U.K. Propagation Update

 

RSGB

RadCom Assistant Editor | October 16, 2026

Compiled by G0KYA, G4BAO and G3LYA on Thursday, 15 October 2026.

Last weekend saw the Kp index soar to seven, with a massive visible aurora over the UK. Unfortunately, many of the UK’s leading DXers and VHF enthusiasts were at the RSGB Convention in Milton Keynes and so missed it!

The aurora was caused by a very strong solar wind, emanating from a coronal mass ejection on the Sun, which occurred the previous Thursday.

The solar wind speed hit between 750 and 850km per second and the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field, or IMF, shifted sharply south at times, meaning it coupled with the Earth’s magnetic field more easily.

This has now settled, and we are back to a more reasonable Kp index of between one and three.

The solar flux index has also been relatively high, often in the 130s, with only minor C-class solar flares.

This has meant the MUF over a 3,000km path has reached more than 28MHz at times, although 21MHz has been more reliable.

Better autumnal HF conditions are returning, with the 1.3kW KQ2H FM repeater in the Catskill Mountains of New York State faintly audible on 29.620MHz some afternoons. Conditions should improve over the coming weeks.

DX to be worked on HF next week includes JD1BQP in Ogasawara, TZ4AM in Mali, 6O2M in Somalia, V63SC in Micronesia, 9N7XT in Nepal, 3DA0GY in Eswatini, S9R on Sao Tome and Principe, and C5R in The Gambia.

Next week, the Space Weather Prediction Centre forecasts that the solar flux index should remain at around the 100 mark.

Geomagnetic conditions should be settled for the first half of the week but then become unsettled with a Kp index up to four between 21 and 24 October.

There is a slight risk this weekend of unsettled geomagnetic conditions due to another large coronal hole on the Sun’s surface, which was due to become geoeffective late on Friday, 16 October.

VHF and up propagation news:

Compiled by G3YLA and G4BAO.

The unsettled weather pattern will continue throughout the coming week. This means that there will continue to be periods of wet and windy weather that will alternate with more settled spells.

Limited periods of Tropo are possible, although probably somewhat restrained due to the transient nature of the Highs.

However, in the unsettled periods the locally heavy frontal rain and heavy showers will be good candidates for some rain scatter.

The strong winds in such cases may make tracking the echoes for GHz QSOs a challenge.

The meteor scatter prospects are reasonable this month and the next meteor shower of note is the Orionids, which peak on 21 into 22 October and are the result of the Earth’s orbit passing through the debris from Halley’s Comet.

The prospects for aurora have been worth considering in recent weeks, typical of the autumn season and there’s good reason to keep monitoring the Kp index for signs of it going above 5.

Bear in mind that auroral events may be short-lasting and often found in the early evening 

so don’t leave it until later before going outside for a look.

EME is now, and Moon declination is at its lowest but starting to rise again. We are still a week away from positive values. Moon windows lengthen, and peak Moon elevation is rising.

Apogee was on Friday, 16 October, so path losses are falling again. 144 MHz sky noise is high until Monday, then low for the rest of the week.

https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/propagation-news/2026/10/16/propagation-news-18-october-2026/

(Mike Terry, UK/BDXC)

 

U.K. Propagation Update-October 2, 2026

 

 RSGB

RadCom Assistant Editor | October 2, 2026

Compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday, 1 October 2026.

As we enter October, we think it’s time to get excited about HF again.

Some of the best HF conditions can occur this month as MUFs rise. It might take a couple of weeks to get going but it will, we promise – there’s a good reason why the CQ Worldwide SSB contest is held in October after all.

Solar conditions have been surprisingly calm. The solar flux index has been ranging from 90 to 100 but geomagnetic conditions have been quiet, with the Kp index usually around one to two.

We had a brief excursion to a Kp index of 4 on 26 and 27 September but this was relatively short-lived.

Daytime Maximum Usable Frequencies, or MUFs, over a 3,000km path have been touching 25 to 28MHz at times, but we can expect this to improve over the next few weeks.

As long as the Solar Flux Index can stay around 100 we should see some transatlantic paths opening up on 28MHz but they may not be as good as previous years.

Ten-metre openings at the start of this month may be fleeting and unreliable.

What we do have is a massive coronal hole on the Sun’s equator, which could send the Kp index up this weekend as solar plasma impacts the Earth. Keep an eye on solarham.com for updates.

If this comes to pass, expect lower MUFs and poor DX for a day or two.

DX to be worked this week include 5W0AF from Samoa; 9T0MD from the Democratic Republic of Congo; JW6VM, JW7XK and JW9DL on Svalbard; 7P8JL, 7P8LZ and 7P8TR in Lesotho; 6O2M (Somalia), C5R from The Gambia and FW1P from Wallis and Futuna.

NOAA predicts that the SFI this coming week may bottom out at around 90, before rising again, perhaps reaching 100 to 102 by next weekend.

As mentioned earlier, we can expect the Kp index to rise, perhaps hitting four on 5-7 October. After this, it should settle to a more reasonable Kp index of 2 for the rest of the week.

VHF and up propagation news:

Compiled by G3YLA and G4BAO.

The autumn season is typically a mix of still, quiet weather with high pressure on the charts and, in contrast, a few days later deep Atlantic lows roll by with wind and rain.

The coming ten days or so will follow that script and offer a mix of propagation modes for the VHF/UHF fraternity.

The Tropo conditions will dominate in the south and should probably be in control up to the middle of next week. Northern Britain will have activity from weather fronts and possible rain scatter for the GHz bands, which becomes more general from midweek onwards.

The autumn season is also a prime time for aurora, so keep that mode on the ‘to do’ list and be aware of changes in the Kp index to values higher than Kp index 5. Meteor scatter is mostly in the realm of random activity.

Lastly, a surprise mention of Sporadic-E, which for CW and SSB modes is pretty much done, but last week on Thursday, 24 September there was some activity for FT8 within Europe.

This was mixed in with Tropo paths so it was difficult to pinpoint the exact mode being used without looking at detailed measurements from radiosondes and ionosondes.

The end result is that ‘out of season’ may still produce Es for digital modes but it’s probably a rare occurrence.

EME now, and the Moon is at maximum declination on Friday, 2 October so Moon windows are at their longest and peak Moon elevation is at its highest.

Path losses are low after perigee on 1 October but will start to increase. 144 MHz sky noise starts the week moderate, dropping back to low for the rest of the week.

https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/propagation-news/2026/10/02/propagation-news-04-october-2026/

(Mike Terry, UK/BDXC)

 

A Wireless Set on the Ocean Wave

Thank you to the Wavescan staff for sharing a new nostalgic radio feature

Jeff:  100 years ago, listening to the radio was a very different experience, often requiring skills to construct receivers yourself.  Today, Ray Robinson has an interesting story from an article published in the UK back then, about the wireless experiences of a merchant seaman.  Ray?

