Tag Archives: Shortwave Radio

December 24: Tune in NDR’s annual Christmas greetings program on shortwave

Hammarlund-HQ-120X-DialLight

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Harald Kuhl, who notes times and frequencies of NRD’s annual Christmas greetings:

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) program “Gruss an Bord” on shortwave on 24 December 2016:

19.00 UTC till 21.00 Uhr UTC

6.125 kHz Atlantic – North
11.650 kHz Atlantic – South
9.800 kHz Atlantic / Indian Ocean (South Africa)
9.740 kHz Indian Ocean – West
9.790 kHz Indian Ocean – East
6.145 kHz Europe

21.00 UTC till 23.00 Uhr UTC

5.930 kHz Atlantic – North
9.830 kHz Atlantic – South
9.590 kHz Atlantic / Indian Ocean (South Africa)
9.765 kHz Indian Ocean – West
9.650 kHz Indian Ocean – East
6.145 kHz Europe

contact: [email protected]

vy73

Harald

Here’s the press release from NDR (in German):

Presse aktuell
Empfang auf Weltmeeren und in fernen Häfen: “Gruß an Bord” auch über Kurzwelle

Sendungen: Sonnabend, 24. Dezember, 20.05 bis 22.00 Uhr, NDR Info und NDR 90,3 / 23.05 bis 24.00 Uhr, NDR Info

Seit Weihnachten 1953 bildet die NDR Radiosendung “Gruß an Bord” eine Brücke zwischen den Seeleuten auf den Meeren und ihren Angehörigen in Deutschland: Seeleute schicken Grüße in die Heimat, ihre Familien haben die Möglichkeit, ihren Lieben auf hoher See ein frohes Fest und ein gutes, neues Jahr zu wünschen. Damit die Besatzungen die Traditionssendung auch in fernen Häfen auf den Weltmeeren empfangen können, hat der NDR eigens für Heiligabend Kurzwellen-Frequenzen angemietet.

In der Zeit von 19.00 bis 21.00 Uhr UTC (20.00 bis 22.00 Uhr MEZ) sendet die Kurzwelle am 24. Dezember über folgende Frequenzen (UTC ist die Abkürzung für die koordinierte Weltzeit, die Universal Time Coordinated):

FREQUENZ ZIELGEBIET
6.125 kHz Atlantik – Nord
11.650 kHz Atlantik – Süd
9.800 kHz Atlantik/ Indischer Ozean (Südafrika)
9.740 kHz Indischer Ozean – West
9.790 kHz Indischer Ozean – Ost
6.145 kHz Europa

In der Zeit von 21.00 bis 23.00 Uhr UTC (22.00 bis 24.00 Uhr MEZ) am 24. Dezember über folgende Frequenzen:

FREQUENZ ZIELGEBIET
5.930 kHz Atlantik – Nord
9.830 kHz Atlantik – Süd
9.590 kHz Atlantik / Indischer Ozean (Südafrika)
9.765 kHz Indischer Ozean – West
9.650 kHz Indischer Ozean – Ost
6.145 kHz Europa

NDR Info und NDR 90,3 senden “Gruß an Bord” von 20.05 Uhr bis 22.00 Uhr MEZ. Anschließend folgt auf NDR Info von 22.00 Uhr bis 23.00 Uhr MEZ die Übertragung einer evangelischen Christmette aus der St. Johanniskirche in Hamburg-Altona. Von 23.05 bis 24.00 Uhr wird “Gruß an Bord” auf NDR Info, NDR Info Spezial, online und über Kurzwelle fortgesetzt.

