Mount Evelyn DX Report

In the south eastern Australian mid-summer, in the early-mid afternoon, on say 7 mHz one can expect to hear - largely - nothing! The band is usually devoid of signals.  However, there CAN be some freak 'summertime' reception around lunchtime (0200-0400) via an Asian daytime propagation mode, or even more rarely from Southern Africa. Weird signals that usually come up suddenly, stay for a few minutes and then gone again. Much research on these phenomena has been undertaken for years by fellow Melbourne DXer Bob Padula. This year, however, odd propagation events have been spotty or non-existent here. Not much to report.  But now that I have just retired from a 36 year teaching career, I'm planning to be around during the daytime to have the radio going in the background, waiting for anything that might pop up on 6, 7 and 9 mHz. Two examples of unusual propagation have occurred in the last few days here at Mount Evelyn. Firstly, on January 25 between 0300 and...

From the logbook…… 5905  RUSSIA. R. Rossii - Moskva-Taldom. Fair level with ID at 2000 in Russian. 5915   ZAMBIA. ZNBC 1 - Lusaka. Good signal and in the clear with local announcements and lively African pops at 2010. 5964.75  MALAYSIA.  R. TV Malaysia - Kajang. Klasik FM programming at 2020 with Malay songs and announcements. Fair signal 6050  KUWAIT.  R. Kuwait.  Arabic  service 2040 with a strong signal, s/off 2101 which then uncovered Turkey's much weaker strength French service. 6055   RWANDA. R. Rwanda - Kigali. French service with great Afro pops at 2040, nice signal today. 6080   SAO TOME. VOA - Pinheira. Beating all of Iran's Spanish service, China's CNR 1 service and Kuwait's Arabic service at 2050 with lively West African dance music and energetic English announcements. Fair signal throughout, although it was starting to get a dose of the fades by 2100. 6110   ETHIOPIA.  R. Fana - Addis Aba...

4885   BRAZIL. R. Difusora Acreana, Rio Branco.  Beautiful signal into Mount Evelyn at 0950 with a religious program. No time pips or ID at 1000. But at 1002 there was a full ID for Radio Difusora Acreana, A Voz das Selvas, and frequencies quoted as 1400 kHz MW and 4885 kHz "banda tropical". Unusually strong reception for the mid-summer non-Latin season in Melbourne. There were a couple of other Brazilian carriers noted this night but nothing intelligible, and nothing from other Latin stations, except for R. Rebelde 5025 which was blasting out the strongest it has been for several months. Radio Difusora Acreana began broadcasting in August 1944 and is a pioneer broadcaster in Brazil, responsible for communicating news and important information to the region. The local community has relied on the station for 68 years now, serving the far western part of Brazil. It has proven particularly important because for many people deep in the Amazon region, Difusora Acreana is ...

BEFORE......... According to their Facebook page, R. Free Sarawak is undertaking a test transmission tonight, Jan 25 at 1200-1300 on 9900 kHz. This will be immediately after their regular broadcast at 1000-1200, currently on 15425 kHz. Apparently, current propagation conditions on the 19mb frequency are not working well in the target zone. It is hoped that the 31mb frequency may provide an answer. Rob AND LATER......... 9900  PALAU.  R. Free Sarawak - Medorn.  Carrier on at 1158, ID and frequency announcement with mention of test transmission in the Iban language. Massive signal at this time. Up until 1200, the frequency of 15425 kHz was reading S5-6 with fading, while 9900 kHz was topping 10dB over S9 at the start, increasing to 20dB over 9 by 1230; and with a steady signal throughout the transmission. Rob

11665   MALAYSIA.  R. TV Malaysia Sarawak - Kajang. Malay pops and Western jazz music with no announcements at 2145. Then a single long time pip at 2200 indicated the commencement of the Wai FM service in a local language (listed as Bidayuh) with a clear ID for Wai FM and then a news program. Good strong signal throughout, although NHK's s/on at 2200 for their Japanese service caused some interference.  Young Bidayuhs wearing traditional costumes A recent logging in a local Aussie DX newsletter reported the relay of Wai FM operating in Malay before 2200. This is not the case…..at least not today! The service before 2200 is from Sarawak FM in Malay, and the Wai FM service relays from 2200 in several local languages. As a point of interest, the listing of "Bidayuh" as a language in the WRTH is a rather all-embracing term! Indeed there are about nine distinct dialects used by the indigenous Bidayuh people who live in Sarawak and West Kalimantan. English and ...

