The New RADIO MARA, plus VANUATU, SUDAN and more.

An interesting and varied selection of logs were noted over the last few days:

3945   VANUATU.  R. Vanuatu - Port Vila. A fair signal with Bislama programming and mainly talks at 0915. Later, local islander music noted at 0949. R. Nikkei 2 faded in around 0945 but was generally under Vila until later in the evening. Dec 6.

3965   IRAN.  VOIRI - Kamalabad. Good signal with Iranian music at 1745 then an ID in the Russian service, suddenly off at 1749. NF for B13 and appears to replace 7350-Kamalabad, Dec 7.

3965   FRANCE.  RTI - Issoundun.  English service now here at s/on 1759 with ID and station info before the 1800 time pips, then into news. Fair to poor signal on this NF to Eu and replacing 6155 for B13. Dec 7.

5975   JAPAN.  Shiokaze - Sea Breeze - Yamata. Noted at 1650 with Japanese commentaries, poor signal but only light jamming at this time, Dec 7.

6080   SOLOMON ISLANDS.  SIBS - Honiara. Can be heard quite clearly some nights under the dominant RA-Shepparton at 0930 such as on Dec 6, with music and a mix of English and Pidgin anncts. The laid-back island version of Jingle Bells was quite entertaining at 0935!! Choosing the best antenna direction helps here to minimise RA and boost SIBS. Currently running // 5019.9 kHz, but there the signal was a bit average!

7515   UZBEKISTAN.  Voice of the Martyrs - Tashkent. Difficult listening at 1630 due to industrial-strength jamming noise. Monitored for around 15 min with programming consisting of solemn religious talks in Korean and the occasional hymn, Dec 7.

9505   SUDAN.  VoAfrica - Al-Aitahab. First noted at 1615 with some groovy Afro instrumental music featuring mainly drums, followed by French programming. Into English at 1730 with the ID - "Dear listeners, welcome to the Voice of Africa", followed by a Sudanese song. Good signal but solid QRM CNR1 and RA-Shepparton both on 9500, so listening in USB mode proved to be the most profitable option on Dec 7.

17540   MADAGASCAR. R. Mara - Talata Volonondry. S/on 1701 with a slow rhythmic song in a minor key. At 1703 there was a long and loud "Hey!!" from the announcer before the station ID and introductions in a rapid-fire clipped-sounding African language - listed as Kinyarwanda. Easy to pick out the Radio Mara ID. Then back to the intro song for a few minutes. Finally settled into a commentary. Fair signal but with deep fading and atmospheric hiss, listed as 250 kW, Dec 7.

17710   SOUTH AFRICA.  DW - Meyerton.  Swahili for Af noted at 1015 to s/off 1100 with mainly commentaries and radio magazine style programming. This is an additional freq for this service, but a poor signal on Dec 6.

17870   UNIDENTIFIED.  Believed to be R. Inyabutatu via Kostinbrod. Weak signal at 1740 in an African sounding language - listed as Kinyarwanda - with mainly talk programming. Noted on Saturday Dec 7 (appears to be a Sat-only operation as not noted on any other days in recent times). I'll hope for a better signal next week!

73 and have a great weekend everyone!

Rob VK3BVW