G4NSJ - Long Wave broadacst stations DX
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- In this video, I tune into a few long wave broadcast stations using my Lowe HF-150 communications receiver and a MiniWhip active antenna. Romania, Morroco, Poland, Algeria... Long wave is not dead! I also venture down to 30kHz VLF to some strange sounds.
www.radio-work...
I used to listen to Atlantic 252 in the tractors on the farm as a teenager in the 90s great station
It was a great station!
I used to listen to it on an aeroplane ADF...
This video has really inspired me with my recent checking of the LW band frequencies.
Excellent!
Can you receive Iceland on 189kHz there?
@@RGC198 I’ve not heard it yet but I will keep trying.
I discovered it by accident while on an Iceland based online SDR receiver. At the time it was the only signal I could hear there.
I checked via online SDR today and 198kHz BBC R4 is still on air. Maybe they have been given an extension.
You will have to do a band scan on sw comparing your radios. I love to hear your band scans. You have some very nice gear. Thanks for sharing. As always take care. 😊
Good idea!
Thanks again for the video Ray, always a joy to watch ! Unfortunately you won't hear a bleep anymore on 234 kHz, as RTL Luxemburg ceased transmissions on Jan 1st 2023, and also 243 kHz Kalundborg Denmark (not Sweden ;-) went silent on Dec 31 2023. It's a shame really if Radio 4 on 198 kHz will close down as well.... All the best and enjoy your radio's ! 73 Patrick ON4CDJ
Hi Patrick, thanks for the info. It seems that everything is closing down!
Another great video, guvnor....
Atlantic 252. That was a decent signal here back in the day. I used to mess about with VLF receivers about 20 years ago and have some recordings of the old russian Alpha nav beacons somewhere. Really interesting stuff.
It is very interesting stuff. I just wish I had less noise here on the VLF frequencies.
The LW stations seem to have an incredible coverage. I have tried 198kHz BBC R4 using online SDR's in France, Netherlands and even Poland. All places seem to receive it quite well. One area that doesn't seem to receive it too well is Corwall, though that online SDR may not have a suitable antenna. I also notice that Algeria, Morocco and Poland can also be received quite well from the countries mentioned above. Also, I notice that BBC R4 becomes BBC World Service overnight.
It's a powerful transmitter which can cover most of the world.
Unfortunately, I have never heard it directly from here in Melbourne Australia.
There are still quite a few stations on shortwave. I have recently, (March 2023), been listening to Radio New Zealand on 13.755 in the mornings until 12.00. Voice of Turkey on 15.350 at 10.13 and 5.960 at 23.20, Vatican Radio on 15.595 and 17.515, Ifrikya FM,(which is a a relatively new Algerian station broadcasting to Africa on 17.600) heard in English at 10.50, Romania on 17.600, Valley FM (Germany) on 9.670 in English at 11.22, Radio Voz Missionaria (Brazil) on 5.940, Voice of Korea on 11.635 at 19.10 and a lot more and if you include all the different China Radio International transmissions there must be another 30 or so to add. I have verified these frequencies using my Tecsun PL600 but the main radio I have been initially tuning in with, is an analogue Realistic DX-150B. I have a 15ft indoor random wire North - South strung up between rooms upstairs and another roughly 50ft random wire going out an upstairs window, then East to West along the side of the house and the last 20 feet sloping down to a fence.
Radio New Zealand on 13.755 sounds interesting, I'll have a listen for it later. You're doing well with your set up. You've inspired me to have a tune around. thanks! Cheers, Ray.
Just an update; earlier today (1/4/24), while using an online SDR based in Scotland, I managed to hear LW DX from 171 Morocco, 225 Poland, 252 Algeria and of course local reception on 198 of BBC R4. All were recorded as they came through.
Excellent!
The 198 BBC R4 signal received from the Scotland SDR would have been Westerglen.
I love a bit of SW, and LW. Hearing broadcasts from all over the world.
Me too!
Greetings from Sydney, Aus. Ray!
Great to see/hear your latest video on LF and VLF
We don't get much down here on the LF band, other than the submarine encoded radio traffic from Australia's US bases.
As I type this, my receiver is picking up a very strong signal on 405 Kc (9 +40 dB) on a long wire end fed antenna. No modulation at all, just a clean carrier.
In the SW bands, it's very live every evening with strong signals mostly from Asian stations and some from the Arabian peninsula as well as European broadcasts from Woofferton in the UK, Biblis in Germany and Issoudun in France.
Who needs the Internet? (..other than getting in touch with you, "old fella"..) LOL!
Keep well and keep them coming my friend.
73s from VK2- - -
Hello, Australia! Great to hear from you. Who needs the internet, indeed! Thanks for the info. Cheers, Ray.
