12 ms·

BBC resurrects shortwave broadcasts as Russia blocks news of Ukraine invasion

339 points by vanilla-almond 5y ago

geoffeg 5y ago
If you'd like to listen to the broadcast over shortwave but don't have a radio at home, there are many SDR receivers online throughout the world. I've had good luck with this map https://rx-tx.info/map-sdr-points https://rx-tx.info/map-sdr-points
- okl 5y ago
  The WebSDR station of Uni Twente always amazes me for it's good reception. Must have to do with their antenna placement. Details on the page: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/
clarge1120 5y ago
Due to the high possibility of censorship on so many sites, coupled with a constantly shifting mainstream narrative, it’s hard to believe any headline coming from a mainstream (approved) source. Ukraine, for instance, seems to be a divided country, much like the US, where there is an approved narrative and near blanket censorship. Some Ukrainians want to return to Russian rule, and some want the West to intervene. In Russia, there are citizens who love and ones who hate their government. Some embrace the West, some distrust and hate the West (especially America—based on the mainstream narrative, which is heavily censored).
- raspasov 5y ago
  No. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
  - thriftwy 5y ago
    I've never heard what's the actual problem with whatabaoutism. If you do bad things and get away with those, quit preaching at least.
    - vba616 5y ago
      I think Russians generally like their country because it is their home, think it should continue to exist, prefer that it be strong and not weak, and that its citizens should be secure and not insecure. No scandal, crime, or shortcoming of particular rulers has any bearing on this. Normal people in all countries are like this.
      - MomoXenosaga 5y ago
        True but I separate my country from whatever government is currently in power. And if the government is running the country that I love into the ground... We rally around flags not people.
    - izzygonzalez 5y ago
      It's a thought-extinguishing tactic. It attempts to redirect or scatter attention away from the topic at hand. This could be in a misguided sincere attempt to draw analogies, or could be more nefarious. Whataboutism seems to commonly occur when some agent of power is being criticized.
      - okl 5y ago
        In addition Whataboutism never tries to deliver an argument in favour of your position, only arguments against other positions.
        thriftwy 5y ago
        It is usually invoked in the fashion: - We have this and that reason to do {thing}. - These reasons are laughable and you still don't have excuse to do {thing}. - What about when you did {thing} with ever worse reasons stated? In this case I would say whataboutism is justified, or at least, no constructive dialogue is possible.
- csee 5y ago
  A very small minority wanted to return to Russian rule on the eve of the invasion according to polling of Ukrainian people. And even if they did want to return to Russian rule (which they didn't), the just thing would've been to hold a referendum. They are a democracy after all.
  - xster 5y ago
    I don't think referenda make much of a difference. 96% of Crimea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Crimean_status_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Crimean_status_referendum) voted to join Russia and 96% of Luhansk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Donbas_status_referendums https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Donbas_status_referendums) voted to leave Ukraine after the 2014 overthrow. Nothing much came out of it except 14,000 being killed in Donbas as result https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War#War_in_Donbas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrain....
    - codedokode 5y ago
      These number are provided by Russian government. How can you be sure that they are true? Also, those so called "referenda" did not conform to Ukrainian laws.
      - severino 5y ago
        > Also, those so called "referenda" did not conform to Ukrainian laws. Yet Ukraine had no intention at all to organize a "real" referenda under their laws. Instead, they preferred to keep on bombing those rebel regions in Eastern Ukraine. Now, they ask Russia to stop doing the very same thing.
        codedokode 5y ago
        > Yet Ukraine had no intention at all to organize a "real" referenda under their laws Why should they cede their land to someone? And why should referendum be held only in one region, and not in the whole country? No country will agree to this. Will Putin organize a referendum if I suggest that my city separate from Russia and join European Union? Did Putin or Eltsin organize such referendum in Chechnya? It doesn't matter whether Ukraine should or should not have hold such referendum. It is Russian soldiers who crossed the border and pulled the trigger first in 2014, not Ukranian. The war (as almost every war) is there because Putin and many Russians want more land, more glorious victories and more political influence, not because someone didn't organize a referendum.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- TheGigaChad 5y ago
