jeudi 26 mars 2026

Voice of America radio, which was shut down last year following a controversy, is returning to the airwaves. Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia overturned the Trump administration's actions last year to close Voice of America and ordered VOA journalists to return to work and reinstate the news service and programming. Judge Lamberth had previously ruled that Kari Lake's appointment was illegal, thus invalidating all the firings and closures she had implemented. Voice of America, founded in 1942 to combat Nazi propaganda during World War II, broadcast its programs in 49 languages to more than 360 million people worldwide before its closure. If Judge Royce's ruling is upheld, the goal is to regain those audience levels. Furthermore, the Voice of America Museum and the Westchester, Ohio Amateur Radio Club, a popular attraction during Hamvention, have no connection to the current situation and are not affected by it.

Voice of America was created during the Second World War. Alongside Radio Free Europe, launched during the Cold War, and Radio Free Asia, created in 1996, the international station aimed to carry the "voice of America" to the world, particularly to authoritarian countries.

vendredi 20 mars 2026

Strategic HF revival, and strong solar activity by Joerg Klingenfus

Strategic HF revival, and strong solar activity

Dear friends,

solar activity is still pretty strong, allowing excellent
reception of e.g. HFDL stations on 21 MHz - see our
hotfrequencies webpage updated daily. What's more, we've
monitored hundreds of new military frequencies ...

english.elpais.com, 19 March 2026: "The V32 numbers
station: a mysterious Cold War spying system revived in
Iran." Following a request from DE3JGA regarding the
so-called "V32" transmitter, we identified its location as the
Panzer-Kaserne near Boeblingen, not far away from here.
This is the headquarters of MARFOREUR, the United States
Marine Corps Forces Europe.

OM Akiyoshi Teraoka informs about the schedule of NHK's
emergency shortwave transmission in Japanese to Iran:
www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/thumbnails/en/informatio
n/nhk_world-japan_radio_begins_temporary_shortwave_tr
ansmission.pdf

In these times of conflicts and wars everywhere, remember
the key fact: shortwave = HF is the only medium for
inter-national and inter-continental communication that,
unlike e.g. SATCOM, landline connections, and submarine
cables, cannot be blocked, censored, or cut off. What's
more, there are no call costs or monthly fees.

Says Kenneth N. Larson KJ6RZ at www.skywave-radio.org in
his comprehensive Paper on HF Radio Communications -
July 2025: "High Frequency radio communications is
important! HF often provides dependable service during
disasters when all other forms of communications, including
cell phone, internet, and even satellite communications,
have failed. In remote areas, particularly mountainous
regions, HF is usually the only form of communications
available. HF communications is unique in that it is primarily
a stand-alone system. The only required infrastructure being
Earth´s ionosphere which is free, available everywhere, and
useful most of the time. In contrast, the other forms of
electronic communications require large, complex,
extremely expensive infrastructures costing hundreds of
billions if not trillions of dollars."

Says KNL from Finland at www.knl.fi : "The CNHF Manpack
Radio is redefining the HF market, allowing users to
efficiently and automatically use the whole HF spectrum
through cognitive sensing for voice and data. It receives
over 4000 calling channels automatically at the same time,
selects the best channel independently and establishes link
in less than a second - and it does all of this without
intervention of the radio operator."

Says R+S at www.rohde-schwarz.com: "Increasingly, HF
systems are seen as a reliable alternative to satellite
communications (SATCOM). HF systems can securely carry
voice and data traffic across similar international distances.
By contrast, SATCOM systems are vulnerable to detection
and jamming. SATCOM bandwidths may be saturated by
other users at any given moment."

Frank Bunker, United States of America - 26 February 2026:
"2025/2026 Guide to Utility Radio Stations ... many, many
years ago when I was younger I had one of these books,
probably back 30+ years, loved the book. I had a DX100 HF
rig I use to tune into the different stations around the
world. Now, many years later, being a ham radio operator,
and into using SDR's, a whole new world opened up and
want this book again badly since I cannot locate my old
book and is way outdated now anyways."

John Pitchford KX4QC, United States of America - 6 February
2026: "2026 Super Frequency List on CD ... Double CDs with
Modulation Types ... Returning customer. Excellent
products."

Georg Wiessala, ex Editor of Radio User (formerly
Shortwave Magazine), United Kingdom, in The Spectrum
Monitor, United States of America - February 2026: "What
always impresses me is the amount and quality of additional
information on offer here. The 2026 Shortwave Frequency
Guide is a complete HF resource in and of itself, as well as a
tried-and-tested frequency list ... It also explains the
indispensable geopolitical background and a view of the
future of HF, in times of climate change and war returning
to Europe. Klingenfuss is the only guide that offers this in an
up-to-date form and points to the future: AI algorithms, for
example, can now help discover transmission patterns ...
2026 Super Frequency List on CD ... I particularly enjoyed
the article about 'Artificial Intelligence for Radio Signals
Exploitation' ..."

