Mount Evelyn DX Report

BOOK REVIEW:  THE NEW DXER'S HANDBOOK - 2nd EDITION by Bryce K. Anderson, K7UA Congratulations to Bryce K7UA on the release of the 2nd edition of his New DXer's Handbook . Released in January 2015, this guide covers many interesting topics, tips and techniques relating to the DXing side of the amateur radio hobby. Bryce writes with enthusiasm and an obvious deep love for working DX.  In his introduction, Bryce writes: "Every accomplished DXer was a beginner at one time. In 2010 I wrote the first edition of this handbook for new members of the Utah DX Association. It was intended to give them something that would be easy to understand yet would quickly teach them the basic skills of successful DXing that took me years to discover on my own. Now in hindsight it all seems so simple. DXing can become a lifelong passion and is a lot of fun! It offers opportunities for personal growth in a wide variety of areas: geography, engineering, science, language skil...

TECSUN PL-680 RECEIVER Your Thoughts? I've got plenty of desktop radios to use at home. But I only have one portable unit. And I'm seriously considering purchasing the new Tecsun PL-680 to replace my old and ever-reliable Sangean ATS909 (1st generation vintage!).  That old Sangean has been subjected to water, bounced around over rough outback roads, and even the odd tumble to the ground. Despite all this, it still keeps working! It's useless on just the whip antenna (always has been....). But attach a random length of wire to it (anything longer than 5 metres) and it works just fine, displaying great sensitivity and reasonable selectivity.  So....should I keep the Sangean or look at the PL-680? I've chosen the 680 (rather than the 660 or the 880) because of its strong reviews. If you haven't seen these, check out the following: SWLing Post Review by Thomas Witherspoon: http://swling.com/blog/2015/02/a-review-of-the-tecsun-pl-680-with-reader-survey-res...

Choppy Seas THE FORGOTTEN LOGS! Before I left for my winter seaside holiday, I did some listening at home. I had planned to post these on the blog but forgot all about them….till just now. EQUIPMENT: Yaesu FTDX 3000, Kenwood TS2000, Yaesu FRG100, Double Bazooka antennas for 80 and 40 metres, Par EF-SWL End Fed antenna, BHI NEIM1031 Digital Noise Eliminating Module, MFJ-1026 Noise Cancelling Module, Tokyo Hi-Power ATU. 3310   BOLIVIA. R. Mosoj Chaski - Cochabamba . Spanish heard (also sometimes has Quechua, but not on this occasion) with talks, possibly local news? First noted at f/in 0930, strengthened by 1045 to past 1100. July 16. 4055   GUATEMALA. R. Verdad - Chiquimula. S/on 0953 with ID and daily program notes. Fair to poor signal but actually doing quite well in the atmospheric noise for its lowly 800 watts on July 16. 4940   SAO TOMÉ. VOA - Pinheira. Carrier on at 2027, ID and Hausa programming from 2030, weak signal and no where near as strong as ...

DAYTIME DXING BY THE SEA I'm currently holidaying on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula, about 100 km south east of Mount Evelyn. This region has some of Melbourne's closest and best beaches, including fabulous surf beaches. It is a very busy holiday destination in the summer. However, in mid winter it's much quieter - which is just the way I like it!! The weather today was bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, but the temperature was around 11˚C. I stopped for lunch at a quick check of the shortwave bands around midday and a point on the Peninsula known as Cape Schanck, with its white and red lighthouse and rugged coastline.  The receiver is the old but ever-reliable Sangean ATS909 and 6 meters of random wire antenna. Parts of the 31 meter band suffered from some local low level electrical interference but generally the reception was quite good. There was no propagation on the 41 and 49 meter bands (not even from the powerhouse NHK on 5910 at 0300!!).  He...

A VISIT TO THE VATICAN RADIO TRANSMITTER SITE YouTube Video Here is a most interesting video of the Santa Maria di Galeria transmitters and antennas at Vatican Radio. The visit was made by Italian amateur radio operator Ennio, IK6DTA and his friends on October 19, 2013. The video is composed primarily from photographs of the facility and from this you can gain a sense of the enormous size of this fine world-class shortwave transmitting facility. This video was originally uploaded to another YouTube URL that has since become redundant. For those DXers who haven't yet seen it, I think you'll enjoy this video. We thank Ennio IK6DTA for making it available! 73 and wishing you good DXing of Vatican Radio! Rob Wagner VK3BVW Current local time in Mount Evelyn, Australia CLICK HERE for VK3BVW Live Stream (Clublog) QRZ callsign lookup: Search Callsign lookups provided by qrz.com © Rob Wagner, Mount Evelyn DX...

SHORTWAVE IN THE NEWS - No. 3 Here is a collection of new and very recent online articles relating the shortwave radio hobby. If you missed some of these, now is your opportunity to catch up!! Sit back and enjoy! Note: If you missed the first two editions of  "Shortwave In The News" , you can still read them at: Shortwave In The News  (dated November 20, 2014) Shortwave In The News - No. 2 - No. 2 (dated April 11, 2015) As governments shut down radio, the BBC world service is a lifeline In the week when Apple’s Beats 1 radio station was launched – “Worldwide. Always on . . . It broadcasts 24/7 to over 100 countries from our studios in Los Angeles, New York and London” – there was also discussion of the BBC’s latest global audience measurement figures. The most striking thing in the report, which tracked listening habits and how they had changed over the past year, was how short-wave radio – in rural and poorer areas where there is no FM, no cable and n...

STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK July 3, 2015 STATION NEWS PAPUA NEW GUINEA It's quite difficult to hear Papua New Guinea these days now that nearly all their shortwave transmitters have closed and moved to FM. BUT....In the last day or so, PNG's National Broadcasting Corporation has been transmitting on shortwave with two new outlets. NBC is the host broadcaster of the 15th Pacific Games, being held in the capital Port Moresby. The games begins tomorrow July 4 and runs through till July 18. The following schedule was noted from on-air announcements as follows: 6075 kHz - 1900 to 2159 UTC 9860 kHz - 2200 to 0959 UTC 6075 kHz - 1000 to 1400 UTC 12025 kHz - 2200 to 1000 UTC (to Pacific Island communities) Here at Mount Evelyn, 9860 is heard quite well during the afternoon, and 6075 was noted last night. As yet, I have not found a signal on 12025 kHz, but this frequency may come into use once the Games begin. The station is announcing itself as both NBC and ...