iso1631 5y ago
Doesn't look like very sophisticated blocking, on MTS at least they seem to intercept DNS traffic and respond to www.bbc.com wtih their own If you ignore the certificate warning you get a redirect to http://blocked.mts.ru/?host=www.bbc.com http://blocked.mts.ru/?host=www.bbc.com Which states (in Russian): Access to the information resource is limited on the basis of the Federal Law of July 27, 2006 N 149-FZ "On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection If you override the DNS entry, it loads fine, at least for me on my MTS circuit.
- snthd 5y ago
  So DNS over HTTPS should work? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-dns-over-https#w_manually-enabling-and-disabling-dns-over-https https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-dns-over-https#... chrome://flags/#dns-over-https edge://flags#dns-over-https
  - topranks 5y ago
    They could still block based on SNI. Tor ought to still work, or some other “full fat” VPN.
    - M2Ys4U 5y ago
      > They could still block based on SNI. I've heard from one target of blocking that this is how blocking is being done.
    - mrkwse 5y ago
      > Tor ought to still work The Tor Browser also has a dedicated BBC site, on this URL: https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion/ https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccij... Браузер Tor также имеет специальный сайт Би-би-си по этому URL-адресу: https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion/russian https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccij... Браузер Tor також має спеціальний сайт BBC за цією URL-адресою: https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion/ukrainian https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccij... All of the above via bbc press centre: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/articles/2022/advice-on-accessing-bbc-news/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/articles/2022/advice-on-ac...
shimonabi 5y ago
What measures does the Russian government take to prevent access to foreign media?
- aix1 5y ago
  Russian authorities block access to internet sites they don't like. I imagine that on a technical level it's not hard to bypass those blocks, but the vast majority of the population is neither motivated nor technically savvy enough to do that. I don't know about foreign media specifically, but in the last couple of days they shut down some of the few remaining independent media outlets (TV Rain and Echo of Moscow) and have reportedly completely blocked access to Twitter and Facebook: https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/75547/ https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/75547/
  - marttt 5y ago
    The federal agency Roskomnadzor also blocked access to the Russian language portal of Estonian Public Broadcasting because of war reporting: https://news.err.ee/1608512684/russia-blocks-err-s-russian-portal-over-ukraine-invasion-article https://news.err.ee/1608512684/russia-blocks-err-s-russian-p...
  - laurent92 5y ago
    Note that Europe also bans media they don’t like, namely RT News and Sputnik, along with severe guidance on content with regular threats of fines or deplatforming, coming from governments such as CSA in France. Censorship has absolutely a role in democracy.
    - avh02 5y ago
      I think the difference is that western media generally can and do publish at least some critical pieces. The same can't be said in Russia right now. It's a whole different level.
      - IMSAI8080 5y ago
zrm 5y ago
Shortwave is neat and everything, but isn't this also the bailiwick of Tor and pluggable transports and the whole internet anti-censorship ecosystem?
- pabs3 5y ago
  BBC added an onion server too: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50150981 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50150981 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21343241 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21343241
- LeoPanthera 5y ago
  Receiving shortwave radio doesn't require a functioning internet. Actually it doesn't require any infrastructure at all. Just a radio and a battery.
  - updatedprocess 5y ago
    What, no wind up short wave radios available?
    - LeoPanthera 5y ago
      Yes there are, but the crank usually charges a battery, rather than powering a dynamo.
mariojv 5y ago
