SPRING has SPRUNG

There is nothing as awesome as a nice, tell, 20 ounce Latte and reading the newspaper during a moderately warm Spring afternoon.

As I write this, I am winding down from my workday at the office where I am an assistant in the legal profession. We're starting to get a bit more work now that the Coronavirus Pandemic seems to be over, or at least next to over.

The weather lately has been mild, amazingly enough. Last Spring -- March-May 2021 -- was cold. This Spring has been colder and rainier than "normal", but during the past two weeks I haven't had to switch up the heat at home, and the past few nights I've been able to crack open my bedroom window and sleep with some fresh air -- without freezing.

This particular morning when I took my camera with me during a bike ride, it was a rare sunny day. We've had basically over seven months of clouds, 40F weather, and rain.

Still, there are days when it's 40-45F (4-5C) and it's wet out. Cold, cold rain. And the fact that it's still this way in May is disheartening, at least weather-wise.

There was even some frost one morning the last week of April, but mostly the daytime temperatures have been around 50-55F (10-12C) and nighttime temperatures have been above 40-45F (around 5C or so) so I am not complaining.

My St. Patrick's Day treat -- a soft taco and some 'tater-tots', with salsa.

In my radio hobby, I haven't been DXing all that much, because MW has been so-so for that, but usually I switch on my Grundig G2 when going to sleep or waking up and listening to whatever is on the SW bands -- usually the 31 and 25 Meter bands, and sometimes the 21 Meter band also. Some mornings and nights are decent, others are horrible with just static. I think the sunspots are very slowly improving, and we still have a year or two until the SW bands open up -- I just hope there are still some SW stations to hear when they do.

My Lotus L520, a Les Paul copy with a short tail (the tailpiece is closer to the bridge than nearly all other Les Paul style guitars), which I've been re-adjusting for slide playing, by gradually dropping the height of the tailpiece and increasing the height of the bridge by thousandth-of-an-inch increments to get it just right for Slide guitar playing -- without popping strings.

As for the rest of life, I still do some fiction writing and slide guitar playing -- I am still nailing down my abilities with a slide on my finger, which is quite a process, as you're creating your own notes, and it's easy to screw up. I'm miles better than I was two or three years ago, thanks to practice time during the Pandemic. I also finally got my two 'backup' guitars (an Ibanez Gio and a Lotus L520) to 100% for slide -- increasing the string tension gradually to where the guitar works with a slide a lot better. It's taken some time because I have been incrementing the string tension by raising the bridge or saddles by thousandths of an inch at a time to keep from popping strings.

My main bicycle, a Ventura -- a steady and easy rider. 

A nearby Frog Pond. At night, if you stand near the center of it, you can hear the frogs croaking and chirping in stereo.

The Cedar River from one of my favorite spots to photograph it. I usually take a pic here every season... Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... On this day it was just a few days after the trees budded, two weeks later than normal. The trees weren't fully leafed out for another week or two after this pic was taken.

Although there isn't a ton to talk about this blog post I am throwing in some pictures of Spring in the Renton and Seattle area to liven the blog up a bit, and show people in other parts of the world what it's been looking like around here -- just more than half of my readers are on other continents, so I figure it might be fun for them to see what it looks like in my region this time of year.

Spring, of course, over the past three years or so has been cold, and mostly wet. In other words, if the trees didn't leaf out and the daffodils didn't come up at all, you wouldn't know it was Spring. But it is what it is.

C.C., May 10, 2022.

Edited May 19 -- some formatting was messed up. Woops.

Shortwave Logbook, February-April 2022

A few weeks ago I posted a blog article here about the demise of a popular Shortwave Radio site (the Shortwave "Daily Logbook", one of several associated DXWorld.com pages that were taken down two months ago), where SW listeners and DXers could post their loggings -- listings of the stations they had heard.

I also mentioned that I would start posting some of my own loggings here on my blog, using the format that the Shortwave Daily Logbook used to have. Although sometimes I'll add my SW loggings to a regular blog post, I decided to periodically have a separate blog post that only has a list of SW (and some MW) stations that I've heard. The loggings aren't a complete list, by the way -- they're just a few highlights, as I get used to this idea of having an online Logbook.

I'm not doing it because I'm a terrific DXer. It's just a snapshot of what can be heard on SW and MW on a regular, but decent performing radio here in the rainy half of the NW US.

