Shortwave bandscans: 25 and 31 meters, 9/06/14 (9/07 GMT) 0100-0140z

[crainbebo]

I've decided to do something a little different now. I recorded two bandscans on shortwave tonight around 6-6:30PM local (0100-0130 GMT), one 25 meters and the other 31 meters. Great scans on both. You'll hear religious broadcasters, Brazilian domestics, relays from the other side of the world for various stations, and a few English broadcast snippets in these clips.

25 METER SCAN
11520 - WEWN-AL English, VG
11580 - Overcomer Ministry from FL, English VG
11590 - Radio Japan in Hindi from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, very weak
11620 - All India Radio in Urdu from Bengaluru, India, fair
11640 - Radio Free Asia in Uyghur language, from a relay in the UAE - very weak
11650 - China Radio International in Chinese from the Urumqi relay station, good
11670 - Radio Habana Cuba in SS from Havana, VG
11670 - KCBS Pyongyang in Korean from Kanggye, Korea (50KW), very weak
11695 - Radio Free Asia in Tibetan from the UAE, very weak
11730 - Vatican Radio in Tamil from the Tashkent, Uzbekistan relay, very weak
11740 - All India Radio in Sinhala from Panaji, India, weak
11760 - Radio Habana Cuba in SS from Havana, VG. RHC has used 11760 for many years.
11765 - Radio Tupi (Brazilian Domestic) in Portuguest from Curitiba, Brazil. Weak, but only 10kw
11770 - PBS Xinjiang in Chinese from Urumqi, very very weak
11780 - Radio Nacional da Amazonia in Portuguese from Brasilia. Always extremely strong and this scan shows it.
11815 - Radio Brasil Central in Portuguese from Goiana, weak. I think the power was pretty low, about 10kw as well.
11825 - Overcomer Ministry from FL, English, VG
11840 - Radio Habana Cuba in SS from Havana, VG
11855 - the real shocker. Radio Aparecida in Portuguese from Aparecida, Brazil. Fair signal...and it's only 1000 watts! Wow! You'll hear some Portuguese talk after the RHC 11840.
11870 - WEWN-AL in SS, VG. Under is a very weak China Radio International in English.
11885 - PBS Xinjiang in Uighur from Urumqi. Very very weak
11905 - prob Sri Lanka BC in Hindi. Couldn't tell. Weak
11945 - China Radio International in Amoy from Kunming, China relay, weak
11955 - Radio Romania International in FF from Tiganesti, Romania relay. Fair signal
11980 - China Radio International in Amoy from Kunming, China relay. Very weak
12005 - Voice of Vietnam in English from Wooferton, UK relay. Fair signal. V-O-V can be heard much stronger on 6175 in the evenings and it comes from a relay on the east coast, either WHRI's Cypress Creek SC or WRMI's Okeechobee. Forget which.
12020 - VOA Deeway Radio in Pashto from Iranawilla, Sri Lanka. Weak
12025 - Nothing listed for this frequency at 0120z or so, but there was a station with audio. Weak
12070 - Radio Cairo in SS from Abis, Egypt. Obviously, Radio Cairo's transmitters suck as usual. Bad audio, distorted and with sometimes a strong hum. Fair signal, but unlistenable. Sad!
12105 - WTWW-TN in English, good as usual

