Category Archives: What’s On Shortwave

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Pacific Games, July 10, 2015

Leave a reply

mascotSRAA contributor, Richard Langley, recently shared the following recording of the 2015 Pacific Games coverage of the National Broadcasting Corporation on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Richard notes:

Live three-hour recording of the 2015 Pacific Games coverage of the National Broadcasting Corporation, the Voice of Papua New Guinea (PNG), via a transmitter in Australia on 10 July 2015 beginning at 07:01:21 UTC on a frequency of 12025 kHz. At the time of the uploading of this sound file, it is not clear if the signal originated from the former Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s lower-power facility at Brandon (as registered with the High Frequency Co-ordination Conference (HFCC) organization; 25 kW beamed 80°) or their higher-power Shepparton site with 100 kW transmitters.

The recording, mostly in English with some Tok Pisin, includes commentary on the games being held in Port Moresby, music, news bulletins, public service announcements, and the NBC’s drum, flute and bird call interval signal near the top of some of the hours. Note that PNG time is 10 hours ahead of UTC.

The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in telescopic whip antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada. Signal quality is generally good and gets better towards the end of the recording as propagation conditions improved.

Many thanks, Richard!

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Please subscribe to the SRAA podcast to receive future shortwave recordings automatically.

BBC World Service as a lifeline and making radio as “a symbol of resistance”

Leave a reply

BurundiMany thanks toSWLing Post contributor,  Richard Cuff, for sharing this article from the NewStatesman:

In the week when Apple’s Beats 1 radio station was launched – “Worldwide. Always on . . . It broadcasts 24/7 to over 100 countries from our studios in Los Angeles, New York and London” – there was also discussion of the BBC’s latest global audience measurement figures. The most striking thing in the report, which tracked listening habits and how they had changed over the past year, was how short-wave radio – in rural and poorer areas where there is no FM, no cable and no electricity, it’s still the only way of tuning in – is under increasing threat from something as basic as jamming.

Apple’s idea of radio as digital and impermeable never felt more breezily First World. Listeners to the English-language programmes on the BBC World Service, for example – in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, in particular – have almost halved in number because of deliberate disruption on the short-wave signal, apparently from China, forcing stations to rotate frequencies on the same band to at least attempt a slot.

“Tune around . . . You’ll find us. We will be there,” advised a technician on Over to You (4 July, 5.50pm). It conjured that most antiquated and urgent of images: a person clutching their temples, coaxing a dial, trying and trying to find a signal.

“I grew up with short-wave radio,” insisted a caller to the show, “and I got to understand the world, got to understand life. If you don’t know short-wave radio, you don’t know life.” Only moments later, there was talk of the closure of all the non-state-run radio stations in Burundi (one of the poorest and least connected countries in the world). Before the recent coup attempt, independent radio stations played a huge role in holding the government to account but many radio journalists are now forced to report using what social media is available.

“The exercise of making radio matters,” said a caller. “It’s a symbol of resistance.” And another, with some disdain, said: “Doing it on the internet is just a way of keeping it on record.” The more than century-long act of turning a dial and finding a signal, with a human voice hitching a ride on electromagnetic energy through space, is something it seems our species now feels in the bones. But worldwide? Always on? Only for some.

Read the full article at the NewStatesman.

Night of Nights XVI: July 12, 2015

5 Replies
Photo: US Coast Guard

Photo: US Coast Guard

SWLing Post contributor, Brian D. Smith, writes:

“Thought I’d forward you this information on the annual “Night of Nights” event on July 12 (U.S. local time)/July 13 UTC, which provides an opportunity for shortwave QSLs – assuming the listener understands Morse code!

I’m sure you’re familiar with this one-night-a-year happening, in which maritime radio stations rise from the dead and transmit Morse code messages again for a few hours.

As a guy who honed his CW sending skills by listening to these stations’ constantly repeating messages, I have a sense of nostalgia and gratitude toward these stations, which helped me obtain my first Novice license, WN9ICB, at the age of 15 … less than 2 months after I taped the WWV recording that I submitted.”

Many thanks for the notice and sharing your nostalgia! Brian also forwarded an announcement from the Maritime Radio Historical Society of America. The MRHS describe the event:

It’s that time of year again. Time to honor all those ops who came before us by preserving their skills, traditions and culture through on the air operations.

Why 12 July? Long time True Believers know the story. But it may be worth repeating for new arrivals and to remind everyone of the traditions we hope to keep alive.

On 12 July 1999 some very tough looking grizzled old radio pioneers had tears in their eyes as the last commercial Morse code radiogram was sent. It was the end of an era. And as the last beeps faded away into the static they witnessed the end of the career to which they had devoted their lives.

