1330 kHz Overnight Recording for KCKM DX Test

KCKM 1330 kHz, Monahans, Texas, held a DX test on March 22, 2014. I recorded that frequency overnight in hopes of catching the DX test. I've now uploaded the recording of that session to archive.org.

Apart from some possible fragmentary Morse code IDs heard very faintly around the 01:16 mark, nothing of KCKM is audible in this recording. However what is audible are several different stations producing a jumble of noise, with various stations occasionally being heard well enough to identify. It's a good example of what a crowded AM band channel sounds like at night when no one station is strong enough to dominate.

The stations audible at various times during this recording are:
WFNN, Erie PA, Fox Sports Radio, with sports talk.
WRCA, Watertown MA, with programming in Portuguese.
WWRV, New York NY, with religious programming in Spanish.
WSPQ, Springville NY, with oldies music.
WEBO, Oswego NY with news and talk.
WHBL, Sheboygan WI, Fox News Radio 1330.
WTRE, Greensburg IN, with country music.

For me, most of these stations are relogs. WSPQ is the closest one to me. WWRV, whose ID I heard at 0700 UTC, is a relog but its callsign has changed since the last time I heard it. WTRE is new, heard at 1100 UTC with ID (that sounded like WTRA) and country music. WHBL in Sheboygan, WI is a relog but I think this is the first time I've caught it in Toronto. And KCKM itself I am going to add to my log as a tentative, possible logging. I never got a clear ID but around 0524 UTC I did hear some very faint fragmentary Morse code IDs, the pieces of which sounded like KCKM. Not quite enough to be certain, but enough to consider it likely.

CHU 3330 kHz

I have uploaded a half-hour recording of CHU to archive.org. CHU is Canada's standard time and frequency station. It transmits on 3330, 7850, and 14,670 kHz. This is a recording made of the 3330 kHz signal on May 17, 2014 from 0358 UTC onwards.

More Radio Recordings

I have added more of my off-air radio recordings to my archive at archive.org.

HCJB 45th Anniversary Program:  A special anniversary and Christmas program broadcast December 25, 1976, 0230 UTC on 6095 kHz. Recorded in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Ecuadorian Music, Late 1970s: Music of Ecuador and South America. Recorded from shortwave radio stations (primarily HCJB, Quito, Ecuador) around 1976-1978 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Amateur Radio Beacon VA3GMT:  Recording of amateur radio beacon VA3GMT/B in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Received on 28200 kHz in the 10 metre amateur band on Dec. 13, 2013 at 18:20 UTC. Received in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

There is also now a link to the archive in the About Me section.

Radio Nacional de Brasilia

I also caught Radio Nacional de Brasilia tonight, from Brasilia in Brazil. This was on 6180 kHz from 0305-0431 UTC. The signal was fairly strong but there was interference from another station on an adjacent frequency. The station was playing music, mostly Brazilian, with talk in Portuguese and frequent IDs. Received on the Kaito KA-1103 using its built-in telescopic antenna.

I recorded this and have posted the recording to archive.org.

Wolverine Radio

I was tuning around 7 MHz tonight and ran across a strong single-sideband signal with music playing. It was the shortwave pirate station Wolverine Radio. This one is heard fairly regularly and seems to have good coverage over eastern North America. But obviously no one knows where the station is located. Details of the reception:

• Wolverine Radio, 6945 kHz in SSB from 0125 to 0245 UTC. This was the last 25 minutes of their broadcast. Good signal, playing music that all seemed to be related to marijuana. No talking except for occasional "Wolverine Radio" IDs in a computer-generated voice. Then there was the sound of an SSTV (slow-scan television) image being transmitted, after which the station went off the air.

I recorded this and have posted the recording to archive.org. 

