Category Archives: DX

A little barefoot ultralight MW DXing . . . in which my mental status is questioned

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM

About 10 days ago, the Better Half and I visited my wife’s sister in Sodus, NY, a small town in the western part of the state near the shores of Lake Ontario.

First consideration when packing was – never mind the underwear and the toothpaste – what radios shall I take? I decided to go light . . . just a CCrane Skywave SSB and a Uniden BC125AT analog-only scanner.

In the predawn hours on a handful of mornings, I decided to see what I could hear on medium wave with the diminutive Skywave SSB. The Skywave is an “ultralight” radio – under 20 cubic inches in volume. Because the Skywave’s plastic case is so small, the ferrite antenna within it is very small . . . less than 3 inches long. It is by no means a huge antenna for grabbing signals.

It was Gary DeBock who pioneered ultralight DXing with tiny generally inexpensive radios. As a ham radio operator, he had worked 144 countries using a Heathkit 1-2 watt kit transmitter he had built. In the process, he learned a great deal about propagation.

In 2007, he decided to see what he could do with a cheap pocket radio, a Sony Walkman SRS 59. At 1 am on an autumn night from his home in Washington state, he put propagation and operating skill to work and heard three distant medium-wave stations: a couple from Japan and one from Korea. He posted his results on the internet in November, 2007, and he got a lot skeptical feedback: How could you possibly do this?

His response (in essence): Try it for yourself.

Some people did try for themselves; some with great success. One DXer from Canada logged 300 stations in 30 days. Interest in MW DXing with pocket-sized consumer radios took off, and ultralight DXing was born.

So, in the predawn hours in Sodus, NY, I decided to give ultralight DXing a try . . . barefoot . . . that means with no external antennas or signal boosters . . . just me kicked back in a recliner, the CCrane Skywave SSB, and a pair of headphones. Simple.

Before we proceed, you need to understand that my DXing style might charitably be described as “lazy.” Instead of laboriously turning the tuning knob, I use the seek function on the CCrane Skywave. I simply press and hold for a moment the up or down arrow and wait for the Skywave to stop at the next signal it detects. Then, if I feel that the signal might be enhanced by re-orienting the antenna with respect to the signal, I wiggle the Skywave around in my hand and listen for an improvement in what I am hearing through the headphones.

The results: I logged (among others) Atlanta, Georgia (493 miles) and Charlotte, North Carolina (588 miles) on the CCrane Skywave SSB with its tiny internal antenna. Also received: Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, Baltimore, and Toronto and a bunch of unknowns.

One afternoon, I decided to see what distant stations Skywave might receive during the daylight hours. I was kicked back in the recliner with headphones on, doing my usual, waving the Skywave around in the air to optimize the reception. My sister-in-law started laughing. She said I looked like a demented band leader, conducting a silent orchestra! I tried to assure her that my mental status was OK and that I was trying to optimize the signal. I’m not sure it worked.

But one thing is certain: barefoot ultralight MW DXing is fun. All you need is a tiny radio, a bit of darkness, a pair of headphones, and a willingness to be surprised.

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High Noon: Belka MW shootout part 2, with a review of the AFA200C active MW ferrite antenna

High Noon: Belka MW shootout part 2, with a review of the AFA200C active MW ferrite antenna

by 13dka

When I reviewed the updated Belka (gen3, 2022) for its MW/LW performance in October last year, I just wanted to know if it’s any good with just the whip antenna and used the XHDATA D-808 as a reference radio because it’s a Jay Allen 2.5-star average performer on MW and my expectations were not high for MW reception on a short whip.  To my surprise that average bar turned out way too low for the Belka!

That was sure asking for a comparison with the most sensitive MW radio I have and gave me hope to use the Belka for ultra-portable MW DXing on the move.  The omnidirectional whip doesn’t allow me to null out unwanted co-channel interference though, therefore I wanted to find a reasonably sized loopstick antenna to pair with the Belka.  Continue reading

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Short Video: Paul tunes in Rádio Nacional da Amazônia with his ATS25 in McGrath, Alaska

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following video of his open-air DX shack in McGrath, Alaska. Paul notes:

I got my iRig working and recorded audio of Rádio Nacional da Amazônia on 11780 kHz directly from the radio into my phone and it sounds really good with such a strong signal here in ALASKA. Take a listen….

Click here to view on YouTube.

Thanks for sharing this, Paul! That does sound amazing–like a local station!