What is the best type of radio, or best type of radios, to have in the event of a protracted, possibly nuclear conflict? Ready.gov suggests a hand crank or NOAA weather radio. Specifically, I suppose some good goals would be: 1. Receive instructions from any functioning local or state government. This would require that the local government know which type of radio the populace is likely to be listening on, which gives an advantage to FM or weather radios. 2. Communicate with other regional survivors. 3. Global news, for which shortwave would be indispensable. Maybe multiple radios that can receive on different frequencies would be best? I really know very little about this topic other than basic physical signal characteristics. Edit: I don't "prep," but I occasionally browse this website when doomscrolling, which has a few suggestions: https://theprepared.com/gear/reviews/emergency-radio/ https://theprepared.com/gear/reviews/emergency-radio/
- tyingq 5y ago
  >2. Communicate with other regional survivors. For the US, CB radio might be the best bet here, based on likelihood that some number of other locals might have one and be trying to use it. And "where to scavenge for one" is pretty straightforward.
- cozzyd 5y ago
  probably an SDR? :)
  - dillondoyle 5y ago
    Do you have any suggestions for I'm guessing like a USB receiver? I just ordered a baofeng half out of late night panic, half out of interest in radio/learning about Ham licensing. I know it has a USB so can program it so would be legal without a license to broadcast. But I think can still listen without modifications.
    - teraflop 5y ago
      AFAIK, in the US it is technically illegal to transmit with a Baofeng radio in any way without a license. Even if you program it to only use the FRS/GMRS frequencies, it is not properly FCC certified as a device that is legal for use on those bands by an unlicensed operator. (For one thing, it may exceed the legal output power limit.) With an amateur license you can use pretty much whatever equipment you want, including homemade. But then the obligation to obey the legal limits is borne by you, not the manufacturer. And Baofeng radios have a reputation for emitting lots of nasty harmonics and noise outside the desired transmission bands. Of course, none of this should deter you from using whatever is available in an emergency. The FCC regulations include a clause allowing you to bend the rules if it is immediately necessary to do so to prevent imminent danger to life or property.
marttt 5y ago
Here's a recent Youtube capture of BBC World Service war broadcast on 5875 kHz shortwave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsrOzB2Cfgs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsrOzB2Cfgs (I also submitted it to HN yesterday, but this current thread has more comments already, so I won't reference the previous discussion here.)
digitalsankhara 5y ago
The BBC has been broadcasting on shortwave for decades - BBC World Service. The, somewhat hyperbolic, article implies this is somehow new and "WWII era". Many counties around the world still use shortwave for various reasons - unofficial propaganda being one of them. The BBC World Service itself is and has been funded by the British government to promote its interests abroad.[1] The content is usually cultural in context. Sadly, many countries are also reducing or completely closing SW broadcasts entirely. What I find interesting, from a geopolitical point of view, is that the Chinese are everywhere on shortwave. Very strong signals from China Radio International [2] on many frequencies in every broadcast band that I listen to. CRI broadcast very professional sounding, western style, news and opinion programs to a global audience directly. Jamming of signals to try and prevent broadcasts being heard is probably also as old as AM radio itself once the powers that be recognised its value. The US also has the Voice of America [3] but, not being its target audience, the transmissions received by me tend to be weaker - I just may not be on the right band at the right time though. There is a reason number stations exist! [4] Its my opinion why even liberal, democratic countries seem paranoid about giving free access to the natural physical phenomenon of ionospheric radio propagation. The ability for citizens to have relatively unfettered broadcast access to a global audience outside of any control gives rise to IMHO undemocratic punishments of large fines or even prison. Most of the UK radio regulation is driven by commercial interests and the government control of radio spectrum for monitory gain. For context look back to the time of the North Sea radio pirates - anyone would think the pirate radio stations were terrorist organisations! [5] As a licensed ham radio operator I have the narrow privilege to talk to fellow operators, but if I step outside of those my license is in danger of being revoked. Ukraine banned its radio ham population from transmitting as soon as the invasion happened. I think this is standard practice by most governments. I fully agree with spectrum regulation though in the sense of band planning to keep mutual interference down, and fully understand the havoc a poorly spec'd transmitter can cause - but this is easy to solve technically. I do think there is a need for citizen broadcast bands to be established where there is a form of radio podcasts available to those who wish to meet the technical requirements - not hard as these are met by current, off the shelve transmitters - and put content literally "on the air". Anyway, who put governments in control of this natural resource? Sorry, I drifted off topic but I am fascinated by the politics of radio. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2021/world-service-funding https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2021/world-service-funding [2] http://chinaplus.cri.cn http://chinaplus.cri.cn [3] https://www.voanews.com https://www.voanews.com [4] https://www.numbers-stations.com https://www.numbers-stations.com [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio_in_the_United_Kin...
