Category Archives: DX

Giuseppe captures LRA36 special on the coast of Italy with a portable receiver

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Dan records the LRA36 special broadcast

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

As the DX/SWL community knows, LRA-36 Radio Arcangel San Gabriel in Antarctica Argentina put on a special broadcast on September 21st for listeners around the world. This had some pre-publicity via an announcement from the station, so chances are many people heard it.

My listening began at around 1253 UTC when I was surprised to find the broadcast already in progress, though the time was originally set for 1300-1415 UTC. Because the Paradinho, Brazil Kiwi site was full I tuned to one of two Iceland-based SDRs at 1253 to find an Argentine song often used by the station in progress, then sign on announcements, including what sounded like English greetings to listeners, followed by a program that consisted mostly of two female announcers in conversation, punctuated by occasional drop-ins by a male announcer with ID’s and sending “abrazos” (embraces/hugs) to listeners.

At 1400 UTC, there was a period of CW ID followed by some more discussion until about 1415 when they went into straight music. Programming actually lasted through 1430 when I tuned away — the transmitter was not on when I checked at noon EDT, but the station said they intended to repeat the special program later in the day. Here is video of the beginning of the program as heard at 1253 UTC, as well as the CW ID at 1400.

Click here to watch/listen via Vimeo.

Excellent! Thank you, Dan for sharing your recording.

I also made a recording remotely via my home SDR while travelling this weekend. I’ll review the recording the coming days.

Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio reaches a milestone

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Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio will air episode 2,000 this weekend.

The thirty minute World Of Radio show, which covers all things DX, debuted in 1980 on WUOT-FM in Knoxville, Tennessee, and moved to shortwave outlets two years later. Glenn Hauser has faithfully produced the show since then.

SWLing Post Executive Producer, Scott Gamble, contacted me recently and wrote:

In 1980 I was a freshman in high school when my parents gave me a shortwave radio for Christmas. This was during the heyday of international broadcasting, and it opened up an entire world of content that my teenage brain was excited to soak up. I’m not sure exactly when and where, but I soon after stumbled across Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio program immediately became a fan. Glenn’s unmistakable style and ability to jam so much news into a short broadcast provided a wealth of programming information in an era where access was nowhere near as ubiquitous as it is today. Glenn’s weekly broadcasts kept us all informed about schedules and content, and shortly after I became a subscriber to his Review of International Broadcasting publication. RIB provided a fascinating deeper dive into programming, politics and people behind the broadcasts, forever expanding my worldview and I’m sure thousands of others.

Writing about this in 2019, on the eve of the 2,000th episode of World of Radio, it is a testament to Glenn that his work has evolved so well into the digital age, and shows that even in a world where unlimited information is constantly available via the internet, curation and expert commentary are still highly valuable commodities. I still enjoy listening to WOR (as a podcast) every week. Congratulations, Glenn!

Thank you for sharing that memory with us, Scott. I also started listening to World of Radio in my youth. In the 1980s, I had no friends that were into shortwave listening and didn’t have the means to join any of the listener clubs, so World of Radio was my window into all that was DXing.

Share your WOR memories and comments to win an Eton Mini!

If you comment with a memory or positive message about World of Radio, you will be entered in a contest to win a Grundig Edition Eton Mini shortwave receiver. I will pick a commenter at random next Friday (September 27, 2019) and ship them their prize! (Congrats to Robert Graham who won our last giveaway).

This prize was donated by the good folks at Universal Radio.

The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world (although if international, you may be responsible for any duties/taxes paid in customs clearance).

Good luck and congratulations to Glenn Hauser and his World of Radio!

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Special Broadcast: LRA36, Radio Nacional – Arcángel San Gabriel, Antarctica

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2014 QSL received by Christoph Ratzer

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adrian Korol, who shares the following announcement:

LRA Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Argentina Antártida

Special issue

This Saturday, September 21, LRA 36 will make a special transmission from the Esperanza Base, Antarctica Argentina. From 10 to 1115 Argentine time (13 to 1415 UTC) by 15476 kHz 19 meter band.

Receipt reports should be sent to [email protected] and, if correct, will be verified with a special electronic QSL.

The arrival of spring is a very good reason, as well as the proximity of the 40 years of the station that will be celebrated on October 20. The special broadcast will be in charge of the announcers of LRA36: Sabrina Alanis, Beatriz Costilla and Karina Muñoz while the technical operation is by José Calpanchay.

We appreciate spreading this message. You can also send your greetings, comments and suggestions to be read during the program.

Thank you!

Thank you for sharing this, Adrian.

LRA36 is one of my favorite stations to DX. Although it’s incredibly difficult to hear their 10 kw signal in North America, I always try and have sometimes been rewarded. This broadcast will take place while I’m attending the W4DXCC conference, but I will still attempt to listen even if remotely through my home SDR. I think I’ll put the amazing AirSpy HF+ Discovery on the job!

