Some thoughts on Blue Jeans, and Lana Del Rey

A screen from Lana Del Rey's classic video, Blue Jeans.

I wear blue jeans. I also wear black jeans. The subject of this article isn't the clothing, however. It's about a song of that title -- Lana Del Rey's Blue Jeans -- and also how that song is an example of a bright spot -- a point of light, which occurred in 2012, before the music industry began a long slide into mediocrity.

The song itself is a shining example of genius. It's the fact that there is little recent musical output in the charts to match that genius that exemplifies the downfall of the music industry that many of us used to know and love.

I recently was -- through a quirk during the blog writing process -- re-exposed to a fascinating and drop-dead gorgeous, enigmatic, young female singer who had a string of minor and major hits in the early 2010's: Lana Del Rey.

I had first heard of Lana Del Rey in 2016 or so, although I probably heard some of her music on the radio in 2012, as I was listening to a lot of pop music back then. In Summer or Fall of 2016 a guy had put together a drone video, which I found on YouTube by accident. In the video the guy was showing off his drone photography, and the remix version of Lana Del Rey's Summertime Sadness was playing as a soundtrack.

I was immediately fascinated by the song. There was some strange, ethereal and unworldly quality to it, and I was captivated by Lana Del Rey's singing voice. The song drew me in like iron filings to a magnet, or Autumn leaves to a small whirlwind.

Here is a video of the song, to remind you of what it sounded like.:

As you can tell, there is a lot of haunting imagery in the song. The actual video may not truly reflect 100% what Lana Del Rey was originally writing about, but it obviously fits the motif of the lyrics -- Summer romance gone sour.

When I saw this video the first time a few weeks ago, it really struck me -- just as viewing some other music videos of the early 2010's struck me -- it was a piece of expertly formed and genuinely executed cinematography, and it was amazingly put together. 

After playing the Summertime Sadness video a few times, I sought out a couple other Lana Del Rey songs. I soon found Lana's single Blue Jeans, which was released a bit earlier in 2012. To my surprise, Blue Jeans was even better. The song itself is a simple four chord composition, but the raw emotion Lana injects into that four-chord backing track is amazing. 

 

The video matches the feel of the song to a tee. It looks like it was cut out from a classic quality, blockbuster, Hollywood movie. The cinematography is that effective.

Every single aspect of the video for Blue Jeans was perfect. Every shot was perfectly composed.

Look at this shot. The entire video is like this -- perfect blend of light and shadow, where the buildings have an Los Angeles, 1920's, Art-Deco feel, and the trees even are framed in the shot perfectly.

This not only takes effort: This takes MONEY.

The video for Lana's Blue Jeans is striking in its perfection throughout. Lana is dressed in an awesome, 1950's style bathing suit, and she moves in the water just right. Some of the motion is slowed purposefully in the video, for effect. The lighting is outstanding -- something that a cinematographer would have insisted upon.

The waves of the pool move perfectly, including some underwater use of the film camera. The tatted, "James Dean"-like guy who hangs out by the side of the pool, smoking a cigarette, fits the typecast perfectly. The black and white photography is impeccable. The shadows of the nearby buildings and palm trees in the background reek of a San Fernando Valley, or Hollywood Hills version of film noir -- all in High Definition video. The wavelets in the water seem so real you think you could reach out and touch them.

 

The music is a sweeping combination of lush and haunting electronic strings and spare baritone guitar riffs, repeated echoes and lilting vocals. Lana seems to alter her voice at certain points in the song for effect -- but it all works. Perfectly. 

 

It reminds me of a lot of the other tracks from that same year, which had great melodies, electronic effects used just right, and many of those videos were excellent productions as well.

Here is the video for Blue Jeans. It's remarkable, just as the song is remarkable.:

Like the song itself, the video is a masterpiece.

And it obviously also took a LOT of money to make.

THE LOST ART OF INVESTING IN ARTISTS

And this is the point. The record company put a lot of effort, and a LOT of money into a video, that pushed this song only as far as #41 on the US Billboard Rock Digital chart. Sad, because in my view the song should have gone higher on the charts, but it's an indicator of the faith -- and investment -- the record company must have had in Lana's budding career.

#41. Let that sink in. No record company releases a single with an expensive video to have it top out at #41.

Now, the fact that the song should have gone much higher on the charts is beside the point. It's the fact that the record company had enough money available to invest so much of it in a song that ended up #41.

It's because they a) had the money to invest in Lana Del Rey, who -- at the time -- was a relatively unknown singer compared to others like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift; and they b) were investing in new singer like Lana Del Rey for her long term success.

Now, granted, the follow up single, Summertime Sadness made it to #5, a very worthy effort, showing that -- a few months later -- their investment began to see a return. And its video is just as impeccable.

But while watching these vids recently I was so struck by the fact that so much was invested in the artist, with no guarantee that the artist would be a big hit, and this is something that simply doesn't happen to the same extent today.

BLEEDING MONEY

It's because the music industry is operating with less money than it had in 2012. In my earlier blog article "Music Streaming: How It Is Killing the Music and Radio Industries" I mentioned that the music industry in the United States makes 30% less revenue than they made (when accounting for inflation) just 23 years ago, in 1999. 1999, of course, was the year that the US music industry made its most revenues, ever.

Here is a link to that article, where I go into the subject in considerable depth:

Interrock Nation: MUSIC STREAMING: How It Is Killing the Music and Radio Industries

After doing a bit more reading on the history of music industry revenues, I must stand corrected. I re-read the RIAA's revenue report and they state in it that the music industry is making 37% less revenue than they made in 1999. That's three percent shy of 40% drop in real revenues.

There may be several reasons for this drop in revenue, but the Streaming music consumption model is a large part of the drop, as it brings in less revenue per 'unit', i.e. per song, or collection of songs, consumed.

IT'S SIMPLE MATH, REALLY.

In 1999 when the recording industry had its revenue heyday, the CD album was the prominent "unit" of music consumption. It sold at that time for between $15 and $18 a CD -- $15-$18 a unit. By 2012 this had changed -- the MP3 download ruled, and the primary sales "unit" was the 99 cent, MP3 single.

By 2019, this had all changed again. Music sales skydived to maybe 5% of all music consumption. By now, the music "unit" consumed was the streamed song, which cost much less to 'consume'. Now let's look at how this change affected music revenues.

In 1999, 1000 units consumed meant 1000 $15 or $18 CDs would be sold, and they would bring in about $15,000. 

In 2014, the peak year of the music download era, 1000 units consumed meant that 1000, 99 cent MP3 sales would bring in $990 in revenue. 

From $15K for 1000 units to $990 -- that's a bit of a drop in just 15 years.

But it gets worse.

Today, 1000 units consumed (they're no longer sold -- they're rented, or 'subscribed') bring in just $9 in revenue (1000 songs streamed X a $.009, or nine-tenths of one cent royalty -- and some services pay lower royalties than $.009 a play).

In 22-23 years, we've gone from $15K for 1000 units of music consumed to $9 or less for 1000 units of music consumed. Even if you take away the fact that a CD in 1999 usually had around 12 songs, that's still quite a drop in revenues per song.

The record companies are still making money. But they're making around 30-40% less than they were making when Lana Del Rey's awesome songs and videos were recorded. 

This bothers me, partly because I miss hearing really great pop and rock music on the radio, and partly because I think the time that Lana Del Rey's 2012 hits were being made it was a spectacular time for music, especially pop music.