Ray:  Thanks, Jeff.  In the UK, the official weekly journal of the BBC for many decades was the Radio Times.  It was first published in 1923, and although it originally made grudging mention of ‘foreign broadcasts’ from Continental Europe, my recollections of it in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s were that it always provided weekly listings only of BBC radio and television channels.  Other pre-War competitor magazines provided listings for both the BBC and many overseas stations, as indeed did listings in British daily newspapers.  Most European programming in the 1920’s was either news or classical music.  One competitive magazine in the early days was called World-Radio, and in my archive, I have a copy of the edition from Friday, November 25, 1927.  The banner heading on the front page says:  “World-Radio BBC Dominion and Foreign Programmes, price two pence” (or, tuppence). 

As well as program listings, this magazine also contained a number of feature articles, and one of those caught my eye – titled ‘A Wireless Set on the Ocean Wave’.  The author merely identified himself as “Seafarer”, but from his comments he was clearly a Scotsman in the merchant navy.  The article was published in 1927, with the events spoken about having clearly occurred in 1926, so I thought it would be interesting to read the article, which gives great insight into what listening to the wireless was like, 100 years ago.

‘Seafarer’ wrote:

I cannot claim to have been one of the seafarers who made a hobby of listening in the early days of broadcasting.  But I have had several of these enthusiasts as shipmates, men who built their own sets, sometimes with advice from the professional ‘Sparks’ on board, often without.  (‘Sparks’ was the common nickname for the wireless operator.)  Results were good, bad, indifferent and frequently amusing, the most wonderful of all being those one heard of from men belonging to other ships, who supposedly “had regular concerts every night, right across the band.”  The perfect reception, apparently in any circumstances, that they claimed and which their loyal shipmates vouched for, can only be explained by the supposition that they had overcome the atmospheric nuisance in a very thorough manner.

One man I sailed with bought himself quite an expensive set in New York and never got any results at all except by fluke.  He had his aerial carried away once or twice to start with, and as he wasn’t very ‘handy’ and not too popular with the senior officers, he had to depend on juniors to rig it for him in a more or less efficient fashion.  He was allowed to charge his battery from the ship’s juice, but unless ‘Sparks’ or a junior engineer was at hand to guide him, he was apt to connect it up the wrong way round.  It was marvelous how that battery stood up to the abuse it got, first and last, but it was still smiling at the end of the six months’ voyage.  There was a loud-speaker connected to the set in the ‘old man’s’ room, but it had a bad effect on the skipper’s temper and it was usually switched off.

But the amateur at sea generally does better than this.  Marine engineers, many of whom have sets, have as a rule a good working knowledge of electricity, besides being expert with tools, and I have seen some really excellent sets built at sea, and can vouch for the results attained.  When several ‘wireless fans’ are numbered

among the ship’s company, there is often some rivalry, and perhaps, since seamen are boyish in their ways, some jealousy is in evidence.  In one case where they amounted to about half the total crew, the skipper refused to allow any

more aerials to be rigged, as he “didn’t want the ship to look like a floating birdcage.” 

I had not been greatly interested in ‘wireless’, and probably would not have had a set now but for a sequence of events started by the general strike (that occurred in the UK in May 1926).  That upheaval prevented the ship from getting any nearer home than Dunkirk one voyage, and stopped my home leave.  Wandering through the narrow, old-fashioned streets, feeling fed up with things in general, and idly scanning the shop windows, I came across a neat little four-valve set, which at the current rate of exchange (about 180 francs to the pound) was a bargain that appealed to a Scot.  I bought the whole outfit, aerial wire, batteries, spare valves, headphones and loudspeaker, and on the way to New York I rigged a fine aerial and fitted the set up in my room.  The multitude of American stations that flooded the ether as we headed westward was confusing to a novice, but a little practice in tuning made all the difference.  “Morse” from the ice patrol vessel was my first capture, and I got my first music from WJZ, Boston (WEEI was second), and off the Newfoundland banks I had my first experience of ‘atmospherics.’  I remember thinking that it was like listening to a concert in a railway station where half a dozen locomotives were taking turns at blowing off and whistling.

In port I had little time for listening in, but before we left the coast, I was familiar with a lot of American stations and their ‘slogans’, the “World's Play Ground” being much in evidence as we moved south.  (That would have been from WPG in Atlantic City, with 5 kW on 1100 kHz.)

On the subsequent trip to Australia, via the Panama Canal, I had some interesting results.  The Florida stations were the last I heard before passing through the canal, and in the Pacific I early made the acquaintance of Los Angeles (KFI).  He was quite an old friend before I lost him, our last communication by loud speaker being at a distance of 2,700 miles, while we were still on speaking terms by 'phone at 4,800 miles in spite of the frequent electrical storms of the tropics, which can make a racket that puts anything met with in temperate zones quite in the shade.  (And KFI on 640 kHz was, at that time, also using only 5kW.)

Before I lost KFI, I had got hold of Brisbane (4QG – another 5kW station, on 779 kHz).  For several evenings I had been searching for an Australian station, and I was investigating Brisbane’s wavelength when in he came, the first item being an old Scotch song I hadn’t heard since I was a boy at school.  Clear and loud came the words, ‘Last nicht there were four Marys, this night there’ll be but three,” and a homely sound they had to a wandering Scot away in mid-Pacific.  The same evening, I picked up Auckland (1YA – only a 500 watt station on 901 kHz), and when both concerts ended with ‘God Save the King’ I felt that I was ‘among my ain folk again, and had a foretaste in imagination of the genial welcome with which I have always been met in Australia and New Zealand.  It was a novel experience to listen to the Friday night programme from Los Angeles, and, by merely altering the tuning, to change over to the Saturday night concert in Brisbane, but the difference of time enabled me to perform this ‘black magic’.

2FC Sydney, 3LO Melbourne, and 5CL Adelaide came in in that order, and supplied me with regular entertainment on the Australian coast, one interesting item being a commentary on Cobham’s arrival at Sydney.  (Between June and October 1926, Sir Alan Cobham became the first person to fly from England to Australia and back, a 26,000 mile round trip, in a De Haviland biplane equipped with floats.)

Seafarer continues:  I lost them all comparatively early on the homeward voyage via Suez.  6WF Perth, though a powerful station (it also was a 5 kW-er), was a disappointment.  Off the Leeuwin (that’s the cape at the extreme southwest corner of Australia) I could get better reception from Brisbane.

