My GE Superadio III, purchased in 1996. I took this pic while DXing at night while working out on the small bench press in my storage room, maybe 2016 or 2017. I still use my SRIII from time to time, but haven't been using it much for DXing lately, mainly because I prefer to use batteries with my Superadios, and I was out of D-cells. As of publishing this article, I'm still out of D-Cells -- their cost has increased with inflation. As for the SRIII, it's a great DX radio. The headphone sound really helps. SRIIIs sound really good. And good sound helps with IDing stations.
Once again, friends, it's time for me to report whatever I've been hearing on the MW and SW radio bands lately. As the Autumn and Winter kicked in, the atmospheric conditions changed, and hopefully the sunspots continuing their increase made a difference.
I am not one of those radio DXers who checks solar conditions or sunspot numbers on a frequent basis. I do not check any websites to see what propagation is expected. In fact, I never check anything like that at all. A indices or K indices? I don't really understand their importance, and I've never considered them anyway. They mean nothing to me.
KEY DX TIP: Turn On The Radio, Pick A Band, Tune It Channel by Channel
I turn on my radio, tune around, and listen. It's fairly simple: either there is something to hear, or there isn't something to hear. Sometimes when solar conditions are favorable, it doesn't mean there will be new stations or loggings, anyway. And a lot of what you hear depends on your latitude, and your location.
And even if conditions are down, sometimes DX stations can be heard. But you won't hear them if you don't tune the SW bands.
Some guys online say "tuning channel by channel takes too long... You won't hear DX stations that way." One ham told me that recently. However, it doesn't take that long to tune across a SWBC band or an HF Ham band. The 25 Meter Band, for example, is only 600 kHz wide. Earlier tonight I tuned across it in less than a minute. In comparison, the MW/AM band in the US is almost 1200 Khz wide -- from 540 kHz to 1700 kHz. This makes tuning across a SW band a simple endeavor. Stopping on active channels for a second or two to mark down activity I hear may add another minute or two to the 'bandscan'. And then I return to the channels that are active so I can listen further and ID the stations.
I never use Automatic Tuning functions. Ever.
Tuning across the Ham bands really isn't much different. The 20 Meter Ham Band, for example, is only 350 kHz wide, and although hams can tune their radios in between the 10 kHz channels, it's not the 1990's anymore, and most ham bands usually aren't completely packed with signals. Most of the other HF SWBC and Ham bands are similar.
You don't need an SDR to see if a band has anything to target for listening. You just need to tune across the bands. You'll actually hear more that way.
Granted, when sunspots are down, a lot of the SW bands are down, and MW suffers -- that much is true. In times like that, perhaps an SDR's 'waterfall' screen is helpful. But ultimately, you have to turn on your radio and tune around to see what's really happening. You actually have to listen. I've had some surprising DX catches on both SW and MW when conditions were down. You just never know what you will hear.
And a lot of it depends on your ears: what are you listening for? Are you paying close attention to what you're hearing? That means a lot more than A indices, K indices, and sunspot numbers.
Sometimes I will read comments online by other DXers about coming "Auroral Conditions" on Medium Wave. Sometimes that means a DXer in the Northern latitudes will hear some interesting catches from the Southern tier of states, or even Mexico. One night in 2011 I heard a Mexico City station on 1500 on my boombox because of Auroral Conditions. But not all forecasts turn out all that well. A lot of Auroral Conditions just make my radios sound staticky and deaf.
So I avoid all forecasts. I turn on my radio and listen.
NO SDR's HERE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH
I know some guys use SDR's (software defined radios) and just glance at the waterfall display and then zero in on a channel. While that may be useful, they're missing out on a lot. There always is a lot going on in any channel that a waterfall is not going to really show. A waterfall display doesn't necessarily show the station or stations that can be heard behind the strong regional station. The waterfall doesn't indicate the programming or IDs of any stations.
To do that -- you have to actually tune into a channel, and listen.
It doesn't help things much that some SDRs simply sound like crap. I am a member of a social media MW DX group and some of the SDR sound-file postings on that news feed really sound tinny and crappy. I've also heard tinny and crappy sounding SDR recordings elsewhere on the internet (on Reddit, for example). I don't know if it's the settings that they are using on the SDR, or if crappy sound is just a characteristic of many SDRs. It might be the nature of the recordings on the DXer's phones -- the few phone vids I've taken of my own Tecsun radio seem to sound tinny and crappy.
There appears to be an art to recording good SW sound recordings. :-)
But I've also seen phone vids (of concerts, as well as radio DX catches on Tecsuns and other radios) that had good sound. Either way, the audio on many SDR recordings I've heard on the net is anything but pleasant or smooth. The treble is often too high, and the bandwidth is set too narrow -- some of these SDR recordings are so tinny you can not tell it's an actual broadcast being played.
What's the point of DXing if the sound is horrible?
Give me the headphone audio of my GE SRIII any day.
You can't easily ID a station if the sound is tinny and crappy -- that is, at least, my own philosophy on it. Setting a bandwidth to super narrow can reduce or eliminate interference, but it also takes out a lot of other, vital audio information.
I realise that each DXer has their own preferences, however, and there's nothing wrong with that. SWLing and MW DXing aren't legal professions -- it's a hobby. Everyone makes their own rules.
