Tag Archives: shortwave

John takes the Elecraft KX2 on the shortwaves

I just noticed that John (AE5X) has updated the firmware on his KX2 and made a short video of a shortwave band scan. On his blog, he notes:

Before getting my ham ticket, I was a SWL and am very happy that AM capability has been added to the KX2, making a fantastic radio even better.

[…]We have a very powerful AM broadcast station near my QTH on 740 kHz. I was not able to receive it at all with the KX2. Unlike some, I see this as beneficial – it tells me the 80m filters (the KX2 doesn’t operate on 160m) are doing what they were designed to do.[…]

Read the full post on John’s excellent blog.

Click here to view John’s video on YouTube.

Update: I’ve had my KX2 for 24 hours now! I’ve already updated the firmware and will post a couple AM audio samples soon.

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Radio Fana 6110 kHz Ethiopia; excellent SNR with Elad FDM DUO

Reminder: The Classics Experience with Paul Walker

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(Source: Paul Walker)

The next broadcast of The Classics Experience with Paul Walker is going to be the biggest yet. It’ll all take place in late August with 2 hours of rock n roll music with maybe a few country songs thrown in for good measure. The show is ALL about the music and providing something different on the shortwave bands, so all you’ll get from the show is MUSIC. There will be NO rants, raves, personal opinions or political and religious rants. No commercials or sponsors either. I fund the broadcast out of my own pocket so I can pick whatever music I want and not have to answer to anyone but George D. Beagle!

WRMI 7570kHz Saturday August 27th 0400 to 0600UTC. Beaming at 315 degrees towards Vancouver. It should provide a good signal to the West Coast of the US and Canada and probably parts of the midwest and upper midwest along the way.

WRMI 11580kHz Friday August 26th 2100 UTC to 2300UTC., This signal target area is Eastern North America and Western Europe.

WRMI 11530kHz Saturday August 27th, 0200UTC to 0400UTC targetting South America with maybe a little spill over to extreme Western Africa.

WINB 9265kHz Saturday August 27th 0330 to 0530UTC. This should provide good coverage into the Midwest, parts of southern Canada, into Mexico along with parts of Central & Southern Europe it seemed.. It was weakly heard in Australia and New Zealand during my last broadcast.

Channel 292 6070kHz Friday August 26th 2200 to 2400UTC. This should provide good coverage of central and parts of Western Europe.

Shortwave Services 15195khz via Armenia Saturday August 27th 1200 to 1400UTC. Beaming at 65 degrees towards Japan.

I am going to suspend my request for $ to cover postage and QSL costs. I’ve been so lax in sending out QSL cards, I haven’t gotten around to any of them from previous broadcasts and have gotten a few nastygrams about it. I feel bad, so I won’t ask for any money to cover costs this time around.

Contact information for reception reports:
Paul B. Walker, Jr.
PO Box 353
Galena, Alaska 99741-0353 USA

There may be MFSK32 data and pictures during the broadcast. I will announce during the broadcast if and when that happens.

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Latest Update regarding Radio Australia outage

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Goren, who shares this latest update from ABC Reception advice:

Thank you for your email.

We are working towards restoring the services this coming Friday at 9am Sydney time.

Kind Regards,

ABC Reception Advice

A number of Post readers received this same message (thanks to you all for sharing). I, for one, hope to hear my staple broadcaster back on the air Friday morning. I’ll certainly be listening!

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Update on Radio Australia outage

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Hawkins, who left the following comment in reply to our previous post about Radio Australia’s outage:

This message found on the ABC/Radio Australia website this morning…

The ABC is running a technical outage of the international shortwave service until Friday the 19th of August to test reception in the region.

Listening to shortwave requires a specialist shortwave radio. We direct our broadcasts at peak listening times in our target areas of the Pacific using multiple frequencies. We recommend that where possible, you use an outside antenna to improve reception. Shortwave signals may be subject to interference from other broadcasters’ signals, electronic devices such as computers, microwave ovens, TVs, car engines and fluorescent lights.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/waystolisten

Thanks for passing this along, Dan. This is the longest technical outage I’ve ever noted from Radio Australia.

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Radio Australia outage: Response from ABC Reception Advice

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I just received the following message from ABC Reception Advice after inquiring about Radio Australia being off the air. I’m sure many of you also received the same message:

Thank you for your recent correspondence with regards to the Radio Australia Broadcasts on Shortwave Radio in the SW Pacific. We are currently working with our transmission provider on a number of shut downs over the past week and again over the next week to investigate a range of technical and commercial issues for the service.

In the meantime the services are still on air via our satellite services on Intelsat IS18 and IS20 as well as our FM network across the targeted markets in the SW Pacific (for detailed information please see http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/waystolisten and of course Radio Australia is online at http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/listen

Kind Regards,
ABC Reception Advice

I can’t remember Radio Australia being off the air such a long time for maintenance.

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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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