Shortwave Sunday: March 2016

LOOKING back through this blog, it is an online record of the various radio broadcasts I have heard over the decade and more that this blog has been in existence. Sunday 6 March was another of those lovely days spent beside the radio, listening to the Shortwave bands. Here is a record of what I heard that day.

[Housekeeping: Times in UTC (GMT); Frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz); Transmission powers (where applied) are kiloWatts (kW).]

1110 UTC : 6210 kHz : Radio Merlin International (UK Pirate). High energy dance music - Relay of Energy FM Tenerife 'This is Energy', ad break. Dance mix of Ellie Goulding's 'Love Me Like You Do'. Moderate to poor reception. To 1132 UTC.
*Radio Merlin website*

1145 UTC : 6295 kHz : Radio De Zwarte Panter [Radio The Black Panther] (Dutch Pirate). Dance music. Fade out - Loss of signal.
*Radio De Zwarte Panter website*

1316 UTC : 9560 kHz : Radio Slovakia International (Slovakia). Good to moderate reception. English to Europe via Radio 700 (Kall-Krekel, Germany). 'Slovakia Today' with Katarina Richterova and colleagues. To 1330 UTC.
*Radio Slovakia website*

1412 UTC : 9580 kHz : Medi 1 Radio (Tangier, Morocco). 'Intermission': Music: Annie Lennox 'Whiter Shade of Pale', Grace 'You Don't Own Me'. Fair reception.
*Medi 1 website*

1433 UTC : 9655 kHz : Radio Romania International (Romania). Strong to good reception. Romanian to Central & West Europe. Speech and music. To 1506 UTC.
*Radio Romania website*

1520 UTC : 9690 kHz : Radio Exterior de España (Spain). Strong to moderate reception. Spanish to North America. 'Tablero Deportivo' ['Sports Board'] covering the Barcelona football match; Repeated mentions of Suarez and Messi. To 1535 UTC.
*Tablero Deportivo website*

1545 UTC : 9785 kHz : China Radio International (China). Good to moderate reception. English worldwide via Jinhua, China. Sports report: American football, dog sled racing. Report about the popularity of new movies. Music: Solo artists on tour in China. Weather forecast prior to close of the broadcast. To 1553 UTC.
*China Radio website*

1612 UTC : 9875 kHz : China Radio International (China). Good reception. English worldwide via Kashi, China. Social media in China. Music: Uncle Kraker 'Writing It Down'. LinkedIn releases list of top ten jobs in China. To 1624 UTC.
*China frequencies website*

1644 UTC : 11600 kHz : Overcomer Ministry (USA). Brother R G Stair singing in praise of the Lord, then loudly highlighting words from the Scriptures, the Gospel, the Tabernacle. Quotations. Broadcasting from The Tabernacle: Requesting if European listeners could contribute "One thousand to one hundred thousand dollars to buy airtime"! Moderate reception. English to Europe & Middle East via Spaceline, Bulgaria. Off air abruptly at 1659 UTC.
*Overcomer Ministry website*

1700 UTC : 11600 kHz : Bible Voice India. "You are listening to Bible Voice India". Moderate reception. Change of language. Speech with occasional musical interlude. To 1710 UTC.

1825 UTC : 11600 kHz : End Time Coming (UK). Moderate reception. English to Europe. Male speaking to a congregation, quoting directly from a copy of the Bible - Audio of pages being turned. Abrupt end of sermon for contact details of ETC Ministry. Close of broadcast at 1830 UTC.
*ETC Radio website*

1847 UTC : 11670 kHz : All India Radio (India). General Overseas Service IV. Strong to good reception. English to Europe and Africa. 'Welcome to Studio One' went on location to meet a climber who traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, to go climbing. "It is time for the news - Please stand by". 1900 UTC news broadcast: Female leaders should have more belief in themselves. Fears militants and would-be terrorists have traveled to India. To 1902 UTC.
*All India Radio website*

1914 UTC : 11790 kHz : Follow The Bible Ministries (USA). 250 kW transmission via Ascension Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Strong to moderate reception. "Life should be one continual prayer to God", break-up of broadcast from time to time. Quote from John, Chapter one. Break in transmission. Mark, chapter one, verse 35. Break in transmission. "Reading the Bible daily is important". To 1920 UTC.
*Follow The Bible Ministries website*

1923 UTC : 11810 kHz : BBC World Service (UK). 'Focus on Africa'. Social media; Football; Private doctors. Industry in Tanzania is growing. Promo for Matt Reinhardt with 'Americana' in half an hour. 1930 UTC news headlines: Former US First Lady, Nancy Reagan, has died. News from Syria and NATO. Police in Northern Ireland investigate a bomb. Moderate reception. English to West & Central Africa via Ascension Island. To 1941 UTC.
*Focus on Africa website*

1953 UTC : 11900 kHz : Voice of America (USA). Moderate reception. French to North west Africa - 100 kW via Sao Tome and Principe (Pinheira). 'Soul USA' playing James Brown 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag', followed by speech...

1958 UTC : 12075 kHz : Voice of America (USA). Moderate reception. French to North west Africa via Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana - 100 kW transmission. 'Soul USA' playing Joe Cocker 'With A Little Help From My Friends'. To 2000 UTC.
*Soul USA website*

That concludes the log for March. Please note that not all broadcasts I heard that day have been included; I omitted the 'talk back' channels, usually semi-scrambled, between port and craft; I also omitted a log, simply because, it was two broadcasts listed at the same time, same frequency, and I haven't yet been able to tell them apart.

Please do click on the weblinks that follow the majority of logs. Please note that not all of the websites linked to are in the English language.

Until the next time, kind regards and enjoy.