31 METER SCAN
9265 - WINB-PA 50KW in English
9315 - Radio Cairo in SS from Abu Zaabal, Egypt. Nasty modulation and poor audio again. Fair signal but unlistenable again.
9330 - WBCQ-ME 50KW in English
9350 - Radio Free Asia in Uyghur from Tajikistan. Very weak
9380 - All India Radio's National Channel in Hindi from Aligarh, India. Weak
9400 - Radio Free Asia in Uyghur from a different relay, this time Sitkunai, Lithuania. There used to be Radio Vilnius which was from Lithuania and had an English broadcast - it is long gone now.
9420 - Voice of Greece in Greek with lively music from Avlis, Greece. Fair to good signal. Always good music from eastern Europe on this frequency.
9470 - China Radio International in English from Kashi. Very weak to weak.
9475 - WTWW-TN English. Carrier drops and comes back again. But good-VG signal when it was on.
9490 - Radio Republica in SS from France, but hardly audible due to the Cuban warbler jammer (same as Radio Marti). Good.
9510 - UNID. Nothing listed at all for this frequency.
9520 - Radio Romania International in Romanian from Tiganesti. Good signal!
9535 - Radio Exterior de Espana in SS from Noblejas, Spain. Fair.
9560 - China Radio International in Chinese from Kashi. Weak
9565 - Radio Tupi in Portuguese, but very weak compared to 11765. 10KW
9570 - China Radio International in English from Cerrik, Albania relay. Fair
9575 - Radio Mediterranee in Arabic from Nador, Morocco. Weak
9580 - China Radio International in English from a relay in Cuba. VG
9595 - China Radio International in SS from Kashi, China relay + another unid (either Nikkei from Japan, or All India Radio, both listed for 0130z)
9605 - KBS World Radio in SS from a relay in Cuba, extremely strong
9620 - Radio Exterior de Espana in SS from Noblejas, Spain, fair
9630 - Radio Aparecida in Portuguese from Aparecida, Brazil. Weak signal compared to the 1KW 11855! And this one is actually 10kw.
9645 - Radio Bandeirantes in Portuguese from Sao Paulo, Brazil. 7.5KW, weak signal
9665 - Radio Voz Missionaires, in Portuguese from Cambanu, Brazil. Weak to fair - 10KW
9675 - prob Radio Cancao Nova in Portuguese from Cachoeira, Brazil - 10KW
9680 - Radio Free Asia in Tibetan from Kuwait, very weak
9695 - China Radio International in Urdu from Kashi, China - fair!
9700 - Radio Romania International in FF from Tiganesti, // 11955 - fair
9710 - China Radio International in SS from Kashi, China, weak
9770 - Voice of Turkey in SS from Emirler, Turkey. Weak
9790 - Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kazakh direct from Iran. Weak to fair
9800 - unknown station, definitely a carrier here. Very very weak
9810 - Radio Habana Cuba in SS from Havana, weak to fair
9845 - Radio Tirana in English from Shijak, Albania. Weak
9860 - prob Vo Islamic Republic of Iran again, with SS
9870 - Voice of Turkey // 9770 with SS, from Emirler, Turkey. Weak to fair
9885 - Radio Free Asia in Tibetan from Tajikistan. Very very weak
9915 - BBC in Urdu from Armenia, very weak
9935 - Nothing listed - but weak to fair. Maybe Mighty KBC?
9955 - WRMI-FL English, good
9965 - Radio Cairo in Arabic with some decent but a little distorted audio! Wow! Fair signal
9975 - KVOH-CA English, good. Mixing with unid probably The Voice of Asia, in Hindi from Uzbekistan
10000 - WWV time signal from CO, hardly any Hawaii in there at the time.

AIRCHECKS
25M: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/ejesxrb64160uaf/REC011.WAV
31M: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/hl2ia24rodt7ao5/REC012.WAV

-crainbebo

 

[cyberdad]

Great post!

I had all but forgotten about SW for a variety of reasons. And since my YB 400 died several years ago, I haven't had a good radio to work with. (My Eton E-10 is pretty crappy). Great to hear that there's still stuff out there. 31 and 49 meter bands were usually my favorites, along with the tropical band in winter.

What radio were you using?

 

[Icangelp]

Nice to read that someone still listens to shortwave.

I lost interest when all the great SW broadcasters stopped broadcasting to NA in English, though I do occasionally listen to the English services of Radio Australia, and Radio New Zealand.

 

[crainbebo]

My (2nd) Grundig G5 radio. The first one died as you all know, but I got another in July off of ebay for less than $50. I went to a local park to do this bandscan, away from other people...there was a pee-wee football game about 1000 feet away and there was a lot of loud cheering (yes that far away!) but the recorder hardly captured anything. You'll hear a few birds singing but that's because I was in the trees away from others.

31 is probably my favorite band followed by 25, 19 and 49. Some mornings on 19 I can hear some of the Middle East and Africa stuff - I can always rely on a fair signal of Deutsche Welle at 1900 UTC on 15275 from a relay in Rwanda. English no less. They are also on the hour before with Hausa programming (language in Nigeria). Early mornings on 49m I can hear loads and loads of Asian stations and Radio Australia. REALLY PACKED at 1300-1400 UTC!

-crainbebo

 

[kenglish]

Thanks for the list....
I just printed it out, so I'll be doing some listening later this week.

 

[crainbebo]

Maybe this weekend I'll do some daytime scans on 19 and 16, if the conditions are OK. 19 is really interesting with a lot of activity from Africa, the Middle East and west Asia sometimes.

-crainbebo

 

[davideduardo]

I lost interest when all the great SW broadcasters stopped broadcasting to NA in English, though I do occasionally listen to the English services of Radio Australia, and Radio New Zealand.

I lost interest when the local broadcasters began to abandon SW, something that was apparent even in the mid to late 60's. As developing nations added more local AM stations, and later local FM operations, the need for domestic SW diminished. Gradually, AM stations with SW decided to put their resources to work adding FM affiliates and even networks of simulcast FMs. And the SW stations were shut down.

