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9106

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6920 AM and USB 0051 UTC 24 Dec 2015

« on: December 24, 2015, 1209 UTC »

SDR recording catch, came on at 0051 with "Raggedy and Dirty", off just before 0053.
Back on at 0054 with "Mumbling Word"
Off just before 0056.
A very good signal, whoever you were.

9107

North American Shortwave Pirate / Cold Country Canada 6969 LSB 1855 UTC 23 Dec 2015

« on: December 23, 2015, 1855 UTC »

George Harrison "My Sweet Lord", SIO 333.

9108

Other / Nonsense on 7200 LSB 1621 UTC 23 Dec 2015

« on: December 23, 2015, 1621 UTC »

I guess this is the 40m version of 14313.

9109

General Radio Discussion / A suggestion - please do not use synthesized speech for IDs

« on: December 23, 2015, 1356 UTC »

Synthesized IDs are quite popular with stations, but are extremely difficult to decipher under poor, or even sometimes average, listening conditions.

There's an interesting paper here that discusses the problems older listeners have with understanding synthesized speech. Much of it has to do with missing frequency content:
http://www.sparc.ac.uk/media/downloads/executivesummaries/exec_summary_wolters.pdf

I suspect the same problem plagues shortwave radio, due to interference, and the narrow bandwidths we sometimes have to employ.  (Not to mention the fact that there's a lot of older listeners) 

This is not a criticism, just a tip - if you want listeners to be able to figure out your station name, make it as easy as possible. This includes having a clear ID, spoken by a real person. 

9110

North American Shortwave Pirate / Christmas Radio 6925 USB 1332 UTC 23 Dec 2015

« on: December 23, 2015, 1332 UTC »

Christmas music, sounds like Jingle Bells, SIO 222.
1340 ID.

9111

North American Shortwave Pirate / Cold Country Canada 6969 LSB 2238 UTC 22 Dec 2015

« on: December 22, 2015, 1333 UTC »

SDR recording catch, 2238 sign on, very good signal.
Off at 2304.

9112

North American Shortwave Pirate / Old Time Radio 6770 AM 1331 UTC 22 Dec 2015

« on: December 22, 2015, 1331 UTC »

Tough copy this early in the day, but about an SIO 222 to 333 on peaks.

9113

HF Beacons / Dasher 8000 CW 1142 UTC 21 Dec 2015

« on: December 21, 2015, 1146 UTC »

While looking for the new beacon, I rediscovered this old one.  I've logged this a few times before, it sends a dash, and has a very long period about 40 or 50 seconds (which seems to vary). Sometimes the dash sounds more like a CW "A", or even an "AE", but today it sounds just like a dash.

A fairly strong signal this morning.

9114

North American Shortwave Pirate / Moonlight Radio 6930 USB 2312 UTC 20 Dec 2015

« on: December 20, 2015, 2314 UTC »

What sounds like Christmas music, SIO 222. Possibly also pescadore(s) on the frequency.

9115

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6925 USB 2302 UTC 20 Dec 2015

« on: December 20, 2015, 2303 UTC »

Someone just signed on, weak music being heard.

9116

North American Shortwave Pirate / The Final Countdown 6876.5 AM 2217 UTC 20 Dec 2015

« on: December 20, 2015, 2217 UTC »

Some weak music being heard.
2236 YL "This is the Final Countdown", so that's the name I am giving this

9117

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 7590 AM 1709 UTC 20 Dec 2015

« on: December 20, 2015, 1709 UTC »

About an SIO 333/444.

9118

North American Shortwave Pirate / Amphetamine Radio 6925 USB 0508 UTC 20 Dec 2015

« on: December 20, 2015, 1648 UTC »

SDR recording catch, started off quite strong, then faded out around 0520.

9119

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6930 AM 1640 UTC 20 Dec 2015

« on: December 20, 2015, 1641 UTC »

Just signed on? Dance music, S8 signal.

9120

North American Shortwave Pirate / Partial India Radio 6926 AM 1329 UTC 20 Dec 2015

« on: December 20, 2015, 1329 UTC »

Just signing on now, SIO 433.