Please Welcome Kelly Alexander

Kelly Alexander is going to be PCJ's newest radio talent starting in early December. Keith Perron posted her photo, and Shortwave America just HAD to follow suit because not only is Kelly a great radio personality with talent, you gotta admit she's cute! For everyone's enjoyment and as a special welcome for Kelly, here is her photo as a shameless promotion for her upcoming debut at PCJ!

Welcome, Kelly! Congrats on your new presence at PCJ Media and PCJ Radio! May your show be successful, and your audience grow far and wide!  We have to admit that Kelly puts a certain RHC woman to shame.

North Korea Conflict OR History Repeats Itself

PCJ Media Presents the October 23rd edition of Media Network Plus, which has has an interview with the director of Open Radio North Korea.

There is also this recent live recording taken straight from the air by Brendan Monaghan:  The Voice of Korea (VOK)

This author wasn't even born when the original Korean war happened, but it's there in the history books and it sure looks like either history is repeating itself or Korea has found a new reason to finish what was started long ago BY North Korea themselves. As this situation develops, there will be more radio related coverage.

 

Is RHC Helping Terrorists? Arnie Coro Paranoid?

Today, just after Arnie Coro got done with his show, RHC aired a piece about the Cuban Five who were caught fair and square by American Authorities. They went so far as to get major Irish music personalities to sign this petition and now it's making the rounds as an open campaign to free these guys.Robert Ballar.is the Irish celeb making these statements: "I feel an enormous empathy for these prisoners who have been jailed with flawed evidence and strange judicial procedures". "I have an enormous empathy for the Cuban Five", "Terrible miscarriage of justice". 

On DXer's Unlimited, Arnie openly stated that he and RHC are being "Attacked" by WOR! WOR attacking Arnie and RHC has never happened, never will. WOR has better things to do with their time than play with jamming a show about amateur radio, DX reports and propagation! Arnie went on to talk about the ITU, Frequency Management, and how 6050Khz will be the new freq for RHC and DXer's Unlimited. Arnie said they are using some new antenna array with a good front to back ratio.UPDATE as of 0547UTC: Exclusively from Keith Perron and Shortwave America, here is a Commentary On Arnie Coro & his DXer's Unlimited. 

It's been brought to the attention of Shortwave America by a trusted source that Arnie has always had some rather bizarre beliefs to include RNW being in on some CIA conspiracy. UPDATE#2 as of 0839UTC: Arnie Coro and the English Service staff of RHC can be seen here with all of their communist pride spewing lie after lie.

There is an MP3 file saved just in case this above video ever gets pulled.

Since Langston Wright (Michael Finney) has been gone from RHC, Arnie is probably the best thing RHC has going for itself beyond their efforts to get the world to believe that The Cuban Five are just a bunch of choir boys.

Tonight's Medium Wave Log

Starting at 0500UTC to 0945UTC

The VFO started at 1.100.00AM and ended at 1.800.00AM without the pre-amp on for teh first part of the night. There's a ton of local interference and ordinary band fade. An experiment was conducted tonight using the pre-amp with attenuator and noise reduction1 used simultaneously. This consistently yielded the same results of allowing an accurate signal reading while dramatically reducing the noise from several sources.  

The night started out with just a bunch of the same local stations and at 1.130.00 KWKH came screaming in from Shreveport, La like they were right next door. Their sig was a perfect 5 by 9 even through some band fading and a lot of local interference. No problem hearing them at all! Here's their website for anyone else who heard them tonight: KWKH - Home of The Classics  If you like country classics, true country and not the stuff we have today, you'll love KWKH! Monitored from 0505UTC to 0521UTC

1.140.00AM - 0522UTC: Coast To Coast AM. Art Bell, W6OBB is hosting tonight. The topic is "interesting times" from July 3rd 1997, and Art is taking calls from West of the Rockies. Sig is a perfect 5 by 9 even through local interference. WRVA in Richmond, Virginia is the station ID at 0534UTC. Monitored until 0540UTC. WRVA Website

1.150.00AM - 0540UTC: "He's So Fine" original 1950s version being played. Station faded out completely and came back after a few seconds. Using only Noise Reduction1 now, as the pre-amp is more hurtful than helpful tonight. Monitored until 0543UTC, unable to obtain station ID. Station seems to be devoted to classic music from the 50s and 60s.

1.180.00AM - 0544UTC: Talk about time traveling, and the host mentioned getting some orange juice after the show. A lady said to him "If you do, you HAVE to tell me!" station fading in & out. Enough was heard to determine that this is Coast To Coast AM. possibly WHAM - Rochester, New York 
Station was 5 by 7 with band fade. Monitored until 0557UTC.

1.190.00AM - 0557UTC: Country music with lots of fading and possibly a second station competing for the band also playing country music with a possible female voice singing. At 0600UTC, a song started playing "I may be a real bad boy, but baby I'm a real good man". Just before this, station ID was heard but was extremely difficult copy. listening until ID can be heard, this is one that CAN be pulled out! At 0606UTC, Coast to Coast AM theme can be heard in competition with this country station. Coast to Coast AM is in there just under this station now at 0612UTC and Coast to Coast AM gives this number 1-800-750-0267.
What problematic here i sthat Coast To Coast is ten Khz away on 1.180.00AM too, but by switching freq's a difference can be told that it's a different show than what is being heard on 1.190.00! No station ID in the end. Perhaps a second attempt will be made later.

