Category Archives: What’s On Shortwave

Reminder: Help record the 2015 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast today!

As a reminder: I’m calling on all SWLing Post readers and shortwave radio listeners to make a short recording (say, 30-60 seconds) of the BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast and share it here at the Post (frequencies and time below).

The recording can be audio-only, or even a video taken from any recording device or smart phone. It would be helpful to have a description and/or photo of your listening environment and location, if possible.

If you submit your recording to me, I will post it here on the SWLing Post–and insure that the BBC World Service receives the post, too. The recordings will be arranged by geographic location.

Halley VI: The British Antarctic Survey's new base (Source: BBC)

Halley VI: The British Antarctic Survey’s new base (Source: British Antarctic Survey)

The broadcast will take place today at 21:30 UTC on the following frequencies:

5,905 kHz, Dhabayya, 203 degrees
5,985 kHz, Woofferton, 184 degrees
9,590 kHz, Woofferton, 182 degrees

I will (hopefully) be in the SWLing Post chat room during the broadcast. Please sign in and share your report!

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Voice of Greece

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Early this morning, around 01:14 UTC, I tuned to 9,420 kHz with the Elad FDM-S2 and heard the Voice of Greece for the first time since the Greek national broadcaster, ERT had been restored.

SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, also noted the strong signal from Greece. He has kindly shared the following information which he also posted in the DXLD Yahoo group:

“Greece is back on 9420 kHz this evening after being absent for some days and is now carrying the Voice of Greece […] program and not ERT from Athens or Thessaloniki. Noted with good signals in eastern Canada at 01:40 UTC. Radio audio is about half a minute delayed with respect to Internet stream: […](http://www.ert.gr/i-foni-tis-elladas/?). Not noted on other frequencies.

[…]9420 kHz signed off just after [02:00] UTC. Internet stream continued. And I should correct myself when I mentioned “not ERT from Athens or Thessaloniki.” Should have said not ERA from Athens or Thessaloniki. ERA is the abbreviation for Hellenic Radio […], as opposed to ERT which stands for Hellenic Radio-Television […]. ERT1, ERT2, etc. are TV stations while ERA1, ERA2, etc. are radio stations. This is a bit like BB1, BBC2, …, and BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, and so on.”

Richard followed up a few hours later:

“I continued listening to the Internet stream after the SW transmission ended, and at 02:57 UTC, the station identified itself in both Greek (“Edo Athina, I Foni Tis Elladas”) and English (“This is Athens. You are listening to the Voice of Greece”) several times, followed by the traditional interval signal and then what I believe to be the Greek national anthem at 03:00 UTC. A program of Greek music then ensued.”

Many thanks for sharing the details, Richard. My recording actually ended when VOG signed off–I suppose I caught about the last 46 minutes of the broadcast.

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

Correction: Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast transmission tests take place on Friday

2 Replies

In the title of my last post, I noticed that I’ve incorrectly stated that the Friday, June 19 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast tests were to take place “today.” While the post content was correct, the date in this title was not. My apologies for the mix-up–I’ve since corrected and noted this in the original post.

To be clear, the transmission tests for Sunday’s Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast will take place on Friday, June 19 2015 from 21:30-21:45 UTC on the following frequencies:

7,425 kHz, Ascension, 207 degrees
5,985 kHz, Woofferton, 184 degrees
9,590 kHz, Woofferton, 182 degrees
5,905 kHz, Dhabayya, 203 degrees

Apologies for any confusion.

2015 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast frequencies confirmed

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Stephen Cooper, who has confirmed the frequencies that will be used for the 2015 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast on June 21 at 21:30 UTC.

Again, this year, I’m calling on all SWLing Post readers and shortwave radio listeners to make a short recording (say, 30-60 seconds) of the show and share it here at the Post. Click here for details.

Stephen received confirmation of the following frequencies directly from the BBC World Service:

5,985 kHz,
9,590 kHz,
and 5,905 kHz

Evidently, these were the frequencies chosen from the following that were tested:

7,425 kHz, Ascension, 207 degrees
5,985 kHz, Woofferton, 184 degrees
9,590 kHz, Woofferton, 182 degrees
5,905 kHz, Dhabayya, 203 degrees

I think it’s safe to assume that the same antenna paths will be used from the tests. I had hoped an Ascension Island frequency would have made the cut as it’s typically the frequency I hear best here in eastern North America. Of course, the selections were made based on actual test reception in the various parts of Antarctica where the team is located.

Please note these frequencies and take a little time to submit your recording! We look forward to sharing and mapping them across the globe.

Shortwave Radio Recordings: UNID 12,365 kHz USB

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Yesterday, I posted a note about an unidentified station who was broadcasting the Chile v Mexico football game on 12,365 kHz USB. Several readers sent messages with reception reports, most of which indicated a signal strength of less than S5.

Several of us speculate that this could be a relay from a South American (perhaps Chilean?) shipping service for their fleet in the Pacific; hence the weak signal reports in North America. SWLing Post reader, @K7al_L3afta, suspects that it could even be an audio feed for a radio station.

We may never know, but it’ll be fun to listen for future broadcasts.

I recorded almost four hours of the station last night, starting around 22:00 UTC –during the Ecuador v Bolivia game–on my Elad FDM-S2 software defined receiver (see screen grab above). Below, I’ve embedded a 30 minute clip from the Chile v Mexico game, starting at approximately 23:45 UTC.

The FDM-S2 was hooked up to my large horizontal delta loop wire antenna. The signal was certainly very much buried in the static at time. I could have improved the clarity of the signal by using the FDM-S2’s built in DSP noise reduction, but opted to keep the USB audio unaltered to better represent reception.

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

Football games relayed on 12,356 kHz

3 Replies

Many thanks to David Goren, who has apprised me of a (utility?) broadcaster who relaying Spanish language football matches on 12,365 kHz in the upper sideband. According to a message on the DXLD Yahoo group, someone has been relaying games on this frequency with some consistency.

As I type this, I’m listening to Chile v Mexico, though it’s a very faint signal here in eastern North America. The Elad FDM-S2 is doing a good job of pulling the signal out of the static, though. I have no clue where this broadcast originates.

Please comment if you’re able to log this station where you live, or you have further details about the relay.