What stations are you still listening to on shortwave?

[kenglish]

With all the cutbacks in shortwave broadcasting the past year or so, what stations are you still listening to on HF?
The RCI Sackville transmitters are shutting down at the end of October..they have been relaying a few foreign broadcasters, as well as being a source for Digital Radio Mondiale in the Western Hemisphere.
RNW at Bonaire has been running a channel of Spanish, and is supposed to end in October as well.

Anything much to listen to now?
I've heard Radio Australia and RNZ in recent months, on a Pacific beam. Fair, but not a great signal for folks without a good antenna.

 

[crainbebo]

Very rarely, I'll listen to the English news from Radio Taiwan International. Most evenings I can get it on 9680 khz on 31m with a huge signal from the WYFR site in FL. But now that the BBC, Netherlands, Sweden, and now Radio Canada International are leaving-it's not worth it anymore.

-crainbebo

 

[pianoplayer88key]

I might occasionally briefly tune in WWV & WWVH for a couple minutes, if that.  Otherwise, not much.  I'm not totally against the religious broadcasters, btw, except when what they preach is in error according to the Bible (which I believe is the majority).  I won't give examples, as A - this isn't a religious-themed board & this isn't the place for me to offend with what I'd say, and B - I almost never listen, so don't really know what they preach.

So I thought my Tecsuns were stone deaf on SW, but apparently it must be everyone shutting down their transmitters.  I had expected every single allocated broadcast & ham frequency to be occupied whenever the ionosphere is active for that band with a signal of a quality that ordinary people in a metro like L.A. would listen, with quite a few even having triple or quad co-channel interference, under normal operating conditions.  As for hams, I would probably expect that during a pileup or contest, each frequency would be so congested as to make a mediumwave graveyard in the eastern US today seem, in comparison, like an east-coast clear channel was on the west coast & in AK & HI in the 1930s.

And right now, one of the aforementioned Tecsuns, my PL-398mp, really IS deaf on SW (and supposed to be on FM), courtesy of my careless snapping off of the antenna at the base, so I've unscrewed & removed the remains for now.
Explain this one, though.  Although my PL-398mp currently has no FM antenna, I still get a "55 dBu" signal from 89.5 KPBS, whose 2.7kW ERP, 550m HAAT, 794m AMSL is 7.02km, 171.63° from me.  (My altitude is approx. 178..6 meters.)  I would expect with no antenna I couldn't detect anything unless I was, for example, touching WMC's transmitter?  With the antenna fully extended, though, I hardly ever remember seeing much over 68 to 70 dBu, if ever. I do have a couple local AMs that hit 80, though - 1170 KCBQ (50kW, 9.3mi, 7°) is ~80-81 daytime, and 760 KFMB (50kW, 7.3mi, 321°) is ~81-82 nighttime.  Also before the whip broke, I was in rural nw VA last month, checking the SW bands around midnight, and briefly saw a signal flash 97 dBu, acompanied with audible clipping distortion. (I would have expected, before so many broadcasters shut down, that under normal conditions, every allocated frequency would almost constantly be over 90 dBu as indicated on the Tecsun when it had a working antenna, with even the deepest fades never dipping below 80 dBu.)

 

[cyberdad]

Wow....this thread reminds me that I don't listen much any more.

I used to set my watch to either CHU or WWV, but haven't done that recently.

Occasionally R. Rebelde on 5025 to check whether that portion of the band is open. (Or if I'm hearing Spanish on AM to determine whether I'm hearing Cuba).

31 meters around sunrise to see if the path to Australia/New Zealand might be open.

49 meters winter nights to see what might be in from Europe, but there's less and less of that.

Tropical band(s) winter nights to see if there might be any DX catches.

 

[wildthangjim]

From Perth I can say that China still seems to be committed to SW - there are multiples of all of the CNR's up and down the dial here, probably a majority of what I can hear on SW with my portable radio and built-in antenna. China Radio International is there in other languages, but mostly Mandarin or other Chinese dialects. I find it interesting that this is still seen as worthwhile for them. Are these targetted at folks out of reach of MW/FM broadcasts, international Chinese-speakers, who?

 

[K6JHU]

Set my watch to the atomic clock on my wall synch'ed to WWVB in Boulder. Only use for WWV is to calibrate my receiver.

I tuen across the bands every once in a while but nothing on SW here in the SW at all except religious, Spanish, and Asian. That and the noise floor has risen tremendously (just like on MW AM).

 

[gar hi]

When I listen to shortwave, it's never for the actual content of any specific station or program. It's only for DXing.

Maybe the only exception would be WWV.

Maybe it's because it reminds me of when I first heard my older brother listening to shortwave when I was little but there's something about hearing that ticking clock and the same voices that have always been there.

And of course, it's always good to hear WWVH sometimes in the background.


Speaking of the old days, one thing my brother liked to listen to on his big table top shortwave radio was a station out of Cuba that he called the "Bagpipes".

