Blog Logs - September 2025

 Welcome to the September issue of Blog Logs. Thank you for your emails, logging contributions and following my latest daily tweets on X at: Shortwave Central (Gayle Van Horn W4GVH) @QSLRptMT

Have you subscribed to the Shortwave Central YouTube channel? You will find a vast selection 

of videos and audio airchecks, and the Playlist is growing! Join your fellow radio enthusiasts at: https://www.youtube.com/c/ShortwaveCentral 

The Shortwave Central blog brings you the latest from the ever-changing realm of radio. Additional radio information is covered in my Bits & Bytes monthly column in The Spectrum Monitor e-zine at: https://www.thespectrummonitor.com/

Languages as indicated

// denotes station heard on a parallel frequency

*Sign-on Sign-Off*/ frequencies in kHz

Monitoring  July 1-30, 2025   

UTC, frequencies kHz 

Mediumwave

Argentina

710, Radio Diez, Buenos Aires. Spanish at 2329. Regional items to time check as “Radio Diez…veinte horas y treinta minutos…Noticias Radio Diez.” SINPO 25432. (Rudolf Grimm,  SP Brazil). 

750, Radio Salta. Spanish ads “Tienda San Juan to station promo as, “Radio Salta, la mayor potencia de radio del norte Argentino.” SINPO 25442 (Grimm).

900, Radio Provincia de Corrientes. Typical Argentine songs and Spanish items by male announcer. SINPO 24542 (Grimm). 

990, Radio 990 AM, Formosa. Spanish soccer commentary at 0100. (Grimm).

Brazil

670, Rádio Gazeta, Carazinho at 2312. Station relay of  Rádio Gre-Nal, Porto Alegre, with sports news updates and interviews. SINPO 25432 (Grimm).

690, Rádio Difusora, Londrina at 0156. Christian music format and ID as “Difusora…to ads. SINPO 34433 (Grimm).

750, Rádio Jovem Pan News, Brasilia at 0022. Political comments to interview and ID as, “Jovem Pan News” SINPO 25432 (Grimm).

890, Rádio Ubá, Ivaiporá at 2340. Commercial ads and regional time check. SINPO 24542 (Grimm).

920, Rádio Cultura, Visconde do Rio Branco at 2138. Brazilian music vocals to station ID and location (Grimm).

920 Rádio Novo Tempo, Salvador at 2150. Christian music program to station ID (Grimm).

930, Rádio Cultura, Curitiba at 2208. Station ID “ZYJ92…programa Mente Aberta.” SINPO 35543 (Grimm).

Iraq

792, Iraqi Media Network-Republic of Iraqi Radio  1610-1625. Arabic service from 1610 tune-in. Recitations to male/female comment exchanges, SIO 322 (G Van Horn, LA/Kiwi Kuwait). 

Paraguay

650, Radio Uno, Asuncion. Spanish at 2306 with sports news and soccer commentary, SINPO 35543 (Grimm).

Uruguay

1280, Radio Tacuarembo. Spanish text to Uruguayan music and announcer’s chat and reference to “Tacuarembo.” SINPO 25432 (Grimm).

1340, Radio La Voz de Melo, Spanish text to romantic 

ballads. Announcer’s “siga con nosotros…La Voz de Melo.” SINPO 25342 (Grimm).

Shortwave

Ascension Island

21660, Follow the Bible Ministries relay at 1700-1710. Swahili programming in addition to biblical themes. SINPO 45544 (Jose Ronaldo Xavier/HCDX)

Bolivia

3310, Radio Mosoj Chaqui, Cotapachi, 0040-0055. Quechua ads and comments to Andean music vocals. (Rod Pearson, FL)

Belarus

3940, Music Wave Radio 2003-2024. Russian vocals to comments. SINPO 25422. Also heard 1946-2015 in Russian (Manuel Méndez, Spain/BDXC).

Brazil (Portuguese)

5035, Rádio Educacao Rural de Coari at 1020-1026. Announcer reading messages to listeners, “bozo precisa far urgente com voce…estara te esperando para falar com…atencao rapaziada do no Urucu…bom dia bom dia.” Station sign-off at 1006. (Lucio Otavio Bobrowiec, Brazil/HCDX).

