysian police officer, Brown contributes to Radio Free Sarawak, a shortwave operation with an estimated ten thousand listeners. “If you have a problem in […]