Die Grüße werden in der Hamburger Seemannsmission “Duckdalben” von den NDR Info Moderatoren Regina König und Ocke Bandixen übermittelt. Andrea-Christina Furrer und Andreas Kuhnt sind die Gastgeber im Kulturspeicher in Leer. Die Moderatoren erwarten u. a. Vertreter der Reedereien, Seemannspastoren und viele Familien. Außerdem werden sie Schiffe der Marine und deutsche Forschungsschiffe, die auf den Weltmeeren unterwegs sind, rufen. Für die musikalische Unterhaltung sorgen in Hamburg der Gitarrist Roland Cabezas, die Lars-Luis Linek-Band sowie die Sängerin Marion Welch, in Leer der Bingumer Shanty-Chor und das irische Trio Dara Mc Namara, Stephen Kavanagh und Dylan Vaughn.

Bis zum 17. Dezember nimmt die Redaktion Grußwünsche per E-Mail entgegen,
[email protected], oder per Post: Norddeutscher Rundfunk, NDR Info, Redaktion “Gruß an Bord”, Rothenbaumchaussee 132 – 134, 20149 Hamburg. Diese Grüße werden am 24. Dezember von 23.05 Uhr bis Mitternacht auf NDR Info und über die extra angemietete Kurzwellenfrequenzen verlesen.

NDR Info und NDR 90,3 sind über UKW, DAB+, DVB-S Radio und per Livestreaming im Internet, z. B. über die NDR Radio-App, zu empfangen.
18. November 2016 / RP

Alan Roe’s B16 guide to music on shortwave radio

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his updated  Music on Shortwave list for the B16 period. Alan’s music guide incorporates several suggested additions by SWLing Post readers.

Alan, again, thank you so much for publishing this brilliant little guide!

Click here to download Music on Shortwave B-16 (PDF).

Shortwave Relays This Weekend

(Source:Tom Taylor)

Hamurger Lokal Radio via Shortwave Station Göhren, Germany with 1KW to Western Europe:
6190 KHz Every Saturday 07.00 to 11.00 UTC
7265 KHz Every Saturday 11.00 to 16.00 UTC
9485 KHz Every Sunday 10.00 to 13.00 UTC
Contact email: [email protected]

Radio City via:
IRRS to Europe on 9510 KHz (every Saturday) between 09.00 to 10.00 UTC
Challenger Radio to Northern Italy on 1368 KHz every Saturdays from 20.00 UTC onwards
Radio Merkurs on 1485 KHz Every Saturday between 20.00 onwards
Contact email: [email protected]

KBC via:
Media Broadcast to America on 6145 KHz Every Sunday between 00.00 to 01.00
Contact email: [email protected]

Atlantic 2000 will be on the air this Sunday 11th of December:
10:00 to 11:00 UTC on 6005 and 7310 kHz
18:00 to 19:00 UTC on 3985 kHz
+ streaming at the same time on our website: http://radioatlantic2000.free.fr
Reports to: [email protected]

Hobart Radio via:
WRMI to Americas, Asia/Pacific on 9955 KHz Sunday between 03.30 to 04.00 UTC
WRMI to Americas, Asia/Pacific on 9955 KHz Tuesday between 22.30 to 23.00 UTC
WBCQ to North America on 5130 KHz Mondays 03.30 to 04.00 UTC
Unique Radio to North Australia Fridays at 08.00 & 14.00 UTC
Unique Radio to North Australia Saturdays at 07.30 & 14.30 UTC
Contact email: [email protected]

Good Listening!
73s

The brilliant little Tecsun PL-310ET: serious DXing on a budget – part 1

tecsun-pl-310etHi there, a good friend of mine Mr Thomas Brogan mentioned to me recently that his little Tecsun PL-310ET was proving to be an excellent receiver and that it would suit my DXpedition activities. Now, as someone who likes to push the envelope of performance with sophisticated portables, usually coupled to very large antennas, a cheap little Tecsun might not have been an abvious choice for my next purchase. However, Mr Brogan (who has an excellent Youtube channel by the same name – check out his wonderful collection of vintage and modern receivers) previously suggested I buy, for similar reasons, the Sony ICF-SW100. That little masterpiece of electronics turned out to be one of the best receivers I’ve ever owned. I felt compelled to take notice because Tom never gets this stuff wrong! A few days later I found myself in Maplins – again – and there it was on the shelf at just under £40, so I bought one.

