Category Archives: What’s On Shortwave

The Classics Experience with Paul Walker: August 26 and 27

SX-99-Dial-Nar

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who announces his next show:

The next broadcast of The Classics Experience with Paul Walker is going to be the biggest yet. It’ll all take place in late August with 2 hours of rock n roll music with maybe a few country songs thrown in for good measure. The show is ALL about the music and providing something different on the shortwave bands, so all you’ll get from the show is MUSIC. There will be NO rants, raves, personal opinions or political and religious rants. No commercials or sponsors either. I fund the broadcast out of my own pocket so I can pick whatever music I want and not have to answer to anyone but George D. Beagle!

WRMI 7570kHz Saturday August 27th 0400 to 0600UTC. Beaming at 315 degrees towards Vancouver. It should provide a good signal to the West Coast of the US and Canada and probably parts of the midwest and upper midwest along the way.

WRMI 11580kHz Friday August 26th 2100 UTC to 2300UTC., This signal target area is Eastern North America and Western Europe.

WRMI 11530kHz Saturday August 27th, 0200UTC to 0400UTC targetting South America with maybe a little spill over to extreme Western Africa.

WINB 9265kHz Saturday August 27th 0330 to 0530UTC. This should provide good coverage into the Midwest, parts of southern Canada, into Mexico along with parts of Central & Southern Europe it seemed.. It was weakly heard in Australia and New Zealand during my last broadcast.

Channel 292 6070kHz Friday August 26th 2200 to 2400UTC. This should provide good coverage of central and parts of Western Europe.

Shortwave Services 15195khz via Armenia Saturday August 27th 1200 to 1400UTC. Beaming at 65 degrees towards Japan.

I am going to suspend my request for $ to cover postage and QSL costs. I’ve been so lax in sending out QSL cards, I haven’t gotten around to any of them from previous broadcasts and have gotten a few nastygrams about it. I feel bad, so I won’t ask for any money to cover costs this time around.

Contact information for reception reports:
Paul B. Walker, Jr.
PO Box 353
Galena, Alaska 99741-0353 USA

There may be MFSK32 data and pictures during the broadcast. I will announce during the broadcast if and when that happens.

VORW Radio International shortwave special: August 10 and 11

SX-99-Dial

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, John from VORW Radio International, who writes:

[I] wanted to let you know that I will be having a special shortwave broadcast on August 10th and 11th. The broadcast will provide entertainment to listeners in Europe, Asia and North America with a mixture of good music and talk to accompany it.

The schedule for the transmission is as follows:

Wednesday August 10th

WBCQ – 7490 kHz – 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM Eastern 0100 – 0200 UTC (Thursday the 11th) – North America

Thursday August 11th

Shortwave Service (Via Armenia 100 kW) — 12075 kHz — 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Eastern 1600 – 1700 UTC – India

Shortwave Service — 6005 kHz — 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Eastern 1800 – 1900 UTC – Central/Western Europe

Any reception reports will be met with an E-QSL card and can be sent to [email protected]

Great to hear that you’ll be on the air once again, John!

The Mighty KBC: two shows on shortwave tonight

Scott-Marine-SLR-M-Dial

Sunday, August 7, 00:00 – 02:00 UTC, The Mighty KBC will broadcast on 9925 kHz for two hours:

  • 00:00 – 01:00 UTC It’s Radio, But Not As We Know It – Dave Mason
  • 01:00 – 02:00 UTC The Giant Jukebox – Eric van Willegen

Note that for those of us in North America, the broadcasts will start at 20:00 (EDT) tonight (Saturday).

I’m planning to tune “Scottie”–my Scott Marine Model SLR-M (above)–to the KBC signal and enjoy the shows!

August 21 & 22: From The Radio Netherlands Archives Part 2

pcj(Source: PCJ Press Release)

August 21st and 22nd PCJ Radio International will present part 2 of From The Radio Netherlands Archives.

In the first program we played a mix bag of stuff. But in program two the focus will be on news and documentaries. You will hear Ginger Da Silva, Eric Beauchemin, Pete Myers and more.

There will be a special E-QSL issued for this program. PCJ Radio International’s partner stations will receive this program in two parts.

