Shortwave listening and everything radio including reviews, broadcasting, ham radio, field operation, DXing, maker kits, travel, emergency gear, events, and more
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Harald Kuhl (DL1ABJ) for sharing this article from the Southgate ARC:
“When the ‘Deutsche Welle’ decided to close down one of their 500 KW short wave broadcast transmitters near Munich at the end of 2012, a group containing some German radio amateurs applied for and were allocated the then available short wave frequency of 6070 KHz in 2013.
This group now have an operational 10KW station on the frequency, using the driver stages from the old Deutsche Welle transmitter. The rest of the transmitter was built by and is run by Rainer DB8QC . The [license] allow transmission 24/7 but at present most transmissions are on a weekend during daylight hours.
Content is mainly provided by existing Internet Radio stations wanting to get their material “on-the-air” this includes several soceities that remember the days of the Pirate Radio pop music stations in the North sea between England and Holland and a lot of their music content is from the 60’s and 70’s.
Additional content is being sought and at only 15 Euros an hour, this is not a corporate big business rather a facility where smaller groups can afford to buy time to transmit their content. One such group is the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club, the National Amateur Radio Society in Germany, who hope to have a weekly 2 hour slot on the station from mid-March to send a DX orientated program, probably from 6pm local time on Sundays.
The DARC DX magazine will be in the German language and targeted towards German speaking listeners. Amateur radio is an international medium however so there are thoughts of also producing an international / English hour in addition, to reach out across Europe not only to radio amateurs but also to short wave listeners and the general public.”
Thanks again, Harald! Even though Channel 292 isn’t a blow-torch station, at 15 Euros per hour, nearly any group could afford to broadcast on shortwave. Now to put Channel 292 in the logs!
This morning, I tuned around the 31 meter band and was surprised with favorable propagation out of Asia (see spectrum waterfall above–click to enlarge).
I started logging a few stations, but the effort quickly turned into a full band scan/survey. I logged everything I could easily hear between the 9,390-10,000 kHz portion of the 31 meter band.
I logged 52 stations and omitted eight that I considered too weak for good copy.
I used my WinRadio Excalibur SDR connected to a large horizontal delta loop wire antenna.
The number of broadcasts originating in or targeting China is pretty phenomenal: the 31 band is your oyster, if you speak Chinese.
31 Meter Band 1200 – 1300 UTC, all frequencies in kHz
9390 Radio Thailand Malaysian (1200Z) then English (1230Z)
9410 China National Radio 5 Chinese
9430 FEBC Radio Chinese
9440 China Radio International Cambodian
9460 China Radio International English
9475 Radio Australia English
9490 Voice Of America Korean
9500 China National Radio 1 Chinese
9515 China National Radio 2 Chinese
9530 Voice Of America Chinese
9540 China Radio International Chinese
9550 China Radio International Vietnamese (covered by CRI Cantonese distortion)
Note the blowtorch CRI signal on 9,570 kHz which was blanketing the surrounding spectrum with noise.
9570 China Radio International Cantonese (transmitter spewing distortion 50 kHz wide)
9580 Radio Australia English (covered by CRI Cantonese distortion)
9590 China Radio International Russian (covered by CRI Cantonese distortion)
9600 China Radio International English
9620 China National Radio 6 Chinese
9635 Voice of Vietnam 1 Vietnamese (slightly below freq)
9640 Radio Havana Cuba Spanish
9645 China Radio International English
9655 China Radio International Chinese
9660 Radio Taiwan International Chinese
9680 Radio Taiwan International Chinese
9700 Lower Sideband communication (UNID)
9710 China National Radio 1 Chinese
9720 China Radio International Filipino
9730 China Radio International English
9735 Radio Taiwan International Indonesian
9740 BBC English
9745 Guanghua zhi Sheng Chinese
9750 Radio Kuwait Arabic
9730 China Radio International English
9770 KBS World Radio Chinese
9775 China National Radio 2 Chinese (vy weak)
9785 China Radio International Laotian
9790 Voice Of Islamic Republic of Iran Pashto
9810 China National Radio 2 Chinese and All India Radio Telugu
9820 Radio Havana Cuba Spanish
9825 Voice Of America Chinese
9830 China National Radio 1 Chinese
9840 Voice of Vietnam English
9850 Radio Habana Cuba Spanish
9855 China Radio International Chinese
9860 China National Radio 1 Chinese (vy weak)
9880 KSDA-AWR Guam Korean (vy weak)
9900 Radio France International Chinese
9920 FEBC Radio Bahnar (w/Jamming)
9940 Reach Beyond Australia (HCJB) Indonesian
9955 Radio Slovakia International English (via WRMI/WRN)
9975 KTWR Guam Chinese
9990 Radio Farda Persian
10000 WWV Fort Collins English
I recorded two broadcasts during the scan–both at 12:30 UTC: Radio Thailand (9,390 kHz) and Radio Slovakia (9,955 kHz). I will post them soon.
