Tag Archives: DXpedition

200m longwire update: rarely heard Radio Tawantinsuyo 6173.9 kHz, Peru, recorded in Oxford, UK

Hi there, I thought I would share my first reception of Radio Tawantinsuyo, from Cusco, Peru, recorded during the inaugural test of my 200 metre longwire antenna. Of course this particular reception could be coincidence, but a very welcome catch in any case. Once again, the Sony ICF-2001D performs very well with this large antenna, but as on previous occasions, the rule is always to ‘choose your battles well’ targeting weak DX signals in uncrowded areas of the Tropical Band and elsewhere on shortwave. More details on the longwire antenna to follow in another post. Recorded at the ‘DX woods’ in Oxfordshire, UK on 31/07/16 at 00:27 hrs UTC. Thanks for watching.

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log reception video of Radio Tawantinsuyo

Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.

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DX’pedition: first test of deployable 200 metre longwire antenna by Oxford Shortwave Log

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A view looking toward Oxford Shortwave Log DX’pedition territory; a wood in rural Oxfordshire

Regular viewers of my youtube channel will know that I spend much of my shortwave listening time out in an Oxfordshire wood where QRM is negligable and Tropical Band stations can be heard with, at times, unprecidented signal-to-noise. Regular viewers will also be aware that I enjoy experimenting with different antenna set-ups, particularly pushing the boundaries with longwires coupled to portables. Having applied my rather modest practical skills, I constructed a 200 metre deployable 200 metre longwire antenna and finally got around to testing it, with my Elad FDM DUO and Sony ICF-2001D. There are a number of reception videos still to be uploaded to the Oxford Shortwave Log youtube channel, howvever, the immediate information and entertainment of SWLing Post readers, I have included two here. 🙂

The first is the more commonly heard Emisoras Pio XII from Boliva on 5952.5 kHz using the Sony and the second, the much more rarely reported Radio Chaski from Peru on 5979.9 kHz using the Elad. Both reception videos were very encouraging. In fact, I would go so far as to say they demonstrated excellent reception witihin the framework of their respective contexts. Emisoras Pio XII was almost booming with unprecidented signal strength and clarity, whilst Radio Chaski was heard with discernible audio. Neither station had been received as well at my QTH or the woods, previously.

Direct link to reception video of Emisoras Pio XII from Boliva on 5952.5 kHz

Direct link to reception video of Radio Chaski from Peru on 5979.9 kHz

I hope this gives other DXers ‘food for thought’ with regard to experimenting with antennas and perhaps more importantly, making significant improvements to SNR by removing themselves from the ubiquitous blanket of QRM generated by all of those devices at home that are intrinsic to modern life. Thanks for watching. 73.

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Warsan Radio 7750 kHz Baydhabo Somalia; on the Sony ICF-2001D telescopic antenna

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Hi there, great to hear this new station broadcasting from Somalia, during an early evening DX’pedition at my usual spot – a local Oxfordshire wood! Even better to hear it with just the telescopic antenna!

The ICF-2001D is renown for being extremely well ‘tuned’ to it’s own telescopic and this has been demonstrated many times over the past year or so that I’ve been using it. This signal from Somalia was recorded on 08/08/16 at 19:15 hrs UTC using just the ‘whip’. Please click on the image below to access the reception video.

Alternatively click here to watch the reception video on Oxford Shortwave Log

I have another video of the same signal which I will upload soon, demonstrating reception with a 50 metre longwre and the ICF2001D. Until then, I wish you all excellent DX!

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Radio Guinée 9650 kHz Conakry, Guinea; a strong signal with clear ID received in Oxford, UK

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A strong signal with a clear ID from Conakry, Guinea, heard in Oxford UK on 08/08/16 at 18:04 hrs UTC using my trusty Panasonic RF-B65 and a 50 metre longwire. No SYNC of course, but once again, the vintage Panasonic performs very well for this personal-first reception. I do have another recording of this station using the Sony ICF-2001D, from which a performance comparison can be made at a later date. Great to hear Radio Guinée by the way; I believe they had been off-air for around 5 years, until earlier this year. Click the image below to watch the reception video on Oxford Shortwave log.

Radio Guinée 9650 kHz Conakry, Guinea, heard by Oxford Shortwave Log

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Turn your Elad FDM DUO into a portable receiver, with a 200 metre longwire

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As some of the subscribers to Oxford Shortwave Log will know, I’ve been talking about building a battery pack for my Elad FDM DUO to take it out on a DXpedition. Finally, I found the time to quickly do just that with some parts that cost less than £10 – as the video below demonstrates in more detail. The FDM DUO input voltage is stated as 13.8V and although 12V would probably have been sufficient, a couple of very cheap battery cases later, 9 x 1.5V ‘C’ cells and about 20 minutes of somewhat unpractised soldering did the trick. I have also put together a 200 metre longwire antenna, deployable from a large spool, with a termination connector to add resistor grounding for a Beverage Antenna configuration, should I wish to do so in the future. I used two spools of 100 metre equipment cable, soldered together and protected with heat-shrink.