Shortly after we had crossed the line (presumably the equator) I was having my usual experimental combing of the ether after dinner when I raised some queer squeaks and moans.  It sounded as though I was just ‘on the edge’ of some instrumental music, but all my tricks of tuning made no difference.  I had decided that something was wrong with the set and started to look for slack terminals, when it occurred to me that it might be an Eastern station broadcasting native music.  It turned out to be one of the Indian stations, and my set was giving its normal truthful reproduction.  I fear I have no ear for music — of that kind anyway.

Before we passed Cape Guardafui (the extreme easternmost point of Somalia, also known as the Horn of Africa, at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden) I was in touch with one or two European stations, but all the way up the Red Sea there was a lot of interference, both atmospheric and morse from shipping, and it was impossible to recognize them.  After leaving Port Said (in the eastern Mediterranean) I had the pick of a lot.  Eiffel Tower and Daventry soon made themselves heard (both on longwave).  I got 2LO first just off Malta (that was the 3kW station on 830 kHz in London), and a day or two more brought me into range of other home stations.  The programmes from these compare favourably with the average American or foreign broadcasting.

In the round-the-world voyage I have outlined, one thing left a lasting impression on my mind — the extent and majesty of the British Empire.  During by far the greater part of the time it took, I was within reach of stations which concluded their programmes with ‘God Save the King’.  Listening to that majestic measure in mid-ocean, thousands of miles from the homeland, gave me always a thrill of pride in the race to which I belong.

And there the article ends.  Ha!  How things have changed.  That was an article written 100 years ago for the British radio journal Radio-News.

Back to you, Jeff.

(1927 listing of stations from World-Radio on next page)

Throwback Thursday - Australian Army Radio

 Australian Army Radio

In recent times, many DXers and international radio monitors worldwide have reported hearing the unique shortwave service for Australian troops serving in the peacekeeping forces in Timor and elsewhere. Over a period of time, these broadcasts have been radiated over transmitters located at three different radio bases in Australia, and they form an interesting update to the entire story of radio broadcasting by the Australian Army Amenities Service (AAAS). This is the story, that begins way back during World War II.

The first radio broadcasting unit for Australian Forces was a mobile studio, which was commissioned in Australia in June 1942 and shipped to the Middle East. Originally, it was intended that this mobile radio studio would broadcast back to Australia with war news and information from North Africa and the Middle East. However, because the shortwave transmitter had an output of only 1 kw, these intended broadcasts became impractical. Consequently, the mobile studio was used mainly for producing programs in the battle areas and for broadcasting them over local radio transmitters.

During the Pacific theater of World War II, a series of 21 mobile radio stations were constructed in Australia, tested late at night from locations in Melbourne and Sydney, and then shipped to forward areas. These stations were rated with a power output ranging from 10 to 200 watts.

On one occasion, and quite by chance, I heard one of these stations at a distance of some 500 miles. It was 9AF, with 200 watts on 1440 kHz, broadcasting a test program from Melbourne late at night.

These AAAS stations were based in the main areas of Australian troop deployment in the Pacific islands, and were supplementary to the larger number of American Armed Forces Radio Stations in the same areas. The whole series of callsigns for the AAAS stations at the time ranged from 9AA to 9AP.

Many of these stations were transported from place to place according to the movement of the armed forces in the various stages of the Pacific war. One of the stations, 9AG with 200 watts on 1340 kHz, was established at Balikpapan in Borneo. When the Australian troops moved forward, this station was handed over to the Dutch authorities, and it became the local station in the NIROM network.

In addition, several other stations were constructed locally in forward battle areas or were taken over from a retreating enemy. Such stations as "Radio RAAF Milne Bay" and "RAAF Radio Madang" were well known in the area at the time.

At Port Moresby, New Guinea, a 500-watt station on 1250 kHz was officially opened by General Douglas MacArthur on February 26, 1944. The first allotted callsign was 9PA, but this was soon changed to 9AA, signifying its status as the parent station for all of the forward stations with callsigns in the 9A series. The QSL letter that I received from this station lists the call as 9PA, when, in reality, as an army station at the time, it was really 9AA.

In addition to the testing of the mobile MW stations in the two cities, Melbourne and Sydney, additional army stations have been established in other areas of mainland Australia. These have operated generally on the medium wave band, though one in particular was a shortwave broadcaster.

At Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory, an MW station was established in 1944. This was 5DR, standing for Darwin Radio. It was in use as an army station for two years, and then it was taken over by the government broadcasting service, the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as the Northern Territory relay station for the ABC home service network. This station was later designated as 8DR, and its callsign has since been changed to 8RN.

Soon after the war was over, an experimental broadcasting service was launched from an air force base at Higgensfield in North Queensland. This station announced as "Radio RAAF No. 2," identifying the air force unit that was operating it. The 100 watt transmitter on 1470 kHz was on the air in August 1945 with the intent of launching an entertainment/information radio service, but the project was abandoned.

Then, in 1955, the first army shortwave station came onto the air unannounced, from Puckapunyal in Victoria. This station radiated 25 watts on 7850 kHz, and it was on the air just two hours per week in November 1955.

Towards the end of the Pacific war, a 50 year old wooden ship, the "Apache," was fitted out in Sydney Harbour as a radio station and sent up to the Philippines. This station, announcing as WVLC, took over some of the Australian shortwave broadcasts from VLC, Shepparton, and it also relayed American AFRTS and VOA programs over a channel in the 7 MHz band.

HMS Grenville

In addition, several warships in the Pacific, British, Australian, and American, began to relay programs from Australian MW stations to surrounding areas on shortwave. One of these, for example, was the HMS Grenville, which was heard relaying the commercial programs from 2KY Sydney in January 1946.

More recently, some of the larger Australian navy vessels have incorporated a radio station as part of their onboard entertainment facilities. In some cases these stations have radiated programs over a MW transmitter, and in other cases programs are available on board the ship via closed circuit cable. One of the ships, HMAS Canberra, for example, was stationed off the coast of Vietnam during the South East Asian conflict.

During the era of occupation in Japan, at least four of the mobile 9A stations were taken to Japan. These were incorporated into existing Japanese stations and were allocated callsigns in the American W series. For example, the 10 watt station 9AQ was located near Kure in Japan. It was first identified as WVTX, and later as WLKU. All of these stations were broadcasting on MW, but one of them, 9ALWVTV/WLKSwas also broadcasting for a while on shortwave.

When the Korean offensive began, Australian troops also moved into the peninsula, and so too did some of their radio stations, as many as four of them.

Along with the American "Good Morning Vietnam" series of AFRTS stations, there were a couple of Australian stations located in Vietnam as well. One of these was a 500-watt station broadcasting from Vung Tau on 1040 kHz. Another station was located for a while at Hue, near the larger VOA and AFRTS stations.