1.210.00AM - 0617UTC: Safe Money Radio. 1-800-780 - safe. No station ID.

1.260.00AM - 0621UTC: Music, possibly ghetto style / boom box type music.

1.270.00AM - 0630UTC: Spanish or Latin music.

1.280.00 - 1.520.00 too noisy, couldn't pull anything out at all. Too much noise and no technique is working!

1.530.00AM - 0635UTC: Game show based on sports team guesses. A retail manager gets the grand prize, which ain't much and if you ask Shortwave America, he wasted his time and the station made fools of themselves. Station ID is WCKY (ESPN Sports Radio) in Cincinatti, Ohio.  monitored until 0646UTC

1.540.00AM - 0648UTC: Midnight Radio Network with Eric Harley & Gary McNamara, KXEL in Waterloo - Cedar Rapids, Iowa. KXEL Website monitored until 0653UTC. 

1.550.00 1.610.00AM - nothing heard.

1.620.00AM - 0654UTC: Commercials followed by station ID at 0658UTC as KOZN in Omaha, Nebraska. They are playing ESPN Sports Radio right now. KOZN Website

1.630.00AM - 0700UTC: Sports show talking about a football player that carried 21 yards for Iowa. News: Robbery on 500 block of S. Van Buren St. offender was a Black male early 20's who asked the victim for a "light" then reached into the victim's pocket took the victim's I-Pod and then assaulted the victim. Those with info can call crime stoppers at 358-TIPS.  Station ID at 0704UTC as KCJJ. KCJJ is Coralville, Iowa's first radio station and is known as "The Mighty 1630". KCJJ Website

1.640.00AM: Nothing

1.650.00AM - 0713UTC:   Seconds after tuning in, the station ID was given as "Cedar Valley", At 0715UTC a Geico Insurance Commercial played. At 0718UTC, ID was clearly 1650 "The Fan" KCNZ. KCNZ Website

The rest of the upper portion of the MW band was terrible noisy and nothing could be copied.
VFO was spun below 1000AM at exactly 980AM. We're moving down the dial the rest of the evening.

980.00AM - 0721UTC: Sports show. Host is talking with man by the name of "Kelly". There is possibly a female co-host. Show is competing for the band with a music station playing a CCM format. This sports show is talking about Phil Jackson, Coach of the L.A. Lakers and a shot clock operator who isn't allowed to work anymore playoff games. The host states that his information came from a trusted source within the NBA and that he may get in trouble for letting this information out about the clock shot operator. It's in print now, and it can't be taken back. Show / Station ID at 0728UTC as Fox Sports News. At 0732UTC, the station played "Real American" in the background of an ad. This song is recognized as a one time hit of the 1980s once used by Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea) as his World Wrestling Federation Ring Entrance Theme written by Rick Derringer. WOFX - Fox Sports Radio Website. WOFX is in New York.

860.00AM - 0738UTC: Mellow / Inspirational Music sounds something like "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic. Vocalist is a female with a nice, clear voice. Station seems devoted to Irish music. Song changed at 0742UTC. At least these songs are good choices, they are actually getting stuck in this author's head.
There's just some band fade here in the lower portion of the band, but not bad. The radio host at this station is a female speaking French at 0746UTC. 0751UTC, station fades almost completely away and then can be heard just under the QRN. Music now seems devoted to French listeners. 0752UTC, station playing an upbeat song that would probably fit a broadway stage production. Station is now a perfect 5 by 9, no competition for the band at all, very loud and clear. 0825UTC: Station plays an English song "Feelin' Groovy" original version with piano. No station ID.  

850.00AM - 0827UTC: Twilight Zone. KOA Radio. Denver, Colorado. They're 20 over the entire night! Loud, clear, like they're right next door!

840.00AM - 0828UTC: Coast To Coast AM "Non-Conformity, Going From Stuck to Unstuck" It's actually a show based on something real!

830.00AM - 0830UTC: Some show just signed off and a quick news piece followed. Now playing "Imagination Theater" by Jim French Productions. Possibly WCCO in Minnesota? Station is perfect 5 by 9, loud, clear, like right next door.

810.00AM - 0910UTC:  WGY New York
   
800.00AM - Nothing

750.00AM -0915UTC: WSB Radio. Atlanta, Ga  Fishing / Hunting Show.  Host just got done speaking with "Henry" who gave fishing tips. Henry talked about using barbless hooks and certain lures. Now speaking with Joseph who's talking about his muzzle loader.

740.00AM - 0918UTC: CFZM Toronto, Canada. All Night Jukebox

700.00AM - 0920UTC:  WLW Cincinatti, Ohio. "Bubba Bo" with his show.
             