Years ago I loved tuning in Radio Bulgaria and listening to their orchestra play. The ether would deliver the beautiful music to my ears with some fading at times but I loved listening to it. That is, of course, until they stopped broadcasting. I’ve tried to find an alternative without success.
I wonder if you know of any shortwave station that still broadcast orchestras?
Thanks,
Eric W4OTN/3
Any suggestions for Eric? Please comment with details!
Coming January, Sudan will launch ten shortwave radio stations in Darfur, and ten in South Kordofan
The new radio stations will present programmes in local dialects, to counter the broadcasts by Radio Dabanga, in an attempt to reduce its impact on the populations of those regions, especially in Darfur, Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman told Members of the national Parliament on Tuesday.
As for South Kordofan, the radio stations will aim to reach the Nuba people living in the rebel-controlled areas, the minister noted.
Sudanese MPs have criticised the performance of the official media before. They described it as “weak, and failing in the delivery of information”. On Tuesday, 25 November, the daily broadcasts by Radio Dabanga from the Netherlands were discussed in the parliament. Some MPs stressed the need “to disrupt the activity of Radio Dabanga, or completely stop it”, and demanded from the Information Minister of State to develop a plan to at least reduce its impact.
Radio Dabanga broadcasts in shortwave to the whole of Sudan and neighbouring countries. Satellite broadcasts are confined to the larger cities. (See elsewhere on this site for audio feeds.)
Aw, gee–you know you’ve made it the in the world when the talented and inimitable Jeff Murray (K1NSS) takes the Mickey out of you with his quirky vintage-style imagery. This time, it was yours truly that got a dose of the Murray treatment… Jeff, you inject this hobby with the requisite dose of whimsy. Thanks so much for “plugging” Ears To Our World!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again–if you want to hire a talented artist for graphics or a unique QSL card, Jeff is clearly the guy to call upon.
Thanks to all who participated in our ultra-portable shoot-out! A little over a week ago, I posted recordings of shortwave broadcasts, weak and strong, in an attempt to evaluate which recording–thus which radio–our listeners prefer. I conducted this test on the three radios pictured above: the Tecsun PL-310ET, the CountyComm GP5/DSP (Tecsun PL-360), and the Tecsun PL-380–among the most popular ultra-portables currently on the market. This test was “blind” in the sense that all three radios evaluated were merely labeled “Radio 1,” “Radio 2,” and “Radio 3,” respectively.
The samples
To refresh your memory, I’ve embedded the audio samples below for you to hear; but if you haven’t yet heard them, I encourage you to read our previous post before doing so. (If you’re already heard the recordings, simply skip this section.)
Global 24 – 9395 kHz (Strong)
Radio 1
Radio 2
Radio 3
ERT Open/ Voice of Greece (Relatively strong)
Radio 1
Radio 2
Radio 3
Radio Riyadh (Weak)
Radio 1
Radio 2
Radio 3
Rádio Bandeirantes (Very weak)
Radio 1
Radio 2
Radio 3
And now…the results!
