U.K. Propagation Update-25 September 2026

 

RSGB

RadCom Assistant Editor | September 25, 2026

Compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on 23 September.

As we head towards the end of September, we are seeing daytime maximum usable frequencies, or MUFs, starting to climb. The daytime MUF over 3,000km is reaching 12m and is just touching 10m at times.

Within a few weeks we can expect it to reach 10m on a regular basis, perhaps bringing transatlantic QSOs to 28MHz once again.

Meanwhile, we can make the most of the openings on the 17, 15 and 12m bands, which are showing promise with increasing propagation to Asia, North Africa, South Africa and South America.

The solar flux index is hanging in there. Last week it fell to 96 but then rebounded back into the low 100s.

There are currently eight sunspot groups visible on the Sun. The good news is that geomagnetic conditions have been calm, with the Kp index mostly in the ones and twos.

That could soon change, however, thanks to a large coronal hole on the Sun’s surface.

These are dark, cool and less dense regions in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, when viewed in ultraviolet, with open magnetic field lines. This one stretches from the solar equator to its pole. There are also two coronal holes following it, which may cause more problems.

With the equinox, we often see more auroral activity due to the Earth-Sun alignment and the Russell-McPherron effect.

Once auroral conditions clear, the Kp index should return to normal, with a Kp of 2 predicted from Monday, 28 September onwards. The solar flux index may even improve slightly, with a forecast solar flux index of 115 towards the end of the month.

Make the most of the HF conditions by working one of the DX stations on the air. You can choose from 5W0AF in Samoa; JD1BON and friends on the Ogasawara Islands; OX3LX in Greenland; FR/F1TEQ and FH/F1TEQ from Reunion and Mayotte and 8Q7JH operating from the Maldives.

VHF and up propagation news:

Compiled by G3YLA and G4BAO

Recently, the overall characteristic of the weather in southern areas has been one of high pressure, giving some occasional tropo.

This region of high pressure will drift away by this weekend as a deep low over the northern Atlantic drives a weakening cold front south so any major tropo will probably not survive into the coming week.

The rest of the period looks generally unsettled.

The northern half of Britain will have the more active part of any weather system crossing the country and therefore will also have a better chance of some rain scatter on the GHz bands.

This time of the year we often experience some very active Atlantic storms. Although they may not cross the UK directly, they may be close enough for severe gales and damaging winds in northwestern areas by the middle of the coming week.

It is a good time to make sure your antenna guys are in good shape and keep an eye on the forecasts.

There are no major meteor showers in the period so, once again, any activity is likely to be random, and this is typically best in the hours just before dawn.

The prospect for auroras is a little more interesting since we are now just past the equinox of 22 September.

t is a preferential time to be alert for auroras due to the way the Earth’s magnetic field aligns better with the Sun’s magnetic field.

This makes it easier for the solar wind to get through and create auroras.

EME now, and Moon declination went positive at Moonset on Friday, 25 September. This means we will see lengthening Moon windows and higher peak Moon elevation into the coming week.

Path losses continue to fall. 144MHz sky noise starts the week low, increasing to moderate by Friday, 2 October.

https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/propagation-news/2026/09/25/propagation-news-27-september-2026/

(Mike Terry, UK/BDXC)

Throwback Thursday-Tribute to Moosbrunn

 

Moosbrunn photo via Wikimedia Commons

This week's edition first aired May 6, 2001

At the beginning of this new transmission period, Adventist World Radio began a new era in its shortwave outreach with a relay via the ORF-ROI transmission facilities located near Moosbrunn in Austria.  Already, reception reports and monitoring reports from many different parts of the world indicate a nice coverage for AWR programming from this new relay site.

In honor of the new relay arrangement between AWR and ORF-ROI, we present in this edition of Wavescan a "Tribute to Moosbrunn."

The atlas tells us that the town of Moosbrunn is located about 12 miles southeast of Vienna on the edge of the famed Vienna Woods, as immortalized in the beautiful music from Johann Strauss.  The dictionary tells us that the word "Moosbrunn" means "Mossy Well."