Back in 1960, on July 1 to be exact, a rather substantive radio station was established by the Royal Australian Air Force at Butterworth on the Malay Peninsula, just across from the island of Penang. This AAAS station broadcast from two 500-watt transmitters, using each on alternate days, both at 50 percent power. They also had a choice of two simple antennas, an inverted L and a folded dipole. This station was occasionally heard further afield, and on several occasions, I heard it in India and Sri Lanka. Radio RAAF Butterworth served some 5,000 Australian personnel at the air base, and it left the air when Butterworth was closed in the late 1980's.

The latest endeavor in AAAS broadcasting made its appearance unheralded, unannounced and unexpected. A few years back, a new shortwave service for Australian forces serving in Somalia came onto the air. At first, the half hour programs were broadcast from one of the 250 kw shortwave transmitters of Radio Australia located on Cox Peninsula near Darwin in the Northern Territory. A while afterwards, DXers in Europe and elsewhere reported hearing similar programming on other channels not listed for Radio Australia.

Subsequent information revealed that these transmissions were coming from two different locations. One is VHP, the large Navy radio station located at Belconnen near Canberra, Australia's capital city. The other is NMCVLF, the American radio facility located near Exmouth at North West Cape in a Western Australian coastal area. These transmissions were on the air several times a day from both locations. Studio facilities are housed in one of the government offices in Canberra, and the first broadcast each day was presented live.

The broadcasts from Exmouth were directed towards Somalia, and the broadcasts from Belconnen were directed towards Kampuchea. Programming consisted of contemporary music interspersed with calls from relatives in Australia to servicemen on ships and in Somalia and Kampuchea.

(Wavescan/May 7, 2000)

(photos/Wikipedia)

The Flight of the Blue Eagle

 

Commando Solo/via Military.Com

Jeff: The use of U.S. military aircraft for clandestine radio broadcasting was cloaked in secrecy for a period that spanned some 60 years.  Today in Wavescan, Ray Robinson brings us the fascinating story of “The Flight of the Blue Eagle”.

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.  It all began back in 1962 during the Kennedy era and the Cuban Missile Crisis.  During the crisis, a large cargo plane operated by the United States Navy was hurriedly stowed with broadcasting equipment and flown over the waters separating Florida and Cuba.

For these inaugural broadcasts, a radio receiver in the cargo plane took an off-air program feed from the new Voice of America medium wave station at Marathon in Florida.  The ground-based VOA channel was 1180 kHz, and the airplane re-transmitted this programming on 1040 kHz.  Interestingly, the 50 kW transmitter in Marathon, Florida isn’t mentioned in the WRTH until the 1964 edition, although it is known to have been operational since at least 1962.

Since that historic, though unannounced, beginning, airplanes have been used for local broadcasting in the medium wave, FM, TV and shortwave bands, while flying over at least a dozen different countries.

Two years later, in the summer of 1964, a series of mysterious radio broadcasts were heard by DXers living in the central coastal areas along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States.  These broadcasts were first noted on the shortwave channel 19100 kHz, and later on 532 kHz at the extreme low end of the medium wave band with identification announcements as “The Blue Eagle”.  Programming consisted of their own presentation of popular music, and sometimes a relay of local medium wave stations such as WLDB and WMID in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Subsequent information revealed the fact that these broadcasts from “The Blue Eagle” were actually test broadcasts from a DC-6 airplane ahead of potential transfer to Vietnam for use as an aerial broadcast unit.  It should be noted that the Blue Eagle is a symbol of the United States Navy.

Now here in Wavescan, we did briefly mention this topic some 24 years ago back in 2001, and after that program aired, we received a response from Steve Robbins in the USA who said he was one of the engineers who designed, fabricated, and operated what he referred to as “Project Jenny”.  Here is his summary:

1962: The two original C-118 aircraft were based out of NAS Patuxent River in Maryland and the electronic equipment was temporarily installed in the two aircraft, numbered 611 & 429.  These two planes carried radio relays from Voice of America for listeners in Cuba.

1965: The electronic equipment was re-installed in two Super Constellation aircraft and a second round of test broadcasts were made over the DC Maryland areas with identification announcements as “Blue Eagle”.  Steve Robbins was on this aircraft at the time.

1966: Four Blue Eagle aircraft were flown out to Vietnam, where they relayed programming in English & Vietnamese.  When the 50 kW VOA medium wave station at Hue in central Vietnam was raided and captured by the North Vietnamese, Blue Eagle took over the relay of VOA programming on the same channel, 760 kHz.

After the Vietnam War, the broadcast equipment was removed from the older aircraft and fitted into new aircraft of the same type, Super Constellations, and they were re-designated as “Coronet Solo”.  Several years later again, new and updated aircraft were commissioned and they have been on the air over Serbia, Afghanistan and Libya as “Commando Solo”.

And that’s the end of what Steve Robbins was able to tell us.  But from our own research, it appears that a total of six Lockheed Super Constellation C130 aircraft were fitted out with similar equipment in the 1960’s for the purpose of aerial broadcasting, and from 1968 on they were operated by the 193rd Operations Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.  In 2003, new EC130-J Constellation aircraft replaced the original 30 year old planes, though the same electronic equipment was transferred from the old planes into the new.

Each of the radio broadcasting airplanes contained a bevy of electronic equipment, including three 10 kW broadcast transmitters for use in the medium wave and FM bands.  Some planes were also equipped with 2 kW TV transmitters and/or shortwave transmitters.  Electric power for all of the onboard electronic equipment was generated by four generators driven by the propeller engines on the aircraft.

Although the original test broadcasts identified on air as "The Blue Eagle", this radio broadcasting network of six Constellations came to be known collectively as “Commando Solo”.  On each occasion of active deployment, the on-air identification used was changed to meet local circumstances.

When flying over Vietnam during the Vietnam War, the Blue Eagles identified as “AFRTS, the American Forces Radio TV Network”.  In Vietnamese, their programming identified as VPMF, “The Voice of Patriotic Militiamen's Front”.

In 1994 during the United Nations-backed invasion of Haiti in an attempt to restore democracy, radio programming from the U.S. aircraft was identified in French as “Radio Democracy”.  While flying over Serbia and Bosnia, the identification was "Radio Allied Voice", and in the Gulf War, it was "Voice of the Gulf".

The mission of the Air Wing was to win the hearts and minds of adversaries and to provide vital information to allies, refugees and victims in times of crisis.

In the early 2000’s, Commando Solo was pressed into service again over Afghanistan.  During that mission, the United States began a series of radio broadcasts to the people of Afghanistan, using a total of seven different airplanes for the purpose.  According to a report from BBC Monitoring, these broadcasts were first heard on October 14, 2001, just one month after “9/11”.