All this being said, technically any radio with a DSP chip is actually an SDR. The only thing missing is the numerous controls, and the waterfall display. So, technically, I have 4 MW/FM radios (one with SW) that are SDRs, because the four radios have DSP chips inside (my Sangean PR-D5, PR-D14, PR-D18 and my Grundig G2). You can make it 5 if you include my Radio Shack Pocket Radio.
My GRUNDIG G2, a now-discontinued radio, made from 2010-2014 or so, which has a DSP chip inside and is amazingly good on SW, thanks to the DSP. In the picture it is tuned to Cuba's Radio Rebelde ("Radio Rebel"), a station that generally was audible any night, regardless of SW conditions, on 5025 kHz, but was sadly off the air for a couple weeks in early October. It appeared to be back on the air again -- at least for an early morning newscast, before it promptly disappeared again. In this pic you can tell that Rebelde is being received because of the two bars of signal showing on the LCD readout.
Some DSPs are really awesome. The DSP chip on my Grundig G2 does wonders on SW. Something about the software filtering on the chip really brings out the stations that my analog radios sometimes miss. It grabs the audio a bit better, sometimes outperforming other radios in the same room (that are connected to a 20-30 ft indoor wire) just off its whip.
My G2 has really good sound, though, and that also helps. But the DSP does improve a lot of reception. So I'm not anti-technology. I just think that staring at a waterfall isn't the same as literally tuning through each channel and just using your ears, and listening to hear what is there.
SOME SHORTWAVE DXing TIPS
You know, every SWL probably has their own unique way of DXing the SW bands. Over the last few years I've probably also stated many of mine here on this blog.
But I've seen a lot of guys post their SDR waterfalls and they talk it up as if a waterfall is the best way to see or hear what's happening on the bands. And really, it's not. You have to listen to each channel, in turn, to really find out what is happening on the band.
That little bitty stream of pixels somewhere on the waterfall, that looks like it would be inaudible, might actually be a DX signal that you can ID if you listen to it.
I know for a fact I've probably heard -- and logged -- stations that guys with SDR's would have looked over because the waterfall wouldn't show much signal on a channel that may actually have readable audio.
Tune the band (whether it's the 49, 41, 31, 25, 21, or 19 Meter band -- the most popular SW broadcast bands) channel by channel to catch what is happening there. Being that most of the SWBC bands are only 500-600 Khz in width (roughly 500-600 channels, with most of them empty), it doesn't take that long to tune through a band, maybe a minute or so.
I generally tune my G2 or other radio channel by channel. Usually I tune through an entire SW band, and then go back to the channels where I heard signals. On nights and mornings with halfway decent conditions usually there are enough readable and semi-readable signals, where I will tune back to those semi-readable channels so I can see if there really is something to ID.
It doesn't take a lot of signal to have enough readable audio to ID, or at least tentatively ID a signal. This is especially true with DSP chips, which have a unique way of resolving weak signals compared to regular, analog IF chipped radios. The DSP manages to pull out the audio from the background noise in a way that even my good analog radios (like my Realistic DX-398, for example) have more difficulty in doing. My DX-398, for example, might pull in a signal better than my Grundig G2 (which has DSP), but the G2 often resolves the broadcast a little more clearly.
With my Grundig G2 I've IDed stations with S0.5 to S1.5 signals -- all it takes is a few words to ID the language, and you're at least halfway there. Sometimes a station or country ID will appear, if you listen long enough. Some stations you can reasonably ID, or partially ID, through the music they play. If they're playing Middle Eastern sounding music, for example, chances are high they are a Mideastern station or a station broadcasting to the Mideast.
LEARN TO ID LANGUAGES -- A GREAT DX HELP
This leads to another key point: Being able to ID a language.
You don't have to know the languages to ID them. You just have to be able to ID certain sounds or words.
I can ID a lot of languages. I don't actually know the languages, but they have certain sounds that make them easy enough to ID. I can ID Spanish (which I do know a little) and Portuguese. I can ID French (many probably can, as it has a distinct sound). I can often ID the Hindustani family of languages (Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, etc.), because they often have certain sounds that are particular to them, and many have the word "hai" or "ho" at the end of sentences because that is the word for "is" in English.
I can ID Russian (I know a tiny bit of Russian), Japanese (a lot of "-mashta" word endings), and most of the time I can ID Korean (a lot of "-mnida" word endings). Sometimes fast Korean throws me off, and I mistake it for Japanese. It just makes me listen more closely.
I can ID Viet and Malay at least most of the time. I can't ID particular African languages, but I can tell if a language is West African because of their sounds. Arabic is the same way -- it has certain sounds, but I still get thrown off sometimes when I hear it. I sometimes mistake Arabic for Amharic or Swahili, and sometimes I mistake it for Hausa. But I at least can get into the ballpark.
I'm still working on IDing some languages -- the Central Asian family of languages, like Iranian (Farsi) and Dari (spoken in Afghanistan) and similar ones really throw me off. And Turkish is sometimes difficult for me to ID. Sometimes one of the announcers may be speaking more in an accent or dialect than another announcer.
The point is, if you are listening closely to the languages while hearing a station, you can learn to ID the actual language, even if you do not understand it. This can really help in telling you what station you are hearing on Shortwave.
This also makes the foreign language station a bit more interesting. Sure, you don't understand what's being said. But you're still actively listening -- trying to determine the language, to help you ID the station.
Well, lecture over. Time to post a few loggings -- examples of what can be heard in Western WA state, when you live in a valley.
