Shortwave Listening (SWL)

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Best to watch on youtube for the links to the different stories.

International Radio Report September 10th 2023​

Sep 10, 2023

29:49
 

In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Morocco, Medi 1 on longwave 171 kHz must be a lifeline​

Sep 13, 2023

6:11

Despite the best efforts of electrical storms across Europe yesterday evening, causing a lot of static crashing, the signal from Nador was copied very well here in Oxford. The usual almost non-stop music has gone for now as the station broadcasts essential news etc. Another reason to stop and think about the closure of longwave broadcasting - and AM in general? I think so.

My sincere condolences to those that have been lost in this natural disaster and their friends and loved ones who were spared.

Thanks for watching and 73.

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@OxfordShortwaveLog/videos
 

Shortwave radio AM mode where and when to use it​

Sep 18, 2023

5:17

International broadcast bands, a few utilities like time signals station a few ham and pirates
 

Shortwave radio in FM mode yes it is possible in Narrow FM where to listen​

Narrow FM will be encountered above 25 MHz on shortwave

7:05
 

SSB Single sideband when to use LSB or USB modes​

the majority of what is on Shortwave outside broadcast bands are USB

4:40
 

Radio propagation with seasons and the return of WWV on 25000 kHz shortwave​

Sep 21, 2023

4:43

Some personal comments on propagation and how things change with the seasons
 
Interesting story here. Over the years I've heard all sorts of oddities on SW and if I had of heard this one, I would have chalked it up to someone clowning around.

13:57

Watch This First: How Radio Detectives Solved One Of Short Waves Biggest Mysteries! • How Radio Detectives Solved One Of Sh...

The Yosemite Sam shortwave radio incident has gone down in history as one of the most mysterious transmissions ever. The famous signal transmitted a data burst followed by the distinctive voice of Yosemite Sam at reasonably high-power levels across the New Mexico desert and listeners soon picked it up.

Originally thought to be some sort of numbers station or secret government project, Yosemite Same came on the air numerous times before it disappeared for good.

Two radio hams located its transmission location back in 2004 but today I bring you the full story behind this mysterious event, putting the incident to bed once and for all.
 
When I first started listening one of my favorites was the marine operator. Captains conducting ships business, crew members on personal calls, etc. With new technology the marine operator has kinda disappeared.

Marine Telephone Operator

With the use of cell phones,do they still have Marine Telephone Operators? I used to listen to them a lot in the past but I have not heard any for a long time
forums.radioreference.com

Two Massive Ships Battle Icy Fog - With Radio Comms!​

Dec 18, 2022

18:29
 
Posting this for anyone interested:

Eclipse Time and Amateur Radio Astronomy Opportunities​

Eclipse Time and Amateur Radio Astronomy Opportunities

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marty, who writes: Hi Thomas, Here’s two interesting opportunities for hams and SWLers from NASA: Radio Jove and HamSci: Link for required radio kit: F…
swling.com
 

Rohde Schwarz VHF radio receiver ESM 180​

3:20

Here’s a small video of my ESM 180. Reception is good here, with just a very short whip antenna, and the audio is wonderful.

Channel:

 
Last edited:

Surfing the VLF, HF and VHF bands with a Rohde & Schwarz EB-200 Miniport receiver​

Oct 3, 2023

4:11

The EB 200 Miniport was produced in the late 1990s by the Rohde Schwarz company in Munich (Germany), and was sold and supported until around 2010.
It is a small, very portable device aimed at surveillance and monitoring services.
It covers from 10 kHz to 3 GHz in the AM, FM, LSB, USB, CW, Pulse and I/Q modes.
It is extremely complex and has an accordingly thick instructions manual, but for the purpose of this short video I am just trying some functions which are more or less intuitive, such as tuning on different frequencies and changing modes and bandwidths.
It is extremely sensitive and selective, and the audio output is pretty wonderful despite the small size of the built-in speaker.
It is powered externally with a supply capable of anything between 11 and 30VDC (I am using a 24VDC PSU).
There is an optional battery pack for the EB-200 (which this unit doesn't have) and some other accessories such a suitcase, a small telescopic antenna (haven't got those either).
Luckily, I have the original manual in English, German and French.
In this video I am using a Rohde Schwarz active loop antenna covering 9kHz - 30MHz. Propagation conditions on high frequency were not too good today.
This unit was calibrated by the official Rohde Schwarz service center in Spain in 2010.
It belongs to a good friend who is considering selling it.
 

