Shortwave Logs From Fort Worth, TX for April 2015

Country in brackets is the transmitter site and not  necessarily the 
country of origin, unless specified.  If two countries are in brackets, 
first one is transmitter site. After that, the date, time and frequency
in kHz is listed. All times in UTC and all stations heard on TECSUN 
PL-380 portable in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, with 25 foot reel wire 
antenna, on a first floor, unless otherwise noted.

[SPAIN] 04/19/15, 2028, 17855 khz -- Radio Nacional de Espana
in Spanish. Male announcers call futbol game, teams unknown.
SINPO 33343; first time receiving REE on this frequency since
they "came back".

[USA] 04/19/15, 2030, 17790 -- Male announcer (I believe he said
his name was "Tim Taylor") preaches and prays in English. SINPO
45455, very good signal. Almost certainly RMI from Okechobee,
FL.

[CUBA] 04/19/15, 2031, 17730 -- Radio Habana Cuba in Arabic,
male(?) announcer reading presumably news. Thought at first it
might not be Arabic, as it sounded kind of off compared to what my
ear expected, but it is Arabic per Aoki schedule. SINPO 44344.

[USA] 04/19/15, 2034, 15000 -- WWV time station from Fort
Collins, Colorado. The usual, reception about average. SINPO
33233.

[EGYPT] 04/22/15, 0317, 9965 -- Radio Cairo in Arabic, coming in
very decently all the way from North Africa, for once! Middle-Eastern
sounding music with male vocal (?). Clapping heard at end of song,
which was immediately followed by tune from what seemed like diffe-
rent artist at 0320. SINPO 34333.

[BRAZIL] 04/23/15, 0308, 11780 -- Radio Nacional da Amazonia,
in Portuguese. Acoustic guitar music with male vocal. Really good
signal tonight even for this station, at times it almost sounded like it
could've been local AM radio. SINPO 44454, but sometimes as good
as 45545.

[UK/VIETNAM] 04/24/15, 0235, 12005 -- Voice of Vietnam in
English, transmitted from Woofferton, UK. News headlines by alter-
nating male and female announcers. Heavy accents left me unable to
understand much of what was being said, but picked up mentions of
a Cuba/EU meeting and the Iran nuclear negotiations. SINPO 43344.

New Frequencies and Times For Radio Exterior de España

Spain's shortwave broadcaster, Radio Exterior de España, has published new
scheduled and frequencies on its website. For us here in North America, REE
will be transmitting on 17855 khz, from 1800 to 2200 hours UTC on weekdays,
and from 1400 to 1800 hours UTC on weekends. The full listing (in Spanish)
can be seen here. Good to see this from a shortwave broadcaster that until
very recently was getting ready to shut down!

Radio Exterior de España Returns To Shortwave!

Woohoo! According to the Spanish news site Prnoticias.com, new head of
Spain's state broadcast units (RTVE),  José Antonio Sánchez, has reversed
the old leadership's decision regarding Radio Exterior being pulled off
shortwave radio. According to the article, the reversal was largely motivated
by complaints from many in the fishing industry, who relied on REE via
shortwave while out at sea. Shortwave broadcasts will resume "as soon as
it's feasible to do so", but no date has been given. More info in the news 
article (in Spanish).

China Could Take Over Spain Frequencies

With Spain's national shortwave broadcaster  'Radio Exterior de 
España' seemingly leaving the international radio scene for good, 
the Spanish newspaper 'El Faro De Vigo' is reporting that some 
frequencies which REE had used to broadcast Spanish-language 
programming on China Radio International's behalf could be taken 
over outright by the Chinese.


From the article (translated from Spanish):


Through an agreement with China, REE issued two hours daily 
in Spanish to Asia from a center in Xi'an. By suspending this 
service, the frequencies used for Spain's zone would be free and 
China would be willing to acquire them. That is how it is explained 
by the Spanish SWL Association (AER), part of the Platform in 
Defense of the Short Wave, which ensures that China has already 
requested the reservation of frequencies to HFCC (High Frequency 
Co-ordination Conference) -in charge of controlling and 
distributing the use of frequencies; this means it would cost Spain  
more time and money  to recover them [if it were to change its 
mind regarding shortwave].

According to AER, frequencies are "controlled" in an unofficial 
way by the HFCC, so that when a country "reserves" a frequency, 
it can be used over a year, but if they do not, it is freed up. When 
using frequencies next to China from the center of Xi'an, and at 
the breaking of the agreement with Spain, the Asian country is 
now seeking to stay with them.

Thus, part of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific would remain 
without coverage.

Radio Exterior de España Leaving Shortwave

Well, this shouldn't come as a surprise, but according to various sources,
Spain's shortwave broadcasts will cease as of October 1st of this year. Radio
Exterior de España is only the latest international shortwave broadcaster to
leave shortwave, following other nations such as Holland, Canada and Taiwan.
Over the last few years, I was able to enjoy REE's shows on 9535 khz, transmitted
from Noblejas, Spain. The reason for the shutdown is likely to be the oft-cited
budget cuts which have stricken so many international broadcasters as of late.
REE is expected to continue on the Internet, but of course that won't be the
same, and probably won't have the same audience. SWLs and DX'ers aren't
the only ones upset over the news: the Spanish labor union Union Sindical
Obrera calls the decision "surrealist, dantesque, contradictory, and above
all, pathetic". I would have to agree with that assessment. 

With one more national broadcaster shutting down, I will now be left with
Radio Habana, CRI, Radio Nacional Amazonia and religious crazies as my 
only easy SWL listening options. Yipee.

