Question From A newbie, Sort Of

[MiCon]

As a teenager on the east coast some 56 years ago, I used to monitor and send reception reports to mostly European Broadcast stations. It was fairly easy, as they ID'ed and gave their address in English. Now I'm on the west coast. Can't hear Europe, but I get a lot of Asian stations. I'm not interested in sending reception reports anymore, but I don't even know who I'm listening to because I never hear an ID.

Do foreign broadcast stations still ID in English? If not, is there a source I can use to ID them?

<>< Mike
Southern California

 

[K4EET]

Hi Mike (@MiCon),

Here is what I do as a shortwave listener (SWL).

For logging what I hear, I use the free logging program KB6IBB SWL Logger by Amateur Radio operator KB6IBB. That is an excellent logging program and includes access to the database known as the EiBi shortwave database for logging and looking up various known shortwave stations worldwide. The EiBi shortwave database should help you identify those Asian stations. As you know, most shortwave stations will have English programming and the EiBi shortwave database will help to identify those times. Happy SWLing! Dave

 

[vagrant]

I use this. Just enter in the freq and get back map results of potential transmitters.

Search for Short Wave Radio Broadcasting Schedules

Short-Wave.Info is a simple, handy, graphical way to search for and display Short Wave radio broadcasting frequency schedules. You can search by frequency, language, broadcaster, time and short-wave band.

www.short-wave.info

 

[Boombox]

^^^^^^ I also use Short-Wave.info, and I keep the latest EiBi listing on my tablet computer handy.

The more you listen, the more you'll pick out some of the regulars on the SW bands, especially the Asians. China's CNR-1 is used a lot to jam broadcasts into China, and is a heavily produced, slick sounding Chinese language station; Firedrake is pretty identifiable (lots of Chinese opera music); the Japanese stations are fairly IDable once you hear them a few times; and there are some Asian broadcasters in English. CRI broadcasts in English to other parts of Asia. After a bit you can pick the different languages out.... most of the time.

I'm in the PNW and early mornings there are a lot of Asian signals to hear, as long as propagation is friendly.

And EiBi and Short-wave.info, and other SW web lists will help you ID the ones you can't ID by ear.

 

[MiCon]

Thanks for the info.
Unfortunately, two weeks after I posted this I bought a house in another state and literally spent six months in the fixing-up and moving process. Haven't had time to monitor, but I'll work on this in the future.

 

[ka3jjz]

2 email lists you want to join - World of Radio (which often has new schedule news) and SWSkeds. This one produces an Excel spreadsheet combining numerous different sources. There's a file that is compatible with the Perseus SDR, and another that can be used in some SDR programs.

This is on the groups.io server. Very little, if any, spam gets through these lists

Mike

 

[majoco]

The problem I have with EiBi using "EiBi view" is that it doesn't show stations that are not transmitting! "Who cares" I hear you say. Well, if I'm sitting their, patiently waiting for "Radio Pongolia" to come the air, I can't pretune my radio to the frequency as I don't know if I've set it right on or got my UTC mixed up with something else. If you download the text version then you can see all the frequencies, even if they are not transmitting.

Dan's list 'SWskeds" .csv version has all the EiBi data and other lists from around the world as an Excel spreadsheet. All the info about the stations, power, transmitter location, and so on - I just keep it running in the background.

 

[Boombox]

The problem I have with EiBi using "EiBi view" is that it doesn't show stations that are not transmitting! "Who cares" I hear you say. Well, if I'm sitting their, patiently waiting for "Radio Pongolia" to come the air, I can't pretune my radio to the frequency as I don't know if I've set it right on or got my UTC mixed up with something else. If you download the text version then you can see all the frequencies, even if they are not transmitting.

Dan's list 'SWskeds" .csv version has all the EiBi data and other lists from around the world as an Excel spreadsheet. All the info about the stations, power, transmitter location, and so on - I just keep it running in the background.

It's probably just as quick, if not more convenient, to use the EiBi text files, and search them in cases like the one you mentioned.

 

[ka3jjz]

Except that's just one source. Dan's spreadsheet has numerous sources, not just one. Sometimes one source gets updated sooner than the rest. It's up to the user to figure out which source is correct for what s/he is hearing

Mike

 

[Boombox]

Except that's just one source. Dan's spreadsheet has numerous sources, not just one. Sometimes one source gets updated sooner than the rest. It's up to the user to figure out which source is correct for what s/he is hearing

Mike

I was referring to Majoco's comment about using EiBi, where I've found the text file is quick and easy to use. Same with Aoki.

I use three sources. Even then, there are anomalies from time to time, but between the three sources, most of what I hear is covered.

Last night, for example, all six stations audible on 31 Meters were IDed easily enough just using one of the sources. In the real world, SWBC is starting to fade away, and multiple lists are probably more important for those who are chasing Utilities, as opposed to broadcast SW stations.

 

[iowabassplayer]

I've just recently stumbled across a site called ShortwaveDB - I've never heard of it but have been using it for about a week now. I really like it...

Home|Shortwave DB™

 

[DXerPaulAK]

I use the eibi text file on my cell phone, itll load even on my 2G cellular connection when im outside dxing.. it takes a little time to get used to reading but isnt too bad and ive found it to work welland be pretty accurate

 

[ka3jjz]

I've just recently stumbled across a site called ShortwaveDB - I've never heard of it but have been using it for about a week now. I really like it...

Home|Shortwave DB™

This isn't bad - it's using the big 3 (Aoki, HFCC and EiBi). As long as the webmaster keeps up with the updates, it is pretty useful. However if you want a downloadable file that can be used in a SDR program, the SWSKeds reflector on groups.io is your go-to place. And remember listen to what you hear - don't just point to the schedule and say 'That's it because the list says so'. Even if it's in a language you don't understand, listening at the top of the hour (or the quarter points- i.e.15, 30 or 45 minutes after the hour) will eventually give you some idea of what you're hearing.

Mike