15190, Rádio Inconfidencia, Belo Horizonte, 2005-2025. Station ID/ifo to regional ads and announcer’s evening comments. (Pearson).

Cuba

4765, Radio Progreso, Bejucal 0310-0401.* Cuban salsa to Spanish service, including announcer’s comments and ID as “Radio Progreso Cadena Nacional, la onda de la Alegria, transmitiendo desde Cuba, territorio libre en  América. Cuban national anthem to 0401 closedown. (Pearson).

Egypt

9890, Radio Cairo 1915. Tentative as this station in Russian with a very poor signal.  SINPO 14222 (Sam Wright, MS)

Eswatini

9500, TWR Africa 1645-1700. Fair signal quality for Christian text and programming to an instrumental tune. (Wright).

Ethiopia

6110, Radio Fana 1720-1745. Presumed Amharic programming and mentions of Addis Ababa. Selection of Afro pop vocals with China’s Xizang station underneath. (Van Horn/Qatar Kiwi)

6030, Radio Oromiya, Addis Ababa, 1818-1836. Vernacular program comments. SINPO 15422 (Méndez).

6090, Amhara Radio 1740-1755. Lady announcer’s news script in presumed Amharic to conversation with male announcer. (Van Horn/Qatar Kiwi)

Finland

6195, RealMix Radio, Raasepori, 1951-2026. English pop songs to Spanish at 2026 “la major musica de onda corta en RadioMix Radio.” Additional pop songs. SINPO 24322. Also heard station 0443-0554 with English pop vocals (Méndez).

Germany

9670, Channel 292 via Rohrbach. German programming at 2110. Romantic ballads to announcer’s comments. Target area to Europe. SINPO 15321. (Grimm)

Japan

6055, Radio Nikkei 1 at 1200. Japanese service promoting the station’s YouTube channel. Top of the hour ID, partially in English. Cyndi Lauper's classic tune amid good signal (Tony Pavick, Canada/NASWA).

Mali

5995, Radio Mali via Bamako, 1940-2000. French service of Afro pops to announcer’s presumed soccer scores and accompanying interview (Frank Hillton, SC).

México

6185, Radio Educación de México, 0510-0700. Spanish programming of regional items and classic Mexican-themed music. (Wright).

New Zealand

7425, RNZ Pacific, Rangitaki. English at 1138, including male/female chat about New Zealand. Target to West Oceania. SINPO 15421 (Grimm).

Peru

4820, Radio Senda Cristiana, Cotahuasi (tentative)  0135-0200. Spanish comments via a very weak and fading signal. (Wright).

Philippines

9400, FEBC Radio Liangyou 1, Iba. Mandarin service at 1143. Items of interest from a female announcer. Target Area to the Far East. SINPO 25422. FEBC Manila on 9920 via Iba at 1220. Christian messages, SINPO 15321 to Southeast Asia (Grimm).

Taiwan

9490, Radio Taiwan International, Tamsui. Russian service with announcer’s comments. Target area to the Russian Siberian region. SINPO 25432 (Grimm),

United States

7730, Supreme Masters TV via WRMI. Sign on at 2059 with ID and Ian McFarland station promo. QSL info, station website info, and address. Additional programming on living the Vegan lifestyle, followed by salsa music and travelogue info on San Juan, Puerto Rico (Van Horn/SW Central Kiwi/ LA)

7730, Radio for Peace International via WRMI, 2043-2059. Lady’s interview on presumed Dari or Pashto to English ID “You are listening to Radio for Peace International.” Multilingual IDs to text about Ukraine. (Van Horn/SW Central Kiwi/LA).

9265, WINB Red Lion, PA at 0115. Christian programming to “this is WINB Red Lion, Pennsylvania, United States of America.” Followed by Spanish programming. SINPO 34433 (Wright).

Brazil on Shortwave

 

Special thank you to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for sharing this week's edition of Wavescan.  Shortwave broadcasts continue to dwindle from South America; however, Brazil remains a favorite to monitor.

Jeff:  Our featured country this week is Brazil – the largest country in South America.  Back in 2021, we brought you a three-part series on the early history of wireless and medium wave radio in Brazil, but we’ve never covered the shortwave scene there before.  So here to rectify that is Ray Robinson, in Los Angeles.

Ray:  Thanks, Jeff.  And yes, Brazil is indeed a country of superlatives, larger than the continental United States.