In the loggings, I don't use the old-school SINPO code -- instead, I use the SIO reception code -- Signal, Interference, Overall. As you can tell, I don't use the SINPO "N". It's useless, as most RFI and noise is local. The SINPO "P", for Propagation, is useless, too, as generally it's reflected in the Signal level (the "S"), and propagation can change from minute to minute, and I usually mention that in the description of the logging anyway.

If there is an F after the SIO, it means there was considerable fading, and two F's (FF) means it was fluttery fading, or polar fading. Two small t's in front of a station's name ("tt") means I am certain of what I heard, but did not catch an ID or enough ID'able info to verify the station's reception 100%.

I don't always use an SIO code on my MW loggings, I usually use S units -- S3, S4, etc.

And every blog post that deals with SW and DXing probably should have a pic of a radio on it. :-)

So here is the pic, of my trusty 1989 Realistic DX-440, followed by few of my recent loggings.:

SHORTWAVE DAILY LOGBOOK for FEBRUARY to APRIL, 2022:

13710 khz - 2037 UTC -- MVG Radio Feda - Madagascar - (Arabic) - SIO 1-252F - I tuned into sad sounding singing in a minor key, in what sounded like Arabic. The signal was S1-S2 with considerable fading. Then there was a liner with two people talking in what sounded like Arabic or an Eastern African language. Then there was talk, including a couple mentions of Russia (possibly talking about the war). At 2050 UTC there was a mention of "Radio Feda dot com" and "Radio Feda". Radio Feda is a religious broadcaster aiming its signal towards the Middle East from Madagascar. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + wire; Panasonic RF-B45 and 25 ft indoor wire). 20 April 2022.

13870 Khz - 2058 UTC - US NAVY Stanag - USA, California - (N/A) - SIO252 - The US Navy has a STANAG transmitter on this frequency, and several others, that can be heard even on a Grundig G2 in AM mode. You can still hear the burbles and bubbly sounds. The transmitter in this case is located in Dixon, California, about 900 miles south of me (1000-1200 km). (Grundig G2, whip antenna + 25 ft indoor wire). 20 April 2022

12050 Khz - 2024 UTC - tt Radio Ndarasan Int'l - Ascension Island - (Kanuri) - SIO252F - I tuned in at 2017 UTC (around 1:17 p.m. local time) and heard what sounded like a woman speaking in an animated, unidentified language. As the signal strengthened gradually from S1 to S2, the language sounded more and more African. At 2028 UTC there was African sounding folk music, with some wild sounding African flutes. The signal gradually improved over the 15 minutes or so I was listening.  When a man started talking it sounded definitely like an African language. At 2033 UTC there was a 'wild' sounding African chant with percussive instruments in the background. I tuned out at 2036 UTC. According to EiBi, Radio Ndarasan broadcasts to West Africa from Ascension at this time period, in the Kanuri language, which is spoken in Northern Nigeria and Chad. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + 25 ft indoor wire). 20 April 2022

9800 Khz - 1347 UTC - China Radio Int'l - CHINA - (English) - SIO354-3F - I tuned in to news in English, with mentions of the NBA, Phoenix Suns, spoken by a man using English with a US accent. He mentioned Melbourne, Australia, pronouncing it wrong ("Mel-born"). There was some talk about the Beijing Winter Olympics, and a few other mentions of Beijing. Then, at 1352 UTC, there were two mentions of the "Beijing Hour", with a woman now doing the talking. At this time of day, CRI broadcasts in English to Oceania from Kunming, in Southern China. (Grundig G2, whip antenna). 20 April 2022

9800 Khz - 1601 UTC - KNLS - USA, Alaska, Anchor Pt. - (Russian) - SIO354F - I tuned in to KNLS's interval signal, which was a short series of bell like tones. Then there was a Christian pop song in English, "I Got Over You", which sounded like a pop-rock that was popular in from 2000-2006 or so. Then there was a woman speaking in Russian, including a mention of "KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska", followed by a man talking, mentioning God ("gospodin") and also mentioning the church "tserkve". Another ID ("Radiostansiya KNLS") followed, with a woman talking in Russian, the words reflecting the Christian religion, including the Russian word for "spirit" -- "dukh". There followed another Christian pop song by a guy sounding a little like the famous pop singer Sam Smith, with a lot of piano in it. The signal stayed consistent throughout. I also heard KNLS on April 16 during a similar general time slot (1521-1537 UTC), with stronger signals (SIO454), and a man gave KNLS's internet address, and then a woman spoke, mentioning the Russian words for Angel, spoke, and she said 'slava boga' (Praise the Lord). I enjoy listening to KNLS if they are strong, because I like picking out the Russian words. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + indoor wire). 29 April 2022