A printscreen from my phone which I pulled up when I last IDed KGB-AM, San Diego, 760 kHz, which used to be a news-talk station, but switched to sports talk late last year. KGB-AM used to be KFMB, but was bought during a major station shuffle in San Diego in 2020.
RECENT SHORTWAVE CONDITIONS: FAIR TO MEDIOCRE
Generally, the MW and SW conditions over the past two to three months have been up and down, as they were in August and September 2022. Overall, they seem to be gradually improving -- but that isn't really saying much. The big plus for Shortwave right now is that the higher bands -- 15 Meters, 12 Meters, and 11 Meter CB have started to deliver some long distance signals from time to time, which is nice. The lower SW bands and MW are more or less where they were all year -- fair to middlin', as they say here in the US. Here in the northern latitudes of the US, conditions are a bit worse than the southern US or the East Coast (which is much closer to many SW target areas).
But SW conditions are generally better than they were in 2021, and more often than not it has been far better than it was late 2016-2021, that's for sure. Conditions seemed to rise in October, and then dive during most of November, which was peculiar, as Winter is usually a good time for the 31, 41, and 49 Meter SW bands. Conditions stayed mostly mediocre through early January, with many nights where WWV 10 MHz was inaudible, something I never noticed until the most recent Solar Cycle dive in late 2016.
So far, Solar Cycle 25 has turned out to be a DUD when compared to Solar Cycle 24, when -- at least at this stage in the cycle -- I was hearing a lot more activity on both the MW and SW bands. Eleven years ago I was hearing stronger signals in both bands.
As can probably be seen from most of my SW loggings, I hear a lot of stuff from Asia. I call it the morning "Asia Pipeline", because the SW signals only have the Pacific Ocean to cross to get to the PNW. I first noticed this a couple decades ago, and it still is the case now.
There have been a few mornings where the SW conditions to Asia were very good during the early morning hours. On the morning of November 24th, 2022 I heard what I think was China's CNR-11 (their Tibetan service) broadcasting soft ballad style music. The reason I think it was CNR-11 was because of the 100 KW signal, and the transmitter location (north central China). Even though they were beamed away from me, the 100 Kilowatts of power would probably have been enough to send a signal from the back side of the antenna array across the Pacific.
I have that station listed below as UNID or Tentative, but either way, I'm certain it was one of China's domestic outlets, and I've never heard CNR-11 before.
It's an example of what the "Asia Pipeline" can deliver to us here in the PNW.
As October progressed into November and December, the SW and MW conditions got worse. Normally, you would think that a new Solar Cycle would give you better MW and SW conditions, especially in the lower bands during the Winter, but this wasn't necessarily the case.
Even so, there were some interesting catches on SW, and some interesting things to hear on MW as well.
Now, onto the loggings.:
SHORTWAVE -- SOME SURPRISES HERE AND THERE.
9770 kHz -- 0435 UTC -- Voice Of Turkey, TURKEY -- (Turkish) -- SIO 454FF -- I tuned my G2 into a choppy, Polar sounding signal -- as most signals that make it over the Polar region seem to either be watery, choppy, and/or with a lot of fast fading. There was a man talking in a non-English language -- and it wasn't German, French, Spanish, Russian, or any Asian language I could recognize. I wasn't sure if it sounded Arabic or South Asian -- the signal was too choppy to read the language clearly. Around 0438 there was a soundbite that sounded Turkish, though, with the Turkish ü and ö sounds. I'd heard Turkish before, lots of times in the 1990s, but not much since then. Being that the EiBi and other listings posted this as being the Voice Of Turkey in this time slot, I had to ID the language to feel good about listing it as a definite VOT logging. The next evening, around 0424 UTC on the same channel, I heard the Turkish language spoken more clearly, along with musical interludes of what was obviously Turkish music. That night the signal was around SIO 3-454 with less fading. This service of the Voice of Turkey is beamed at Central Europe -- Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands primarily. These loggings of VOT were unexpected, as I hadn't heard the VOT in years. And the first night I logged VOT, the SW conditions were actually not very good -- Just US domestics, Rebelde on 5025, and CRI beaming up from Cuba on 9790 kHz. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + wire antenna through field effect) 6 and 7 October 2022
Although these two loggings were in early October, I actually mentioned them previously in my August-September logbook listing here on the blog.