But also, I'm a musician, and I worked in radio for over 16 years, and it sort of hurts to see those industries decline. 

Lana Del Rey is still making records. I haven't heard all of them, but I intend to check out her later works. But the question remains: in 2022 could an up-and-coming Lana Del Rey get released on the radio, with the same spectacular, and expensive-to-produce videos being released to promote her works?

I have to admit that I don't really know the answer to that question. But I think the drop in music industry revenues may be at least one indicator telling us that any new Lana Del Reys are probably going it alone, putting their music out on YT and other places on the internet, perhaps making their own videos with consumer-available videography, and they probably aren't getting awesome, cinematic videos made to promote a hit that makes it to #41.

Maybe it's just as well. Music is music, after all. But -- look at that Blue Jeans video. It's as striking as the subject matter the lyrics suggest. It's as sweeping as the music contained in it, and as original and memorable as Lana's voice.

2012 was definitely a great time for music, and Blue Jeans, and its video, is just one part of that.

The video for Saliva's late 2000/early 2001 hit, Your Disease. Musically, it is a snapshot of hot rock in 2001 -- visually, it's a glimpse of what appears to be a lost era, when rock still ruled the airwaves.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN 2001....

I'll end this article on an upbeat note perhaps. In 2000 and 2001, the nu-metal rock band Saliva was a big deal. Thay had a couple good hits, and their first album (Every Six Seconds, which I still have on CD) was very good. I really liked them. 

At the time, it seemed as if Saliva had slicked up the rap-rock formula, injecting a lot of pop sensibility and some upbeat lyrics, too. As lead singer Josey Scott once said, he was tired of the negativity in rock and rap-rock hits. He wanted people to have fun again. This attitude is expressed in a few lines of Saliva's song Click Click Boom.:

You won't hear no 'cryin' ass bitchin' from Saliva singer Josey Scott.

"You won't hear no cryin' ass bitchin' from me..." At the time, that really was a refreshing change, because 1990's grunge was loaded with negativity and some of that had reached the Nu-metal era of the late 1990's-early 2000's. But Saliva tried to change that.

What sold me on them was during one morning when I woke up, and turned my Realistic DX-398 radio to the FM band -- something I rarely did. I worked in radio, and I heard the hits at work. I rarely listened to FM pop and rock on the radio. But this particular morning in early 2001, I had tuned it to the Seattle Modern Rock station KNDD 107.7, which played a lot of grunge, alternative rock, and Nu-metal.

This new song came on the playlist, Saliva's hit Your Disease. Something about it really struck home. It had the heavy guitars, some rap verses, and then this almost surreally pop bit in the middle, where Josey Scott's voice sounded almost autotuned, but in a very cool way, where his voice sounded almost superhuman in pitch -- it was a vocal effect that was very subtle but really kicked the chorus off in a big way.

A few weeks later when it came out, I went out and bought the CD.

Looking at these videos, we're taken to a different world, a rock world, where people go to rock clubs and hear live rock music. 

In most cities around here no one goes to rock clubs any more, because there aren't any left. What the recession and gentrification didn't destroy, the pandemic finished off. The biggest rock and dance club in my suburb of 100,000+ people turned into a Hooters in 2009 or so, and even that didn't last. Now it's an empty hulk of a building with a perennial "For Lease" sign tacked on the front of it. It is located next to another empty hulk that used to be an independent, local supermarket, in a dying strip mall that last had a lot of customers in 2000 when these videos were made.

 

The club I just mentioned used to be the Cascade Lounge, a popular rock haunt which had covers bands play, and it was packed most Friday and Saturday nights, and it was located next to a bowling alley. The bowling alley went under, and they sold the club to Hooters, who tried to make a go of it before the Recession did them in.

The other big rock and dance club in downtown Renton, a place called Pounders (bands Gruntruck and New American Shame played there) closed down just after the Great Recession started.

But, all that aside -- look at these cool videos. All those people, looking like rock stars, the guys in the black T-shirts and dark jeans or cargo pants, the girls all looking rocked up and hot -- and they're all going into a cool lookin' club to see a rock band play.

Both of these videos are like going into a timewarp, back before 9-11 and back to a time when rock still ruled the airwaves, and going to local rock shows, or moshing at rock festivals was still a popular thing.

If you live in a region or area where this is still happening, consider yourself lucky.

An era has passed.

I'll close this article with my favorite song off of Saliva's CD Every Six Seconds, a cool song called Hollywood, which sounds like a somewhat biographic lyric written by Josey Scott. I thought this song would have made a great single.

It has all the accoutrements of 2001-era rock music: Drop C guitars, heavy amplification, smooth and pristine chorus vocals, a catchy melody, and a certain musicality to it that was prominent in 2001 -- probably due to the dropped tuned guitars being used, and often recorded in layers, while run through chorus boxes.

Until next time, my friends, Peace.

C.C. -- October 18th, 2022.

ADDENDUM: October 29th, 2022:

I fixed one mistake that was in this article when I wrote it: it concerns the Streaming Royalty. The average royalty an "artist" receives per play, when you look at the royalties paid by all the streaming music services, is around $.009 -- nine-tenths of a cent. I had it listed as .009 cents per play, which was inaccurate and would be much, much lower.

For each play a song gets on the radio, an artist (or music company) receives between $.0011 and $.012 or so per play -- a range roughly between one-tenth of one cent, and one cent per play. The highest royalty payer, Tidal, doesn't seem to have as much of the Streaming Music Marketplace as the other services which pay lower rates, which is why I averaged them to $.009 per play, which is probably a higher average than the real average would be.

I know this is all confusing. It doesn't help that math is not my strong suit. Thank God for calculators. :-)

Shortwave Logbook, August-September 2022

My Panasonic RF-B45, probably the best overall MW DX radio I have. Other radios have as much, if not more 'pull' on signals, but the RF-B45 has the right mix of sensitivity/selectivity and sound (through headphones), works well on MW even without an external loop, and sounds good enough on headphones to not give you 'listeners fatigue'. I took this pic while either waking up or getting ready for sleep, lying on my bed, which is when I do a fair bit of MW and SW DXing, because it's often during the hours when the MW and SW band are active for distance listening. 

You can see that I was tuned to 1270 -- a weak regional channel here in the PNW. Usually I hear Catholic programming from KTWI Twin Falls, about 350 miles away in Southern Idaho, and sometimes the station down in the twin cities of Kelso-Longview, WA, shows up.

Once again, it is time for Chris's SW and MW DX logging round-up, sort of an indicator of what can be heard over the airwaves here in the PNW with relatively modest equipment.

I want to reiterate here that I don't post these logging lists as a form of bragging in any way. For one thing, my loggings are nothing to boast about. Compared to some guys in DXing, I really don't hear all that much. Some guys hear new stations all the time. 

My MW DX total -- from childhood to today -- is stuck at 599 stations. If I included TIS's, which I usually don't, it would be maybe 5-10 more.

 

Being located where I am, in between hills, I don't have fantastic loggings. Sometimes with radio distance listening it's location, location, location. For example, there's a MW/FM DXer in Eastern Washington that has heard much more than I have -- it helps that he's in a better location (one less mountain range to the East, and 1100 feet in elevation -- roughly 1000 feet higher than I am, and elevation does help with MW and SW DXing).

