Russia cut access to several foreign news organisations' websites, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle, for spreading what it alleged was false information about its war in Ukraine.
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Russia's communications watchdog said on Friday it had blocked the websites of the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Deutsche Welle and other media outlets.
The BBC is resuming some shortwave broadcasting services. It's a capacity that should not have been given up. Shortwave radio reached millions of people during the last cold war and will so again in this one.
I'm not a radio geek; all I remember is that with HF, when the Sun goes down, the frequencies go down. If you have a small radio that has shortwave capabilities, go to the hardware store and buy a length of wire. Strip a little bit of insulation off one end, crimp on an alligator clip, clip that to the radio's antenna and you're in business.
I have no doubt that some people who are into radio will weigh in on the comments section, so cheeck back.
At night the typical SW propagation for frequencies below 10mhz improves (gets stronger at distances). Above 10mhz (10mhz is not a wall) propagation tends
ReplyDeleteto improve then fall off with increasing frequency (above 16mhz or so). The
second case is sunspot dependant and has been improving since last summer(2021).
The most active band for SW DX is 41, 40 and 39M (6-8mhz) and at night I hear
it if its there at all (EU stations from easter USA). Its not the only bands
used but the first I go to.
WBCQ Maine, is one SW station and there are still many others.
There are many other US SW station but not all have reliable news and
one is a mouthpeice for Jones.
I still miss VOA and BBC as well as others. The cold war ending sorta
made them unneeded and the internet as well, until the need became real
again. The hard reality is the internet is a hose, any government can
pick it up and pinch it off, if need by by cutting links. There will
be limited alternate paths. It takes little bandwidth to get a simple
text across.
Eck!
One aside, SW bands allow for directional broadcasts and
ReplyDeleteBBC and VOA still broadcast to Africa and the Europe though we
rarely here them here (not often but we do).
Eck!
Be like water, it is said an old Chinaman said, but that's not where I heard it.
ReplyDeleteMy radio time was college low power FM, which depending on how tall the tree can have a pretty good footprint, but I'm not sure that's applicable here. We were atop a four-hundred-foot volcanic butte, had a footprint about the size of Rhode Island. The Internet, on the other hand ~ it has come to my attention recently I have been a denizen of the net thirty years now ~ like water will find a way. Truckers are piggy-backing IP off LandSTAT, OnStar, (yes) refrigerators (and microwave ovens) are IP ... Technologically this is exciting.
First "e-mail ... "