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.

HubPages Article on Numbers Stations

I know, long time no post, but I do expect to be more active here soon. In the meantime, check out this brief introductory article about numbers stations which I wrote for HubPages. More to come soon (I hope!)


Mysteries Over Shortwave Radio: Numbers-Stations

Invitation to Mexican DX Meeting 2013

[The information below was  recently posted as a comment under
one of my posts. I thought I'd put it up here for those who may
be interested. -B.]

Dear friends of Radio, DX clubs, SWL, Ham radio:

I like to invite to our Mexican DX Meeting, we would like to accompany us
and talk about his radio station, SWL stations or Radio Shack.

More information:

19th National and International Meeting of DXers and Shortwave Listeners
July 18 - 20, 2013

What is this Meeting?
This is the annual get-together for all radio enthusiasts: DXers, radio
experimenters, shortwave listeners, associations, groups, clubs and radio
listeners in general; from Mexico and any part of the world, as well as
representatives of international and local radio stations.

For more details, e-mail to:  mcruz_dx@yahoo.com.mx


Thanks!

If you can not attend, please share the invitation. Live the shortwave and
DXing!

Organizers are Radio Educacion - Onda Corta 6185 kHz and Mr. Juan Jose
Miroz - radioamateur and swl.

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.

More Cuban Spy Numbers...Now With Data!

One recent afternoon (April 2nd, around 2330 UTC), I was
sitting on my second floor patio, and scanning the shortwave
bands on my Tecsun PL-380, with a 15 foot wire attached to
the whip antenna. I came upon what sounded like the usual
Cuban spy numbers, but this time on 17540 khz, where I don't
normally hear them, certainly not at this hour. No big deal,
as I hear presumed cuban numbers stations all the time, but
this time there were less numbers being read, and the sets of
numbers were interrupted by data bursts/modem sounds. This
was actually not the first time I've come across these voice/
data spy transmissions, but I'll admit I only started hearing
these particular ones within the last 3-4 weeks. This time, I
decided to finally get off my ass and make a recording. Click
below to listen and/or download.

https://www.box.com/s/ueptz8b3gx9ov1p9dxze