Footsteps Station - A Shortwave Radio Mystery​

Oct 5, 2023

8:49

Recently, a viewer emailed me with a shortwave mystery which I thought I’d investigate and try to get to the bottom of.
John sent me an email of some great recollections from heyday of shortwave monitoring. He says, there was also the “footsteps” station which was always very strong here in the Washington D.C. area.
It wasn’t as loud in South Carolina however. The sound of the signal was like that of a man on a flight of stairs. He said a man because the sound had a different “cadence” than that of a woman. He said he never heard the transmissions start but did hear it end occasionally. He also said there was a very military sounding male voice giving numbers and phonetic letters in four letter and number groups.
John heard this signal in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
There isn’t a lot to work with here but after some research and speaking to a friend of mine Simon Mason who’s a well known name in numbers stations circles, I might just have the answer.
The USA's Numbers Station Was Traced To This Secret Facility • The USA's Numbers Station Was Traced ...
 

25000 kHz WWV 2 hours after sunset promises some great propagation this winter!​

Oct 11, 2023

5:41

Still going on strong and the 8 minutes test tones
 

The weirdest shortwave tuning technique

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM You never know what you will encounter while simply “tuning around” on the HF frequencies. Just a few days ago around 2 pm local time, I happened upon the Maritime Mobile Se…
swling.com

Imagine the sound of international radio

Hi all SWLing Post Community, FastRadioBurst 23 here bringing you news of this week’s Imaginary Stations transmissions. Beamed to Europe via Shortwave Gold on Sunday 15th October 2023 at 2000…
swling.com
 

Tuning to the long waves on a Soviet Volna-K radio receiver​

5:26

Listening conditions on long wave were pretty good last night at my place, near Madrid (Spain). The signal of Radio Algeria on 252 kHz is particularly strong, but there are a few others on the air. I also heard Antena Satelor from Romania on 153 kHz, Medi 1 from Morocco on 171 kHz and BBC Radio 4 on 198 kHz from Droitwich, UK, as well as some aeronautical navigation aid devices (NDB), such as ECV on 319 kHz (Colmenar, Madrid) and EAL (Almagro, Ciudad Real) on 332 kHz.
The receiver is a Volna-K, a tube radio from the Soviet era which, in my experience, is just outstanding.

From the comments:

I'm using my HF 3-element yagi antenna. I must try a mini whip one of these days, or anything just a bit more suitable for LW, but so far the result with the HF antenna is more or less OK.

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jonglei/videos
 

Monitoring the MF Marine Bands​

By Don Moore

For me, DXing has always been about the challenge of receiving difficult-to-hear radio stations, regardless of the type of station or frequency range. In my five decades in the radio hobby I’ve logged a lot of different kinds of stations – shortwave broadcast, medium wave, shortwave utility, longwave beacons, etc. But some of my favorite catches have been in the upper end of the medium frequency range.

Technically speaking, medium frequency (MF) is the range from 300 to 3000 kHz and includes the standard medium wave (AM) broadcast band. The upper end of the MF band, from 1600 to 3000 kHz (except for a small portion reserved for amateur radio), has always been assigned to various types of utility uses including broadcasts and other voice communications from regional maritime stations. And while digital modes and satellites have done a lot to change the nature of communication with ships at sea, there is still a lot of good human-voice DX to be heard.