640.00AM - 0928UTC: Nothing

620.00AM -0928UTC: WTMJ - Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

610.00AM - Nothing

600.00AM - 0935UTC: Religious show fighting for the band with WMT in Iowa

590.00AM - 0937UTC: Several stations fighting for the band, but one is louder than the other.

580.00AM - 0940UTC: Too many stations fighting for the band! It's a MW pile-up!

570.00AM - 0941UTC: Pile - up! There is a ticking and beeping sound under these stations that is audible.

550.00AM - 0943UTC: MW pile up!

540.00AM - 0945UTC: Pile - up

Conditions are definitely better as evidenced by the pile - up's. Tomorrow will likely see new Shortwave Logs.

Shortwave America Enhancements For 2011

All of you who read Shortwave America, whether it be a first time visit, an occasional check-in, or you're a loyal reader; have accounted for what has turned out to realistically be great success for an original publication like this! This year, the Shortwave America readers have taken this publication from a minor & meaningless effort to a widely recognized and trusted source for all sorts of radio information.

This publication went from having a meaningless existence to the astounding fanfare of 6,359 unique readers as of November 20th, 2010 with an easy expectation to reach or exceed 7,000 readers by December 2010. Shortwave America sincerely thanks all of you!

Due to the growth that has happened here, Shortwave America will be making enhancements to your enjoyment of this publication. The links section will be broken down into more specifically defined areas of radio. You may have seen that a Utility Listening links Section was added along with a Pirate Radio Links Section. Research is underway to add a Shortwave America product store, design of a Shortwave America Official Emblem is under research, and one other new gift for readers will be the addition of popular radio news shows so that you will never have to hop from website to website just to listen to your favorite shortwave or amateur radio related newscasts.

Shortwave America will be bringing you regular installments of:

Amateur Radio Newsline

The RAIN Report

International Radio Report

The Shortwave Report

Sounds On Shortwave

World Of Radio

That's six popular, trusted, well produced, quality radio newscasts each time they are published! All of these new features will happen in January of 2011. Shortwave America will run a reader's poll from December 1st, 2010 until December 31st, 2010. This poll will seek input from the readers and will be used solely to make improvements to Shortwave America. You may have noticed that pieces here are displaying an Amazon.com link to the top left of the page. Because of  the costs associated with bringing Shortwave America to you and the cost of future plans, it was thought that offering useful items from such a great place as Amazon.com is a practical, and efficient way to support this publication without passing the cost on to the readers.

Buying an offered item from Amazon is up to the reader, and each time one of you makes a purchase of an offered item from Amazon, you are helping to support Shortwave America. Thought was given to adding a Paypal "Donate" button, however, thought needed to be given to what the reader would be getting from their donation in a more real & tangible sense. Offering radio related items from Amazon was clearly the best choice because the reader is getting something they are actually interested in!

Upon the Shortwave America Store becoming a reality, the Amazon product offerings will likely cease unless you, the readers demand that Amazon product offerings stay here. The Shortwave America Store will feature coffee cups, travel mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, caps, mouse pads, and all sorts of useful radio related items that readers will be excited to see! It should be clear that at no time will Shortwave America readers ever have to pay for accessing the material presented at Shortwave America. 

If the above listed radio newscasts are a popular item, Shortwave America will endeavor to bring you other interesting radio shows such as select PCJ Media / PCJ Radio productions, RNW productions, and select productions from other big names in radio to include pirate radio offerings.

All of these things mentioned here will likely be part of the Shortwave America reader's poll. Shortwave America is alive and thriving only because of your readership. Thanks once again and Happy Holidays!

Lisnews Mentions Shortwave America & COICA

Podcast#130 talks about several great subjects and mentions Shortwave America, giving a link to the recent piece here about Deutsch Welle & COICA. Thank you Lisnews! Their podcast is called LISTen. You can learn about the mission of lisnews here.

Shortwave America Featured Second Time On The Happy Station Show

This morning, Shortwave America was happy to be part of The Happy Station Show for a second time. This morning's interview focused mostly on DW, which was actually a bombshell to this publication. DW is just such a widely known station that Shortwave America did not expect them to pull the plug like they did. Another sad situation spoken about was Radio Sweden. Shortwave America urged these and also other broadcasters to remember the reach of shortwave frequencies because there is a listenership out there.

Shortwave America briefly mentioned upcoming enhancements for 2011, and would like to thank Keith Perron for this opportunity and continued support from himself and PCJ Media. The archive link for this interview will be forthcoming.

Update: here is the PCJ Media Archive Link from this morning's show. 

Duetsche Welle Discontinues SW To North America, U.S. Internet Censorship Bill Could Have Unintended Consequences

Hold on a second! Did D.W. even stop to think about the results of their poll? How did they manage to pass over the shortwave listenership and end up surveying mostly the digital crowd? As Keith Perron recently asked...what are they smoking? Who was behind this survey and where did they find these results that most everyone is listening via interconnected digital devices?

The Media Network Blog has a piece on D.W. that makes an entirely different statement than what DW makes at it's own site.