enterexit 5y ago
Bring back Seva Novgorodsev! I was listening to the guy in the 80s via a SW radio... Fun times... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seva_Novgorodsev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seva_Novgorodsev
- MichaelMoser123 5y ago
  he is alive and kicking, didn't know he got an MBE (isn't that a kind of knighthood?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seva_Novgorodsev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seva_Novgorodsev The other thing is that the Russians will bring out the radio jammers, wow, these are absolutely crazy times... If we are now back in the eighties, then generation Xers will get their second youth...
  - scruple 5y ago
    I'm not particularly thrilled with reliving my youths geopolitical anxiety. Hearing airplanes overhead is making me twitch again... I am pretty excited to have a reason to gravitate back towards radios, though. It's a fun, worthwhile, and interesting hobby.
Proven 5y ago
jayflux 5y ago
The BBC do the same thing for North Korea. They have been doing this sort of thing for quite some time. The article makes it sound like it’s the first time they needed to do it since WW2 times. https://www.38north.org/2017/09/mwilliams092617/ https://www.38north.org/2017/09/mwilliams092617/
jbverschoor 5y ago
Return of dialup internet with modems over AM. Up next: another .com burst?
CraigJPerry 5y ago
“DX”ing is a niche radio hobby, I’ve definitely fallen into it from time to time. The aim is to hear geographically distant stations - so it’s all about radio propagation throughout the day and that differs seasonally too. These days you can cheat, there are directories of SDR radios available for free online - in a couple of clicks you can explore the RF spectrum as heard from most populated locations in the world. If you want to play “old school” there’s a few radios are prized, i have a Sony ICF2001D which is a circa 90s radio and expensive today because of its reputation. The US manufacturer C.Crane is a common name on the list of top performing sets and they’re much cheaper. There’s an annual catalogue of broadcast stations published, the WRTH - World Radio & TV Handbook. Propagation behaviours of different frequencies throughout the day is definitely one of the most interesting parts for me. One thing I’ve learned from scanning the bands over the years is that there’s a LOT of chinese sponsored English language content.
- hackerfromthefu 5y ago
  Can you expand on the chinese sponsored english language content? How do you know and what kinds of topics?
  - giraffe_lady 5y ago
    China Radio International broadcasts professionally-produced news all over shortwave in a bunch of different languages targeting different countries. It's just the news filtered through a state news agency. You know because they say "china radio international" all the time. It's surely propaganda same as BBC is but they aren't keeping the origins a secret or anything.
MomoXenosaga 5y ago
Is Radio Free Europe still a thing? We're going back to the 1970s :)
- natoliniak 5y ago
  it is. So is Voice of America, radio Havana and other cold war classics. Shortwave is not quite dead :)
VictorPath 5y ago
Ofcom has sent out notices, and the UK has blocked news of Russia from its citizens, by banning RT and such. https://news.yahoo.com/rt-russian-backed-tv-news-105214336.html https://news.yahoo.com/rt-russian-backed-tv-news-105214336.h... Russia seems to be doing what the UK is doing to it, blocking the BBC in retaliation. In the 1970s and 1980s, the English locked Irish people in concentration camps without trial. In Derry people marched through the street and the British Army opened fire on the crowd killing 14 civilians. The queen then decorated the regiment who did this with medals. The Irish began to elect (abstensionist) Sinn Féin MPs to the UK parliament, but the BBC was banned from broadcasting their voices. So this kind of censorship is not new to the BBC.
zczc 5y ago
TLDR: 15735 kHz 14:00-16:00 GMT (16:00-18:00 Kyiv time, 17:00-19:00 Moscow time) 5875 kHz 20:00-22:00 GMT (22:00-00:00 Kyiv time, 23:00-01:00 Moscow time)
benlumen 5y ago
Without looking up the World Service bands, I wonder why Shortwave and not Mediumwave, for better propagation?
throwaway5486nv 5y ago
If a government don't want people to hear something, it's fall has started.