Actually, Austria lays claim to the first broadcast of the human voice.  Professor Otto Nussbaumer invented a wireless "detector circuit," and as a demonstration he yodelled an Austrian folk tune into his equipment and it was received on similar equipment in the next room.  This was in the year 1901.

The first wireless communication stations in Austria were erected in country areas beginning around 1915, and the first radio broadcasting station went on the air in Vienna on October 1, 1924.  The studio was located in a government building, the transmitter was a 700 watt Telefunken unit, the channel was 530 metres (565 kHz), and the callsign was ORV.

On the shortwave scene, the first broadcasts from Austria went on the air in 1926 under the callsign OHK2 from a 300 watt transmitter located at Rosenhuegel near Vienna.  The channel for these test broadcasts was 6075 kHz, and the programming was a relay from the mediumwave Home Service. 

In 1931 under new radio regulations, the callsign was changed from OHK2 to UOR2, and later again to OER2.  By this time the power output had been increased to 2 kw.

Around this same time, a mobile shortwave station was launched under the callsign EATH.  This station was on the air for just four hours each week, with local news reports and commentaries. 

Now we come to the Moosbrunn era.  This large property was procured in 1959, and the first transmitters on the air from this location were units taken from submarines.  Several of these units, installed in a temporary wooden building, were linked together to give a total output of 100 kw. 

When the new and permanent transmitter building was completed, four Telefunken units at 100 kw were installed progressively.  The large antenna farm contained a variety of antennas:  rhombics, curtains, a vertical incidence array, and a rotatable log periodic with reflector.

Currently, ORF-ROI maintains a complement of six shortwave transmitters at Moosbrunn, four at 100 kw and two at 500 kw.  Two of the 100 kw units are in regular use, and two are available for backup service.  The two units rated at 500 kw are on the air at 300 kw due to antenna constraints.

The new AWR relay service from Moosbrunn is on the air over the two larger transmitters.  One is in use 12 hours daily to Africa and the Middle East, and the other for a few hours daily to Europe.

On the occasion of this significant new development in international radio co-operation, Adventist World Radio honors Radio Austria International in appreciation for this new relay service.

(Wavescan 332)

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins

 Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts

:Issued: 2026 Sep 21 0317 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 14 - 20 September 2026

Solar activity was at very low levels on 14-18 Sep and increased to

low levels on 19-20 Sep. Region 4535 (N12, L=353, class/area Hrx/020

on 20 Sep) produced a C1.1 flare at 20/0518 UTC, while Region 4534

(N11, L=074, class/area Dro/030 on 20 Sep) produced a C3.7/1f flare

at 20/2234 UTC, the largest of the period. No Earth-directed CMEs

were detected during the highlight period. 

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at

high levels on 14 Sep when a maximum flux of 4,650 pfu was observed

at 14/1315 UTC. Low to moderate levels were observed on 15-20 Sep. 

Geomagnetic field activity reached unsettled levels on 14-17 Sep,

with isolated active levels observed on 14 and 16 Sep. Unsettled to

active levels were observed on 14 Sep due to a southern hemisphere

filament eruption coupled with a SSBC. Unsettled levels were

observed on 15-17 Sep, with an isolated active period early on 16

Sep, all due to negative polarity CH HSS effects. Quiet to isolated

unsettled levels were observed on 18-20 Sep. 

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 21 September - 17 October 2026

Solar activity is expected to be <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);

white-space: pre-wrap;">at low levels, with a slight chance

</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); white-space: pre-wrap;">for

moderate to high levels throughout the forecast period. </span> 

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); white-space: pre-wrap;">No proton

events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.</span> 

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is

expected to be at high levels on 26-30 Sep, 01-03 Oct, and 05-11

Oct. Low to moderate levels are expected on 21-25 Sep, 04 Oct, and

12-17 Oct. 

