Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Radio Havana Cuba
These are the first images I have ever seen of Radio Havana Cuba's transmitting facilities. Wow! Impressive. No wonder they are so loud!
Courtesy of Lev Lytovchenko:
Courtesy of Lev Lytovchenko:
VOA: Group Offers Shortwave Radios to Poor Communities
http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/Group-Offers-Shortwave-Radios-to-Poor-Communities--116112444.html
The radio is small, about the size of a book, and self-powered. Users turn a crank. Winding it for two minutes provides about forty minutes of listening time.
Ears to Our World is supported by private donations and partners including Eton, the company that makes the Eton Grundig radios.
Thomas Witherspoon started Ears to Our World in two thousand eight.
THOMAS WITHERSPOON: “Our radios are going to people who have no other source of international news and information. It’s hard for them to learn new languages and be connected to the bigger world.
"In fact, in a lot of these communities, the feedback we get is before they had their radio, most of their news and information came word of mouth, from other people. So this way they’re getting more accurate information. And teachers use this information in the classroom to enhance a student’s learning ability about the world around them.”
The radio is small, about the size of a book, and self-powered. Users turn a crank. Winding it for two minutes provides about forty minutes of listening time.
Ears to Our World is supported by private donations and partners including Eton, the company that makes the Eton Grundig radios.
Thomas Witherspoon started Ears to Our World in two thousand eight.
THOMAS WITHERSPOON: “Our radios are going to people who have no other source of international news and information. It’s hard for them to learn new languages and be connected to the bigger world.
"In fact, in a lot of these communities, the feedback we get is before they had their radio, most of their news and information came word of mouth, from other people. So this way they’re getting more accurate information. And teachers use this information in the classroom to enhance a student’s learning ability about the world around them.”
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Shortwave on Facebook!
Check out this neat group on Facebook: Shortwave Radio Listeners
Looks like another great place to keep up to date with what's happening on the bands *NOW* and share with others!
Looks like another great place to keep up to date with what's happening on the bands *NOW* and share with others!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
SOLAR ACTIVITY HEATS UP: M1-class Flare (Feb. 9th, 2011)
A recent M class flare shouldn't affect propagation, but it's
good to know what's going on!
good to know what's going on!
3 DX Tests scheduled for February 2011
National Radio Club -World's Largest & Oldest MW DX Club
Saturday February 12 - At precisely 0100 and 0200 CST (0700 and 0800 UTC): KHMO 1070 MO Hannibal
Will test with morse code, sweep tones and voice announcements for 5 minutes at the top of the first hour with its 5KW/3 tower day pattern and 5 minutes at the top of the second hour at its 1KW/6 tower night power.
Saturday February 12 - From 0300 to 0400 CST (0900-1000 UTC): WLIQ 1530 IL Quincy
Will test for 20 minutes using morse code, sweep tones, voice announcement, special music, sound bites, etc, at its 1400W Non-Directional Day Power, then for 20 minutes at is 290W Non Directional Critical Hours Power, and then for the final 20 minutes it will test at its once-proposed 3 Watts Non Directional Night Power.
Saturday February 19 -- From 1am to 2am CST (0700-0800 UTC) WLRB 1510 IL Macomb
Will test for the first 30 minutes using morse code, sweep tones, voice announcement, special music, sound bites, etc, at its 1KW Non Directional Day power and for the final 30 minutes with much the same content at its 250W Non Directional Critical Hours Power.
Reporting Requirements
Snail-mail QSLs: Send a self addressed stamped envelope to the Chief Engineer at the following address: Gary Glaenzer c/o (Put the name of the station whose DX test your are reporting on this line) 325 East Douglas Avenue Jacksonville, IL 62650 Tapes or CDs will be accepted along with written reports but MUST be cued up to the point of where the best reception is. If sending in a report by mail, you MUST include a return, self addressed, stamped envelope. The reports are being sent to the engineers home address, not the station. So please be patient, as Mr. Glaenzer is the Chief Engineer for 16 radio stations in Missouri and Illinois. E-QSLs are available - Send to the engineer at with both the station call letters and the words "DX test" in the subject line, as follows: KHMO DX Test WLIQ DX Test WLRB DX Test Finally, we ask that you please not telephone any of the stations or the engineer during the test. No one will be at the stations during the tests - everything is being done remotely by phone control. Of course, be sure to report any catches to the DX lists, to club bulletins, or to any of your regular communication channels. And please help the cause by forwarding this test information far and wide, and - if you can - by organizing a test of your own! With thanks to Paul for arranging and Gary for running. Saul Chernos IRCA-NRC DX Test Committee
Saturday February 12 - At precisely 0100 and 0200 CST (0700 and 0800 UTC): KHMO 1070 MO Hannibal
Will test with morse code, sweep tones and voice announcements for 5 minutes at the top of the first hour with its 5KW/3 tower day pattern and 5 minutes at the top of the second hour at its 1KW/6 tower night power.