Hi Ray! Despite our "modern" determination to rely on the internet for everything (lawd 'elp us), it will be a long time before less "sophisticated" countries give up on the simple, direct approach of broadcasting one big radio signal for which every household has a suitable receiver (or the ability to put one together from virtual scrap). Our local LW / MW closedowns make DX all the easier to receive!
That's a very good point! Medium wave is already opening up with some good DX now that so many local stations have closed down.
Its sad 252 is gone like an old friend
It was a great station.
Just before an American enthusiast signed off he put his microphone out the window and let us hear the train horn as it left the station . Short waves never dull
Excellent!
Love the bright blue mic windshield. Coloured ones look so much better than black!
I have a bag full… yellow, red, green… 😂👍
@g4nsj May I ask where you buy them Ray?
@@tyreburster eBay. They come in lots of 10, very cheap.
@g4nsj Thankyou.
Thank you for sharing Ray , amazing radios.
Thanks!
Here are some LW stations that I heard just recently via a UK online SDR:
153 Antena Satelor Brasov ROM
171 Medi 1 Nador MRC
198 BBC R4 Droitwich G (BBC WS)
225 Polskie R. Solec-Kujawski POL
252 R.Algerienne 3 Tipaza ALG
Interesting. Thanks. Rob.
Ray, my good mate I used to like to listen to the USA's longwave Doomsday station. It broadcasted throughout the cold war and shut down sometime in the early 80's. I can not remember the frequency. It was some ware towards the middle of the longwave band. It would broadcast the upper level atmospheric aeronautical weather forecast. It was for the event of a nuclear attack against the USA. Pretty creepy stuff. Another thing besides longwave penetrating rock. On ELF you can hear the earth move especially when their is an earthquake. That digital stuff on vlf was interesting too. I like to listen to the lighthouse and airport beacons on longwave to. Their all on CW of course.
Hi Vicky, it's nice to hear from you. I like the idea of ELF and hearing the earth move. I'll take my RX up a hill, clear of interference, and see what I can hear. All the best, Ray.
Hi Ray,
I used to listen to RTE2 on 252khz i made a point of listening as it closed down. Im in Anglesey so it used to blast through.
There has been a few stations on 252 from Ireland... Atlantic 252 was a predecessor, and growing up in holyhead was the only independent music broadcast station we had!
Great to hear from you. Atlantic 252 was great. There’ll be nothing left at this rate!
Hello Ray , I wanted to share my findings , on one of my radios I furnished a switch that would turn off the back light led's on the display , there's now less noise on the radio particularly on AM , with all the new radios there's led noise & screen display noise with the waterfall display , their electronically filtered of course , but none the less it's best with no led , the radio I converted was the CRT SS 7900 V .
Hi Julian, thanks for the information. That’s very interesting. I wonder how many other people are suffering from LED noise on radios.
Absolutely Ray ,there must be thousands or millions suffering from back light noise, the radio manufactures design circuits to counter the led back light noise by filters using a type of electronic phase reversal but the radio works better without them , I've learned that if the led back light is disconnected it cancels the phase reversal circuit & the radio sounds better .In addition if the coax is in copper tubes & flexi steel tubing right up to the radio with an RF choke & proper radio grounding it will all make the world of difference rest assured . @@g4nsj
@@julianrobertson3303Great stuff, thanks!
That was good, Ray, more on VLF if you can.
Thanks! More coming soon. Cheers, Ray.
Really appreciate your videos thank you 😊
Thanks!
I Love your videos Ray !
BRAVO !
sbf
Thanks!
The beeping at 58 KHZ (actually 60KHZ) is the atomic clock signal from NPL in Anthorne, Cumbria.
Ah, right. Thanks.
Would your reception of BBC R4 on 198 be coming from Droitwich UK?
Yes, that's right.
I managed to hear that particular station from three different SDR's in the UK.
Hi Ray, here is a list of the long wave stations that I have recently managed to hear on various online SDR receivers. All are still currently running their usual programming.
171 Medi 1 Nador MRC
189 RUV Gufuskálar ISL
198 BBC R4 Droitwich G
198 BBC R4 Westerglen G
225 Polskie R. Solec-Kujawski POL
252 R.Algerienne 3 Tipaza ALG
I hope this helps. All the best. Rob.
Thanks!
I don't know if I can post links here, but I was just searching for something and came across a BBC News article. Try searching for "BBC News Long wave radio fans mourn fading frequencies" - the first picture includes a FRG-7.
Thanks, I'll have a loook.