Sergio Mas Ruiz, Spain - 10 January 2026: "2026 Shortwave
Frequency Guide ... Muchas gracias por tu incansable labor y
dedicacion. Un trabajo excelente y meticuloso realizado
durante tantos anos."

Michael Haberer, Germany - 16 December 2024:
"2025/2026 Guide to Utility Radio Stations ... Wie immer
aktuelle und professionell recherchierte Informationen
ueber Utility-Stations. Vielen Dank an alle Beteiligten für die
wirklich aufwaendige Erstellung dieses Handbuches."

For more very recent references see
www.klingenfuss.org/ref.htm .

Best wishes - 73, Joerg Klingenfuss

Klingenfuss Publications
Klingenfuss Radio Monitoring
Hagenloher Str. 14
72070 Tuebingen
Germany
Phone +49 7071 62830
Fax +49 7071 600849
www.klingenfuss.org
E-Mail info@klingenfuss.org

The SWL contest 2026 rules are translated in 5 languages now.

English +

https://chinaradiosswl.blogspot.com/2026/01/swl-contest-2026-rules-am-radio.html

I just translated the contest rules in Japanese.

mercredi 18 mars 2026

Revue en PDF de radioamateurs-france Mars avril 2026

https://www.radioamateurs-france.fr/wp-content/uploads/n2-mars-avril-2026.pdf

dimanche 15 mars 2026

Who is French SWL Frank F14368 ???

Hi, many SWL ask me when I start to listen to radio stations. I think when my mother was pregnant with baby Frankie, I listened to the radios. She loves to listen to long wave RTL and Europe 1, these radio stations are easy to listen from Paris. I remember after school (I think in 1962) I was in the kitchen with my mommy and listened to famous bands like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.

Our nice Philips radio with valves and magic eyes to listen to AM on LW, MW and SW.

We also have a big black and white TX with only one channel ! From our window, we can see the top of the Eiffel Tower, so we have an indoor antenna. I like to watch TV show with singers.

Sometimes when i was older, I liked to listen to the radio stations on MW during the night, especially pop and rock music. There were no FM radios in the 60s and 70s in France with this kind of music. Free FM radio arrived only in 1981.

Before 1981 there were some pirate FM radio stations, and I was happy to listen to these stations. I had a big boombox and was near the roof of a 6-level house in Paris.

But in 1980 i buy my first CB radio and in 1981 my first SWL radio SANYO

But few months ago I got a YAESU

So I've been an SWL since 1981 !!!!!

My antenna was a wire on the roof. A SWL friend called me one evening and asked me to listen to a frequency; I think it was on 14 MHz. It was a radio station from Antarctica !

I don't receive a QSL card but a letter QSL from the commandant of this base !!!

Later I put a CB radio antenna on the roof and used it to listen to AM radio stations on SW. And make DX on 11 meter with a President Jackson.

My first QSL was from an amateur radio operator in Andorra ( the RX was a YAESU FT 707 S )

My first CB radio QSL was from a CB radio operator from the island of Sicily.

So I get the virus of DXing as a SWL and a pirate on 11 meter.

In 46 years I had a lot of TX and RX but now in 2026 I use a WEB SDR to listen to AM radio stations and SW amateur radios bands because of QRM and no good antenna on the roof.

look all my radio equipment since 1980

https://chinaradiosswl.blogspot.com/2024/04/my-japanese-radio-receiver-1981-to-2024.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20231122152351/https://webkiwisdrswl.blogspot.com/2023/10/my-radio-receivers-in-past-and-some-cb.html

My radio lover is a long story; I was also a DJ

https://audio.com/franck-fzeroduw/audio/dj-frankie8888

and a creator with friends of an FM radio station, a redactor of the SWL section of CQ Radioamateur France and a member of many clubs for SWL or HAM Radio. For a long time because of big QRM, I was on virtual HAM radio via Internet and VoIP. With a real receiver and antenna I have confirmed as an SWL with paper QSL cards 250 DXCC in the 90s and 330 IOTA award. I participated in many SWL contests. I also organized SWL contests in the 80s and 90s. In 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 i organize again contest for SWL. Many SWL have won gifts from sponsors. Now my goal is to listen to new DXCC entities on Ham SW bands. I also like to listen to AM radio on SW. I have 5 blogs and a Facebook group. Thank you and 73 de Frank SWL F14368 near Paris FRANCE