Shortwave Logs for May, 2013

Country in brackets is the transmitter site and not
necessarily the country of origin, unless specified.
If two countries are in brackets, first one is
transmitter site. After that, the date, time and
frequency in kHz is listed. All times in UTC and
all stations heard on TECSUN PL-380 portable in
Euless, Texas, USA, with 25 foot reel wire antenna,
on a second floor, unless otherwise noted.

[BRAZIL] 05-09-13, 0210, 6180 -- Radio Nacional de
Amazonia in Portuguese. Two males probably talking
about a futbol game. Reception marred by loud whine
and interference . Not as good as R. Nacional on
11780, where it is almost always excellent. SINPO
42333.

[SPAIN] 05-09-13, 0215, 9535 -- Radio Exterior de
Espana in Spanish from Noblejas at 350 KW, per Aoki.
One female interviews another, apparently regarding
a book on Cuba. SINPO 44444, somewhat better than
normal for this frequency.

[MOLDOVA/RUSSIA] 05-09-13, 0220, 9665 -- Voice of
Russia in English from Kishinev-Grigoriopol, Moldova.
Two males talk, can't quite tell what about. Bad
interference and noise. SINPO 42322.

[EGYPT] 05-09-13, 0223, 9720 -- Radio Cairo in English
from Abu Zaabal, 250kw. Female talks, hard to understand
due to noise, but could tell it was English. SINPO
33222. Also heard R Cairo w/ Middle Eastern music on
05-16-13 on 9965 khz, 0055 UTC, similar reception.

[USA/TAIWAN] 05-13-13, 0108, 11565 -- R. Taiwan Intl
in Spanish from Okechobee, FL. News by male, relations
w/ PRC, then weather. This followed by details on some
sort of contest. SINPO 44334.

[TURKEY] 05-13-13, 0113, 9770 -- Voice of Turkey,
500kw from Emirler. Spanish. News by female, Israeli
budget, other world news. Muddy, mediocre reception
at best. SINPO 33222.

[ROMANIA] 05-13-13, 0118, 9700 -- Radio Romania Intl
in French. Male interviews female. Some fading but otherwise
very good, SINPO 55455.

[AUSTRALIA] 05-13-13, 0120, 19000 -- Radio Australia
Intl from Shepparton @ 100 kw, end of reggae-sounding song, 
then ID at 0121. Female interviews German/Tongan female
artist from Auckland. SINPO 44333. Heard the same on 21740,
as normal.

SW Logs from February 2013, from Euless, TX

Country in brackets is the transmitter site and not
necessarily the country of origin, unless specified.  If
two countries are in brackets, first one is transmitter
site. After that, the date, time and frequency in kHz is
listed. All times in UTC and all stations heard on
TECSUN PL-380 portable in  Euless, Texas, USA,
with a 6 foot wire antenna, on a second floor, unless
otherwise noted.

[ROMANIA] 02-02-13, 0435, 6130 -- Radio
Romania International in English. Female reads
listener mail. Good signal, SINPO 44344. Per
Aoki, 300 kw from Galbeni, Romania.

[INDIA] 02-02-13, 2148, 9445 -- All India Radio
from Bengaluru at 500 kw. Lots of what was
presumably ambient noise, but still very readable.
Indian/South Asian music, SINPO 33222. First
time ever hearing AIR here in Texas! And the last,
for all I know.

[USA] 02-02-13, 2202, 8420 -- WLO, port beacon
in coastal Mobile, Alabama. Heard beeps/data bursts
and could've sworn I heard morse code. A brief
Google search directed me towards some message board
posts, one of them stating that WLO provides "coastal
radio station ship to shore communications", and that
the actual frequency is supposed to be 8421 khz.
SINPO 34233.

[CUBA] 02-03-13, 0943, 9240 -- Cuban numbers
station. YL reads number sequences followed by
data bursts. Abruptly off at 0946, although open
carrier remained. 54455.

[SPAIN] 02-13-13, 0250, 9535 -- Radio Exterior de
Espana, 350 kw from Noblejas. Male talk in Spanish,
then female with literary segment. Started ok, but
deteriorated to SINPO 34222.

[VATICAN] 02-14-13,  0449, 7315 -- Radio Dabanga
in Arabic/Sudanese, directed to Darfur. Transmitted
from Santa Maria di Galera, 250 kw. Two males
talking, then only one male. SINPO 44444, very good
signal.

[TUNISIA] 02-14-13, 0452, 7275 -- RTV Tunisia, 500
kw from Sfax. Another first time DX for me! Arabic per
Aoki. Middle Eastern sounding music, SINPO 34333.
Pretty sure these guys don't QSL, but I might try
anyway.

[ASCENCION ISLAND/UK] 02-14-13, 0455, 7255 --
BBC in English from the Ascension transmitter in
the Atlantic, 250 kw. Weak but readable, SINPO 24112.
Heard male and female announcers.

[FRENCH GUIANA/VIETNAM] 02-14-13, 0457,
6175 -- Voice of Vietnam in Vietnamese from Montsinery,
French Guiana at  500 kw. Male announcer, SINPO
44555.

[USA] 02-14-13, 0500, 6030 -- Radio Marti in Spanish
from Greenville, SC at 250 kw, directed towards Cuba.
Sounded like it may have been subject to jamming. Male
reads US government editorial. SINPO 32222, bad.

[NEW ZEALAND] 02-14-13, 0432, 15720 -- Radio New
Zealand International from Rangitaiki @ 50 kw (?!) per
Aoki. Male reads sports news, SINPO 33333.

[UNIDENTIFIED] 02-21-13, 0305, 21895 -- Male talks
in what sounds like Portuguese, SINPO 32222, deteriorates
to 22111 around 0313z. Brazillian radio? Pirate?

[USA/TAIWAN] 02-25-13, 0105, 11565 -- Radio Taiwan
International, 100 kw from Okechobee, Florida. Male
reads news in Spanish. SINPO 34233.