These men – and some women – had stood watch over the airwaves on shore and at sea. Theirs was mostly the business of maritime commerce. But when their ship was in peril they were called upon to send the most electrifying three letters in radio, S O S, knowing that all their fellow radio operators would press their earphones close to get every scrap of information and bring aid to their stricken ship.

Once, our coasts were dotted with great Morse code radio stations, all communicating with ships at sea. They’re all gone now… all except one, the one they called the Wireless Giant of the Pacific, located at Point Reyes.

On that sad day in 1999 another event took place. The Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS) was formed. We made it our life’s work to honor the men and women of wireless by restoring that wireless giant. One year and one minute later the giant’s voice once again spanned the oceas as we picked up the thread and kept the faith with our colleagues of the air.

Every year since, in an event that became known as the Night of Nights, Morse code station KPH has returned to the air, joined by KFS and the station of the MRHS, KSM.

This year our friends and colleagues at USCG station NMC have labored mightily to bring that storied call sign back to life on Morse code for the evening along with NMQ in Cambria, CA..

And station NMW in Astoria, OR will be on the air as well.

Stations WLO and KLB will join us again as hey have in years past.

This is a global and local event. Hundreds of listeners around the world will be waiting with their earphones on, waiting for the signals of the great station to once again arc over the dome of the Earth to their receivers.

You can be with us in person!

My buddy, Mike (K8RAT) also notes that this “Night of Nights” event may witness the last ever Morse communications from the US Coast Guard stations. Indeed, this is mentioned in the MHRS newsletter:

This may very well be the last time ever that USCG stations can be heard on the air using A1A (Morse) emission. As new equipment is installed the hardware and wiring for Morse has been progressively removed. And the personnel who knowledgeable in the art retire or are reassigned. So be sure to listen for these stations.

I’ll not only listen to this Night of Nights, but hope to record some of the stations as well.

The frequencies for this event are numerous! I have listed the USCG (NMC) frequencies below, but please check the MHRS newsletter for MRHS and other maritime station frequencies.

Again, Brian, thanks for the heads-up!

Happy listening, everyone!

NMC (Transmit Bolinas, Receive Pt. Reyes)

Frequency            Transmitter                         Antenna

472.0                    Nautel ND2500TT/6           173′ monopole tower
500.0                    Nautel ND2500TT/6           173′ monopole tower
6383.0                  Rockwell-Collins RT-2200  Omni-directional
8574.0                  Rockwell-Collins RT-2200  Omni-directional
17220.5                Rockwell-Collins RT-2200  Omni-directional

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Nigerian Armed Forces Radio

Leave a reply

NigeriaAt 06:00 UTC this morning, I recorded one hour of the Nigerian Armed Forces Radio test on 13,775 kHz. This broadcast was transmitted from a 250 kW transmitter in Issoudun, France.

Hypothetically, this may have been the last test transmission of the NAFR as WRMI’s announcement stated the test period would last only one week, beginning June 30th.

Please comment if you continue to log the Nigerian Armed Forces Radio on 13,775 kHz at 06:00 UTC!

Click here to download this recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Note that SRAA and SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, also recorded the Nigerian Armed Forces Radio on July 4th–click here to listen.

Papua New Guinea broadcasting 15th Pacific Games via shortwave

2 Replies

PacificGamesSWLing Post contributor, Rob Wagner, has shared the following update on his blog:

It’s quite difficult to hear Papua New Guinea these days now that nearly all their shortwave transmitters have closed and moved to FM. BUT….In the last day or so, PNG’s National Broadcasting Corporation has been transmitting on shortwave with two new outlets. NBC is the host broadcaster of the 15th Pacific Games, being held in the capital Port Moresby. The games begins tomorrow July 4 and runs through till July 18. The following schedule was noted from on-air announcements as follows:

6075 kHz – 1900 to 2159 UTC
9860 kHz – 2200 to 0959 UTC
6075 kHz – 1000 to 1400 UTC
12025 kHz – 2200 to 1000 UTC (to Pacific Island communities)

Many thanks for sharing this news, Rob!

Nigel Holmes also sent an update confirming that the transmitter site is Brandon and that the transmitter can run a 20 kW carrier. Nigel notes:

The aerials are HR 2/2/ 6-12 MHz arrays so about -6 dB cf. the arrays at Shepparton.

[…]The broadcasts have a power of 20 kW AM up from 10 kW when the site carried Radio Australia programming.

As of time of posting, I can hear the games here in the eastern US on 6,075 kHz, but the signal is very weak and the propagation window will close soon. I will also listen on 12,025 and 9,860 kHz.

Check out the Mount Evelyn DX Report for more details.

Recording the 2015 Leap Second

7 Replies

Fullscreen capture 6302015 115321 PM

Yesterday, I posted a brief article about the leap second that occurred between 23:59:59 June 30, 2015 and 00:00:00 UTC July 01, 2015.

