Tag Archives: DX

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.

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Norway DXer tunes into CBC Saskatchewan

Bill solves the CRI echo mystery

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A few days ago, I posted an article about Bill Meara (producer of the SolderSmoke Podcast) who was hearing audio echoes on his home brew regenerative receiver.

Bill has now solved this mystery (hint: it’s all about the receiver):
http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2014/09/radio-china-international-echo-mystery.html

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Hearing echoes on China Radio International

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Bill Meara, producer of the popular SolderSmoke Podcast, recently recorded audio echoes on a couple of his home brew regenerative receivers. Bill posted the following video, of his regen receiver tuned to China Radio International:

After Bill measured the echo delay at .133 seconds, he believes one possibility is that they originate from a propagation opening much like Lyle recorded on a 10 meter band opening last year (click here to listen to the audio and read the post).

A few days later, Bill recorded a similar echo effect while tuned to Brother Stair (Overcomer Ministries) on a different regenerative receiver. Click here to read the post and view the video.

The fact that Bill measured a .133 second delay (the amount of time it would take for a signal to circle the globe), makes me believe he’s hearing an echo similar to Lyle. But I must admit, I’m a bit amazed that a faint AM echo could penetrate blowtorch signals like CRI and Brother Stair’s relay generate State side.

Readers: What’s going on here? Is Bill catching rare propagation openings–or perhaps ducting in the Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere–or is there another explanation?

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Hearing the speed of light: DX double echo

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ionosphere-earth-radio-waves Two weeks ago, at the W4DXCC conference in Tennessee, I met Lyle Juroff (K9FIK). Not only did I find that Lyle and I had many radio interests in common, but he also told me a story about hearing, recording and analyzing a double echo on the HF bands. I asked if he would explain in an email and include the recording so that I could share it on the SWLing Post. He kindly agreed!

Lyle writes:

I worked a DX station [9A1A] on 10 meters this past spring. As the band improved, I heard an echo develop on his signal and guessed it might be long path so I began recording the audio. I then began to hear a double echo and looked at the waveform on AUDACITY. The timing marks on AUDACITY indicated 140 milliseconds between echos.

I went to Wolfram Alfa, one of my go-to sights for things I can’t remember, and looked up the earth circumference. It not only gave me the distance but also the time to travel it at the speed of light, 133 milliseconds. Not sure if everyone working DX has heard this sort of thing, I played the recording at the next East Tennessee DX Association meeting. Nobody said they had heard that kind of double echo.

Click here to download an mp3 of Lyle’s recording or simply listen via the embedded player below (note that the second recording is .WAV format):

Have you heard a double echo this profound? Please comment.

Many thanks to Lyle (K9FIK) for sharing his story!

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Ian McFarland CDs now available as a digital download

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Ian McFarland (photo courtesy: DXer.ca)

Want to do something good for yourself, your knowledge of SWL–and, in the process, help others? Let me tell you how…

Ian McFarland has made available his excellent shortwave radio CD series for download on DXer.ca (an already excellent site, if you haven’t yet visited). This CD set includes a series on interval signals, foreign language recognition, a look back at shortwave history, the state of international broadcasting today, and even a bonus antenna series. I purchased these the moment I heard that they had become available as MP3 downloads in December.

And how, exactly, are you helping someone else by enjoying these programs? Fully 100% of the proceeds benefit Ian’s favorite charity, a food bank and soup kitchen in Duncan, British Columbia.

It’s a win-win, and you need to be one of those winners! What are you waiting for? Click here to go to the DXer.ca online store!

Description of CD’s from DXer.ca:
Series 1 – Were you a shortwave listener back in 1974? If you were a regular listener to RCI’s popular SWL Digest program, which went off the air in March of 1991 in the wake of a devastating budget cut at RCI, then you may remember the SW station Idents & Interval Signals Series that was featured on this award-winning program.

That series featured over 100 identification and interval signals from SW stations around the world. Many of the ident signals heard in that long-running series are no longer on the air. If you feel nostalgic about the “good old days” of SWLing, you’ll be interested to know that this unique series is now available in an autographed two-CD set.

Series 2 – CD#1: The Foreign Language recognition course + A bonus CD of classic McFarland.

Ever feel like you could do better with radio listening on the SW, MW and LW bands if you could only identify the language? Help has arrived with the release of Ian McFarland’s foreign language-recognition course. CD One of this series contains 55 language samples analyzed by noted linguist, the late Dr. Richard E. Wood. You’ll be pinning down DX faster than ever with this concise and complete audio series CD. A second bonus CD contains three flashback shows in their entirety from the Ian McFarland catalog of classics.

Series 3 – Yesterday and Today: 20 Years of SW Broadcasting. In what they feel is their “finest work ever,” Ian McFarland joins Bob Zanotti, Kim Eilliot of VOA, Jef White of WRMI, and a cast of listeners from the 20th Anniversary Kulpsville, PA, SWLing Winterfest in 2007. They combine a 2009 live forum with a flashback to 1989 – The joint SWL Digest-Swiss SW Merry-go-round program devoted to the International Radio Days conference in West Berlin in 1989.

Bonus Download Series A – The Ian McFarland Antenna Series – A must-listen for SWL’s, DXers, and radio enthusiasts at all levels, this 11-part study series covers all things made of solid and stranded copper wire. From the most basic random wire to the windom and the beverage antennas, Ian discusses the most common types of radio antennas, protecting your antennas and equipment with lightning arrestors, and some antenna book references. The McFarland Antenna series was first aired in the seventies, and this is the first time in almost twenty-five years that these recordings have been available in a high quality MP3 download. Two dollars provides one hour of interesting and informative listening on the subject.

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