HF BANDS Open

[EAFrizzle]

Good reception of RNZ on 17675 earlier and currently on 11725. Fair amount of fade on both frequencies.

BBC from Madagascar 0400z 12095 fairly weak signals, but listenable with low noise floor.

 

[bearcatrp]

Wasn't the greatest last night. Did pick up what I think was some kind of talk show on 15.770. Faded in and out. Noise floor was a bit high. Hope to have my coax in by friday to get my new antenna up and running.

 

[Boombox]

Sunday night / Monday a.m. UTC, around 0800, I heard a ham out of Rarotonga (E51JD) talking to a ham in the UK on 14254. I could barely hear half of what the ham in the UK was saying, but E51JD was mostly readable, and his signal got stronger during the half hour I heard him talking to the UK station and another station in the EU. I'm in the NW US, in WA state. Obviously, there was some worldwide prop going on.

My equipment as my Tecsun PL-330 and indoor, 25 ft antenna.

 

[EAFrizzle]

HF wasn't very good here last night. Lots of buzzing in the 9 MHz range. Poor propagation on 17675 and 11725 for RNZ, better signal but with the buzz on 9700, with some listenable conditions on 7425 finally.

9455 WRMI seemed to be offline last night; I couldn't even see a hint of a carrier wave, and it's been a steady nighttime signal for a few weeks now.

 

[bearcatrp]

You folks stuck with an inside antenna may want to check out the PAORDT Mini Whip antenna. For the short time I tested it out while camping, it really brought in signals. My coax should be here friday so should have it up and running by the weekend. Will do a comparison of my long wire and the PAORDT. For the cost, its hard to beat. The ones on ebay must be older ones because mine that I ordered from the guy who makes it in the UK looks different. Small unit with a power box. Check out the thread on this antenna for updates.

 

[EAFrizzle]

0330z 2230 local Radio Romania 9740 S5-7 SINPO 34233. Still some buzz across 9 MHz, but less than yesterday.

Beginning wisps of RNZ 17675 floating in now.

WTWW 5920 has been a steady overnight signal for quite a while.

Just waiting for BBC on 12095 in a few before I sign off for the night.

Good DXing, everyone!

 

[EAFrizzle]

0400z 2300 local BBC 12095 S 7-9 w/ occasional deep fades. 45534

 

[ditto1958]

Asia is open this AM here in Wisconsin. Caught 11900 kHz and 11945 kHz, both from Australia, and 13530 kHz from Taiwan.

 

[kc2asb]

Asia is open this AM here in Wisconsin. Caught 11900 kHz and 11945 kHz, both from Australia, and 13530 kHz from Taiwan.

Are these relay stations in Australia or a domestic service? Good catches in any case.

 

[ditto1958]

Are these relay stations in Australia or a domestic service? Good catches in any case.

Looks as though the transmitter is in Kununurra, Australia
Where I live, some mornings Asia is a good place to look for signals Always seems amazing to me, given how far from here they are

 

[kc2asb]

Looks as though the transmitter is in Kununurra, Australia
Where I live, some mornings Asia is a good place to look for signals Always seems amazing to me, given how far from here they are

It is amazing when you think about it. Anytime I received signals from Asia or the Pacific here on the East Coast was amazing, whether it was the Voice of Vietnam, North Korea, Tahiti, etc. I never did get a positive ID on Radio Tahiti, unfortunately. Never will now.

 

[ditto1958]

It is amazing when you think about it. Anytime I received signals from Asia or the Pacific here on the East Coast was amazing, whether it was the Voice of Vietnam, North Korea, Tahiti, etc. I never did get a positive ID on Radio Tahiti, unfortunately. Never will now.

😢😢😢

 

[kc2asb]

😢😢😢

I agree. Even more depressing is looking at one of my old logbooks from the early 2000's:

Voice of Peace and Democracy, Ethiopia, Radio Ukraine International, KOL Israel, RCI, Radio Sweden International, Radio Cairo, VOIRI Iran, Radio Jordan, among others. All gone.

