STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK - January 9, 2016
STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK
January 9, 2016
GUYANA
Congratulations to Ron Howard (Asilomar State Beach, CA, USA) who has been lucky enough to hear the Voice of Guyana, Georgetown on consecutive days this past week. This low powered broadcaster returned to shortwave during 2015 and made a few appearances down here in Australia during our winter and spring. It's great to see the station is also monitored in other parts of the world, too. Here's Ron's description:
3290, Voice of Guyana, 0210-0350, Jan 5. Due to outstanding propagation, had much stronger reception than normal; very rare for me to have such well above threshold level audio; a special reception for me! Their local program of all EZL pop songs in English (Michael Jackson with "The Lady In My Life," "Heal The World," "The Girl is Mine" (along with Paul McCartney), Dionne Warwick, et al. with "That's What Friends Are For," Barry Manilow with "I Made It Through The Rain," etc.); started out poor and slowly improved to close to fair. Very enjoyable to catch this one after such a long time since I last had actual audio.
And then on the following day:
3290, Voice of Guyana, 0150-0317, Jan 6. Another day of decent reception; the whole time was just one long music program with two announcers (many segments with them always taking during their theme music - "A Summer Place"); songs included "Just My Imagination," "Dream Lover," "Don't Know Much About History," "When A Man Loves A Woman," etc.; unable to make out what was said (low modulation), but the music was fairly clear. My audio at:
https://app.box.com/s/rtuxpm2x4tceh9evrdod38jvgk5ndm4k
Thanks for this, Ron. Well done!
CHINA
Ron Howard has also noted a new frequency for the Chinese numbers station VC01, operating on 5006 kHz, the exact same frequency as the low-powered JG2XA station with its propagation tests from the Chofu campus of the University of Electro-Communications (UEC), near Tokyo, Japan. Here's Ron's notes and audio link on this logging:
5006-USB NF (ex: 6225), VC01, Chinese military numbers station, randomly monitoring from 1239 to 1523, Jan 8; non-stop numbers via mechanical synthesis voice; mostly fair. Thanks to Hiroyuki Komatsubara (Japan) for the timely tip, who heard VC01 at 1020 today. Why is VC01 broadcasting non-stop here? Now completely blocking the low powered Japanese station; per Aoki:
5006 HFD Radio Station 0000-2400 1234567 H3A 0.2 ND Tokyo-Chofu J 3539N 13932E JG2XA // 8006
https://app.box.com/s/hye877gx8dx2rhfsq2grbtnavkempcvi
FROM THE LOG BOOK
There's been some good propagation conditions here at Mount Evelyn over the past week with signals from Africa, Asia and South America being well represented.4747.63 PERU. R. Huanta Dos Mil - Huanta. A long serious talk in Spanish at 1022, canned anncts and adverts from 1033, fair to poor signal but not bad for a mid summers evening, Jan 5.
4810 ARMENIA. V of Armenia - Yerevan. Armenian music program at 1836, good listening, then sign off anncts and ID at 1844. This appears to be a new time for the Arabic service, previously it was scheduled for 1900-1930, poor signal on Jan 8.
4940 CHINA. Voice of the Strait - Fuzhou. Mandarin canned anncts and talk from 1104, strong signal on Jan 5.
4949.72 UNIDENTIFIED. I suspect this is R. Nacional, Mulenvos, Angola at 1850 with a very weak signal. If so, then I haven't heard this in quite a while, Jan 8.
4955 PERU. R. Cultura Amauta - Huanta. Just caught the remnants of this broadcast as it faded out around 1125, possibly a religious talk and song (hymn?). Pleasing to hear this in mid summer with a somewhat lower noise level than usual tonight, Jan 5.
4970 INDIA. AIR - Shillong. ID at 1135 then news in English. 1140 - "And that is the end of the news". Then back to regular Hindi programming and music selections, fair signal on Jan 5.
5915 ZAMBIA. ZBC - Lusaka. Radio 1 domestic service in one of the many local languages with a passionate speech at 1931, fair signal, Jan 8.
5950 ETHIOPIA. V of Tigre Revolution - Addis Ababa. Very solid signal with lively music, great listening at 1940, Jan 8.
6040 IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. English to Eu at 1955, fair signal. Jan 8. Incidentally, no sign of 6050 kHz VoTurkey with their English to Eu service at 1930-2030. Perhaps they have moved freq, or just off the air for today? Jan 8.