Other guys back in the Eastern US and Canada have pretty good antennas, and clear shots to the horizon, which undoubtedly helps them hear whatever they hear. I live in a 'hole', a narrow valley with a semi-clear shot to the SE and another one to the W/NW. My equipment is modest -- a few consumer portables, a couple MW external loops, and a 25 ft (10 meter) indoor wire on the second floor.

My point in posting these loggings isn't to impress, but to show that there is still a lot that can be heard with modest equipment, even if you're situated in a 'hole' -- especially if you're in a reasonably low RFI environment. And also, being that at least half of my readers are overseas, and many of them seem interested in radio, it might give them an idea of what can be heard here in the rainy side of the Cascade Mountains, in the Pacific Northwest (PNW).

And being that I use standard, consumer portables, it may encourage others to get the most out of whatever radio they have.

The Morning, Shortwave ASIA PIPELINE

Overall, the benefit to being a Shortwave radio fan in the PNW is that during early mornings there usually is a SW radio 'Pipeline' to Asia, which only gets better when the sunspots are co-operating. I first discovered this in 2002-2003, and it was reinforced when I got back into SW listening (after a 6 year break or so) in 2011. Europe doesn't make it here easily, and never has. Long haul signals from the SE -- like Africa, seem to make it to my own location OK, probably because the hills to the N and S of me block out other signals. I don't hear low level signals from Africa, however. For example, I've never heard Zambia or Zimbabwe, two countries I have always had an interest in.

 

I just hear the big African broadcasters -- VOA from Botswana, the various stations broadcasting from Madagascar, etc. Still, I'm really glad to hear such stations.

Over the past two months (August and September) the MW conditions in general have been fair for the most part, with a few nights and mornings where reception was either grainy and poor, or just average. Still, I haven't had any really great MW loggings. On SW it has varied between poor and what I would call "improved", i.e. better than 2017-2020.

One thing to remember is that many times, even if you have hills around you, you can maximise your location. If you have hills on one side, think of them as an attenuator in that direction, and concentrate on listening for stations coming in from the other directions, where the hills aren't in the way.

Like the last episode of my Shortwave loggings, I'll start with SW, then onto the SW ham radio loggings, and then list my MW loggings. Being that I don't DX the FM band, I don't have much to offer in that regard. Sorry, FM'ers. Also, I don't really hear that much on Longwave -- the best catches are a handful of disappearing Canadian aero-beacons, and my main LW radio, my DX-398, is intermittent -- the battery connector needs re-soldering again.

I have a LOT of 'ham radio' (amateur radio) loggings this time, because the ham bands have been fairly active, and loading my DX-390 with D-cells has reinvigorated my enthusiasm for listening to the 20, 40, and 30 Meter ham bands.

THE VOICE OF TURKEY -- ONCE AGAIN WE MEET!!

The biggest DX 'highlight' of the past two months has been hearing the Voice of Turkey on 9770 kHz, which I've heard at least twice in the past week before posting this blog article.

In the 1990s I used to listen to the Voice of Turkey every evening while reading. I didn't understand the Turkish language, of course, but they played a LOT of music, and the vast majority of it was Turkish folk and folk-instrumental music. Consequently, I heard a lot of saz and Cumbus saz playing. I found the music so cool that I almost bought a Cumbus Saz at a music store in downtown Seattle (that no longer exists) which had all sorts of musical instruments from all over the world -- the Middle East, China, Japan, Indonesia, Africa -- you name the place, they had musical instruments from there. 

Walking into the store was like walking into a worldwide marketplace, or bazaar, with all sorts of cool stringed and other instruments on the walls, as well as worldwide, multicultural decor.

 

 The now defunct Seattle "Lark In The Morning" music store, which is a Bay Area based website / mail order music store that features musical instruments from all over the world. During the 1990s and 2000s the Seattle store, located not too far from the famous Pike Place Market, was usually hopping with activity. I don't know if they ever had many sales, but the chain apparently closed its stores in San Francisco, Mendocino, and Seattle some time during the Great Recession.

For those so inclined to peruse their website and check out their Cumbus Saz instruments, here is the link:

https://larkinthemorning.com/

(Above picture of the Seattle, former Lark In The Morning storefront on 1st Avenue courtesy worldtravelshop.com)

Although I passed the store nearly every late afternoon during my lunchtime walks through downtown Seattle, and although I went into the store from time to time, I never did buy a Cumbus. :-( 

But I always listened to the Voice of Turkey. The frequency was 9675 or something like that, and they always came in well here in the PNW, despite the signal traversing the Polar region and skirting (or traversing) the Auroral radio zone. Despite the Polar signal route, their broadcast was readable for 4-5 hours, and most of it was music.

In fact, the Great Circle route for the signal from Turkey to here crosses Ukraine, Belarus, Northern Sweden (Skellefteå), Northern Norway (probably Lofoten & Bodø), Northern Greenland, Nunavut and the NWT in Canada, and then crosses province of Alberta to get here. Yet -- despite that route through the Auroral zone -- the VOT always delivered. 

The transmission was aimed at Turkish people living in Germany, Austria, and other parts of Central Europe.

Then, after around 1998 or so, I didn't hear the Voice of Turkey much anymore. Either they changed their schedule, or it may have been changes in sunspot conditions in the very late 1990s.

But I just heard them again, several nights ago, after years of not hearing them. And this was on a night when there were no other overseas broadcasters in the 31 Meter Band! There was no Turkish music being played, though, just a lot of talk -- all in Turkish. This was all on my Grundig G2, just off the whip. It actually picked up the Voice of Turkey with better readability than my other radios did off the 10 meter / 25 foot indoor wire antenna.

I've also heard them twice since then. So, I guess sunspots are picking up, although a lot of Shortwave conditions have been mediocre, there are indeed bright spots here and there. :-)

This two month period, I had most of my SW loggings in the 31, 49, and 21 Meter SWBC bands. 19 Meters was dead whenever I checked, 60 Meters seems to be mostly dead since the demise of Radio Rebelde (WWV is still on 5000 kHz, of course), and I didn't check the higher SW bands much. I also seem to have neglected the 25 Meter Band this time around, except for one logging.

Well, it's time to list the loggings. I sometimes vary how I describe my indoor antenna. It's 25 ft., give or take a few feet, on a second floor room. Roughly 10 meters of wire. 

