American stations are everywhere, especially in the morning and sometimes the late afternoon- early evening before China powers in.
You might have some luck getting these stations early in the morning, I’m not sure on the exact times but you can go to https://www.short-wave.info/index.php to find out.
WBCQ 9330
EWTN 15610
WWCR 12160
KNLS 6070
World Harvest Radio 9930
WRMI 7780
For future reference Voice of America in English seems to only has a 1 hour window of transmission from 8 to 9 am AEDT on 11720khz which is extremely loud and clear into Aus. I’m still not quite sure about where it is aimed for but it is coming from the Greenville Site B which is the office for Cuban broadcasting.
I’ll have a look at 11720 in that window. By rights it should be just as strong in Sydney- if not stronger- than in VIC.
Had a spin around SW for the first time in ages last night- most stations are of SE Asian origin as you say. RNZ International is a near constant English presence on the dial and is a good source of news for those in the Pacific islands (their main target).
WBCQ is run by the eccentric Allen Weiner, erstwhile radio pirate. He has sold most of his airtime to the ‘God Squad’ as with the rest of them, unfortunately.
What does he air in the time he hasn’t sold?
Dear Socrates,
Allan has his own show- ‘Allan Weiner Worldwide’ - in which he mixes libertarian rants with DX/radio geek information. Allan was the driving force behind the only serious attempt at offshore pirate radio in US history- Radio New York International- in 1987. The story behind that is quite colourful and there’s plenty of information online.
Other programs heard on WBCQ include Glenn Hauser’s World Of Radio (mainly shortwave DX logs) and a few music programs. I’m not sure if they go out on the 9330 frequency.
Had a listen to VOA this morning- surprising that they play pop music nowadays. I guess the demand for a global news service is covered by BBC and the US government can’t be bothered with it.
I got this QSL card from him, pretty self explanatory.
Also
RNZ and Radio Kuwait surprisingly are a good Source of news on Shortwave. The BBC can constantly be heard from Singapore on various frequencies which makes catching up on news quite easy.
RNZ is just about the only media outlet that covers the affairs of the Pacific island nations; even the ABC gives them short shift now, with the closure of Radio Australia. Even comprehensive news sources like The Economist rarely cover matters in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the rest.
RNZ is pretty good but it is very crackly during the daytime even on their daytime frequencies.
Have you tried their DRM+ service? Has anyone?
I’m listening right now and I’m hearing heaps of Country music but yes generally pop music and News. Also If the frequency still exists then VOA don’t know about it as it isn’t listed on their official Website anywhere.
There are a few videos on YT showing DRM+ reception of RNZ, All India Radio and a few others. I think the codec is AAC with a fairly low bitrate (24k?); nevertheless it’s an improvement over analogue SW. It seems to be fairly robust against ionospheric fading provided the underlying signal is good.
I personally haven’t tried it as I don’t have the right radio but my SDR might pick them up.
Thanks @dxnerd. This is what Australia is missing out on, reliable coverage to all the mainland and Tas via SW DRM of ABC Radio. What an opportunity lost so far. The ABC, Dept of Comms and policy within govt all lack this simple foresight.
Finally had the chance to have a chat to my mates up in Darwin, NT from here in Melb on 27mhz.
Es skip rather than the usual high sunspot solar cycle (we’re at the bottom of the cycle at the moment) F skip me thinks.
Keep your ears out for this station tonight that seems to be transmitting from NSW. Saw posted on FB. ACMA site shows 2 licences. There seems to be a website too https://www.uniqueradio.biz/
May be of interest
ABC TV
Monday 16 December at 9:20 PM
On Dec 20, 1939 PM Robert Menzies announced Australia’s first international broadcast service. From radio, to TV, digital, mobile, social and streaming we have taken an Australian voice to the Asia Pacific and the world.
