WWVH (Kekaha, Hawaii), Italcable (Massarosa, Italy) and BPM (Lintong, China) on 10 MHz - three signals at once!

WWVH transmitting facility at Kauai, Kekaha, Hawaii taken circa 1998.

(photo credit to National Institute of Standards and Technology / NIST)

WWVH in Kauai, Kekaha, Hawaii (USA) was logged on 6 June 2024, operating on the short-wave frequency of 10 MHz. At the same time, two other time signal stations; Italcable (JN53DV, Massarosa, Italy) and BPM (Shanqui, Lintong, China) station was also received on the same frequency and it can be heard under the strong WWVH signal. BPM can be identified by time pips and top-of-the-minute 1000 Hz  tones that are similar to WWVH but with no time announcements while Italcable can be identified by the deployment of standard RAI time signal at the end of the minute, as generated by INRiM (Instituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, National Institute of Metrology Research) and broadcast intermittently on Italian radio and television stations. The minute is announced with six 1000 Hz pips, 0.1 seconds each, at the beginning of seconds 54 through 58, a pause, and then a seventh pip beginning on the minute. Immediately before the pips, during seconds 52 and 53 of each minute, the CET/CEST time of the following minute is transmitted in binary-coded decimal form.

Reception on 10 MHz was (SINPO) 54444 - the signal, which consists of time pips, a series of 500/600Hz test tones, time announcements by a female announcer followed by 1000 Hz beep at the top of the minute, were heard clearly with some static/fading and QRM interference from another adjacent time signal (RWM, Moscow, Russia) on 9996 kHz apart from co-channel interference by Italcable and BPM on the same frequency,  from 1645-1652 UTC and 1656-1702 UTC. BPM ID (CW/vocal) was heard at 1659 UTC followed by WWVH ID at 1659 UTC and ItalCable ID (CW/vocal at 1700hrs). A440 tone was heard on WWVH at 1701 UTC.

Two audio files from this transmission can be observed here and here. 

Reception report was emailed on WWVH on the same day. Reception report will be emailed to Italcable and BPM soon.

Receiver site: Gemas, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia via Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand online KiwiSDR receiver.

Antenna:  20 - 10 Hexbeam. Beaming North West.

Email: 

wwvh@boulder.nist.gov

wwvh@nist.gov

After 9 years plus of hiatus, I am finally back!

Now that I am now able to properly update the blog by creating a separate blog post, this will allow me to regularly update the blog without accidentally delete old information such as past radio reception logs in a single blog post.

Anyways, please stay tuned for more updates in this blog as I received amateur radio signals (FT8 digital modes) from the Far East on 10 meters (28074 kHz) this morning via F2 propagation. Video recordings as well as screenshots of the decoded FT8 signal and the station(s) information using the FT8CN app will be uploaded to this blog ASAP.

To all radio DXers - I wish you all a very GOOD DX! 

73's from Malaysia,

~ Fred

(Founder and Admin of SC-FRC)

WELCOME TO SHORTWAVE CENTRAL @ FRED'S RADIO CENTRAL - SC-FRC

Welcome to Shortwave Central @ Fred's Radio Central (SC-FRC)

 Where my personal radio recordings and radio reception logs take place. Browse around and discover my collection of radio recordings, both broadcast and amateur/utility, from local and international stations on the air!

You may also discover my collection of radio reception QSL cards, both old and new.

Read an article about the history of radio and the hobby of radio DXing. 

Happy SW/MW/LW/FM Listening!

 Two Tecsun PL-660 world band radio receivers

My radio receiver setup: 

Radio: TECSUN PL-600 

Antenna for MW DXing: TECSUN AN-200

Antenna for SW DXing: Internal ferrite rod antenna or external Tecsun wire antenna.

History of Shortwave Radio

Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave frequencies, generally 1.6–30 MHz, just above the medium wave band.

Shortwave radio is used for long distance communication by means of skywave or skip propagation, in which the radio waves are reflected or refracted back to Earth from the ionosphere, allowing communication around the curve of the Earth. Shortwave radio is used for broadcasting of voice and music, and long-distance communication to ships and aircraft, or to remote areas out of reach of wired communication or other radio services. Additionally, it is used for two-way international communication by amateur radio enthusiasts for hobby, educational and emergency purposes.

