STATION NEWS AND THE LOGBOOK - September 26, 2014

"Avenue of Honour" - Ballarat, Victoria - Rob Wagner

STATION NEWS AND THE LOGBOOK

 September 26, 2014


Well, I'm back home after a few weeks of work that has taken me around the beautiful  State of Victoria. And so I've been back at the radio over the past three days. Some observations are listed below.

STATION NEWS

RADIO UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL via OKEECHOBEE
On September 23, WRMI posted a news release advising that they would be providing a daily relay of R. Ukraine International from September 25 until at least the end of the year. WRMI's General Manager, Jeff White said "We are pleased to be able to provide this service to shortwave listeners at a time when much of the world's focus is on the situation in the Ukraine". Well, the first relayed broadcast went ahead as planned and was well heard here at Mount Evelyn. Here's my logbook entry for this new service:

11580 kHz  USA. R. Ukraine International - Okeechobee FL. Good signal at 2330 s/on in English. Targeted to ENAm but they won't get a very large audience there! I also checked in on the Twente remote receiver, and all indications were that the signal appeared to be booming into Europe. Monitored till s/off 0000 on Sept 25. Nice to hear the Ukrainian version of current events in that part of the world!

 WRMI is calling for listener reports and comments at info@wrmi.net.

FAMILY RADIO TO ADD THREE HOURS OF ASIAN PROGRAMMING
Several sources are reporting that WRMI also released information on broadcasts in Japanese, Chinese and Hindi, starting October 1. Interestingly, this news release is still not up on the WRMI website or Facebook page, and the Family Radio website has no news of it either. BUT….that doesn't mean that it's not going to happen. The schedule for the Family Radio broadcasts via WRMI as of UTC October 1, 2014 will be as follows:
1000-1100 daily on 7570 in Japanese
1100-1200 daily on 7570 in Chinese
2300-0000 daily on 5950 in Spanish
0000-0100 daily on 5950 in Spanish
0100-0200 daily on 15770 in Hindi

"This will be a short-term experiment," explained Jeff White. "But if results are good, it could be extended. The idea is to see how well these broadcasts can be received by listeners in China, Japan and India. These are very distant target areas from Okeechobee, but recent listener reports indicate that our signal is audible in much of Asia at certain times and frequencies. If that is confirmed, we may be able to begin broadcasts of other programs to these Asian audiences.¨

The Japanese- and Chinese-language programs are on a beam to western North America, but will also be intended for listeners in Japan and China. The Hindi-language program is on a beam to Europe and the Middle East, but will also be intended for listeners in India. The two Spanish-language hours are two different programs.

Now that crazy Harold Camping has been laid to rest, will Family Radio still be telling their new Asian listeners that the world is going to end sometime soon????

CURRENT NEW ZEALAND SCHEDULE
Don't go looking for the complete transmission from Radio New Zealand International at their website. It appears to be quite out-of-date. Check out the HFCC registrations instead; these seem to be closer to be the mark! www.hfcc.org

OVERCOMER MINISTRY
The frequency of 5900 kHz has been registered with the HFCC for a long time now. However, it looks like they have finally decided to use it. Noted here at 2010 UTC with the usual heavy American preaching themes via the Kostinbrod transmitter in Bulgaria, putting in a very solid signal.

PLENTY OF SOLAR ACTIVITY
Although I have been away from the radio for a few weeks, others report that good old Mr Sun has been up to mischief again! As I write this (0230 UTC on Sept 26), the solar flux is at 158, with the A and K indices at 13 and 3 respectively. Earlier this morning, the A index was at 25. Expect some good reception from the higher frequencies! For example, this entry from my logbook:

21600   USA. Overcomer Ministry - Cypress Creek SC. American religious programming at 2040, running // 5900 kHz also heard, good signal on Sept 25 (SF = 145, A = 25, K = 2).

So we had Brother Stair at both ends of the international shortwave bands. Pretty scary, really!

FROM THE LOGBOOK

4930   BOTSWANA. VOA - Moepeng Hill. Fabulous African music programming at 2015, good signal on Sept 25.
4940   SAO TOME. VOA - Pinheira. S/on 2030 with Hausa news and current affairs, a weak signal on Sept 25.

 4976   UGANDA. UBC - Kampala. Fair level of carrier but quite low audio with English anncts and occasional instrumentals at 2020, Sept 25.

 5010.13v  MADAGASCAR. R. Madagasikara - Ambohidrano. Afro music programming at 2025. Fair signal but the carrier was jumping all over the place, varying between 5010.10 and 5010.16 kHz, Sept 25.


9330   USA. WBCQ - Monticello ME. The Money Talk show at 2235 with disjointed news updates and begging for talkback calls! Best reception from this station in a long time on  Sept 24.

9555   SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA - Riyadh. Just caught the s/off at 2300 for the Arabic service to NAf, fair signal on Sept 24.

9575   MOROCCO. R. Medi 1 - Nador. Arabic programming at 2307 (not French as shown by EiBi), fair signal on Sept 24.

9615   TAIWAN. RTI - Kouhu. Mandarin service 2315 with only light jamming. Also monitored via the Hong Kong remote where jamming was extreme, Sept 24.

9705   INDIA (Goa). AIR - Panaji. Fair signal but with poor audio and transmitter squealing for the English GOS to SEAs at 2320. Sept 24.

9740   SINGAPORE. BBC - Kranji. English to SEAs at 2325, fair signal but heavy QRM from co-channel Romania's Spanish service to SAm, Sept 24.

11580   USA. Overcomer Ministry - Okeechobee FL. S/on 0000 with the usual American preaching. This was a NF some weeks ago, targeted to SAm, fair signal on Sept 26.