If you'd like to listen to the broadcast over shortwave but don't have a radio at home, there are many SDR receivers online throughout the world. I've had good luck with this map https://rx-tx.info/map-sdr-points https://rx-tx.info/map-sdr-points

okl 5y ago
The WebSDR station of Uni Twente always amazes me for it's good reception. Must have to do with their antenna placement. Details on the page: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

clarge1120 5y ago

Due to the high possibility of censorship on so many sites, coupled with a constantly shifting mainstream narrative, it’s hard to believe any headline coming from a mainstream (approved) source. Ukraine, for instance, seems to be a divided country, much like the US, where there is an approved narrative and near blanket censorship. Some Ukrainians want to return to Russian rule, and some want the West to intervene. In Russia, there are citizens who love and ones who hate their government. Some embrace the West, some distrust and hate the West (especially America—based on the mainstream narrative, which is heavily censored).

raspasov 5y ago
No. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
- thriftwy 5y ago
  I've never heard what's the actual problem with whatabaoutism. If you do bad things and get away with those, quit preaching at least.
  - vba616 5y ago
    I think Russians generally like their country because it is their home, think it should continue to exist, prefer that it be strong and not weak, and that its citizens should be secure and not insecure. No scandal, crime, or shortcoming of particular rulers has any bearing on this. Normal people in all countries are like this.
    - MomoXenosaga 5y ago
      True but I separate my country from whatever government is currently in power. And if the government is running the country that I love into the ground... We rally around flags not people.
  - izzygonzalez 5y ago
    It's a thought-extinguishing tactic. It attempts to redirect or scatter attention away from the topic at hand. This could be in a misguided sincere attempt to draw analogies, or could be more nefarious. Whataboutism seems to commonly occur when some agent of power is being criticized.
    - okl 5y ago
      In addition Whataboutism never tries to deliver an argument in favour of your position, only arguments against other positions.
      - thriftwy 5y ago
        It is usually invoked in the fashion: - We have this and that reason to do {thing}. - These reasons are laughable and you still don't have excuse to do {thing}. - What about when you did {thing} with ever worse reasons stated? In this case I would say whataboutism is justified, or at least, no constructive dialogue is possible.
csee 5y ago
A very small minority wanted to return to Russian rule on the eve of the invasion according to polling of Ukrainian people. And even if they did want to return to Russian rule (which they didn't), the just thing would've been to hold a referendum. They are a democracy after all.
- xster 5y ago
  I don't think referenda make much of a difference. 96% of Crimea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Crimean_status_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Crimean_status_referendum) voted to join Russia and 96% of Luhansk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Donbas_status_referendums https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Donbas_status_referendums) voted to leave Ukraine after the 2014 overthrow. Nothing much came out of it except 14,000 being killed in Donbas as result https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War#War_in_Donbas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrain....
  - codedokode 5y ago
    These number are provided by Russian government. How can you be sure that they are true? Also, those so called "referenda" did not conform to Ukrainian laws.
    - severino 5y ago
      > Also, those so called "referenda" did not conform to Ukrainian laws. Yet Ukraine had no intention at all to organize a "real" referenda under their laws. Instead, they preferred to keep on bombing those rebel regions in Eastern Ukraine. Now, they ask Russia to stop doing the very same thing.
      - codedokode 5y ago
        > Yet Ukraine had no intention at all to organize a "real" referenda under their laws Why should they cede their land to someone? And why should referendum be held only in one region, and not in the whole country? No country will agree to this. Will Putin organize a referendum if I suggest that my city separate from Russia and join European Union? Did Putin or Eltsin organize such referendum in Chechnya? It doesn't matter whether Ukraine should or should not have hold such referendum. It is Russian soldiers who crossed the border and pulled the trigger first in 2014, not Ukranian. The war (as almost every war) is there because Putin and many Russians want more land, more glorious victories and more political influence, not because someone didn't organize a referendum.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
TheGigaChad 5y ago

iso1631 5y ago

Doesn't look like very sophisticated blocking, on MTS at least they seem to intercept DNS traffic and respond to www.bbc.com wtih their own If you ignore the certificate warning you get a redirect to http://blocked.mts.ru/?host=www.bbc.com http://blocked.mts.ru/?host=www.bbc.com Which states (in Russian): Access to the information resource is limited on the basis of the Federal Law of July 27, 2006 N 149-FZ "On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection If you override the DNS entry, it loads fine, at least for me on my MTS circuit.