Readers: Please let me know if you’re able to snag this broadcast and please consider making a recording for the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Guest Post: Brazil’s newly-formed “15.61 Crew”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Martin Butera, who shares the following announcement for a new radio enthusiast group in Brazil:

The new 15 point 61 Crew

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the Americas, and the seventh largest in the world, with a population of 11,300,000.

This was the stage for the meeting between Ivan Dias da Silva Junior (a recognized Brazilian radio listener with more than 27 years of experience and founder of the Regional DX) and his colleague, Martin Butera (a renowned amateur radio operator (LU9EFO – PT2ZDX), with 29 years of experience and currently a correspondent journalist for the British Dx Club, covering information from South America for the radio newsletter “Communication”).

The place of the meeting was not an accidental: we met in a noted coffee bar in the Republic Square–an iconic meeting point in São Paulo. Republic Square is located in the city center and is one of the most visited places in Brazil.

We founded the 15 point 61 Crew in São Paulo, on September 3, 2019.

The 15 point 61 Crew is not a DX club, nor a formal registered organization. We are just an informal group who like DXing.

What is the meaning behind our name? The number 15 is the dialing code of Sorocaba and 61 is the Brasília code, joining the two cities where the Crew founders are based–a distance of more than 900 km (Brazil is a huge country!).

The 15.61 Crew doesn’t have political or religious objectives. Our main objective is DXing, with an emphasis on organizing related activities: mainly DXcamps to be held in distant and exotic places, and bringing a new panorama of what is shared about DXing in our country.

We don’t have any kind of administration positions. The 15.61 Crew members are and always will be in equals.

To be a member of 15.61 Crew you just need to be active in our hobby, share information, write items, go with us to DXcamps, develop technical projects, etc.

As we aren’t a DXing club or organization, we will not have a website nor social media. We will share micro-books, especially about our activities through existing media, like the SWLing Post by our friend, Thomas Witherspoon, and by ourselves, because at the moment we are members of other radio related bulletin boards.

Our communication will be through an email address and a Paypal account for those who want to help us to continue developing our activities and also provide feedback on other projects (such as sharing content with other websites, thus creating a virtual collaboration for all).

For this purpose, we are currently developing several projects, such as a 15.61 Crew certificate program and different materials, such as caps, shirts, mugs, etc.

The 15.61 Crew members believe that there are so much things to be heard in the ether and we are prepared for it.

Ivan Dias da Silva Junior & Martin Butera

(15.61 Crew founders)

São Paulo, September 3, 2019

Thank you for sharing this Martin! I hope the 15.61 Crew enjoys some great success and champions a dynamic DX community! If you’re interested in joining this South American crew, contact Martin Butera.

AirSpy HF+ Discovery: First Impressions on Medium Wave vs. Elad FDM-DUOr

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The highly anticipated AirSpy HF+ Discovery SDR has been in the hands of early adopters for about two weeks–and I’ve seen nothing but positive comments!

After a long run (2007-2013) with a Microtelecom Perseus, my SDR of choice became the Elad FDM-S2, and more recently an Elad FDM-DUOr “hybrid” SDR receiver. The two Elads have the same core processing components and identical performance when the DUOr is connected via SDR software.

This week I’ve compared the HF+ Discovery ($169) against the FDM-DUOr ($899) using Studio 1 software and identical modes & settings. The following video features the radios’ performance on a crowded daytime medium wave band from suburban Seattle-Tacoma USA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkQQeF2edCU

Click here to view on YouTube.

Notes:

Software used is two “instances” of Studio 1, version 1.06e
Antenna is an east-west oriented Wellbrook ALA1530LNP Imperium loop
Mode, filter bandwidth, AGC, etc. are the same for each radio
768 kHz sampling bandwidth used for both receivers

Stations tuned are:

1320 KXRO Aberdeen WA, 74 miles @ 5 kW (in-line with antenna)
1110 Oak Harbor WA, 78 miles @ 500 watts (in antenna’s null)
1040 CKST Vancouver BC, 147 miles @ 50 kW (in antenna’s null)
1430 KBRC Mt. Vernon WA, 85 miles @ 5 kW (in antenna’s null)
750 KXTG Portland OR, 118 miles @ 50 kW (in antenna’s null)

I purposely sought out signals difficult to hear in the presence of powerhouse stations. Only 1320 kXRO (in-line with my antenna) and 750 KXTG are what you might consider average or fair quality signals. Headphones are recommended for most of these, particularly 1040 kHz.

You’ll note that the pass band has been “pulled” over the edge of the carrier frequency by a few hundred Hertz. This is an excellent trick that can often reduce noise and/or improve intelligibility. It’s a feature unique to Perseus, Studio 1, and SDRuno software; it works in sideband modes and in selectable sideband Sync AM (SAM) mode.

After listening to the signal comparisons, what are your thoughts on the HF+ Discovery? Please leave your comments below.

Guy Atkins is a Sr. Graphic Designer for T-Mobile and lives near Seattle, Washington. He’s a regular contributor to the SWLing Post.