The Amazon River is thought by many to be the world’s longest river, originating more than 4,000 miles inland from the Atlantic coast.  Large ocean-going vessels can ply the Amazon River for a thousand miles inland, and the river is navigable for smaller ships for another thousand miles further.  This huge river system disgorges fresh water at the rate of 18 million tons every minute, sending it out for a distance of 250 miles into the Atlantic Ocean.

Iguazu waterfalls (photo via Wikipedia)

The dramatic Iguazu waterfalls lie at the border between Brazil and Argentina.  The water at Iguazu plunges from a height of more than 200 feet, higher than the Niagara Falls.  These South American falls stretch across the landscape for more than a mile.  In season, the water tumbling over the edge of the cascading cliffs at Iguazu is greater in volume than that of all the other major water falls throughout the world combined, and the thunderous, tumultuous roar from Iguazu can be heard for miles.

Most of the major cities in Brazil lie along the Atlantic coast, with the largest being Sao Paulo (population 22 million) and the second largest Rio de Janeiro (population 12 million).  Only Brasilia, founded as the national capital in 1960 and now with a population of 3½ million, is located inland, some 1,000 miles from the ocean.

As we’ve told you previously, the medium wave scene in Brazil dates back to an experimental demonstration station that was set up in Rio de Janeiro in 1922.  In the early days when only a very few wealthy Brazilians owned receivers, radio clubs were formed in many areas which supported nonprofit radio stations through contributions from the members.  These were often called Radio Clube do and the name of the town or city, or sometimes Radio Sociedade do … wherever.  By the 1930’s, however, more Brazilians owned radio receivers, and commercial radio stations came on the air.  Gradually the radio clube and radio sociedade stations switched to private commercial ownership, although a few do still survive.

As the use of medium wave began to proliferate, so did the use of tropical band shortwave and even the higher shortwave bands, for domestic purposes.  Some stations solely used shortwave, while others simulcast their medium wave programming on one or more shortwave frequencies.  Some Radio Nacional stations were run by the government and carried less advertising, similar to the CBC in Canada or PBS in the USA.  Educational stations were also run by the Catholic Church.  But most stations were commercial, and with huge territory to cover, shortwave was the most efficient way of doing it.

By the early 1970’s, over 200 shortwave stations were listed in Brazil in the WRTH, all targeting domestic audiences, mostly in Portuguese, but also a few in indigenous Indian languages.  Transmitter powers were typically around 1-5 kW on the 90- and 60-meter tropical bands, but as much as 50 kW on the higher international shortwave bands, where some 2-3 dozen stations operated, all the way from 49 meters right up to the 16-meter band.  The only other countries to make such extensive use of shortwave for domestic purposes were Peru and Indonesia, although the transmitter powers in Brazil were generally higher.

The government of Brazil from 1964-1985 was a military dictatorship, and in the early 70’s, they became concerned at the amount of cold war propaganda that was being transmitted to Brazil in Portuguese by foreign countries, especially socialist or communist ones such as Cuba.  Foreign broadcasts in Portuguese were easily heard by Brazilians who were very used to using shortwave – it was part of their culture – and the government feared that such foreign broadcasts might start winning over hearts and minds.

The dictatorship already had a couple of very grandiose infrastructure projects under its belt – the 2,600-mile-long Trans-Amazonian Highway and the Rio-Niterói Bridge, which at over 8 miles long was, at the time of its construction, the second longest bridge in the world, second only to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana.  So, in the early 70’s, they decided to undertake one more major infrastructure project – the “High Power Broadcasting System” – for Radio Nacional de Brasilia – a station which had been inaugurated in 1958, but which at that time only had transmitters in the major cities.

A 1,200-acre site was selected at the Parque do Rodeador, or Rodeo Park, about 30 km (18 miles) northeast of downtown Brasilia in the Brazilian Federal District.  It is well away from any other telecommunications services, and sits on the highest point in the district, 4,400 feet above sea level, surrounded by small farms.  Much of the property had to be cleared of tropical rain forest.

Initial construction was completed in 1974, at a cost, adjusted for inflation, of half a billion Brazilian Reals, equivalent to about US$90 million.  The High-Power Broadcasting System at the Parque do Rodeador was inaugurated on March 11, 1974 by then president Emilio Médici – who arrived by helicopter and in short order opened the station himself by turning on a medium wave transmitter, and the Minister of Communications who was with him turned on a shortwave one.