in 1996

QSL for HamSphere 4.0

jeudi 12 mars 2026

Vous cherchez un recepteur un transceiver de quoi faire du 11 metre etc

Contactez-moi par ce mail si vous avez des questions swlcontest@gmx.fr J'ai un ami SWL F-15413 Bernard qui vend sa collection parce que déménagement et plus assez de place pour tout ces TX, RX. Envoi par Mondial Relay, paiement PAYPAL possible. Sinon en visu sur le 54 à Dieuze en Moselle. Il y a du YAESU, KENWOOD, ICOM et d'autres marques. Des antennes, micros, alimentations, amplis, etc. Il met des annonces sur RADIOAMATEUR.ORG https://radioamateur.org/ cherchez département 54, il envoie par Mondial Relay.

Il n'a pas encore tout mis en vente sur radioamateur.org, il y a aussi pour les collectionneurs des TX anciens. Des petits prix pour ceux à réviser ou réparer. Lot possible.

73 de frank SWL F14368

mercredi 11 mars 2026

Regulamento do Concurso SWL 2026 (rádio AM, SW ou ...

Regulamento do Concurso SWL 2026 (rádio AM, SW ou ...: Existem aproximadamente 7.000 línguas no mundo, sem contar com os milhares de dialetos. Em 2026, o objetivo deste concurso é ouvir o maior ...

mardi 10 mars 2026

Reglas de la competición SWL 2026 radio AM, SW o d...

WEBSDRSWL: Reglas de la competición SWL 2026 radio AM, SW o d...: Hay aproximadamente 7000 idiomas en el mundo, sin contar los miles de dialectos. En 2026, el objetivo de este concurso es escuchar el mayor...

samedi 7 mars 2026

Why SWL is better than to be an amateur radio operator ?

WHY ???

To be an amateur radio operator, you need to have an authorization from your government.

You need to pass an exam, which is very have in many countries of the world to work DX on SW HAM bands (except in belgium, UK, USA )

You need expensive equipment and large antennas; in many poor countries, amateur radio is impossible because salaries are very low.

You need a room for your HAM radio equipment and land for your big antennas. Computers and screens.

In some places you can't have big antennas for amateur radio.

Lightning can strike your antenna and start a fire in your radio shack.

If you use phone mode (to talk in SSB) you can't do it if your family is near you, especially at night.

Listen with headphones

You need to pay taxes to your government every year.

Send QSL cards can be very expensive.

Lots of antennas for this amateur radio operator

For an SWL, which stands for shortwave listener, a radio listener who specifically tunes into shortwave radio frequencies:

No need to pass an exam (except in rare countries it's ok to listen to the radio stations in AM mode on MW and Shortwave; it's also ok to listen to amateur radio in different modes)

Equipment is not expensive; with even a $10 radio receiver, you can listen to MW and SW.

If you like to listen to SSB HAM radio operators, you need around 90 US dollars to buy a radio receiver.

If you have more money you can have a good radio receiver and a long wire antenna to catch DX stations in AM or SSB, CW etc. You can make your antenna for a cheap price.

You can listen anywhere in your home with headphones if you use a small portable radio. You can listen also outside, in a park, etc.

If you have a big and expensive radio receiver, you must have a small place to be quiet with no noise from family. Also use headphones.

Be careful also with lightning if your antenna is out of your home.

They are cheap loop antennas that can be used indoors or outdoors.

If you listen to a radio station, you can send a reception report to receive an electronic QSL card.

You don't need to pay taxes to the government just to listen.

If you have a computer and internet connection, you can listen to AM radio stations or amateur radio operators. This is KIWI or WEB SDR. It's FREE!!!

Some programs look like amateur radio but are open to everybody, even if you are not an amateur radio operator with a call sign, such as online platforms that allow users to stream live radio broadcasts or participate in discussions without needing a license. You need a computer, internet, and a microphone like a headset to talk with people all over the world via the internet and VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), which allows for voice communication over the internet. Look HamSphere on GOOGLE

Some people prefer to be SWL (shortwave listeners) even if they are intelligent enough to pass the exam, as they enjoy the experience of listening to radio broadcasts from around the world without the need for complex equipment or licenses.

So I think SWL is a wonderful hobby.

Yes, you can also try to be an amateur radio operator! Why not !

73 de Frank SWL F14368 also FØDUW radioactive since 1981

You can find a lot of information for SWL on my 5 blogs

https://chinaradiosswl.blogspot.com/

https://icomjapan.blogspot.com/

https://webkiwisdrswl.blogspot.com/

https://swlradiosonsw.blogspot.com/

https://mwlistener.blogspot.com/