9410 kHz -- 0506 UTC -- BBC, UK / Vatican State -- (English) -- SIO 1-253FF -- There was sedate sounding talk by a man in English, in a UK accent here, discussing Ukraine gaining some ground in the war there. The reception was a bit choppy, but just enough words and phrases were legible to ID the language. There was a little slapback echo on the signal -- an effect that has always intrigued me: is it from propagation alone, or is it from the signal going short path and long path? I have no idea. Around 0512 UTC the man said "...from BBC World Service..." which was a welcome, definite ID. This broadcast is apparently to West Africa beamed from the Vatican's SW transmitters. This logging was on an evening when nothing much else was on 31 meters except the US domestic broadcasters and a slight trace of Voz Missionaria which comes up from Brazil on 9665. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 9 October 2022
6125 kHz -- 1057 UTC -- CNR-1, CHINA -- (Chinese) -- SIO 252-3FF -- Often CNR-1, China's primary national radio network, is a booming signal here in the PNW, but on this occasion is wasn't as loud as normal. In the 2010's I'd hear it local strength, all up and down the 49 and 41 Meter SW bands, usually with an announcer talking softly over a long, easy listening piano piece. He sounded like an overnight DJ. In fact, CNR-1 was so dominant on the 49 and 41 Meter bands that when I first got my Grundig G2 in 2014 I walked out front of my house, listening to the radio on headphones, and CNR-1 was repeated up and down both of those bands. But that was 10 years ago. Now CNR-1 sounds like a slickly produced, well modulated national broadcaster, although -- due to the varying propagation -- it's mostly weaker than it used to be. This particular morning, I heard a woman and man talking in Chinese over a soft music bed, then there were a series of quick announcements before I tuned out. There weren't any other CNR-1 outlets on 49 Meters this a.m., at least that I heard, anyway. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 10 October 2022
6155 kHz -- 1059 UTC -- tt CNR-2, China Business Radio, CHINA -- (Chinese) -- SIO 151 -- There was definite Chinese being spoken here, and the programming sounded slickly produced like CNR-1, but it wasn't // to CNR-1, so it was obviously a different, official Chinese national radio outlet. EiBi says this is CNR-2, China Business Radio. (Grundig G2, Whip antenna) 10 October 2022
5995 kHz -- 1121 UTC -- tt Echo Of Hope, KOREA -- (Korean) -- SIO 1-242F -- This was a interesting catch. At first the reception was mediocre. I could hear a man speaking what obviously was an Asian language. I just wasn't sure which one. It didn't have Chinese tones and sounds, and it didn't have the multi-syllable nature of Japanese. But it also wasn't clearly Korean -- there was just a bit too much fading for an S2 signal. Around 1125 UTC a woman started talking and it sounded more like Korean. Then there was a short bit of pop-rock with English lyrics... "Come Alive" (No, not the rock song by Engines of Aggression). Then a man and woman were talking, with sound effects interspersed, almost like some sort of game show. Then the signal began to strengthen slightly, and it turned out to be an English lesson.: "Can I see your passport, please?" "Sure!" Echo Of Hope is the only station in Korean scheduled on this frequency at this time slot. Being that I didn't hear the Korean language clearly enough to ID it without a doubt, I'm marking this as a tentative. (Grundig G2, whip antenna; Realistic DX-375, 25 ft/10m wire) 10 October 2022.
5025 kHz -- 1116 UTC -- tt Radio Rebelde, CUBA -- (Spanish) -- SIO 1-252F -- As I noted in my last Shortwave Logbook blog entry at the start of October, Cuba's long term 60 Meter Band mainstay Radio Rebelde has been off the air, and many think it might be due to Hurricane Ian. The morning of the 10th I happened to tune in to 5025 and I heard a man talking in Spanish. It sounded like he was reading the news. I don't know if this was Rebelde or another Cuban station using the frequency instead, although it was probably Rebelde. On the morning of the 11th of October the frequency was nothing but static again. In fact, every evening or midnight after the 11th I found the same on 5025: static. One early morning (11/9/22) I checked 5025, around 1425 UTC, it was also nothing but static. So, at this time it is not really clear whether Rebelde is back again for good. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 10 October 2022
6100 kHz -- 1207 UTC -- China Radio International, CHINA -- (Russian) -- SIO353F -- I tuned in to the sound of Chinese sounding flute and a high, Chinese sounding violin. Then a man spoke in excellent sounding Russian, with words like "Kitai" (Russian for 'China'), "Segodnya" ('today'), "programma Kitaiskaya" (Chinese program) etc.. Later on a woman also spoke, and her Russian seemed to have an accent. They were talking over a music bed that sounded similar to what you hear on Firedrake. This obviously was CRI in Russian to Siberia, which is what is says on the SW lists. (Grundig G2, full whip antenna; Realistic DX-375, 25 ft. indoor wire) 10 October 2022
9440 kHz -- 1604 UTC -- NHK Radio Japan, JAPAN -- (Urdu) -- SIO 243-2F -- I tuned into a man talking in what sounded like a Hindustani language, with sentences ending in "hai", the Hindustani word for "is". There was some QRM (very slight splash) from an adjacent channel. These DSP radios (like my Grundig G2) are awesome for reducing adjacent channel splatter and splash. At around 1610 UTC I heard a man and a woman, both speaking the Hindustani language, along with some clavichord or xylophone bits. it almost sounded like language lessons, but with the fading and weak signals it was hard to really tell. NHK is scheduled to broadcast in Urdu to the Indian Subcontinent at this timeslot and frequency. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 10 October 2022
7200 kHz -- 1218 UTC -- National Unity Station, S. KOREA / TAIWAN -- (Korean) -- SIO3-454, some F -- There was a man talking in Korean, then two women speaking Korean very quickly, with a few "-mnida" word endings (the polite form of Korean). This was apparently the South Korean National Unity Station broadcasting to North Korea from Taiwan. (Realistic DX-375, 25 ft. indoor wire) 10 October 2022