Guest Post: Summer Daytime DXing 2019

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who shares the following guest post:

Summer Daytime DXing 2019

by TomL

I took note of the mediocre band conditions this summer amongst amateur radio operators as they were making off the cuff comments about still being in a solar minimum. Some had gone out and bought upgraded transmitters to solve the problem (MOAR WATTS!). And more power thrown at a weak ionosphere does seem to help get a signal farther. I had not been out since the spring and decided to find out for myself. But instead of more watts, I wanted more height.

Greene Valley Scenic Overlook is open to the public from May through October on weekends only (and only from 11am-6pm). It was the largest land fill (aka, garbage dump) in Illinois, now covered over and producing captured methane gas. On August 3 & 4, I ventured over there to see if its 190 feet above the surroundings might help my radio reception.

After trying my luck with a 12 foot vertical antenna on a tripod (and numerous children running around it chasing butterflies or looking at the view of Chicago), I went out the next day and parked away from anyone and put up my 19 foot vertical on the roof of the car. This setup is still amazing to me and works much better than the tripod mounted antenna, probably because it has a proper ground plane as well as being 7 foot taller.

So, yes, the conditions were so-so, not too bad and not too good. Lots of weak signals and some empty frequencies that I had expected to hear some South American stations around the 5 – 10 kw range. Weak stations from Asia were more scratchy sounding than usual even with the extra 190 feet of height. Here are 5 broadcast recordings as a sample (times in UTC):

9920 kHz at 21.14 – Radio Thailand in Thai, just catching the end of the broadcast:

9685 kHz at 21.20 – Radio Free Asia in Chinese from Kuwait:

9650 kHz at 21.23 – Radio Guinea in French:

9445 kHz at 21.30 – All India Radio in English (fighting off computer generated noise on my SDR and cheap Dell laptop) and just getting a station identification:

11780 kHz at 21.44 – Radio Nacional de Amazonia booming in with the usual annoying host yelling enthusiastically over every tune he played:

Running out of things to listen to, I wandered over to the 20 meter amateur radio band and found a different situation. Propagation was decent between the Western hemisphere and Europe. Lots of “pile ups” going on with people trying to make contact with their trans-Atlantic counterparts. Some said they were running 500 watts or more, so more power does seem to help! Here are 5 recordings to show how active it was:

14171 kHz at 21.55 – Inaki (F5RAG) from southwestern France conversing with Carlos (YV3CRT) in Venezuela (surprised anyone is left in Venezuela with operating radio equipment and not sold off for food with the ongoing difficulties there). Then Inaki makes contact with Alejandro (CE2ATS) from Chile with a good signal. All in Spanish:

14199.38 kHz at 22.04 – Ervin (VE3GAL) tries his QRP portable setup from Ontario to contact Ron (F4VSM) in Southwestern France who has a 500 watt setup and large Yagi antenna. Sometimes things do not go so well but that is the challenge of using low power, maybe around 10 watts (meaning that just because you can hear them, you cannot always transmit to them with the same effectiveness and vice-versa, for various reasons):

14228 kHz at 22.12 – “BAN” (IZ1PNT) from Italy makes contact with Norman (N3PVQ) in FL after asking everyone to be quiet. Good control over the frequency:

14238 kHz at 22.17 – Slavko (S57DX) booming in, making a contact (Rob, KK4HEQ) in Florida:

14245 kHz at 22.24 – Gabrielle from the Czech Republic, participating at a Youth event using station OL88YL contacting Ira (VP2EIH) in the British Virgin Islands and then another dude from Florida, Roy (AD4AN). She handled it very well:

This outing was quite educational and I find it curious that people running 1000 watts or less are able to be heard well between continents but the large broadcasters were difficult to hear. Antennas pointed in the right direction, at the right time of day and frequency, can certainly do amazing things, plucking those weak signals out of the air so easily. And I do think the extra height had something to do with hearing this magic, too!

Happy Listening,

TomL

NOTES:

An easy way to lookup amateur radio operator “call signs” is to go to web site QRZCQ.com which does not need a login. Some records may be out of date, but most of it is accurate.
Setup used was a cheap Dell laptop, Windows 10, SDR Console 3.03, connected to the AirSpy HF+, a Palstar amplified preselector, and an old Kiwa BCB filter, then going up to the car roof magnetic balun (a Palomar MLB2) which is then connected to the 4 magnet base and the MFJ 19 foot stainless steel antenna. You can read about it here:

https://swling.com/blog/2018/07/guest-post-backpack-shack-3-0-part-3/

Brilliant report, Tom! It’s true: the bands are fickle, but like you I always find interesting things to hear on HF. I think your setup using your vehicle as the ground plane for the antenna is a fantastic idea. Plus, set up is easy, self-supporting, and you’ll never have to worry about a park ranger, for example, complaining because you have a wire suspended from a tree. And when there are no trees? You’re still golden.

Thanks for sharing your experience and DX! Amazing that even with mediocre conditions, you still snagged some distant signals.