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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:
Hi Thomas
As per the announcement on the SWLing Post, Radyo Pilipinas did indeed return on the air December 1 at 0200 hours UTC on the announced frequencies on 12020, 15640 and 17665 kHz. I was able to hear all three frequencies quite well using the LA6LU SDR in Thailand, and made this 11 minute recording of them near the beginning of their broadcast on 15640 kHz:
Hopefully, Radio Thailand can make a similar arrangement with the USAGM.
This region consists of the western part of Asia from Turkey to Iran including the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt. Decades ago, most of the countries had a shortwave broadcasting service that made intriguing DX targets for listeners like me. Some were relatively easy to hear, while others provided more of a challenge as they did not offer broadcasts to North America (where I live) or programming was not in English. Here are a few recordings that I made over the years and have uploaded to the internet archive.
Click on titles to access Internet Archive pages with additional information.
As 2025 draws to a close, only a few countries from the Middle East seem to be consistently logged by the shortwave listener.
The high powered transmitters in Turkey and programming in a variety of languages provide worldwide listeners a great opportunity to tune into this part of the world. A musical interlude accompanied by frequent identifications precedes their transmission. This recording was made on July 31, 2025 at 0254 UTC leading up to 0300 sign on in English on 7275 kHz. Reception was made using a remote SDR in the UK:
The Al Dhabbiyah tramitter site in the United Arab Emirates is used by a number of international broadcasters including FEBA Radio, IBRA Media and the BBC. This recording of FEBA made on June 24, 2025 captures their sign off just prior to 0230 UTC on 9540 kHz on a KiwiSDR in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:
IBRA Radio Ibrahim is noted using the same interval signal on June 19, 2025 around 1700 UTC also on 9540 kHz. A remote SDR in Kenya was used to make this recording.
Another relay transmitter is located at Al Seela in Oman and is largely used by the BBC for broadcasts into Asia. This recording, made November 20 at 2328 UTC on 11645 kHz, shows them being received by the KiwiSDR at Haida Gwaii, British Columbia off of Canada’s west coast. The effects of an over-the-pole signal path is evident here:
Other stations may emerge on occasion. For example, early in 2025, a station called Republic of Yemen Radio was being heard on 11935 kHz reportedly broadcasting in Arabic from a transmitter in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Reception was quite good in February using a remote SDR in Addis Ababa, however, in later months the transmitter seemed to develop a bad hum or buzz. You can listen to recordings made in February and then in April by following this link to the Internet Archive.
I would encourage all listeners to report reception of new stations broadcasting from this region to the SWLing Post so others might have the opportunity to try and tune in for themselves.
Fifty years ago, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of Brazilian shortwave signals to hear on shortwave. As with the rest of the world, this is no longer the case. However, especially with the advent of remote SDRs to assist with the enjoyment of the DXing hobby, there are still a number of stations broadcasting from Brazil that are well worth a listen, even if you don’t understand Portuguese. Here is a sampling of what can be heard in 2025.
Radio Nacional da Amazonia 6180 and 11780 kHz
This is perhaps the easiest station to hear for overseas listeners. They run high-powered transmitters and have been widely reported in many parts of the globe. The station began a short daily broadcast in English and Spanish in late March, but I’m not sure if this is still going, as I haven’t checked recently. Here is a recording from April 18:
The transmitter power used by the next two stations is unknown, so the use of a remote SDR to hear them well may be required. Overseas listeners can look for them anyway, but note that their schedules seem to be irregular. Broadcasts consist mostly of popular music with frequent station ID’s in Portuguese between selections.
The last two stations should be audible to DXers outside Brazil.
Radio Inconfidencia, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 6010 and 15190 kHz
With 5 kW of power, Radio Inconfidencia gives a full identification in Portuguese at the top of most hours that includes callsigns, frequencies, and location. It is on the air around the clock.
Radio Inconfidencia full ID recording – September 16 at 2158 UTC on 15190 kHz:
Radio Inconfidencia second recording – September 15 at 2353 UTC on 15190 kHz:
Radio Voz Missionaria, Camboriu SC 5940 and 9665 kHz
Using 10 kW of power from the south of Brazil, Radio Voz Missionaria should be heard, at least on occasion, in many parts of the world. This station also operates 24 hours a day.