In the U.S., there are probably around seven hundred thousand people or more with ready access to the HF / SW bands in some form or another. This is a fact. D.W. is making the same mistake that other radio stations have been making and that is to focus more on those within their local areas and those with ready access to interconnected devices, which leaves stations in a bad place for several reasons. The internet uses servers located all over the world which can be filtered or even shut down in the event that someone in a position of power doesn't like what's being said or decides they have some pre-conceived prejudice against the broadcaster.

The United States Congress is currently working on a very broad piece of legislation that could very well have unintended consequences on freedom of speech. Those unintended consequences may very well end up somehow affecting international broadcasters who stream their services via the internet. Under this bill, any internet domain that is even suspected of dealing in counterfeit goods or copyright infringement can be censored by court order. What this means is that all a person bringing suit has to prove in court will only rise to the level of "everyone's doing it" or "stats show that an x number of people have engaged in this activity."

How this could possibly impact shortwave broadcasters: The United States Attorney General could use this law to force shortwave broadcasters who stream on-line to prove that their material is not counterfeit or that such material doesn't infringe on established copyright. This may very well create room for abuse of this bill if it becomes law. Say for instance, a shortwave broadcaster streaming on-line material  plays a soundbyte or a song not originally created nor performed by the station staff....the U.S. Attorney General could now have reason to block that site by seeking a court order with only the preponderence of the evidence, a seriously low legal standard that is subjective on it's face.

Shortwave frequencies cannot be sanitized or turned off with any "kill switch" and is the best way to avoid these touchy scenarios. Let's also be honest, radio doesn't rely on any infrastructure and is a ready source for getting information out to the masses. A good statement of evidence on this would be that the United States FCC only has jurisdiction in the U.S. and it's possessions. A broadcaster such as Deutsche Welle is outside of the FCC's jurisdiction and that of the U.S. Attorney General.

Take a look at this newest censorship effort by the U.S. Government and please consider signing the petition even if you are not in the U.S.

Demand Progress Article: Blacklist

Demand Progress Fact Highlights About The proposed Blacklist & Petition To Stop This Bill 

Maybe Deutsche Welle would like to consider starting their North American SW Services again with this new evidence having been brought forth?

QRZ Press Release - Radio Buyer's Guide

From AA7BQ: click to read entire entry without sentence cut-off.

Five New Amateur Radio Satellites In Orbit

FASTRAC-1, FASTRAC-2, NanoSail-D2, O/OREOS and RAX were launched at 01:24 UT on Saturday Nov 20, reports of the signals are needed.

So far signals have been reported from FASTRAC-2 (Emma), O/ORES and RAX.

Nominal Frequencies:
- FASTRAC-1 "Sara Lily" 437.345 MHz FM AX.25 1200bps
- FASTRAC-2 "Emma" 145.825 MHz FM AX.25 1200bps
- RAX-1 437.505 MHz
- O/OREOS 437.305 MHz
- Nanosail D2 0.5 sec beacon every 5 sec on 437.275 MHz.


RAX Facebook  RAX Twitter 
FASTRAC Facebook  FASTRAC Twitter  O/OREOS
NanoSail-D2

Amateur radio operators - help track the FASTRAC satellites

AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB)

Orbiter Forum



Source: G4TUT at QRZ

Shortwave Pirate Radio Directory

Those elusive pirates turn on their transmitters for fans all over the world, always careful not to create a solid schedule / frequency / directional signal pattern. They use different power levels to reach their respective audiences. Pirates are usually gracious enough to send reception confirmations via different means. Some will use FRN, others will use e-mail, some use EQSL.

The mood for something new & different is always there. That desire to spin the VFO through the bands in each different mode until something is found will eat away at a radio addict until he/she completes the daily routine until satisfied, and only when the thirst is quenched will your dear loved one be happy. SWL's are a vast audience who come from all walks of life. Even licensed amateur operators engage in monitoring whatever they find.

Shortwave America has decided to help everyone get their radio fix quickly, efficiently, and logistically. This is the Official Shortwave America Shortwave Pirate Radio Directory. This project has been months in the making and includes frequencies, pirate station identifications, and QSL information. Now, the contact directory could not be copied and published here, but it will be linked to. This is your one stop shop for Pirate Radio information!

First, a couple of pirate listening tips asked by Shortwave America over at the HF Underground Forum:

Spotting pirates during the day, according to RAFman:  "The tendency I have noticed over the years is the use of low [& very high] end of 15MHz/19M 15070KHz. Similar propagation to the world, like 20M where it is said "the band is always open to somewhere"...

Pigmeat gives this information for evening listening: "Most guys use the 6850-6955 range weekends between 12 and 15:00 utc this time of year. I can normally hit much of eastern N.America with just 14 watts and wire antenna in that time frame. It's a nice time to broadcast,conditions are quiet,and you have your pick of the prime frequencies.The band opens and shuts about an hour earlier during daylight savings time."  