11830 Khz - 1637 UTC - Deutsche Welle - Germany (Tx. in France) - (Amharic) - SIO354FF - I tuned in at 1637 UTC to a chick singer in a song that had African rhythms, with call-and-response going on. Then a man and woman were talking, with classroom sounds in the background. Then there were some young people, kids, talking in what sounded like German. The signal was choppy, with polar flutter, and so it was hard to ID the language 100%. Then there was an announcer in a language that sounded either Arabic or East African, with lots of 'ah' sounds in the language. EiBi says that the Deutsche Welle broadcasts in Amharic at this timeslot, from Issoudun, France. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 25 February, 2022.

[For pictures of the Radio France International antenna complex in Central France, where many other broadcasts are also transmitted to the world, check out the Wiki on Issoudun, France, here.:]

Issoudun - Wikipedia

1180 Khz - 9:54 p.m. PST - KERN - California (Wasco/Bakersfield) - S3-S4 - I tuned in to 1180 to see what was on, and heard a mix of KERN, Bakersfield (Wasco, actually -- it's a nearby town) and KOFI, Kalispell, Montana (which usually dominates 1180 here). The mix was oldies and some talking. The oldies music was the "Top 40 Coast To Coast" show on KOFI, and the talk programming was on KERN, which had an ID for their AM and FM translator at the top of the hour -- "K-E-R-N News-Talk 96 point 1.... K-E-R-N". KERN is a rare station to hear in the Seattle area. I've only logged them 3-4 times since the late 1980s. Nearby KNZR 1560, also from Bakersfield, generally comes in much better. (Sony ICF-38, crate loop) 26 February 2022.

9675 Khz - 1847 UTC - Saudi Arabian Radio Int'l - Saudi Arabia - (Arabic) - SIO 2-352 FF - I tuned in to a polar signal, very fluttery and choppy, of a woman speaking in what sounded like Arabic, with a lot of "ah" vowel sounds and "-alam" syllables here and there. There also was a mention of "Islam" at 1854 UTC. At least one online SW list says this broadcast is in Turkish, but this definitely wasn't Turkish. It appears to be Saudi Arabia's broadcast to the Middle East in Arabic. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 28 February 2022.

11590 Khz - 1831 UTC - Firedrake - China - (Chinese) - SIO455F - I tuned in to hear lively Chinese opera and classical music that was almost S5 in signal strength except for the fading, which was considerable with about 2-3 fades a second. There was a lot of drumming and chime sounds, with the other instruments, like an organ, coming in a few minutes later. Firedrake is an instrumental channel that the Chinese government broadcasters often use to jam other broadcasters, keeping them from being heard inside China. When I was a kid I thought this was regular Chinese radio on shortwave, and even tuned it in when doing homework during the morning, while in college. I usually have heard Firedrake in the morning hours, when the "Asia Pipeline" kicks in. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 28 February 2022.

9420 Khz - 0121 UTC - Voice of Greece - Greece - (Greek) - SIO453FF - I tuned in to a sad sounding ballad sung by a woman, with an electric cittern accompanying her. at 0123, a man announced something in Greek. If I knew Greek, it would have been 80-90% readable. Then there was another sad sounding ballad with a cittern playing, sung by a man, and then a male/female duo singing harmonies. The Voice of Greece is my #1 SW preset on my G2, and I usually tune in to 9420 every night or morning to see if the station is on the airwaves. If I do hear it, it's usually fluttery, as most of the signal goes over the Pole to reach the NW US. Before the sunspots dived in 2016 I heard Greece nightly, with some of the saddest sounding female ballads one could hear, sung by soulful singers. After the solar cycle dived in late 2016 the Voice of Greece became harder to hear -- if I did hear the station it was usually S1-S2 and choppy. There have been reports it may be taken off the air, which will be a sad day if/when that happens. (Grundig G2, whip antenna). 4 March 2022 UTC.

9395 Khz - 0150 UTC - WRMI - United States (Florida) - (English) - SIO354 - I tuned in to WRMI's music hour, hearing Alan Parsons Project's "Eye In The Sky" at 0139 UTC, followed by an early album track by Duran Duran, "Anyone Out There". Then they played Tears For Fears "Change". The tracks all reminded me, of course, of being in clubs during the 1980s. A guy talked at0155 with a "WRMI" ID, and then he played a country track for a couple listening in Maryland. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 4 March 2022 UTC.

