I’ve added a new page that makes available several Perseus SDR spectrum recordings from my West Michigan QTH. I will upload more Perseus WAV files in the near future if there’s any interest. In order to “play back” these recordings, you will need the Perseus SDR or equivalent program. A free demonstration version of the Perseus software can be downloaded here (Perseus hardware not required) and this can be used to play back these recordings. WAV files have been compressed using WinRAR to help speed up the downloads.
It seems there is always interesting and mysterious stuff taking place in the range of frequencies from 6-7 mhz. Aside from the pirate broadcasts that took place this last weekend, I heard some other interesting things: 6953 khz USB – UTC 0200 – Conversation between two fisherman, both with heavy New England accents. The talk was about fishing, weather conditions, etc. Both were heard very well here. Very informal conversation with much colorful language, and of course no legal IDs! 6835 khz USB – UTC 0300 – Two shrimpers “Candyman” and “Bubba” conversing tonight, both strong signals with southern accents...
I made the effort this year to spend some time at the dials during the Halloween weekend to judge the current state of pirate activity on the shortwave bands. This is the first Halloween weekend in many years that I’ve done this, and there was no disappointment in the amount of activity taking place! Below are some of the stations that I noted. I had the Perseus recording the whole 6.9 mhz band during various times of high activity and will be reviewing these files for some time to come. After reading reports from others, this is only a fraction...
Pirate Radio Saint Helena heard well enough here on October 16th to earn this nice e-QSL verification. Thanks to the station for verifying and providing the broadcast! A recording of the broadcast, as heard from my location, can be heard here: 11092 Khz Pirate Radio Saint Helena 16OC10 2305 UTC.mp3
Here are some recordings of various shortwave broadcasters, most of which are no longer present on the dials, as heard from West Michigan during the late 1980s. The receiver used was a GE World Monitor #7-2990A. Enjoy! BFBS British Forces Broadcasting Service – 17.695 Mhz – August 29th, 1990 A 31 minute clip of BFBS with a nice strong signal featuring music and messages for British troops serving in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf for Operation Granby. KUSW – 17.715 Mhz – 2118 UTC – December 26th, 1987 Another very clean recording from the upper end of the shortwave...
A few more additions to my 80s pirate archive have been uploaded: KPLU – time/date/frequency unknown – circa 1990 Short 2 minute clip of KPLU (?) broadcasting in SSB. Radio Free Euphoria / WREC – time/date/frequency unknown – circa 1990 30 second clip with nice ID “Broadcasting to the world, or at least some small part of it…” WLIS – unknown date/time/frequency – circa 1990 Short sample of “We Love Interval Signals” in this clip broadcasting in SSB. WPN – unknown date/time/frequency – circa 1989 Zeppelin Radio Worldwide – 7416 Khz – July 11th, 1987 – 0100 UTC I had...
Here’s a (admittedly incomplete) daytime AM bandscan from the Outer Banks of North Carolina that might interest other medium wave DXers. We camped at the Cape Point Campground August 10th-11th, 2010. I hauled my radio gear including a DX-440 portable / Quantum Loop combo and my Perseus SDR and an 800 foot beverage antenna. I was able to do a little DXing between other family activities. Here’s what I caught using the DX-440 and loop around solar noon. It’ll take me some time to go through the spectrum recordings taken during the pre & post sunset hours. Unfortunately I wasn’t...
As part of our family summer vacation, we tent camped at the Cape Point Campground located on Hatteras Island at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The campground features a grassy open flat area and nice views of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Though very scenic, this is an operational lighthouse that illuminated the tent during darkness when the beacon’s light rotated towards the direction of the campground. The kids loved it! All three of the National Park Service campgrounds were considered on OBX: Oregon Inlet Campground, Cape Point Campground, and Frisco Campground. Reservations cannot be had for any of these three...
All logs from June 20th, 2010. Of particular interest is 700 KHSE which has been creeping in under powerhouse WLW lately. VLF Bandscan: kHz UTC ITU Program + Location Details Remarks km 24 0300 USA NAA, Cutler (ME) Presumed NAA w/ 5 second tones spaced 5 seconds apart (marker?) 942 km 25 0300 USA NML4, Lamoure (ND) 60 0300 USA WWVB, Fort Collins (CO) 984 km 74 0300 CAN CFH, Halifax (NS) MW Logs: kHz UTC ITU Program + Location Details Remarks km 700 0300 USA KHSE, Wylie (TX) Presumed under WLW w/ Asian music & programming, strong at times....
Below are long wave and medium wave North American receptions for the month of April, 2010. Many of these have been logged before, but they are new to my mwlist.org logbook that has now replaced my traditional spreadsheet log. April 2nd, 2010: kHz UTC ITU Program + Location Details Remarks km 1070 1400 USA WTSO-ESPN, Madison (WI) Poor, just above noise floor, TOH ID 160 km 1090 0249 USA WCAR, Livonia (MI) EWTN Global Catholic Network programming 153 km 1110 1400 USA WUNN, Mason (MI) Slogan: Family Life Radio, religious 99 km 1140 1359 USA WVEL, Pekin...