I decided to record the leap second on as many shortwave time station frequencies as possible. The only viable options for me–based on time of day and my reception location–were the WWV frequencies 10, 15, 20, and 25 MHz, and CHU frequencies 7,850 and 14,670 kHz.

I was able to record four different time station frequencies simultaneously on the TitanSDR Pro.

I was able to monitor four different time station frequencies simultaneously on the TitanSDR Pro. (click to enlarge)

Unfortunately, HF propagation was very poor yesterday, so the higher WWV frequencies–20 and 25 MHz–were completely inaudible, as was CHU on 14,670 kHz. There were numerous thunderstorms in our area, so static crashes were prevalent.

Still, since this was a first attempt to record a “leap second,” I didn’t want to take any chances.  I had the Titan SDR Pro monitoring and recording two CHU and two WWV frequencies [screenshot], the Elad FDM-S2 recording WWV on 15 MHz [screenshot], and the WinRadio Excalibur on WWV’s 10 MHz frequency, as well as recording the whole 31 meter band spectrum [screenshot].

In the end, the strongest frequencies I captured were CHU on 7,850 kHz and WWV on 15,000 kHz. WWV on 10,000 kHz was much weaker than normal and the band was quite noisy–still, it’s readable, so I included this recording, too. Recordings follow…

Recordings

Photo I took in 2014 of the sign above WWV's primary 10 MHz transmitter.

The sign above WWV’s primary 10 MHz transmitter (2014).

All of the recordings start just before the announcement of 23:59 UTC.

WWV added the extra second and higher tone, then continued with their top of the hour announcements, including a note about leap second (which begins after the 00:04 announcement). CHU simply injects a one second silence before the long tone.

WWV on 15,000 kHz using the Elad FDM-S2:

CHU on 7,850 kHz using the TitanSDR Pro:

WWV on 10,000 kHz using the WinRadio Excalibur:

One interesting note about the 10 MHz WWV recording above: I believe I may be hearing BPM China in the background. I’m curious if anyone can confirm this because I don’t know BPM’s cadence/pattern well enough to ID it.

Other recordings…?

Did you record a shortwave time station as leap second happened? If so, please comment, and feel free to share a link to your recording!

Hang on a second…seriously

4 Replies
WWV-TimeCodeGenerator

One of four WWV time code generators in late August, 2014

Tonight, for the first time in three years, we will experience a leap second. What is a leap second?  Wikipedia provides a concise explanation:

A leap second is a one-second adjustment that is occasionally applied to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in order to keep its time of day close to the mean solar time, or UT1. Without such a correction, time reckoned by Earth’s rotation drifts away from atomic time because of irregularities in the Earth’s rate of rotation. Since this system of correction was implemented in 1972, 25 such leap seconds have been inserted. The most recent one happened on June 30, 2012 at 23:59:60 UTC. A leap second, the 26th, will again be inserted at the end of June 30, 2015 at 23:59:60 UTC.

Like many of you, when I think of time–or UTC–I think about the NIST radio station WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado.

I had the honor of visiting the facility last year (yes, photo tour still forthcoming!).  During the tour, my guide and Chief Engineer at WWV and WWVB, Matthew Deutch, told me that he’s always going to be on site come Leap Second!

MattDeutch-WWVB

WWV’s Matthew Deutch with WWVB antennas in background

I wrote Matt this morning to ask what were his plans tonight?  His reply:

“The leap second happens at 0000 UTC tonight, which is 6:00 pm here in Fort Collins. All of the programming took place at the beginning of the month, so the equipment is armed…we just sit back and watch for the leap this evening.

Even though it is automated I hang around the station to make sure everything goes smoothly at the critical moment…”

WWV-First-Sign-SMMatthew closed his message by wishing me a “Happy Leap Second.”

Back at you, Matt! We hope that second leaps as smoothly as you’d like!

Not to put Matt on the spot, but you can listen to WWV (or the atomic clock of your choice) make the leap second tonight at 00:00 UTC. As for me, I’ll hop on 10 MHz and 15 MHz to hear (and hopefully record) the extra “tick.” At the end of this post, I’ve provided a list of time stations for your convenience.

Happy Leap Second!

20MHZtransmitter

WWV 20 MHz Collins transmitter

List of shortwave radio time stations

  • CHU Canada: 3330 kHz, 7850 kHz, 14670 kHz
  • BPM China: 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, and 15,000 kHz
  • HLA South Korea: 5,000 kHz
  • BSF Taiwan: 5,000 and 15,000 kHz
  • WWV (Ft. Collins)/WWVH (Hawaii) United States:  2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 and 25,000 kHz

Update

Click here to listen to Leap Second recordings from WWV and CHU.