RADIO COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE 2015 SYDNEY TO HOBART YACHT RACE

RADIO COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE 

2015 SYDNEY TO HOBART YACHT RACE


 6516 kHz  Annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Many competitors checking in with the official Race Relay Station JBW (Juliet Bravo Whiskey) for the first official radio sked of 2015. Noted at s/on 1903 AEDT (0803 UTC) beginning with an initial communication between the Sydney and Hobart radio controls. Then at 0805 UTC, the call for all participating yachts in alphabetical order to report in with their current latitude and longitude positions. One yacht reported a broken rudder and was heading back to port. Excellent signal from the relay station while most competitor vessels were noted with varying signal strength levels. Then followed a weather report for the New South Wales coast and eastern Victoria for Saturday night (26th) and Sunday (27th). Station JBW then waited for any further traffic, advised that it would be monitoring 6516 kHz till 2000 local time (0900 UTC) before switching to 4483 kHz for the remainder of the evening.

HERE IS A PORTION OF THIS TRANSMISSION
Both 6516 and 4483 kHz are worth monitoring throughout the race, especially if one of the yachts gets into trouble and requires assistance, or during heavy weather. Daytime frequencies are:

 0700-2000 AEDT (2000-0900 UTC) on 6516 kHz (primary) or 4483 kHz (secondary)

 2000-0700 AEDT (0900-2000 UTC) on 4483 kHz (primary) or 6516 kHz (secondary)

 The radio schedules (a.k.a. The Skeds) are at 0005 AEDT (1305 UTC), 0735 AEDT (2035 UTC), 1205 AEDT (0105 UTC) and 1705 AEDT (0405 UTC) and is expected to continue until the conclusion on December 31.

 You can also follow race progress at the official website: http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/

A BONUS....(of sorts!):

6517.96 kHz   KOREA REP. Voice of the People - Kyinggi-do Koyang. Long talk by a female speaker at 0850 UTC. Then a few moments of instrumental music before a male speaker took over. Heavy noise jamming from D.P.R.K transmitters. Quite a good signal considering the early evening time. This broadcast was responsible for a constant heterodyne whistle on the "Sked Operations" for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race just 2 kHz below! Dec 26.

 73 and have a great weekend everyone!

 Rob Wagner VK3BVW
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Comments

  1. GrantDecember 28, 2015 at 12:20 PM

    Nice signals Rob, what antenna are you using? - I'm part of a group that each year provides streaming HF of the yacht race for an online yachting site.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rob WagnerDecember 28, 2015 at 9:00 PM

      Hi Grant. The antennas are a 7 mHz Double Bazooka for the 6516 outlet and a 3.6 mHz Double Bazooka for the 4483 kHz channel. The rig is a Yaesu FTDX 3000. What's the online website address for your streaming monitoring?

      Delete
    2. GrantDecember 29, 2015 at 8:31 AM

      Hi Rob, www.sail-world.com is the site we stream for but my personal site vk3vim.net has all the details. I've been doing it for over 15 years now and have 3 Codan 7004 receivers spot tuned to race frequencies

      Delete
    3. Rob WagnerDecember 29, 2015 at 5:39 PM

      Grant, You have a nice VIM website there!

      I just listened (Dec 29 - 1700 AEDT) to the S2H feed from your site. Compared to my reception here, the signal coming from the feed appeared to be well down on this occasion. At one point, I also noticed another transmission simultaneously operating on that feed, a female voice with the weather forecast. Strange.

      What antennas are you running there for the feed?

      Delete
    4. GrantDecember 29, 2015 at 10:13 PM

      The receivers are three Codan 7004's. Audio is split left (4483) and right (6516), there is allot of noise in my location (Greensborough). Antennas are and end fed and inverted V. This year we have been doing some tests with DSP software as well, which does make a difference. There is work to be done throughout the year to improve antennas, just gotta find the time!

      Delete

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