North American Pirate Radio Wiki

Pirate Radio by DXing.com

Pirate's Week

Radio4All

Transmitter Documentation Project - Pirate Stations

Pirate Radio Logs Searchable Database

Pirate Radio Links

Shortwave Central 2010 Pirate Radio Annual

Shortwave Central - Chasing Pirate Radio

Shortwave Central - QSLing The Unpredictable & Unlicensed

Pirate Radio Central Directory

Pirate Radio Station Addresses by UKDXER

This is all that is out here for now. If anyone else has anything at all, please leave a comment here. Pirates are welcome to add their information as well, and it will be updated in this post. Shortwave America would like to update pirate information as often as possible. To make this ambition work, contributions are needed.

Radio Australia Receives Use of Singapore's Kranji Site

Singapore's Media Development Authority has granted Radio Australia the use of their Kranji relay site starting on Monday, November 22nd 2010.Programming will be in Burmese: 0100-0130 UTC on 11780 kHz 340deg 250kW, English: 1100-1300 UTC on 6140 kHz 13deg 250 kW.

Reception reports can be sent to:

Radio Australia
GPO Box 428, Melbourne
Australia 3001

You can also see the Radio Australia Website

Source: RNW Media Network Blog

Someone Stole Our Equipment!

The Radio Netherlands Media Network Blog has the story

It's too late for April fools tricks, and just before the holidays, so it must be those pesky radio pirates! Guess it's time to make sure everything is under more advanced security technology!

French Radio London Makes Huge Splash

The Ambassador of France to the UK - Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, Pascal Grierson French Radio London CEO, Laurent Voulzy, celebrated French singer; Alex Riha, Commercial Director French Radio London; Thierry de Panafieu, Finance Director, French Radio London have all come together to successfully launch French Radio London. FRL has been assigned a channel slot on the London II DAB digital radio multiplex. These gentlemen worked with Piers Collins of Switchdigital to make this station a reality.

FRL is the UK capital’s first French language terrestrial broadcast station.Its studios and offices are based in
Central London, with a satellite office in Paris. Programming Director Jean-Michel Duffrene joined after many years at the BBC World Service. Presenters include Olivier Jauffrit, whose successful broadcasting career in France included stints at Rire et Chansons and Europe 2, and specialist music manager Alain
Galès, who has worked for the BBC World Service.

Source: FRL Press Release

Shortwave America commentary:

Most everyone can understand the need to have a local presence, and use digital technology with a digital radio giveaway to get this station on the air. One mistake these well meaning diplomats made was to not research putting FRL on the shortwave bands where the world at large could have access to it. There are indeed, people in the world who don;t have an unternet connection or fancy cellular technology to rely upon and these digital networks are not the end - all / be - all of radio. If they really want to reach what they term "Francophiles" then they need to have a wide RF distribution.

The FRL website is well done with just the right placement and choice of graphics, classy, yet also standard format seen at other major broadcasting sites. Programming seems to be well produced, well engineered, and the flavor of the station, it's style, and professionalism are something to be proud of.

Good Opportunity For Meteor Scatter

The Leonid Meteor Shower will peak at it's best until November 18th 2010. Best time is two or three hours before sunrise when the moon has set. Yahoo! has the entire story

Those meteor scatter operators out here should take this opportunity while they can! SWL's should listen for signals they normally wouldn't hear unless there was a band opening.

Antenna Designs, Reviews, and Tutorials

Long ago, Shortwave America promised an article on antennas. All of the projects, designs, reviews, and related items were simply too numerous to write just one piece on. Even a multi-part series would have been too large of a project. A more practical approach was needed, so, Shortwave America went scouting for everything and used the most practical information.

This guide is not intended to be the end-all, be-all of antennas because of all of the various designs out here, different emission types, different needs for antenna radiation polarization, and operator preference for minimum power usage. this is mostly handy for new Operators / SWL's, those who want or need a refresher, and those who want a nice resource for double checking their work.

Finally, the Shortwave America readers have a one stop resource for antenna knowledge similar to the more popular resource that was written for monitoring numbers stations. It's been quite a long time, but it's here now. Enjoy this resource to your heart's content! That why it's here!

Frequency Definitions / Theory

What is Frequency? Wiki

Radio Frequency Wiki

What Is Radio Frequency? 

Radio Frequency & Antenna Theory (PDF File)

ANTENNA SAFETY, POWERLINES, RF SAFETY

Antenna Safety & Powerlines by Ham Universe
The above link contains two safety videos that are Mandatory watching!

W0JEC RF Exposure & Safety Resource (Includes RF Exposure Calculator) 
   
Radio Frequency & Antenna Basics

Frequency Band Definitions

Antenna Theory & Basics

Radio Nature: RSGB

RSGB Antenna Books

Antenna Basics by HDTV Primer

Antenna Length Calculator

KB5WCK Antenna Calculator

ELF Antennas

Wikipedia ELF Tutorial

ELF Fields: A detailed guide

Longwave, LF and HF Antennas 

Wikipedia LF Primer

LF (Low Frequency) Antenna Theory by vias.org

Antennas For 3 to 30Mhz and AM Mode

Radio Waves Below 22Khz

NRL Low Frequency Antenna Development

OLFAR: Orbiting Low Frequency Antennas For Radio Astronomy

HF Antennas 101

HF Antennas - Ham Radio Library
This above link has TONS of antenna information
and just might be better than any other resource
out here!