I actually obtained a SW license when I bought a rural station at Amaguaña, Ecuador with the purpose of moving it to the nearby city of Quito. They had a shortwave permit, which I held for a few years. At some point, I decided there was no way to monetize the operation of a SW station, and I turned the license in to save the fees (S/. 100 a month, or about $5).

The decline in domestic SW meant fewer people bought SW radios. And the big international SW broadcasters saw their audiences decline as a result.

 

[Icangelp]

I'm sure the, uh, "middle aged", posters used to enjoy listening to all the Central and South American Spanish language broadcasters on the tropical bands. I see by Crainbebo's listings there are precious few left, and most are in the 31 meter band.

 

[boombox4]

Great catches for just a G5 on its whip antenna, Crainbebo. I don't get half that many stations on 31 and 25 meters, even with a 20 ft. wire. Probably 'cause I live in a hole... extra mountain range probably doesn't help either. Did you hear as many stations on the west side of the mountains?

PS FWIW My favorite SW band for some reason is the 21 meter band. Have better luck hearing the Mideast on that one. 41 meters in the morning is loaded with Asians sometimes, too.

 

[crainbebo]

As many in the day? Heck no. Mornings were no problem because I was closer to the Pacific Ocean which meant Asia on many 49, 41 and 31 frequencies between about 1300-1630 UT. Sometimes I'd still get traces of 49 meter stuff until 1730-1800z from Asia during winter. BUT it seems CFVP 6030 was stronger at times over there, back when CKMX was classic country. With only the 2 regional stations (6160 and 6030) possible on 49 meters around 1800-2200 UT, it was possible to get a fair CFVP with a booster.
I used to listen to Radio Taiwan International's old English broadcast at 0200z on 9680 khz a lot. Good news from Asia and weather forecasts for a lot of Asian cities, in celsius of course.

I've listened to SW for about close to 10 years. I remember getting China Radio International in the mornings on what I think was 17.730 way back when. I also remember years ago hearing the Firedrake jammer on about 6-8 frequencies on 31 meters in the mornings. Radio Free Asia was a big target - 9355, 9455, 9905, also VOA and RTI on 9680 were mixed up with Firedrake from China. Now I wish I could have listened 30 years ago when BBC boomed in every night to North America. I remember the booming Radio Netherlands broadcast, in English, on 9845 at 0000z around 2006-07. Always great to hear their programs. Bit the dust a few years ago. Radio Thailand also had a 5890 khz evening broadcast to Western North America, one half hour in English and the other in Thai.

-crainbebo

 

[cyberdad]

I lost interest when the local broadcasters began to abandon SW, something that was apparent even in the mid to late 60's.

This is part of what I was talking about when I said I had pretty much forgotten about SW. And it's also why I included the tropical band(s) as being among my favorites. Tropical music and latin jazz to warm those cold winter midwestern nights!

 

[crainbebo]

I am posting 3 more bandscans!! 19, 16 and another 25m scan, done 9/14/2014 between 1845-1910z. It was Sunday and so there were quite a few religious broadcasters in all kinds of languages. But some really interesting stuff. Starting with 19:

15000 - WWV Fort Collins, CO
15120 - Voice of Nigeria's DRM hash
15140 - Radio Sultanate Oman in Arabic from Thumrait. Signal was weak.
15190 - Radio Pilipinas in EE/Filipino from Tinang, Philippines. Or a station in Brazil. Can't tell the language here.
15215 - Bible Voice in EE from Moosbrunn, Austria, but very very weak.
15245 - Voice of the Forum of Eritreans in Arabic from Issoudun, France. Probably clandestine. Just heard music on this part.
15275 - Deutsche Welle in Hausa from Kigali, Rwanda. The little blip of music was me accidentally hitting the FM button. Sorry! DW has EE on this frequency from 1900-1927 UTC, same transmitter site.
15300 - Radio France International in FF from Issoudun, weak
15315 - Radio Sautu Linjilia (Voice of Gospel) in Hausa/Fulfulde language from Issoudun, France.
15360 - KBS World Radio in Russian from Wooferton, UK transmitter site
15445 - Radio Japan in Japanese from Nauen, Germany. Very weak again
15510 - IBRA Radio in Arabic from Wooferton, UK, VG signal!
15540 - Radio Kuwait in EE from Sulaibiyah, Kuwait. Hardly a signal.
Tried 15550 for WJHR and hardly had anything.
15570 - Vatican Radio in Latin from Santa Maria di Galeria. Another good signal.
15580 - VOA in EE from Botswana. Heard well on 9/14.
15595 - Vatican Radio in Latin from Santa Maria di Galeria. Same as 15570, good signal
15610 - WEWN-AL in EE
15770 - Overcomer Ministry in English
15825 - WWCR-TN in mix of EE and SS.