 

So, here goes.:

SHORTWAVE LOGGINGS:

15016 Khz - 2202 UTC - US STRATCOM / USAF - United States - (English/SSB) - SIO 2-355 - I hadn't heard an Emergency Action Message in a long time, at least ten years or so. I happened to tune into this EAM broadcast by accident, where I heard, in alpha-numerics, "0 D 2 X W F 2 G D T D B N V Y 6 B X E R W E Y 2 D U B.... This is Password, out." When I first heard these EAMs in the early 1990s it was usually on 11243 Khz as well as 6761 Khz, and the introductory announcement was always "Skyking, Skyking, do not answer...." and there was always an echo, as these EAMs are sent out via several transmitters worldwide. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 9 August 2022

9645 Khz - 1230 UTC - China Radio Int'l - China - (English) - SIO 251 F+N - I tuned into a low level signal with sedate, UK accented English by a woman that sounded a bit similar to the BBC, but there was no mention of the BBC. The language was ID'able as English, but because of low signals, fading and noise it was nearly impossible to decipher what wat being said. EiBi lists CRI alone on this frequency at this time slot, and as it was early morning, Pacific Time, it's fitting as during those hours the Asia Pipeline is usually active. This was China broadcasting in English to SE Asia, so I must have been hearing them off the 'back of their beam'. (Realistic DX-390, Radio Shack 200629, 25 ft. indoor wire) 10 August 2022

13670 Khz - 1935 UTC - Radio Feda - Madagascar - (Arabic) - SIO 454F - I tuned in to a man talking in what sounded like Arabic, with a lot of "wa-" prefixes and glottal stops, but the reception at that time was a bit fadey and I couldn't really ID the language. There were several little music bits with what sounded like Arabic and Middle Eastern music scales. At 1938 a man gave the station's contact info -- "...Social Media... Facebook... Radio Feda dot com..." At 1944 there was a pop song that sounded as if it were sung in Arabic, with Mideastern music scales again. At 149 a man gave out the contact info again: "...Social Media.... Facebook... SoundCloud... Radio Feda dot com.... Radio Feda..." Clearly, I was listening to Radio Feda, a Christian religious broadcaster that beams signals to the Middle East from Madagascar. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 16 August 2022

13710 Khz - 2026 UTC - Radio Feda - Madagascar - (Arabic) - SIO354F - I tuned the 21 Meter Band again after checking out the 20 Meter Ham Band for a bit, to hear Radio Feda broadcasting in Arabic again to the Middle East, except this channel was used instead of 13670 Khz. This time, I heard what sounded like a radio play in Arabic, complete with automobile sound effects. Most of the transmission was around S3, with some fading, but the signal strength was steady. It's always cool to hear Madagascar, because it's the closest big country (along with South Africa) to the opposite side of the world from me. (Radio Shack 200629, 25 ft. indoor wire) 16 August 2022

5800 Khz - 0428 UTC - Radio Prague / WRMI - United States / Czech Republic - (prob. Spanish) - SIO353FF - I tuned in to a fluttery signal and heard European sounding folk-pop music. There were a lot of cittern and mandolin sounds. At 0430 UTC I heard a WRMI ID and their liner cut off... Then I heard a man say "Radio Prague Internacional" in what sounded like Spanish. Then he talked in a Euro-Spanish (near Castilian Spanish) accent. I know a lot of guys complain about hearing foreign stations like Radio Prague and Radio Slovakia International on WRMI instead of hearing them directly broadcast from Europe, but I like hearing it. It's still great to hear, and it's still shortwave. I like the music on those particular stations, too. And they help keep WRMI on the air. Face it, WRMI really tries to make shortwave an entertaining and viable medium. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 20 August 2022

9675 Khz - 1311 UTC - China Radio International, China - (Russian) - SIO 333-4 - I heard definite Russian language here, spoken by a woman. The Russian didn't sound like native Russian for some reason. Then a man spoke, and his Russian sounded a lot more native. The signal strengthened to SIO 444 and the woman and man kept mentioning "Kitai" in Russian. Kitai is the Russian word for "China". I also heard a couple mentions of "Kitaisky" (Chinese). I've heard CRI in Russian before, but never quite this clear, and I don't think I've heard them like this on the 31 Meter Band. (Radio Shack 200629 World Receiver, 25 ft. indoor wire) 21 August 2022

9900 Khz - 1315-1320 UTC - Radio Free Asia, Taiwan / USA - (Korean) - SIO 151-2 - At first I wasn't sure of the language, although it was clearly Asian. Then I heard definite "-mnida" word endings, and other sounds that are Korean. The entire time I listened it was just one guy speaking, and the programming didn't sound slick like most US external broadcast programming. Although the signal was weak, and there was some atmospheric noise, a native speaker could probably understand it. This station is listed as Radio Free Asia, beaming to Korea from Taiwan. (Radio Shack 200629, 25 ft. indoor wire) 21 August 2022

 

9940 kHz -- 0134 UTC -- WTWW, Lebanon, TENNESSEE -- (English) - SIO 2-354F - I normally don't listen too long to US domestic SW stations because a lot of them are just Brother Stair or Melissa Scott, but some of the other programs are curious, and some of them are also a little bit interesting. This evening I heard a guy talking about the prospect of food shortages, which caught my ear, as he seemed to be tossing out some stats and quoting some agri-business reports. The war in Ukraine has cut into Ukraine's grain production, obviously, and other countries are either holding onto whatever grain they have, or are affected by drought. Pakistan had devastating floods that apparently wiped out some of their crops. This preacher (?) was throwing out a lot of disturbing statistics -- US hard red winter wheat harvest is the smallest since 1963. Drought in the US is hurting the harvests. Cattle production is down. After hearing this broadcast I tried to find some of the stats that this guy was talking about, but I couldn't find much of anything -- although Canada and the US are indeed experiencing some drought, mainly in the West. I'm not sure how much this guy was saying was truth, versus exaggeration, but whether it's true or not, people should probably be prepared, if and when they can be. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 9 September 2022

9730 kHz -- 0035 UTC -- Radio Romania Int'l, ROMANIA -- (Romanian) -- SIO 352-3F -- At first I wasn't sure of the language I was hearing. It sounded like accented Spanish. It also sounded a little bit like Italian, but I wasn't sure. It was a woman talking to a man, and there was a lot of fast fading, which didn't help me ID the language -- which is the first thing I try to do when DXing the Shortwaves. Around 0039 I heard the words "apartiva" and "Europa" after a musical flourish between program segments. Then I heard some jazzy music, with a guy singing, followed by a disco sounding number. There was a Polar warble to the signal, but it wasn't bad. Usually when I heard a Polar flutter or really fast fading, it means I'm hearing something from Europe or the Middle East. Then, at 0045 I heard "Radio Romania International", by a man. Then a few more programming segments in the same language, which by now I determined had to be Romanian. Just before I tuned out, there was a guy who sounded like he could announce sports in the US. This was the first time I have knowingly heard Romanian. It's a Romance-family language, related to Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, and a few other languages (including French, actually), which is why it sounded like accented Spanish or accented Italian to my American ears. Very cool to hear Romania, either way. (Radio Shack 200629, 25 ft indoor wire) 14 September 2022

9470 kHz -- 1602 UTC -- Furusato No Kaze, Japan/TAIWAN -- (Japanese) -- SIO 353F -- This was a puzzling station at first. I tuned in to a woman talking in Japanese over an acoustic guitar, flute, and some keyboards. It was clear enough that a native speaker probably would have understood it. Then I heard a woman sing an old American folk song in Japanese (???) or possibly Korean (sometimes it's still hard for me to tell the two languages apart, especially over the Shortwaves). The song might have been "Beautiful Dreamer", a very pretty old US tune. Then a young woman spoke, using "-mashta" word endings (polite form of words in Japanese), and periodically there was a harpsichord flourish. It sounded like the woman was telling a story. Then some sacred sounding music. By then the signal was SIO454, still with some fading. This station is a Japanese station that is aimed at North Korea, a Japanese gov't service to Japanese people in NK who apparently were abducted during the late 1970s and early 80s. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 16 September 2022

I have some information on Furusato No Kaze and its sister station Nippon No Kaze near the bottom of this article.