9435 kHz -- 1605-1617 UTC -- Voice of Korea, NORTH KOREA -- (German!) -- SIO3-453-4F -- I tuned into the trademarked North Korean symphonic band and chorale, a music type that is typical to North Korea, and hardly ever broadcast by any other radio station in the world. Then a woman spoke, but I couldn't ID the language, and she just gave a short phrase -- probably the name of the next track. Then there was more symphonic / chorale music. EiBi says this was N. Korea in French to North Africa. A few minutes later I heard what was clearly German being spoken: "politik", "arbeide", and "partei", "gemeinshaft", "Bodensee", "Luftwaffe", etc. The German was spoken in a very good accent. This obviously was North Korea's broadcast to the EU in German. Very cool to hear, as there isn't much German language spoken on the SW bands these days! (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 10 October 2022
5985 kHz -- 1136-1153 UTC- Radio Myanmar, BURMA -- (Burmese) - SIO2-352-3F -- This was a tough station to even try to ID, as I'd never heard the Burmese language before -- and IDing languages is almost necessary to ID a station on the Shortwaves anymore. The language, of course, was nearly impossible for me to decipher, but it definitely sounded Asian, different from Chinese, and also different from Vietnamese as well. The music told me the broadcast was coming from somewhere in Asia. The station played a track that had Chinese sounding folk instruments playing in a cycle continuously, with percussion that sounded like what you hear on Firedrake (the famous Chinese jammer station that plays Chinese opera music), and a woman wailing out a folk song that sounded like some Japanese folk singers I've heard on SW in the past. Very much a bizarre mix to these American ears. It turns out this was Radio Myanmar, from Burma. The reception was weak, with 4-5 fast, shallow fades a second. EiBi lists this as Burma, and considering the sound of the language and the music, I am quite certain that this is the station I heard. As this was the morning of my birthday, it was very cool to catch this station. I switched radios to see if another radio -- along with the wire antenna -- would bring it in better. By then the station went OFF the air. (Grundig G2, full whip, + wire antenna) 10 October 2022
9990 kHz -- 1524 UTC -- tt Radio Free Asia, US, MARIANAS -- (Korean) -- SIO353F -- There were two or three different mean speaking Korean (lots of "-mnida" word endings), but they seemed to have different accents or perhaps different dialects of Korean. Listed as Radio Free Asia from the Marianas to Korea... I marked it as tentative as I didn't hear any other ID'ing characteristics. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 13 October 2022
9990 kHz -- 1336 UTC -- Radio Free Asia, US, MARIANAS -- (Burmese) -- SIO252F -- I heard speech in an Asian language I really couldn't ID, and a mention of Joe Biden. The signal was variable, with 3-4 fades a second. I tried two other radios -- my DX-375 and RF-B45 -- and really couldn't hear the station any better, at least not enough to truly ID the language used. Radio Free Asia is listed here in Burmese, broadcast from the Marianas Islands. When I retuned to this frequency at 1359 UTC, I heard "Radio Free Asia" by a man, obviously spoken in English. I also heard "This is Radio Free Asia. This program is in Burmese." Then there was some music that almost sounded Indonesian, and a woman talking in a language that sounded like Hmong or Viet, with clearer consonants. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 14 October 2022
9900 kHz -- 1349 UTC -- Radio Free Asia, US, TAIWAN -- (Korean) -- SIO454 -- I heard what sounded like 1990's era hip-hop, sung in English ("here's the place to be..."), with fades about 1-2 per second. Then a woman spoke in Korean, over the sound of a hammer dulcimer. Then there was a girl singing over the sounds of the hammer dulcimer in an UNID Asian language -- probably Korean? The scale in which she was singing sounded Celtic. Then later on I heard some guys singing in unison, over a guitar line that reminded me of Blind Melon. Very eclectic mix of music on Radio Free Asia this particular morning. At 1355 I heard a woman mention "RFA" several times, and then the station went OFF abruptly. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 14 October 2022
9950 kHz -- 1404 UTC -- AIR India, INDIA -- (Dari) -- SIO252FF -- This station had almost a Polar flutter to it, with definite fast fading. I tuned into what sounded like chanting in a South Asian or Mideastern musical scale, accompanied by a violin playing in the same scale. Then a man spoke for a while. Then there was some music that sounded like the South Asian hip-hop that you can hear on KVRI and other Punjabi stations in the US. Then a woman spoke. I couldn't really decipher the language. It sounded similar to some South Asian languages, but it wasn't one I was familiar with. This is listed as AIR India's transmission to Afghanistan in Dari, one of Afghanistan's major languages. Within 10 more minutes the signal of this station degraded to the point I couldn't really hear it well at all, going from a reasonably strong, fadey S2 to a grainy S1. That's how quickly conditions can change on the SW bands. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + wire) 14 October 2022
9740 Khz -- 1414 UTC -- China Radio Int'l, Jinhua CHINA -- (Sinhalese) -- SIO252-3 -- A woman was talking here, in what sounded like a language from the Indian Subcontinent, although I couldn't really ID the language by any of its characteristic -- it just sounded similar enough to the South Asian languages I've heard before. The woman spoke with a lilt in her voice and sounded like a friendly person. Then there was an EZ pop ballad sung by a guy in possible Chinese, with piano being the main backing instrument. After that, I heard what sounded like a Chinese language lesson, followed by more talk in what sounded like a South Asian language. This is listed as CRI to Sri Lanka in Sinhalese -- Sinhalese is one of the Hindustani family of languages. (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 15 October 2022
