Today FM Closes
MediaWorks, parent company of Today FM, has pulled the plug on its New Zealand-wide talk-back radio network.
The Sun, Radio Propagation and the Brasilia Planetarium
Martin Butera takes a look at how the sun impacts radio propagation, with a bonus photo-tour of the Brasilia Planetarium.
Return to Guadeloupe
We return to the French island of Guadeloupe which is shaped like the wings of a butterfly that is flying towards the northwest. That island is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and we examine the early communication radio scene and their almost three quarter century of mediumwave radio history.
Tasmanian Whales Stranded Again, and Four Mediumwave Stations
We present another story of two more mediumwave stations on the island of Tasmania; two double commercial stations (7UV & 7AD and 7DY & 7SD) in country areas to the north of the island.
Hurricane Fiona and the Early Shortwave Scene on Guadeloupe
Adrian Peterson takes a look at Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, and its early radio history.
Radio Revolution
In 2006 Citylife paid a visit to the contrasting faces of radio, the hugely popular Morning Crew at ZM and the niche carved out by World FM in Tawa and Massey University’s Munt FM.
The Saga of Radio Antwerpen
During the 1920s and 1930s, a multitude of small radio broadcasting stations (some formal though most were informal), took to the air throughout Belgium, rather like what was happening in many other countries throughout the world. The stations in Belgium were installed in private homes, business locations, church buildings, and even out in the fields; wherever was convenient.
The Radio Scene at the End of the Highway: Cooktown Part 2
This is our second topic on the radio scene at Cooktown at the end of the highway in Cape York Peninsula, at the far north of coastal Queensland in Australia. Unexpectedly, Cooktown was the second largest town in Queensland at the height of the nearby gold rush in the 1880s. Back then, the state capital Brisbane had a population of 50,000 and Cooktown had a population of 30,000.
Coffee and Radio – with Ivan Dias
Today Coffee and Radio brings you an interview with DXer Ivan Dias
Dario Monferini – RIP
Italian DXer Daro Monferini has died after a long illness. The death of Dario Monferini has come as a shock to those involved in shortwave radio. Blogs announced the passing of Dario on the morning of October 17, 2022, after the news was spread rapidly via social media. Dario was a well-known DXer worldwide whose contribution to the hobby is well-documented.
Disney AFRS Poster
In 2022 Susan Knisley found this in a cabin in Athol, ID. She sent it to us and we added it to our collection of Long Lost Radio History Images.
Inside the Green and Yellow Contest
Our correspondent in Brazil, for RHF Martin Butera PT2ZDX/LU9EFO, had access to PT2CVA, the official broadcaster of the famous Brazilian “Verde Amarelo” contest, organized by the Brazilian army communications school.
Empneusi FM, Syros
Syros – about four hours ferry ride from Athens – is a tranquil island known as the Cinderella of the Cyclades. Today, the island is home to Empneusi FM, a radio station dedicated to the broadcasting of traditional Greek music and the coverage of local events.
3XY and the Falling Door
Back on April 19, 1944, there was a military parade through the downtown streets of Melbourne city with soldiers marching, a musical band from the Royal Air Force playing, and aircraft flying in formation overhead. A prominent announcer from radio station 3XY, Alwyn Kurts, was in one of the accompanying aircraft and he was describing for listeners what he was observing in the parade on the city streets below.
High School Radio Is Alive and Well at WMTN
The low power station in Tennessee was recently outfitted with all-new tech and gear. By Elle Kehres ⋅ RadioWorld
Radio Dunedin at 100
In 2022 New Zealand radio station “Radio Dunedin” celebrates 100 years of broadcasting. The station was launched in late 1922, becoming the first radio station in New Zealand.
A tour of ZW5B: One of the largest DX contest stations in South America
Our columnist in South America, Martín Butera, presents us with an interesting tour of this impressive South American contest station. With more than 10 towers and large stacked single band yagis, this is one of the most consistent calls in global and national contests.
Coffee and Radio – with Denis Zoqbi
Denis Zoqbi, born in the capital of Sao Paulo, is one of the most influential Dxers in Brazil, he became known in Brazilian and Latin American Dxsism for developing a very economical loop antenna with very good reception performance, thanks to that he founded the company called Stars Telecom, a company that has been in Brazil for more than 20 years and has already sold thousands of antennas inside and outside of Brazil.
For Decades, Lonewolf Has Supported “The Voice of the Arctic”
Pierre Lonewolf’s career journey that led him to Kotzebue, Alaska in the early 1980s included a stop in a very large California metropolis, where he realized big-city living just wasn’t for him.