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to <span style="color: rgb(0,

0, 0); white-space: pre-wrap;">reach active to G1 </span><span

style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); white-space: pre-wrap;">storm levels on

24-25 Sep due to positive polarity CH HSS effects. Unsettled to

active levels are expected on 26-27 Sep and 04-08 Oct due to

positive polarity CH HSS effects. Quiet to unsettled levels are

expected on 11-14 Oct due to negative polarity CH HSS effects.

Largely quiet levels are anticipated for all remaining dates in the

forecast period.</span> 

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

:Issued: 2026 Sep 21 0317 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

#

#      27-day Space Weather Outlook Table

#                Issued 2026-09-21

#

#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest

#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index

2026 Sep 21     105           5          2

2026 Sep 22     105           5          2

2026 Sep 23     100           5          2

2026 Sep 24     100          20          4

2026 Sep 25     105          18          5

2026 Sep 26     105          12          3

2026 Sep 27     100           8          3

2026 Sep 28     105           5          2

2026 Sep 29     110           5          2

2026 Sep 30     115           5          2

2026 Oct 01     115           5          2

2026 Oct 02     110           5          2

2026 Oct 03     105           5          2

2026 Oct 04     110          12          3

2026 Oct 05     110          15          4

2026 Oct 06     115          12          4

2026 Oct 07     115          10          3

2026 Oct 08     110           8          3

2026 Oct 09     105           5          2

2026 Oct 10     110           5          2

2026 Oct 11     100           9          3

2026 Oct 12      97           8          3

2026 Oct 13      96           8          3

2026 Oct 14      95           8          3

2026 Oct 15     100           5          2

2026 Oct 16     105           5          2

2026 Oct 17     100           5          2

(NOAA)

Audio now available for Jen's Instrumental Madness Surf Show on September 20

 

Jen's Instrumental Madness Surf Show on Unique

Audio link for listening or downloading: Jen's Instrumental Madness Surf Show 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vgzrds3oktt7a42rlqiky/Jen-s-Instrumental-Madness-Surf-Show-For-Sun.-Sept.-20th-17-20.mp3?rlkey=z8yf1gt2wumimpuur4pdz6i1j&dl=0

Jen's Instrumental Madness Surf Show Link.

Tiny URL

https://tinyurl.com/4d2n2s22

For your contact pleasure

Jenur@proton.me

Jen In The Rad with Fuzzz

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)

Rádio Nacional do Brasil – 90th Anniversary

 

Classic QSL from Rádio Nacional do Brasil

Thank you to hosts Ray Robinson and Jeff White for a look at Brazil's Rádio Nacional do Brasil

Jeff:  1936 was a very busy year for radio broadcasting developments, because a number of stations have this year been celebrating their 90th anniversaries, including Radio Prague, Akashvani /All India Radio, and Radio Nacional de Angola.  We brought you the Angola story two weeks ago, when we mentioned that Angola is the second largest Portuguese-speaking country on earth, second only to Brazil.  Well, now this week, we can’t leave out the fact that Rádio Nacional do Brasil is also celebrating its 90th anniversary on September 12th, in fact.  With that story from Los Angeles, here’s Ray Robinson.

Ray:  Thanks, Jeff.  We brought you the story of early wireless developments in Brazil back in 2021, so we won’t repeat that now, except to say that the very first radio broadcast station in Brazil was a temporary medium-wave station erected in Rio de Janeiro for the 1922-23 World Exposition.  The frequency used was 620 kHz with 750 watts from an antenna on top of Mount Corcovado, where the statue of Christ the Redeemer now stands.  When the Expo closed, the station was packed up and sold to a new station in New York City – WNYC, who re-opened it a year later in July 1924 with 1 kW on 570 kHz.

At the time of the Expo in Rio, it was actually illegal in Brazil for private individuals to own radio receiving sets, but that law was relaxed soon afterwards, and many radio clubs or societies sprang up.  Commercial stations started to appear in the early 1930’s, and the use of both medium wave and tropical band shortwave began to proliferate.  It was against this background that Rádio Nacional was founded as a private entity on September 12, 1936, in Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil.  Today, the station stands as one of the most significant and culturally influential public broadcasting institutions in South America. 

