Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Thomas Ally, for noting that The Mighty KBC has announced that The Giant Jukebox will be back on this air this Sunday, June 19 at 10:00-12:00 CET (8:00-10:00 UTC) on 6095 kHz.
If propagation isn’t favorable where you live, tune to 6095 kHz via the University Twente WebSDR.
Our June 14 (June 13 in the Americas) program features special guest Luna Manzanares, who has the lead role in Carmen la Cubana, a cubanized version of Bizet (remember Carmen Jones?). We’ll also feature some of the album Cosmopolitan by D’Corason, which won the Nueva Trova category in Cubadisco 2016. We’ll also have some more music from Popularmente Sinfónico Vol II by Orquesta Sinfónica de Matanzas and some vintage Los Papines.
Two listening options on shortwave:
WBCQ, 7490 KHz, Tuesdays 0000 UTC (8pm EDT Mondays)
Channel 292, 6070 KHz, Tuesdays 1900 UTC (2100 CEST)
See the NOTES section of our Facebook page for more information.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his updated Music on Shortwave list for the A16 period.
If you love listening to music on the shortwaves, you’ll love Alan’s free guide.
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bill Tilford, who shares this From The Isle of Music update:
Beginning June 7, From the Isle of Music begins an exciting new phase. Our host, Bill Tilford, recently returned from Cuba with the music of the winners and nominees of Cubadisco 2016, which among other things is Cuba’s equivalent of the GRAMMY Awards. He also recorded several interviews. We will begin sharing this music and the interviews this week.
Our June 7 (June 6 in the Americas) program brings back NuJazz artist Zule Guerra, who recently won a Cubadisco 2016 in the category Opera Prima (Best New Artist), and we’ll feature some of El Arte del Sonido by Thellus, which won the Cubadisco 2016 category Electronic and Electronic-Acoustic Music. We’ll also have some vintage Orquesta Aragon from the 70s along with more of Popularmente Sinfónico Vol II by Orquesta Sinfónica de Matanzas. This week, we begin bringing the winners and nominees of Cubadisco 2016 to you on the radio.
Two listening options on shortwave:
WBCQ, 7490 KHz, Tuesdays 0000 UTC (8pm EDT Mondays)
Channel 292, 6070 KHz, Tuesdays 1900 UTC (2100 CEST)
See the NOTES section of our Facebook page for program updates and other information.
Paul Walker’s listening post in Galena, Alaska.
by Paul Walker
I tried logging the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu shortwave broadcast stations for years, however, owing to my location and poor antenna along with technical problems with the stations, I was never able to log them.
Well, I recently moved to Alaska and was able to take the stations off my “Most Wanted List.”
SIBC has two frequencies–5020 kHz and 9545 kHz–both with 10,000 watts. They use 9545 kHz during their local workday time frame and the 5020 kHz frequency is their late night and early morning frequency.
A few times, I have caught 9545 kHz not signing off at 0500UTC for the switchover to 5020 kHz like it should of. When 9545 kHz is on late, the signal is usually pretty darn good.
In fact, on April 25th, I caught 9545 kHz on about 2 1/2 hours past the scheduled switchover and the signal was AMAZING! It was near perfect with a rock solid signal, fading so slightly it’s barely noticeable, no interference and pretty good audio!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CydnYZGpqfM&w=420&h=315
For whatever reason, when 9545 kHz is on late, It seems to have a better signal most times then 5020 kHz would if it was on at that time. SIBC has one transmitter so two frequencies can’t be on at once. Both times I’ve caught 9545 on late, it signs off abruptly and minutes later, 5020 kHz is on, as it should be.
As for 5020 kHz, this recording on May 22 at 1148 UTC this was about the best I’ve ever heard it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3GlGIMWeP0&w=420&h=315
Listen closely when SIBC goes to dead air before shutting off the transmitter, I clearly hear two people talking.
As for Radio Vanuatu, their signals seem to be chronically/habitually under modulated and combine that with the large amount of speech programming they ran…and they are hard to catch. Good luck hearing them on 3945 kHz. Even with Radio Nikkei off, the best I’ve ever gotten from 3945 kHz was a signal so poor all I could make out was the speech on 3945 kHz and 7260 kHz matched.
On May 14th at 0923 UTC, I got about the best signal out of Radio Vanuatu on 7260 that I’ve ever had. Conditions must have been good and that combined with the fact they were running music made them a bit easier to hear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4zYNfB_zbo&w=420&h=315
For those that don’t know me, I am living in Galena, Alaska a village of 500 people in rural central Alaska, halfway between Nome & Fairbanks. I work here as the Program Director for a small network of community radio signals along the Yukon river. I DX from the river bank 500 feet from my apartment with a Tecsun PL-880 and 80 foot or 225 foot long wire, soon to be a Wellbrook ALA1530LNP.
Paul Walker is located in Galena, Alaska 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.
Paul Walker at KIYU Alaska.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and broadcaster, Paul Walker, who writes:
The next broadcast of “The Classics Experience” with Paul Walker is rapidly approaching. It’s a 2 hour broadcast of rock and roll music with some country classics scattered in and occasionally a few audio surprises.
The next broadcast schedule looks like this:
WINB 9265khz Saturday June 4th 0230UTC to 0430UTC
WRMI 7570 Saturday June 4th 0400 to 0600UTC
WINB’s principal radiation direction is 242 degrees true or almost due southwest. Looks to cover parts of the Midwest/Southern US pretty well: Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas and into Mexico. WINB claims “At the long range, the main beam hits Eastern Australia and New Zealand. The rear lobe hits the Mediterranean area of Eastern Europe.”
WRMI’s 7570khz signal beams at a 315 degree azimuth to Vancouver, Canada. It is very listenable, near local like on good nights here in rural Central Alaska.
No appeals for donations, no begging for sponsors, no political or religious rantings and ravings nor any silly personal opinions. I promise. Just good music for the fun of it!
Seriously, I fund the broadcast out of my own pocket about once every 2-3 months just for the heck of it!
Reception reports are only accepted by regular postal mail. $2 appreciated to cover the costs of the QSL cards I had printed up and the postage. Reports can be sent to:
Paul B. Walker, Jr.
PO Box 353
Galena, Alaska 99741 USA
FYI: There are two surprises: I will have text in the MFSK32 format in the second half of the first hour and then a picture in the MFSK32 format in the second half of the second hour.
Thanks, Paul, for putting you good music show on the air! We’ll be listening for “The Classics Experience” this weekend. Note: since the broadcast times are in UTC above, listeners in North America should tune in during the evening on Friday, June 3rd. Compare your local time to UTC.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Korchin (K2WNW), for sharing this short video demonstrating the shortwave receive capabilities of the Icom IC-92AD handheld transceiver:
Click here to view on YouTube.
Frankly, I’m quite amazed at the clarity and fidelity of the Voice of Turkey interval signal on this handheld. Goes to show that with a proper antenna, and decent conditions, wide-band handhelds can certainly be used for shortwave radio listening! It also helps that David is outdoors, away from RFI, and was located on the coast of Long Island, NY.
Post readers: Have you had good fortune SWLing with wide-band handled transceivers? Please comment!