Messages

121

Shortwave Broadcast / Afternoon Logs

« on: September 08, 2014, 2028 UTC »

Today I broke out the Tecsun PL-660 and scanned a section of the 19m band, I was surprised what I was able to pick up so clearly here in New York.

I used the whip antenna, though I did try out the Reel antenna, which for once actually improved signal strength rather than increase the noise floor.

15540 kHz - 4:15 PM Eastern - Radio Kuwait English Service, pop music, no announcements.

15550 kHz USB - 4:15 PM Eastern - WJHR, Milton Florida, religious program, very agitated preacher yelling about various things.

15570 kHz - 4:17 PM Eastern - Radio Vaticana, Announcer speaking in English talking about economics, believed to be broadcast to Africa.

15580 kHz - 4:19 PM Eastern - Voice of America, African music.

15610 kHz - 4:21 PM Eastern - WEWN, Catholic Radio, religious program, booming signal.

- RW Observer

122

General Radio Discussion / Re: THERE IS A GOD- RADIO DISNEY IS SELLING ALL BUT ONE OF ITS STATIONS!!!!!

« on: August 30, 2014, 2339 UTC »

My local station is WQEW, For the New York City area on 1560 with a 50 kW transmitter.

I was actually listening to it last week at 6 AM trying to figure out what station this was, playing terrible pop music on the MW band.  Honestly, if I had the money I would buy this station without hesitation... though I think if I had the money to buy stations, I'd focus my attention to Shortwave.

123

Shortwave Broadcast / Re: 6065 Radio Nord Revival

« on: August 23, 2014, 0553 UTC »

Nearly S9 signal on the Twente WebSDR.

No copy here in New York.

124

Shortwave Broadcast / Deutsche Welle & All India Radio

« on: August 14, 2014, 0331 UTC »

Hello all, managed to pick up these two stations this afternoon on the 31m band from my location in New York.

Deutsche Welle - 9655 kHz - Strong Signal, presumably broadcast from Kigali transmitter to Africa. Talk program about impoverished children in Pakistan. Listened between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM Eastern time.

All India Radio - 9445 kHz - Prominent Signal, some fading. Announcer talking about the Indian Space Program and the future of it, followed by Indian music. Listened between 5:00 PM and 6:30 PM Eastern time.

Surprised I haven't caught those two stations before at this time, I normally do a full scan of all the open bands from 5 until 6.

That is all,
RW Observer

125

Shortwave Broadcast / Re: KBC 9925 0054 UTC 10 Aug14

« on: August 10, 2014, 0341 UTC »

KBC, received here in New York on my Tecsun PL-660. Massive signal, only the telescopic antenna needed.

Fine program as always.

126

Shortwave Broadcast / Re: Europe 24 now testing on 6150 kHz

« on: August 02, 2014, 2333 UTC »

Interesting, checked the frequency on the Twente WebSDR from the Netherlands however there is bad QRM from Radio Exterior de Espana on 6155, regardless there is evidence of a carrier on 6150 so that's probably it.

127

Shortwave Broadcast / Re: Voice of Nigeria English service 15120 Khz 5:40 UTC 8/2/2014

« on: August 02, 2014, 0728 UTC »

I was actually listening to the Voice of Nigeria at the same time as you, had it tuned on the Twente WebSDR as well as my own radio, was weak but audible from my location in New York, S9 +20 on the WebSDR. Likewise the discordant din that you heard was also audible for me as well.

That Ebola virus sure is something, I'd ought to record a few international broadcasters talking about it just to do so!

128

Shortwave Broadcast / Re: Ynt: Re: All India Radio?

« on: July 31, 2014, 2017 UTC »

Hello all, just getting back with an update. I decided to use some of the frequencies and schedules that were provided and I managed to pick up AIR on 11670 kHz and I listened to them from 1910z until 1935z. They were playing a variety of cultural Indian music, afterwards a female announcer came on and gave a station ID, followed by a male announcer reading a news bulletin of some sort. Signal was weak with static from my desk, but when I moved my setup to the window the signal was significantly clearer, once again only the telescopic antenna was used, as the reel antenna's seem to increase the noise floor significantly.

Thanks for your help!

Regards,
RW Observer

I have pl 660 too. When I unboxing, found Tecsun wire antenna inside box. It helps a lot to defeat static in audio. Now, I can hear near perfect while listening American religious radios (WWCR etc.) or Radio Havana Cuba. Did you reach the link? Was it help you?

