Shortwave Log May 8, 2011

Spring is truly here, what with lightning static rising to a steady 20db over S9 early this morning on the lower frequencies. I'm still hearing some potent Brazilian signals on 60 meters, so that doesn't mean I'm done DXing my favorite band entirely, but it certainly does mean it's time to shift focus higher up the spectrum. Now, yesterday, I made repairs to my wire antenna and have it up a few feet higher than it was before, and I also changed the direction it's running by about 30 degrees, and so far I'm liking what I'm hearing. Here's my log from late last night, finishing up around 11:30pm local time. I was particularly impressed with how Iran was sounding. Not particularly strong, only about S9, but running all alone which made for wonderful copy. I think this is the best I have heard them in quite a while. Definitely encouraging for what I may hear in the upcoming weeks!

0405z    11945khz BBC in English via Seychelles Islands G S9
0410z    13775khz Voice of Russia in English via Petropavlovsk. Good S9
0415z    13710khz Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran in Azeri from Sirjan, Iran Good S9 Nice copy!
0415z    13695khz Radio France International in French from Issoudun. VG S9+10db
0420z    13690khz Radio Australia in English from Shepparton. F-G S7
0420z    13660khz BBC in Arabic via Cyprus Island. Fair S5 Good copy though.
0425z    13650khz Radio Cairo in Swahili from Abu Zaabal, Egypt. F carrier S5, P audio (nothing new there)

As long as the geomagnetic activity stays low, so that radio absorption over the poles is minimized, we might expect some nights where 19 and 21 meters is open all night long providing us with some exciting possibilities from across the globe. Here's the paths of the stations I logged above. Note that even if you're in middle of the night darkness, the path from across the globe will still be mostly in daytime. So, if you find yourself up out of bed during the wee hours, don't forget to spin across those upper bands. You may be rewarded with some extra special DX you don't usually expect!

This first one represents my location at 11pm local time as I listen to transmitters in full daylight.



This second one represents my location around noon local time as I listen to All India Radio at midnight their time. Half way around the world but most of the path is still daylight which is essential for the upper bands to stay open.