Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Capturing spectrum and logging band openings last night

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My 31 meter band spectrum display last night. Strong signals across the board.

Waterfall display of the 31 meter band last night.

Last night, band conditions were superb above 7 MHz. Both the 31 and 25 meter bands seemed crowded with stations; for a moment, it felt like a true solar peak.

This morning, solar flares have dampened down the excitement but I imagine conditions could favorably change at times this weekend, so stay tuned!

I recorded the entire 25M band for a couple of hours yesterday evening and a large portion of the 31 meter band throughout the night. Fortunately, I had just invested in another Western Digital Caviar Green 3 TB SATA drive, so there was ample space to make these (very) large recordings. I think this brings my overall spectrum storage up to 12 TB!?!

I love the fact that these SDR band captures will make for good listening sometime this winter when the sun isn’t being so cooperative. I liken it to radio time travel, but I believe David Goren (of shortwaveology.net) said it best in a comment he posted in “Confessions of an SDRaholic: when 4.5 terabytes is not enough“:

“My approach to recording SDR band captures is like assembling a collection of fine wines. I tend to record captures when there are unusual propagational openings…and while recording a whole swath of frequencies for an hour or so you can still tune around and make discoveries and even record them singly.. And then once the capture is done, you have it as long as you want to keep it.. So, on a static-y summers day I can go to the shelf and pull down “Ye Olde Auroral MW Opening 10/15/11? or “Hot Bolivian evening on 60 meters.” and I can make discoveries to my heart’s content. Since I can listen to an hour’s worth of each frequency it will take a long time to exhaust the potential of any particular capture, esp. with the ability to refilter and change. multiple parameters of reception.”

See? (I tell my wife) I’m simply building my collection of fine wines!

Below, you’ll find some of the stations I logged last night (actually, this morning in UTC).

Logs:

31 meter band beginning 00:00 UTC, 25 OCT 2014

  • 9410 BBC English Nakhon Sawan
  • 9420 ERT Open/VOG Greek
  • 9455 China National Radio 1 Chinese
  • 9470 AIR National Channel Hindi/English (vy wk)
  • 9475 WTWW English
  • 9510 China Radio International Russian
  • 9520 PBS Nei Menggu Chinese AND Radio Romania International Romanian
  • 9565 Radio Tupi/Super Radio Deus e Amor Portuguese (QRM from CRI 9570)
  • 9570 China Radio International English
  • 9586 Super Radio Deus e Amor Portuguese
  • 9590 China Radio International Spanish
  • 9630 Radio Aparecida Portuguese
  • 9645 Radio Bandeirantes Portuguese
  • 9660 Radio Taiwan International Chinese
  • 9665 China National Radio 5 Chinese or possibly KCBS Pyongyang Korean
  • 9690 All India Radio English
  • 9700 Radio Romania International English
  • 9705 All India Radio English
  • 9710 China Radio International Portuguese
  • 9730 Adventist World Radio Manumanaw Karen or possibly 9730 Myanmar Radio Burmese
  • 9740 BBC English (vy weak)
  • 9800 China Radio International Spanish
  • 9810 Radio Havana Cuba Spanish
  • 9820 Radio 9 de Julho Portuguese
  • 9855 Voice of America Tibetan
  • 9860 Voice of Islamic Rep. of Iran Spanish
  • 9870 AIR New Delhi Hindi
  • 9880 Voice of America Chinese (vy weak)
  • 9935 ERT Open, VOG Greek
  • 9965 Radio Cairo Arabic
  • 10000 WWV Ft. Collins

25 meter band beginning  0100 UTC, 25 OCT 2014

  • 11520 EWTN (WEWN) English
  • 11580 SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng Chinese/Cantonese
  • 11590 Radio Japan Hindi (vy weak)
  • 11620 China National Radio 5 Chinese
  • 11640 Radio Free Asia Uyghur
  • 11650 China Radio International Chinese
  • 11670 Radio Havana Cuba Spanish
  • 11695 Radio Free Asia Tibetan
  • 11710.7 Radio Cairo Spanish (transmitter noise)
  • 11760 Radio Havana Cuba Spanish
  • 11780 Radio Nacional da Brasilia Portuguese
  • 11825 Bro Stair
  • 11840 Radio Havana Cuba Spanish
  • 11855 Radio Aparecida Portuguese
  • 11870 EWTN (WEWN) Spanish
  • 11905 Sri Lanka BC English/Hindi
  • 11955 Radio Romania International French
  • 12020 VoA Deewa Radio Pashto
  • 12025 UNID
  • 12070 Radio Cairo Spanish (jammed or transmitter noise?)
  • 12105 WTWW Spanish

ERT Open (Voice of Greece) moves back to 9420 kHz

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ERT_DigitalIf you were listening to the 31 meter band last night in North America, you would have heard a very strong ERT Open (Voice of Greece) back on their long-established frequency of 9420 kHz.

Only yesterday, I posted a note about ERT’s apparent move to 9415 kHz to avoid interference with the IRIB. Seems they changed their mind.

Indeed, conditions were superb last night and bands were wide open above 7 MHz. ERT was broadcasting on 9420 and 9935 kHz and both were strong (S9+).

I’m very curious if ERT will remain on 9420 or move back to 9415 kHz during the week. I suppose time will tell.

ERT Open (former Voice of Greece) moves to 9,415 kHz

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View from the town of Litochoro, in the foothills of Mount Olympus, Greece. (Source: Public Domain via Wikimedia)

View from the town of Litochoro, in the foothills of Mount Olympus, Greece. (Source: Public Domain via Wikimedia)

Many listeners have noticed that the former Voice of Greece (ERT Open) has moved from 9,420 kHz to 9,415 kHz. This must be due to interference from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) who has been transmitting on 9420 kHz as well.