Cheers
Onur

That is a great little site you provided, I like how everything is also shown on the world map. I have the wire antenna that comes with the radio and I also have the Sangean ANT-60 reel antenna, which is pretty much the same as the other antenna. The problem I get with them is that they typically increase the noise floor making listening sometimes worse than without the antenna. I don't know if it's the placement or something else. So normally I just use the telescopic antenna, and even with that I'm surprised at what I'm able to hear, especially on the 31m and 25m bands during the evening hours.

Regards,
RW Observer

129

Shortwave Broadcast / Re: All India Radio?

« on: July 31, 2014, 1944 UTC »

Hello all, just getting back with an update. I decided to use some of the frequencies and schedules that were provided and I managed to pick up AIR on 11670 kHz and I listened to them from 1910z until 1935z. They were playing a variety of cultural Indian music, afterwards a female announcer came on and gave a station ID, followed by a male announcer reading a news bulletin of some sort. Signal was weak with static from my desk, but when I moved my setup to the window the signal was significantly clearer, once again only the telescopic antenna was used, as the reel antenna's seem to increase the noise floor significantly.

Thanks for your help!

Regards,
RW Observer

130

Shortwave Broadcast / All India Radio?

« on: July 30, 2014, 2259 UTC »

Hello all, I have posted on this board once or twice before. I have been a shortwave listener for several years but lately I did most of my listening via a WebSDR. In June however I bought a Tecsun PL-660 shortwave radio and I finally can listen from my own location, that being southern New York. I have heard a slew of international broadcasters and I finally managed to pick up the BBC world service clearly on two frequencies this afternoon. While I have managed to hear many of the major broadcasters with just the telescopic antenna, there is one name that I have yet to hear - that being All India Radio.

I'm just wondering if there are any frequencies/times which I might be able to hear All India Radio in Eastern North America. I know I could browse a few online schedules and see what there is, but I always prefer asking real people first.

Regards,
RW Observer

131

General Radio Discussion / Re: Is Shortwave Radio Dead? Read this excellent 'pro' article

« on: July 30, 2014, 2243 UTC »

http://www.pcjmedia.com/home/1-latest-news/155-the-future-of-shortwave-broadcasting-by-bob-zanotti

The gentleman gives some excellent reasons about ShortWave broadcasting...  Problem is... Is anyone listening to his common sense?

IMHO he is spot on...  What does the group think here?

This is a great article which I wholeheartedly agree with. Some broadcasters are jumping the gun and are cutting if not discontinuing their shortwave broadcast, when that technology is still relevant today. Two examples that come to mind are the Voice of Russia and more recently, the Voice of America. While this trend will surely continue, I'm thankful to see that it's happening way slower than I expected. Chances are, there will still be many stations inhabiting the airwaves, even when 2020 rolls around.

132

Spy Numbers / S06

« on: July 23, 2014, 0459 UTC »

Russian Man, message on 15721 kHz, 0400z.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x08UYNYstMU

Recorded Via Twente WebSDR as it is inaudible from my location.

133

Shortwave Broadcast / Re: Radio Kuwait English service 15540 Khz 20:30 UTC July 15,2014

« on: July 17, 2014, 0406 UTC »

I hear this station daily, comes in loud and clear here on the east coast. While I equally despise the pop music and while I shake my head at their attempt of an english service, it's better than some of those preachers that dominate the airwaves. So I tend to keep this station on as background music while I'm doing work.

134

Spy Numbers / Re: HM01missing/off the air

« on: July 15, 2014, 1917 UTC »

I almost wonder if they had some kind of transmitter failure and it just took them a while to get it back up and running. Makes sense to me, I remember logging a few times that there signal was unusually very weak and unreadable.

Based on several factors including frequency stability, modulation quality, and transmission artifacts, I am pretty sure the Cuban numbers transmissions use more than one transmitter, possibly more than one transmitter site.  I think it would take more than a transmitter failure to keep every time slot off the air for a couple of days.  Possibly a site primary power failure would do it (assuming all transmitters are at one site) but I would assume some backup power exists.

Also, it has been widely reported and assumed (with very good supportive evidence) that the Cuban numbers stations use the same transmitters/facilities as RHC.  Was there a noticeable gap in RHC coverage during the down time for the Cuban numbers?  I do not follow RHC, but I did not notice anyone discussing it being off air.

T!

Hello Token, I don't listen to RHC that often but I did decide to tune into them a few nights ago, when HM01 was off the air. I listened to their 49m band frequencies, and I noticed no absences or any additional broadcasts.

135

Spy Numbers / Re: HM01missing/off the air

« on: July 15, 2014, 0755 UTC »

I copied HM01 today 15-7 at 0600 on 14375 kHz
Ary

Now I can breathe a sigh of relief.