Shortwave Schedules

I rely heavily on shortwave schedules to help me figure out what I’m listening to on the radio. While we may not be as well off as our forebears in terms of international shortwave stations to listen to, we are certainly fortunate in our ability to get information about the broadcasts. I have a few tried and trusted sources, but there are more out there.

WRTH

I’ve purchased the World Radio TV Handbook off and on every few years for a very long time. The last paper copy was in 2021. It has program schedules, contact information for the stations, articles of interest and advertising. In 2023 they introduced their “Web App” making all the information, with updates schedules during the year, available online. My 2023 version kept updated with new schedule changes until the end of 2024, and I now have th3e 2025 version. It allows access by country and by and by frequency. Sometimes WRTH has listings others do not. It covers MW and FM, not just shortwave. It cost $21.41 US for 2025.

Users can select station from the map (click to expand)

SWBC Sked

SWBC Sked from Black Cat systems is a phone app, an iPhone in my case. It costs $2.99 in the App Store and comes with frequent automatic schedule updates. This is often my first place to look. The one significant shortcoming is that it does not show the transmitter site; NHK might be coming from Japan or from France. Still, it’s efficient and handy. It also has a rudimentary station logging feature.

EiBi

EiBi (eibispace.de) is one of the most respected schedule sources with downloadable files that are well maintained. This data feeds some of the other schedules I will mention. They have archived schedules back to the year 2000! The site also lists other schedule applications (like SWBC Sched).

The main download is text files, either sorted by time or frequency. There’s also a comma-separated variable (CSV) file suitable for opening in a spreadsheet or importing into a database.

EiBi Schedule by time sample (click to expand)

It’s currently having a problem with its security certificate, and you may have to override a warning from your browser.

Short-wave.info

Short-wave.info is another site that I use frequently. It has a convenient search feature to tell you what is currently on a particular frequency. I most often run it in a browser on my phone. A user can also search by station (for a limited number of stations), language and time. This site also shows the transmitter site.

I have gotten security warnings on my phone doing a search, but not on my PC, and I have seen the site overloaded on occasion.

Short-Wave.info sample page (click to expand)

High Frequency Coordination Conference

HFCC describes itself as:

HFCC is a non-governmental, non-profit association, and a sector member of the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva in the category of international and regional organisations. It manages, and co-ordinates global databases of international shortwave broadcasting in keeping with International Radio Regulations of the ITU.

If you ever wondered where those A24 and B24 names come from, this is the place. Their public data file page contains links to data files listing schedules, country codes and stations.

Shortwave DB

Shortwave DB provides lookup capability using a form like this:

As you can see, it offers data from EiBi, HFCC and AOKI (a list that provides additional information such as program names maintained by the Nagoya DXers Circle). It is geared towards sh0wing the user what they might be able to hear at their location.

Sample Output from EiBi (click to expand)

Sample Output from HFCC (click to expand)

Sample output from AOKI (click to expand)

Shortwave Live

Shortwave Live describes it as a new shortwave schedule site. It has an eye-pleasing layout and supports searches by Station, Language, Target Area, Band and time. It can alternately be searched by frequency.

Clandestine and Pirate

HF Underground

Check out the latest loggings, including clandestine (pirate) radio at HF Underground. Here is their pirate station wiki page.

🤖HF Underground is a community-driven website dedicated to documenting and discussing radio transmissions across various bands, including shortwave, mediumwave, and longwave. It is particularly well-known for its focus on pirate radio stations, spy number stations, and other unconventional broadcasts. The site features a message board where enthusiasts share reception reports, loggings, and insights about radio signals from around the world. HF Underground also provides resources like guides for new listeners and tools for identifying signals, making it a valuable hub for radio hobbyists and DXers.

Pryom.org

Also explore priyom.org that describes itself as:

an international organization intending to research and bring to light the mysterious reality of intelligence, military and diplomatic communication via shortwave radio: number stations.

Propagation

Other sites of interest

Do you have a radio locator/schedule site you think belongs on this page? Leave a comment.