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log channel

Regular viewers of my youtube channel will know that I spend much of my shortwave listening time out in an Oxfordshire wood where QRM is negligable and Tropical Band stations can be heard with, at times, unprecidented signal-to-noise. This is the first time I’ve used a longwire greater than 100 metres in length, however, to be resonant at two wavelengths for 90 metres and 3 wavelengths for 60 metres was the objective. I hope the already fine Tropical Band listening to be had out in the Oxfordshire countryside will improve further.

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A PARI DXpedition update

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Mark Fahey, scanning the bands with his WinRadio Excalibur/Surface Pro 2 combo

The SWLing Post DXpedition at PARI is going very well. We started yesterday around noon with beautiful fall weather; late last night, it started raining but that hasn’t dampened our spirits today.

Despite the wet, chilly weather, Gary Donnelly (above) has been logging numerous shortwave stations during the day and mediumwave stations at night via his assortment of ultralight radios. Bill Boyd, another DXpeditioner, has been travelling the 200 acre PARI campus and listening via his Tecsun PL-880.

DXpeditioner, Mark Fahey, has traveled here from his home in Australia, thus he’s particularly enjoyed hearing South American stations which are somewhat rare in his corner of the world. Today alone, Mark snagged two other firsts: the time station CHU Canada, and a perfect two hour recording of the Voice of Nigeria in DRM. Mark says that his listening expectations are turned upside down, because day/night band openings are nearly opposite of what he’s used to. This is the great thing about SWLing during travels: exotic stations become much lower hanging fruit.

Screenshot of the Elad FDM-S2 on part of the 19 meter band

Mark and I have set up a table full of SDRs and have been actively recording spectrum while listening. We have a WinRadio Excalibur, Elad FDM-S2 and the SDRplay RSP.

We also have the CommRadio CR-1 hooked up: it has been a fantastic receiver for visitors to use and a brilliant auxiliary receiver while both SDRs have been recording spectrum simultaneously.

The SDRplay RSP via the HDSDR app

A few samples from the logs

Despite mediocre band conditions, we’ve managed to hear a lot of stations.

Here is our band scan at 1500 UTC on the 19 meter band:

15140 Radio Sultanate Oman Arabic
15255 Radio Free Europe Turkmen
15265 Adventist World Radio Hindi
15290 Adventist World Radio Punjabi (vy weak)
15300 Radio Romania International Arabic
15395 Athmeeya Yatra Radio Sindhi (vy weak)
15410 Radio Liberty (faint)
15420 BBC English
15435 Radio Riyadh Arabic
15460 Radio Free Europe Tajik
15490 Radio Exterior de Espana Spanish
15535 Radio Cairo Arabic
15550 Radio Dabanga Sudanese Arabic
15580 Voice of America English
15595 Vatican Radio Arabic
15610 EWTN (WEWN) English
15620 Radio Veritas (?) Filipino (?)
15670 Adventist World Radio English
15700 China Radio International English
15770 WRMI English

1600 UTC on the 25 meter band:

11435 HM01 Cuban Numbers Station Spanish
11550 EWTN (WEWN) Spanish
11600 Bible Voice BCN Persian (faint)
11620 All India Radio Russian (faint)
11715 Vatican Radio Russian (faint)
11775 Caribbean Beacon English
11825 WRMI (Overcomer) English
11950 Radio Habana Cuba Spanish
12050 EWTN (WEWN) Spanish (vy weak)
12055 Voice of America Somali
12160 WWCR English

2000 UTC on the 25 meter band:

11600 Denge Kurdistan Kurdish
11670 All India Radio Hindi
11700 All India Radio GOS
11735 Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation Swahili
11760 Radio Habana Cuba French
11775 Caribbean Beacon English
11810 BBC English
11825 WRMI (Overcomer) English
1900 Voice of America French
11930 Radio Marti Spanish (being jammed by Cuba)
11955 Adventist World Radio Dyula
11995 Radio France International French
12050 EWTN (WEWN) Spanish
12060 Radio Algerienne Chaine 1 Arabic
12095 BBC English
12105 WTWW Portuguese

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SWLing Post DXpedition at PARI…this weekend!

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If you’ve registered for, and plan to attend, the PARI DXPedition, please make sure you’ve joined our Yahoo Group. This is where we’re finalizing details and communicating about the DXpedition, noting any changes, updates, etc.

If you’ve tried to contact me recently and haven’t gotten a response yet (sorry about that!) it’s because I’ve been unusually busy: writing a shortwave radio buyer’s guide for The Spectrum Monitor, several reviews for WRTH 2016, plotting another reader challenge, and last but not least, putting together the final details of the SWLing Post DXpedition at PARI this weekend.

Soon I’ll be another kind of busy, at the DXpedition: exploring the bands, gazing at the stars, and hanging out with some of the SWLing Post community. Needless to say, it’s going to be fun, and I’m looking forward to it.

If we have Internet access at PARI, we hope to post a few loggings and photos from our Twitter account.

We have about a dozen registrants this year, a good start. If you can’t make it there, no worries; if all goes well, we may have another next year.

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