My Short Wave Archive: June 2009

 MIDSUMMER Day 2009 - Father's Day - was a day of listening to broadcasts on my Short Wave radio.

The previous post featuring Short Wave broadcasts, My Short Wave Archive: April 2009, can be found here.

Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW). Logs transcribed from the original notes.

Receiver used: Roberts R881.

June 2009 : Short Wave

• [Sunday] 21 June [2009]: 1120 UTC: 9510 kHz: Nexus - International Broadcasting Association  American voices, male and female, speak of Bible verses James, Chapter 5, Verse 1-3 and Revelations, speak of collapse of banks around the world, speak of European leaders, a 'new world order', reading of Psalms - Prayer to Lord Jesus Christ.
  This is IRRS - Shortwave, Milan, Italy.
  Postal address for the broadcast: Box 704, Troy, Michigan.
  The programme was Jack Impe Ministries.  [See sticker, below]
  Good to fair reception; English to Europe and Middle East via Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia.
  ID at 1130 UTC.  Postal address: IRRS, PO 10980-20110 Milan Italy.
  New broadcast: Music.
  Logged to 1140 UTC.
• 21 June: 1157 UTC: 9895 kHz: Radio Nederland Wereldomroep  Good reception; Dutch language to France, Spain, Portugal and Balearic Isles after 12 UTC.
  Male speech, music, news headlines at 12 UTC: Iranian election results. Pakistan and Middle East.
  Sport: British Grand Prix, Silverstone, Volleyball, Wimbledon, Feyenoord (football).
  Music: 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' (female vocalist).
  Sport updates from Barcelona and British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
  Logged to 1215 UTC.

[Lunch break]

• 21 June: 1310 UTC: 9895 kHz: Radio Nederland Wereldomroep  continues.
• 21 June: 1320 UTC: 9970 kHz: RTBF International  To South Europe.
  French language female, music from Bananarama: 'Venus' [ID] and 'Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye'.  Female speech, music clips, ID.  Female speech, music.
  Excellent to good reception.
  Logged to 1335 UTC.
• 21 June: 1402 UTC: 11725 kHz: Radio Svobodna [Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty]
  Male speech, referencing BBC, Iran, audio report for Midsummer's Day from Stonehenge, Salisbury.  ID.
  Excellent to good reception.
  Logged to 1412 UTC.

Sticker from Jack Van Impe Ministries - Heard via Nexus - International Broadcasting Association.

• 21 June: 1425 UTC: 11770 kHz: Deutsche Welle  Country music, ID, rock music.
  Excellent to good reception.  Music with German language vocals.
  Logged to 1440 UTC.
• 21 June: 1500 UTC: 12040 kHz: Voice of Russia  Excellent to good reception.
  English to Europe, Middle East, Asia via Moscow.  Female with news: Tehran election violence, US soldiers killed in Iraq, Hugo Chavez to visit Belarus. ID. Moscow International Film Festival.
  Russian women are second in World Basketball Championships.
  Anniversary of invasion of Russia by Nazi Germany. News from Russia. Summer Solstice.
  'Moscow Mailbag' Colin and Olga. 'How many rivers are in Russia?' 'How many mobile networks are in Russia?' 'What is the Oblast?' (Government division). Russian weddings.
  Logged to 1515 UTC.

Thank you for visiting Reporting From The Fox Tower!

My AM Archive: April 2013

 ONE week after Easter 2013, I spent an evening listening to the Medium Wave band. This post recounts what was heard on that occasion.

The previous post in this thread, My AM Archive: October 2012, can be found here.

Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW). Logs transcribed from the original notes.