670 Khz - 6:18 p.m. PST - KMZQ - Las Vegas, Nevada - (English) - S2-S3 - I tuned to KBOI, Boise, Idaho, on this frequency, and nulled it as much as possible, and heard KMZQ, a talk station out of sunny and warm Las Vegas, Nevada. Usually KMZQ is fluttery and barely readable in KBOI's very tight null, but this evening it was fairly readable, with an ID for the Rob Carson Show, and a station ID at 6:18 p.m. "AM 670 KMZQ Talk Radio done right!". KMZQ used to be Yahoo Sports Network (I think), and then they were part of the SB Nation Sports talk network. Now they are a 'second tier' or 'third tier' conservative talk station. This was the best quality reception I've ever had of KMZQ. I always love to hear Las Vegas. Sometimes I also hear KXNT Las Vegas on 840 Khz, with talk shows and Las Vegas news reports. (Panasonic RF-B45, crate loop). 4 March 2022 UTC.

11610 Khz - 1802 UTC - Voice of America - United States (Woofferton, UK) - (Amharic, English) - SIO251-2FF - I tuned in to hear what sounded like Middle Eastern style singing, with unison strings, sung by a tenor. The signal weakened a couple of S units, and there was an announcement "...This is ....A... News", in English, by a man. Then there mention of Ukraine, and a President Biden soundbite, and then a mention in English of "VOA News dot com". The deep fading made it difficult to read what was being said. Apparently VOA broadcasts in Amharic to Africa at this timeslot, but some of what I heard -- mainly IDs -- were obviously in English also. Either way, it was definitely the Voice of America. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 10 March 2022.

11790 Khz - 0534 UTC - NHK - Japan - (Russian) - SIO151F - I tuned in to a woman speaking in an unidentifiable language, with a mention of "NHK" at around 0528 UTC. Then there was a symphonic music piece before a man spoke. The signal got a little better and I heard a woman speaking what was clearly Russian. The signal was so weak I maxed the volume on my G2 to hear it before I tuned out. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 12 March 2022.

9740 Khz - 1121 UTC - tt Radio Taiwan Int'l - Taiwan - (Japanese) - SIO 252F - I tuned into a man talking in Japanese here, with weak signals and deep fading. Taiwan broadcasts to Japan in Japanese at this timeslot, so I've marked this one as tentative. (Grundig G2, whip antenna)  14 March 2022.

11725 Khz - 1203 UTC - Radio New Zealand Int'l - New Zealand - (English) - SIO345F - Down Under accented announcer talking about the Cricket World Championships in South Aftrica, followed by a spot for another show on Radio National. Then there was weather by a woman, mentioning Waikato, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Canterbury, with some mentioning of showers. There was also a mention of 101 FM, which may be a relay for Radio National in NZ somewhere. I think RNZI relays their Radio National the same way Radio Australia sometimes did in the 1990s and 2000s. There must have been some QRM from a nearby station, as I gave the "I" part of the reception code a '4', but I didn't mention what the interfering station was. RNZI usually comes in very well here in Seattle, whether it's on the 25, 31, or 41 meter bands. (Grundig G2, whip antenna). 14 March 2022.

15360 Khz - 1923 UTC - Adventist World Radio - Madagascar - (Hausa) - SIO353-4F - I tuned into a man talking in what sounded like and African language, speaking over a music bed of soft sounding music. Then another guy was speaking, mentioning "Allah". Then a man mentioned "A...WR... Nigeria.... dot com..." followed by a mention of "...Radio....Adventist Radio Nigeria....AWR... Hausa..." Then there was some folk style music, followed by a brass fanfare, followed by some reggae style music, and then the signal cut OFF abruptly at 1927 or 1928 UTC. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + wire) 18 March 2022.

15355 Khz - 1936 UTC - tt Adventist World Radio - Madagascar - (Igbo) - SIO252-3F - I tuned into a Fanfare, and the signal was weak and fadey. then a woman spoke, but I couldn't read her speech well. Then another fanfare. Then a man spoke in what was clearly an African sounding language. The fanfare I heard was very similar to the one I heard on 15360, so it was obviously AWR again. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + wire) 18 march 2022.

