Decent TA conditions discovered tonight at the upper end of the band from the Middle East, and then I caught this! My first Trans-Atlantic reception on a domestic channel, this is the VOA from Sao Tome. They sign on at 0300 UTC with their signature Yankee Doodle Dandy interval signal which is clearly heard in this clip along with voice IDs. Heard with the D-KAZ antenna pointed North to null WCKY as much as possible:
Judging from all the traffic on the various DX lists, I’d call the WBOB DX test a big success. Here’s how the test sounded from my place in Michigan (loud and clear!): Thanks to everyone involved with arranging this test, it’s a new station logged here!
These are all new logs except the Honduras log as noted. Times / dates UTC. All heard from Western Michigan on the South D-KAZ during the auroral conditions we had here around Christmas. Sure, it sucks for HF but it also turns the BCB band upside with stuff from the deep south that usually isn’t heard here! 540 Radio Rebelde, Cuba – 0504 UTC 12/24/2015 – Presumed with the Cuban National Anthem beginning at 05:04:32 and exactly in sync with // 600 & 710, very weak. 550 ABC Radio, Tegucigalpa Honduras – 0500 UTC 12/24/2015 – With Spanish talk and...
Since catching my first trans-pacific BCB signal a few years ago, and this reception of 4QD earlier this year, I get a little obsessed with the effort each year during this time. If I’m not DXing live during sunrise, then I usually have the Perseus recording segments of the AM band with the hope of catching these elusive DX signals. Such is the case here, taken from a spectrum recording I made on the morning of September 2nd, 2015. Below are screenshots showing weak AM carriers between 1602-1701 kHz captured on this recording from my listening location in Michigan. These high band “DU” signals are always best...
Pirate activity has continued to be slow at the top of the AM dial for most of this DX season, especially with the void left by the absence of The Big Q on 1710. Some new life has been discovered on 1720 kHz though, perhaps the new MW pirate “clear channel”. There have been a number of shortwave pirate radio shows being relayed on 1720 kHz during the last few weeks including Radio Free Whatever, Pirate Radio Boston and Partial India Radio. DXers from Montana to Florida and the Midwest have reported hearing these broadcasts. I’ve caught a few of...
On October 28th, 1989 I logged an old Halloween favorite, pirate radio station “WBST” on 6210 kHz at 0412 UTC. Here’s a scratchy off-air recording of that reception including a nice ID: WBST Pirate 6210 Khz 0412-0421 UTC 28OC89.mp3 “Free Radio One” was a very active shortwave pirate during the late 1980s. Classic shortwave anti-government ramblings using an interview format was the norm for this “Christian Patriot” station: Free Radio One 7415 KHz 0244-0305 UTC 26JN89.mp3 Another 80s pirate gem in the form of “Radio Angeline” as heard here with their chilling Send In The Clowns music box interval signal, poetry readings...
I got up an hour before sunrise this morning to do some MW DXing. Conditions were relatively poor, but low powered 740 KVOR Colorado Springs was blasting in – unusual – and only heard one time before. Otherwise, a dud as far as catching any South Pacific signals. 738 kHz Tahiti was only showing a faint carrier this morning, while faint audio could be heard a few mornings ago at sunrise. The strong 1017.008 Tonga carrier that was present a few mornings ago was non-existent this morning. A check of the tropical bands also showed poor signals in the 120...
A much unexpected announcement was heard over the airwaves from 1710’s favorite oldies pirate, The Big Q, on April 14th: It’s a sad loss for 1710 kHz and medium wave DXers across the country who were always eager to catch The Big Q. It’s unclear right now if the April 14th broadcast was indeed the final show. My thanks and congrats go out to the people behind The Big Q for always providing a very unique broadcast with a top notch signal and sound. 1710 will not be the same during those late nights. 73 my friend and best wishes...
It was bound to happen at some point with pirates now pushing the technological envelope. First, Red Hat from X-FM Shortwave experimenting with C-QUAM AM Stereo broadcasts on shortwave, and now with Undercover Radio dabbling with Digital Radio Mondiale. Obviously this isn’t practical for a number of reasons as demonstrated in the video below, but it’s great to see pirates experimenting with new modes and proves that DRM isn’t just reserved for the big 100kw broadcasters. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpQtiLEHiWM]
I was tipped off to this experimental station via one of the radio lists that I subscribe to. WG2XFQ was on the air Christmas Eve to commemorate Fessenden’s first wireless transmission of speech and music on the longwave frequency of 486 KHz using Heising AM modulation. The station was on the air again New Year’s Eve with a repeat of the special broadcast. It was during this time that I received the station from my listening location in West Michigan using the Microtelecom Perseus SDR with phased BOG antennas. Using the SDR, it can be seen that the modulation favors...