The Radio Scene at the End of the Highway
The July (2022) issue of the Australian DX News presents an interesting story about plans for an amateur DXpediton to the Grassy Hill Lighthouse overlooking the small northern town of Cooktown, at the end of the highway in far northern Queensland. This readable feature article reminds us that there have been three different eras associated with the radio scene in Cooktown.
Radio Tirana’s Kiwi Connection
During 2022 several articles appeared in New Zealand media looking at a New Zealand woman who worked as an announcer for Albania’s Radio Tirana English service during the Communist era. We take a look at some of them here in this feature.
American Radio Stations in New Zealand
Additional interesting information about American radio stations in New Zealand, back during the World War 2 era, and also subsequently.
American Radio Stations in New Zealand: The 1ZM Story
During the Pacific War in the middle of last century, American forces poured into the South Pacific by the million, with multitudes coming into Auckland also, for Rest & Refreshment and also as a staging area before transferring into the islands to the north. In prewar days, the American army officer Major Purnell H. Gould had been employed at radio station WFBR in Baltimore MD, and he was subsequently appointed as the regional commander for American forces entertainment radio stations in the Pacific.
Return to the Radio Scene in Bulgaria
We present the story about the huge radio broadcasting station that was erected at Vakarel back in the era before the beginning of World War 2. Vakarel is a small town some 25 miles south east of the national capital Sophia with a population of less than two thousand.
AIR Kurseong Celebrates 60 Years
The Kurseong station of All India Radio Radio is located at an altitude of 4800 feet and it was inaugurated by the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Dr. B. Gopala Reddy in June 1962. Since then AIR Kurseong has taken a programming relay from other AIR radio broadcasting stations, and it also fosters the development of local talent in order to preserve the rich cultural values and traditions of the region.
A Look Inside CBC/Radio-Canada’s New Broadcast Center
The new Maison de Radio-Canada in Montréal is the headquarters for the French-language network of Canada’s national public broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada.
Radio Station 2CM: The Very First Radio Broadcasting Station in Australia
According to radio historians, the very first radio broadcasting license in Australia was awarded to Charles Maclurcan due to his regular Sunday evening broadcasts over experimental amateur station 2CM. The program content for each weekly broadcast was published in a radio magazine in advance, and each program was avidly followed by anywhere up to 5,000 listeners each week.
PBS in the Philippines on Shortwave
During its more than three quarters of a century of on air shortwave service, PBS, the Philippine Broadcasting Service has always been quite tenuous, even at its very best. Radio Philippinas, the shortwave service of the Voice of the Philippines, has at times been dependent upon borrowed facilities and donated equipment, sometimes quite old, and sometimes no longer reliable.
Lighthouse Radio in Australia
The second lighthouse in the waters of South Australia was constructed on Althorpe Island in 1879, and in 1925, the appointed lighthouse manger took his own informal amateur radio equipment ashore with him. He communicated with mediumwave broadcasting station 5CL in Adelaide, and conveyed his appreciation for the broadcast of their radio programming…
The Radio Scene During the 1937 Ohio River Flood
The 1937 water flooding in the city of Cincinnati Ohio is described as the worst natural disaster ever in the lengthy 175 year history of the city. On January 5, 1937 water levels along the Ohio River began to rise, and local populations were becoming alarmed.
Special Report on Brazil’s First WebSDR Public Reception Station
Brazilian amateur radio also had its heyday, where several high-level technicians were created and brought communication to isolated corners of a giant country with continental distances such as Brazil. But times have changed, other communication technologies have been developed, giving way to WebSDR, today here we will know one of the most complete in the world and it is located in the interior of the city of São Paulo, Brazil.
Coffee and Radio – with Thiago Pereira Machado
Martin Butera chats with Brazilian DXer and plane spotter Thiago Pereira Machado.
One Hundred Years of Radio in Manitoba, Canada: Early Mediumwave Radio
During the month of April (2022), the Canadian province of Manitoba is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the introduction of official radio broadcasting in their territory.
Radio broadcasting still crucial in Sarawak
According to Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) Sarawak Radio Section principal assistant director Marrill Chunggat, radio services in Sarawak continue to play an important role in reaching out to the masses. “This is especially in the rural areas that have yet to have digital accessibility, but can be reached through receptions of bands, waves or radio frequency transmissions either via shortwave (SW) or frequency modulation (FM),” he told The Borneo Post.