 

11880 kHz -- 0230 UTC -- tt KNLS, United States / MADAGASCAR -- English -- SIO 1-252FF -- I tuned in to hear some pop music, which sounded like it was from 2010-2013 or so, when pop music was really good. The singing had a lot of vocal 'modulation', a style which was really popular during that era. The signal had some fast fading, with dropouts during some of the fades. I was unable to hear an ID, and there wasn't any talking when I tuned in. It was probably KNLS, as they play a lot of pop and pop/rock music, and it would fit KNLS's schedule according to EiBi. According to EiBi, KNLS has an English service to the South Asian subcontinent during this time slot. But, being that I didn't hear any talking, I'm listing this catch as a "tentative" one ("tt" in the heading). (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 17 September 2022

13760 kHz -- 0323 UTC -- KNLS, United States / MADAGASCAR -- English -- SIO2-353FF -- I tuned in and heard some pop-rock music, sounding like the band Offspring. The signal had a lot of fast fading. After the song was over, a man said "...can change your life... popular books... Bible..." The man was speaking in American English, and talked about Matthew 24, and mentioned the doctrine called the 'Rapture'.  At 0326 there was an ID, when a man said "....your New Life Station..." and he gave the contact info for KNLS's online website and email. Of the religious SW stations out there, KNLS is one of the few that plays pop and/or rock music, which makes them more interesting to hear. I hadn't heard this particular 2010's pop song before, but it was fun to hear it on the shortwaves. This English language service is aimed at the Indian Subcontinent. (Panasonic RF-B45, 25 ft. indoor wire) 18 September 2022

7645 kHz -- 0642 UTC -- BBC, UK/Ascension Island -- English -- SIO 251FF+N -- At first I heard some unreadable talk, with speech patterns that were possibly English, but not definite. The speech also matched the BBC or Deutsche Welle's somewhat sedate delivery. The signal had a lot of fast fading, and there was also a higher than normal noise level. At 0648 I heard a definite "BBC News". EiBi says this BBC English broadcast is to Africa from Ascension Island. (Panasonic RF-B45, 25 ft. indoor wire) 18 September 2022

7040 kHz -- 0649 UTC -- K beacon; Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka, RUSSIA -- CW -- SIO242F -- I used to hear a couple Russian 'single letter beacons' in the 40 meter ham band regularly in the early 2000's and 2011-2014 or so, whenever I'd tune that ham band. The ones I logged were from Magadan and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy.  Lately I've only been hearing the "K" beacon, which one listing says is Astrakhan, a city on the Volga River delta near the Caspian Sea, but that seems quite improbable to me, as it is very far away and in the middle of Eurasia. The 'K' beacon's transmission is a series of K's in Morse Code -- 'K   K   K   K', with a short break, and then four more K's -- all in a continuous cycle. Sometimes when there is considerable fading it sounds like a different letter is being sent. No one seems to know exactly why these SLB's are on the air, except possibly as 'channel markers', and they are probably used by the Russian Navy. As for the ID of this beacon, the utility SW enthusiast's site Priyom.org says it's Petropavlovsk. Bingo! (Panasonic RF-B45, 25 ft. indoor wire) 18 September 2022

 

Here is a link to the Priyom.org site.:

https://priyom.org/military-stations/russia/single-letter-beacons

5025 kHz -- 0519 UTC -- Radio Rebelde, CUBA -- N/A -- N/A -- Radio Rebelde, which has a long history of being the Cuban government's radio voice ("Rebelde" means "Rebel"), usually is so dependable that it even comes in when SW conditions are abysmal. It will still be audible with a grainy signal. I've even logged it on my DX-375 on its internal loopstick, and was able to partially null Rebelde with the radio, and still hear the station. I've used 5025 as a check for those few times I've heard the MW Rebelde outlet on 1180 kHz. But lately Rebelde has been completely MIA. I noticed it this particular evening, and every evening I've checked it since. There is some talk online that the recent Hurricane Ian damaged Cuba and may have taken a lot of Cuban stations off the air. If that's the case, Rebelde may be MIA because of it. Hopefully it's not the equipment blowing up, as Rebelde is one of the few remaining tropical 60 Meter Band stations left. The Brazilians I used to hear in 2011 and 2012 seem to always be MIA.

(Grundig G2, whip antenna) 24 September 2022

 

NOTE: the morning of October 10th, I tuned through the 60 Meter band on my Grundig G2, and there was a man reading what sounded like a news report on 5025 kHz. The accent seemed to be Cuban. Signals were SIO 1-252, with fading. So -- possibly -- Rebelde is back on the air!

 

7275 kHz -- 0831 UTC -- KBS World Radio, KOREA -- (Japanese) -- SIO 2-353F -- Here there was almost an operatic style of singing by a man, over an orchestra playing music in an Asian sounding musical scale. It sounded a lot like Japanese style folk singing as well. When that piece finished, a woman started talking in Japanese, with "-mashta" word endings. The female announcer had an almost pinched sounding, girlish voice. Then there was another piece of music in an Asian musical scale, with Japanese or NE Asian sounding instrumentation. This was KBS from Korea broadcasting in Japanese to Japan. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft./10 meter wire) 25 September 2022

 

9700 kHz -- 0608 UTC -- Radio New Zealand Int'l -- (English) -- SIO 4-554F+N -- This evening RNZI had a powerhouse signal, as it usually does. The sunspots can be mediocre, and conditions overall may be reduced on the shortwave bands, but if RNZI is on, it will at least usually be readable, if not pounding my radios at at least S4. This evening their signal was S4-S5, but I could still hear some of the atmospheric noise that was on the bands that night (the "N" in my signal report above). The programming was interesting. It was an interview with country singer Roseanne Cash, the daughter of Johnny Cash. During the interview she said "I remember wanting to write poems as a little girl, and asking my babysitter if she knew about how to put poems to music...." she then laughed. "As if I didn't already have an expert in the family to ask!" (Referring to her father). She said one reason her dad's first marriage didn't last was because of Johnny's fame and incredible workload, and all his touring -- her mom didn't know how to handle its effects. The interviewer here wasn't a New Zealander, as she had a Midwest, US accent. But it was a great program. (Radio Shack 200629 World Receiver, 25 ft./10m indoor wire) 26 September 2022

9800 kHz -- 1510 UTC -- KNLS, Anchor Point, ALASKA -- (Russian) -- SIO555 -- I tuned in around 1450 to hear a hymn sung in an unidentifiable language, with signals around S3 and some Polar flutter on the signal. Then I rechecked the frequency at 1500 and there was a song by Don Henley, and the signal was now S5. Then at 1510 a woman was talking in Russian, over a music bed of chimes or bells. Then a minute or so later they played the 5 minute version of "Wishing" by A Flock Of Seagulls"! So cool to hear. When the song was over, a man spoke in clear Russian, giving KNLS frequencies and schedules, mentioning the frequencies in "kilogertz" -- the English H sound is a G in Russian. (Grundig G2, whip antenna; Radio Shack 200629, 25 ft. wire) 26 September 2022

9785 kHz -- 1507-1538 UTC -- KBS World Radio, South KOREA -- (English) -- SIO333F -- I tuned in to some barely readable talk, over a fadey, S2 signal, with talk in English between a US accented woman and UK accented man. I switched radios to my G2 and the reception was a little better. It was a lengthy news report covering the Covid situation in Korea, North Korean missile tests, the USS Ronald Reagan being on exercises with the South Korean Navy, and a lengthy interview with a US military expert on North Korea's nuclear program and what it will take to end it (unification). Then there was a Korean stock report. This English service is broadcast to the Indian Subcontinent. I must have been hearing them off the back of their beam, as the signal was transmitted in the opposite direction from North America. 