Those airplane broadcasts were heard in Afghanistan on two medium wave channels, 864 and 1107 kHz, which were the channels previously used by Radio Afghanistan in Kandahar and Kabul.  The broadcasts were in alternating languages, Dari and Pashto – the two official languages of Afghanistan.  The program feed to the airplanes could be heard on 8700 kHz shortwave in upper sideband mode, though it was not disclosed where that transmitter was located.

These planes have also flown on active broadcast missions over several other countries, including the Dominican Republic, Panama, Grenada, Somalia, Iraq and Libya.

Here’s an off-air recording of a broadcast made to the people and military forces of Libya, recorded on July 13, 2011.  It alternated between English and Arabic, but we’ve removed most of the Arabic.

Very few QSLs have been issued for these unique broadcasts, though at least three QSLs are known.

QSLs from American "Blue Eagles" and "Command Solo" Planes

• C.  M.  Stanbury, USA, 1962, 1040 kHz, flying over Cuba, ID as VOA, VOA QSL card

• Terry Krueger, Florida, 1994, 1035 kHz, flying over Haiti, ID as "Democracy," QSL letter

• Clive Rooms, England, 1999, 1270 kHz, flying over the Balkans, ID as "Allied Voice," QSL letter

The final broadcast of Commando Solo came on September 17, 2022, just before the EC-130J’s were decommissioned at the Community Days Air Show at Lancaster Airport in Lititz, PA.  A final flight was made, and the final broadcast was transmitted to the ground and played at the Air Show.  In the transmission, the Wing thanked the local community for their support over the years, before broadcasting the Santo and Johnny song, ‘Sleepwalk’.  The transmission ended with the phrase “Commando Solo, music off.”

Back to you, Jeff.

Blog Logs – March 2025

 

Welcome to the March issue of Blog Logs. Thank you for your emails and logs, and for following the Shortwave Central blog and X/Twitter at: Shortwave Central @QSLRptMT.

Have you subscribed to the Shortwave Central YouTube channel? You will find a vast selection of videos and audio airchecks. The Playlist is growing! Join your fellow radio enthusiasts at: https://www.youtube.com/c/ShortwaveCentral  

Shortwave Central 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 February 1-27, 2025

All times UTC

Mediumwave

Argentina

840, Radio Nacional, Paso de los Libres 0319. Spanish text to Argentine style music. ID, “Radio Nacional,” SINPO 25442 (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo, SP, Brazil).

Brazil (Portuguese)

620, Rádio Jandaia do Sul, PR at 2350. Station ID, “a melhor música está aqui, na Jandaia…programa Painel de Secessos….” Station announcements, SINPO 35433 (Grimm, Brazil).

650, Rádio Difusora, Piracicaba SP at 2310. Discussion about sports, Palmeiras, Corinthians.’ SINPO 35543 (Grimm, Brazil).

Egypt

864, NMA Al-Quran al-Karim, Santah. Arabic at 0141. Quran text,SINPO 25432. Previously, this frequency was heard in São Bernardo as Egyptian Radio in 2001. In 2020, ERTU Al-Quran al-Karim, and now in 2025 as NMA Al-Quran al-Karim (Grimm, Brazil).

Spain

855, Radio Nacional de Espa?a. Spanish talk to interview with a station reporter speaking about Spain. SINPO 25422 (Grimm, Brazil).

Shortwave

Ascension Island

21630, BBC WS relay via Georgetown. Hausa service at 1418. A male announcer’s text to an African style-music. SINPO 35553 (Grimm, Brazil). 9410 at 0502 with English news for good signal (Harold Sellers, BC Canada).

Botswana

6080, Voice of America relay at 0333. English news, including plane crash coverage at Toronto’s airport. Fair signal // 4930 very poor, 9775 good (Sellers, Canada). 9775 VOA Botswana relay at 0405-0430. News magazine style program on Africa (Gayle Van Horn, LA Kiwi SDR)

Brazil (Portuguese)

6010, Rádio Inconfidencia, Belo Horizonte, 2114-2136. Brazilian vocals and comments to station identification. // 15189.8; Also 0604-0655. (Manuel Méndez, Spain/BDXC)

6150, Rádio Saturno, Belo Horizonte 2107-2118. Brazilian songs to ID and comments “Rádio Saturno a sua melhor companhia.” SINPO 15422 (Méndez).

6180, Rádio Nacional da Amazonia, Brasilia 2102-2118. Soccer commentary to station identification // 11780, SINPO 25422. Also heard 0831-0847 with Brazilian songs. SINPO 25422 (Méndez).

9818.6, Rádio 9 de Julho, São Paulo 2046-2108. Religious music and comments. SINPO 25422 (Méndez)

11750, Voz Missionaria, Camboriú 2002-2034. Religious music and comments. Also heard 0607-0655 with same format (Méndez).

11815, Rádio Brasil Central at 1630. Signal distorted with little to understand. Strong spurious signal at 11960 kHz (Grimm, Brazil).

15190 Rádio Inconfidencia, Belo Horizonte 1629-1708. Brazilian music and program “Brasileirissima.” SINPO 15422 (Méndez).

Canada

CFRX QSL

6070, CFRX Toronto 0817-0833. English comments to newscast. Strong interference from Germany’s Channel 292 on the same frequency (Méndez).

China

4800, China National Radio 1-Voice of China at 0037-0100. Chinese/Mandarin text and talking. Barely audible reception with poor signal at times. SINPO 25411-25422 . Additional monitoring: 15160, China Radio International 0136-0146. Chinese/Mandarin with lady talking over background music. Poor reception SINPO 25522 (Ronaldo Xavier, Cabedelo, PB, Brazil/HCDX).

Clandestine

6155, Furusato no Kaze at 1700. Japanese programming with typical sign-on. Text on the plight of Japanese held in North Korea. Upbeat song from male chorus. Good signal, but noisy (Tony Pavick, BC Canada/NASWA Flashsheet).

11650, Radio Tamazuj at 0345. Noted as Arabic (Juba) service with text and Arabic style instrumental (Frank Hillton, SC).

14980, Sound of Hope via Miaoli. Chinese service at 1250. Talk from male announcer to music. Strong interference from China’s CNR1. SINPO 12431 (Grimm, Brazil).

Cuba

5025, Radio Rebelde in Spanish at 0412. Male/female conversation with good signal quality (Sellers, Canada). 5025 Radio Rebelde at 1230. Fair signal in Spanish with weak signal music and text (Van Horn, LA Kiwi SDR)

Ecuador

HCJB QSL

6050, HCJB, Pinchincha, 0418-0427. Spanish religious format with music and text. SINPO 35433 (Hillton, SC). Additional logging: 6050, 0050-0110 with same format. Fair-poor signal quality. Additional monitoring 6050 in Quechua from 0200-0235*. Included vocals from singer Alex Rodriguez. Fair signal quality SINPO 34333.  (Van Horn, LA Kiwi SDR)

Guam

15400, KTWR, Merizo. English service at 1248. Christian broadcast and text. Interval signal at 1259. “KTWR” ID and contact address. Programming targets South Asia. Guam, 15530, AWR Agat, Guam  at 1302. Religious text and vocal. SINPO 25442 (Grimm, Brazil).