11665   MALAYSIA. RTM Sarawak - Kajang. Wai FM news and music at 0010, poor on Sept 26.

11840   CUBA. R. Havana. French service to Eu at 1940 but weak under ARW-Nauen's Arabic service to NAf. Then sudden break in transmission at 1947. 14 minutes later,  just as suddenly returned for the scheduled Portuguese service at 2001, and later noted in Arabic 2030 with improved signal. Sept 24.

15120   CUBA. CRI - Havana. Spanish to SAm 0030, weak signal on Sept 26.

15190   USA. R. Africa - Okeechobee FL. S/on 2102 with ID and American religious programming. Started out with a strange background tone, but rectified itself about 2 min later. Good signal on Sept 25.

15370   CUBA. R. Habana. Quechua service at 0015, weak signal on Sept 26.

17790   USA. R. Africa - Okeechobee, FL. American preacher at 2050, fair to poor signal on Sept 25. Suddenly off at 2057 before the poor man had a chance to say goodbye! Then suddenly back on at 2059 for the R. Africa ID and the 15190 kHz frequency change annct, then finally off at 2100. (SF = 145, A = 25, K = 2)

17830   PAKISTAN. R. Pakistan - Islamabad. Lo-Fi audio quality (heavy distortion) at 0120 with long religious chants and occasional lectures in Urdu. I haven't heard this station in a long time, poor signal on Sept 26.

17850   SPAIN. REE - Noblejas. First noted at 2035 with current affairs show, fair and variable reception on Sept 25. 

17860   PHILIPPINES. R. Veritas Asia - Palauig. The 30-min Urdu service to SAs at 0115 was coming in with a solid signal on Sept 26.

17880   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. Registered for Mandarin but it sounded like Cantonese at 0110 on Sept 26, fair signal.


7 MHZ ACTION

Wading my way through 17 Chinese (CRI and CNR) outlets in the 41mb between 2130 and 2200 UTC, the following stations were also heard on Wednesday Sept 24:



7205   FRANCE. RFI - Issoudun, French to WAf. QRM CRI's English service co-channel.

7255   TIBET. PBS Xizang - Lhasa, Tibetan

7300   ENGLAND. HCJB Reach Beyond - Woofferton. Arabic till s/off 2144.

7385   TIBET. PBS Xizang - Lhasa. Tibetan.
7435   TAJIKISTAN. RFA - Dushanbe. Mandarin with jamming
7460   MONGOLIA. RFA - Ulaanbaatar. Korean with no jamming!
7495   FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Arabic to WAf
7550   INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. English to Eu
7570   USA. WRMI - Okeechobee. English, seemed to be WYFR programming.
7585   SRI LANKA. R. Farda - Iranawila. Farsi to Iran.

That's it for now! 73 and have a great weekend everyone!

Rob Wagner  VK3BVW

Comments

  1. Rob WagnerSeptember 26, 2014 at 2:46 PM

    As you can see, I'm still having problems with Blogger's formatting layouts in this post. The more I fiddle trying to fix the line gaps, the worse it gets! Think I'll quit while I'm behind!!! :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. If your comment isn’t visible right away, it has been received and will be published shortly.

Popular posts from this blog

RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW # 21 - The Kenwood R-5000

Image
RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #21 (You can click on all photos in this article for a close-up view) KENWOOD R-5000 Performance and Innovation by ROB WAGNER VK3BVW This extended blog post first appeared as a feature article in the February 2024 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. Further details on this excellent publication are available at www.thespectrummonitor.com I have always wanted to own a Kenwood R-5000 receiver. Perhaps I was dazzled by the mystique that appeared to surround this rig. Somehow, it had always been on top of my bucket list of pre-loved rigs that I wanted sitting on the desk of the radio shack.  Finally, one showed up at a local Sunday morning Hamfest, and I happened to have just enough dollars in my pocket to make a purchase. It appeared to have lived a hard life. The case looked knocked around and was pretty dirty inside and out. So, while I would have liked to have owned a unit in better condition, the price was right, and I decided to take it on as a l...
Read more

REVIEW: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ LOOP ANTENNA

Image
PRODUCT REVIEW: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ LOOP ANTENNA by Michael Stevenson (Guest Contributor) This is a review and my opinion of the Wellbrook ALA1530S+ P–1 Active receiving Antenna. For further information, details and specifications then please visit: www.wellbrook.uk.com Background I have been a keen shortwave listener since 1970 and have had many receivers and antenna types during this time. Currently I have two wire antennas, a PAR Electronics EF-SWL 15 meter with impedance matching transformer, made in the US; and a home made 17 meter wire with balun. I also have a dedicated multi-stake ground or earthing system to compliment my receiver and antennas. I live in suburbia Port Macquarie, New South Wales on the east coast of Australia. Even though all our electricity wiring is under ground in our housing estate, I live in an environment where there are all types of man-made noises coming from modern electronic and electrical equipment used by my neighbours The wire a...
Read more

RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #20 - The SONY ICF-5900W

Image
RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #20 SONY ICF-5900W by CRAIG SEAGER VK2HBT This time around, I thought we might direct our attention to one of the many portable receivers of yesteryear, and it is perhaps appropriate that we choose a manufacturer that continued to produce quality equipment featuring shortwave coverage until long after. I’m sure our Japanese friends will concur with the submission that Japan is a land of short-lived, but enthusiastically embraced fads.  Whether it be karaoke, yo-yos with brains, electronics pets or Pokémon, each craze sweeps the country in such a way that captures the attention of the rest of the world and is usually associated with some pretty smart home-grown technology.   In the mid to late 1970s, shortwave listening (or “BCL”) was the flavour of the month, with teenagers (and some older folk!) compiling large QSL collections and forming SWL and DX clubs all over the country.  Nowadays, you’d be fairly hard-pressed to find any external broadcas...
Read more