Mount Evelyn DX Report

I have a new antenna in the air this week so tests have been underway on all SW bands. It's a Double Bazooka Antenna (also known in some circles as a coaxial dipole). I'm preparing a separate post on this which will appear in a few days time. However, quite a few of the frequencies listed below were noted on both the new antenna and the reference Par End-Fed SWL line. HIGH FREQUENCY SURPRISES Last week, I tuned around the 13, 16 and 19 metre bands in the morning - 7 to 8:30am. Firstly, these bands aren't often open for reliable communication at that time. Secondly, there aren't many stations scheduled to operate at that time anyway! However, it was pleasing to hear 21630 - WHRI and 15344.67 Argentina coming through on this occasion. Here's a summary of all that was noted in this time period: 15340   CUBA.  R. Havana, Arabic service 2055. Into Spanish at 2100. 15344.67   ARGENTINA.  R. Nacional Argentina - General Pacheco. ...

4699.94   BOLIVIA.   R. San Miguel - Riberalta.  Very weak at 1016 with a Latin ballad and anncts by a man with a deeply resonant voice. Faded by 1045. First time heard this year, should improve as we approach winter. 4774.97   PERU.  R. Tarma - Tarma, Junin. First noted at 1023 when mixed with another Latin on almost the same frequency, presumably the Brazilian Congonhas. Both were of equally poor strength, but as daylight made its way across Brazil first, that one faded first, leaving Tarma in the clear at 1105. The signal improved and we heard Peruvian pops with short rapid canned IDs. Some pesky CODAR made listening tedious by 1120. 4840   USA.  WWCR - Nashville.  F/in 0610 with the usual English religious programming. First station on the 60mb this afternoon and easily heard because ABC Alice Springs 4835 doesn't switch on till 0830. The only other station on the band around this time is R. Rebelde, Havana 5025 which faded in at ...

Hi Shortwave Fans! Here's something you should check. It's a wonderful YouTube video of one man's visit to Northern Mali, arriving at the famous music festival of Timbuktu. Along the way he leaves the camera running on some fascinating sights and sounds of Mali. There are also some fleeting glimpses of the Bamako transmitters and a local village FM station (Radio Jamana) where the audio mode of choice is still the cassette!  The soundtrack for the film comes from live performances and actual audio received from local radio stations heard during the tour. This film is a wonderful look into the daily lives of our West African brothers and sisters.  It also speaks volumes for how important music is viewed by the local people. The recent rebel Islamist insurgence into that part of the country was potentially a disaster for the local communities because the invaders imposed bans on the playing and listening of music. Several weeks ago, when the Malian and French armed fo...

Hi Everyone! This past week I've focussed my listening on the 90 and 75 metre bands, with a little additional listening on the higher frequencies. I know quite a few DXers outside Australia are trying for the low powered Radio Symban in Sydney. It appears they are experiencing a few technical difficulties, which may make it even more challenging. Also, last night NBC Bougainville went on well past their normal s/off time. And earlier in the week, I was delighted to hear the Taiwan Fisheries Broadcasting Station on 11550 kHz and Myanmar on 7345 kHz.  Read on: The International HQ of Radio Symban!! 2368.5   AUSTRALIA.  R. Symban - Marrickville.  Currently appears to have transmitter or audio problems. Tuned in just after 1300 to find the signal strength well down and distorted. Then at 1318, the signal suddenly came up to its usual full strength, but the audio was still not clean. A recent email from the station owner several months ago indicated they wer...

11600   R. Free Sarawak - location unconfirmed but is reported to be Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.  S/on 1100 with gentle string music and IDs in Iban language with a good signal. Interestingly, the music was allowed to play in the background for some 10 minutes into the program while the announcers chatted away. Then a pop song. Also interesting to see that, unlike many other "political" stations, this broadcaster does not just fill the transmission with serious talk - music is a feature of some parts of the broadcast and obviously appreciated by the local listeners. Phone-in talkback interviews also feature heavily in the programming. Here in south eastern Australia, 11600 is heard quite well is not as strong as when the station was operating on 15425 from Palau over a month ago. But, I suspect Mount Evelyn is not the real target zone for this station!!  ;-)  The signal is probably rocketing into Sarawak and Malaysia! Anyway, here is an audio clip I recorded of...

A big list of stations got into the logbook this past week including some Latins on 60mb, early afternoon 31mb signals, some later afternoon 41mb broadcasters and lots more heard in the mid afternoon on the 13mb. The TS2000 transceiver was working overtime this week!!  :-) Read on....... 60 Metre Band: 4774.96   PERU.   R. Tarma - Junin. Weak at 1015 with songs and excited announcements.   Some longer anncts and talk at 1018. Should improve as we draw closer to the winter DX season. 4785   BRAZIL.  R. Caiari - Porto Velho. Religious program at 0955. Then a series of canned announcements and adverts from 1003, some pop songs from 1007. Weak signal, rising and falling in strength at times. 4815   BRAZIL.  R. Difusora, Londrina. Long preaching session in religious programming at 0940. Very weak and never really improved over 20 minutes of concentrated listening. Should improve during the coming winter months. 49 Metre Band: 593...

13 metres has always been a band that I've watched and found quite interesting during periods when the sunspot count is up in higher parts of each cycle.  Because of this band's rather  unpredictable propagation characteristics, you just never know when signals might poke through the noise. Currently here in eastern Australia, the band is open during most days but can close up by 1100 in the evenings, often not re-opening until 2300 next morning. Many of the "middle-of-the-night" stations scheduled for operation between 1100 and 2300 just can't be heard in my part of the world. Yet, when conditions are right (which is not very often these days), signals can still be noted well into the late evenings/early mornings. In other words, it is still worth checking this end of the shortwave spectrum for the occasional openings when you least expect it. Another characteristic of this frequency range is that propagation can often be quite region specific. Some nigh...