Recognizing the station’s unparalleled power to shape public discourse and reach the masses, President Getúlio Vargas nationalized Rádio Nacional in 1940 and renamed it Rádio Nacional do Brasil.  Under state control, it became the main driver of the government’s efforts to construct a unified national culture.

During the 1940’s and 50s — affectionately known as the "Golden Age" of Brazilian radio — Rádio Nacional achieved absolute dominance.  Utilizing high-power medium-wave and shortwave transmitters in the country’s main coastal cities, the station's signal blanketed up to 40% of the national territory.

It was especially successful and had a historic impact in three main areas:

• Brazilian Popular Music & Samba – where it launched the careers of legendary artists and popularized regional sounds nationwide,

• Radio Soap Operas (Radionovelas) – which captivated tens of millions daily, forming a collective national entertainment pastime, and

• Football (Soccer) Broadcasts – which single-handedly built fanbases in the northeast for all the main clubs in Rio and Sao Paolo.

As the country prepared to shift its political center inland to the new city of Brasilia, Rádio Nacional Brasília was inaugurated in 1958, two years prior to the official opening of the new capital.

However, the station's trajectory was drastically altered following the 1964 military coup.  During the dictatorship, which lasted for 21 years from 1964-1985, the network was subject to tight state censorship.  In the early 1970’s in particular, the government 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.  And so, the government took decisive action to equip Rádio Nacional to become an important tool under the "National Security Doctrine", to counter such international communist shortwave broadcasts targeted to the interior.

First they set aside a major new 1,200-acre transmitter site for Rádio Nacional at the Parque do Rodeador, or Rodeo Park, about 18 miles northeast of Brasilia.  New high-power transmitters were installed, and the site was inaugurated by then-president Emilio Médici on March 11, 1974.

Audio Clip - 1973 08 09 - R Nacional of Brasilia (15445kHz) - English ID > available at Wavescan podcast link at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

Then on September 1, 1977, a new service called Rádio Nacional da Amazônia was launched.  Initially, this utilized several 150 kW shortwave transmitters to broadcast a service that had been specifically engineered to reach the deep, inaccessible interior of the Amazon basin.

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.

Audio Clip – R Nacional of Brasilia - English ID (male) available at Wavescan podcast link at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

For the international broadcasts, they used five languages - English, German, French, Spanish & Portuguese.  In subsequent decades, 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 once again became the priority for coverage instead of international audiences.  The shortwave transmitters that remained in service were then reserved exclusively for the Rádio Nacional da Amazônia service, broadcasting only in Portuguese.

  

And today, for millions of riverside residents, indigenous tribes, and rural workers lacking telephone lines or internet, the shortwave broadcasts on 11,780 kHz and 6,180 kHz ~ now with 100 kW on the same two frequencies they used back in the 70’s ~ remain the only medium for news, education, and personal safety.  To this day, the station functions as a community bulletin board where families separated by dense rainforest can still send personal messages to locate lost relatives.

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 which the government can broadcast to the entire country, without dependence on satellites or Internet infrastructure.

Rádio Nacional has been developed into a multi-tiered network tailored to modern infrastructure and regional demands.  It still operates regional AM/FM hubs like Rádio Nacional Brasília and Rádio Nacional Rio de Janeiro, which provide a blend of journalism, public service announcements, and traditional Brazilian music.  Then on May 7, 2021, Rádio Nacional took a major technological leap by migrating onto Brazil’s newly established "extended FM band" at 87.1 MHz, with high-power FM transmitters in previously unserved major metropolitan areas such as São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and Recife.  Rádio Nacional also operates important regional stations such as Rádio Nacional do Alto Solimões, which transmits on AM and FM from Tabatinga right at the point where the borders of Brazil, Peru, and Colombia meet.  In this way, it helps secure borderland sovereignty by broadcasting local news and indigenous culture along the critical tri-border region.