Then I tried 16m, but not much heard...
17530 - hardly a carrier, but this was VOA in FF from Sao Tome
17715 - Radio Exterior de Espana in SS from Noblejas, Spain, VG
17755 - Radio Exterior de Espana in SS from Noblejas, Spain VG
17790 - WRMI's Radio Africa service in EE from Okeechobee, FL
17850 - Radio Exterior de Espana in SS from Noblejas, Spain VG
17860 - Deutsche Welle in Hausa from a relay in Madagascar. Rather good for the distance!

25M 1900z.
11555 - Firedrake music jammer from China, jamming Radio Free Asia I think (but nothing heard under them!)
11635 - Voice of Korea in EE from Kujang, with interval signal
11650 - China Radio International in German from Urumqi, very weak
11660 - Radio Australia in EE from Shepparton, New South Wales Australia.
11665 - Unknown station
11670 - All India Radio in EE from Bengaluru, India
11735 - either Radio Transmundial from Brazil, or Zanzibar BC from Tanzania
11750 - China Radio International in Portuguese from Jinhua, China
11760 - Radio Habana Cuba in EE from Havana. Weak.
11765 - maybe Radio Tupi or Radio Algerienne
11775 - VERY weak Caribbean Beacon in EE from Anguilla
11806 - unknown signal. Should be 11805 but was off freq
11820 - Radio Riyadh in Arabic from Riyadh
11825 - WRMI Overcomer Ministry in EE. Weak again!
11865 - Deutsche Welle in EE from Kigali - VERY weak
11875 - IBRA Radio in Moore language (Burkina Faso) from Wooferton, UK
11880 - Radio Australia in EE from Shepparton, NSW
11910 - Voice of Korea in EE from Kujang (with North Korean military mx)
11930 - Radio Marti in SS from Greenville, NC
11945 - Adventist World Radio in Wolof language (mainly spoke in Senegal, The Gambia etc) from Issoudun, France. Rather weak
11965 - Radio Japan in Japanese from Ibaragi-Koga relay
11975 - Radio Romania International in Romanian from Galbeni (very weak)
11995 - Radio France International in FF from Issoudun, France (fair)
12015 - Voice of Korea in German from Kujang. Interference from some type of RTTY stn
12050 - WEWN-AL in SS
12105 - WTWW-TN likely in Russian, not English
12120 - Radio Pilipinas in EE/Filipino from Tinang, Philippines
12160 - WWCR-TN in EE

19M: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/m43q9a3fk888k9o/REC018.WAV
25M: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/38biii0l81u1lil/REC020.WAV
16M: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/bwkzr1spp50ca4c/REC019.WAV

Next time? Maybe a 49 or 31 meter scan in the early morning when Asia is alive and well.

-crainbebo

 

[gr8oldies]

I was an avid SWL for a few years in Junior High and High School. I learned Spanish mostly not from the classes I took but listening to regionals like Venezuela's Ecos del Torbes. "Lo Que Esta Noche Recuerda". Winter afternoons would bring Africans on the 60 meter band around 4:30pm (and Radio Netherlands' direct English service to North America (I forget the frequency)-Bonaire's relays were in the evening). Soon the Africans would sign off for the night and the South Americans would start rolling in. I remember Swazi Music Radio from Swaziland signing on at 11pm our time. I would have loved to have DXed from the west coast then.

 

[crainbebo]

You'd probably get loads of Radio Peking/Beijing in the mornings, lots of BBC World Service and Netherlands, and loads of Australia, Japan and eastern Russia. Just a few years ago I used to hear KNLS Anchor Point AK every morning on 7355 khz. Religious, but also in Russian pointed toward the west.