April 2013 : Medium Wave

• [Sunday] 7 April [2013]: 1833 UTC: 549 kHz: [Tentative] Spirit Radio  Music, speech, male host, pop music, possibly chart countdown.
  Fair reception.
  Logged to 1845 UTC.
• 7 April: 1855 UTC: 585 kHz: BBC Scotland  "Enjoy your piping!" [Bagpipe music]
  Excellent to good reception; 2 kW via Dumfries.
  Close of [Bagpipe music] programme. ID.
  1900 UTC news: Grand National 2013 winning jockey injured day after National at Hexham racecourse - In hospital. Bombing in Iraq by Nato. Chancellor defends benefit system after life sentence of Mick Philpott. Dutch tourist dies after accident in Perthshire. Youth crime commissioner resigns. Scotland campaign to remain in UK receives cash boost.
  Sports news: Football, tennis, curling.
  Weather: Cloud, rain, clear, frost, freezing.
  Programme: Profile of Hank Williams. Died on 1 January 1953.
  2013 marked the 60th anniversary of the death; Williams died in his car in Alabama.
  Speech by Bruce Springsteen, music: 'Lost Highway'.
  Music: 'I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive'.
  Contribution by Neil Young.
  Logged to 1915 UTC.
• 7 April: 1920 UTC: 603 kHz: BBC Radio Four  Speech programme with the history of 'The Third Programme', which became BBC Radio Three.
  Excellent to good reception; 2 kW via Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Wrekenton) [Pictured below].
  'Feedback' discussing BBC Radio 3 - 'Live in Concert' The interval and what to do.
  Logged to 1930.

• 7 April: 1957 UTC: 621 kHz: RTBF International  Speech regarding football with break at 20 UTC; Speech continues in new hour, male speech.
  Excellent to good reception; 300 kW Brussels.
  French / Flemish language. Music. 'Viva Sports' Bernard De Wie / Dominique Decourwie on broadcast from Belgium. Music: Bruno Mars 'Locked Out Of Heaven'. 'Viva Musique' on Viva Cité. Male host.
  Transmitter site is Wavre, Belgium.
  ID: 'Viva Cité'. Music: Michael Jackson 'Human Nature'.
  Logged to 2020 UTC.
  
• 7 April: 2058 UTC: 639 kHz: Czech Radio 2  Lead-up to the top of the hour; ID for Czech Radio 2.
  Good to fair reception; Czech language; 1500 kW via Prague, TCH (Czech Republic).
  Logged to 2112 UTC.
• 7 April: 2116 UTC: 639 kHz: RNE 1  Speech by a male and a female in the Spanish language.
  Fair reception; Up to 300 kW.
  Music from The Equals 'Baby Come Back'. Time signal for 2130 UTC, continued speech in Spanish.
  Logged to 2138 UTC.

Sunday 28 April 2013: Information update:
549 kHz: Spirit Radio, Radio Centre, Kilarney Road, Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland.

                Telephone: +353 (1) 272 4760

                Text: +353 87 888 9292
                Email: info @ spiritradio .ie

That concludes this post.
Thank you for visiting Reporting From The Fox Tower!

📻

January + February 2017 on air

MID February and it is a Six Nations Sunday, a tournament which this blog has reflected upon (briefly) over past years. Spoiler alert: Ireland and England won on Saturday; Scotland v France is underway, five minutes played, no score.

I have had a couple of evenings listening to the Roberts R881 over the first six weeks of this year, here are the logs of what I heard on Short Wave and, to begin, Medium Wave. Notes: Time in UTC (GMT), frequency in kiloHertz (kHz), power in kiloWatt (kW) or MegaWatt (MW).

January 2017: Medium Wave.

• 25 January: 1812 UTC: 540 kHz: MR Kossuth Radio, Hungary. Good to strong reception, 2 MW via Solt, Hungary. 'Sports World' covering a Women's volleyball Cup match.
• 25 January: 1906 UTC: 549 kHz: Jil FM, Algeria. Good to strong reception, up to 600 kW via Sidi Hamadouche, Algeria. Music and speech, French and Arabic services.
• 25 January: 1935 UTC: 567 kHz: RNE Radio 5, Spain. Moderate to poor reception, up to 100 kW via Murcia, Spain. Male and female speech, Spanish.