Of course, Rádio Nacional has pushed aggressively into digital spaces, and the entire network is now available via a dedicated mobile app, allowing global access to its historical and real-time content.  Celebrating its historic milestones, Rádio Nacional continues to balance its dual identity:  a cutting-edge digital public broadcaster for urban centers, and a reliable shortwave companion for the most remote corners of the Amazon.  We congratulate them on 90 years of public broadcasting.

Back to you, Jeff.

(Ray Robinson-Wavescan 915/06 Sept 2026)

U.K. Propagation Update

 

RSGB

RadCom Assistant Editor | September 18, 2026

Compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on 17 September, 2026

Thursday, 17 September, marked a milestone in terms of the solar flux index. On this day the solar flux index fell to 100.

This is more psychological than important but it is a sign that the solar flux index is falling from the dizzying heights of more than 300 that it reached at the height of solar cycle 25 two years ago.

The solar flux index briefly dipped to 99 on Sunday, 13 September but it probably won’t be too long before we see it dropping further.

The declining solar flux index has been helped somewhat by better ionospheric conditions as we head towards October.

The lower solar flux index has also been slightly compensated for by relatively good geomagnetic conditions. The Kp index hit a peak of 4 on Monday, 14 September, but has otherwise been around 1 or 2.

Daytime maximum usable frequencies, or MUFs, over 3,000km have been hovering around 21MHz and nighttime MUFs over 3,000km have been around 7 to 10MHz.

But don’t ignore 24MHz as we may see the occasional daylight DX opening. We may expect the daytime MUFs to increase slightly as the month progresses.

DX to be worked this week includes 5W0AF from Samoa; RI1FJZ from Franz Josef Land; FR/F1TEQ and FH/F1TEQ in Reunion and Mayotte; KH8WW in American Samoa; PJ2/K5SL from Curaçao and 8Q7JH in the Maldives.

Later in the week look for KH0/JR1FKR from Saipan and N7NU/VP9 and VP9I in Bermuda. So there is plenty of DX to search for next week.

We expect the solar flux index to hover around 100 over the next seven days, but watch out for poor geomagnetic conditions from Thursday, 24 to Sunday, 27 September, when NOAA forecasts that the Kp index could hit 5.

VHF and up propagation news:

Compiled by G3YLA and G4BAO

The period of unsettled weather that has brought much-needed rain is just about done for a while since it looks like high pressure will build across southern UK today, 20 September.

It may even produce some ridging over northern Britain so there is a good chance for tropo in many areas at some stage during the coming week.

Admittedly, the high gradually edges away to the east by the end of the week but will still be close enough to provide further lift conditions, especially across the North Sea to the Baltic and south to France.

Don’t forget to try calling CQ on SSB or CW in case conditions are up. It’s easy to miss a new square unless you are checking remote beacons to see how the lift is developing.

The far northwest of the UK will have some occasional rain at times and may miss out on the enhanced lift conditions, especially after midweek.

For meteor scatter, it is largely a case of trying to catch the best of any random activity. This means checking conditions in the early hours of the morning.

The solar activity has produced slightly elevated geomagnetic activity with a Kp index up to 4 at times.

With the possibility of a minor storm in the second half of the last week, it probably should remain a watching brief in case we find an unexpected auroral opening, which would tend to favour the equinoxes due to the Russell-McPherron effect.

EME now, and Moon declination starts rising again after its lowest point on Friday, 18 September. Meanwhile, path losses start falling again after apogee, also on 18 September.

144MHz sky noise starts the weekend high, falling back to low by Tuesday, 22 September, where it remains for the rest of the week.

If you are coming to National Hamfest, call in and see the RSGB Propagation Studies Committee stand.

https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/propagation-news/2026/09/18/propagation-news-20-september-2026/

(Mike Terry, UK/BDXC)

Throwback Thursday-Tribute to Rimavska Sobota

 

This week's edition of Throwback Thursday, first aired on April 22, 2001

Tribute to Rimavska Sobota

The central European lands of Bohemia, Moldavia, Moravia, Czechia and Slovakia have featured significantly in political history during the Middle Ages and beyond.  The people of these areas were also involved in the events associated with the Protestant Reformation, and at the end of World War I, a new nation was formed, Czechoslovakia.  This country was again bifurcated, quite peacefully, on January 1, 1993, and two nations were formed, Czechia and Slovakia, with Prague and Bratislava as their respective capital cities.