Here's the really packed 49 meter band from this morning. 1345-55z
5858 - HLL Meteorology Radio in mix of Korean, Japanese etc from Seoul, South Korea. 3KW with weather information around the clock
5895 - BBC World Service in EE from Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. Great signal! Always reliable at 1300z. Had to grab my logbook to make sure who I was hearing!
5915 - Unid Chinese/Mandarin stn over China Radio International, in Russian from Hohhot.
5925 - China National Radio 5 in Chinese from Beijing
5940 - Radio Australia in EE from Shepparton, New South Wales.
5945 - China National Radio 1 in Chinese from Beijing
5955 - China Radio International in EE from Beijing (w/ The Beijing Hour)
5965 - RTM Klasik Nasional FM in Malaysian from Kajang
5970 - PBS Gannan in Chinese/Tibetan from Hezuo
5975 - Voice of Vietnam 1 in Vietnamese from Hanoi. VERY low modulation
5985 - Shickaze (Seabreeze) in Korean from the Ibaragi-Koga Japan transmitter site
5990 - China Radio International in Russian from Hohhot (// 5915)
5995 - Radio Australia in EE from Shepparton
6000 - CNR-1 in Chinese from Beijing
6003 - North Korean Jamming noise/Echo of Hope barely under that
6015 - Jammer again, but stronger KBS Korea under from Hwaseong
6020 - China National Radio 8 in Mongolian from Beijing
6030 - CNR-1 in Chinese from Beijing
6035 - Unid. Either PBS Yunnan or Bhutan BS
6050 - PBS Xizang in Chinese from Lhasa, Tibet
6055 - Radio Nikkei 1 in Japanese from Chiba, Japan
6060 - PBS Sichuan 2 in Yui language from Chengdu
6065 - CNR-2 in Chinese from Beijing
6080 - CNR-1 in Chinese from Geermu
6090 - CNR-1 in Chinese from Geermu
6100 - China Radio International in Mongolian from Urumqi
6110 - Voice of America in Chinese from Tinang, Philippines
6115 - Voice of the Strait in Amoy from Fuzhou
6125 - CNR-1 in Chinese from Beijing
6130 - unid, likely PBS Xiang
6135 - North Korean Jamming/Voice of Freedom in Korean from Hwaseong
6145 - open carrier (Radio Taiwan International warming up)
6150 - Radio Australia in EE from Shepparton
6155 - CNR-2 in Chinese from Beijing
6165 - CNR-6 in Chinese from Beijing
6170 - Radio New Zealand International in EE from Rangitaki
6175 - CNR-1 in Chinese from Beijing
6185 - Chinese Huay Broadcasting in Chinese/Amoy from Chengdu
6190 - Radio Japan in Korean from Ibaragi-Koga relay
6195 - BBC World Service in EE from Kranji, Singapore
6200 - Voice of Jinling in Chinese from Nanning, China

49 m scan is here: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/w1ejzuqycdac5gs/REC027.WAV

-crainbebo

 

[gr8oldies]

I remember getting the Voice of Vietnam mornings Eastern in English and various languages, on 10040. Radio Australia had a morning transmission to North America in the 31 mb, and I could get VLW9, an Australian regional. Radio New Zealand too as I recall. Radio Havana Cuba relayed the Voice of Vietnam later in the day with RHC announcers reading the script. This is while the Vietnam War raged.

 

[CTListener]

I remember getting the Voice of Vietnam mornings Eastern in English and various languages, on 10040. Radio Australia had a morning transmission to North America in the 31 mb, and I could get VLW9, an Australian regional. Radio New Zealand too as I recall. Radio Havana Cuba relayed the Voice of Vietnam later in the day with RHC announcers reading the script. This is while the Vietnam War raged.

I was listening to SW in those years too and heard everything you did except the Voice of Vietnam. VLW9 was in Perth and really had a nice signal here on the East Coast. Radio Australia and Radio Canada were the strongest signals on the band. On 25 meters, I remember hearing the Windward Islands Broadcasting Service and 4VEH, the Haitian evangelical station, in the mornings.

 

[crainbebo]

Radio Australia is well heard on the East Coast still in the mornings. The lucky frequency is 9.580. Here I can even get their 10kw Brandon NSW relay on 9660/12080 at night, and really late (1:00AM on), 5995.

-crainbebo

 

[boombox4]

The Voice of Vietnam is still on the air, and comes in between S3-S4 on good nights. I think I heard them on 12005 khz in English, sometime in the early evening PDT.

 

[CTListener]

Radio Australia is well heard on the East Coast still in the mornings. The lucky frequency is 9.580. Here I can even get their 10kw Brandon NSW relay on 9660/12080 at night, and really late (1:00AM on), 5995.

-crainbebo

They've been on 9580 forever. That's one of those frequencies that will probably be stuck in my mind till I die, like 9833 (Budapest), 7345 (Prague), 9625 (Canada) and 9022 (Iran). Pretty sure all those broadcasters are long gone from those freqs now. In fact, only Iran is still on SW, right?

 

[crainbebo]

7335 (CHU) before 7850, 5890 (Thailand years ago to Eastern, and then Western North America from Delano, CA), 13820 (Marti), 9680 (Taiwan), 5950 (Taiwan), 9505 (Family Radio), and then 9550/9600 for Cuba are ones that are stuck in my mind from years ago.

-crainbebo