 

It was a good morning for Asian reception -- I heard at least two UNIDs, a Bahasa Malaysia or Indonesian station on 9735, that had an S3 signal which cut off after several time pips at 1459 UTC, and an UNID Chinese station on 9760, which mentioned "Zhongguo" ("China" in Chinese). (RS 200629, 25 ft. wire; Grundig G2, whip antenna) 26 September 2022

9720 kHz -- 1340 UTC -- Reach Beyond Australia, AUSTRALIA -- (English) -- SIO 1-252F -- I heard talk here in Australian accents, with mentions of a "ministry", with a man and woman talking, with also a mention of "Australian adults". The signal was fadey and weak enough that I could only pick out various words, as well as the fact it was Australian English. I had heard this station once before during this time slot, with an ID at sign-off, so I knew this was Reach Beyond Australia, which broadcasts to the Indian Subcontinent in English during this time slot. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 28 September 2022

AND SOME HAM RADIO LOGGINGS, TOO...

Here are my ham loggings, both CW and SSB. The notes are fairly extensive, because I take extensive notes when DXing. It also gives a picture of what there is to be heard on the SW ham radio bands.

14047 Khz - 00400 UTC - KB2H - United States - CW - S3 signals - This station was sending CQ CQ CQ DE KB2H with a long 'K' at the end (hanging onto the two dashes in the character, as some CW guys do from time to time -- it's a bit of flair added). The 'K' at the end of a CQ means "waiting for your answer". After a few minutes he went up to 14050 Khz and sent some CQ. K2BH was sending CQ at around 5-7 w.p.m., and there was some fading in the signal. I didn't hear anyone who answered him. He seemed to have a Z call who answered. Not sure from where. Couldn't hear that station. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. wire) 31 July 2022

14063 Khz - 0100 Khz - K0AF - United States - CW - S1-S2 signals - I heard this station in a QSO with another station whose call I couldn't read, as they were sending Code rather fast. I did pick out a few letters here and there, including AR and SK (waiting and listening, stopping sending), a couple 5NN 5NN's (5NN is Morse Code shorthand for RST599, Readability 5 out of 5, signal 9 out of 9, tone 9 out of 9 -- Morse Code guys generally send a 599 (or "5NN" shorthand code) every contact they make, just to get it out of the way. The only time I've heard other numbers was when fading was really bad, the band was mediocre, and the station was working actual DX. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. wire) 31 July 2022

14207 Khz - 0633-0643 UTC - JZ2MQM / WA7M - Japan & United States - SSB - S1-S3 signals - I was tuning around the 20 Meter ham band late in the evening, about 11:33 p.m. local time, and I heard an American guy talking about having listened to another guy's DX pile up. The other guy was JZ2MQM, a Japanese ham who then started talking, and had a very readable signal. JZ2MQM mentioned that he often points his beam north, over the North Pole, and he works Europe on 20 Meters around midnight, Japan time, frequently. He likes to work Europe on 14253 Khz, if it isn't already crowded. Both stations were fading up and down when they transmitted -- the JZ2 sometimes hitting S3 but most of the time it was a very readable S1-S2, with a few dips in signal below readability. WA7M was generally weaker, around S1 somewhere. I had the volume maxed on my Radio Shack 200629. At first, I wasn't sure if the Japanese ham was JD2MQM, JC2MQM, or JG2MQM, due to fading when the call letters were mentioned. That last three times it sounded fairly clear as 'JZ2'. WA7M was apparently in Arizona somewhere. The rest of the 20 Meter band, aside from one or two weak, ultra fast keyers on CW, a very fadey VK2 ham on CW on 14022, and an Oz accented ham in SSB on 14162 Khz (who I couldn't ID), was dead. Of course, the JT65/FT8 guys on 14075 are always on, 24/7. (Radio Shack 200629, 25 ft. indoor wire) 1 August 2022.

14203 Khz - 0406 UTC - HA8JM - Hungary - SSB - S1-S2 signals - I tuned into hear a man calling CQ, and mentioning part of his call -- "H... Mexico..." His signal was readable during fadeups, but the combination of fading and static made it difficult at times. He had contacts with American hams, none of which I could hear aside of a snipped from a guy in Texas (W5IB, I think). HA8JM spoke excellent English, with a very slight accent that at first was difficult to place. The ham's name was Peter, and after the Texas contact, Peter began to call CQ DX, and spell out his call letters phonetically. HA8JM was still calling CQ DX on 14203 and apparently working some stations at 0440 UTC when I rechecked the frequency. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 2 August 2022

I also heard HA8JM calling CQ DX on the evening of August 6th (7 Aug. UTC) at 0452 UTC, with S0-S1, fluttery signals. An American, N6AF called him, but the ham in Hungary didn't hear him apparently.

14239 Khz - 0423-0439 UTC - LY5A - Lithuania - SSB - S3-S4 signals - LY5A was very loud, his signals mostly S4, with some fading. I was surprised. After a while he stated he was in Lithuania. He had numerous contacts with Statesiders, and always told them his "handle" was John, and that it was a "sunny morning, no clouds or wind". I heard a very loud ham contact him from Northern California, K2HSV, who was S4-S5. John was very cordial to people, saying Salim Mulikkum to a ham from Oman (who I unfortunately couldn't hear). I heard a ham in southern New Jersey contact him (just barely), KC2PC. While talking to an Alaskan ham I could barely hear, John said he uses a 6 element beam with 1000 watts. No wonder he gets out. Right before I tuned out, LY5A contacted a ham in Pennsylvania, and John said he needs two counties in Pennsylvania, one of them being Juniata county. So I guess he's a "county hunter". Ham radio has numerous aspects. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire ) 2 August 2022

14014 Khz - 0357 UTC - OV1CDX - Denmark - CW - S0-S3 signals -- I tuned my DX-390 to the CW section of the 20 Meter ham band and hear this station calling CQ DX CQ DX DE OV1CDX. I was able to verify his calls on the second or third time I heard him sending CQ. Sometime with fading, and fairly fast sending it takes a while to sort out a '1' from a '2' numerall, and the like. An American ham, N6EED answered him. It was hard to decipher any of their QSO because they were both sending fairly fast and one of them was running his characters together. Being that they were both on the exact same frequency, it was difficult to tell them apart (same pitch). (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire ) 3 August 2022

14020 Khz - 0408 UTC - KE0UI - United States - CW - S4 signals - This ham sent CQ DX KE0UI DX K a few times. The 'K' at the end means "waiting for your call back". His CW was very clean, but once he got into a QSO his sending was very fast (maybe 18-20 w.p.m.) and I simply couldn't read it. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire ) 3 August 2022

14017 Khz - 0419 UTC - KE1B - United States - CW - S1 signals - This ham station sent CQ DX, and got at least one answer, but the weak S1 signal here and the fading made it impossible to read his 10 w.p.m. code. I'm not sure where in the US this guy is, as the numbers in the call letters no longer signify the region in the US -- when hams move from region to region, their callsigns go with them. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire ) 3 August 2022

14015 Khz - 0434 UTC - WV0I - United States - CW - S1 signals - WV0I sent a lot of CQ's and CQ DX's but didn't get an answer during the time I monitored his transmissions.   (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 3 August 2022

