Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan H, who writes:
The A16 schedule is released for BBC World Service. Here is a link to the A16 frequency page which features additional links to regional frequency charts and transmitter details.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2x9tqt6mc05vB2S37j8MWMJ/global-short-wave-frequencies
Good news for me is the BBC World Service English language transmission on 11890 kHz from 1500-1700 UTC. Although beamed to Afghanistan and Iran this signal has been strong in northern California for the last several mornings! I must be receiving an odd lobe off of this one! Now I have BBC during breakfast in addition to 7445 kHz I use during my evenings at 0500. Here is a video I shot of 11890 reception this morning.
(Click here to view on YouTube.)
I hope this information is useful for SWL Post readers.
Indeed it is! Thank you for sharing the schedule info and your video, Dan!
I heard this on Saturday 5/14 with terrific reception. Although short-wave dot info reports that this is transmitting from Kranji, Singapore at an azimuth of 320º (right at South Asia as you mention) it’s almost as if it’s instead aimed at 40º, directly at North America.
BBC World Service is strong in N. California this morning on 9740 kHz during the 1000-1100 UTC hours. BBS lists this as an East Asia frequency from “T + SG”, meaning the Thailand and Singapore relays. Some repositioning of the 6 kHz 909X IF filter was needed after Radio Taiwan International signed on at 9735 kHz at 1100 UTC.
BBC, not BBS, above.
Reception of 11890 kHz has been excellent this week for a full three hours daily: 1400-1700 UTC.
Thanks for the tip. Currently listening to 11.890 on my Radio Shack DX 398 at 0907 PDT
What is your location, Karen?
Thanks for the tip and the video, Dan! I’m getting similar reception at 1500 UTC at my location near Seattle. I’m using the whip antenna of a Tecsun PL-880. Indeed, the BBC is a good addition to my breakfast right now :^)
Excellent! For both of us virtually all of the transmission path is over water. The difference is passing one side of Japan or the other and about 500 miles.
I noticed the signal kept steadily increasing in strength right up until the 1700* end of transmission; it was almost “armchair quality” even on the Tecsun’s whip antenna.
BTW, I’m receiving another black ATS-909X today…I never should have sold my first one. The performance of the 909X with an external antenna nearly puts it in the “portatop” category. I recently learned about the method to use an external medium wave antenna with the 909X, forcing it to disconnect the internal ferrite rod. My plan is to try a Kiwa MW Loop antenna and one of my Wellbrook loops with the 909X.
This link shows how to accomplish it with the earlier
ATS-909 model, but it is also effective with the ATS-909X: http://www.davidmoisan.org/radio/sangean/909tech.html#extant
I have been thinking about MW loop antennas for the 909X but haven’t gone there yet. I usually use the built-in ferrite rod antenna for MW. It will pick up KOMO-AM reliably after dusk.
In my video you can see both an antenna and a ground connection at the external antenna jack. This is mainly for messing around. The green ground wire goes to an alligator clip that is hanging unattached to anything behind the desk. I have better weak MW station results (sometimes) with a long wire if the ground lead is attached to a good ground.
I looked at link you provided re: external antenna connection for model 909. On the model 909X the antenna jack and plug are 1/8″ (3.5mm) mono.
Hi again,
I’ve looked at the 909X service manual before, and just now double-checked it. The receiver’s antenna jack is stereo (3-conductor), and is clearly shown this way in the schematic. In fact, the conductor points are even labeled T, R, and G, which stands for “tip”, “ring”, and “ground”. This is the standard way to identify the 3 conductors in a stereo plug or jack.
The 3 conductor antenna jack, plus the comments in the ATS-909 Yahoo Group that the 909X functions the same way when it comes to taking the MW ferrite bar out of the circuit, makes me to conclude that all will be fine. The key is to wire the ring and the ground together in the plug as the web page describes.
Yep. I also have the service manual on the hard drive. The main schematic (page 52) shows the three connections for JK1. It is stereo jack. Thanks!
The 11890 transmission is holding strong for Saturday. However, Saturday seems to be devoted entirely to Sportsworld with news updates.
Obviously, all shortwave schedule web sites have not updated their schedules for the A16 season as yet. However, there is at least one which has:
http://addx.de/Hfpdat/plaene.php
In my experience, ADDX has been quite reliable in publishing updated schedules one day ahead of seasonal schedule changes. (This is from an European perspective however, as in North America the switches between winter and summer times happen at different dates than In Europe.)
Just by change, I happened to listen BBC WS at 11980 kHz yesterday at 16 UTC. It gave a fairly good signal level here in Helsinki.