9735 Khz -- 1428 UTC -- Radio Taiwan Int'l, TAIWAN -- (Bahasa Indonesia) -- SIO2-343 -- Fast speech in an UNID SE Asian language by a man. The language sounded like Malay, but I couldn't hear it clearly enough to definitely ID the Language. The talk was extremely fast, and there was some splash from the next channel. Then a woman started talking, mentioning "America", and her speech sounded closer to Tagalog or Malay -- two languages that are related to Bahasa Indonesia. This was Radio Taiwan International broadcasting to Indonesia in the Indonesian language (officially called 'Bahasa Indonesia'). (Grundig G2, whip antenna) 15 October 2022
9770 kHz --2146 UTC -- Voice Of Turkey -- (Turkish) -- SIO353FF -- I tuned in to a woman talking in non-English, followed by a jingle that sounded like something out of the 1970s. Then there was talking by a man, which didn't sound to me like Turkish, but then I'm no an expert in IDing that language, and there was a lot of fast fading. After another jingle, a woman was talking and that sounded more like Turkish. Around 2153 the woman kept talking, and it had a lot of Turkish sounds. An hour later they played some Turkish sounding folk music, with guitar in a minor key. According to the lists, this broadcast is aimed at Turkish immigrants and native speakers in Central Europe. (Grundig G2, whip antenna, 16 October 2022)
9960 kHz -- 1033 UTC -- Radyo Pilipinas -- (Tagalog) -- SIO-151-2FF -- I tuned in to what sounded like pop music, with what sounded like singing in an Asian language, which sounded similar to Malay or Tagalog, both of them languages I don't ID easily. Then a man started talking: "...Philippine Broadcast Station...Radyo Pilipinas...Voice of the Philippines... from Manila..." As I listened, the signal increased to SIO1-252FF -- fast fading, maybe 3-4 fades per second. EiBi lists this broadcast as serving Filipino workers in the Middle East. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + 25 ft. wire, 17 October 2022)
9770 kHz -- 1053 UTC -- China Radio International, Shaanxi, CHINA -- (Cantonese) -- SIO-252-3 -- I tuned in to hear music sung in what sounded like an Asian language, along with a woman speaking Chinese during a fade up. EiBi lists this as CRI in Cantonese to South Africa, from Xian, Shaanxi, in north central China. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + 25 ft. wire, 17 October 2022)
9765 kHz -- 1104 UTC -- China Radio International, Hebei, CHINA -- (Russian) -- SIO-253F -- Here I heard pentatonic scale, Chinese flute music, and a man speaking Russian, using words like Segodnya ("today") and Radistye (not sure what that word means -- it might mean "happiness"). EiBi lists this Russian broadcast as serving European Russia, transmitted from Hebei, China. It's fascinating keeping track of all the transmitter locations in China, and hearing them. In this case, the signal was going the opposite direction from my location. I've heard CRI transmitters in Kashgar, Beijing, Shaanxi, Hebei, and Yunnan so far. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + 25 ft. wire, 17 October 2022)
12025 kHz -- 1128 UTC -- BBC, UK, SINGAPORE -- (English) -- SIO252-3F -- I tuned in to some pop music, followed by talk in what appeared to be UK accented English, with talk about a Korean pop star who played London and New York, who also had a big hit in the U.S. Later on, a woman, speaking in a definite UK accent, said "...Here, on the BBC World Service." At the bottom of the hour a woman read the news, mentioning Ukraine, Biden and Congress, and also mentioning "BBC News". The signal increased to SIO-353, but the fading got a bit choppy, making the broadcast hard to read. EiBi says this BBC broadcast in English was to the Middle East from Kranji, Singapore. I heard this same broadcast several days later, during an earlier timeslot, where Brexit was discussed. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + 25 ft. wire, 17 October 2022)
12015 kHz -- 1001 UTC -- China Radio International, CHINA -- (English) -- SIO251-2 -- I heard talk in English here, that sounded a lot like the "Beijing Hour" that one can hear on the Shortwaves from time to time. The signal sounded like a Polar signal -- fast fading. There was mention during the newscast about a Missouri school that was closed due to the discovery of radiation from a World War Two nuclear lab or production plant. The signal was rather choppy -- usually the way a Polar route signal sounds here on SW. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + 25 ft. wire, 20 October 2022)
11735 kHz -- 1025 UTC -- BBC, UK, Singapore -- (Dari) -- SIO-252-3F -- I tuned in to a woman speaking in a non-English language with a lot of 'ah' sounds. It sounded Asian, but not Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Viet, Malay, or any similar language. It didn't necessarily sound South Asian, either. It turned out it was Dari, a language spoken in Afghanistan, a language I can't ID very well, if at all. I heard a mention of the "BBC", the chimes of Big Ben, and a UK accented English soundbite. EiBi says this is the BBC to Afghanistan in Dari, from Kranji, Singapore. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + 25 ft. wire, 20 October 2022)
11855 kHz -- 1533 UTC -- China Radio International, CHINA -- (Spanish?) -- SIO-151-2FF -- I heard what sounded like Middle Eastern music, with a singer backed by minor key strings and orchestra. The woman sounded like a Mediterranean style torch singer. Later I heard the words "estacion" and "historia". EiBi says this is CRI's service in Spanish to Southern Europe. (Grundig G2, whip antenna + 25 ft. wire, 22 October 2022)
5910 kHz -- 0331 UTC -- China Radio Int'l, China / CUBA -- (English) -- SIO354F -- I tuned in to hear talk in US accented English, by a man and a woman, who were talking against what they believed was US, anti-Chinese propaganda concerning the government of China and the acceptance of religious practice in China. The woman said she had attended a Catholic service in China in Beijing (or another major city) and the meeting was packed. There is more religious expression allowed in China than thought, she said. Later, the woman and man talked about how China is the largest, stable, peaceful country, and it has been "peaceful for half a century". They stated that the US idea that "China is a threat is a lie". The man also said that the reports of imprisonment of Uighurs in Western China (in Sinkiang) is propaganda. They mentioned that the governments of China and Singapore are the two most trusted governments in the world. I've heard a few CRI broadcasts over the years, by US and UK accented announcers, but never heard this sort of talk on CRI before.