14012 Khz - 0427 UTC - LZ1NP - Bulgaria - CW - S1 signals - I was surprised when I finally verified what call letters this ham was sending, as I don't think I've heard Bulgaria before, and if I did, I don't remember it. LZ1NP was a fast sender, at least for me, about 13-15 w.p.m.  There was a lot of fast fading on his signal, which makes it harder to read CW. If he had any guys answer him I didn't hear them. This happens for me a lot. I will hear a station sending CQ and their call letters, but not hear whoever they're in a QSO with. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire ) 3 August 2022

27455 Khz - 2117 UTC - Latin American Outbanders - SSB (Spanish) - S1-S5 signals - I tuned my RS200629 to the CB Outband and instantly heard Mexican accented Spanish on this channel. It was my first Outband reception in 6-7 years! As the Mexican-accented guy was talking another voice behind him kept saying "Hola! Hola!" Both faded, and then one came back with "Hola! Quien escucha?" (Hello, who's listening) After the signals faded a bit, I tuned down a channel to 27445, and heard some guy mention Costa Rica. Then that faded, and I tuned back up to 27455, to see if anything was there, and I heard a loud signal by a man who seemed to be using a stock mic, and his accent was hard to place -- possibly Caribbean Spanish. A couple other guys joined in, and for a while it was hard to tell them apart. I heard Ecuador mentioned, as well as Puerto Rico and Costa Rica mentioned. I heard them mention banda, escuela, Costa Rica, and a few other words, but the fading didn't help me follow the QSO much. Still, it was cool to hear the Outbanders from Latin America. (Radio Shack 200629, 25 ft. indoor wire) 12 August 2022

 

14012 kHz -- 0100 UTC -- KN2CZZ tt, United States -- CW -- SIO354 -- I am 90% certain I got the call correct -- but the guy only sent CQ DX like two times. Then he stops. If I can hear him all the way Out West with my Realistic radio and a short, indoor antenna, certainly someone else with a big ham radio set-up could have heard him and answered if he'd have kept sending CQ. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft indoor wire) 10 September 2022

7206 kHz -- 0440 UTC -- W7DG, Phoenix, ARIZONA -- SSB, English - SIO345 -- I heard this ham talking with a California accent to another guy I couldn't hear, who was apparentlyl in the PNW somewhere, or somewhere in the West, as he had an N7 call. W7DG said he had an Icom 7300 (which alot of hams seem to have -- it's a popular radio), and his signal was good, although there was some fading, as there usually is on 20 Meters during the early evening. Then KJ7DU in Northern Nevada or Idaho -- who had a Midwest accent -- called him. Sometimes I can pick out the various American accents, other times not so much. Of course, with people moving from state to state, the accents do not necessarily match the region where they live. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 11 September 2022

21025 kHz -- 0153 UTC -- V3JXX, Belize / JA6RRU, Japan -- CW -- SIO 545 -- Was surprised that a) 15 Meters was active this early evening, and that b) I actually heard Belize. The last time I recall really hearing Belize was when I used to hear "GI Joe" on Channel 38 or 39 on CB sideband in 1989 or so. I was able to read the CW calls and signal reports OK. "CQ DE V3JXX.... 5NN...." etc. The V3 had a couple short CW QSO's with Japanese hams, and by the time JA6RRU called him, the V3 station had mostly faded out here where I am. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 17 September 2022.

14170 kHz -- 0220 UTC -- VP9IN, Bermuda -- SSB, English -- SIO 2-353F -- I tuned in to hear two men talking, one of them with a Southern accent. It seemed one station was working other stations in the U.S. The fading was considerable, because at times the QSO's weakened and then strengthened, as if the 20 Meter Band were about to give it up. I heard the call "VP9IN", and was about to look it up until the ham, "Alan", said to another guy "you're 5 by 8 coming into Bermuda". He was the guy working the American stations, including AJ4EN and a VE__ from Canada. The Bermuda guy started weakening bad enough that I tuned further up the 20 Meter Band to see what else was going on. It was cool to hear Bermuda, though -- another place I've never been, except via the radio. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. indoor wire) 17 September 2022

 

21302 kHz -- 0044 UTC -- N4EVG, Florida / KB5KYX, Texas -- SSB - S3 signals -- I tuned into hear a guy with a Texas accent talking to another guy I couldn't hear. Then he IDed as KB5KYX. The guy he was talking to was apparently in Alaska. Then a guy in Florida called the guy in Alaska. The Florida guy was N4EVG, and he said he was in Orange County, Florida. I never did hear the Alaska station. The fact that Florida was talking to Alaska in the early evening was an example of 15 Meters working better and better as the sunspots pick up. The Alaska station's signal was probably skipping over my location. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft/10m wire) 23 September 2022

 

I heard a few other hams on CW and SSB, namely W1AW doing CW Code practice, which always amazes me as they have a killer signal here in the PNW. But the above loggings give a good idea of what I heard most days or nights when the bands were active.

I'll close these ham loggings with an observation: I've heard a few hams on CW who seem to cut their numbers when sending their call letters. I.e. they'll sometimes leave out a dit or a dah when sending their callsign's numerals, and more than once I've heard them run their characters together. 

Ham dudes and dudettes: when you send CW, slow down if you can't send the characters clearly. You'll still get the message across! Especially when there is fading, cutting numbers during callsigns, and super fast sending doesn't really help.

AND SOME MEDIUM WAVE LOGGINGS:

1660 Khz - 11:12 p.m. PDT - KQWB, Fargo, North Dakota - (English) - S2-S3 - Sports talk dominated this channel this evening, as KQWB came in much stronger than usual, with sports talk by a man who discussed baseball, mentioning the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Later there was a mention of Ben Maller, although the guy talking about the baseball teams did NOT sound like Ben Maller. Underneath, and sometimes overtaking KQWB was an UNID station in Spanish, broadcasting Christian praise music in Spanish. Later on there was some preaching or praying, also in Spanish, underneath or overtaking KQWB on the same channel. KBRE, Merced, California, which plays rock, was MIA. Other California stations were very strong that night -- KHPY (former KSUL) Moreno Valley (near Los Angeles) was very loud on 1670 Khz, covering the Redding, California talk station, and KFSG 1680 was loud with 1960's exotic jazz. But no KBRE on 1660. Weird. (Realistic DX-390, 1 ft. Crate Loop) 7 August 2022

1660 Khz - 11:12 p.m./ 2:45 a.m. PDT - UNID Spanish Praise & preaching - (Spanish) - S0-S3 - I tuned into 1660 while checking out the MW Top Band ("X-Band" in the US) and heard very distinct praise music in Spanish underneath, and sometimes overtaking KQWB Fargo's sports talk. The bearing on my crate loop was roughly NE-SW, but often that is the same bearing that E-W stations arrive at my location, because of local hills. Even N-S stations can come in well on that loop bearing. The Spanish language praise music faded up to S3-S4 with the singer repeating "Muchas Gracias, Señor!" KBRE, Merced, California's rock music was MIA. Although KBRE's web page is intact, I wondered at the time if they had either cut power, or possibly changed format (a couple nights later KBRE was back, so it must have been propagation was bad to Merced). The only Spanish language praise station listed on 1660 is a station in Puerto Rico. A couple hours later, at 2:45 a.m., I heard Spanish prayer on the same channel, very loud, around S3 or so at peaks, on my Sangean PR-D14 down in the kitchen, with no external loop needed (!!!). The guy was praying over and over, mentioning 'familia' and 'manana' and 'Senor' a lot. The strongest bearing on that radio aimed more E-W, away from California. The station I heard shall remain a mystery. It's remotely possible it's Puerto Rico -- but Puerto Rico is so far away I'm writing it off for now. (Realistic DX-390, 1 ft. Crate Loop, Sangean PR-D14) 7-8 August 2022