Radio broadcasting began in the combined Czechoslovakia in 1923 when a Morse telegraphy transmitter was modified for 

use as a broadcast unit.  In 1934, an imported Marconi transmitter from England was installed at Podebrady near Prague, and this new shortwave facility was inaugurated on August 31, 1936 under the callsign OKI.  Three omnidirectional antennas were in use at the time, according to antenna beam and frequency.

Construction on the large shortwave facility located near Rimavska Sobota in Slovakia began in 1956 with the installation of two transmitters at 100 kw.  Over a period of time, several additional transmitters were installed here, as well as a bevy of curtain antennas.

Then, beginning in the year 1982, the entire station at Rimavska Sobota was rebuilt, and two Russian-made transmitters at 250 kw were installed.  Two more units of a similar design were subsequently installed

On January 1, 1994, test broadcasts on behalf of Adventist World Radio commenced from this high-powered shortwave station located at Rimavska Sobota in Slovakia.  During the first week, these test broadcasts on transmitter RS10 consisted mainly of recorded music, with occasional test announcements in English. 

One week later, on Saturday January 8, a day long series of meetings in the large Seventh-day Adventist Church building in Bratislava officially launched the new AWR Slovakia.  Part of the afternoon program was a live broadcast from the church, with music and official speeches in the Czech language.

Interestingly, the name "Rimavska Sobota" means "Romanian Sabbath." The station is located near a small village, a little beyond the town of Rimavska Sobota some four hours by car from Bratislava. During the past eight years, AWR has been on the air from three of the four shortwave transmitters at Rimavska Sobota, designated as RS08, RS09, and RS10. 

During this same time period, untold hundreds of QSL cards have been issued to listeners throughout the world, verifying the reception of AWR programming from these three transmitters.  Currently, the three AWR QSL offices at London, Forli and Indianapolis are processing the "Last Week" QSL cards honoring the final broadcasts of AWR via Rimavska Sobota.

As we sometimes say in our modern world, time moves on, and AWR moves on also.  The new shortwave transmitter relay base taken out for AWR programming is now the ORF-ROI facility at Moosbrunn near Vienna in Austria. 

Rimavska Sobota has served AWR well during these past eight years, and as we say "goodbye," we here at Adventist World Radio would also like to say "thank you."

(Wavescan)

Texas Radio Shortwave-September 17, 20

 

Graphic by Gayle Van Horn

Sept 17, 2026

1900  3975 + 6160  Shortwave Radio Gold  Eur The Music of Charlie Robison                                                                                      

Sept 20, 2026

1000  6070  Channel 292  Eur  The Music of Don Henley                                                                                             

Unless otherwise shown, programs are one hour long.

Programs for Europe (Eur) and beyond on 3975 and 6160 kHz over Shortwave Radio Gold in Winsen, Germany, are transmitted with 1 kW into crossed dipole antennas.

Programs for Europe (Eur) and beyond on 6070 and 9670 kHz over Channel 292 in Rohrbach, Germany, are transmitted with 10 kW into an inverted V antenna.

Programs for North America (NAm) and beyond on 9670 kHz over Channel 292 are transmitted with 10 kW into a 10.5 dB gain beam antenna.

Texas Radio Shortwave uses a version of The Yellow Rose of Texas as its Interval Signal/Signature Song.

Texas Radio Shortwave verifies correct, detailed reception reports by electronic QSL. This includes reports from listeners using remote receivers (SDRs). Texas Radio

Shortwave's email is texasradioshortwave@protonmail.com.

Many TRSW programs are archived at www.mixcloud.com/texasradiosw.

Texas Radio Shortwave's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/texasradiosw.

Texas Radio Shortwave's Listeners' Group Facebook page is

www.facebook.com/groups/580199276066655/.

texasradioshortwave@protonmail.com

(TRSW)