The program will be presented by Paulette MacQuarrie.

Europe: 0600 to 0800UTC – Frequency 7570kHz
August 21, 2016

North America: 0100 to 0300UTC – Frequency 7780kHz
August 22, 2016

For more information contact PCJ at [email protected]

Wembley Stadium: A Superb DXing location

Oxford-Shortwave

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Clint Gouveia, who writes:

As the designated driver, I found myself waiting for friends at the Beyonce concert at Wembley Stadium last Sunday [July 3rd], Not wishing to miss an opportunity and taking advantage of 8 stories of elevation (top floor of the car park!) I spent about 3 hours DXing with the legendary Panasonic RF-B65 and a Wellbrook ALA1530 active loop, running on my home-brew battery pack.

Rather counter-ituitively, I quickly discovered there was basically zero QRM and recorded wonderful signals from Zanzibar BC, Radio Bangladesh Betar and Radio Oromiya. Links to the reception videos on my youtube channel ‘Oxford Shortwave Log’ follow below. I thought readers of your excellent website/blog might be interested to learn that sometimes the most unlikely of places can provide just about optimum conditions for DX! There are more reception videos for this particular session to upload,including Radio Fana, Voice of Tigray Revolution and Radio CANDIP.

73!

Reception Videos

Video 1: Zanzibar BC 11735 kHz, best ever reception

Video 2: Bangladesh Betar 13580 kHz, wonderful reception

Video 3: Radio Oromiya 6030 kHz, Ethiopia, best reception to-date

Wow! What amazing reception, Clint!  I would have never guessed that a car park next to the largest stadium in the UK would offer up such excellent listening conditions. Honestly–that Bangladesh Betar broadcast sounds like a local station.

You also have a great receiver there in the Panasonic RF-B65. If memory serves, the RF-B65 is also a favorite of SWLing Post contributor/DXer, Dan Robinson.

Post readers: Follow Clint’s many DX catches on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log.

Thanks again for sharing, Clint, and reminding us that DXing locations aren’t always remote and exotic.

Shortwave Logs from Alaska: June 25 – July 16

Alaska-Paul-Walker-Wellbrook

Conditions haven’t been so great lately and combine that with just being a bit tired and worn out means I haven’t DX’ed as much as I’d like. But I have spent a little time at the radio dials and when I do, I usually pull out a few good logs, so here we go:

3325 kHz, July 12 at 1025UTC. NBC Radio Bouganville with an absolutely LOUD, STELLAR signal. Audio was excellent and there was only light fading with no interference or noise. Survivor’s 1984 hit, “High On You” was playing during my recording. They seem to favor 80s and 90s rock or adult contemporary music when they play tunes. Audio of 3325kHz here:

5835 kHz AM (July 15, 1621UTC, 10871.70kHz USB (July 12 2049UTC) & 10861.90kHz USB(2052UTC). Russian Channel Marker. I’m not really sure where in Russia these come from or what their purpose is, as i am not very “up” on the utility type broadcasts on HF. The 5835 kHz beeping is pretty clear and evident, but it sounds like there’s a little interference coming from somewhere or someone else. The signal from the 10871kHz signals is pretty weak but the beeps do make it above the fading/noise,  5835kHz audio

here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEZMo5DziCI. 10871.70kHz usb audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIhn7MIHMR4 and 10871.90kHz USB audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ9BeqosLtc

5857kHz, July 15 at 1626UTC. “HLL Seoul” with a weather broadcast by a woman speaking Korean. Poor to fair signal with some noise and interference. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBNmrdyDDI4

7260 kHz, July 12 at 1001UTC. Radio Vanuatu in their local language with talk in the local language, a little preaching and some Christian music. The audio quality isn’t too great (sounds like it’s full of digital artifacts) but the modulation level is better then usual.  Around 14 minutes and 35 seconds in, a female announcer comes on and talks for a bit then begins reading a sign off message then plays the Vanuatu national anthem. The carrier is left on for 10-15 minutes before being shut off. 7260 audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTnudTRmduk

7485 kHz, July 13 at 1636UTC. BBC Bengla service in Bengali language with a news broadcast. An absolutely stellar, steady signal with almost no noise whatsoever and no fading or interference. 7485kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRDZKSDkSMk

