Shortwave Listening (SWL)

Listening to the Spanish Service of KBS (Korea Broadcasting System) on an old marine radio​

Oct 21, 2024

This is KBS transmitting in Spanish in the evening on 9740 kHz, and these are Clara Kim and Carlos Alfonso, the awesome presenters of a very entertaining show in Spanish called Melodías de Corea (tunes from Korea) which is on the air every Saturday and Sunday.
The receiver is an old M.P. Pedersen marine receiver, made in Denmark in the early 1950s. Usually I have a larger speaker connected to the radio, and the audio quality is really fantastic. This time around, just a cheap tiny speaker I was experimenting with.
The radio signals from Korea are usually very loud in Spain, both in the morning and the evening.

0:39

Solar Max has arrived good propagation conditions in general​

Oct 21, 2024

Solar Max is here and should last a few years

3:33

Hurricane Helene Net Control :: An interview with K2DMG​

Oct 20, 2024

Spend a few minutes listening to Dan, K2DMG, as he recounts the events of hurricane Helene

30:27

Some info on Dan

What's up? Intrigue on US Air Force Emergency Action Message frequency 15016 kHz USB #shortwave​

Oct 22, 2024
The US Air Force Emergency Action Messages are intriguing. They are sent routinely over various shortwave frequencies, always following the same pattern, namely a preamble that identifies the stations being called, then "message follows", and then the message read out in the NATO alphabet. The message ends with the calling station signing off. These messages are all coordinated from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland in the United States.

Although the main purpose of these messages is to initiate a nuclear attack, they are sent several times a day, probably containing operational information and also to confuse enemy intelligence.

I receive these messages quite often here in Johannesburg, South Africa, but today was somewhat unusual. There were five long messages (75 characters) in a two-hour period, and they contained additional information at the end, a message that said "standing by for traffic". I have never heard that before. I also heard a message that stopped abruptly after the words "discard this message". All of this seems quite unusual.

The frequencies used for these messages are 4724 kHz, 8992 kHz, 11175 kHz, and 15016 kHz USB. They are sent out from many US military bases around the world at random times every day. In this video you can see my full recording of two of these messages, on the same day (22 October 2024), just 25 minutes apart. I found it quite unusual that I heard so many of these messages on the same frequency in a two-hour time span.

I used my Kenwood R-1000 with the MLA30+ loop antenna.

13:13

Easy to use. Have some fun.

Halloween Pirate radio week Where to hear them and how to identify them​

Oct 28, 2024

You can check for pirate activity here
https://www.hfunderground.com/board/

2:41

B24 shortwave schedules almost complete on eibispace website​

Oct 28, 2024

Great website for schedules of Shortwave and utility signals
http://eibispace.de/1

3:35

More XFM pirate radio at 6865 kHz in USB mode​

Oct 31, 2024

More of the XFM pirate radio show at 6865 kHz in USB mode. Halloween night always brings out the best radio pirates on shortwave. Here is more of the banter from the DJ of XFM in between songs, which I had to cut out because YouTube will flag all songs as a copyright violation. But, you get a taste of what the program sounds and looks like (dig the cool waterfall images at the right of the carrier signal). Tuned via a Web SDR located in Westminster, MD.

7:25

More info at: https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/X-FM

Radio Europa pirate station transmitting on the Russian Air Force Bear Net frequency at 6835.20 kHz​

Oct 31, 2024

Radio Europa is a group of Ukrainian pirate radio operators who typically transmit on 5835.20 kHz. Notably, 5835 kHz is among the frequencies used by the Russian Air Force, primarily for CW (Morse code) contacts with long-range aviation, as can be seen in the label shown on frequency.
8:58

More information about Radio Europa here: https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/in...
And here: / @pirateradioeurope
More information on the Russian Air Force frequencies here: https://priyom.org/military-stations/...

This one is a podcast. Nothing to see. Can listen in one tab, play around the forum in a different tab. It's a good listen for any SWL hobbyist.

Anton G. F. interview with Curt Rowlett on amateur radio, shortwave monitoring, and numbers stations​

Oct 25, 2024
An Interview with Curt Rowlett by podcaster Anton G.-F. (Interview is from Feb 6, 2020). From Anton's YT channel: An in-depth conversation with author and radio enthusiast Curt Rowlett about amateur radio, shortwave radio, and numbers stations. Anton's YouTube channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@antong.-f.82...