You, sir, are a true DXer! Anyone who regularly braves frigid temps to chase far-flung DX is made of some incredibly tough stuff!

Thanks for sharing, Paul!

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The International Radio Club’s Reprints collection

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Nick Hall-Patch who shares the following announcement:


IRCA Reprints open to public

The International Radio Club’s Reprints collection of over 1100 articles about antennas, radio propagation, receivers, accessories, plus items of general interest to MW DXers, continues to grow.   We’ve published an update to the index, at DXer.ca [PDF] , so that everyone can get access to these latest additions.  (also accessible at https://www.ircaonline.org/ “Free IRCA Reprints” button)

The latest update includes items from DX Monitor up the end of June 2022. as well as many items of interest from elsewhere, used with permission.

Added items in this update are marked “(NEW)”,  plus there are a few updated articles as well.

Please pass on this information to others as you see fit.

(if you’ve used the index before, you may need to refresh your browser page to see the latest update, dated December 2022)

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LRA 36 Special Broadcast: “Uniting Voices” this Saturday (March 11, 2023)

In the studio of LRA 36, Antarctica

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following announcement:

New broadcast of “Uniting Voices” on LRA 36 “National Radio Archangel San Gabriel”

SATURDAY MARCH 11 – 18:00 ART Argentina Time (21:00 UTC) until 24:00 ART Saturday (03:00 UTC Sunday)

Six hours of uninterrupted short wave radio from Antarctica

The Antarctic station of Base Esperanza will broadcast a new program of the special summer cycle called “Uniting Voices”. The broadcast will include interviews, special notes, cultural information, news of activities developed during the 2023 Antarctic Summer Campaign, National Radio podcast and music.

Production: Commando Conjunto Antarctic, Radio Argentina Exterior (RAE) and project “Uniting Voices” of the National University of Quilmes.

Listen to the program on 15.476 kHz (USB) shortwave, starting at 21:00 UTC on March 10, 2023.

Internet: www.radionacional.com.ar , Select Stations, Land of Fire, LRA36.
LRA 36 Whatsapp: +54 9 297-624-0137

Reception Reports to: [email protected]

Thank you for the tip, Paul!

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Guest Post: Listening to LRA 36

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


Listening to LRA 36

by TomL

I finally had time to go outdoors to listen to LRA 36, Antarctica.  People were gushing about how well it is being received.  My location was a park across the street from the Forest Preserve I usually go to (the Forest Preserves are shutdown and gates locked after sundown).  Even though it was after sunset, this Park has no gate or chain to prevent people from parking there.  In the dark, I setup the trusty amplified Loop-on-Ground antenna, SDR, and laptop.  Solar Flux Index about 179, K index 2.

Started recording and, NOTHING! ARRGH.  But I had just heard it at home in the noise!?!?  Waited about two minutes and all of a sudden music started playing in the middle of a song.  S6 – S7 strength with lots of fading.  Very cool.  20 minutes later, went off the air.  Then 10 minutes later, came back on again in the middle of another song.  They must be tweaking the transmitter.  This feels like the 10 kW transmitter; no way could a 1.5 kW be this loud over 12000 kilometers!  Also, an advantage with IQ recording of a spectrum is I could tune into it later.  Good thing because between their tweaking the transmitter, my SDR, and the crazy propagation, I had to tune to 15475.983 kHz in order to get the USB signal perfectly in pitch.

For your listening enjoyment if you have not had a chance to hear it clearly, I have uploaded both recordings to archive.org where you can listen as long as you want.  Worth listening to, playing music of Argentina music bands.  Happy Listening!  Here is the link to Archive.org and the audio files are also embedded below:

LRA 36 at 00:30 UTC on 05 March 2023:

LRA 36 at 01:00 UTC on 05 March 2023:

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LRA 36 (Arcangel San Gabriel, Antarctica) Test Broadcasts on March 1st and 4th, 2023

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adrian Korol, who shares the following details for the next two LRA 36 test broadcasts. Note that the first one is later today (Wed, Mar 1):

LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel.
Next Test Broadcast from Antartica:

      • Wednesday March 1st, 21:00 to 23:00 UTC
      • Saturday March 4th 21:00 to Sunday, March 5th 03:00 UTC

Frequency/Mode: 15476 kHz USB

Correct Reports = eQSL
email : [email protected]

Please upload your LRA36 listening video to YouTube, IG, Twitter, FB, or Tik Tok.

Thank you for the tip and photos, Adrian!

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