AIR’s Station At 9,000 Feet Along LoC In Kashmir Broadcasts Programs For People Living Across Border
Surrounded by the barbed wires, dense deodar trees and Pir Panchal mountains in the backdrop, this is the All India Radio (AIR) Srinagar’s Radio Station which has been set up close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Rustum area of J&K’s Uri sector.
Legacy remains of WSY, Alabama’s first radio station
One hundred years ago this year, on April 24, 1922, Alabama Power hit the airwaves with the state’s first operating radio station. WSY (an acronym for “We Serve You”) began broadcasting from rented space in a building on Powell Avenue in Birmingham.
Marajó Island Amazonian DX Camp, Brazil 2019
Reports of 1st DX-Camp 15.61 Crew Radio Listeners’ Marajó Island – Amazon Rainforest Northern Brazil – November 15, 16, 17 and 18, 2019 – Ivan Dias da Silva Junior & Martin Butera
Radio Woodville Nearly 25 Years Old
Radio Woodville in Woodville near Palmerston North will be 25 years old on the 1st June 2023. As their 25th anniversary approaches we take a look back at their first 20 years on-air.
Coffee and Radio – with Carlos Latuff
Brazil is the leading coffee export country thanks to the more than 2000 municipalities distributed in 16 regions throughout the national territory where the blessed…
News Radio WHAM 1180/Rochester Celebrates 100 Years
iHeartMedia Rochester celebrates the 100th anniversary of News Radio WHAM 1180. As the longest surviving radio outlet in Rochester, NY, WHAM debuted on July 11, 1922, under the call letters WHQ.
Shortwave Station WMLK
US broadcaster WMLK from Bethel, Pennsylvania resumed broadcasting at the end of June 2022 with a new 450 kW transmitter on the frequency of 9275 kHz. In the spring of 2017, the WMLK radio transmitter building caught fire and the transmitter originally built in 1975, and which worked reliably until the fire, was completely destroyed. We take a look at the history of this shortwave station, and the step by step reconstruction after the fire, with exclusive photographs courtesy of WMLK.
The Powerful United States Naval Radio Station at Tarlac in the Philippines
The Tarlac Radio Transmitter station on Camp O’Donnell contained three separate transmitter facilities, each with its own separate antenna systems. A total of nearly one hundred American personnel operated the station and its equipment, together with more than two hundred local Filipino personnel as well.
Another Radio Wedding
We go back to the year 1908, and that was when the American navy vessel Alabama was taken into service in the Atlantic Ocean as a cruiser. During the following year (1909), a series of wireless tests was conducted, between the Alabama at sea and the well known American naval wireless station NAA at Arlington in Virginia.
Powell Crosley and His Life Story
Powell Crosley was born in Cincinnati Ohio on September 18, 1886, as the first of four children. His father, known as Powell Crosley 2nd, was a prominent lawyer, and his mother Charlotte (Utz) who was an accomplished pianist as well as a capable mother.
Voice of America Relay Station at Tinang in the Philippines
The fourth VOA relay station in the Philippines is the large and powerful station that is located at Tinang, some 50 miles north of the national capital, Manila, on the main island of Luzon.
One Hundred Years of Radio in Manitoba, Canada: The Early Wireless Years
During the month of April (2022), the Canadian province of Manitoba is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the introduction of official radio broadcasting in their territory.
BBC London Celebrates 100 years: Mediumwave station 2LO
On Thursday May 11, 1922, the second radio broadcasting station in England was inaugurated by the Marconi company in London under the official callsign 2LO. Wednesday May 11, 2022 forms the exact one hundredth anniversary of that historic radio event that set a pattern for radio broadcasting in many other countries around the world.
Alexandre Grimberg PY1AHD, creator of the “AlexLoop” antenna
During my visit to the city of Rio de Janeiro – Brazil, I had the pleasant experience of sharing a dinner with the great Alexandre Grimberg PY1AHD, famous inventor of the “Alex Loop” antenna.
Independent Radio Station WMCA
After first testing as station 2XH, WMCA began regular transmission on February 1, 1925, broadcasting on 428.6 meters wavelength (700 kHz) with a power of 500 watts. It was the 13th radio station to begin operations in New York City and was owned by broadcasting pioneer Donald Flamm. The station’s original studios and antenna were located at the Hotel McAlpin, located on Herald Square and from which the WMCA call sign derives.
VOA Shortwave Relay Station at Poro in the Philippines
The Poro radio stations were constructed on 200 acres at the Wallace Air Force Base, at Poro Point on Poro Island. The original complement of shortwave transmitters was made up of six transmitters…