snthd 5y ago
So DNS over HTTPS should work? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-dns-over-https#w_manually-enabling-and-disabling-dns-over-https https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-dns-over-https#... chrome://flags/#dns-over-https edge://flags#dns-over-https
- topranks 5y ago
  They could still block based on SNI. Tor ought to still work, or some other “full fat” VPN.
  - M2Ys4U 5y ago
    > They could still block based on SNI. I've heard from one target of blocking that this is how blocking is being done.
  - mrkwse 5y ago
    > Tor ought to still work The Tor Browser also has a dedicated BBC site, on this URL: https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion/ https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccij... Браузер Tor также имеет специальный сайт Би-би-си по этому URL-адресу: https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion/russian https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccij... Браузер Tor також має спеціальний сайт BBC за цією URL-адресою: https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion/ukrainian https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccij... All of the above via bbc press centre: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/articles/2022/advice-on-accessing-bbc-news/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/articles/2022/advice-on-ac...

shimonabi 5y ago

What measures does the Russian government take to prevent access to foreign media?

aix1 5y ago
Russian authorities block access to internet sites they don't like. I imagine that on a technical level it's not hard to bypass those blocks, but the vast majority of the population is neither motivated nor technically savvy enough to do that. I don't know about foreign media specifically, but in the last couple of days they shut down some of the few remaining independent media outlets (TV Rain and Echo of Moscow) and have reportedly completely blocked access to Twitter and Facebook: https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/75547/ https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/75547/
- marttt 5y ago
  The federal agency Roskomnadzor also blocked access to the Russian language portal of Estonian Public Broadcasting because of war reporting: https://news.err.ee/1608512684/russia-blocks-err-s-russian-portal-over-ukraine-invasion-article https://news.err.ee/1608512684/russia-blocks-err-s-russian-p...
- laurent92 5y ago
  Note that Europe also bans media they don’t like, namely RT News and Sputnik, along with severe guidance on content with regular threats of fines or deplatforming, coming from governments such as CSA in France. Censorship has absolutely a role in democracy.
  - avh02 5y ago
    I think the difference is that western media generally can and do publish at least some critical pieces. The same can't be said in Russia right now. It's a whole different level.
    - IMSAI8080 5y ago

zrm 5y ago

Shortwave is neat and everything, but isn't this also the bailiwick of Tor and pluggable transports and the whole internet anti-censorship ecosystem?

pabs3 5y ago
BBC added an onion server too: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50150981 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50150981 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21343241 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21343241
LeoPanthera 5y ago
Receiving shortwave radio doesn't require a functioning internet. Actually it doesn't require any infrastructure at all. Just a radio and a battery.
- updatedprocess 5y ago
  What, no wind up short wave radios available?
  - LeoPanthera 5y ago
    Yes there are, but the crank usually charges a battery, rather than powering a dynamo.

mariojv 5y ago

What is the best type of radio, or best type of radios, to have in the event of a protracted, possibly nuclear conflict? Ready.gov suggests a hand crank or NOAA weather radio. Specifically, I suppose some good goals would be: 1. Receive instructions from any functioning local or state government. This would require that the local government know which type of radio the populace is likely to be listening on, which gives an advantage to FM or weather radios. 2. Communicate with other regional survivors. 3. Global news, for which shortwave would be indispensable. Maybe multiple radios that can receive on different frequencies would be best? I really know very little about this topic other than basic physical signal characteristics. Edit: I don't "prep," but I occasionally browse this website when doomscrolling, which has a few suggestions: https://theprepared.com/gear/reviews/emergency-radio/ https://theprepared.com/gear/reviews/emergency-radio/