Voice of America on 60 Metres

I am up in Eastern Ontario for the weekend and as usual I have a portable shortwave receiver with me, a Kaito KA-1103. While tuning around the 60 metre band I caught the Voice of America in English on two frequencies:

• Voice of America, 4930 kHz, from VOA's relay site at Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana at 0350-0417 UTC. Weak signal with talk in English. Pretty hard to follow, as the reception was poor. 100 kW.
• Voice of America, 4960 kHz, from VOA's relay site at Pinheira, Sao Tome e Principe, off the west coast of Africa. 0417-0420 UTC. Talk in English. Weak signal. 100 kW. 

Reception of African stations on 60 metres used to be a fairly common experience, before most of them disappeared. I remember listening to Radio RSA from South Africa on the 90 and 60 metre bands frequently back in the late 1970s. Today it's a rare occurance to catch a station from that part of the world on these bands, since so few are left.

Radio Sawtu Linjilia

I caught a station on shortwave this afternoon that I'd never heard of. Radio Sawtu Linjilia (the Voice of Gospel), a religious station broadcasting to Africa. Frequency: 15315 kHz, at 1830-1850 UTC with a fair to good signal, broadcasting from Issoudon, France. It was in an African language. Short-wave.info gives the languages as Hausa and Fulfude, neither of which I would recognize. Received at Port Hope, Ontario, when I took a break from driving.

Recording: Shortwave Radio Inteval Signals

I posted to archive.org a compilation of shortwave radio station interval signals from 1976 - 1977. This recording also includes some clips on the history behind the identifying tunes used at Radio Nederland. Contents:

• Deutsche Welle
• R. Nederland
• Unidentified interval signal 1
• Voice of Spain
• History of R. Nederland's interval signal
• R. Nederland Arabic service
• Unidentified interval signal 2
• R. Canada International
• R. Nacional de Brasilia
• Interval signal history from R. Nederland
• R. RSA
• Voice of Iran
• R. Habana Cuba
• BBC Spanish Service
• Voice of Turkey

Update: Now also on the Shortwave Archive podcast.

Recording: DX Partyline on HCJB from 1976

I've uploaded yet another of my recordings of shortwave radio from the late 1970s. This one is a recording of the DX Partyline show on HCJB from Quito, Ecuador. This program was broadcast on December 7, 1976 at 0230 UTC on 6095 kHz in the 49 metre band. The main feature of this episode is a discussion with an HCJB engineer of the design and construction of their steerable broadcasting antenna.

Update: This recording has now been included in the Shortwave Archive podcast.

Another Ancient Shortwave Recording

I've posted another ancient shortwave recording to archive.org. This is a recording of a half-hour program of the Voice of Iran, from December 5, 1976 at 2000 UTC on 9022 kHz in English. This is interesting from the historical viewpoint because it is from a few years before the revolution in Iran that overthrew the Shah and established the present Islamic Republic.

Update: This recording has now been included in the Shortwave Archive podcast.

Today's Receptions on Shortwave

Did a bit of listening today on shortwave and here's what I caught. The receiver was the JRC NRD-525 attached to the 20 metre amateur band mobile whip. Not an ideal match but it worked well enough:

• WRMI, 15770 kHz, Okeechobee  FL USA, at 1945-1952 UTC with fair to good signal. Overcomer Ministry religious program hosted by Brother Stair.
• Voice of America, 15580 kHz, from Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana relay transmitter site at 1955-2000 UTC. In English. ID at top of hour and then into program "Music Time in Africa". Fair signal.
• WEWN, Vandiver AL USA, at 2000-2005 UTC on 15610 kHz. Good signal. In English. EWTN Catholic radio.
• Voice of America, 15730 kHz, from Greenville NC USA, in French with good signal.
• WWCR, 15825 kHz, Nashville TN USA, at 2010 UTC with good signal. English. Christian preaching.

Radio Kuwait

One logging on shortwave today: Radio Kuwait at 2038 to 2050 UTC on 15540 kHz in English with a fair signal. Public service announcement followed by ID and frequencies. Then into some European-sounding techno music and a song by John Lennon.