(Source: wikipedia.com)

                                                       

                                               Example of Shortwave Broadcast Radio Stations

There are many shortwave broadcast stations available for you to listen to. Similar to their FM radio counterparts, SW broadcast stations are operated by public and private radio broadcasters, which target audiences either locally or globally. 

Among the examples are:

BBC World Service - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio

Voice of America - www.voanews.com

China Radio International - http://english.cri.cn

Voice of Turkey - https://www.trtworld.com/

NHK World Radio - https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/radio/

KBS World -https://world.kbs.co.kr/service/index.htm?lang=e

Additionally you may refer to swling.com, wrth.com or short-wave.info for more info on SW broadcast radio stations which includes the full list of existing SW broadcast stations as well as their broadcast schedules and programming, updated from time to time by fellow shortwave radio enthusiasts around the world.

                                                    Utility Stations Around The World 

About a quarter of the shortwave band around the world are occupied by utility stations (atomic clocks, volmets, ATC, etc.)

Examples of the utility stations or "ute" stations are time signal stations. One of the popular time signal stations are WWV Fort Collins, Colorado and WWVH Kekaha, Hawaii which is operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the United States. These two stations are capable to tell the time accurately with an accuracy of "1 part in 10 13"

More information about the NIST time signal stations can be retrieved at http://tf.nist.gov/stations/tour.html or http://nist.gov 

Other examples of time signal stations which are transmitted on shortwave are CHU from Canada, RWM from Russia, BPM from China, Italcable from Italy and Observatorio Nacional (ON) from Brazil.

The rest of the major time signal stations like JJY and DCF-77 are only available on the very low frequency (VLF) band, which is transmitted as digital time code for clock synchronization and not readily accessible to the general public without using a radio receiver with an option to tune down to the VLF bands.

                                          Amateur Radios Stations Around the World

About half of the shortwave band are occupied by amateur radio stations. Amateur radio stations are operated by licensed individuals called amateur radio operators (or ham radio operators) in which they conduct two-way communications on the shortwave radio band using various types of modulations such as SSB, CW, digital (FSK, TTY, etc.) and FM.

 
                                         Clandestine/Number Stations Around the World

Clandestine stations often uses the shortwave radio spectrum for clandestine one way or two-way communications. Clandestine stations can also refer to pirate broadcast radio stations on the shortwave and mediumwave bands. In other ways, the former specialization of clandestine stations are called number stations. They use a special decoding device (a one time pad) to encrypt their secret messages. These stations are called number stations because the station broadcasts nothing but lines of secret ciphers can be only decoded by recipients with possession of a decoder. Governmental intelligence agencies are thought to have utilized number stations to pass down confidential information to informants or spies around the world.

Contrary to popular belief, UVB-76 - otherwise known as The Buzzer is generally classified as a military station from Naro Fominsk, Russia and not a clandestine nor a number station. More information about clandestine stations as well as UVB 76 can be retrieved at http://priyom.org.

So how can I get started?

With the advent of modern technology and the rapid advancement of the Internet in the 21st centurt, you are no longer required to aquire/purchase a shortwave radio receiver to start shortwave radio DXing. You can now listen to shortwave radio signals (as well as LW, MW and even FM radio) on the Internet via online remote radio receivers hosted on websites such as kiwisdr.com and GlobalTuners.com

Most of the receivers online are equipped with state-of-the-art software defined radio (SDR) technology. That means your reception of radio signals will be miles better than the physical radios you may own. However propagation plays a vital key in ensuring good radio DX. Hence, using sophisticated SDRs alone will not guarantee you good DX.

Anyhow, if you still prefer on acquiring a physical radio receiver, then sw-ling.com and short-wave.info can assist you in acquiring your dream radio receiver at the best price. I am not a radio professional, but my advice is that as long as you aquire a radio that is of decent quality and performance (even though it's cheap) and you are satisfied with it, then enjoy your radio DXing hobby with whatever preferred receiver you own. 

To those who are newbies to shortwave radio (and radio DXing as a whole), I wish you all the best in radio DXing! To returning and current radio DXers, keep on DXing as to keep our hobby alive! 

73 and 88's from Malaysia - truly Asia! 

M. Fred

Founder and Admin of Shortwave Central @ Fred's Radio Central (SC-FRC)

Disclaimer: The information in this section of my blog is accurate at the time of posting, so in case of inaccuracy or misinformation I will try my best to update it from time to time.