tyingq 5y ago
>2. Communicate with other regional survivors. For the US, CB radio might be the best bet here, based on likelihood that some number of other locals might have one and be trying to use it. And "where to scavenge for one" is pretty straightforward.
cozzyd 5y ago
probably an SDR? :)
- dillondoyle 5y ago
  Do you have any suggestions for I'm guessing like a USB receiver? I just ordered a baofeng half out of late night panic, half out of interest in radio/learning about Ham licensing. I know it has a USB so can program it so would be legal without a license to broadcast. But I think can still listen without modifications.
  - teraflop 5y ago
    AFAIK, in the US it is technically illegal to transmit with a Baofeng radio in any way without a license. Even if you program it to only use the FRS/GMRS frequencies, it is not properly FCC certified as a device that is legal for use on those bands by an unlicensed operator. (For one thing, it may exceed the legal output power limit.) With an amateur license you can use pretty much whatever equipment you want, including homemade. But then the obligation to obey the legal limits is borne by you, not the manufacturer. And Baofeng radios have a reputation for emitting lots of nasty harmonics and noise outside the desired transmission bands. Of course, none of this should deter you from using whatever is available in an emergency. The FCC regulations include a clause allowing you to bend the rules if it is immediately necessary to do so to prevent imminent danger to life or property.

marttt 5y ago

Here's a recent Youtube capture of BBC World Service war broadcast on 5875 kHz shortwave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsrOzB2Cfgs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsrOzB2Cfgs (I also submitted it to HN yesterday, but this current thread has more comments already, so I won't reference the previous discussion here.)

digitalsankhara 5y ago

The BBC has been broadcasting on shortwave for decades - BBC World Service. The, somewhat hyperbolic, article implies this is somehow new and "WWII era". Many counties around the world still use shortwave for various reasons - unofficial propaganda being one of them. The BBC World Service itself is and has been funded by the British government to promote its interests abroad.[1] The content is usually cultural in context. Sadly, many countries are also reducing or completely closing SW broadcasts entirely. What I find interesting, from a geopolitical point of view, is that the Chinese are everywhere on shortwave. Very strong signals from China Radio International [2] on many frequencies in every broadcast band that I listen to. CRI broadcast very professional sounding, western style, news and opinion programs to a global audience directly. Jamming of signals to try and prevent broadcasts being heard is probably also as old as AM radio itself once the powers that be recognised its value. The US also has the Voice of America [3] but, not being its target audience, the transmissions received by me tend to be weaker - I just may not be on the right band at the right time though. There is a reason number stations exist! [4] Its my opinion why even liberal, democratic countries seem paranoid about giving free access to the natural physical phenomenon of ionospheric radio propagation. The ability for citizens to have relatively unfettered broadcast access to a global audience outside of any control gives rise to IMHO undemocratic punishments of large fines or even prison. Most of the UK radio regulation is driven by commercial interests and the government control of radio spectrum for monitory gain. For context look back to the time of the North Sea radio pirates - anyone would think the pirate radio stations were terrorist organisations! [5] As a licensed ham radio operator I have the narrow privilege to talk to fellow operators, but if I step outside of those my license is in danger of being revoked. Ukraine banned its radio ham population from transmitting as soon as the invasion happened. I think this is standard practice by most governments. I fully agree with spectrum regulation though in the sense of band planning to keep mutual interference down, and fully understand the havoc a poorly spec'd transmitter can cause - but this is easy to solve technically. I do think there is a need for citizen broadcast bands to be established where there is a form of radio podcasts available to those who wish to meet the technical requirements - not hard as these are met by current, off the shelve transmitters - and put content literally "on the air". Anyway, who put governments in control of this natural resource? Sorry, I drifted off topic but I am fascinated by the politics of radio. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2021/world-service-funding https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2021/world-service-funding [2] http://chinaplus.cri.cn http://chinaplus.cri.cn [3] https://www.voanews.com https://www.voanews.com [4] https://www.numbers-stations.com https://www.numbers-stations.com [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio_in_the_United_Kin...