The broadcast was strong and clear, increasing from SIO354 to SIO454. Obviously it was from transmitters in Cuba, which were working well at this time. (Realistic DX-390, 25 ft. wire, Nov. 22nd, 2022)
5900 kHz -- 1113 UTC -- UNID, Korean Language -- (Korean) -- SIO454 -- This station is a mystery, but being that there are a lot of "clandestine" broadcasters in Asia, it's probable that this station was one of several broadcasters aiming their signal at North Korea. The signal was strong enough that it was probably aimed at Korea from the south (sending it over the northern Arctic to the PNW US where I live), possibly from Taiwan, where a lot of Korean broadcasters seem to transmit from. The talk was somewhat accented (clipped consonants, not standard in the Korean I've heard) and they were playing soft pop music sung by a woman at 1126 UTC. (Radio Shack 200629 + wire; Grundig G2 + whip, November 25th, 2022)
5955 kHz -- 1202 UTC -- China Radio Int'l -- (English) -- SIO151-2 -- I tuned in to hear a man talking in English, with weak but readable signals, with mentions of news items in a sedate, TV presenter style with US accents, not unlike CRI's English programs. There were mentions of "higher risks", "Australia", "problems" and business and economic models, along with some dramatic style news music, before more talk in English. According to EiBi, this was CRI's program in English to the Far East -- 6 hours' worth. (Radio Shack 200629 + wire; Grundig G2 + whip, November 25th, 2022)
My new Tecsun PL-398MP, and a pic of it taken on Christmas Eve, 2022.
I also have some of my first loggings on my new Tecsun radio, a Tecsun PL-398MP, which was delivered to me on December 12th:
11720 kHz -- 2120 UTC -- VOA Voice Of America, USA -- (English) -- SIO3-454 -- I tuned in to hear a song called "Can't Help It" which sounded like Michael Jackson. The music had a lot of Fender Rhodes piano and jazz chords. There were deep fades every 2-3 seconds. A female announcer said it was Soul Lounge, and a soul music spotlight on Michael Jackson, featuring stuff from his Off The Wall era, before the Thriller album came out. VOA's service in English to West Africa comes in well to the PNW, whether it is transmitted from Botswana or Greenville. In this case, it was Greenville, NC. (Tecsun PL-398MP + whip; December 12th, 2022)
11640 kHz -- 2129 UTC -- China Radio Int'l, China / MALI -- (English) --SIO-151-2 -- I tuned in to hear what sounded like English speech patterns and intonation, and then identified several English words, including "world" and "2008". EiBi lists this as CRI's broadcast to Africa in English, from their transmitter in Mali. (Tecsun PL-398MP + whip; December 12th, 2022)
11825 kHz -- 2332 UTC -- BBC World Service, UK / PHILIPPINES -- (English) -- SIO-251-2F -- Here I heard a sedate sounding woman reading news in English. The signal was a little grainy, but mostly readable. There was mention of a "former ambassador" and an ID as "BBC World Service" around 2333 or 2334 UTC. This is listed as the BBC's English service to Indonesia from transmitters in the Philippines. (Tecsun PL-398MP + whip; December 15th, 2022)
9470 kHz -- 0021 UTC -- China Radio Int'l, CHINA -- (Mongolian) -- SIO-2-353FF -- I tuned into a signal with Polar flutter, and a man was talking in a language that I couldn't quickly identify. It sounded similar to Korean, but there were no "-mnida" word endings, and the language had sharper consonant sounds... "Ho... chip... chuk... ho... chip... sahm... xu..." I had to resort to the EiBi list to ID this station, which was China Radio International's broadcast in Mongolian to Mongolia, from Xian, Shaanxi Province. (Tecsun PL-398MP + whip; December 16th, 2022)
15120 kHz -- 2138 UTC -- VOA Voice Of America, US / Ascension Is. -- (Bambara) -- SIO353-4 -- This is another case where I heard a language that really threw me off. There was no way I could ID it. The woman was speaking in a language that was definitely not English. It sounded a little like Arabic, but different. Then there was a sound of an oud-type of stringed instrument, or perhaps a guitar, playing in a Middle Eastern sounding musical scale. Then a man began talking and his speech sounded more African. Then there was a man being interviewed by another man, with sounds like "Ana me bar kala nu eh aleh kalaka bo la-eh..." There was no way to actually ID it. Around 2146 UTC a woman gave contact info, which included a mention of "Washington" and "Bamako". EiBi lists this as VOA's service in Bambara, a language spoken in Mali, in Africa. The transmitter is on Ascension Island. It was my first catch of this broadcast to Mali. I've heard a lot of VOA over the years, but hadn't heard the Bambara language before. (Tecsun PL-398MP + whip; December 16th, 2022)
11720 kHz -- 2134 UTC -- VOA Voice Of America, USA -- (English) -- SIO-354 -- Once again I heard VOA's English service to Africa, and when I hear them during this hour they are always playing pop or hip-hop music. This time it was an autotuned rap-pop song where a guy was singing "I would die for you / I would cry for you" followed by a rap song where a guy was saying "Up in the crib... Get out of this party, who can listen to this.. Sit on my lap, baby..." The signal had good quality audio on my Tecsun this Christmas Eve afternoon.
