Mount Evelyn DX Report

  ACROSS THE DARKNESS Understanding the propagation, antennas, and reception of the BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast Update (6 July 2026): This article has been revised to improve the technical description of the transmitting antennas following additional research. Another BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast has come and gone. There is always great interest in the 30-minute show among members of the British Antarctic Survey at Rothera, Halley, King Edward Point, and Bird Island Research Stations. There is also a substantial audience beyond these bases, as shortwave enthusiasts worldwide tune in to the frequencies traditionally announced each year just a few days before the event. Indeed, the signals are clearly heard by many listeners. But this doesn’t stop others from grumbling because a good signal didn’t reach their listening post. So, what should one do in a situation like this? Why, take to social media, of course, and complain bitterly! 😉 When I read these negative comments a...

  The Top Ten Kiwi SDRs from Around the Globe This is my personal “top ten” list of Kiwi remote SDRs. These receivers let you listen to shortwave stations across most of the world. My favourites are in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. The video below has all the details! Or, if you prefer, here is the YouTube link! https://youtu.be/-6UddeFBohU Here's the list mentioned in the video for when you are searching for receivers on the Kiwi SDR website or the Kiwi Receiver Map: SDR, Oita, Southern Japan Waterfall Bay, Hong Kong LA6LU Cha-am, Thailand Finnish DX Association, Parainen, Finland Flores Island, Azores TWR Cyprus 1 W3HFU, Westminster, MDF, USA VE6JY, Lamont, Alberta, Canada VK5ARG, Tarlee, South Australia ZL2KS, Marlborough, Amateur Radio Club, New Zealand I hope you find this list of receivers useful for your listening and DXing hobby. Let me know your thoughts and YOUR top ten receivers in the comments section. 73 and wishing you good DX, Rob Wagner VK3BVW ...

  DX QUICK TIPS June 17, 2026 Once again, propagation conditions have been good over the past two weeks. Here are a few stations monitored across the shortwave spectrum.  All logs below were noted on my own receivers and antennas - NOT via Internet streaming (for God's sake!!). Where signals were very weak, several broadcasts were checked and confirmed against a Kiwi remote SDR at a more favourable location; those logs have been noted accordingly. Equipment:  SDRPlay RSPduo, Yaesu FTDX3000 transceiver, Kenwood R5000 receiver, Yaesu FRG 100 receiver, Kenwood TS2000 transceiver. Antennas:  80m long horizontal sky loop antenna, a delta loop antenna for 10 MHz, a double bazooka antenna for 14 MHz and a 5/8λ centre-fed vertical for 21 MHz and above. Yankee Doodle Makes a Return! Over the past few days, the Voice of America has returned with test transmissions from Kuwait, Thailand and the Philippines. These tests were registered with the HFCC recently. Some broadcasts wer...

  OPENING THE LOGBOOK - JUNE 1972 Each month, I open the old records to see what I (and others) heard decades ago.  It has been fun looking back at old issues of the Australian DX News (ADXN - the newsletter of the Australian Radio DX Club), bringing back lots of memories. Here are some memories from June  1972—54 years ago!  All frequencies in kHz; all times are UTC (or GMT, as we used to say in those days!). BBC MONITORING SERVICE BBC Monitoring Service: A Layman Looks at Caversham Park is a   publication written and published in May 1972 by DXer and author Alan Thompson.  Long-time DXers will remember that the BBC-MS came into the limelight in the early 1970s, with their Frequency Schedules and Reception Notes being available to DXers worldwide on a subscription basis.  Thompson, who was Editor of "Bandspread", the bulletin of the British Association of DXers, visited the facilities and operations of the Caversham Park monitoring service. Written f...

  VOACAP: Understanding and Using the Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program by Rob Wagner VK3BVW My thanks to Jari Perkiömäki, OH6BG, for his assistance in preparing this article. It first appeared in the April 2026 issue of my World of Shortwave Listening column for The Spectrum Monitor magazine. Further details on this excellent publication are available at www.thespectrummonitor.com When you have spent time on the HF bands chasing DX or tuning across the shortwave spectrum, you will know that propagation can feel unpredictable. Signals that are strong one day may vanish the next, and paths that seem impossible can suddenly open without warning.  VOACAP, the Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program, helps make sense of this constantly shifting landscape. Originally developed by engineers at the Voice of America, VOACAP began as a professional planning tool for international broadcasting and has since become one of the most widely used propagation prediction systems am...