Saturday February 12 - From 0300 to 0400 CST (0900-1000 UTC): WLIQ 1530 IL Quincy
Will test for 20 minutes using morse code, sweep tones, voice announcement, special music, sound bites, etc, at its 1400W Non-Directional Day Power, then for 20 minutes at is 290W Non Directional Critical Hours Power, and then for the final 20 minutes it will test at its once-proposed 3 Watts Non Directional Night Power.
Saturday February 19 -- From 1am to 2am CST (0700-0800 UTC) WLRB 1510 IL Macomb
Will test for the first 30 minutes using morse code, sweep tones, voice announcement, special music, sound bites, etc, at its 1KW Non Directional Day power and for the final 30 minutes with much the same content at its 250W Non Directional Critical Hours Power.
Reporting Requirements
Snail-mail QSLs: Send a self addressed stamped envelope to the Chief Engineer at the following address: Gary Glaenzer c/o (Put the name of the station whose DX test your are reporting on this line) 325 East Douglas Avenue Jacksonville, IL 62650 Tapes or CDs will be accepted along with written reports but MUST be cued up to the point of where the best reception is. If sending in a report by mail, you MUST include a return, self addressed, stamped envelope. The reports are being sent to the engineers home address, not the station. So please be patient, as Mr. Glaenzer is the Chief Engineer for 16 radio stations in Missouri and Illinois. E-QSLs are available - Send to the engineer at with both the station call letters and the words "DX test" in the subject line, as follows: KHMO DX Test WLIQ DX Test WLRB DX Test Finally, we ask that you please not telephone any of the stations or the engineer during the test. No one will be at the stations during the tests - everything is being done remotely by phone control. Of course, be sure to report any catches to the DX lists, to club bulletins, or to any of your regular communication channels. And please help the cause by forwarding this test information far and wide, and - if you can - by organizing a test of your own! With thanks to Paul for arranging and Gary for running. Saul Chernos IRCA-NRC DX Test Committee
Cuba - Radio Progresso
For those of us in the eastern part of North America, Cuba has got to be the easiest foreign country to log on the medium and shortwaves. Radio Havana Cuba pretty much owns 49 meters at night where you can hear them in English or Spanish on any number of frequencies, especially 6,000khz. In the 60 meter band, they have recently started transmitting on 5,040khz in either Spanish, French, or English. Radio Rebelde, is probably the next easiest Cuban network to hear as they put out a huge signal every night on 5025khz. Here's how they sounded last night:
Radio Reloj is the next most frequently heard network up here in the midwest. On most evenings their "tic-toc' time pips can be heard on 570khz followed by the morse "RR". Easy pickin's.
The next Cuban network, Radio Progresso is a bit tougher since they are only on mediumwave. Under good conditions, they can be found on a number of frequencies. Last night, I found them on 640khz playing the Cuban National Anthem:
That can be a tough path considering all the other stations on the air along the 2500km path.
A complete listing of all the Cuban outlets on medium wave can be found here: http://www.bamlog.com/cuba.htm
Monitor these channels regularly and see how many you can check off the list!
Radio Reloj is the next most frequently heard network up here in the midwest. On most evenings their "tic-toc' time pips can be heard on 570khz followed by the morse "RR". Easy pickin's.
The next Cuban network, Radio Progresso is a bit tougher since they are only on mediumwave. Under good conditions, they can be found on a number of frequencies. Last night, I found them on 640khz playing the Cuban National Anthem:
That can be a tough path considering all the other stations on the air along the 2500km path.
A complete listing of all the Cuban outlets on medium wave can be found here: http://www.bamlog.com/cuba.htm
Monitor these channels regularly and see how many you can check off the list!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Egyptian Clandestines?
With the political turmoil in Egypt recently and the propensity for the government to readily shut down cell phones and the internet, are there, or might we see a clandestine broadcaster arise out of Egypt? Check out this blog entry by Paul Riismandel where he breaks it all down. In summary, so far - no. There hasn't been, but that doesn't mean that there won't be!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Shortwave Log - February 6
Here's my short log from earlier tonight before turning my attention to the Super Bowl. These are the entries I posted live over on http://dxworld.com/swbblog.html
Feb06 23:03 6160 CKZN St. John's, Newfoundland ENglish, fair to good NEW! 1kw wi
Feb06 22:38 Typo 6297.2
Feb06 22:37 6292.2 National Radio of Sahara Arab Democratic Republic bcsting
from Algeria - F to G
Feb06 22:15 AIR sigs building. S9 now
Feb06 22:00 6200 All India Radio in English. Fair
Feb06 19:21 11725 Deuche Welle via Rwanda in German VG
Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers on winning the Super Bowl tonight!
Welcome!
Welcome to the Daily DX! On these pages, I will cover news, information, and some of the latest loggings across all the bands - longwave through VHF. The focus will be on broadcast type communications rather than ham or utility type activity, but I won't rule those out completely. So, check back often and maybe you'll find something new and interesting to read!
73
John K9RZZ
73
John K9RZZ
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