7210 kHz & 9730 kHz, July 13 at 1628UTC and July 15 at 1643 UTC respectively. 7201 kHz is their broadcast in Vietnamese with 20kw via Daclac, Vietnam. Vietnamese music is heard at fair levels but with lots of noise and fading. Pretty decent considering what and where it is. As for 9730kHz, it’s The Voice of Vietnam in what appears to be the Russian language. A poor to fair signal with fading/noise and what appears to be interference from another station. 7210kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xUpmAbpOW4 and 9730kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2CE2QCgiD0

9515 kHz & 9640 kHz, July 11 1644UTC to 1652UTC. The 9515 signal is a bit stronger with slightly fess fading and noise. both are broadcasting the KBS World Radio english service with talk about travelers and tourists. 9515kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0k77cY4DLA and 9640kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhBxIPGHMh8

9526kHz, July 15 at 1645UTC. Voice of Indonesia with Arabic language speech and music. Fair to good signal with low modulation and some noise/fading but comparatively speaking, this is a VERY GOOD signal for what is usually heard on 9526 kHz! And yes, they are about as close to 9526 as can be. Zero beating them in USB with my PL880 produces a whine/noise till I’m right at 9526 kHz. One website, Eibi’s schedule says that are at 9525.9.. I suspect they may be even closer then that! 9526 kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4WdKewnyWM

9665kHz, July 16 at 1715UTC. The Voice of Korea is heard here all day everyday but the audio is usually noisy and fairly poor(usually overmodulated) but this is a case of not only good audio but a pretty solid signal! 9665kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMBLYV4icBQ

9770 kHz, July 11 at 1653UTC. KBS World Radio in Korean with men talking and a pretty steady, GOOD signal. Fair amount of noise and light fading. Audio of 9770kHz here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyXb3sg-1-o

9890 kHz, July 11 at 1729UTC. The Voice of Korea signing on in Arabic. Starts off as usual with a dead carrier, the interval signal and announcers mentioning the name of the signal. Noisy signal, but a much better signal then I’ve ever had from VoK on 9890kHz and the first time I’ve heard them here with log worthy audio! You can somewhat hear another station under them in this recording, and normally, that staion is usually on top VoK on this frequency. 9890 kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftVaztXipTg

10005 kHz, July 12 at 1705UTC and July 16 at 1718UTC. For the 2nd and 3rd time in 6 months, I’ve heard the Chinese Firedrake jammer on 10005 kHz. The first time several months ago, it was so strong it was interfering with WWV & WWVH. These last two times it was fairly weak but what made it even more interesting both times is I heard time pips underneath the jammer. If you listen closely in the two following clips, you can hear the tips and you can clearly hear a longer louder tone signifying the minute mark.  July 12th clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3X3iIs41PE. July 16th clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dClTJkpat30

11665 kHz, July 13 at 1647UTC. RTM Wai FM with an overall very good reception,  good audio and steady signal. Only a slight bit of fading. This is by far the best I’ve ever heard this frequency here! 11665kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw4oVv1hzOI

11735 kHz, July 11 at 2033UTC. Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation with music and talk in Swahili. This is about the usual kind of signal I get from them, fair to the low side of good with some fading and noise. At times, there signal is even steadier, stronger and less noisy then this. They are listed as being on till 2100UTC but I’ve heard them sign off anywhere between about 2045 and 2058UTC in mid song with no announcement of any kind. In this nearly 19 minute recording, they sign off at 17 minutes and 33 seconds in. Some type of RTTY/data broadcast has recently appear in the last few months on 11735kHz causing interference, severe at times, with Zanzibar on 11735kHz. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZiG_nslSi0

12015 kHz, July 11 at 1703UTC & July 13 at 1652UTC. In the July 11th clip, you can hear CRI & VOK fighting it out together, with the two trading places back and forth. If either has a silent carrier, you can clearly here one of them. In the Jul 13th clip, Voice of Korea is on the frequency alone. 12015kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyKCnQ8DLCQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF3PNWT69Fw