1:22:03

Curt:

Discovering Moscow Nights- Cold War Ambience (Feat. MonochromeReflections)​

Mar 10, 2019

Re uploaded for better quality.
Ambient audio and visuals made by Monochrome Reflections and myself. Concept: An existence cobbled together after the even of civilization using 20th century tech. But something is wrong. The old soviet radio you've found is playing something from the 60s like it's happening now....
Monochrome Reflections and I made the radio, which is in the middle of the screen, along with its textures. We selected the audio together and I mixed it. I did the filming.
Posters were collected by me from around the internet. The commodore 64 and surrounding rubbish were made by Aley Arcadia/Arcadia Asylum.

21:54

AUDIO CREDITS:
Shortwave Radio - Moscow, 1968 • Shortwave Radio - Moscow, 1968
Polyushka Polye- Red Army Choir • Red Army Choir: Polyushka Polye

E06 and E17 number station: https://web.archive.org/web/201610111...

The SWL DXing news report (episode 14): Raffle; a no for AI radio presenters; frequencies to watch​

Oct 27, 2024 The SWL DXing news report

Welcome to episode 14 of my series, The SWL DXing news report. In this podcast I talk about radio-related news, frequency changes, new stations, closures and anything else that might interest DXers. This programme is presented as a video podcast, so you can just sit back and listen, or enjoy the visuals in the video.

Last week’s episode was somewhat of a downer, I reported on the HFCC schedules confirming that AWR will end all its SW broadcasts, except Guam. The new HFCC schedules kicked in on the 27th of October, the day that I recorded this podcast, and all AWR transmissions from relay sites around the world, except its own relay station in Guam, ended on the 26th of October.

Fortunately, this episode has some more positive news.

There are some interesting shortwave broadcasts that you can look out for, including one that only transmits four or five times a year. I give you the times and frequencies. Radio Exterior de España's beam to Africa is back, after two months of silence. I have very exciting news about a raffle on my channel, sponsored by XHDATA, where you can win one of three XHDATA radios. Also, news about China confirming the importance of MW, lots of frequencies to monitor, and two accidents involving radio towers. I share a propagation report from Alex in Ukraine. I end with the usual HF propagation forecast.

25:20

UPDATE: It seems as if REE is using different frequencies to the ones I mention in the podcast. This is not unusual, the HFCC schedules often change in the first few weeks after the seasonal change-over. Joe commented that, on 27 October, he heard REE on 9690 kHz for North America, 12030 kHz for the Middle East, 17715 kHz for South America and 17755 kHz for Africa. I heard all four these at 21:35 UTC in South Africa.

FURTHER UPDATE: Good news, shortwavedb.org has already been updated with the B24 schedules!
- Previous Gruss an Bord transmissions: https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/v...
- Folder with HFCC and EiBi schedules (the EiBi schedules are easier to interpret): https://drive.google.com/drive/folder...
- New SW listing sites: https://www.richy-schley.de/eibi-onli... and https://www.richy-schley.de/hfcc-onli...
- Propagation conditions: https://hamradiofornontechies.com/cur...
- Podcast RSS feed: https://anchor.fm/s/f9ac4be0/podcast/rss
- What are SINPO codes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINPO_code

- Alex’s channel in Ukraine: / @oz_dx

Russian S06 "Russian Man" number station at 7923 kHz (null message)​

Nov 1, 2024

Russian S06 "Russian Man" number station at 7923 kHz (null message). Readable, but through heavy static caused by atmospheric disturbances, a common effect that causes distortion to voice transmissions. Note how clearly the CW (Morse code) transmission punches through the same conditions at the end of the voice transmission. More information at: https://priyom.org/number-stations/sl...
5:03

Changing times: unlisted frequencies, BBC and Vatican Radio clashes #shortwave #radio​

Nov 1, 2024

When the shortwave schedules change, which happens twice a year, there is always a bit of initial confusion. Not all new frequencies are necessarily listed at the start, some unexpected clashes occur and not everything seems to happen according to plan. This makes the bi-annual schedule change a lot of fun, there is always something to discover.

In the past week in my monitoring I found some unlisted frequencies, some I haven't been able to ID yet. There are also some unfortunate clashes, where some big names in broadcasting are using the same frequencies at the same time. I only just scratched the surface, I am sure there is more to discover.

In this video you can see some of my initial observations, as well as some frequencies that have not changed, as I scanned the bands this past week Wednesday and Thursday night. All signals received at my location in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the Tecsun PL-680 with a 5 metre wire antenna. As I usually do, the sound is recorded digitally to the Tecsun ICR-110, it provides you with the best possible sound quality.

