Tag Archives: MW

Hi there, I thought some of the readers of SWLing Post might be interested in a review of a MW spectrum with multiple transatlantic signals – all with audio. This is one of the recordings I took with the 200 metre Beverage antenna and although I haven’t properly counted, I believe it generated about 50 catches that were either personal firsts or best-ever receptions. You will note that this video is nearly 20 minutes long, whilst the recording is only just over 5 minutes, thus to capture the signals listed below and demonstrate audio to you, it was necessary to effectively ‘rewind’ a few times. I haven’t annotated the video, however, the stations I’ve paused on to demonstrate audio are listed below. There are actually more catches in this spectrum, but hopefully the video will give you a good idea of propagation on the morning of 10/10/16 and the effectiveness of the Beverage/Elad FDM DUO combination. Also note, I didn’t have time to fully optimise the demodulation settings, so for example, I haven’t used AM SYNC in this demonstration. Individual videos of all catches, with optimised settings appear on my YouTube channel Oxford Shortwave Log. I hope you enjoy it! Recorded in Oxford UK on 10/10/16 at 02:00 hrs UTC. Thanks for watching and I wish you all great DX!

590 kHz VOCM Saint John’s
600 kHz CBNA Saint Anthony
620 kHz CKCM Grand Falls-Windsor
660 kHz WFAN New York
710 kHz WOR New York
730 kHz CKAK Montreal
750 kHz CBC Radio 1 Bonavista Bay
790 kHz WAXY (presumed)
800 kHz VOWR
970 kHz WBGG
1010 kHz CFRB Toronto
1030 kHz WBZ Boston
1130 kHz WBBR New York
1190 kHz WLIB New York
1280 WADO New York
1390 WEGP Presque Isle
1400 kHz CBC Radio 1 Gander
1440 kHz WRED Westbrook
1510 kHz WMEX Boston
1520 kHz WWKB Buffalo
1570 kHz XERF La Poderosa, Mexico
1580 kHz HJQT Verdad Radio 1580 kHz, Bogotá, Colombia
1610 kHz Caribbean Beacon, Anguilla
1660 kHz WGIT Puerto Rico

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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Medium wave DX: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela heard in Oxford, UK

AM radio proposal has Class A broadcasters upset

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(Source: Times Union)

When the sun goes down, AM radio signals travel much farther. You can listen to 50,000-watt stations such as WGY hundreds of miles away.

But that could soon change, if the Federal Communications Commission goes through with a plan to let more local stations broadcast through the evening hours and potentially makes changes in the daytime signal of WGY and other powerful stations.

The proposed change in protections to Class A stations such as WGY would ease restrictions on the smaller stations, which are now required to reduce power or change the direction they broadcast their signal so they don’t conflict with the more powerful Class A stations.

WGY has begun an online petition drive to oppose the changes.

Called “Save AM Radio,” the petition opposes reducing WGY’s so-called “protected service area.”

The changes, WGY says, “will make it very difficult for many of our listeners to receive our programming, especially at night and during morning and evening drive times.”

[…]The FCC, meanwhile, says the changes are being considered in an effort “to help revitalize the AM service.”

More local stations would give listeners a wider choice of programming, supporters of the change argue.

[…]WGY’s online petition is at http://www.wgy.com/features/save-am-radio-1919/
The FCC is accepting comments through March 21 and replies through April 18, at www.fcc/ecfs. Click on “submit a filing.” The proceeding number is 13-249.

Read the full article at the Times Union online…

I’m very curious what Post readers think about this proposal from the perspective of both access to regional information, as well as from MW DXing. Will this move crowd the AM broadcast band or give local stations a stronger voice?

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Ultralight shortwave radios now tagged in the Shortwave Radio Index (SWRI)

CNN reports on new Voice of Russia studios in DC

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Many long-time shortwave listeners may find it ironic that the likes of Voice of Russia now broadcasts from a studio in downtown Washington DC. I just read this news article posted on CNN about VOR’s new presence:

Jordan Hostetter doesn’t know it, but he’s a target. He’s a young professional living in Washington, curious about international events and listens to the radio while driving to work — just the kind of person Voice of Russia radio is trying to reach.

Changing American hearts and minds about Russia has been Voice of Russia’s mission since it first went on the air in 1929, broadcasting from Moscow via short-wave radio. It still does use short wave but with the Internet, Facebook and Twitter, that seems like a blast from the past.

It goes on to mention how, long-time rival, Voice of America has gone totally digital. Not totally true, in fact, but VOA is putting a major effort into moving off of the shortwave bands. As we mentioned previously, in their shortwave sunset plans, the BBG plans to keep shortwave alive in parts of the world where free speech is suppressed and where shortwave is the only option. They will, most likely, rent broadcasting time from other providers and shut down VOA-run facilities.

What was notable in this CNN article was a tidbit about a VOA attempt to do what their Russian counterpart is doing:

VOA says it tried to get a license to […] broadcast on local Russian radio in Russian to Russians. But Elez Biberaj, VOA’s Eurasia division director, says it was prevented from affiliating with Russian radio and television stations “because of threats and because of the pressure that the government brings on license holders.”

So, I guess, VOA will take on this objective with a web presence?

No doubt, our international broadcasting field is changing. I believe we’ll see more broadcasters following VOR and CRI’s local vector. Perhaps, in fact, this is just what our AM band needs.

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