K3MT's Grasswire Antenna

RadioReference HF Antenna Wiki

Cloud Warmer NVIS Antenna by Ham Universe

Medium Wave Antennas

Marc's Technical Pages: Antennas For MW Reception

K9AY Loop Antenna

Optimized MW Antenna Systems

Sarmento's Ferrite Rod Antenna For MW

Antennex - THE Place For Antenna Discussion & All Antenna Related Items

Shortwave Antennas

Understanding Shortwave Radio & Antennas

Hamuniverse - Build A Shortwave Antenna

Build A Broomstick Antenna by Arnie Coro

DX Zone - Shortwave Antenna Plans & Links

Homebrew Shortwave Antennas @ E-How

Hardcore DX - Birdfeeder Antenna

TDP Shortwave Antennas

Active Antenna Electronic Circuits

VHF Antennas

IW5EDI VHF Antenna Library

2 Meter Antennas

Slimjim 2 Meter Antenna

1.25 Meter Quickie Quarter Wave

1.25 Meter J-Pole

UHF Antennas

AC6V UHF Antenna Resource

70CM Eggbeater Antenna Resource

9Db, 70CM Collinear Antenna From Coax

70CM 2 and 4 Element Yagi's

70CM Super J-Pole

SHF Antennas

33CM Wiki

EHF Antennas

Curtain Quad Antenna, 1.296Ghz

Curtain Quad Antenna, 2.4Ghz

2.4Ghz Omni Antenna

2.4Ghz Sardine Can Antenna

Kent Electronics, WA5VJB

Shortened 3D Corner Reflector Antenna (PDF File)

Advanced Antenna Resources

Stealth Antennas

N4UJW Antenna Design Lab

Major Antenna Pages

The Radiotelegrapher

Tom, AB9NZ of the suburbs, near Chicago, IL has decided to join the Amateur Radio Journalism circle by creating a rather neat site over at posterous, called The Radiotelegrapher. Tom is a veteran Radio Man and a U.S. Veteran from the United States Air Force who is a friendly, skilled, outgoing man who has earned his respect from many to include this publication.

Tom worked NA1SS yesterday and spoke to Col. Wheelock on one of several International Space Station Orbit passes, a great accomplishment in itself! Welcome, Tom!

AB9NZ can often be found hanging around on the NORA Repeater, located in Glenview, IL on 147.090Mhz plus 600Khz and a 107.2PL. Tom was one of this author's first contacts and remains a great friend! Besides hanging out on NORA, Tom is proficient with the fine art of Morse Code (CW) and can be found on the CW portions of the HF bands.

Peoria Area Residents Cry Foul Over Amateur Radio

Central Illinois News has the most recent details, as does the Southgate Amateur Radio Club 

One neighbor involved in this high emotion fight over access to the amateur radio bands has threatened to erect an electric dog fence or to committ to other activities that would impede Craig Thompson's use of the amateur bands. What this neighbor doesn't seem to know is that it is illegal to knowingly and willingly interfere with any licensed radio operation, even amateur radio.

The biggest question being asked is: "How does Craig Thompson's amateur radio activities trump the right of the neighbors to a traditional country view?" Well, the law being referenced here as it pertains to the "right" to have an "unobstructed view" is itself misinterpreted. The law speaks to conservation of the land, and the rights of land owners to not have anything built on THEIR land without their consent. Mr. Thompson OWNS the land he is building on and it does not belong to the community or any of the neighbors, and there has not been any proven argument as to how any environmental danger is posed to the community or to the land itself. Trivoli neighbors also have yet to prove that they actually have such a right to not look at some specific object or a specifically guaranteed right to be without some specific class of structure that blocks their vision when it doesn't pose a major danger.

Trivoli neighbors say they want to challenge HR2160 and use force to derail it's passage in Congress. This doesn't seem very likely given the reality of the support behind this bill. Mr. Thompson obeyed the laws completely, and his towers will indeed be erected as planned, and his operations will take place because his Amateur Radio License gives him access to the frequencies he is operating on and regulation of the use and access to radio and television signals are strictly the domain of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and FCC laws trump local ordinances. 

One specific neighbor states to have concerns about a medical implant for his heart condition. This neighbor should know that the frequencies Mr. Thompson is operating on are well BELOW what would be a concern for such a device, and furthermore should be advised that his own home appliances pose more of a risk to him than Mr. Thompson's RF signals pose.

A paranoid bunch has attempted to get local officials, as well as fellow neighbors to believe that Mr. Thompson can "listen in" on their "telephone conversations". This is simply not true! It is illegal for anyone to listen to cellular phones and almost impossible even if it were legal because cellphones today are all digital spread spectrum devices. This means that the signals hop frequencies several times per second and are most likely encrypted.