11:45

I am currently running a raffle on my channel, you can win one of three XHDATA radios, the details are here: • This radio surprised me the most in 2...
00:00 Changing schedules
00:42 WMLK Radio new frequency 17525 kHz
02:28 VOA in French from Greenville 17700 kHz
03:07 Radio Exterior de España 17715 kHz
03:26 Radio Exterior de España 17755 kHz
03:50 PAB Radio Africa 17790 kHz
04:07 Radio France International 17850 kHz
04:24 VOA French sign-off 17700 kHz
05:02 Radio Exterior de España 12030 kHz
05:22 Radio Martí from Greenville 11930 kHz
05:39 Radio Republic of Yemen 11935 kHz
06:08 Radio Mali from Bamako 5995 kHz
06:54 KBS World Radio in Arabic 6090 kHz
07:06 WBCQ from Maine 9330 kHz
07:44 Akashvani in English 9620 kHz
08:27 KBS from Ascencion Island 9655 kHz
08:40 Islamic Republic of Iran Radio 15135 kHz
09:35 Yemen and Vatican Radio clashing 11935 kHz
10:12 Unknown 11975 kHz
10:19 BBC 12095 kHz, same as Radio Slovakia
10:57 Unknown 11785 kHz

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VORW, PAB Radio Africa, Voz Missionária on Qodosen DX-286 with MLA30+ loop #shortwave #radio​

Nov 6, 2024

Some catches from North and South America on my Qodosen DX-286 with the MLA30+ loop antenna. All signals received in Johannesburg, South Africa.

VORW Radio International is a very interesting station, it is run by John Jurasek who has a very popular YouTube channel and podcast show. He transmits his radio programmme regularly via WRMI in Okeechobee, Florida. He loves shortwave and has a weekly shortwave show, targeting the US. He takes music requests! Occasionally he targets Africa and the Middle East, like in this video: • YouTuber has his own SW radio station...
His youtube channel is https://www.youtube.com/@VORWPodcast

6:01

Fined Hundreds Of Pounds Just For Listening To A Radio Scanner!​

Nov 10, 2024

15:06

The SWL DXing news report (episode 16): 15 billion mile radio signal, VORW, MW in Finland #shortwave​

Nov 10, 2024 The SWL DXing news report

Welcome to episode 16 of my series, The SWL DXing news report, coming to you from a stormy Johannesburg, South Africa. Our rainy season has arrived with a bang, with a massive hail storm hitting Johannesburg earlier today. This episode was recorded on 19 November 2024.

In this podcast I talk about radio-related news, frequency changes, new stations, closures and anything else that might interest DXers.

In this week’s episode I talk about the end of the road for Saint FM, the only independent radio station on St Helena in the South Atlantic, NASA’s radio communication with the Voyager spacecraft 15 billion miles away, the return to radio communication for some flight navigation in Finland, a new beam for VORW Radio International towards Asia and Australia, a new MW frequency in Finland, a reception report from Mike in Florida and I end with the propagation forecast.

17:34

Saint FM from St Helena Island in the South Atlantic: https://www.saint.fm/radiochannel/sai...
Propagation conditions: https://hamradiofornontechies.com/cur...
Podcast RSS feed: https://anchor.fm/s/f9ac4be0/podcast/rss
What are SINPO codes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINPO_code
The Report of the Week: / @thereportoftheweek

Win one of three XHDATA radios: • This radio surprised me the most in 2...

Kenwood R-5000 personal comments and viewer questions answered​

Nov 13, 2024

Was my main receiver for 18 years and it is now 34 years old ... the venerable Kenwood R-5000

7:01

What a match! Shortwave DXing on Tecsun PL-680 with MLA30+ (Tibet, Indonesia, Brazil, USA and more)​

Nov 16, 2024 #radio #antenna #loop

I had a very fruitful DXing session last night on my Tecsun PL-680 with the MLA30+ loop antenna.
I received Voice of Indonesia on 4755 kHz relatively clearly in Japanese. This is from a weak transmitter near Jakarta, it is only 10 kW (some sources say 3 kW). Also Voice of Korea in both Japanese and Chinese, WWCR from Nashville quite clearly, Radio Nacional da Amazonia, various signals from Tibet and many others. Signals in the 60 metre band are weaker, but the others are clearer.
All signals received in Johannesburg, South Africa.

11:56

You can see the time stamps below the vid on youtube.

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@swlistening

Where Oxford Shortwave Log started - Radio Habana, Cuba 15140 kHz - this time copied from the USA​

Nov 18, 2024

This is where everything started for me on YouTube, a recording of Radio Habana, Cuba. 9 years later they're still operating on shortwave - thankfully, although many have closed during this time. It was obvious that I should be able to hear their signal well, as was proven to be the case.
Recorded in Pittsburgh on 13/08/24 at 16:32 hrs EST using a Tecsun PL-880 and Megaloop FX antenna, via a galvanic isolator.
Thanks for watching and 73.
4:00

Radio Chine international :RX Lionel SWL F-80737 20-11-2024​

8:07