I remember it was a constant repetition of tones that really sounded like bagpipes but was probably some hidden code or something.

This was in the late 60s when I was in New Jersey.

I've searched so hard to find a recording of that on the internet but have had no luck.

 

[BigDave]

WWV,China Radio and Radio Havana Cuba. I listen to VOA online

 

[tomservo]

From Perth I can say that China still seems to be committed to SW - there are multiples of all of the CNR's up and down the dial here, probably a majority of what I can hear on SW with my portable radio and built-in antenna. China Radio International is there in other languages, but mostly Mandarin or other Chinese dialects. I find it interesting that this is still seen as worthwhile for them. Are these targetted at folks out of reach of MW/FM broadcasts, international Chinese-speakers, who?

I imagine the sheer expanse of China that's not dominated by local urbanized MW & FM outlets makes it worthwhile, as well as the hundreds of millions of Chinese who might be overseas and without internet at any given time.

As for me, I don't listen anymore except for the occasional band scans. When I was working my first job as a teen in an empty mail room, RCI was my companion every morning. Back then I had about a half dozen QSL cards from some of the major broadcasters like HCJB and the like, but now that they're all gone or in foreign languages, there's nothing left to listen to. I certainly don't care for the preaching and hellfire I hear now, or the Catholic chants.

I occasionally would listen to the English Cuban services, but since moving to the coast I don't hear those as well anymore. Either they're gone or I'm too close. Just as well, Cuba is on the MW band here day and night with a good receiver.

 

[cyberdad]

Is Arnie Coro still on RHC? I used to find him informative, entertaining, and sometimes unintentionally hilarious. He used to talk about loads of stuff, but never mentioned things like R. Marti, intentional interference (if not outright jamming) of Florida stations broadcasting in Spanish which were critical of the Castro regime. Funny about that.

Then there was Joe Adamov who was pretty much the English language voice of radio Moscow during the Soviet days. My favorite program being "Moscow Mailbag", also sometimes unintentionally hilarious. But with Adamov, you could tell he had a genuine fondness for America (and Canada) which came through. He visited North America several times, and spoke at radio club and other SWL gatherings. I do know that he got interviews with several prominent Americans ranging from Dwight Eisenhower to Larry King.

He outlasted the USSR, and was finally able to relate some funny and interesting anecdotes about his encounters with censors, KGB agents, other police, etc. standing by him during broadcasts.

Anyone know who I'm talking about? If so, perhaps you can refresh my memory on his name.

 

[Tincap]

For me it's Radio Australia in the mornings. In the afternoons I can snag AIR (in a number of languages, operating at the same time, including English). There's also Radio Kuwait, with an English program. Greece's ERA 5 still throws a decent signal our way in the afternoons (not much English, but their music is interesting). Recently (though are they now done?) I've still been able to snag BBC WS, from Cyprus and Ascension. There's also CRI, all over the band, but I can catch up with them on FM (CJLL Ottawa 97.9). Right now...I'm getting a weak but audible signal from South Africa's RSG, in Afrikaans which...I can understand .

Then there's the aircraft up there...

~BG

 

[stacker]

Arnie Coro is still there, describing how Cuban hams get on the air with parts scrapped from TV sets, computer power supplies, etc. Kind of the way we all used to do it.

I don't remember Joe Adamov.

WWCR seems to be the home of a few preachers, and a bunch of conspiracy nuts. Alex Jones is entertaining. Sometime unintentionally.

 

[cd637299]

I heard Arnie maybe once in 2012, but his show goes back about 25 years.

Of course, from my FL location, RHC is a snap.

I wanna say that Arnie *did* mention R Marti at least once, maybe around 1988. When Cuba fired up Radio Taino with that 300 kW or so thing on 1180 or 1160, ISTR that he claimed something like Americans can now hear, um, their side. Radio Taino was bilingual at that time. Today Taino is FM only.

cd

 

[Tincap]

I'm not totally against the religious broadcasters, btw, except when what they preach is in error according to the Bible (which I believe is the majority). I won't give examples, as A - this isn't a religious-themed board & this isn't the place for me to offend with what I'd say, and B - I almost never listen, so don't really know what they preach.

I'd only listen to them, if they read and spoke in Greek, from the oldest sources of Greek texts possible. Of course...this means I'd have to understand Greek! These folks splitting hairs, using English versions of the Bible, don't know any more than I do, regarding the matter. 8)

~BG

 

[Icangelp]

Australia and New Zealand.

I used to listen as much for the interval signals as the content. "Waltzing Matilda", the 1960's version I. S. of Radio Australia is my ringtone.

 

[BigDave]

Arnie Coro is still there, describing how Cuban hams get on the air with parts scrapped from TV sets, computer power supplies, etc. Kind of the way we all used to do it.

I don't remember Joe Adamov.

WWCR seems to be the home of a few preachers, and a bunch of conspiracy nuts. Alex Jones is entertaining. Sometime unintentionally.