I got back into shortwave listening about 18 months ago, after many years of inactivity whilst my poor Sangean ATS-803A rotted away in the garden shed and Sony ICF-7600G long-gone via eBay. To start all over again, I bought a Tecsun PL-360.  What a great little portable that turned out to be – there are over 100 reception videos on my YouTube channel demonstrating how it continually performed above and beyond the very modest price tag. I even managed to hear ABC Northern Territories 4835 kHz on it once –  simply amazing for a receiver under £30. Given my extensive experience with the PL-360 and having learned the PL-310ET shared the same DSP chip, I was expecting the same, or at least very similar performance and the only real benefit to upgrading to the PL-310ET was the direct frequency access.  However, I was wrong about that!

pl-360

The brilliant Tecsun PL-360 got me back into shortwave radio for less than £30

About a week after buying the PL-310ET,  I managed to get out on a DXpedition and with 30 metres of wire attached to it via the external antenna socket, I started tuning around the SW bands. Quite simply, I was amazed at the sensitivity and selectivity of this diminutive little portable. With the proven DSP receiver chip and a number of audio bandwidth filter options  from 1 to 6 kHz, coupled with direct frequency access via the keypad, it was a joy to use and listen to. In just over an hour I had  copied signals from North Korea, including their internal service KCBS Pyongyang, Zanzibar BC, ABC Northern Territories (at the first attempt!), Zambia NBC Radio 1, Radio Oromiya and Radio Amhara from Ethiopia, amongst others. Brilliant stuff and clearly demonstrating that the overall hardware/software package with the PL-310ET is a step up in performance over the PL-360 and capable of proper DX for a very modest outlay. Interestingly, in a conversation with Thomas Witherspoon regarding the PL-310ET, he reminded me that it was one of his go-to radios for travelling and confirmed it’s excellent performance.  I would definitely recommend this radio to novices and experts alike.

Reception videos follow below, with more to come in part 2; I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for watching/listening and I wish you all excellent DX!

 

 

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.

Shortwave Relays This Weekend

Transoceanic-Dial

(Source: Tom Taylor)

Hamurger Lokal Radio via Shortwave Station Göhren, Germany with 1KW to Western Europe:
6190 KHz Every Saturday 07.00 to 11.00 UTC
7265 KHz Every Saturday 11.00 to 16.00 UTC
9485 KHz Every Sunday 10.00 to 13.00 UTC
Contact email: [email protected]

European Music Radio via:
WBCQ to Central & North America on 7490 KHz on 19th November between 22.00 to 23.00 UTC
Contact email: [email protected]
Internet Repeats on 20th November 2016:
EMR will repeat this months Transmissions via two streams running at the following Times:16.00, 18.00, 20.00 UTC
http://nednl.net:8000/emr.m3u will be on 96 kbps /44 KHz stereo for normal listening
http://nednl.net:8000/emr24.m3u will be 24 kbps / 22 KHz mono will be especially for low bandwidth like mobile phones.

Radio City via:
IRRS to Europe on 9510 KHz (every Saturday) between 09.00 to 10.00 UTC
IRRS to Europe on 7290 KHz (every 3rd Friday) between 19.00 to 20.00 UTC
Challenger Radio to Northern Italy on 1368 KHz every Saturdays from 20.00 UTC onwards
Radio Merkurs on 1485 KHz Every Saturday between 20.00 onwards
Contact email: [email protected]

KBC via:
Media Broadcast to America on 6145 KHz Every Sunday between 00.00 to 01.00
Contact email: [email protected]

