STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK - January 23, 2015
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| The new Yaesu FTDX3000 tuned to KSDA-AWR for English at 2200 UTC (see below) |
STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK
January 23, 2015
STATION NEWS
WERTACHTAL NO MORE!
The once mighty German sender at Wertachtal has finally come tumbling down. For many years, this transmitting site's powerful signal enabled Deutsche Welle to reach most parts of the world with relative ease. To celebrate (or commiserate, depending upon your view) this dismantling event, a video has surfaced. Of interest to shortwave enthusiasts will be some of the early photographs and video of the station during its operating heyday. There are also interviews with some of the engineers and technicians who manned and maintained Wertachtal - but you'll need to speak German! So……for those of you who enjoy seeing explosions and large metal objects hitting Mother Earth with great impact, you can check out this video from the German news site, Augsberger Allgemeine.
RADIO AUSTRALIA FADING AWAY
Another "once mighty" shortwave institution is now a shadow of its former self. As many MEDXR readers are already aware, during the middle of this month RA pulled the plug on its overseas relay sites of Dhabbaya, Singapore and Palau, while Brandon QLD will be gone by the end of the month. The station will only be transmitting only in English, Tok Pisin and French to the Pacific. The following schedule begins on Feb 1, all from the Shepparton site:
0900-2100 UTC - 9580, 12065 and 12085 kHz- to Pacific Islands and PNG.
This will be all English except for Tok Pisin 0630-0700 (weekdays only) and French 0800-0805 (weekdays only).
2100-0900 UTC - 15240, 15415, and 17840 kHz - to Pacific Islands and PNG.
Again, this will be all English except for Tok Pisin 0900-0930 (weekdays only).
Feel like complaining about this situation? Hoping that by complaining there will be some miraculous reinstatement of RA services like there was with Spain? I think probably not. This current government is intent on pulling apart the ABC at all levels. Of course, you could send your views and concerns to the ABC. But I'd also recommend copying your letters and emails to the Federal Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Communications. Good luck!!!
WTWW
9475 USA. WTWW - Lebanon TN. Noted at 2300 with preaching and songs, a fair signal there but listening was tedious with the continuous cacophony of thunderstorm atmospherics around Australia at the time. Jan 21. If you haven't done so already, don't forget to check out the aerial view of WTWW's three rhombic antennas taken by one of their engineers. See my post - WTWW FROM THE AIR.
TROPICAL BANDS
Despite the high level of thunderstorm activity throughout Australia during the past week, there have been a few stations breaking through the static and making themselves heard. On both January 18 and 19, noise levels dropped significantly, revealing some good summertime DX opportunities. Here's a short list:
2850 D.P.R.K. KCBS - Pyongyang. Quiet, almost meditative string music at 1356. ID and time pips at 1359!! Then more soft orchestral music with an opera singer. Fair to good signal on Jan 19.
4747.6 kHz PERU. R. Huanta. Lively songs and anncts at 1025, fair signal. Often heard here in summer when other Latins are not present, Jan 18.
4800 kHz INDIA. AIR - Hydrabad. On air today at 1303 with a long Hindi talk. Then at 1310 a program annct in English, then back to Hindi anncts and Indian ballads. Has been intermittent in its operations of recent times, so it's good to hear it back on air again. Good signal and a little stronger than the co-channel CNR 1, Jan 19.
4747.6 kHz PERU. R. Huanta. Lively songs and anncts at 1025, fair signal. Often heard here in summer when other Latins are not present, Jan 18.
4800 kHz INDIA. AIR - Hydrabad. On air today at 1303 with a long Hindi talk. Then at 1310 a program annct in English, then back to Hindi anncts and Indian ballads. Has been intermittent in its operations of recent times, so it's good to hear it back on air again. Good signal and a little stronger than the co-channel CNR 1, Jan 19.
4810 INDIA. AIR - Bhopal. Nice signal with an entertaining Hindi music program at 1320, and canned station anncts at 1325. Making it very well through the noisy summer atmospherics on Jan 19.
4865 BRAZIL. R. Verdes Florestas - Cruzeiro do Sul. Brazilian pop songs and ballads at 1040 to past 1100, and the occasional announcement. This station was a regular here in 2013 but not so much in 2014. Hoping for some more consistent appearances this year. Jan 18.
4955 PERU. R. Cultural Amauta - Huanta. Songs at 1053, ID at 1100 as "Radio Amauta" (they seem to drop off the "Cultural" bit), then a longish talk by a woman till past 1120. A weak signal but very good to hear it on a night when the summer atmospherics were in a lull, Jan 18.
4970.03 UNIDENTIFIED. Possibly AIR - Shillong. Definitely something there but too weak to hear if English news is on at 1230, Jan 19.
4990 CHINA. PBS Hunan - Xiangtan. Telephone interview at 1120, fair to poor signal under loud atmospherics, Jan 17.
5040 INDIA. AIR - Jeypore. At 1240 with a mix of Hindi pop song and anncts and chat. Quite a good signal and got stronger by 1300, Jan 19.
5050 CHINA. Beibu Bay Radio - Nanning. Vietnamese service with pop/rock music and fast talk at 1105. Fair signal and gets stronger later in the hour, Jan 17.