Here in North America, even when IRIB was broadcasting simultaneously on 9420 kHz, VOG always overpowered their signal. In other parts of the world, though, it was not the same case.

I’m happy VOG/ERT is still on shortwave and broadcasting to the world–though no one really knows for how much longer.

I recorded about one hour of VOG on 9,415 kHz, starting around 0045 UTC today. Enjoy:

Mike recalls visiting the original Wullenweber test site

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Illinois

In response to our post Uncovering Wullenweber’s “Elephant Cages,” Mike comments:

Sometime back around 2005-2009, I was doing maintenance on a NOAA climate station near Bondville, IL, and noticed several tall utility poles in the distance. As I figured they looked suspiciously like an antenna array, I asked the site caretaker (it was University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana farm) what they were. He happily took me to see what was left of the original Wullenweber test site, built under contract for the US government for testing by Dr. Hayden. All that remained then was several utility poles, and some transmission line sticking out of the ground.

SanDiego

I’ve also seen the Navy’s array at Imperial Beach, CA (near San Diego), down the highway from the SEAL base, and it’s very impressive. It’s clearly visible from the highway, and though I’ve read it was supposed to come down years ago, its still standing. Makes me wonder if it’s still in use.

AK

Another interesting site I’ve seen is outside of Barrow, Alaska. Near remnants of the DEW Line is a joint USAF/FAA radar station, with a single white domed antenna. I don’t remember exactly, but pretty close to it is what looks to me like a “mini” Elephant Cage. From what I recall, it was a single ring of fairly short towers, surrounding a small central building. When I asked about the facility, I was only told it belonged to an “unnamed agency.”

The first 2 are clearly visible from the following link, while the Barrow site doesn’t stand out enough to be obvious in the Google images.

Click on the “markers” button in the lower right to jump to all the sites: http://tinyurl.com/k5jhxuv

Many thanks, Mike!

Grundig S450DLX $34.19 shipped

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GrundigS450DLX

Blinq.com still has the Grundig S450DLX for a mere $34.19 US shipped. That’s a superb price. Blinq.com describes these units as “Used – Very Good – Item fully functional – May show minor wear (scratches, etc) – May come repackaged.”

I’m very tempted to snag one at this price, even though I don’t really need it. Perhaps I’ll purchase one as a gift?

For what it’s worth, Amazon.com has new units for $59.00 shipped.

Introducing Shortwave’s Newest Broadcaster: Global 24 Radio

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Global24

This is one of the most exciting developments I’ve seen in international broadcasting in ages: an around-the-clock, fixed-frequency, commercial shortwave radio broadcaster, transmitting via WRMI.

The new Global24 will begin broadcasting on Friday, October 31, 2014 at 7:00 PM EDT (2300 UTC November 1st) on 9395 kHz.

Below, you’ll find Global24’s first press release:

(Source: Global24Radio.com)

(Hollywood, FL) Oct. 21, 2014 – Global 24 Radio LLC announced today that its inaugural broadcast will go live at 7:00 p.m., Friday, Oct. 31 (0000 UTC November 1), with a line-up of new and well-known programs and around-the-clock English language programming.  The broadcast can be heard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 9395 kHz on WRMI broadcasting from Okeechobee, Florida.

“We’re very excited about launching Global 24 and the important contributions it will make to shortwave radio listening – as both a medium worth preserving and a vital part of the modern media mix for so many listeners around the world,” said Phil Workman, general manager of Global 24.   “Our broadcast will appeal to dedicated shortwave listeners (SWL) all over the world looking for breaking news, opinion and music.”

Global 24 aims to revitalize the shortwave medium by bringing general interest news and entertainment into sharper focus for listeners looking for high quality programming on a daily basis.  Regular listeners will be informed, entertained and engaged in an ever more complex world.

According to Jeff White, general manager of WRMI,  “Global 24 represents another step in the long overdue commercialization of shortwave radio.  We are excited to be working with them on their ambitious program to engage and entertain a global audience.”

Additional press releases in coming days will announce our broadcast schedule, our Listeners’ Club, contests, sponsors, our web store, staff and much more.  Follow us on Twitter at @Global24Radio or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/global24radio.  Visit our website:  http://www.global24radio.com  to join our email newsletter for the most current updates.

I’m in contact with Global24 and will continue to post updates as they become available.

Simply follow the tag: Global24

Radio blackout: X-Ray Event exceeds X1

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latest_sxi

I’ve heard from several of you this morning that the shortwave bands are dead.

It’s not your radio…it’s our sun. We’re currently experiencing an X-ray event exceeding X1 on the NOAA Space Weather Scale. This equates to wide area blackout of HF radio communication and loss of radio contact for about an hour on sunlit side of Earth.

SWLing Post reader, Richard Langley, shares this space weather alert from NOAA:

Space Weather Message Code: SUMX01
Serial Number: 105
Issue Time: 2014 Oct 22 1454 UTC

SUMMARY: X-ray Event exceeded X1
Begin Time: 2014 Oct 22 1402 UTC
Maximum Time: 2014 Oct 22 1428 UTC
End Time: 2014 Oct 22 1450 UTC
X-ray Class: X1.6
Optical Class: 2b
Location: S14E13
NOAA Scale: R3 – Strong

NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales

Potential Impacts: Area of impact consists of large portions of the sunlit side of Earth, strongest at the sub-solar point.

Radio – Wide area blackout of HF (high frequency) radio communication for about an hour.

Fear not, this shall eventually pass and SWLing will return to normal. Indeed, you might even catch a few rare band openings between event. I believe you can expect overall unsettled conditions near term, based on recent solar history.