6130 SWAZILAND. TWR - Manzini. Powerful and impressive a cappella signing from a mens choir at 1945, listed as being in the Fiote language on Fridays. ID at 1948. Into the Portuguese service at 1950 with full ID. Good signal on Jan 8.
7510 ARMENIA. IBRA Radio - Erevan. Some pleasant music in the Silte language service to Af at 1740, good signal on Jan 8.
7570 D.P.R.KOREA. VoKorea - Kujang. The usual earnest preaching for the Korean KCBS programming at 1705, very good signal but with background noise on the audio, Jan 8.
9400 MOLDOVA. R. Denge Kurdistane - Kichinev. Kurdish programming to ME at 0654, weak signal but improves later past 0730, Jan 5.
9485 ENGLAND. VOA - Woofferton. Amharic service with and ID at 1815 in a current affairs program. Fair signal on Jan 8.
9525 INDONESIA. RRI - Jakarta. German service at 1827 with an information program while gamalan music played in the background, fair to poor signal here at Mount Evelyn. However, a quick check on the Twente receiver indicated that the signal can be easily heard into Europe, Jan 8.
9540 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. IBRA Radio - Dhabayya. Heavy preaching at 1750 in the Tigrinya language to EAf, a fair signal on Jan 8.
9635 ENGLAND. IBRA R. - Woofferton. Short bursts of African instrumental music at 1818 interspersed with Arabic talks. A Fair signal on Jan 8.
9660 VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. Portuguese discussion program at 1822, excellent signal on Jan 8.
11700 BULGARIA. Bible Voice R. - Kostinbrod. Noted at 1755 with Arabic programming to ME, and concluding the broadcast at 1758 with an English ID and station address. A fair signal on Jan 8.
11720 FRANCE. Eritrean Forum Radio - Issoudun. ID at 1716 then talks in the Tigrinya language beamed to EAf. This service is heard on Tues/Fri/Sun, but uses Arabic on Wed. A fair signal on Jan 8. Watch out for the Voice of Assenna which operates here on Mon/Thurs and (I think) Sats.
11735 ZANZIBAR. Zanzibar B.C. - Dole. Some type of live sporting broadcast (I suspect a soccer match) at 1830 in Swahili, poor signal on Jan 8.
15470 PHILIPPINES. Vatican R - Tinang. Mandarin talks at 0415, good signal, Jan 5.
15550 MADAGASCAR. R. Dabanga - Talata Volonondry. S/on at 0430 after the R. Tamazuj broadcast concluded, news in Sudanese, heavy QRM co-channel CNR 1 which is a pity as Dabanga is often good listening, Jan 5.
15580 BOTSWANA. VOA - Moepeng Hill. English news to Af at the 0500 switchover from the Kuwait txer site to the Botswana site. Poor to fair signal but much better here than via Kuwait which was barely audible before 0500. Jan 5.
15760 SRI LANKA. R. Mashaal - Iranawila. Pashto service to Pakistan at 0510 with a variety of speakers and interviews. A generally poor signal during a 15 min monitoring period. Jan 5.
15775.2 TAIWAN. Sound of Hope (Xi Wang Zhi Sheng). Mandarin talk at 0550. A clock "bong" at 0600, ID and change of program with introductory music and female announcer. A fair to poor signal, (no jamming) but still surprising how well this station can be heard sometimes with its alleged 0.1 kW into an ND antenna. Jan 5.
WORLD RADIO TV HANDBOOK 2016
If you are looking for alternative sources for buying the WRTH this year, you might consider the online store The Book Depository www.bookdepository.com. To buy and ship it direct to Australia today costs A$93.21. However, from The Book Depository, I paid A$51.50 with FREE POSTAGE!! I ordered it on December 18 and it was in my hands by December 31. Frankly, I just don't know how they can do it at that price! But that's big saving, especially when the Aussie dollar is so weak at the moment. Prices to other parts of the world will be quite different, of course (Australia is a LONG way from England!). So the savings may not be as significant to other countries. Anyway, that's just a suggestion for those folk who still haven't got their copy yet. Another great edition, by the way. Thanks to Sean, Nicholas and others for their fine work.
THE SPECTRUM MONITOR - January 2016 Issue Now Available
The Spectrum Monitor is taking subscriptions for 2016 right now, so it would be a great time to check out their website and get the details. Subscription rates are quite low and the magazine is promptly delivered by PDF on the first day of each month. Details can be found at:
www.thespectrummonitor.com
73 and have a great weekend everyone!
Rob Wagner VK3BVW
Subscribe!!
Follow @robvk3bvw
Comments
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.