Radio Nacional 

A 1,200-acre site was selected at the Parque do Rodeador, or Rodeo Park, about 30 km (18 miles) northeast of downtown Brasilia in the Brazilian Federal District.  It is well away from any other telecommunications services, and sits on the highest point in the district, 4,400 feet above sea level, surrounded by small farms.  Much of the property had to be cleared of tropical rain forest.

Initial construction was completed in 1974, at a cost, adjusted for inflation, of half a billion Brazilian Reals, equivalent to about US$90 million.  The High-Power Broadcasting System at the Parque do Rodeador was inaugurated on March 11, 1974 by then president Emilio Médici – who arrived by helicopter and in short order opened the station himself by turning on a medium wave transmitter, and the Minister of Communications who was with him turned on a shortwave one.

By 1979 the site housed 6 x 250kW Brown Boveri shortwave transmitters from Switzerland, and also 2 x 300kW medium wave transmitters which could provide a combined output power of 600kW, sufficient to cover the entire country at night on 980 kHz.  The shortwave transmitters were used for both domestic and international coverage, the primary frequencies being 6180 and 11780 kHz.  They also had a high-power FM transmitter on 96.1 MHz for the city of Brasilia.  

For the international broadcasts they used five languages - English, German, French, Spanish & Portuguese.  Programs were produced first in Portuguese, and then translated into each of the other languages.  They mostly consisted of news, but also included politics, the economy, science and technology, culture and the arts, Brazilian music and listeners' letters.  Broadcasts ran seven days/week, with two hours in each language, scheduled to reach listeners during the evenings in their target areas.  In the days before web SDR's, Brazilian embassies around the world were used to monitor reception quality, and recordings were sometimes played back by telephone, so the technical staff in Brasilia could hear what the broadcasts sounded like.

Eventually, though, budget cutbacks and failing equipment meant the end of the international service.  Transmitter tubes failed, and replacements were no longer available.  So, they had to reduce the number of transmitters in service, and the Amazon became the priority for coverage instead of international audiences.  The name of the station was then changed to Radio Nacional do Amazonia, broadcasting exclusively in Portuguese.

In 2018, Parque do Rodeador was classified as a critical national infrastructure resource, because in the event of a major catastrophe (such as floods, blackouts, or natural disasters), it's the only place from where the government can broadcast to the entire country, without dependence on satellites or Internet infrastructure.

This station has always been a good verifier, with QSL cards featuring iconic Brazilian tourist scenes including the seven falls at Iguazu, Rio de Janeiro with the statue of Christ the Redeemer, the Amazon rain forest, and Brazilian beaches.

Today, Radio Nacional do Amazonia still operates on the same two frequencies as back in the 1970’s – 6180 and 11780 kHz, but now with 100 kW on each.

And on April 1st this year, they reintroduced some brief programming in English and Spanish in DRM mode at 0150 UTC daily – 5 minutes in each language.

There are still six other regular private broadcasters left who transmit on shortwave, plus a handful of occasional come-and-go reactivations.  The ones you may still be able to hear are:

• Radio Brasil Central from Goiânia with 10 kW on 4985 and 11815 kHz,

• Radio Clube do Para from Belém with 2 kW on 4885 kHz,

• Radio Clube Riberão Preto from the town of Riberão Preto on 15415 kHz,

• Radio Inconfidencia from Belo Horizonte with 5 kW on 6010 & 15190 kHz,

• Radio Nove de Julho from São Paulo with 10 kW on the off-channel frequency of 9819 kHz, and

• Voz Missionaría from Camboriú with 10 kW on 5940, 9665 and 11750 kHz.

Back to you, Jeff.

(NWS 862/Ray Robinson)

Jen's Labor Day End of Summer Special audio available

 

Jen's Labor Day End of Summer Special - which includes GB's All That Jazz Show for August 31- is now up and ready for downloading or listening.