More:

Guest Post: An Introduction to DXing the MF Marine Bands

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Don Moore–author of Following Ghosts in Northern Peru–for the following guest post: Monitoring the MF Marine Bands By Don Moore For me, DXing has always bee…
swling.com
 

US Military MARS net 6973 kHz USB with several stations checking in 2240 UTC​

Oct 23, 2023

8:32

US Military MARS Net a little off frequency with several stations, Airspy HF+ Discovery on MLA 30 magnetic loop antenna
 

The Shipping Forecast BBC Radio 4 longwave 198 kHz copied on a 1954 Philips 543A valve radio​

Oct 26, 2023

13:09

Hi there, this was transmitted this morning, 26/10/23 at 00:48 hrs. Wonderful warm, mellow audio from this valve set. I'll be listening to Radio 4 on longwave more than ever, because in May of next year, the transmitter is sadly planned to be shut down.
Thanks for watching and 73.
 

Halloween is a Pirate Radio Playground!

Halloween is typically the most active day of the year for shortwave pirates. Spend some time on the HF bands tonight and you’ll easily tune in to numerous stations. Expect pirates to emerge …
swling.com
 

Undercover radio pirate Halloween special 6933 kHz USB Shortwave​

Nov 1, 2023

3:59

There was a lot of pirates on this year Halloween
 

Blue light specials are ACE

Good day all the SWLing Post Community, FastRadioBurst 23 here bringing you news of this week’s Imaginary Stations transmissions. Beamed to Europe via Shortwave Gold on Sunday 5th November 20…
swling.com
 

The last ever weather report transmitted on 243 kHz longwave, from Kalundborg, Denmark​

Nov 4, 2023

7:12

Hi there, recorded this morning at 10:40 hrs UTC. This news came from the longwaveradiolistening groups.io.
A sad day, but worth pointing out the rest of their programming will continue to be broadcast on 243 kHz until 31/12/23.
Recorded in Oxford UK using a Yaesu FRG-100 and a Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop via a Bonito AntennaJet RF splitter and GI1000 galvanic isolator.
Thanks for watching and 73.
 

The Most Terrifying Shortwave Signal Ever​

Oct 29, 2023

9:28

Little is known about the Gongs and Chimes station but it became one of the eeriest numbers stations to hit the shortwave dial.
With the Enigma ID G03, it became known for its famous gongs and chimes preamble signal which was played from a tape, an interesting point that’ll become clear soon.
The gongs and chimes sound made it one of the most terrifying shortwave stations ever heard on the air.
 

Voice of America (VoA) on 15580 kHz Shortwave, 05 November 2023, 1759 UTC​

Nov 5, 2023

2:01

Received with Tecsun S-2000 and a 6m Wire under my ceiling: Voice of America (VoA) on 15580 kHz Shortwave from Botswana to Egypt/Libya/West Africa/Central Africa/East Africa/Congo/Zaire/Angola/Tanzania/Zimbabwe/Mozambique/Seychelles05 November 2023, 1759 UTC, Power: 100 kW, Distance: 8284 km, Loc: JO40BT. Thanks for watching!
 

Casual listening on a Braun T1000CD radio receiver​

Nov 6, 2023

5:02

The Braun T1000 is a beautiful radio receiver designed by the German architect and industrial designer Dieter Rams. It was produced between 1963 and 1970. It covers the long, medium and short waves, as well as the FM broadcasting band between 88 and 108 MHz. It can operate on the mains (110, 230VAC) as well as on batteries.
The sound is just wonderful, particularly on FM.
In this video I am tuning to a few amateur radio stations, as well as to broadcasting signals on shortwave and FM.
 

Secret Shortwave Signals That Remain An Unsolved Mystery​

14:06

The numbers stations in this video were some of the most elusive.
Many numbers stations fit a certain criteria which made them easy to classify, even enabling listeners to identify their country of origin.
While some of what you’re about to hear shared characteristics with known stations, there were subtle differences that mean that to this day, they have never been identified.
As if they never existed...
Numbers Stations Playlist • Numbers Stations
 
Always remember...........we all have our likes when it comes to radios. No one is right or wrong. If it works for you and you're happy........that's all that counts.

The Best Budget Shortwave Radio Setup - Malahit DSP2 SDR Receiver & Loop Antenna​

Nov 9, 2023

10:00

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RingwayManchester/videos
 

Demonstration of the Hallicrafters S-76 receiver.​

 

Unboxing XHDATA D 109WB portable LW MW SW FM and Weather Band with alert receiver​

Nov 13, 2023

3:53
 
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