DX Tape 02

I've uploaded a second vintage shortwave radio recording to archive.org. This is a compilation of clips recorded in early 1977. Included on this recording are:

• Transworld Radio - Interval signal and ID.
• Radio Veritas ID, as heard on Radio Nederland.
• Radio Nederland - The story of Radio Nederland's French language service interval signal (in English).
• Radio Nederland - Clip about interference in Scandinavia from Soviet over-the-horizon radar on shortwave.
• Radio Santa Fe ID. Probably from Radio Santa Fe, HJAF, Bogota, Colombia, which used to operate on 4965 kHz. I don't know if this was my recording of this ID, or one I heard on a DX program.
• Radio Nederland - French language service interval signal and ID.
• Unidentified utility interval signal.
• Radio Alvorada da Londrina, Brazil ID - heard on Radio Nederland.
• BBC World Service - Interval signal and ID in Portuguese.
• Radio Nederland - Story of Radio Nederland's official tune.
• Disturbing trends in DXing - From HCJB's DX Partyline show.

This one has also been accepted for inclusion at the Shortwave Archive podcast. I assembled these clips into this compilation sometime in the late 1970s and unfortunately I have no records of dates, times, or frequencies for these clips. Enjoy.

Shortwave Loggings

Last weekend I spent a bit of time listening to shortwave. Here's what I logged. Date was Sunday March 23, 2014 from 0520 to 0645 UTC. JRC NRD-525 connected to Sony AN-12 outdoor active antenna.

Loggings from 40 metres:

• 0520-0530 Radio Algierienne Chaine 1, via Issoudoun, France, 7295 kHz in Arabic. Arabic music, talk on half hour. 500 kw.
• 0530-0542 Radio Romania Actualitati, from Galbani, Romania, 7220 kHz in Romanian. Talk, ID, music. 300 kW.
• 0548-0551 Radio Dabanga, via Vatican City, 7315 kHz. This was in Arabic, I think. Frequent IDs, talk, bits of music. 250 kW. 
• 0552-0600 BBC World Service, via Ascension Island, 7325 kHz in English. 250 kW. Off air abruptly at 0600, followed almost immediately by....
• 0600-0602 BBC World Service, Wooferton, UK, also on 7325 kHz in French. Noticeably weaker than the Ascension signal. 250 kW.
• 0602-0613 Radio Romania International, Galbani, Romania, 7360 kHz in French. Talk and music.
• 0615-0617 Radio Marti, Greenville, NC, USA, 7405 kHz, in Spanish to Cuba. Music and talk. Jamming from Cuba audible, but from my location Cuba's jamming never interferes much with Radio Marti.

 And one logging from the 60 metre band:

• 0625-0645 Radio Clube do Para, Belem, Brazil, 4885 kHz. Very weak and heard only one partial ID. But it was in Portuguese and I compared it to their webcast, which was the same. Talk between two men, and some music.

The Sony AN-12 active antenna works very well, if you have limited space for an outdoor antenna. Too bad it was never sold in North America - I had to order mine on eBay from Japan.

DX Tape 01

Back in the 1970s, when I was still brand new to radio, I would sometimes record things from the radio onto tape. I assembled these clips onto a series of DX tapes. In the early 2000s, I digitized these tapes, and archived the files. Several months ago I discovered the Shortwave Radio Archive podcast and have been listening to it regularly since. When I discovered that the archive accepts contributions, I decided to contribute the recordings from my DX tapes. They're now over 35 years old and represent a world of international broadcasting that has now almost entirely disappeared.

The primary repository for my radio recordings will be archive.org. So far I've only uploaded the first one, DX Tape 1. The main feature on this recording is the Christmas edition of Radio Nederland's Happy Station Show from December, 1976. The folks at the Shortwave Radio Archive have also made it available through their podcast and website. If you were a listener to Radio Nederland in the 1970s I think you'll enjoy listening to Tom Meijer once again.