• 25 January: 1958 UTC: 585 kHz: BBC Radio Scotland, UK. Good to strong reception, 2 kW via Dumfries, Scotland. Football! Heart of Midlothian v Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup - GOAL Hearts 0 - Raith Rovers 1 (Deflected goal). Also playing: Celtic 0 - St Johnstone 0.
• 25 January: 2018 UTC: 585 kHz: RNE Radio Nacional, Spain. Good to strong reception, up to 100 kW via Madrid, Spain. MORE football! Celta Vigo v Real Madrid - Male commentators mention Bale, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, referee blows his whistle. Isco. [Full Time: 2-2]
• 25 January: 2036 UTC: 603 kHz: BBC Radio 4, UK. Good to strong reception. 2 kW via Wrekenton, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England. 'Future Proofing': How sport plays its part in society. Link into the 'Four Thought' programme.

• 25 January: 2108 UTC: 621 kHz: RTBF International, Belgium. Strong to moderate reception, 300 kW via Wavre, Belgium. 'Viva Sports' Male speech, presumably at a football fixture. Mentions of 'goalkeeper', 'El Classico', 'Anderlecht'. Full Time? Male in quiet studio reading football scores. Music: Clean Bandit 'Rockabye'.
• 25 January: 2148 UTC: 639 kHz: RNE Radio Nacional, Spain. Good to strong reception, up to 600 kW via various transmission sites. Football: Celta Vigo v Real Madrid - Male commentary. Full Time? Highlights package.
• 25 January: 2209 UTC: 639 kHz: CRo2 Dvojka, Czech Republic. Good to moderate reception, 1500 kW via Prague. 'Night Micro forum' with Marie Retková. Female conversation, music: Frank Sinatra 'Strangers In The Night'. Conversation continues.

February 2017: Short Wave.

• 2 February: 1201 UTC: 9430 kHz: FEBC International, Philippines. Moderate reception, 100 kW to Asia, via Bocaue, Philippines. Music, top of the hour idents in various languages, music. Chinese - Mandarin language.
• 2 February: 1240 UTC: 9560 kHz: Vatican Radio, Vatican City, The Vatican. Poor reception, 250 kW to Asia + Oceania via Philippines. Chinese language programme, female and male speech. ID signal.
• 2 February: 1312 UTC: 9645 kHz: Reach Beyond Australia, Australia. Moderate to poor reception, English language to Asia, via Kununurra, Australia. 'Hope for the Heart' programme with male and female voices.

• 2 February: 1345 UTC: 9740 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Moderate to poor reception, female speech at length, male on telephone. English to East + South East Asia via Kranji, Singapore.
• 2 February: 1452 UTC: 9880 kHz: China Radio International, China. Good to moderate reception, 100 kW via Nanning, China. Cambodian language - Music, female speech, ID sequence, off air at 1457 UTC.
• 2 February: 1509 UTC: 9900 kHz: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran. Moderate to poor reception, 500 kW via Sirjan, Iran. Hindi language - Very muffled speech, heavy propagation. Music, female speech. [Online as 'ParsToday']

• 2 February: 1532 UTC: 9920 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Good to moderate reception, 250 kW via Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. Urdu language: Female speech, translating an American English male, translating an English speaking female.
• 2 February: 1555 UTC: 11635 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Poor reception. 250 kW via Kranji, Singapore. Urdu language: Female in studio, with male on phone. Music, female speech. Off air at 1559 UTC.
• 2 February: 1606 UTC: 11725 kHz: China Radio International, China. Poor reception. 150 kW via Cerrik, Albania. Arabic language: Flamboyant music, male speech, extended music.

• 2 February: 1617 UTC: 11735 kHz: Either Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation, Zanzibar [50 kW via Dole, Zanzibar, Swahili language] Or Rádio Trans Mundial, Brazil [50 kW via Santa Maria - Camobi, Brazil, Portuguese language]. Moderate reception, male speech, music.
• 2 February: 1632 UTC: 11815 kHz: Voice of Turkey, Turkey. Strong to moderate reception, 500 kW via Emirler, Turkey. Turkish language, male speech, music.
• 2 February: 1639 UTC: 11900 kHz: Voice of America, USA. Moderate to poor reception, English to Africa via Sentech, Meyerton, South Africa. Female and male presentation team of 'South Sudan In Focus'.

