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I finally got a shortwave radio

This morning I found a Canadian station on 6070 loud and clear - rebroadcasting CFRB/1010 in Toronto. I wondered when they started doing that and found the answer: 1937! :D
 
This may be OT but if you fellows want a compact pocket
SW radio then here it is:

http://universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/0331.html

This set is/has been known as the GP4L,Kaito 202L,and
"embassy radio" since the State Dept. buys a lot of them.
It is a favorite of the survivalist/backpacking crowd.

Review is here:

http://radiointel.net/radio-receiver-reviews-info/gp4/

As the man says,don't expect DX on the AM band;the internal
ant is only about an inch and a half long.Mine will do the Cuban
on 530 when conditions permit,just barely-sometimes.
No stereo on FM but headphone leads act as antenna.

But it does SW pretty well,much better than the other analog/digital
readout types (like the Grundig Mini 400) and it fits in your
pocket.Runs forever on a set of AA's,not AAA's,too.
 
I've just happened to run across an old 'friend'. Radio Farda, which has been my furthest MW catch on 1575, is currently running parallel on 5850 KHz. Not sure of the Tx site, but a daily 3 hour block of Radio Farda programming broadcasts on 5850, from 11pm to 2am 'local time' (UTC +3). Other SW frequencies are used through out the day.

http://www.rferl.org/howtolisten/FRD/ondemand.html

~BG
 
There's something else I've been searching and searching for and can't even begin to find it.

That would be an exclusive list of shortwave stations only in the US and possibly Canada too. Knowing the broadcast times as well would help.

Does such a thing exist?
 
gar fla said:
There's something else I've been searching and searching for and can't even begin to find it.

That would be an exclusive list of shortwave stations only in the US and possibly Canada too. Knowing the broadcast times as well would help.

Does such a thing exist?
Click to expand...

sure you could filter on transmit site. Sackville is the big one, but Bonaire is pretty close too

besides the bible belters out of 'tennesee or so

personally im a fan of hfskeds.com schedules, ive turned them into webpages

nine teen metros
 
Things have been kind of quiet on the MW band, so I've been warming up with an old favourite.

Rádio Nacional da Amazônia (Brasil) on 11780 kHz has been coming in well, running between 4pm & 11pm EST.

Local music, call ins and their infamous reverb on the mic. :D

~BG
 
You're right!

After reading your post, I got out my Grundig G8 and there it was.

And I thought that part of the SW band was more for day reception than night.

After first getting my little Grundig G8 in October and discovering shortwave again after 30 years, I haven't listened after much at all after that.

Anyone know any other good suggestions for SW listening?
 
kilokat7 said:
WWRB is testing right now on 2390 khz, typical religious mumbo-jumbo with live test announcements thrown in soliciting reception reports through their website, www.wwrb.org
Click to expand...

I've always wondered how these stations are getting away with using the tropical bands (not authorized for broadcast use in the US) and other frequencies just outside the shortwave broadcast bands. Is the FCC licensing them as Fixed Service stations? Or has the shortwave spectrum become so unused outside of the broadcast and ham bands that it doesn't matter what services uses it anymore?

And if "Radio Biblebanger" can get away with it, why can't a WGN or KFI have a shortwave relay, similar to what a few AM stations had in the 1930s? TBN set kind of a precedent there with a shortwave relay of their TV audio, which I believe is off the air now.
 
KeithE4 said:
And if "Radio Biblebanger" can get away with it, why can't a WGN or KFI have a shortwave relay, similar to what a few AM stations had in the 1930s? TBN set kind of a precedent there with a shortwave relay of their TV audio, which I believe is off the air now.
Click to expand...

KTBN went off the air in March 2008:

http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/2008/03/last-days-of-ktbn-on-shortwave-radio.html

I'm pretty sure it was dismantled and nothing directly followed it, though the equipment probably ended up at other SW stations over the years.

KTBN was the successor to commercial SW station KUSW, and TBN bought the station in 1990:

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...page=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
 
gar fla said:
You're right!

Anyone know any other good suggestions for SW listening?
Click to expand...

A lot of the national broadcasters have left the SW band over the years, but there's still some interesting ones out there. As mentioned earlier, MW seems to be on a downward swing, so I'll see what I can dig up on SW.

A curious one for me the other day, was Chinese programming on 11945 kHz. I knew it wasn't CRI, because of the style and manner of the presentations. I first I thought it may actually have been a relay of late night Chinese TV broadcasting, because it sounded an awful lot like those over-night '1-800' sales pitch programs they have over there. However, according to one of the online data bases out there, it was Radio Free Asia, broadcasting from Dushanbe-Yangiyul, Tajikistan. ;D

~BG
 
gar fla said:
It you want to ID a mystery shortwave station, here's the place to go.


http://hfradio.org/swbc/
Click to expand...

That's a good one, thanks! Here's one I've found recently (Too bad it doesn't cover MW, as FMSCAN.org has been so buggy lately.) ~> http://www.short-wave.info/?freq=11945

Note how, even if you're looking for a particular broadcaster, it covers everything 10 kHz either side of the frequency requested and highlights in red, those which are broadcasting real time. Kinda handy!

~BG
 
Some interesting catches, which can be found this morning, between 8 & 9am EST.

Radio Australia, coming in very well on 6020 kHz (although not beamed at North America).

Several weak signals on 6040. One of which is a probable, being VOA's Mandarin program, broadcasting from Udon Thani, Thailand.

Lots of others, just below the audible threshold, but I've gotta get out and about this morning!

~BG
 
For a touch of the exotic, China National Radio - First Program (CNR 1), is coming well over 11750 kHz, transmitting from Shijiazhuang. This is a relay of one of China's 10 domestic services, normally found on MW & FM through out China. This particular SW transmission, runs from 2200 to 0600 UTC.

These are the kind which I find interesting, because they are meant for domestic consumption, yet we're able to listen in. Before the advent of streaming on-line, SW broadcasters like this were our only audible window on the world.

~bg
 
After reading your post, I got out my little Grundig G8 and I could hear a barely audible signal on 11750.

That would be my first catch from China.

I also did a SW band scan and the frequencies from 5000 to 7000 khz seem to be much more busy than usual.
 
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