 

[Saint]

Listening to the broadcast am bands to see what I can pick up tonight.
Steve

 

[EAFrizzle]

1100z-1215z RNZI 9700 and 7425 booming in this morning. 45344 for 9700 and a true 55555 for 7425.

 

[Boombox]

I agree. Even more depressing is looking at one of my old logbooks from the early 2000's:

Voice of Peace and Democracy, Ethiopia, Radio Ukraine International, KOL Israel, RCI, Radio Sweden International, Radio Cairo, VOIRI Iran, Radio Jordan, among others. All gone.

Agreed. I got back into SWLing pretty heavily in the Winter of 2002-2003 after a couple years break, and there was a LOT to hear that is gone, gone, gone today. I used to put my better loggings on the now-defunct Shortwave Logbook (I forget the URL, they shut down 4-5 years ago) and there were other SWL's who used it, too, including a guy on the island of Guernsey or Jersey (I think it was Guernsey). The Logbook was filled with all sorts of cool catches from a bunch of us SWL's.

I printscreened the Shortwave Logbook postings I posted. When I looked a them last, it was depressing.

Most of those catches are MIA anymore.

There still is a lot to hear, but the combination of marginal to fair propagation and fewer stations has made every SWL a 'DXer' anymore. There used to be a difference between the two (or so they said in the Pop Comm mags). Not anymore though.

 

[kc2asb]

Agreed. I got back into SWLing pretty heavily in the Winter of 2002-2003 after a couple years break, and there was a LOT to hear that is gone, gone, gone today. I used to put my better loggings on the now-defunct Shortwave Logbook (I forget the URL, they shut down 4-5 years ago) and there were other SWL's who used it, too, including a guy on the island of Guernsey or Jersey (I think it was Guernsey). The Logbook was filled with all sorts of cool catches from a bunch of us SWL's.

I printscreened the Shortwave Logbook postings I posted. When I looked a them last, it was depressing.

Most of those catches are MIA anymore.

There still is a lot to hear, but the combination of marginal to fair propagation and fewer stations has made every SWL a 'DXer' anymore. There used to be a difference between the two (or so they said in the Pop Comm mags). Not anymore though.

Absolutely, so many stations have gone dark since then, and there were fewer stations in the early 2000's compared to the late 80's, when I first got into the hobby. 10 or 20 years from now, there may be nothing left but data signals and hams.

Agreed, fewer stations and less powerful stations has almost eliminated the distinction between a SWL broadcast listener vs a DX'er. You were not a DX'er back in the day if your primary interest was tuning in news and other programming from 500kw powerhouses like the BBC and Radio Moscow. The days of 500kw stations seem to be a thing of the past. DX'ing in those days meant chasing fainter voices from more exotic lands.

The Pop Comm "Listening Post" column was great. Pop Comm magazine added another layer of enjoyment to the hobby that is lacking today, IMHO. Gerry Dexter frequently wrote columns such as "DX-ing Africa", tropical band stations from Central/South America, or logging 100 countries. It gave the hobbyist a framework and a goal to strive towards.

Too bad a time machine does not exist!

 

[ditto1958]

China was booming! This AM at 1215 UTC it was all China here in Wisconsin. I auto scanned the bands and then started from the 17,000s and there were a couple or three hits there, and then in the 15,000s it was wall to wall China Radio International. I didn‘t bother logging them.

 

[kc2asb]

China was booming! This AM at 1215 UTC it was all China here in Wisconsin. I auto scanned the bands and then started from the 17,000s and there were a couple or three hits there, and then in the 15,000s it was wall to wall China Radio International. I didn‘t bother logging them.

Wow! Is this from transmitters in China or over a relay station that is closer to N. America?

 

[ditto1958]

Wow! Is this from transmitters in China or over a relay station that is closer to N. America?

From China, and from multiple transmitter sites there.