Family Radio is pretty good

 

[kinphoenix2]

Is Arnie Coro still on RHC? I used to find him informative, entertaining, and sometimes unintentionally hilarious. He used to talk about loads of stuff, but never mentioned things like R. Marti, intentional interference (if not outright jamming) of Florida stations broadcasting in Spanish which were critical of the Castro regime. Funny about that.

Then there was Joe Adamov who was pretty much the English language voice of radio Moscow during the Soviet days. My favorite program being "Moscow Mailbag", also sometimes unintentionally hilarious. But with Adamov, you could tell he had a genuine fondness for America (and Canada) which came through. He visited North America several times, and spoke at radio club and other SWL gatherings. I do know that he got interviews with several prominent Americans ranging from Dwight Eisenhower to Larry King.

He outlasted the USSR, and was finally able to relate some funny and interesting anecdotes about his encounters with censors, KGB agents, other police, etc. standing by him during broadcasts.

Anyone know who I'm talking about? If so, perhaps you can refresh my memory on his name.

Yes Arnie Coro still around, doing his dxing reports and tech advice. Today on RHC a listener sent them Radio Habana Cuba a letter with his web "U R L S" (spelled out by one of the RHC guys, with the "s" I suppose Cubans don't realize the S is superlative?) that Canadian listener assumed Habanaites can access the web anytime they want, lol.

To answer the original question which stations do I STILL listen to? Well, Radio Habana is one that is in English a lot, and able to be received easily, so there's that one. China Radio seems to own the airwaves now and they do have their "Learn Chinese" which is almost useless without phonetic spellings they SHOULD implement on shortwave. How the heck do I know if they are saying "thung mo" or "fung No"? not real words just examples of how confusing it can be.

R Australia is the strongest and ENGLISH a language I can understand- station I find myself listening to. RNZI (new zealand) too.

WWV/H to get a general idea on how the ionosphere is doing as a matter of course right when I fire up the radios.

11175 and 4724khz for those mysterious emergency action messages from our military. Of course every time I hear one, which is more often now I wonder what action is going to happen but nothing ever seems to correlate when I switch on the TV "news".

The "Christian" b'casting I would listen to if they were honest and actually taught the real Bible they claim to be using.

other than the listening part, I mostly use the radio for dxing to see how many and varied stations I can receive. I do have some software decoders for many of those utility transmissions but have yet to use it and see what it is I'm missing (weatherfaxes, RTTY, NAVTEX, SSTV etc)

 

[Darth_vader]

Radio Havana's a regular catch around these parts on 6000 and 6060, as are Radio Audtralia, VOR and Radio Taiwan. I may be slightly confused on the names since it's been a while since I've listened, but that's the idea. The network is the only way to really get Voice of America any more, since the Bu$h regime took the liberty of shutting down Delano, thus the only way to really hear it over the air is via the one existing domestic transmitter site in Maryland.

(And wouldn't it be nice if VOA'd actually use a real codec like MP3/4 for their streams, instead of that proprietary WMA crap that almost no third-party [read: non-Micro$haft] open/free software completely or properly supports? This is 2012, not 1998. Get with it. Even the Beeb are using AAC now.)

"Other than the listening part, I mostly use the radio for dxing to see how many and varied stations I can receive. I do have some software decoders for many of those utility transmissions but have yet to use it and see what it is I'm missing (weatherfax, RTTY, NAVTEX, etc.)"

My shortwave listening these days, for the most part, consists of the automated Coast Guard forecasts and the "aviation weather" (VOLMET) broadcasts. I sometimes connect the Grundig to the Sound Blaster for data decoding, but its single-sideband demodulator (not "decoder"--that's on the computer end) leaves quite a lot to be desired.

 

[cyberdad]

.....listener assumed Habanaites can access the web anytime they want, lol....

This is what I found unintentionally hilarious about Arnie's RHC program. Although "hilarious" is probably a poor choice of words. While Arnie tended to usually steer clear of politics on his program (to his and RHC's credit), the overall picture painted by RHC ("Free Territory of America" being part of their ID) was that people could just simply do, obtain, access, etc. anything they could possibly want or need. "Things are great here, no repression of free expression, no human rights violations, everybody's happy and doing great, yada yada yada".

I'm not here to get into international politics or argue with anyone....just sharing my impression of how RHC tried to present an image of Cuba that might be quite different than the reality.

But back to the original intent of the thread....one other thing that I will say about RHC, is I've always enjoyed their music programming (although it's been years since I've listened). Again, to RHC's credit, they devoted a fairly significant chunk of their English language service to presenting some excellent Cuban salsa, tropical, and jazz selections.

 

[RadioFan2J3]

The network is the only way to really get Voice of America any more, since the Bu$h regime took the liberty of shutting down Delano, thus the only way to really hear it over the air is via the one existing domestic transmitter site in Maryland.

Maryland?