India

15260, Akashvani/All India Radio via Bengaluru in Indonesian. Indian music, station ID and additional music. Fair reception SINPO 35533 (Xavier, Brazil)

Japan

Nikkei QSL

6055, Radio Nikkei 1, Chiba. Japanese at 0837. English pop songs to announcer’s commentary. Instrumental music, programming targets Japan and Far East. 6115, Radio Nikkei 2 in Japanese. At 0902 (Grimm, Brazil). NHK Radio Japan on 17810 at 0443. Japanese service and announcer’s chats for good signal (Sellers, Canada).

17810, NHK Radio Japan at 0200. Japanese service with Japanese pop vocals and station ID (Sam Wright, MS)

Kuwait

11850, Voice of America relay at 0338. Kinyawanda service includes text and prerecorded events. Good signal (Sellers, Canada). Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 12140 at 0419. Pashto service with lady’s text and intro to Dari service. Fair signal quality (Sellers, Canada).

Liberia

6050, ELWA Radio, Monrovia *0555-0628. Interval signal to English station ID. Religious comments and vocals.SINPO 25422. Also heard *0558-0645 with English comments and text (Méndez).

Madagascar

13760, African Pathways Radio at 0327. English programming with praise music into religious text. Fair signal but deteriorating as co-channel Voice of Korea’s Spanish service dominates (Sellers, Canada).

11735, Voice of America relay at 1735. Listed as Shona service with text and VOA identifications (Van Horn, LA Kiwi SDR)

Mali

5995, ORTM/Radio Mali, Bamako. 1800-1845. Station ID to French news format. African music as pop and local indigenous. Mali on 9635 1755-1800.* Africa music and IDs (Van Horn, LA Kiwi SDR)

North Korea

VOK QSL

15180, Voice of Korea in English at 0438. Orchestral music to the lady’s vocals. Poor signal // 11735 (Sellers, Canada). 12015 VO Korea at 1943-1955 in Spanish. Station IDs, choirs to orchestral music (Xavier, Brazil).

Oman

15295, BBC WS relay via Al-Seela in English at 1255. Political discussion from male/female announcers to music. SINPO 35443 to South Asia (Grimm, Brazil).

Peru

4809, Radio Logos, Chazuta at 0905. Monologue by male in presumed Quechua to flute interludes. Station’s local time check in Spanish, then back to rustic vocals. Canned ID at 0923, followed by vocals from Banda Apocalpsis and another “Radio Logos” identification. Excellent modulation and nice signal despite thunderstorm crashes (Brandon Jordan, TN/NASWA Flashsheet) 

Philippines

15120, USAGM/Radio Free Asia via Tinang. Burmese service at 1248. Male/female commentary, targeting Myanmar. SINPO 35543 (Grimm, Brazil). Philippines-Radyo Pilipinas via Tinang on 17820 at 0243-0255. Station IDs and talk about the Philippines. Fair reception SINPO 35533 (Xavier, Brazil).

Spain

9690, Radio Exterior Espana 0200-0215. Spniah program after time pips and ID. “La Cresta de la Onda” with variety news, sports updates for good reception. SINPO 45544 (Xavier, Brazil).

United Arab Emirates

11875, Voice of America relay at 0341. Somali service with talk about Somalia frequently. VOA singing promo // 9510 via Vatican relay very good; 9825 Germany relay was fair (Sellers, Canada).

United States

6075, KNLS New Life Station-Anchor Point, Alaska. 0855. Contemporary Christian music to the announcer’s talk. SINPO 25332, 0859*. (Grimm, Brazil).

WTWW QSL

9930, WTWW Lebanon at 2340. Christian broadcast to religious message. Frequent applause before the presumed live event. Interview and phone-in calls. SINPO 25442, programming targeted to North America (Grimm, Brazil).

Uzbekistan

15135, BBC WS relay via Tashkent. Korean program at 1255. Male/female commentary to 1259*. SINPO 25542 targeting North/South Korea (Grimm, Brazil)

7470, IBRA Media/Radio Ibrahim at 1500. Listed as Bengali service for talks and Asia music vocals for fair-poor signal quality (Hillton, SC)

Bible Voice Broadcasting - Summer Schedule Update

 

Bible Voice Broadcasting

Effective to: 26 October 2024

All times UTC, broadcast days, transmitter sites as indicated

Amaharic (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1700-1730  tw  15310as

Arabic (250 kW Nauen, Germany)

0500-0515  f  13730me

0600-0615  daily  11655af

Arabic (100 kW Sofia, Bulgaria)

1730-1745  daily  9490me

Arabic (250 kW Sofia, Bulgaria)

1545-1600  daily 11600me

Arabic  (125 kW Nauen, Germany)

0600-0615  daily  11655af

Bahasa (100 kW Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

1230-1245  Sun  17670pa

Dari (250 kW Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

1430-1500  sth  17650as

English (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1700-1715  f  9810me

1700-1730  h  9810me

1730-1800  Sat/Sun 9810me 

1800-1830  Sat  9810me

1800-1900 Sun  9810me

1900-1915  Sun  9810me

English (150 kW Nauen, Germany)

1815-1830  Sun  9635me

English (250 kW Nauen, Germany)

1430-1500  Sat  17650as

English (250 kW Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

1200-1230  Sat  17670as

1300-1315  f  11590as

1300-1330  mtw  11590as

1400-1430  Sat  17650as (1st Saturday each month)

1430-1500  daily  17650as

Farsi (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1800-1830  f  11855as

1830-1900 sthf  11855as

Korean

1300-1330  Sat/Sun  11590as

1315-1330  daily  11590as

Oromo (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1600-1630  Sun  15310af

1600-1630  mt  15310as

Nuer (100 kW Uzbekistan)

1430-1500  daily  15300as

Russian  (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1800-1830  Sat  7540eu  9720eu  

Russian (100 kW Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

1800-1830  Sat  7540eu

Somalia (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1630-1700  daily  15310as

Spanish

1830-1900  Sat  9720eu

Tigringa (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1600-1630  hf  15310as

1700-1730  Sun 15310as

(BVB direct 01 Apr 2024)

Target Areas: 

af  Africa

as  Asia

eu  Europe

me  Middle East

Bible Voice Broadcasting summer schedule

 

BVB is a service of High Adventure Gospel Communication Ministries in Canada, in cooperation with Bible Voice Broadcasting in the UK. Programs are produced by various religious organizations or individuals, each with its own brand.