Neighbors also complain that there will be "interference" to their televisions, telephones, and other home electronic devices. Amateur Radio equipment, if constructed properly, will not pose any of these problems unless the band opens up OR the manufacturer of the home electronics equipment made the devices poorly and this is almost always the case. Mr. Thompson's neighbors also need to be aware that FCC Part 15 states on each and every home electronic device that the device MUST accept any and all interference, may not cause harmful interference, and must accept even that interference which causes undesired operation.

Filters are available on the market in the event that any of this interference takes place. Filters are affordable, and available in mass quantity. If neighbors ever chose to blame Mr. Thompson for any interference, they would be hard pressed to actually prove that 1. Interference is indeed coming from Mr. Thompson's antennas and 2. That the interference is due to a lack of compliance with good engineering standards.

Shortwave America thumbs it's nose at the Trivoli neighbors and laughs while advising them to find a life.

Live Amateur Radio Webcast To Feature Well Known Companies

 This broadcast should be fun with all of these Amateur Radio Manufacturers all at one time! That's W5KUB.com and don't forget the Fall time change has occurred already, so you may want to adjust your time for this event if needed. Thanks to VA3UG for making this information available!

Understanding LF & HF Propagation: FREE E-Book

G0KYA and G3NYK over at RSGB have written an E-Book about LF and HF Propagation. They decided to make this detailed book available for free. Here is the original link to G0KYA's site 

To download this FREE PDF file, click on the link for Understanding LF & HF Propagation
Sponsored by the RSGB Propagation Studies Committee.  

Shortwave America Salute To U.S. Veterans

Happy Veterans day to all of the United States MARS Operators from your fellow Radioman! If you are a veteran, thank you for all you have done to make this a free country, for the contributions that no one else sees, and for the loyalty you have shown. If you are a family member of a veteran, whether living or dead, thank you for continuing to support the cause for freedom at every cost and never looking back!

Thank you to all branches of the U.S. Military for continuing to support MARS and have us around to be your auxillary radio communications source when you need trusted communications to get through in a hurry.

Shortwave Broadcast Multilingual B10 Schedules & Frequency Changes, November 2010 HF Propagation Report

Shortwave America brings you the B10 season shortwave broadcast schedules for Multilingual programming, a short list of English language B10 schedule programming, and a list of B10 schedule / frequency changes for certain broadcasters. As always, please remember that stations can change their programming, frequency, schedule, and signal direction at any time. Need help finding out what you're listening to? Use the HFRadio.org / NW7US Shortwave Broadcast Frequency Search.

Multilingual

North Korea B10 Schedules

Radio Prague B10 Multilingual Schedule

KBS World Radio B10 Multilingual Schedule 

Radio Thailand B10 Multilingual Schedule

Voice Of Greece B10 Multilingual Schedule

Radiofonikos-Stathmos-Makedonias B10 Schedule

Radio Netherlands B10 Multilingual Schedule

Radio Free Asia B10 Multilingual Schedule
   
Radio Pakistan B10 Multilingual Schedule

Radio Slovakia B10 Tentative Schedule
 
VT Communications Relay Schedules - Part 1

VT Communications Relay Schedules - Part 2

VT Communications Relay Schedules - Part 3

English Schedules

Voice Of Russia B10 English Schedule

Voice of Turkey B10 English Schedule

TWR - Swaziland B10 English Schedule

Radio Japan B10 English Schedule

WWCR B10 English Schedule

Also see the previously posted B10 English Broadcast list

Schedule / Frequency Changes

VT Schedule Changes

Radio Relays Frequency Update

IBB Schedule Changes

BBC Frequency Changes

Radio Free North Korea Frequency Change 

Schedule Updates From Sentec

Updates From DX Mix News

November 2010 HF Propagation Report

G0KYA HF Propagation Prediction Report, November 2010 

Shortwave Schedule Explanation For New Amateur Operators / SWL's

If you are new to the world of radio, welcome! It doesn't matter if you're a newly licensed Amateur Operator or a brand new SWL, getting accustomed to the deep culture of radio and how it all works is both intriguing and frustrating. Most radio newbies like to just sit back and listen. Listening is just the thing to do right now, because there's alot to hear and learn about!

First, let's start by reminding those of you who are new that each different frequency wavelength has it's own behavior during each different time of day, night, and season. This means that one band will be more useful than the other during the day, during the night, and during each of the four seasons.

The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) has two main HF broadcast schedules a year.  The "A" season starts the last Sunday in March, the "B" season starts the last Sunday in October.  Those dates coincide with the European time changes.

For a beginner's guide to tuning the bands, see the Amateur Radio Band Characteristics by Hamuniverse. Because the shortwave bands are both just below and above the amateur frequencies, this information applies to these portions of the band as well. AM band DX listening is best during the winter season.
Also see the ARRL HF Radio Wave Propagation Tutorial

You can also use the Shortwave Wiki

For your convenience, Shortwave America provides the following radio tutorials written by DXing.com:

Here is an excellent tutorial on tuning / using the HF spectrum from 150Khz to 30Mhz

Frequency Vs. Wavelength

Radio Terms

UTC / GMT Time Conversion

The Best Of Pirate Radio For Halloween 2010

At the bottom of this post, Shortwave America is providing a link that will take you to a list of recordings of pirate radio broadcasts from Halloween 2010 made by Lex in the State of Texas. There are many links on this list, all of which will give you specific choices for whatever your interest is for that day. All links take you to a site called mediafire.