That's about all there are now. Radio 4 LW is going to continue for the time being - been given a reprieve - but soon won't have a separate programme schedule. Morning Service, Test Match Special and Yesterday in Parliament all shoved off to BBC4 Extra in a few weeks. The phase mod on Droitwich/Westerglen/Burghead 198 kHz transmitters is still used for Economy-7 switching because the rollout of Smart Meters has been such a dog's dinner!
Hi Janet, you’re right about the smart meters. It certainly has been a mess rolling them out. I keep hearing different stories about radio four on longwave. It was supposed to close down in March but they have changed their mind. I hope all is well with you. All the best, Ray.
@@raysrantsIt seems possible the tx will remain on at significantly reduced power without modulation, just to keep the Economy-7 teleswitching functioning. It seems power down to 50kW is being mentioned, but as I'm no longer in BBC engineering circles (now retired) I'm out of the info loop!
@@janetwinslow2039 That's interesting. I had econony 7 once and I tried to jam the signal... no luck!
@@g4nsjYou naughty man!
@@g4nsj Thanks for the video Roy. Thanks @janetwinslow2039 for the R4 info
Thanks Ray for the video. Just imagine what would happen if the internet or the electricity system went down. No 'phones, no money transfer or logistics support. DAB radio would be fine for an hour or two until the batteries went flat.
We are constantly being told how wonderful alternative energy sources are.....only one investment cost and you can still maintain population wide survival communications.
The other sad effect is than not many children will have the skills to build a DAB or even an FM receiver.
The misguided quaint ways of 'Ephemeralization' I guess!
73.
Peter. M3TNW.
Hi Peter, great to hear from you. I dread to think about what the future might hold. To quote Bones on the Starship Enterprise… there’s life, Jim. But not as we know it. Cheers, Ray.
Luxembourg ceased on 1st January sadly. We lost RTE as well, which was the same transmitter as used by Atlantic252, now that was a GREAT station, sadly missed.
Thanks for the info.
Hi Ray, thanks for posting this interesting video re: 'active antennas' aka electrically short antennas - mini whips and so on..... Convenient and compact though these are (and like eg PA0RDT type, often easy to self build) this is probably the least effective antenna type for LW reception. Hobbyist mags from the 80s often talked about making large bundles of low frequency ferrite wound with miles of Litz wire usually incorporating jfet or dual-gate mosfet front ends - all pretty pricey. Accepting the directional handicap, I've used random long wire (with a decent LF capable antenna matching unit (I used the Yaesu FRT-7700) to fairly good effect. Regards Al M0GTK (although I'm almost never on).
Actually, it looks as if you actually have an FRT-7700 (or something very similar).
Hi Alistair, I use the active antenna because of the high interference levels where I live. Any form of wire antenna is useless at low frequencies. While the active antenna isn’t the best, the noise level is extremely low. I use a doublet for HF amateur bands which works very well on transmit and receive. I also use an end fed wire for top band, which is pretty good.
Hi Ray, my only experiences of hearing LW broadcast stations have been via the online DX Tuners and SDR's. I have never heard anything directly from here in Australia, apart from various airport beacons. One thing that I can't understand is with so many spare frequencies available there, why some LW stations share frequencies (like former RTE Ireland and Algeria)? The static interference is quite bad here these days, affecting LW, MW and even the low SW frequencies. It is particularly strong at the low end of the MW band with huge static noise. You have a Yaesu FRG-7 and I have a Yaesu FRG-100. I used to have a Yaesu FRG-7700, but I traded it in after it completely stopped working, for the current receiver. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.
I like the old Yaesu receivers. OK about shared frequencies.Yes, it is rather odd. Algeria booms in now that RTE have gone.
Do you receive Algeria LW during the day on a regular basis or only occasionally?
@@RGC198 It's receivable all the time here.
That is pretty good going for a distance of about 1580 miles.
I seem to remember that there is a US Navy communication station in Ohio. They do or did talk to subs regularly. If that ain't through rock, I don't know what is. Cheers, Ray.
Great to hear from you, Chuck.
What you heard around the 100kHz was Loran-C radio navigation
Ah, thanks! 👍
Hi Ray, Mines rescue use VLF for communicating below ground.
@@nigelsheridan6229 Thanks, Nigel.
Can get all currently broadcasting LW stations here in Finland.
Excellent!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longwave_radio_broadcasters?wprov=sfti1
@@Glen7011Thanks for the link, that's useful.
Hi All, does anyone know what happened to the project to relaunch Radio Caroline on 279 from the isle of Man? Apparently the IoM has been allocated this channel, but it's currently unused. What a great opportunity for the most famous station to return to Europe! (There is, of course, the small matter of money).
189 is back on-air 🇮🇸 (Iceland)
Excellent!
Yay thanks for the info! I did also hear Faeroe Islands a few weeks ago on MW have never been able to before. I will listen out for Iceland.