The summer schedule will broadcast as the following:

Bible Voice Broadcasting summer A24 schedule

Effective: 31 March - 26 October 2024

All times UTC, broadcast days, and transmitter sites as indicated

Amaharic (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1700-1730  tw  15310as

Arabic (250 kW Nauen, Germany)

0500-0515  f  13730me

0600-0615  daily  11655af

Arabic (100 kW Sofia, Bulgaria)

1545-1600  daily  11600me 

1710-1730  mw  9490me

1730-1745 daily  9490me

1945-2000  daily  5900me

Arabic (250 kW Sofia, Bulgaria)

1930-1945  daily  5900me

1945-2000  daily  9400af

Bahasa (100 kW Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

1230-1245  Sun  17670pa

Dari (250 kW Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

1430-1500  sth  17650as

English (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1800-1815  f  9810me

1800-1830  h  9810me

1830-1900  Sat/Sun  9810me

1900-1930  Sat/Sun  9810me

1915-1930  Sun  9635me

1930-2000  Sun  9810me

2000-2015  Sun  9810me

English (250 kW Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

1200-1230  Sat  17670as

1300-1315  f  11590as

1300-1330  mtw  11590as

1400-1430  Sat  17650as (1st Saturday each month)

1430-1500  daily  17650as

Farsi (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1830-1900 sthf  11855as

Korean

1300-1330  Sat/Sun  11590as

1315-1330  daily  11590as

Oromo (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1600-1630  Sun  15310af

1600-1630  mt  15310as

Nuer (100 kW Uzbekistan)

1430-1500  daily  15300as

Russian  (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1800-1830  Sat  7540eu  9720eu  

Somalia (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1630-1700  daily  15310as

Tigringa (100 kW Nauen, Germany)

1600-1630  hf  15310as

1700-1730  daily  15310as

(BVB) 

Target Areas: 

af  Africa

as  Asia

eu  Europe

me  Middle East

Selection of logs from NASWA Flashsheet

 All times UTC

5085  WTWW – Lebanon, Tn, 0348, 1.12.24 in English.  "Harmony Barn Sessions" program - 'Sweet Hour of Prayer', 'Horses in Heaven' - Terry Factor, DJ talking about the music and intro. the next song, 'Were You There?' (Shazam didn't ID the musician), contact info. Including email harmonybarnsessions@... given, 0357 end of program and asking for donations, postal address, saying goodbye.  0359, ID, into a program telling their “truth” about a wide range of topics.  I didn’t listen.  The signal very good. (Taylor – Wi)

5905 Clandestine - Echo of Unification via Pyongyang, fair signal 1225, 1.11.24.  schlocky vocals with orch, 1228 OM, and YL in KK tlks. 1229 instrumental orch theme and 1230 into YL lecture. (Perry – Il)

5919.08-.01v  MYANMAR.  Myanmar Radio, Naypyidaw, 1.11.24.  on new frequency and thanks to Ron H. for the tip! Noted here at 1216 tune in with mellow pop mx with YL singing in Burmese with keyboard backing. Already a fair signal, which is very good for so early -- easily a half hour or more before morning peak time here. Wonder what they are doing here ex-5915? CRI in Russian noted on 5915 but the signal was slightly weaker than Myanmar on 5919v. Rechecked at 1310 and what a lovely signal! Playing pleasant Burmese pop vocals, YL with piano. But now on 5919.01. Sweet voiced YL at 1314 announcements.  (Perry – Il)

Radio Thailand QSL

9385  THAILAND.  R Thailand, Jan 11, 1215z.  an early evening broadcast to SE Asia in English via Udon Thani with 250 kW at 154º using a 4 wide x 6 high curtain. The audio was cut off in mid-sentence at 12:29:30. A quick retune to 9940 found a carrier coming on air with an ID in English of “Radio Thailand World Service” followed by a program in Mandarin. I was surprised to notice no discernable signal strength change from the 154º azimuth to the new 30º azimuth. Udon Thani to central Texas is about 8800 miles at 22º. (Lenamon, Tx) 

9620  INDIA.  AKASHVANI, 1910 to 2000, 08 Jan, ARABIC.  Typical Indian music with something that sounded like news at 1925. Western music up to IS at 1928. French sign on by a woman. Presumed news and then music at 1945. The signal deteriorated by 2000 so I couldn't tell if the English 'Spotlight' was aired. SINPO 33333. (Pavick - BC)

11560  INDIA.  All India Radio via Bangalore, Jan 9, 1235z, listed in Pashto to Afghanistan.  500 kw at 325º using a 4 x 4 curtain. Poor quality audio. Grayline path with Bangalore sunset at 1238z, my sunrise at 1329z. Bangalore to central Texas is about 9300 miles at 353º. (Lenamon, Tx)  

15640  PHILIPPINES.  R Pilipinas, Jan 12, 0230z, via Tinang in English.  250 kW at 270º. HFCC shows the targets as ITU zones 39 & 40 (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan) but the selected azimuth (270º) centers on Somalia. Tinang to central Texas is about 8300 miles at 37º. (Lenamon, Tx)

Warsan Radio last station in Somalia

Somalia
Warsan Radio, located in Baidoa, is currently the only shortwave station, broadcasting from Somalia. The station recently shifted from 7750 kHz to 7110 kHz.

Schedule in Somali 0300-0600 and 0900-1900 UTC.

Station website: http://www.warsanradio.com (with streaming audio)
Email: warsanradiobaidoa@gmail.com

Baidoa has been one of two cities rocked by explosions in recent days. Additional news at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/04/explosions-in-two-somali-cities-leave-four-dead
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/04/world/africa/somalia-bombing-mogadishu.html

Somalia stations Radio Hargeisa (Somaliland) and Puntland Radio (Puntland) are inactive at this time.