Link for Sunday, August 31, 2025

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/e9sr1uunxxelovyf2rnpc/Jen-s-Labor-Day-End-of-Summer-Special-For-Sunday-August-31st-18-23plus-Including-GB-s-all-that-Jazz-Show-heard-on-Unique-R-Australia.mp3?rlkey=m8gxyn82szcjv4j6ywwxxy5qa&dl=0

Tiny URL: https://tinyurl.com/4tprs8ur

Next week's regular program, Jen's Eclectic Views & Real Deal  will be on September 7 at 1800-2100 UTC, but for different time zones, we may begin the program earlier...stay tuned for additional information.

http://uk4-vn.mixstream.net:8104/index.html 

For your contact pleasure

JenUR@proton.me

Jen In The Rad.

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins

Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts

:Issued: 2025 Sep 01 0133 UTC

# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center

# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/subscription-services

#

#                Weekly Highlights and Forecasts

#

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity - 25 - 31 August 2025

Solar activity was at low levels on 27 and 31 Aug. Activity reached moderate levels on 25, 26, and 28-30 Aug. Region 4197 (S17, L=131, class/area-Eki/720 on 27 Aug) produced six M-class flares, the largest being an M4.5/1n at 26/0525 UTC. Region 4199 (N04, L=115, class/area-Cao/200 on 26 Aug) produced five M-class flares, with its largest being an M4.5 flare as well, reaching a peak at 25/0524 UTC. This region was also responsible for a long-duration M2.7 flare at 30/1911 UTC. The associated full halo CME is forecast to arrive at Earth sometime late on 01 Sep into early on 02 Sep. 

The greater than 10 MeV proton flux at geosynchronous orbit reached S1 (Minor) storm levels at 25/1355 UTC, observed a peak of 13 pfu at 27/0740 UTC, and decreased below threshold at 27/1510 UTC. Levels remained enhanced, but below the 10 pfu threshold, for the remainder of the period. 

The greater then 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels on 25 Aug, but returned to normal to moderate levels from 26-31 Aug. 

Geomagnetic field activity reached unsettled levels on 25-28 Aug and again on 31 Aug. Field activity was at low levels on 29-30 Aug. 

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity - 01 September - 27 September 2025

Solar activity is expected to be at low levels, with varying chances for M-class flares (R1-R2/Minor-Moderate events) through 27 Sep. 

The greater than 10 MeV proton flux levels are expected to be slightly enhanced, but below the 10 pfu level for 01-03 Sep. There is a chance levels could exceed the 10 pfu threshold on 01-02 Sep as the halo CME from 30 Aug passes Earth. Conditions are then likely to return to near background levels after 04 Sep, barring any additional strong flare events. 

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at moderate levels on 01-02 Sep, 15-19 Sep, and 22-27 Sep. Flux levels are expected to reach high levels on 03-14 Sep and 20-21 Sep in association with coronal hole (CH) high speed stream (HSS) influence. 

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to reach G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels on 01 Sep, G3 (Strong) levels on 02 Sep, and active conditions on 03 Sep following the arrival of the halo CME from 30 Aug. Active conditions are likely on 06-10 Sep, and 15-19 Sep with CH HSS influence. Quiet to unsettled levels are

expected on 04-05 Sep, 11-14 Sep, and 20-27 Sep. 

Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt

:Issued: 2025 Sep 01 0133 UTC

# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center

# Product description and SWPC webcontact www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/subscription-services

#      27-day Space Weather Outlook Table

#                Issued 2025-09-01

#

#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest

#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index

2025 Sep 01     215          20          6

2025 Sep 02     210          55          7

2025 Sep 03     200          10          4

2025 Sep 04     195           5          2

2025 Sep 05     185           5          2

2025 Sep 06     175           8          3

2025 Sep 07     160          12          4

2025 Sep 08     140          12          4

2025 Sep 09     130          12          4

2025 Sep 10     125          10          4

2025 Sep 11     125           5          2

2025 Sep 12     120           5          2

2025 Sep 13     120           5          2

2025 Sep 14     120           5          2

2025 Sep 15     120          20          5

2025 Sep 16     125          15          4

2025 Sep 17     125           8          3

2025 Sep 18     130          10          4

2025 Sep 19     140           8          3

2025 Sep 20     150           8          3

2025 Sep 21     175           8          3

2025 Sep 22     180           8          3

2025 Sep 23     180           8          3

2025 Sep 24     180           5          2

2025 Sep 25     180           5          2

2025 Sep 26     180           5          2

2025 Sep 27     170           5          2

(NOAA)