Surely Ray, if you're interested in LW DX, you're into NDB chasing - between about 250kHz and 500kHz? Receiving these low power transmissions, (usually 10-20 watt into small top loaded antennas) over hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles is a blast. If you can pick out the Morse ident, then yplou can look up everything about the beacon online. Fun, in a totally nerdy way. PS, at these frequencies, I have found mini whips to be useless - just magnets for every type of man made and natural RFI.
I am indeed into NDB. See my page here. www.radio-workshop.co.uk/g4nsj-ndb-non-directional-beacons-hf-lf-dx/
The signal on 136 kilocycles is a Europe wide system for electrical network switching there is one TX in Hungary and 2 in Germany all on separate frequencys but around that area
That’s interesting, thanks for the information.
517 kc USB Ray is the Navtex frequency for all the shipping warnings etc. Download a program called YAND (Yet another Navtex decoder) make up a lead with a 3.5mm mono jack on each end then plug into your Pc/Laptop Line in on the sound card and away you go. The software even gives you the schedule times for all the sending stations. Facinating stuff Ray...73s Alan G7WBB. p.s. I have the file on my PC if you cant locate it.
OK on 517 kHz, I'll have a listen. I'll also download the software when I get a minuite. Thanks for the info.
You can still get Rúv from Iceland on 189Khz. But only in part of 2024, since the transmitter is going to close later part of the year.
Thanks, Jon.
It stopped transmitting over the weekend. Was strong on their final day, I tuned in via SDR
@@Glen7011It has not been announced that long wave has been turned off at 189Khz. There have been storms in Iceland, so this downtime might be a technical problem that is going to get fixed in next few days if they bother to do so.
Yes, I do hope that 189
continues on for a while… I quite enjoy the
music
Did,nt realise R4 198 was closing down, the tx is not that far form me in Droitwich Spa, I guess the spa bit was a factor for the tx site to be located there.
I keep hearing rumours about the long way of transmitter closing down, but I don’t seem to be able to get a date. Perhaps there isn’t a date as yet. But it will be a sad day.
136kHz is WSPR, but there is not normally much activity on that frequency.
Thanks. 👍
I was late to the game in the 90's, when Atlantic 252 came along. It was recommended to me by friends the same age as me. It was a good station, but propagation wasn't always kind to it... 🙄
It was a great station. Shame that so many good stations have gone.
Have you ever sat down and tried to understand LF and VLF propagation? As amateurs, we get a good idea about how HF and VHF waves propagate but the usual RSGB/ARRL publications are a lot less forthcoming about lower frequencies. Much of that Polish 1 MW station is reaching you via ground wave - but why is it that the signal much stronger at night? Ground waves are not affected by the state of the ionosphere. It's all quite complicated!!
Because only some of the signal travels with the ground, some is reflected in the atmosphere. I don't remember wich layer but that layer forms when the sun does not shine on it. That is also why conditions are better and more stable in winter.
Take a look at the Russian Zevs submarine communications system, it uses the planet itself as the antenna by forming a synthetic dipole in the rock.
Thanks, I’ll take a look.
I'm repeating myself, I know...
But, switching R4 LW off is just WRONG.
Definitely!
I agree. Love to listen to BBC here from Denmark.
@@g4nsj
Here in Denmark we also have DAB radio and on one channel is the BBC world service present.
Blo*dy social media and the ease of the Internet .the cost of running any LW-MW Or HF station is becoming not viable. But we still like to eavesdrop. But now the sunspot cycle is starting to peak so 27mhz is fun to have a chat with the good old boys in the usa on Am dare i say citizen band as allways ray lovely post
Great to hear from you, Shaun. Yes, 11 metres is opening up. Looking forward to listening on 27.555.
100 Khz is LORAN. I guess it's not dead yet!
Indeed! 👍
Being from VK you don't hear much about LW. Broadcasting here was all AM or FM. Also SW was never much of a thing here.
Without getting all technical... I'm thinking LW is used due to the extended groundwave distance you would get. BUT WHY? With so many different countries so close together you really SHOULDN'T use it. Is my thinking... so you don't upset your neighbours.
Crack out a map of our two countries and look at land sizes.... we actually need LW but it never cracked on. Here you will hear aeroplane beacons and that's about it.
It's always puzzled me that... we are pretty much in the southern hemisphere by ourselves we could crack on with LW and not upset too many neighbours. 73 from vk2.
You make a very good point about long wave broadcasting. We also have non directional beacons for airvcraft on long wave.
Radio Australia was one of the constants back in the short wave days of the 1970s and '80s.
Love your channel. I could listen to you talk all day! Good content 💯 de KK4LGL
Thanks, that's nice of you. Cheers, Ray.