15730 Khz - 1913 & 1936 UTC - Voice of America - Botswana - (French) - SIO252-3FF - I tuned in around 1913 UTC to hear a man speaking in French. When I added my 25 ft. wire using the proximity effect, the signal boosted by a DB or so, and the French became more readable. After tuning elsewhere in the 19 Meter Band I returned to the frequency at around 1936 UTC and a woman was talking in French about Ukraine, Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, and then a man began talking, and he was mentioning Xi. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + wire) 18 March 2022

13670 Khz - 1939 UTC - Radio Feda - Madagascar - (Arabic) - SIO454F - I tuned in to what almost sounded like tropical style music with singing by a woman in what sounded like Arabic. Then I heard what more definitely sounded like Arabic by a man and then a woman, and mention of "Radio...."  The signal level varied a bit. Around 1945 UTC, a man spoke, mentioning Facebook, SoundCloud, and "WWW ... Radio Feda... dot com..."; "contact... at Radio Feda dot com..." and another mention of "Radio Feda". Around 1958 UTC there were more mentions of "Radio Feda" and their internet contact info, and then someone said "Bye Bye". It was the strongest I'd heard this station, and the most readable signals. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + wire) 18 March 2022.

...AND THAT'S IT FOR THIS INSTALLMENT OF SW LOGS

These are probably a third to a half of my decent, SW loggings the past three months. There were other stations I heard that I could only ID by looking up the lists online and coordinating languages heard. If I didn't have enough notes on programming to make the logging interesting here I decided not to add it here. There also were duplicates, where I'd hear the same broadcast three or four times during the month, and sometimes more often than that. Oftentimes during the early mornings here I can hear several copies of China's CNR-1 which blasts over the Pacific to the NW US. 

Corned Beef and Cabbage -- the traditional, Irish-American meal for Saint Patrick's Day. And no, I didn't have corned beef and cabbage this year. Just a taco.

AND OUTSIDE OF RADIO, LIFE GOES ON

And so goes my first installment of my SW Radio Logbook. I don't know how often I will post this sort of feature, but I may do it every other month or so -- depending on how many stations I hear on SW and MW. I may repeat some loggings -- i.e., if I hear a station again, I may note it down here even though it's a repeat log, as it will give some radio aficionados in other parts of the world an idea of what can be heard nights and mornings in the NW US, with modest SW and MW equipment.

In other, non-radio related things, work has picked up a bit, and I've been trying to get rid of writer's block on my latest fiction novel that I've been working on terminally for the past few months.

The March 17th St. Patrick's Day holiday came and went. I got my Corona vaccine booster shot on St. Patrick's Day, and 'celebrated' the holiday by having a soft taco and tater-tots at a local taco restaurant chain. Even though it was early Thursday evening, the inside of the restaurant was spare -- I was the only customer inside for most of the 45 minutes I was there either waiting for my food or eating. 

In times past, the place would have had a lot of people inside. I think effects of the pandemic on restaurants are still being felt. A lot of people were using the drive-through window to pick up their food, but no one was going inside the restaurant. Very strange.

It was fun for me, nonetheless, as I don't eat in restaurants very often -- whether it's fast food, a diner, or something in-between. Generally a latte from a latte cafe is the closest I get to 'eating out'. There is a latte stand not too far away from me that has great hot dogs, with sauerkraut. That's a treat!

As I just mentioned, I got my Corona booster shot on the 17th, Saint Patrick's Day, and received no side effects whatsoever. I have friends who are anti-vaxx, and others who are pro-vaxx, and I decided I'd prefer to let the vaccine teach my immune system how to kill the virus rather than take my chances actually catching the virus. I also take some supplements (Echinacea-Goldenseal extract, Vitamin D3, a multivitamin, garlic extract, and sometimes ginseng) to help keep my immune system in shape.

Bluebells, volunteer flowers by a local streetside. They bloom there every Spring.

THE WEATHER FEELS MORE LIKE SPRING

Lately, the weather has been warming up slightly, from the 30s-40s F to around 50F, which is 10C or so, moderate weather. The trees were about two weeks late this year, so I don't think we are out of our extensive colder Spring weather phase. It remains to be seen how the rest of this Spring will go, weather wise.

Well, that's about it for this installment. I will close this blog post with a pic of my cat Sammy, who died unexpectedly in August, 2021. She was my welcoming committee -- any time I drove into my driveway, coming home from work, there she was, meowing and wanting to be petted. A really nice cat.

Peace.

C.C., March 31, 2022 - April 29, 2022