enterexit 5y ago

Bring back Seva Novgorodsev! I was listening to the guy in the 80s via a SW radio... Fun times... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seva_Novgorodsev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seva_Novgorodsev

MichaelMoser123 5y ago
he is alive and kicking, didn't know he got an MBE (isn't that a kind of knighthood?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seva_Novgorodsev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seva_Novgorodsev The other thing is that the Russians will bring out the radio jammers, wow, these are absolutely crazy times... If we are now back in the eighties, then generation Xers will get their second youth...
- scruple 5y ago
  I'm not particularly thrilled with reliving my youths geopolitical anxiety. Hearing airplanes overhead is making me twitch again... I am pretty excited to have a reason to gravitate back towards radios, though. It's a fun, worthwhile, and interesting hobby.

Proven 5y ago

jayflux 5y ago

The BBC do the same thing for North Korea. They have been doing this sort of thing for quite some time. The article makes it sound like it’s the first time they needed to do it since WW2 times. https://www.38north.org/2017/09/mwilliams092617/ https://www.38north.org/2017/09/mwilliams092617/

jbverschoor 5y ago

Return of dialup internet with modems over AM. Up next: another .com burst?

CraigJPerry 5y ago

“DX”ing is a niche radio hobby, I’ve definitely fallen into it from time to time. The aim is to hear geographically distant stations - so it’s all about radio propagation throughout the day and that differs seasonally too. These days you can cheat, there are directories of SDR radios available for free online - in a couple of clicks you can explore the RF spectrum as heard from most populated locations in the world. If you want to play “old school” there’s a few radios are prized, i have a Sony ICF2001D which is a circa 90s radio and expensive today because of its reputation. The US manufacturer C.Crane is a common name on the list of top performing sets and they’re much cheaper. There’s an annual catalogue of broadcast stations published, the WRTH - World Radio & TV Handbook. Propagation behaviours of different frequencies throughout the day is definitely one of the most interesting parts for me. One thing I’ve learned from scanning the bands over the years is that there’s a LOT of chinese sponsored English language content.

hackerfromthefu 5y ago
Can you expand on the chinese sponsored english language content? How do you know and what kinds of topics?
- giraffe_lady 5y ago
  China Radio International broadcasts professionally-produced news all over shortwave in a bunch of different languages targeting different countries. It's just the news filtered through a state news agency. You know because they say "china radio international" all the time. It's surely propaganda same as BBC is but they aren't keeping the origins a secret or anything.

MomoXenosaga 5y ago

Is Radio Free Europe still a thing? We're going back to the 1970s :)

natoliniak 5y ago
it is. So is Voice of America, radio Havana and other cold war classics. Shortwave is not quite dead :)

VictorPath 5y ago

Ofcom has sent out notices, and the UK has blocked news of Russia from its citizens, by banning RT and such. https://news.yahoo.com/rt-russian-backed-tv-news-105214336.html https://news.yahoo.com/rt-russian-backed-tv-news-105214336.h... Russia seems to be doing what the UK is doing to it, blocking the BBC in retaliation. In the 1970s and 1980s, the English locked Irish people in concentration camps without trial. In Derry people marched through the street and the British Army opened fire on the crowd killing 14 civilians. The queen then decorated the regiment who did this with medals. The Irish began to elect (abstensionist) Sinn Féin MPs to the UK parliament, but the BBC was banned from broadcasting their voices. So this kind of censorship is not new to the BBC.

zczc 5y ago

TLDR: 15735 kHz 14:00-16:00 GMT (16:00-18:00 Kyiv time, 17:00-19:00 Moscow time) 5875 kHz 20:00-22:00 GMT (22:00-00:00 Kyiv time, 23:00-01:00 Moscow time)

benlumen 5y ago

Without looking up the World Service bands, I wonder why Shortwave and not Mediumwave, for better propagation?

throwaway5486nv 5y ago

If a government don't want people to hear something, it's fall has started.