Aerial and Earth Systems
By “Starlite”
From the 1948/49 “Lamphouse” Annual
The early pioneers of radio were once faced by a very serious problem. Their crude attempts at transmission were being held up as the range achieved was extremely limited. Someone got the bright idea of suspending a piece of wire in the air. Thus the aerial was born. The earth was the logical conclusion. Radio transmission and reception experiments increased in efficiency.
The same holds good today.
Thanks to Bill Marsh, here is a glimpse of the Australia/NZ broadcast band in 1948. Click on the image below to enlarge it.
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Posted in Broadcasters, History
The “Russian Woodpecker.” (Photo credit: Matt. Create.)
No, not the cute feathered woodpecker, but the Russian Over the Horizon Radar which sent it’s incessant and loud rat-a-tat-tat over the shortwave bands.
Thanks to Paul Rawdon reporting on DX Dialog, here are some excellent photos of a typical installation.
Posted in Clandestine, Shortwave
If you’re having difficulty getting the image galleries (QSLs, AGM/Convention photos, receivers etc) to display, it isn’t your computer! There is an incompatibility between the NextGen gallery app (plug-in) and the latest version of WordPress (the program this site is built with). The NextGen team are working on a bug-fix currently so we’re waiting on an update.
We are grateful to Andy Gardner for helping us move this website from our previous under-performing host company to his own server and for all the work to get it moved over. If you see a pink background on any pages, you are on the old site. Refreshing your cache or deleting your browsing history should correct things.
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Posted in Websites
Thanks to The SWLing Post, below are the details of changes to the Voice of America broadcasts. The info was provided by Letitia King, spokeswoman for the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
Facts and Figures on Shortwave Broadcast Reductions
June 30, 2014
U.S. international media must optimize program delivery by market. We are ending some shortwave transmissions. We continue shortwave to those countries where these transmissions are still reaching significant audiences or where there are no reasonable alternative platforms at a lower cost to the BBG.
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Posted in Broadcasters, Shortwave
The WRTH Editorial team is pleased to announce that the A14 International broadcast season schedules are now available for free download from the WRTH website, navigate to: http://www.wrth.com and follow the links.
The file is in PDF format and will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader (http://www.adobe.com).
Included in the 76 page, 3MB, file are the full summer ‘A’ Season broadcast schedules for International and Clandestine & Other Target broadcasters and DRM, Selected language broadcasts. Also a by frequency listing of the above schedules and a table of sites and site codes used.
We hope you find this a useful accompaniment to the printed WRTH edition.
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Posted in Publications
Eike Birwirth has kindly made this updater for his international shortwave broadcaster schedules available on his website.
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Posted in Schedules, Shortwave, Time-sensitive
HCJB’s pioneering quad antenna
The name HCJB may be consigned to history but the memory of founder Clarence Jones lives in. From Regina’s “Leader-Post” comes this story of how it’s ministry still influences people.
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Posted in Broadcasters, Stations
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s failure to maintain SW services has finally been noticed by the bureaucrats. Look for a resumption in SW services soon if the following item on the Voice of the People’s website stirs the technicians into action! The cynical would wonder why its taken this long for the board members to notice, unless of course they don’t have a SW radio! By the way, the Voice of the People is the clandestine opposition to the government’s Voice of Zimbabwe.
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Posted in Broadcasters, Shortwave
Photo credit: Wikipedia
With the current situation in the Crimea and Ukraine, should the BBG have ramped up SW broadcasts via VOA, Liberty & Free Europe??? Maybe so… this article from the Government Executive website thinks they have.
Another article from WSB’s website is along the same vein.
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Posted in Uncategorized
Voice of America logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It has been over 6 years since VOA closed its famous Delano, California transmitter site and it has sat idle all that time.
Now it seems something is going to happen at last… but don’t expect a SW resurrection any time soon!
More from the Bakersfield Californian website.
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Posted in Broadcasters, Shortwave
Flag of the Red Cross (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Red Cross and New Zealand Radio DX League member Peter Grenfell from Oamaru was kind enough to share the following:
“You might be interested in a radio programme which was broadcast over National Radio just after 10am on 26th & 27th December 2013. It was a Jack Perkins documentary and part of it featured the POW monitoring service which was operated by N.Z. D.X.ers during the second World War together with the N.Z. Red Cross. You can hear the first part on this site on RadioNew Zealand’s web-site.
Posted in History
The FCC has made proposals to ensure the future of the AM broadcast band. However, the National Alliance of AM Broadcasters is not in full agreement with the way officialdom has mapped out the future. More in this article from the Radio & Music website.
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Posted in Broadcasters, Medium Wave
CBS Logo Light (Photo credit: watchwithkristin)
CBS is one of the world-wide giants of broadcasting and a name well-known to NZ mediumwave DXers, old-timers will recall them on shortwave also… Radio World has an interesting article on their HF history
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Posted in Broadcasters, Shortwave
English: Radio Canada International Transmitter Station, Tantramar Marsh, New Brunswick, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Sackville, New Brusnwick transmitter site is being torn down. Radio Canada Int closed in 2012 , so ending a chapter that began before World War 2. The Sackville Tribune carried this report.
Posted in Broadcasters, Shortwave
The Broadcasting Board of Governors, i.e. those responsible for VOA, Radio Liberty, Radio Farda, Radio Free Asia etc etc is asking for opinions on that. Though their interest seems more aimed at dissemination of the American viewpoint than a sentimental desire to entertain the masses and give SW a new lease of life!
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Posted in DXpeditions, Shortwave
The Independent newspaper published a web article echoing similar stories of recent times, on how radio has survived of technological “advances”.
Here is their slant on the medium that is turning into the cockroach of technology!
Thanks to Martin Hadlow for posting this link on DX Dialog.
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Posted in Broadcasters
“The Beeb” on SW is once again getting pared down in an effort to save money. This story from The Guardian website.
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Posted in Broadcasters, Shortwave
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Posted in Publications
Buggles, performers of the hit song “Video Killed the Radio Star” Cr: Wikipedia
Or did it? Radio has withstood all manner of technological incarnations, will anything kill it off? Thanks to Martin Hadlow via the DX Dialog user-group for alerting us to this interesting article.
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Posted in Broadcasters
You must be a member of the New Zealand Radio DX League to access this SDR.
