Mount Evelyn DX Report

Latin stations are still making an appearance this winter, although many of them are well down in strength compared to "the good old days". Pity. I was hoping for something better. Still, we have our shortest day today, so maybe as we pull out of winter some stronger signals will appear. Nice to hear Bolivia on 3310 kHz - Not many South American stations listed on the 90mb any more.  It was also interesting to see a few signals on the 19 and 16 meter bands just past sunrise yesterday. In the depths of winter, those bands are usually closed till past 9am, but today they were open as early as 7am. 3310   BOLIVIA.  R. Mosoj Chaski - Cochabamba. Delighted to hear this one - the last time was in 2003! First noted a fair to poor signal at 1045 with mainly talks in Quechua by a female anncer, but with the occasional ID in Spanish. Sometimes a short burst of music was played. Faded by 1120 (7:20am Cochabamba time) on June 16. 3955   KOREA REP.  KBS - Wo...

The annual BBC Winter Solstice Broadcast to the British Antarctic Survey team is occurring tomorrow, June 21 at 2130 to 2200 UTC . The following frequencies will be operating: 5965 kHz via the Dhabayya txer, beaming 203 degrees. 7350 kHz via the Ascension Is txer, beaming 207 degrees. 9890 kHz via the Woofferton txer, beaming 182 degrees. The two previously advertised frequencies of 5905 via Kranji and 9535 via Ascension appear to have been dropped. I do not know the reason for this late change. However, perhaps check all frequencies just in case. Thanks to Dan Ferguson for this update. Last week, all five frequencies were tested at 2130 to 2145 UTC in preparation for tomorrow's broadcast. Most were received quite well here as they appear in my logbook below: 5905   SINGAPORE.  BBC - Kranji (185 deg). Test transmission on June 14 at 2130-2145 for next week's winter solstice broadcast (June 21) to the British Antarctic Survey. Boom...

ONE OF MY MOST VALUED QSL CARDS Although I don't actively collect SWBC QSL cards these days, I still have fond memories of cards received many years ago. The collection consists of SWBC, MWBC, Utility and Amateur (Ham) QSLs. I have disposed of many of these in recent years (… shock… horror!!), believing that it's best not to hang onto things you can't take with you to the grave!! These cards, however, have gone to good homes with enthusiasts and collectors in other parts of the world. But some QSLs won't be passed along. This is one of them and here's why…… Back in September 1978, I gained my first amateur radio licence with the novice call of VK3NQJ. It was a very exciting time for me. After many years as a DX listener on shortwave and mediumwave, it was a natural extension to move into amateur radio. So I sat for the novice licence (along with hundreds of other CB radio enthusiasts at the time) and was quickly on the air. The first rig was an 11mb CB transcei...

Some great DX over the past week, although reception conditions have been fairly poor on most occasions. Although not strong, there have been quite a few Latin American stations on 60 and 49mb. Certainly the highlight of the week was the logging of Brazilians on 60mb in my morning time - very rare. There is only a small window between 2100 and 2135 when they appear via the Antarctic, which in winter is mostly in darkness/twilight between Brazil and south eastern Australia. 4815, 4915, 4985 and 5035 kHz were spotted during this time on June 7. 4699.95   BOLIVIA.  R. San Miguel - Riberalta. Poor signal and disappearing at times only to return a few minutes later between 1035 and 1100, with songs on June 13. 4747.1   PERU.  R. Huanta 2000 - Huanta.  Songs, rapid adverts, and anncts inc. IDs from 1000, fair level, June 4. Also noted at 1025 on June 13 with lots of IDs and anncts. 4755.5   MICRONESIA.  The Cross Radio - Pohnpei.  American r...

The following article appeared in the excellent online news service North Korea Tech, which can be found at  http://www.northkoreatech.org . This site is well worth having a read as there are some fantastic observations about what is going on behind the veil of secrecy in that country. This article appeared on their website yesterday. However, I have a feeling that there was an earlier report on this DXpedition several weeks ago - I think it might have been in the weekly ARRL Newsline. It would be quite historic if this country can be re-activated again. A group of amateur radio operators are hoping to get permission from the North Korean government for a month-long trip to the country during which they’ll set up a ham radio operation. If they manage to pull off the plan, they’ll have succeeded where few have before. North Korea has no amateur radio operators and government-sanctioned transmissions by foreigners in the country are extremely rare. This makes Nort...

There has been some fantastic DX appearing in the 49 and 41 metre bands here at Mount Evelyn over the last two days. The bands have been wide open from 0200 UTC on the 41mb and from 0400 in in the 49mb. To put this into context for international readers of this blog, 0200 UTC is midday in Melbourne.  Of special interest were the signals from Africa, following pretty much a greyline path to Melbourne, starting from East Africa and working across the continent during their morning hours. Noted this afternoon were Madagascar, Sudan, Rwanda, Botswana, and Sao Tome. With Antarctica permanently in darkness and daylight hours quite short in Melbourne, these lower frequencies are open for most of the 24 hours. In discussing seasonal DX patterns with Victor Goonetilleke during his recent trip to Melbourne, this is one very big difference between tropical climes such as Colombo and Melbourne. Being much further south of the equator, we notice profound differences in DX conditions be...