During that evening I mainly DXed the AM band. (Tecsun PL-398MP + whip; December 24th, 2022)
I heard quite a few other cool SW broadcasts later in the month, but I decided to keep this short, because the blog post is already pretty long. The new Tecsun PL-398 turned out to be a really good SW radio, even right off the whip! And it's good on MW and FM, too. I will have a blog posting on this radio up on the blog very soon.
AND THAT'S IT FOR SHORTWAVE, FOR NOW
That's it for my Shortwave Loggings. I have a few more decent catches that I heard over the month of December, but I have put off finishing this particular blog post I decided to post it as is. Any exceptional ones from December I'll include in my next installment, which I hope to post on my blog in May, which will cover January through April.
I had at least one good MW DX Logging (KTRB, San Francisco, 860 kHz) on my trusty Sony ICF-38, which is a good DX radio, and sounds great through its speaker or through headphones (although you need a mono to stereo adapter).
AND SEVERAL SURPRISES ON MEDIUM WAVE (The AM Band)
1450 kHz -- 0300 PST -- KBFI, Bonners Ferry, IDAHO -- (English) -- S3-S4 -- I switched on my Optimus 12-603 and tuned to this 'graveyard' channel to hear a commercial for Knudsen Chevrolet, a business in the region since 1939, just minutes west of Coeur D' Alene (the biggest city in Northern Idaho, where Bonners Ferry also is located, in the upper Idaho Panhandle). This was my second ever logging of the station, both times on my Optimus 12-603. (Optimus 12-603, Select-A-Tenna, 16 October 2022)
860 kHz -- 1:30-4:30+ a.m., PST -- KTRB, San Francisco, CALIFORNIA -- (English) -- SIO 1-344 -- I tuned my Sangean PR-D5 to 860 while I was on the internet overnight, and I thought I was listening to Portland's KPAM, which usually dominates this frequency at night, but instead I heard a slew of commercials for California businesses, including one in Dublin and Sacramento, California. Obviously, it was KTRB. As KTRB and KPAM have similar programming, sometimes it's easy to get fooled. But all through the early a.m. KTRB was on top of the channel. Being that SW was dead, dead, dead (even WWV on 10 Mhz was completely missing) I think we had some Auroral conditions, where the radio Auroral zone blanks out northern radio signals, allowing signals from the South to dominate. After hearing this on my PR-D5, I grabbed my Sony ICF-38, and KTRB was coming in at almost the same level. The ICF-38 is an amazing little radio. (Sangean PR-D5, Sony ICF-38) November 6th, 2022
760 kHz -- 12:28 a.m. PST -- KGB-AM, San Diego, CALIFORNIA -- (English) -- SIO 1-222 -- I often tune to 760 to see if San Diego is audible. The station used to be conservative talker KFMB, but when KFMB was traded or bought by another radio company they changed the call letters to KGB-AM (actually just KGB, but San Diego also has an FM rocker KGB. For about a year KGB continued KFMB's conservative talk format, and overnights they always had the Red Eye Radio program. But obviously they changed to Sports Talk, because that's what I heard earlier this morning... with a guy talking about the NFL season, and mentioning the "Philadelphia Eagles ... NFC East..." (an NFL football conference), the "Minnesota Vikings", and "the Falcons" (Atlanta's NFL team). Overnights KGB apparently runs Fox Sports. I guess during the day they run other sports talk programs. I used my phone to double check and see if they'd changed formats. They have. The printscreen pic is posted elsewhere in this blog post. Usually KGB is hard to hear, because there is a local station on 770 kHz, and another strong Portland, OR station on 750 kHz, and 760 is often buried in splash. This night I had to tune my RF-B45 a little to the left, and peak the crate loop, and it was easier to hear KGB that way. (Panasonic RF-B45, 1 ft. crate loop) November 6th, 2022
UNTIL NEXT TIME....
Well, that's about it for this installment. I already have a few loggings from late December and January to add to February and March loggings, which I will add to my next installment, which will be in late May, God willing. I think my next listing will be a lot shorter. This one was a little too extensive.
I hope this blog post finds all of you out there doing well. Some kind thoughts and prayers for my cat would be appreciated. She wasn't eating for a while in December, during a time I was working a lot and didn't notice until early January that she had lost some weight. You normally think your cat is going to eat all the time, right? Because they have instincts, right?
Well, that isn't always the case. Cats are particular, and if they are 'affection eaters', you really have to keep track of their eating. Squeakers only wanted to eat when I was watching her eat. As I said in my last regular blog post, I took her to the vet and her blood work is fine. But the vet was concerned about her losing weight.
I also took her to the vet a second time, after Easter, because she stopped eating again. The vet gave me a couple medicines to help my kitty eat and feel better. She had a minor infection. She is eating more now, and acting normal, and seems to be gaining weight. So far, so good.
Until next time, my friends,
PEACE.
C.C., January 20th, February 10th, March 25th and April 30th, 2023
Added a few December SW loggings on May 5th and May 6th.
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