Mastodawn

Getting past the “Persian Paradox” – on Shortwave

Weekend at Last

Time to sit back and to listen to the radio while taking it easy. But there are a few frequencies that I’ll try not to miss today and tomorrow.

Pop Shop Radio (British Columbia, Canada) is one of them, on 1467 kHz at 23:00 UTC tonight (Update: it would have been on Friday night). It will probably be followed by Radio Six International (Lismore, Scotland) at 00:00 UTC. Pop Shop Radio operator Tony Pavick is particularly interested in reports on transatlantic reception.

Both transmissions are scheduled on the Romoules mediumwave transmitter in Southern France.

Radio News

(1) Deutsche Welle

A protest with several hundred participants reportedly took place at Berlin Alexander Squaare and the Brandenburg Gate on April 22 (Wednesday afternoon). VerDi and Deutscher Journalistenverband, two labor unions representing media workers, had registered the demonstration. The demonstrators reacted to the announcement that about 160 full-time jobs at Deutsche Welle are in danger after budget cuts of 21 million euros by Germany’s national parliament, the Bundestag.

Meantime, a spokesperson for the cultural minister countered the protests, saying that Deutsche Welle had seen funding rise by almost 100 million euros during the past eight years.

(2) Iran / Reporters without Borders

Reporters without Borders, in cooperation with "Radio for Peace International" (RFPI, not to be confused with the one broadcasting from Costa Rica in the 1980s) and the news org "Iranwire", have announced shortwave transmissions on 9770 kHz, apparently daily from 08:30 to 09:30 UTC and from 19:30 to 20:30 UTC (Midday and 23:00 Tehran time respectively). These transmissions are scheduled to start on Monday.

Deutsche Welle staff, according to a former employee, celebrated a "Persian Paradox" in 2009, i. e. they felt vindicated by being blocked by Iran’s authorities and consequently declining or dying traffic. While DW’s Persian service has remained an online service at Deutsche Welle for almost 15 years, Reporters without Borders appear to be taking shortwave seriously.

The Deutsche Welle shortwave transmissions were terminated in 2011 and haven’t been revived since.

#broadcasting #Canada #Germany #Iran #PopShopRadio #shortwave #war

Shortwave Listening Apr 18

Pop Shop Radio joins Radio Six International on Romoules 1467 kHz, and other News

(1) Canada / France

Pop Shop Radio is probably the second international broadcaster to revive the Romoules (Southeastern France) 1467 kHz mediumwave frequency, following in the wake of Scotland’s Radio Six International who have been using the frequency on Saturday nights (23:00 to 24:00 UTC) for several weeks now (though not every week during the testing phase).

Pop Shop Radio can be expected on 1467 kHz on April 24 at 23:00 UTC, i. e. on Friday night UTC (or Saturday wee small hours French local time). The Pop Shop Radio beam will be the same as that of Radio Six, and operator Tony Pavick offers "a special paper eQSL".
God knows what that means, but let’s send him a reception report, and we may find out!

(2) China

Throughout Sanya, the use of amateur radio stations, campus FM radio stations, paging stations, repeaters, and all types of wireless remote control equipment for aviation, marine, and vehicle models (including all types of drones), as well as transmitting stations using paging methods, is prohibited

during the 2026 Asian Beach Games there, according to a notice by the Sanya City government, published on Saturday. Besides these comprehensive restrictions, various measures are announced for different party of Sanya and its beaches. An earlier notice in English, published in September last year on the same topic, came across as much more relaxed. While the city government notice now flatly bans amateur radio stations and campus radio signals throughout Sanya, the English notice said that "[f]or existing radio stations within the competition venues and special control areas that are authorised to use legally, users are not required to re-apply for radio frequencies."

I’m not a ham radio operator myself, but restricions like those latest ones announced by the Sanya government sound unusual to me (as far as German mass events and their communication networks are concerned). To make access control and wireless communication work at major events, those in charge increasingly rely on autonomous networks, independent of permanent infrastructure, according to this report. Organizers and their service providers in Germany appear to task themselves rather than third parties with the kind of security issues that may stem from outside signals, when it comes to stage machinery or crowd management.

#broadcasting #Canada #China #Europe #France #PopShopRadio