shortwave scanning, 18 sep 2015

2057- 2159 UTC (1:57-2:59 PM local time PDT / UTC-7), San Francisco, CA, USA.

Frequencies in kHz. I used my Eton E5 receiver, with battery power, indoors, and a ceiling-mounted random wire antenna. Broadcasting schedules and frequencies from http://short-wave.info . As this happened during daytime, I focused on frequencies in the range 9400-18000 kHz (covering the 31m, 25m, 22m, 19m, and 16m broadcast bands).

Receptions

9475: WTWW (Lebanon, TN, USA)
10000: WWV (Fort Collins, CO, USA) -- faint
12105: WTWW (Lebanon, TN, USA) -- faint, French
13845: WWCR (Nashville, TN, USA)
15000: WWV (Fort Collins, CO, USA)
15190: RMI Radio Africa (Okeechobee, FL, USA)
15580: Voice of America (Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana) -- weak, fading
15610: WEWN/EWTN (Vandiver, AL, USA)
17540: NHK World Radio Japan (Cypress Creek, SC, USA) -- strong, Portuguese
17730: Radio Havana Cuba (Bauta, Cuba) -- strong, Spanish
17840: Radio Australia (Shepparton, VIC, Australia) -- strong and clear

NCDXF / IARU beacons 

This monitoring took place 2210-2250 UTC. The W6WX beacon is about 45 miles from me and remains my only reception of the 18 beacons in this group. 4U1UN on 18110 might've made an appearance but that's unconfirmed for now.

14100: W6WX + all four dashes (Los Gatos, CA, USA)
18110: W6WX + all four dashes (Los Gatos, CA, USA)
21150: W6WX + all four dashes (Los Gatos, CA, USA)
24930: W6WX + all four dashes (Los Gatos, CA, USA)
28200: W6WX + all four dashes (Los Gatos, CA, USA)

NCDXF/IARU Beacon transmission schedule

Comments

Only a few of the broadcasts were really listenable at an enjoyable level; mostly I sought to identify the broadcasting language and the signal quality. Radio Australia reached me with a transmission distance of 7790 mi / 12540 km. The best catch was Voice of America on 15580 kHz from Botswana, with a transmission distance of 10,356 mi / 16,666 km. I'm often able to pick up WWVH in Hawaii, but was unable during this session.

I was glad to take advantage of my ceiling-mounted random wire antenna, which has been dormant in the past few years. It's 16 feet long, reel style from one of my radio purchases, and runs diagonally across my living room ceiling.