5 Replies

by Thomas (K4SWL)

First, a huge thank you to everyone who has submitted recordings of this year’s BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica on our recording-sharing post. It’s been a real pleasure browsing reception reports and recordings from around the globe.

If you haven’t yet shared your recording, there’s still time! Please add it to the original post here.

(Please post your recording there rather than in the comments of this post so we can keep all of the recordings together in one place.)

I thought I’d share my own recording of the broadcast because this year’s reception was especially memorable. Unlike previous years when I’ve listened from the United States or Canada, I’m in the UK this year—and the results were brilliant. Both frequencies transmitted from the Woofferton site delivered excellent audio quality.

Recording notes:

This is the BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica recorded on June 21, 2026 at 09:30 UTC in Foulden, Scotland, UK. The radio was an Elecraft KX2 connected to a 31-foot 9:1 random wire antenna in the back garden. The broadcast starts on 9460 kHz, but I then move to 12070 kHz because it had slightly less local noise.

Click here to download.

Thank you again to everyone who has contributed recordings and reception reports.

The BBC Midwinter Broadcast remains one of my favorite SWLing events of the year. I simply love the idea that the BBC would broadcast from two different sites on three different frequencies via shortwave to a relatively small audience of British Antarctic Survey scientists wintering over in Antarctica.

It’s always a joy to listen live, knowing that they’re celebrating midwinter with parties at their stations and hearing the voices, messages, laughter, and well-wishes of loved ones carried to them over the air by shortwave radio.

In an age of instant communications, there’s still something magical about that.

Please share your recording of the 2026 BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica here!

21 Replies

Halley VI Antarctic Research Station

In the comments section of this post, I’d like you to share your recording of the 2026 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast!

Time and frequencies

Thanks to Dave Porter, who has confirmed these three shortwave frequencies for the annual BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast (2130–2200 UTC Sunday, June 21, 2026):

9460 kHz from Woofferton
9510 kHz from Ascension
12070 kHz from Woofferton
Also on DAB in the UK at 2130 UTC (2230 BST).

Please comment with your recording on this post!

Listening to the 2017 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast from the back of my vehicle in Saint-Anne-de-Beaupré, Québec, Canada.

I’ve created this dedicated post where you can comment and include links to audio and video of your 2026 Midwinter Broadcast recordings. This will allow you to post your logs and recordings at your convenience without my availability becoming the bottleneck.

Here’s the format I’d like you to leave in your comment on this post:

Name:

Listening location:

Notes: (Include frequencies and any details about your receiver and antenna.)

Link to audio or video: (YouTube, Vimeo, Internet Archive, SoundCloud, etc.)

Video and Audio Recordings

There is no way to directly upload audio in your comments; however, you can link to your recordings if you upload them to the Internet Archive (which I’d highly recommend) or any of the video streaming services like YouTube and Vimeo—or audio services like SoundCloud.

To be clear: I will not have the ability to upload your videos for you—so please don’t email me your video files. Simply upload them to one of the services above and share the link here in the comments. ?

As with each year, I’ll make sure the BAS team and the BBC receive a link with all of your recordings!

Help record the 2026 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast later today (June 21, 2026)

Every year, the BBC broadcasts a special program to the scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team. The BBC plays music requests and sends special messages to the small team located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a DX-worthy catch!

After successful listener events from years past, I’m once again calling on all SWLing Post readers and shortwave radio listeners to make a short recording (say, 30–60 seconds) of the BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast today and share it here on the SWLing Post. Details on this below.

Time and frequencies

Thanks to Dave Porter who has confirmed these three shortwave frequencies for the annual BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast (2130–2200 UTC Sunday, June 21, 2026):

9460 kHz from Woofferton
9510 kHz from Ascension
12070 kHz from Woofferton
Also on DAB in the UK at 2130 UTC (2230 BST).

Recording the Midwinter Broadcast has become an SWLing Post community tradition! Read our previous post for more details.

I’m especially fond of this broadcast as it always falls on my birthday and it’s always fun capturing this unique DX!

Share your recording and notes with us!

Comment with your recording!

During the Midwinter Broadcast, I will publish a dedicated post where you can comment and include links to audio and video of your 2026 Midwinter Broadcast recordings. When this post is available, I will link to it here. This will allow you to post your logs and recordings at your convenience without my availability becoming the bottleneck.

So that there’s no confusion, I’ve turned off comments on this post so that comments are left on the appropriate article.

Here’s the format I’d like you to leave in your comment on the dedicated post:

Name:

Listening location:

Notes: (Include frequencies and any details about your receiver and antenna.)

Link to audio or video: (YouTube, Vimeo, Internet Archive, SoundCloud, etc.)

Video and Audio Recordings

There is no way to directly upload audio in your comments, however, you can link to the recordings if you upload them to the Internet Archive (which I’d highly recommend) or any of the video streaming services—like YouTube and Vimeo—or audio services like SoundCloud.

If you have a photo you’d like to include in your comment, send me an email from the same address you used in your comment. I’ll manually post the image at the top of your comment when time allows.

As with each year, I’ll make sure the BAS team and the BBC receive a link with all of your recordings!

Will FM Radio Be the Next Casualty of the Connected Car?

9 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dennis Dura, who shares the following article about a growing trend among automakers: removing not only AM receivers from new vehicles, but FM as well. This is in favor of internet-connected streaming services. While the shift may seem inevitable, it raises important questions about emergency communications, rural connectivity, and the future of free over-the-air broadcasting.

Read the full article here: https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2026/06/16/fm-radio-excluded-from-new-vehicles/