The following chart shows how each radio scored out of a total of 106 (wow!) survey responses:
Let’s start with the radio that scored lowest in this contest…
Radio 3: the CountyComm GP5/DSP (a.k.a., the Tecsun PL-360)
Interestingly, the GP5/DSP consistently came in last in every category. I think a few factors outside of receiver performance led to this.
For some reason, the recorded audio of the GP5/DSP sounds out-of-phase. Several of you noted this. The resulting sound almost mimics a “stereo” effect. No matter how many times I made recordings on the GP5/DSP, this feature predominated, and I eventually assumed it to be characteristic of this radio’s DSP.
But I’m wondering now, however, if there might be oxidation on one of the headphone jack conductors, or if the headphone jack on my unit is somehow faulty–? Because of this, before conducting the medium wave shoot-out, I’ll try to clean the conductors with a little Deoxit to see if it makes a difference.
Unlike the PL-310ET and PL-380, the GP5/DSP can’t change AM bandwidths. On the strong recordings, I widened the bandwidths of the PL-310ET and PL-380 to 6 kHz; this improved their audio fidelity. On weak signals, I narrowed the bandwidth to 3 or 4 kHz, keeping both at the same level as I did so. While the GP5/DSP’s fixed bandwidth is well chosen, it simply couldn’t compete with the wider filters of the other two radios on strong signals.
Though the GP5/DSP (Tecsun PL-360) came in last, the irony is that most people who made comments on the survey form actually mentioned that the GP5/DSP was also a strong contender. Here are a few responder’s comments:
“The bassiness of Radio 1 was pleasing to listen to, but the clarity of radio 3 was also pleasing. All three sounded very good.”
“I was divided–Radio 1 seemed to provide the better audio on the stronger stations (not as muddy) yet Radio 3 beat it out on the weak stations and seemed to hold the station steadier (less fading) thereby providing a better audio to hear and understand.”
“I think if I were to place these three radios in order of “listening pleasure” based on the provided samples, my order would be 3, 1, 2.”
“By a small margin Radio 3 seemed to have the best signal to noise ratio and general audio quality across the range of signal strengths.”
Also notable: the GP5 has one very distinct advantage over the other two radios, something that wouldn’t have been noticed in this test: its ETM function, which scans the whole band then automatically stores stations to temporary memory, is almost two times faster that that of the other radios. It also seemed to be equally accurate.
So, who would buy the CountyComm GP5/DSP (Tecsun PL-360)? Someone who likes this radio’s form factor, it’s stable AGC, and quick ETM scanning. Keep in mind, we are comparing this model with two of the best radios under $60, in my opinion. Had we compared the GP5 with most other sub-$60 radios, it might have won that shoot-out, and with ease.
The Tecsun PL-380 came in a very consistent second place in this shoot-out.
The ‘380 is one of my favorite portables on the market; for many years, it has been my go-to radio for one-bag travel.
Before recording the shoot-out, I guessed that the PL-380 might take first place. But up to this point, I had never actually compared it with either of the two other radios in this shoot-out. Listening to the blind samples, I tend agree with the results. Still, the PL-380 is a great value and a fun little radio, one I can still easily recommend for travel.
As you can see from the graph, the Tecsun PL-310ET won our shoot-out in every category–and by a fairly wide margin:
While comparatively few participants’ comments were specific to the PL-310ET (“Radio 1”), it’s interesting that these most often made note of this radio’s very close resemblance to the PL-380 (“Radio 2”).
The PL-310ET had only a slight advantage over the PL-380 to my ear, but it was enough; so along with most survey respondents, I took note of that advantage.
Now, I know this much: when people ask me whether they should purchase the PL-380 or PL-310ET, I think I’ll suggest the PL-310ET. In the end, it makes for a better travel radio because it also has an external antenna jack, one of the few sub-$60 radios that has this useful feature.
When I find the time in the next month or so, I plan to test the same radios in a medium wave (AM) shoot-out. Weak-signal medium wave will put AGC circuits and internal ferrite antennas center stage. Please be patient, however, as these tests actually take time to put together and evaluate. Again, your participation will be most welcome!
