2024 37th Winter SWL Fest — Tentative Program and Forums Schedule
Here is the first pass at the schedule for the 37th Winter SWL Fest. More details and additional events will be fleshed out in the coming days.
All sessions except the “Shindig” nominally one-hour except where noted, but may run longer or shorter at the option of the presenter.
FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2024 (All times North American Eastern Daylight)
0900 – HAM RADIO SESSION — Fred Zalupski – Fred has newfound focus and purpose in Emergency Communications, including Skywarn, ARES/RACES, and other activities. He will also discuss two essential aspects of EMCOMM, Winlink email and NVIS propagation. Many of the concepts employed in EMCOMM are useful to individuals in their own personal preparedness efforts.
Fred Zalupski is a lifelong radio enthusiast who enjoys SWL, 11 meters, scanning, and amateur radio. Fred retired after 35 years in various technical and sales positions in voice and data communications with companies such as Bell Atlantic, 3Com, Avaya, and Cisco.
[1300 UTC /0600 PST/1500 CET /2300 AET)]
1100 – PIRATE SESSION — Larry Will (Details forthcoming)
[1500 UTC /0800 PDT/1700 CEST /0100 (Sat) AET)]
1200 – BREAK [1600 UTC /0900 PDT/1800 CEST /0200 (Sat) AET)]
1400 – FULL WAVE AND HALF LOOP ANTENNAS — Jef Eichner – For the seventh installment of his continuing series on loop antennas, Jef will discuss full and half wave loops including theory, construction, methods of feeding, single and multi- band loops. Attendance at previous Fests is not necessary. And as always, he will have a few toys for show and tell.
Jef is a retired teacher and librarian, and has been involved in radio on and off since he was 9 years old. He’s also been a professional musician for over 50 years. Jef holds a general class commercial license and an extra class ham ticket.
[1800 UTC /1100 PDT/2000 CEST /0400 (Sat) AET)]
1600 – USING AND ABUSING MEASUREMENT and TEST EQUIPMENT AS RECEIVERS — Matt Blaze – (Details forthcoming)
[2000 UTC /1300 PDT/2200 CEST /0600 (Sat) AET)]
1700 – BREAK [2100 UTC /1400 PDT/2300 CEST /0700 (Sat) AET)]
1930 – DXING ON THE ROAD — Don Moore – The itinerant traveler will talk about his experiences (which are many), but also solicit ideas from the audience. His session will focus on “literal DXing” while traveling, but also include short nearby DXpeditions (e.g. to parks) and full-scale DXpeditions (e.g. to cabins).
[2330 UTC /1630 PDT/0130 (Sat) CEST /0930 (Sat) AET)]
2100 – THE SHORTWAVE SHINDIG NO LONGER IN EXILE — David Goren
Come join our informal late night hang as David Goren and friends celebrate the short wavelengths with stories, songs, and vintage sounds.
[0100 (Sat) UTC /1800 PDT/0300 (Sat) CEST /1100 (Sat) AET)]
SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2024
0900 – MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? THE SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT RECEIVER — Dan Robinson
NASWA veteran and former VOA correspondent Dan Robinson is well known in the hobby which has held him in its grasp since the late 1960’s. Dan spent 34 years with VOA, as Africa, Southeast Asia, Congressional and White House correspondent and head of VOA’s Burma/Myanmar Service. In retirement, he has written critically about VOA and the USAGM. His analytical writings have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Columbia Journalism Review, National Review, al-Jazeera, Radio World, and the World Radio TV Handbook.
[1300 UTC/0600 PDT/1500 CET/2300 AET)]
1100 – BLAST FROM THE PAST — USING OLDER SCANNERS TODAY: Tom Swisher
[1500 UTC/0800 PDT /1700 CET/0100 (Sun) AET)]
1200 – BREAK [1600 UTC/0900 PDT/1800 CET/0200 (Sun.) AET)]
1400 – ENDING GEOFENCING AS YOU KNOW IT — Rob deSantos – A Zoom presentation and discussion on utilizing VPN services and other techniques for your listening and viewing pleasure across the world. How to setup, configure, and allow your devices to be somewhere you aren’t. What to do when geofencing or licensing blocks your ability to listen or watch the content you want — or have paid to access — and how to apply the same techniques to your ́”festing” needs.
[1800 UTC/1100 PDT/2000 CET/ 0400 (Sun.) AET)]
1600 – PARTY LIKE IT’S 1975 — Skip Arey – A look back at the hobby and how far we’ve come. Also, how you can still have fun the “Old School Way”.
[2000 UTC/1300 PDT/2200 CET/ 0600 (Sun.) AET)]