Recording – Radio Voz Missionaria – April 23 at 2357 UTC on 9665 kHz:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following guest post:
Hearing Alaska and Hawaii on shortwave
by Dan Greenall
Alaska
Since 1983, the New Life Station, KNLS, has been broadcasting from Anchor Point, Alaska. Beamed primarily to Asia, their signals were not received as well in parts of North America as they might have been otherwise. From my location in southern Ontario, Canada, I was able to make this recording of their interval signal (“Chariots of Fire”) on 7355 kHz in 1987 around 1300 UTC with announcements in a Chinese dialect.
The station is still on the air in 2025. I made this recording on October 23 around 1200 hours UTC, in which you can hear their current interval signal prior to sign on in English. Reception was made on 7355 kHz using a remote KiwiSDR in northern Japan.
Back in the 1950s, the Voice of America had a transmitter in Honolulu, but that was long before my introduction to shortwave. In 1993, World Harvest Radio station KWHR began broadcasting from Naalehu, near the southern tip of the big island of Hawaii. This one was widely heard by DXer’s and I still have a recording made of their announcement from November 10, 1996 on 9930 kHz.
Unfortunately, the station went officially off the air in 2009, so now the only way to hear Hawaii on shortwave is the NIST station WWVH at Kekaha on the island of Kauai. You can hear them on 2.5, 5, 10, or 15 MHz whenever propagation conditions are favorable to your listening post, assuming other stations like WWV and BPM are not overpowering them.
Here is a link to a few WWVH recordings. The first, from 1971, was made in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada, when they were still called the National Bureau of Standards and were using the term “Greenwich Mean Time.”
The second one was made on December 1, 2024 using a remote SDR near Honolulu.
Finally, if you can copy CW (morse code) and listen carefully, there is a brief 8 second clip of WWVH sending their call letters twice. It is from pre-1971 when the station was located on the island of Maui. Aloha!
Voice of Hope antenna farm (Source: Voice of Hope Africa)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:
Hi Thomas
I just heard on the latest program of Wavescan that the Voice of Hope Africa from Lusaka, Zambia is now off the air. It has been a few months since I heard them on a KiwiSDR from that area so I guess that explains why. Too bad since there are so few African broadcasters remaining.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, for sharing the following guest post:
Algeria on Shortwave – Then and Now
by Dan Greenall
In the early 1970s, Radiodiffusion-Television Algerienne ran a modest shortwave service (no English) mainly for North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. A copy of their schedule from the 1972 World Radio TV Handbook is shown.
As a fledgling DXer in 1971, I was fortunate to hear their signal on 9510 kHz from my listening post in southern Ontario, Canada. Even better, they responded to my request for a QSL with this attractive card.
Fast forward a quarter century to 1996. The international service of Radio Algiers could be heard at times here in eastern North America on 15160 kHz with broadcasts that included English. Here is a brief recording from November 3 of that year that I am lucky to have saved.
In July 2022, two new 300 kW transmitters located at Ouargla and Bechar were put on the air after several years of planning. These were to be used for the Radio Coran service in Arabic, but in May 2023, Ifrikya FM (the African Voice) was born with the objective of providing a pan-African voice by broadcasting educational, informative, and cultural programming from an African perspective.
Although there is no English, they can be spotted on shortwave on 13640 and 13855 kHz after their 1900 UTC sign on. If you can hear the same programming on these two frequencies, you will know you have them.
Here are two recordings made on October 19, 2025 using a KiwiSDR near Sao Paulo, Brazil. They were made one hour apart, the first at 2000 UTC and the second at 2100 hours.
13855 was noticeably stronger than 13640 on this receiver.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:
Bangkok Meteorological Radio in Thailand broadcasts marine weather several times a day on 6765.1 and 8743 kHz USB in both Thai and English. An interval tune is played between the Thai and English segments that has left me trying to put a name to it for nearly a week as I play it over and over in my head. There seems to be a vague resemblance to “Love Me Tender” by the late Elvis Presley but now I’m looking for help. Can anyone “Name That Tune”?
Here is a recording made on October 9 around 1300 hours UTC using the LA6LU KiwiSDR in Thailand. Have Fun!
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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:
