Mount Evelyn DX Report

6160   CANADA.  CKZU - Vancouver.  Big victory here for me!! Peeping up through the noise and mud was this one at 1025 with a talk program. Announcements and ID at 1030 as "That was a program from Deutsche Welle, and now we have another program from Deutsche Welle. I'm…… (announcer's name not caught) and this is CBC Radio 1". Monitored till 1045 when the signal became even weaker and collapsed back  into the mud again. Best strength was around 1036 to 1042.  I did constant checking with the remote receiver in Nth Western Canada to confirm what I was hearing (complete with the usual 7 second delay), just to make doubly sure I was correct! Made it easier to confirm when I compared my reception with the remote by listening for the Canadian announcer, and the variety of accents (German, British, etc) from the DW program, plus short bits of music that came though quite well.  Locally, it was tough listening at times with CNR 6 on 6165 and CNR 2 on 6155, b...

Another busy week on the SW bands with lots of good DX noted. And with the big yellow ball in the sky acting up a fair bit recently, it's amazing we are able to hear anything! Here's a summary of the week's listening activities. I hope you find these of some interest! 3200   SWAZILAND.  TWR - Manzini.  Usual English religious programming with hymns at 1925. Some days it's stronger than others, pretty weak this morning. May 22. 3255     SOUTH AFRICA.  BBC - Meyerton.  English ID at 1930, then into a discussion program. Fair to poor level on May 22. 3945   VANUATU.  R. Vanuatu - Port Vila. Back on air after an absence of some time. Noted at 1900 in the local Bislama language with a news program. The carrier was strong but the audio level was down a long way. It seems this freq is the only one in operation on SW - nothing heard on 7260 so far. May 22. 4810   PERU.  R. Logos - Tarapoto. No ID heard but presumed the one ...

Although geomagnetic storms played havoc with HF radio reception for much of the week, there was a brief respite over the last couple of days with conditions picking up significantly. As a result, some nice DX was monitored, including Voz Missionaria, Radio Republica, Alcaravan Radio, RTV Mali, Wantok Radio Light, and the 1kW CFRX (which I haven't heard for many years!!). I hope there's something here of interest for you, too. 5910   COLOMBIA.  Alcaravan Radio - Puerto Lleras. Fair signal at 0745 with earnest talks. Time pips at 0800, ID and into religious programming. Ballad at 0810. May 15. 5939.95   BRAZIL.  Voz Missionaria - Camboriu. First noted 0650 with a long religious talk that seemed to ignore the top of the hour. Then a Portuguese religio/pop ballad at 0709. Then an ID while a second ballad was played. Another ID at 0728. Poor signal on May 17. Also noted // 9665 but that channel was barely audible at that time. 5965   COSTA RICA....

Radio Free Sarawak is taking a rest break after last week's Malaysian elections. Transmissions were suspended from May 7, until further notice. Radio Free Malaysia is also reported to have closed down. I expect to see both these stations operating again in the future.  The public face of RFS is Clare Rewcastle Brown. In a recent email, she said: “We are just taking a pre-planned rest like we did after the (2011) Sarawak election. We are such a small team and have worked non-stop for a year to provide people with information and support up to the election and now we are taking a month to re-charge our batteries.” She went on to say that the team would "re-group soon". An interesting article in The Star Online news outlet tells the story, and mentions RFS receiving the Free Media Pioneer Award during World Press Freedom Day on May 3. RFS began broadcasting in November 2010. Brown said: "We were not expecting the award, which was a huge boost, but my staff...

Here's a long list of stations monitored over the past week or so. A few Africans, a few Latins, a few Asians, and some new frequencies noted as stations make changes to their A13 transmission season. I hope there's something here for you! 3320   SOUTH AFRICA.  R. Sonder Grense - Meyerton. Noted weakly at 1740 with Afrikaans anncts and music. Not regularly heard here unfortunately. May 6. 3950   CHINA.  PBS - Xinjiang. Many Mandarin anncts interspersed with short bursts of music at 1748, fair until s/off 1759, May 6. 3985   SOUTH KOREA.  Echo of Hope - Gyeonggi-do. Over the top of the usual roar of jamming at 1751, May 6. 4010   KYRGYSTAN.  Kyrgyz Radio 1 - Bishkek. Ballads and talk, language was difficult to identify - either Kyrgyz or Russian. Signal was weak for the most part at 1730. // 4795 was even weaker on May 11. 4055.1   GUATEMALA. R. Verdad - San Esteban. Just caught the end of an English annct at 1120 giving the ...

AN AIR WAR WITH CUBA – The United States Radio Campaign Against Castro by Daniel C. Walsh McFarland & Company Inc., North Carolina, 2012 303 Pages, softcover Cuba and it’s rebellious ‘heroes’  (Fidel Castro, Ché Guevara, etc) have always held a fascination for me. That nation’s modern history of US domination up until late 1958-early ’59 when Castro’s revolution swept across the country, and the period directly following the successful rebel takeover makes intriguing reading. In addition, the range of responses by successive US governments is also quite enlightening! An Air War With Cuba looks at how the United States and Cuba have dealt with both their own broadcasting agendas and the targeting of their respective audiences across the strait. In addition, there are some wonderful insights into the machinations of the US political system and the many interest groups that played important roles in shaping the US response to the Cuban ‘threat’. Inde...