12035, July 12 at 0859UTC. The Voice of Mongolia. The signal is incredibly weak and this is a good catch if their beam is headed straight south from the transmitter site in Mongolia. Their interval signal pops up out of the noise a few times and you can hear a male announcer say the name of the station in Mongolia before the English language service begins at 0900UTC. Audio of 12035 kHz here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH3ibgLLAg4

13605kHz, June 25h, 1058UTc. All India Radio with fair signal but lots of fading and noise, this is better then what I usually get from AIR. 13605 audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d03wQHXB-dA

13710kHz & 15435kHz, 1705UTC & 1705UTC. Radio Saudia/BSKSA. The 13710 signal was a bit better strength wise with chanting/Arabic music. The 15435 signal had men talking, like a news or interview program and was a bit weaker. 13710 audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t3YP8RCZY8 and 15435 audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr3tgnRBSn4

15235 kHz, July 14 1649UTC to 1710UTC. Channel Africa, first their news service in French followed by the English broadcast. Signal is good with some fading but very steady and listenable. 15235kHz audio here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtFZxeh468k and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD5lToK7Pdc

15275 kHz, July 16 at 1724UTC.  Deutsche Welle in French, a very noisy signal with lots of fading. Sounds like a news or interview program with a man and woman speaking. Any DW signal is pretty rare here! Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lChqqJH2crc

17730 kHz, July 13 at 1658UTC. Eye Radio, broadcasting to South Sudan. A very very weak signal with tons of noise and fading. I can barely make out a man speaking before the carrier drops at 1700UTC, which is Eye Radio’s sign off time. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-CphVmuJSA

17740 kHz, July 16 at 1732UTC. Deutsche Welle in French with a signal even noisier and worse than 15275kHz. It very well may have been the same broadcast as what was on 15275kHz that I heard minutes earlier. Any DW signal is pretty rare here! Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lChqqJH2crc

17775 kHz, July 13 at 1706UTC. KVOH which a preacher speaking in Spanish. Weak and noisy but steady signal. This may be the first time I’ve heard KVOH here and I consider this a good catch since they beam to Mexico and Central/South America. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqegTkffahA

17850 kHz, July 13 at 1702UTC. Radio France Internationale with a weak, noisy, fading signal. Women talking in French during a news broadcast. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujnbGMo8Tww

17850 kHz, June 25 at 1048UTc. Radio Thailand, they are a somewhat regular visitor but this is a bit better then usual signal. However, there is a lot of fading and noise. Audio of 17850 kHz here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOuoZM00XmI

Paul Walker is an avid Shortwave DX’er located in Galena, Alaska working at “Community Radio For Alaska: KIYU” as Program Director and is a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Be sure to check out Paul’s YouTube channel and SoundCloud channel where everything he logs is recorded and posted. Click here to read his other contributions on the SWLing Post.

Video: Dan listens to RNZI’s Sunday Night with Grant Walker on a Hammarlund SP-600

DanH-SP-600

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Daniel Hawkins, who writes:

One of my favorite Radio New Zealand International programs is Sunday Night with Grant Walker. This program is heard on RNZ in New Zealand from 8:06-10:00 p.m. and is run at the same time on RNZI. Sunday Night features hit oldies and one interview. Each program highlights oldies from one year. Last Sunday was 1977 and the week before was 1955. My video from last Sunday includes a favorite that I haven’t heard for many years.

The RNZI broadcast of Sunday Night is 0806-1000 UTC Sunday on 9700 kHz. That’s 1:06-3:00 a.m. Sunday, PDT. Definitely a show for night owls. West Coast reception is nearly spectacular for the distance: 6,600 miles from my location in Davis, CA, USA. The radio used for the video is a Hammarlund SP-600 JX-21, built in 1956 or 1957. Yes, the tuning dial is a little off on this band. I’m using the 8 kHz selectivity setting with fully advanced AVC. The antenna is a 106’ outdoor random wire. The speaker is antique as well: a 10” Jensen PM-10C with matching transformer connected to the 600 ohm audio output on the SP-600.

DanH

Click here to view on YouTube.

Wow! Thank you for the program recommendation, Dan!  I, too, have an SP-600–there are few valve receivers that can rival it for both audio fidelity and sensitivity. What a beauty of a rig you have there!