According to Lex, propagation did not favor a station named "Gopher Stomp", and so he only obtained a few fairly clear recordings.

Stations logged included:
WAHR, Automated Halloween Radio
West Coast Radio
Voice of Doom - Morak: The Thing Behind The Wall
Radio Ronin Shortwave
CYOT
Halloween Midi Radio
Bust-A-Nut

Further information from Lex: 

"Most of these are only a few minutes, selected segments from the most audible portions.  All have been run through hiss reduction so the slight jangly sound is due to digital noise reduction, not the original broadcast audio.  But you wouldn't want to hear the original versions since the local RFI level was very high at times."

Halloween Pirate Radio Recordings At HF Underground

North American Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame

Fellow Radio Enthusiasts from all walks of life, please welcome to our ranks, the North American Pirate Radio Hall of Fame! Ragnar has posted the introduction over at HFUnderground. Suffice it to say that of all of the unique halls of fame, this is likely the most meaningful because most anyone can learn the everyday things that a hall of fame is usually meant for honoring, but radio is quite a technical skill.

When people see a radio, they usually just think of a microphone and a transmitter, their minds jump to some sort of antenna and it ends there. The word "Pirate" in Pirate Radio does not mean some guy who looks like Captain Hook on the high seas with an old gun ship and a radio transmitter! Pirate radio means an unlicensed station transmitting on the shortwave bands.

A proper pirate radio station sticks closely to the engineering standards ascribed for licensed amateurs or licensed commercial stations, does not bother the neighbors by tearing their electronics up, and does not knowingly transmit on top of existing radio signals authorized to be on their frequency. The most unruly pirate stations will discard these rules and most who behave this way do not last long. The longest running stations operate for years or even decades without being detected by the Feds.

Let's be honest, we all love hearing pirate stations because it is a break from the same day in / day out shortwave listening. Want to know something? The Feds don;t care to chase down these stations so long as they behave. They have other places to use their resources in.

The NAPRHOF as we will always know this organization, devotes itself to professional standards that call for uniqueness, creativity, and other requirements before a pirate station becomes an inductee. According to the most important piece of their standards, a list is made and then whittled down in the same way most other halls of fame whittle down their lists to get the finalists for induction.

Welcome to the North American Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame! Shortwave America wishes you all the best as the organization grows.

The first list of inductees, ever,  starting in 2010 are:

• Allan Weiner/RNI
• Radio Clandestine
• Radio Garbanzo
• V. of the Voyager
• Voice of BoB
• Voice of Laryngitis
• WUMS
   
   Meet The NAPRHOF Board:
   
  Pat Murphy, John T Arthur, James Brownyard. Larry Will, Ragnar Daneskjold, Bill Finn, Gregory Majewski, Andy Yoder, and George Zeller. 
   
  All of the above are gentlemen of the radio circle recognized for their expertise.
   
  This organization is something for the friends and fans of radio to keep an eye on!   
  

U.S. Attorney's Office, FCC File Complaint In U.S. Federal Court: K1MAN To Pay

Glen Baxter, the amateur broadcaster who has been clogging up the upper portion of 3890Khz has to face the U.S. Federal court system after the U.S. Attorney's Office teamed up with the FCC to ask the court to enforce the $21,000.00 fine levied against him by way of the FCC Enforcement unit's issuance of the NAL to him.

The term "amateur broadcaster" is used as opposed to "licensed amateur radio operator" because Baxter does not exude the proper traits of a law abiding licensed amateur operator.

The ARRL has the story

Here's the PDF Copy of the U.S. Federal Complaint filed today

The U.S. Attorney's Office and FCC are asking the court to order Baxter to pay a $350.00 filing fee and other legal, just fines the court may find in the best interest of justice.

All of us who are Licensed Amateur Radio Operators AND all around radio enthusiasts owe you a huge debt, Laura Smith! Thank you so much for stepping up to help us the way you have!  This publication is asking that the community of Licensed Amateur Operators and SWL's take a few moments to write Laura Smith just a few short, simple lines to say thank you for the work she has done. If you can't find a few moments to write, consider leaving a simple "thank you" voice mail for Laura at her Office Number:

1-717-338-2577

New B10 Shortwave English Broadcast Schedules

New B10 Schedules for English broadcasts have been published at three separate places. Dan Ferguson of NASWA has an Excel spreadsheet available for public use over at HFSkeds.

Here are the other two links for the TXT file which is an internet page as opposed to a download in case some of you out here don't have enough disk space or just don't like to download too much stuff onto your drives. The nice thing about these is that you can just copy and paste these files or just pick your favorite frequencies / stations to pay attention to.

Here is the EiBi TXT SW English Broadcast File

This is the AOKI English Broadcast File

Dan warns that all of these are likely to be very preliminary.