Mount Evelyn DX Report

  RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #24 Racal RA-1771 by Craig Seager VK2HBT   This review first appeared in the Australian DX News in May 2009. Once again, I extend my thanks to Craig Seager for contributing this retro review to MEDXR and helping to keep the memories of radio alive! All images in this article can be clicked on for an enlarged view and closer inspection. For this outing, we seek to correct an imbalance by revisiting an iconic British brand name in radio terms that deserves more emphasis within this series. Hmmm… what do we have on the shelf that might help us out in this regard?  Ah, yes, here’s something!  UK-based Racal Limited is synonymous with quality electronic equipment, and the company (founded in 1950 by RA ymond Brown and George CAL der Cunningham) was responsible for some legendary communications receivers, mostly supplied under government contracts.  The RA-17 was one such: based on the Wadley Loop principle and built like a tank. Thousands of t...

  SHORTWAVE UNDER STRAIN: Energy Crisis and its Broadcast Impact The longer this global energy crisis persists, the more havoc it is likely to wreak across many developing countries in Africa, Asia. and Latin America. In energy-constrained economies, power shortages can disproportionately affect lower-income populations. We are likely to see intermittent broadcasting schedules from countries operating small shortwave services. For example, Radio Mali’s shortwave signals on 5995 kHz and 9635 kHz have lately been anything but consistent. For DXers, this behaviour naturally raises questions, but the answer appears to lie well beyond the transmitter site, in the broader energy problems and civil unrest in Bamako. Long-time Californian DXer Ron Howard highlighted an April 20 travel advisory from the Government of Canada noting ongoing fuel shortages and strained infrastructure across Mali. In a system where electricity generation relies heavily on diesel, that detail is particularly tel...

  NEW FREQUENCIES AND DX TIPS April 24, 2026 NOTE: The MEDXR blog has a new look. There are still a few formatting problems (rendering issues) on some of the 860 + posts, so bear with me. I'll get there eventually! 😊 Since the start of the A26 transmission season, I have been assisting my wife, who has been in the hospital for two weeks and is in ongoing recovery here at home.  Along  with my other regular responsibilities, it has been a busy time! So, it is only in the past ten days that I have got around to turning on the radios to check out the shortwave bands. Below are mainly new frequencies (NFs) for A26, plus a few other passing observations. For each new frequency, I have tried to identify the frequency used in the B25 season. But this can be hard because schedules can be complex or drastically changed by the broadcaster, making direct comparisons difficult. The list is in frequency order. The countries listed are where the transmitter sites are located. Many bro...