On May 21, 8:02 pm, (Jacob Shank) wrote:
I have been listening to the Voice of Russia, but lately it seems it's
being jammed. There's an annoying chirp sound right on top of the
frequency. Is it the U.S. jamming them? Or is it just propagation? The
chirping sound makes it hard to listen to them. Thanks. Jacob

Dear Mr. Shank,

No one is intentionally jamming the Voice of Russia World Service, at
least in the United States, and certainly at your location. Have you
been listening to shortwave for a long time? Your comments, regarding
Coordinated Universal Time and the Meter Band/Frequency readout on
your radio indicate to me that you may be new to the hobby.

The Voice of Russia World Service transmits to the United States
starting at 0100 UTC (which corresponds to 9:00 PM EDT and 7:00 PM
MDT). Their broadcasts continue until 0500 UTC and they use a few
frequencies in the 31-meter band and the 22-meter band. Please note
that there are no world band transmissions at all between 14900 kHz
(14.9 MHz or mc/s) and 14995 kHz and, of course, none by the Voice of
Russia. WWV (Time Signal) broadcasts on 15000 kHz and is, of course,
instantly recognizable.

VOR's signal quality is variable. Some nights the transmissions are of
"local" quality but other nights they are weak, often with extreme
fades. Some frequencies come in better than others. But, at least at
my location in southern New Jersey, the signals are always "in the
clear."

If, in fact, you are actually hearing something around 14.9 MHz, it
may be some sort of "image," in which case you may be hearing this
image at or near a utility transmission. This might explain the
"chirping" sound you note.

Have you had your radio for a long time? Was it purchased new at the
time? It is possible that the radio, especially if bought "used," may
be in need of some service.

Check http://www.primetimeshortwave.com and http://www.wrth.com
for the latest English-language broadcast schedules. VOR's schedules
can be found he http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&w=129&p= .

With all due respect, if you are interested in the shortwave hobby
(for news, political commentary, entertainment, or whatever), I
STRONGLY suggest that you purchase a few books on the subject.
PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO, and the WORLD RADIO-TV HANDBOOK (WRTH)
are two yearly publications which will give you a very good overview
and extremely useful information regarding listening to world band
transmissions. There are a number of other books on the varying
aspects of the subject as well, many good ones of which are available
at Universal Radio http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/book1.html
.

I like listening to the Voice of Russia too. Their "Jazz Show,"
Fridays at 0230 (Thursday evenings at 10:30 PM EDT - 8:30 PM MDT) is a
particular favorite of mine, as are their various classical music
shows. "Moscow Mailbag" is just about everyone's favorite!

I hope the above was of some use to you.

Best,

Joe