Blog Logs

All times UTC // parallel frequency

Stations monitored February 15-25, 2020 

SDR references as indicated

AWR Europe QSL 

Austria

AWR Europe relay via Moosbrunn, 11955 kHz. Listed as Punjabi service, 1545. Fair signal (SIO 322) with religious program formats to 1554.  Choral hymn to 1557 and station ID, contact info, web address, interval signal to 1559 sign-off. (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

Bonaire

TWR Bonaire, 800 kHz AM, Spanish service 0010 tune-in, with station promos, local time check and PSA’s. Bible scriptures and Christian radio dramas from 0015. Christo program promos. Video offer with address to “Radio Trans Mundial Biblica Internacional;.” Station info, website, address. Spanish contemporary Christian tune. (Bonaire SDR)

Botswana

USAGM/Voice of America relay. English service Sunnyside of Sports program feature with interviews, and goals for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Station ID, morning program promos for African News segment. Station freqs, ID and schedules. VOA’s São Tomé relay on 9515 kHz at 1905 tune-in. French newscast, best in // 15730 (no sign of 12075) (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

Radio Nacional do Amazonia QSL

Brazil

Radio Nacional do Amazonia 11780 kHz. Tune-in 1653 to announcer’s Portuguese talk and reading names, followed by a Portuguese rendition of Happy Birthday tune. Easy-listening vocals to talk and several references to “Radio Nacional.” World news topics. (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP) Braz vocals to “Nacional” ID on 6180 kHz at 0037. Samba vocals, “Nacional do Amazonia” ID and evening hello’s to listeners in Argentina and Motto Gross, Brazil with music dedications. Subsequent monitoring for late afternoon monitoring from 2000-2200 on 6180 // 1780 kHz with Brazilian news topics, phone-in correspondent’s report. (SDR-S.B. Campo, Brazil) Radio Relogio Federal, 4905 kHz, 0045. Portuguese Christian pop vocals to announcer’s music intro. English pop/rap to the 23^rd Psalm – I Just Need You as announced title. Promo for upcoming Christian pop tune, Overcomer. Additional Portuguese/English Christian pops to PSA. Station info at 0100 with brief devotional. (SDR-S.B. Campo, Brazil)

Clandestine

Radio Ndarason International 12050 kHz vis Ascension Islands. African highlife vocals 1920, to listed Hausa/Kanuri service. Station ID and promo to chat and program features.  (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP) SOH/Sound of Hope, Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, 11530 kHz. SOH from 1405 with Asian vocals, and religious cadence text in presumed Chinese. Frequent signal fades, sharing 11530 kHz with additional clandestine station. Sermons led to Asian religious tunes and 1440 tune-out, followed by signal peak of other station. Denge Welat/VO Homeland via Moldova relay in Kurdish. Programming of Middle Eastern music, interviews and talk. Good signal for programming to 2200.  (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP) Denge Welat audible at 1430 tune-in. Kurdish text on 11530 kHz, (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

Radio Habana Cuba QSL

Cuba

Radio Habana 11760 kHz. Spanish newscast 1410 to correspondent reports. Fanfare melody intros to feature on Venezuela/Cuba’s ongoing relations, and the country in general. Info on Radio Habana, frequency/hour schedules. Parallels on 7340, 9535, 13700 kHz. Cuba’s Radio Rebelde 5025 kHz from 1450 tune-in. Cuban conga music to 1500 canned ID and intro to Spanish news briefs on Cuba to 1502. Local time check, station promos.  (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

Germany

AWR Europe relay via Nauen, 11560 kHz. Tune-in 1635 with ethnic African music to Tigrinya service. Religious scriptures and conversations (SIO 433). (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP) Bible Voice BC relay via Nauen, 11875 kHz. Announcer’s Nuer text 1645, followed by listed Somali service. Both religious programming formats to 1650 tune-out. (SIO 333) (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

Greece

Voice of Greece, 9420 kHz. Greek newscast topics to announcer’s comments. (SIO 434). Fanfare intro’s into Greek music program. (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

India

All India Radio-External Svc, 11560 kHz. Melody interval signal at 1613, station sign-on 1615. Russian service intros of station info, ID, contact info and website address. (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

Radio Kuwait

Kuwait

Radio Kuwait-Main Prgrm 1134 // 963 kHz AM. Arabic news format, no // 940 AM heard, noted // 630 kHz AM, listed as Quran Prgrm. Signals matching SIO 322. Radio Kuwait Classical Arabic Music on 1269 kHz AM. This is a 24 hour schedule (SIO434)  (SDR-Kuwait)

  

North Korea

Voice of Korea, 9435 kHz. English service at 1520 tune-in. Ladies choral music to program announcement at 1535. No sign of // freqs 11710, 12015. Asian orchestra music with jamming noted on this frequency. Program text to additional chorus music to 1552. Station identification and info to 1555 sign-off. Noted 1600 English sign-on 9890 (no // 11645) Poor signal quality SIO 222. (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

Philippines

Voice of America relay 9800 kHz. Korean text from 1435 tune-in. Closing station info to English VOA ID at 1459. Sign-off VOA ID, Yankee Doodle interval to 1500 sign-off. (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP) FEBC-Philippines 1500-1600 on 9345 kHz. Chinese sermon on being “pure of hear" to scripture readings. Christian pop vocals. Additional teachings to Russian service 9920 kHz, 1500-1600. PBS Pilipinas 9925 kHz at 1915 in Filipino on 9925 kHz, (SIO 333) // 12120, 15190 audible (barely) at SIO 212. Interviews and announcer’s chat to 1920. English ID “Philipines Broadcasting Service,.” station freqs to Spanish ID, and station info. Easy-listening Filipino vocals to 1928. ID, off 1930 (SDR-Talisay, Philippines)

Saudi Arabia

SBA Itha' Huna Al Azm, 11745 kHz. Tune-in 1435-1512 to Arabic text to 1515. Fanfare intros that separate program segments. Fair signal on this long-path reception. Very weak (222) Arabic music and talk heard from 2340. (Kiwi SDR/Izghawa, Qatar) SBA Call of Islam, 15435 // 15225 (SIO 222) at 1520. Two male’s Arabic conversation. SBA’s Quran program on 13710 kHz from 1527 tune-in (no // 17615).  Arabic text to 1545. Additional on 7425 kHz 2300-2359 without s/off. (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

United Kingdom

Voice of America 11610 kHz via Woofferton relay. Sign-on 1600 with VOA melody tune. Somali  service covering opening ID and news headlines to 1610. Fanfare intro into text on Somalia including correspondent’s report, interviews segments and continued items on African headlines. No sign of // 11910 kHz. SIO 444. ((AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

United States

WRMI-Supreme Masters TV, 15770 kHz. English programs from 1905 tune-in, Asian-themed topics from male/female duo. References to “Supreme Master TV” and contact info at 1927. Intro for Asian vocal music tunes. WBCQ 7490 kHz from 1515 tune on financial success tips. WBCQ-Last Chance Radio 9330 kHz, 1520-1540. WEWN/ETWN-Spanish on 12050 kHz, 1525-35. WRMI relaying Overcomer Ministry, 9395// 9455 kHz from 1500 tune-in. Freqs to 1700. (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

Vatican City

USAGM-VOA Radio Ashna relay 12075 kHz. Male/female announcer duo from 2020, in Pashto with news topics and several “Radio Ashna” ID’s. Correspondent reports to musical interludes separating segments. Station ID and promo info. Announcer’s return with lengthy talk on Pakistan. (AirspyHF+D/W6LVP)

(GVH/Teak Publishing)