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Shanwick Radio on 8906 kHz: the daytime frequency
The daytime frequency of the Shanwick oceanic station: the same position reports and SELCAL checks from aircraft over the North Atlantic, on the band that works while the sun is up over the ocean.
What you hear
The same traffic as on 5598 kHz: crews calling Shanwick with position reports, the operator in Ireland reading them back, SELCAL chimes, and long silences in between. What Shanwick is and how the exchange goes is in the main article.
Who transmits and why
Oceanic HF stations keep several frequencies in each family so that a crew can always reach the ground whatever the hour and the distance. 8906 kHz is in the same family as 5598 and 3016 kHz; the operators are the same, the airspace is the same, only the propagation differs.
When and where to listen
8906 kHz comes alive in daylight. From about mid-morning UTC the westbound stream leaving Europe starts reporting on it, and through the afternoon it is the busiest Shanwick frequency; aircraft far out over the ocean are heard across western and central Europe, and the ground station is loudest from Ireland and Britain. After European sunset the band fades and the traffic moves down to 5598 kHz. Expect quiet stretches: an aircraft reports once every ten degrees of longitude, and many report by datalink only. Upper sideband.
In ShackDeck
Station catalogue → Aviation → Shanwick ATC 8906. The program finds a public receiver with 8906 kHz, tunes it in USB and plays it, with no receiver or account of your own. In the evening and at night use the 5598 kHz row instead.