Hobart Radio via:
Channel 292 to Western Europe on 6070 KHz Sundays between 21.00 to 21.30 UTC
WRMI to Americas, Asia/Pacific on 9955 KHz Sunday between 03.30 to 04.00 UTC
WRMI to Americas, Asia/Pacific on 9955 KHz Tuesday between 22.30 to 23.00 UTC
WBCQ to North America on 5130 KHz Mondays 03.30 to 04.00 UTC
Unique Radio to North Australia Fridays at 08.00 & 14.00 UTC
Unique Radio to North Australia Saturdays at 07.30 & 14.30 UTC
Contact email: [email protected]

For outside the listening area please try the Twente/Netherlands Web RX at http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

You can also hear many European free and alternative stations via the Internet at: http://laut.fm/jukebox

Radio Channel 292 Transmission schedules on 6070 KHz (on the air every day): http://www.channel292.de/schedule-for-bookings/

Radio Mi Amigo Transmission schedules: www.radiomiamigo.es/shortwave

Good Listening!
73s

Tom

BBC World Service to launch 11 new language services

(Image source: BBC)

(Source: BBC News)

The BBC World Service will launch 11 new language services as part of its biggest expansion “since the 1940s”, the corporation has announced.

bbc-newlanguageservices

The expansion is a result of the funding boost announced by the UK government last year.

The new languages will be Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Igbo, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin, Punjabi, Telugu, Tigrinya, and Yoruba.

The first new services are expected to launch in 2017.

[…]The plans include the expansion of digital services to offer more mobile and video content and a greater social media presence.

On Wednesday the BBC launches a full digital service in Thai, following the success of a Facebook-only “pop-up” service launched in 2014.

Other expansion plans include:

  • extended news bulletins in Russian, with regionalised versions for surrounding countries
  • enhanced television services across Africa, including more then 30 new TV programmes for partner broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa
  • new regional programming from BBC Arabic
  • short-wave and medium-wave radio programmes aimed at audiences in the Korean peninsula, plus online and social media content
  • investment in World Service English, with new programmes, more original journalism, and a broader agenda

The new language services mean the BBC World Service will be available in 40 languages, including English.

Lord Hall has set a target for the BBC to reach 500 million people worldwide by its centenary in 2022.

Click here to read the full article…

In addition, Mike Terry, posted a link to this Leading Article  from The Times which focuses on the BBC expansion. This content is behind a paywall (though you can register to read two free items per week) but here is an excerpt from the conclusion that I found particularly interesting:

“The radio may seem an irrelevance in the age of the internet but it is the most intimate of the so-called mainstream media and as such poses a challenge to authoritarian rule. Radios are cheap, ubiquitous and can whisper truths under the bedcovers. There is nothing that dictators hate more than direct access to the ears of their subjects.”

Indeed.

Which is the best? Sony ICF-2001D/2010 or ICF-SW77? Part two

sony-test

Hi there, after the first set of recordings were analysed, the score was 4-3 to the ICF-2001D, demonstrating how similar these two great receivers are in overall performance. There were a copule of notable differences however. The synchronous detection circuit on the ICF-2001D allows the user to effectively tune through a signal in 01. kHz steps, whilst the receiver automatically locks onto either the upper or lower sideband, depending on the frequency offset. The ICF-SW77 synchronous detection system differs in that the user must tune the signal and select the sideband. The results of this test confirmed that whilst the ICF-2001D almost always retained SYNC lock, the ICF-SW77 was very prone to losing lock, which of course affected the audio quality in many cases. The other issue was with the ICF-SW77 in that the narrow audio bandwidth filter often seemed to deliver ‘muddy’ audio. Whilst this feature proved to be excellent in terms of mitigating adjacent channel QRM, it also reduced signal clarity/ audio discernibility a little too much in my opinion. However, overall, sensitivity and selectivity was very similar between both radios – in fact, one recording had to be judged a draw (Radio Bandeirantes, Sao Paolo on 9645.4 kHz) – I simply couldn’t split them. Part two of the reception testing follows, using signals from Canda, DR Congo, Brazil, Cuba and Peru.

I hope you enjoy the recordings – text links and embedded videos follow below:


 

 

 

 

 

 

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.