• 2 February: 1736 UTC: 11930 kHz: Radio Marti, USA. Moderate to poor reception, Spanish to Cuba via Greenville, North Carolina, USA. Strong speech from a male, with female speech too.
• 2 February: 1750 UTC: 11945 kHz: NHK World Radio, Japan. Good to strong reception, 250 kW via Issoudun, France. Music: Earth, Wind & Fire 'Boogie Wonderland', Japanese speech, music. Female speech, male speech, ID, time signal for 1800 UTC, ID. Male speech: News bulletin. Female speech.
• 2 February: 1828 UTC: 11975 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Good reception, 250 kW to Africa, via Ascension Island. French language service, male speech, ID as 'BBC Afrique', ID set to music - Off air at 1829 UTC.

• 2 February: 1835 UTC: 12075 kHz: Voice of America, USA. Strong to moderate reception. French language service to Africa, via Botswana. Male and female speech, with idents.
• 2 February: 1854 UTC: 12160 kHz: WWCR 2, USA. Poor reception, 100 kW via Nashville, Tennessee, USA. English language: Male voice with web address, music, female speech.
• 2 February: 1925 UTC: 15400 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Good to strong reception, English to West + Central Africa via Ascension Island - Football! Ghana v Cameroon in the African Cup of Nations - Live commentary from the Stade de Franceville, half an hour played. Ghana corner, dispossessed, Cameroon corner - 30 yard shot on goal, Ghana 'keeper punches the ball out. 0-0 on 30 minutes in the Semi-Final. Ghana have a shot on goal - Wide of the post.

That completes the logs for January and February - Much more comprehensive than I thought! I hope you have found this post informative and interesting. Until the next time - Enjoy.

📻

Listening to Medium Wave in October.

AN enjoyable evening was spent, on Tuesday 20 October, tuning the medium wave band, beginning at the beginning, on 522 kHz. Here is what I heard that evening. Time in UTC (GMT); Frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz) :

• 1817 UTC, 531 kHz : Jil FM (Algeria), 600 kW via F'Kirina, Algeria. Choral singing, female speech, music. The Beatles - 'The Long And Winding Road'. Moderate to poor reception. To 1840 UTC.
• 1848 UTC, 540 kHz : Kossuth Radio (Hungary), 2 MW via Solt, Hungary. Speech from male and female, ID. Good to poor reception. To 1900 UTC.
• 1914 UTC, 549 kHz : U R 1 Persha Programa (Ukraine), 550 kW via Mykolaiv Luch, Ukraine. Music and speech from the National Radio Company of Ukraine. Moderate reception. To 1923 UTC.
• 1925 UTC, 549 kHz : Spirit Radio (Republic of Ireland), 11 / 25 kW via Carrickroe, Co Donegal, Ireland. Music, female speech including a 'Spirit Radio' ID. 'Spirit Radio, Passion For Life' ID. Evenings with Olga Kaye, 2000 UTC news and sport. Logged to 1945 UTC. Fair to poor reception.
• 1951 UTC, 549 kHz : Deutschlandfunk (Germany), 100 kW via Nordkirchen / Thurnau, Germany. Piano concerto. Male speech. Moderate to poor reception. To 2002 UTC.
• 2034 UTC, 576 kHz : RNE Radio 5 (Spain), 100 kW via Barcelona, Spain. Clear, male, Spanish speech. Poor reception. To 2041 UTC.
• 2046 UTC, 585 kHz : BBC Radio Scotland (UK), 2 kW via Dumfries, Scotland. 'Sportsound' Falkirk v Hibernian. Interview with Alan Stubbs. 2100 UTC news headlines: Motherwell & Clyde steelworks to be mothballed. Sport and weather. 'Another Country with Ricky Ross' : Owen Bradley: The Nashville Sound (Country music programme). Music: Patsy Cline 'Walking After Midnight'. 'Night Train To Memphis'. Logged to 2100 UTC. Strong to Moderate reception.
• 2111 UTC, 603 kHz : BBC Radio 4 (UK), 2 kW via Wrekenton, Newcastle - Upon - Tyne. 'The World Tonight' China's Xi Jinping's state visit to the UK, meeting the Royal Family. Strong, fair reception. To 2121 UTC.
• 2127 UTC, 603 kHz : France Info (France), 300 kW via Tramoyes, Lyon, France. Strong, clear speech, male speech regarding Bashar Assad, leader of wartorn Syria. Strong to moderate reception. Preview of the new Star Wars movie to be released. Champions League football update. To 2144 UTC.
• 2157 UTC, 621 kHz : RTBF (Belgium), 300 kW via Wavre, Belgium. Music, speech, female speech 'Bon soir', reads frequencies in kiloHertz. Music. Off air at 2202 UTC. Fair reception.
• 2207 UTC, 630 kHz : BBC Three Counties Radio (UK), 200 watts via Lewsey Farm, Luton. Music: Petula Clark 'Downtown'. Male speech, telephone callers. Music: The Corrs 'What Can I Do'. Music: 'My Boy Lollipop'. Poor reception. To 2235 UTC.