1650 Khz - 0230 PDT - tt KCNZ - Cedar Falls, IOWA, United States - (English) - S2 signals - I tuned my RS200629 through the Top Band early in the A.M. and heard what sounded like Sports talk on a channel that is one of the more interesting channels in the X-Band. Usually I hear Spanish praise and religion (KBJD, Denver) along with some NOAA Weather TIS stations that are located along the northern Oregon Coast. Once, a long time ago, I heard KSVE El Paso (ESPN Deportes at the time) and a station out of Fort Smith, Arkansas. This A.M. I heard a guy talking about Mike Tyson -- however, the signal was weak and fadey enough to where I never got an ID. I've logged KCNZ on this channel before, probably before 2015, when MW conditions were a lot better. As KCNZ are Fox Sports, and the only station that fits what I heard, I'm marking this as a tentative. (Radio Shack 200629, 1 ft. Crate loop) 17 August 2022

1490 Khz - 2241 PDT -- KYNR, Toppenish, WA & UNID other stns, USA - (English) - S4-S5 signals - 1490 is known to MW DXers as a 'graveyard' channel because -- like a few other channels on the band -- it's loaded to the brim with stations. This particular night I heard an unidentified Classic Hits station and several fadeups of KYNR, Toppenish, WA. Toppenish is a small city on the other side of the Cascade Mountains, and it is the chief city of the Yakama Indian Reservation, and KYNR plays a lot of Native American music, so not only is it cool to hear, it's easy to identify! The Classic Hits station played Journey's "Wheel In The Sky" and Kool and the Gang's "Celebrate". 1490 is fairly loaded in my part of the PNW, so I really have no idea who the Classic Hits station was. My closest guess would be KLOG, Kelso WA (a city about 120 miles south of here). (Radio Shack 200629, Crate Loop antenna) 19 August 2022

1530 Khz - 0147 PDT - WCKY, Cincinnati OHIO - (English) - SIO 1-223 - I fired up my Radio Shack Optimus 12-603 this evening, after having to exercise the tuner a bit (the tuning potentiometer had oxidized and tuning was shaky in the middle of the MW band), and while online and doing some writing I had the radio near me, tuned to KFBK, Sacramento, California, which is a strong regional station here and usually always has readable signals -- and KFBK was playing the popular Coast To Coast AM program. In the background, underneath KFBK, I kept hearing a woman talking. Listening more closely I heard her mention "Yawah", and when I looked at WCKY's schedule I saw that they have a program overnight from the "Assembly of Yawah". I've heard WCKY a couple times before -- a couple times when Brother Stair was playing overnights, and at least one time when WCKY was running ESPN. It's always fun to hear stations from East of the Mississippi River -- and being that I have fond memories of Cincinnati, that's also a plus. KFBK was ranging from S2-S4 signals all morning. The Optimus 12-603 has really clear audio -- like a GE Superadio, they have it set up for good fidelity as well as DXability. (Radio Shack Optimus 12-603) 18 September 2022

1450 kHz -- 6:06-6:20 a.m., PDT -- KBFI, Bonners Ferry, IDAHO -- (English) -- SIO 323-4 -- I switched on my Optimus this morning to see if KSTP 1500 was making it here to Seattle from the Twin Cities, as a DXer back East on FB said he was hearing them. I was able to hear KSTP with around S2 signals, just off the internal antenna, and S3-S4 with my Select-A-Tenna added. Then I tuned down the band to find something to listen to. I heard the end of the Coast To Coast AM program, followed by a national newscast on 1450 kHz, and stayed tuned, and heard a mention of Northern Idaho. Then I heard a commercial for a business called "Hydra", in Sandpoint, followed by another commercial for "Jordan ____ Services and Sales" -- a company that seemed to fix and sell yard maintenance equipment. The fading and QRM was just enough to hear everything, but then I heard the weather forecast, which was 78F during the day with temperatures in the high 40's F at night -- nice weather for October, actually. I stayed tuned and at 6:20 a.m. I heard a full ID, for "KSPT" and "KBFI 14-50 Bonners Ferry". The two stations apparently are simulcast, and both serve the Northern Idaho 'panhandle' region. During the half hour of listening, I might have heard an ID for KBKW ("KBK__") which is a station in Aberdeen, WA -- but that ID wasn't really positive. I'm amazed at how effective this radio is for DXing. The clear audio really helps. I think this is a new station, #600, finally. (Optimus 12-603, w/ & w/o Select-A-Tenna) 8 October 2022

My Radio Shack Optimus 12-603 TRF AM-FM radio. If it sits unused for too long, the tuner control can get oxidised and it will act wacky until it is exercised or sprayed with contact cleaner or contact lubricant. Although a GE Superadio has more 'pull' on signals, the Optimus is no slouch. It's a real TRF and resembles the old Realistic TRF radios in circuitry and performance, especially the 12-656 TRF radio (more than its predecessor, the 12-655).

Over the past several weeks, I've re-logged one DX station (WCKY, Cincinnati) and heard one NEW station (KBFI, Bonners Ferry, Idaho) on my Optimus. It has clear audio, which is a great help in listening to DX channels on the Medium Wave band.

Som Info ON THE 'NATIONAL UNITY BROADCAST STATION'

Being that I have heard the station more than once, I was curious to find some information on the Korean language broadcaster, "National Unity Broadcast Station", which, according to EiBi, transmits from Taiwan to the Korean Peninsula. Several searches brought up very little information. Finally, I found these next two linked web pages.

Here is a link to the website for the Korean organization that operates the SW "National Unity Broadcast Station" which I heard more than once on 7200 Khz on July 21st and August 10th, both times around 1300 UTC (early morning, Pacific Time). The organization appears to be funded by American and Korean interests, as well as individual donations. The website looks interesting, although the video media that can be played there is all in Korean.:

국민통일방송 – Unification Media Group (uni-media.net)

This website, operated by a German ham radio guy, has an article about Clandestine stations like the National Unity Broadcast Station. It's quite interesting. I've heard a couple of the other stations he talks about. Radio Ndarason and a couple others, and  -- of course -- Radio Marti, which usually can be heard nightly and during the mornings here in the PNW.

Clandestine: Under false Flags | Nils Schiffhauer – DK8OK

Here is some information on the curious Japanese SW station Furusato No Kaze:

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/12/19/national/japan-broadcast-radio-program-north-korea-abductees-frequencies/

 

https://www.vk5pas.com/furusato-no-kaze-japan.html

 

And here is some info posted by another Shortwave blogger on the reason for this station's existence.:

https://shortwavedxer.blogspot.com/2011/07/furusato-no-kaze-wind-of-hometown.html

Well, that's all the SW, MW and Ham loggings and Shortwave info for this time around. Hopefully, I will have another similar Shortwave Logbook posted some time in probably early December, or maybe just after New Year's.

Until then, my friends, Peace.

C.C. September 30th and October 10th, 2022