GUAM
9460 Russian 1100-1130, strong signal but with a slight hum on the audio, Jan 22.
9565 Mandarin 2100-2200, runs // 9720, poor signal under the stronger R. Marti, Jan 22.
9720 Mandarin s/on 2100, runs // 9565, poor signal and faded by 2230, Jan 22.
9890 Korean 2100-2200, fair to poor signal, Jan 22.
11730 Mandarin 1100-1200, runs // 15195 and 15180 but is about 4 seconds behind. An excellent signal, Jan 22.
13710 At 2200 Indonesian, 2230 Javanese. good signal, Jan 22.
15180 Mandarin 1100-1200, runs // 15195 and 11730, and is an excellent signal, Jan 22.
15195 Mandarin 1100-1200, runs // 15180 and 11730, good signal on Jan 22.
15215.05 Mandarin 2200-2300, good signal, but off-frequency, and 1 second behind the // 15685 on Jan 22.
15320 Vietnamese at 2315, weak signal on Jan 21.
15325 Mandarin s/on 1000-1100, good signal and // 17580, Jan 22.
15365 Thai to SEAs opening at 2330, fair signal on Jan 21.
15435.03 English Sundanese 2200-2230, (English - Sun, Tues, Thurs. Sundanese - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat). Then 2230-2300 in Batak (7 days). Good signal but off-frequency on Jan 22.
15495 At 1100 Indonesian, 1130 Sundanese or Javanese, and at 1200 in the Mon language, good signal throughout the whole 90 min transmission, Jan 22.
15685 Mandarin 2200-2300, good signal, // 15215, Jan 22
15435.03 English Sundanese 2200-2230, (English - Sun, Tues, Thurs. Sundanese - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat). Then 2230-2300 in Batak (7 days). Good signal but off-frequency on Jan 22.
15495 At 1100 Indonesian, 1130 Sundanese or Javanese, and at 1200 in the Mon language, good signal throughout the whole 90 min transmission, Jan 22.
15685 Mandarin 2200-2300, good signal, // 15215, Jan 22
17520 At 0030 in Mandarin to EAs, weak on Jan 22. - 330˚
17540 S/on 1030 to 1100 s/off in Filipino, fair to poor signal, Jan 22.
17580 Mandarin 1000-1100, fair level and // 15325.
17540 S/on 1030 to 1100 s/off in Filipino, fair to poor signal, Jan 22.
17580 Mandarin 1000-1100, fair level and // 15325.
17650 S/on 0100 in Amoy, weak signal and // 17880 but stronger here on Jan 22. Beaming 300˚ to EAs.
17880 At 0030 and // 17520 in Mandarin but the signal is stronger here, beaming 315˚, Jan 22.
ARGENTINA
FROM THE LOG BOOK
7555 USA. WEWN - Vandiver AL. This has been reported by others as not on air over the past few days. However, the signal was excellent for its Spanish service at 1155 on Jan 21.
9720 SRI LANKA. FEBA Radio - Trincomalee. English service to SAs at 1330 on Monday Jan 19 (also English scheduled for Sats at this time, and various Asian languages on other days). Fabulous S9 signal with just a touch of transmitter hum in the background. At 1346, it continued with another English program called Journey till ID and s/off at 1417.
11805 THAILAND. BBC - Nakhon Sawan. English to EAs at 1145, NF ex 11895, good signal on Jan 21.
11915 TAIWAN. RTI - Tinian. S/on 0900 with the Indonesian service, ID and news. A lovely signal, easily outdoing the co-channel CNR 2 with a S9+20dB signal, Jan 22.
15140 OMAN. R. Sultanate of Oman - Thumrayt. At 1418 in English - traffic report with "heavy traffic on the Beach Road" and weather report of heavy rain washing out some roads! WOW! So it DOES rain in the desert!! Then into Linkin Park and other pop/rock bands. News at 1430. Relaying Muscat 94.4 FM, and IDs as this. Great signal and good listening on Jan 19.
15225 CHINA. CRI - Kashi. Czech service at Eu at 1105 with news at 1105, fair signal on Jan 21.
15230 CUBA. R. Havana. Portuguese service to SAm at 2310 with talks, fair signal under high thunderstorm static, Jan 21.
15255 ROMANIA. RRI - Galbeni. S/on 1100 in French to SEu, with opening anncts and news, good signal on Jan 21.
15275 MADAGASCAR. DW - Talata Volonondry. Swahili service to EAf at 1050, noted till ID and close at 1059, fair signal Jan 21.
15285 SINGAPORE. BBC - Kranji. English to EAs at 1107 with World News, fair signal on Jan 21.
15299.96 IRAN. VOIRI - Kamalabad. Dari service to CAs at 1110, off frequency but with a fair to good signal on Jan 21.
15310 OMAN. BBC - A'Seela. Pashto service to SAs with a radio play at 1117, fair signal on Jan 21.
15350 TURKEY. VoTurkey - Emirler. Turkish to Eu at 1140 with a music program, weak signal on Jan 21.
15355 PHILIPPINES. R. Veritas Asia - Palauig. I just caught the last minutes of the Filipino service to EAs at 2324, followed by a short English ID and s/off at 2327. Fair signal on Jan 21.
15370 CUBA. R. Havana. Portuguese to SAm at 2335, weak signal - not moving the meter - but quite copyable nonetheless on Jan 21.
15470 NTH MARIANA IS. Vatican R. - Tinian. In Vietnamese to EAs at 2340, fair signal on Jan 21.
So that's it for now. A very long blog this time! I hope there's something of interest there for you.
73 and have a great weekend everyone,
Rob Wagner VK3BVW
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