Hi Everyone, I have been reading an excellent historical perspective on Ernesto Che Guevara called Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson. It's a mammoth reference work and a fascinating insight into no only Che but also Fidel Castro and the entire Latin guerrilla movement. A great read...but it's long!  Rebelde's Jungle Studio In the book, several mentions are made of the beginnings of Radio Rebelde, broadcasting in 1958 from the jungles of the Sierra Maestra mountains using an old amateur radio transmitter. Very interesting stuff. Of course these days, we hear the station as a polished music broadcaster playing wonderful Latin rhythms and Cuban Sons on 5025kHz. And, here in Australia, they can be heard strongly most times of the year. Che, the radio announcer in action Having had my curiosity piqued by references to Rebelde in the Guevara book, I did a little further Googling and can reco...

9510   SINGAPORE.  BBC - Kranji. Noted in Burmese at 0015-0030 and then Bengali at 0030-0100. Weak but pleasing to hear it in our late morning. 11520   USA. WEWN - Vandiver, AL. Virtually the only strong signal on the band at 0110 (summer midday reception my local time!). Fascinating to see this one hanging on so long! Still noted past 0200 and eventually faded out by 0215. 11540   EGYPT. R. Cairo - Abu Zaabal. At times, this service can be difficult to hear into Mount Evelyn, but at 2130 this morning it was quite well heard. However, it faded rapidly by 2145. Arabic programming, with long talks, possibly political in nature. 11605   TAIWAN.  RTI - Tanshui. Vietnamese service at 0018 with a music program, s/off at 0030. Fair to poor level and the band to Asia was just about closed at this time. 11620   INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. The Urdu service noted at 0200 with a fair signal. One of only two signals on the band at 1pm local t...

6885  ISRAEL.  Galei Tzahal - Lod. Israel's Army Radio was first noted here at 1930 with Hebrew songs. There was fair reception at this time but the signal began to weaken quickly by 2100 when an ID was noted and then a Hebrew news program.  It was gone by 2130.  The parallel 15850 kHz was briefly heard around 2100 but only at very weak strength.  There appears to be some debate over whether the transmitters are 5 or 10 kW. Anyone know for certain on this? I discovered an interesting article on this station at  http://english.israelphilately.org.il/ , to which I acknowledge the following information: On Sunday, 24 September, 1950 a trumpet blast erupted from the radio at precisely 6:30 p.m., followed by “HaTikva”, Israel’s national anthem. Thus began the very first broadcast of Galei Zahal, the IDF Broadcasting Service. The improvised studio was located inside a former school building in Ramat Gan. Army blankets were hung along the walls in...

D.P.R. Korea.  Looking for what FOX News calls "fair and balanced reporting"?? Well, look no further than Pyongyang's English service!!  So, who's a chubby little fella then?? Meanwhile the rest of the country struggles to survive OK, well maybe not….   Anyway, if you want a twisted view on the world (similar to that of FOX News…..Oh, I didn't say that!!) then the Voice of Korea has plenty of frequencies to choose from in their 1000-1057 English service.  Here's a summary of what's heard at this QTH: 6170 kHz - Fair signal, with only slight interference from CNR1 on 6175. 6185 kHZ - Fair reception but with interference from the China Huayi station on the same frequency. 9335 kHz - Good signal with no interference throughout the broadcast. 9850 kHz - Probably the best signal heard here, but with slight interference from CNR1 on 9845. Rob VK3BVW

It's been ages since I checked out Hanoi's international broadcasts. So, to kick off 2013 I wondered around the bands monitoring how their signal was making it into south eastern Australia at this time of the year. In fact, they are not doing too badly, with the services I monitored being heard here to varying degrees of success. However, this is not a complete list of all their English broadcasts. Transmitter sites are Hanoi and Son Tay in Vietnam, and Moosbrunn, Austria.  Here's a summary: 1000-1030 English Service - To Asia: 9839.88   (Son Tay). These transmissions currently seem to be a touch off frequency. It's quite a strong signal but cops a little splatter from the excessively booming Chinese CNR1 on 9830.  12020 (Son Tay). This is a great signal that can be heard very well in the clear. On the day I noted this transmission (January 9), there were a number of breaks in audio throughout the 30 minute broadcast, although the transmitter remained...