The 5,000 of you that have written to Global 24 since November 1, 2014 attest to the fact that shortwave radio is not dying.
The 1,000 of you that have joined our Listeners Club and Insiders Club since November 1, 2014 attest to the fact that shortwave radio is not dying.
The 30,000 unique visitors that visited our website, Global24Radio.com, since November 1, 2014 attest to the fact that shortwave radio is not dying.
You can expect Global 24 to be outspoken whenever and where ever we hear the words that shortwave radio is dying.
Yes, many government broadcast operations have closed up shop. They are totally incorrect in their worldview and so-called “research”. The public diplomacy and foreign policies of governments around the world are in incoherent disarray. It’s not surprising that incoherent foreign policy equates to government shortwave broadcasting being cut back. The fact that the U.S. government thinks shortwave is a medium of the past – should be enough for us all to stand up and cast a doubtful stare.
Whether we are confronting Ebola, dwindling global natural resources,welcoming the Arab spring or dealing with the reality of more and more failed states – states based on borders and beliefs largely imposed by the West – we are living in a world that is more dangerous than ever.
Important World Events Need a Western Perspective on Shortwave
Yes, we live in a world where terrorists groups like ISIS send out thousands of tweets an hour recruiting people to their violent worldview. Yes, we live in a world where ISIS produces an “Annual Report” that visually looks as good as than anything the Voice of America (VoA) produces. Yes, we live in a world where the internet reach of terrorists far eclipses the audience of the VoA. Does shortwave have a place in this world? Of course it does. One kid in Syria – or anywhere in the Middle East – listening to a shortwave radio that gets a different perspective and doesn’t go radical makes it worth it to us. Shortwave is a place where moderate worldviews can be heard easily.
Anyone with TV access or web access has so many other choices for information gathering. Why yield the field in shortwave – the one place where an audience is guaranteed? The governments of many nations, especially the United States need to “go back to the basics” and go back to shortwave radio. VoA, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio Marti and the Middle Eastern Broadcasters need to have their shortwave budgets exponentially increased immediately. It’s not just about hot button issues and unfree governments – it’s about inexpensive access to information for the world and simple “soft power”. Simply look at China Radio International or the Xinhua news agency and you will see a rapidly growing international presence – they are fighting the fights we have already largely walked away from.
The Developing World Still Need Shortwave
We live in a world where access to electricity is still limited to huge swaths of our brothers and sisters around the world. Does shortwave have a place of growing importance in this world? Of course, it does.
Shortwave radio requires no electrical mains, no internet access, no subscriptions – and of course, one radio can be shared and listened to by so many people. How can we live in a world where so many people don’t have clean water, electricity, basic medical care and access to information and think that social media, TV and the internet are the sole communication vehicles of the future? When kids in every country the world over have the water they need, the eyeglasses they need, the medical care they need, the electricity they need and the education they need, then maybe we can talk about engaging them on their smartphones and TVs exclusively and winning over their hearts and minds with 160 character “Tweets”.
Shortwave was, and is, a battle that must be won – not given up on.
The Rest of Us Still Need Shortwave
For the first time in many of our lives, we all should genuinely concerned about press freedom in the United States and in other “First World” nations – yet alone press freedom in countries driving world events like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Across our country more and more people are seeking a simpler lifestyle unburdened by expensive TV, internet and satellite connections. A lifestyle characterized by a lack of dependence – in terms of either information, resources or infrastructure. We are prepping, homesteading and preparing to live off the grid together. We are buying our guns, packing our bug out bags and drawing up emergency plans for our families. .
What We Plan to Do
Here at Global 24 – we are a modest operation but we will be bringing to the world a new view of shortwave radio. Together with our listeners, we can do what governments can not do alone: create a renaissance in shortwave listening in the form of commercial shortwave listening before manufacturers stop making radios and stores stop marketing and selling them. These are the real threats to shortwave radio.
