2007 calendar from china radio international

China Radio International sent me this cool, circular 2007 calendar. Since I've been hearing a lot about the year of the pig recently, I felt motivated to briefly remove this from my refrigerator for a photo-op.

In other news, VOA did not send me a 2007 calendar despite my request.

anonymous tip about redsun rp3000 / rp3100

In case you missed it, I thought I'd forward this comment from an anonymous reader a few weeks ago:

Redsun may introduce two new radios, the RP3000 and the RP3100. Differences: RP3100 FM will go from 76 - 108 MHz, in the RP3000 FM will go from 87 - 108 MHz. RP3100 will not have the air band, RP3000 will have it. There will be other differences too ...

I've been checking eBay every few days for new Redsun radios, but nothing has appeared yet...

caribbean beacon qsl

When I opened my mailbox a few days ago, I had to do a double take. I received a QSL card that I was no longer anticipating! The Caribbean Beacon is a station in Anguilla that transmits the late Dr. Gene Scott's pre-recorded religious-oriented broadcasts.

This was a difficult QSL to get. First, the station does not broadcast any identifying information, it only identifies its content provider. (At least, that was my experience.) So I had to search on the web to try to find a mailing address. Then I posted that to the rec.radio.shortwave newsgroup asking for confirmation, and someone gave me a different mailing address. Then I went to several post offices to try to obtain an international reply coupon, which turned out to be impossible at the time. Then I mailed my letter off along with a U.S. dollar inside for return postage, and after almost 6 months, I assumed that my efforts had failed.

The postage stamp on my QSL card lists the postage value at $1.50. This is probably in East Caribbean Dollars (XCD). XCD$1.50 equals about USD$0.56 so my postage reimbursement was fine. IRCs currently cost USD$1.85 which would have been way too much.

The back of the QSL card includes an email address below the signature. If you'd like to get a QSL from this station, perhaps you can request it via email.

xm and sirius plan to merge

Two struggling satellite radio companies based in the United States will try to combine to produce one successful satellite radio company:

* Satellite radio's XM, Sirius to merge

I previously posted about this rumor in January 2007.

firedrake jammer logs, 17 feb 2007

I did a quick scan on my Eton E5 this morning (starting at 1800 UTC) and found the Firedrake jammer on a few frequencies:

* 7535 khz, moderately strong
* 9355 khz, moderately strong
* 11790 khz, weak
* 11945 khz, very strong

7535 khz and 9355 khz are frequencies for Radio Free Asia in Mandarin. I'm not sure what's being jammed on 11790 khz. 11945 khz is used by the BBC World Service. [Edit: MarkV-NL on #swl pointed out that 11790 khz is also a Radio Free Asia frequency.]

If you're unfamiliar with the Firedrake jammer, one of my older posts includes links to short recordings and more explanation.

air traffic control feeds

I found this nifty site over at Metafilter:

* LiveATC.net - Live air traffic control audio feeds

Some of you have probably have been there before, but it's new to me!

[Edit: I just heard "foxray... foxtrot X-RAY..." on the KSEA Tower feed.]

the allure of shortwave

This article, by a shortwave radio enthusiast, was previously posted to Radiointel.com and the rec.radio.shortwave newsgroup. It provides a simple and effective summary of what lures people to the shortwave hobby. Here's the first paragraph:

"The first time I heard a shortwave radio broadcast was on a winter night in the mid-1960s. I was a Boy Scout, visiting my scoutmaster to work on a merit badge. But before I left, he showed me a radio on a shelf above his basement workbench. He turned it on and played with the dial. Suddenly, I heard a voice declare that I was listening to Radio South Africa. ..."

Full article: A signal heard round the world

grundig g1 is a darker, rebranded eton e1

I visited the Eton website today, and saw a product I haven't seen before: Grundig G1. It appears to be the same radio as the Eton E1 but with a darker enclosure. This is similar to the gray Eton E5 being followed many months later by a Grundig G5 in a darker enclosure. The Grundig G1 is listed as coming soon.

I like the darker enclosures of these Grundig-branded radios, and the Grundig logo looks cooler too.

chinese people learn to smile

Here's some amusing news from China: citizens are learning how to smile!

Smiling shouldn't be a chore