That's the October log complete.

Springtime Sunday...?

WELCOME along to the latest update here on RFTFT, on what is quite a warm, almost humid Sunday lunchtime, in mid May. Saying that, the previous day and the night before that gave us some of the heaviest rain seen since, well, last summer! Thoughts are with those in West Cumbria who are coping with flooded roads this weekend! The weather forecast shows a brighter outlook for the next few days, so let's hope the forecast is correct!

I have been neglecting my radio listening over winter and early 2013, but did spend a couple of weekend evenings in March and April listening to short wave and medium wave respectively, so here are the broadcasts I heard:

Saturday 16 March 2013 - Short wave (Tropical bands):

• 2200 UTC (GMT), 3415 kHz : Shannon Volmet, Ireland. Female voice with weather reports: wind and visibility reports.(Based at Shannon airport, I believe).
• 2235 UTC, 3905 kHz : Radio Alice, Netherlands. Music: The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go. Iggy Pop - Lust For Life. ID: "On short wave, this is Radio Alice from the Netherlands". AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie. ID. Van Halen - Jump. Good quality.

Sunday 7 April 2013 - Medium wave:

• 1830 UTC, 549 kHz : Spirit Radio, Ireland. Male voice with chart countdown. Fair quality.
• 1855 UTC, 585 kHz : BBC Scotland via Dumfries. Oh dear. Bagpipes. Male voice - "Enjoy your piping!". 1900 UTC news: Grand National winning jockey Ryan Mania injured at Hexham racecourse. Other stories: NATO in Iraq. Mick Philpott. Perthshire accident. Youth Crime Commissioner resigns. Scottish independence campaign. Sport: Football, tennis, curling. Weather report. Country music programme highlighting the sixtieth anniversary of the passing of Hank Williams.
• 1920 UTC, 603 kHz : BBC Radio 4 via Wrekenton, Newcastle - upon - Tyne. 'Feedback': Historical look at The Third Programme, which became BBC Radio 3. Also discussing BBC Radio 3 'Live in Concert' and their handling of the concert interval.
• 1955 UTC, 621 kHz : RTBF International, Belgium. 'Viva Sports' to 2000 UTC - football. 'Viva Musique' on 'Viva Cite'' - Music: Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven. ID. Michael Jackson - Human Nature.French language.
• 2100 UTC, 639 kHz : Czech Radio 2, Prague, Czech Republic. Top of the hour ID, Female voice. Czech language.
• 2115 UTC, 639 kHz : RNE 1, Spain. Male and female voices, Spanish language. Music: The Equals - Baby Come Back.

And that concludes the logs for March and April. I haven't tuned the bands yet in May, hopefully very soon!

I shall conclude with a picture, you could call it 'wallpaper of the week' if you like, a feature I should get back to posting here on the blog on a weekly basis, but this picture ties in with the previous post below.

Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Britney Jean Spears.