The low frequencies in the Australian summertime require quite a bit of patience. It's not always the best time of year to be listening due largely to high noise levels from thunderstorm activity in various parts of the country and throughout the Pacific. Also, signals fade-out earlier in our mornings and fade-in later in our evenings.  There's not too many stations listed on 75 meter band these days, and they are the ones that have been there for many years. Here's three stations noted yesterday from 5:18 am local time: 3965   FRANCE. R. Taiwan International - Issoudon.  English service at 1815 to Europe. Good reception on this low frequency for this time of year. 4050   KYRGYZSTAN.  R. Rossii - Bishkek. Fair level in Russian with talks at 1830. Not often reported, probably because it's a little out-of-band. 4319   DIEGO GARCIA.  AFRTS (AFN). A lovely signal at 1835 with a pop music program in upper sideband. Frequent IDs and pleasant li...

5020   SOLOMON ISLANDS.  SIBC - Honiara. S/on at 1856, firstly with bamboo pipe music, then native drums, and finally the national anthem at 1859. Full ID for "The Happy Isles", listing the MW and SW frequencies, some details on the morning's programs, and wishing us well for the start of the working week. Then at 1902, a religious message with bible quotes and a pop-styled hymn.  Fabulous signal strength at s/on. However, as daylight intensified across the track between the transmitter and my radio shack, the strength dropped considerably by 1925. I love listening to this station's full sign on procedure - it reminds me of the old days when a lot more stations used to do it. Listening to "The Happy Isles" is a step back in radio time. Rob VK3BVW

Who said shortwave is dead?  Here's a selection of notes from the Mount Evelyn logbook, with stations observed over the last couple of days. Represented here are five signals from Asia, Central and South America, Middle East and the Pacific! 4747.1   PERU.  R. Huanta 2000, fair level tonight with music and chat. Mid summer in Mount Evelyn is NOT the time to be trying to log LA stations on the 60mb. So when they do pop up, I grab them! 6003   KOREA.  Echo of Hope - Hwaseong at 1050 under heavy jamming from Kujang. 11600   LIBYA. R. Libya. Arabic announcements and songs at 1915 to past 1955. The audio appeared to be well down, although the signal was strong on the receiver's meter. 11840   CUBA.. R. Havana's Spanish service on this frequency is often difficult to hear at this time from this location. First noted at 0515 with a long political talk, fair to poor level. 13765   GUAM.  KTWR - Agana, Chinese serv...

15420   PALAU.  R. Free Sarawak - Medorn. Noted at 1104 in Iban language aimed at rural listeners in Sarawak. Lots of excited talk and discussion between the announcers and studio guests. A short musical interlude on traditional stringed instruments at 1120. Fair level. This recent article from the Borneo Post Online is interesting: Borneo Post And from their website (www.http://radiofreesarawak.org): Radio Free Sarawak is the independent radio station that brings you the news you want to hear, not what the BN government wants you to hear. No one controls us, except you, the listeners of Sarawak . So tune in and get the information, news, interviews, reports and comment that you could never hope to hear on any of the government-controlled radio stations in Malaysia. There will be plenty of our best music too, all presented to you in Iban and Malay by our presenting team, Peter John Jaban, Christina Suntai, Michael Ngau and Stanley Rent...

11510    MOLDOVA.   R. Denge Kurdistane - Grigoriopol. This station beams to Kurdish listeners in South West Asia (especially Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria). It's aim is to keep listeners informed of political and day-to-day problems for the Kurdish people in these countries, especially Turkey.  I missed the scheduled s/on at 0400 but at 0425 there was Kurdish program of traditional music  with hardly any announcements. Time pips at 0500 and a clear ID for "Denge Kurdistane" (the "Denge" sounds a bit like "Venge"!) then a news program. Later, at 0520 it was back into Kurdish music. Signal was fair to poor at this time with extensive fading.  I checked back again at 0845 and found a much stronger and more consistent signal, and with programming consisting of more Kurdish music.  A further check at 1030 found the signal to be very weak again (12.30pm local time at the transmitter site).