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What to listen to · Aviation

Shannon VOLMET on 8957 kHz: the daytime frequency

The same Irish airport weather broadcast as on 5505 kHz, on the frequency that carries best in daylight. Which of the two to pick depends on the hour and on how far the receiver is from Ireland.

Frequency8957 kHz
ModeUSB

What you hear

The same automated voice and the same list of airports as on 5505 kHz: METAR reports for Ireland, Britain and western Europe, read in a loop and refreshed every half hour. What the broadcast is and who runs it is explained in the main article.

Who transmits and why

The Irish Aviation Authority transmits Shannon VOLMET on four frequencies at once so that a crew can always find one that suits its distance and the time of day. 8957 kHz is listed as continuous, like 5505; it differs in how it travels, not in what it says.

When and where to listen

8957 kHz is the daytime frequency. From mid-morning to late afternoon it reaches much further than 5505 kHz, which daylight absorbs in the lower ionosphere so that it is heard mainly within a few hundred kilometres of Ireland. From Germany, Poland or Scandinavia the 8 MHz signal is usually the clearer one between about 08:00 and 18:00 UTC, in summer later. After dark the band closes, the signal thins out and 5505 takes over. Upper sideband, as for all aeronautical HF voice.

In ShackDeck

Station catalogue → Aviation → Shannon VOLMET (day). The program finds a public receiver that has 8957 kHz, tunes it in USB and plays it; nothing of your own is needed. If the voice is faint, try the 5505 kHz row, and in the evening go back there anyway.

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