STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK - February 15, 2016


STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK
February 15, 2016

STATION NEWS

BULGARIA
Dimtse Radio Erena - Kostinbrod. Several weeks ago, this station again shifted frequency for its Oromo service at 1700-1730 and Arabic 1730-1800 for EAf (Eritrea specifically). It was noted here this last weekend with a fair signal on Feb 13 at 1750. This station has been hopping around a bit recently - between 11855 kHz in December, then 11850 from Jan 1, and now here on 11845 kHz since Feb 3. I don't know why it changed from 11850 (perhaps to avoid splatter from the powerhouse R. Sanaa on 11860?), however, the new channel 5 kHz down seems fine at the moment.

 YEMEN or SAUDI ARABIA or WHEREVER…….
R. Sana'a - Location Unknown. Noted as usual on 11860 kHz with music at 1756, then an ID and Arabic news at 1800. Here at Mount Evelyn, this is a powerhouse signal at this time of day. It's supposedly from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia…..but I don't think anyone has actually confirmed this transmitter site as yet! If it is really from Jeddah, then its alleged 50 kW into a non-directional antenna is certainly stronger than Riyadh's 500 kW on 11930 kHz, and almost as strong as Riyadh's 500 kW on 11915 kHz, both of which operate at the same time as "Radio Sana'a"! I notice that the Bulgarian DX blog, which originally called this out as Jeddah, is now listing it as an unknown location. I've been monitoring this broadcaster on-and-off since it first appeared several months ago (since Nov 22). I've never been 100% convinced that it's Jeddah, because of its consistently strong signal ever since it started operations. I might be wrong, but it certainly appears to me to be something more than the supposed 50 kW non-directional! UNLESS Jeddah has had an upgrade of facilities…… Who knows for certain? One to keep watching.

FROM THE LOG BOOK

There's been some great DX on the bands over the past few days!

 4920   INDIA. AIR - Chennai. I caught the 5 min English news and anncts at 1730. Back into Hindi at 1735 until s/off 1741. Fair signal but QRM from co-channel PBS Xizang, Feb 13. 

 6200   TIBET. PBS Xizang - Lhasa. English service at 1648 with a talk on cultural highlights and traditions as a part of tourism in Tibet during the Tibetan New Year. Traditional Tibetan music items also noted, pleasant and interesting listening! Good signal but with some QRN static. This is one of the two times in the day when English programming is heard (1600-1700 and 0700-0800). The service runs // 7255 but it is difficult to hear there under CRI's English to Eu. It can also be regularly found on 4920 competing with AIR, but I didn't get a chance to check it there on this occasion. Back into regular Tibetan language programming at 1700. Feb 13.

 9265   USA. WINB - Red Lion PA. Noted at 2305 with a male preacher droning on for a long time about something. Finally, a choral hymn at 2320. Low noise level this morning and the station could be heard quite well even though the S-meter wasn't moving. Feb 12.

 9420   GREECE. ERT VoGreece - Avlis. Long talk with instrumental music in the background at 2328, then a ballad at 2336, fair to poor signal Feb 12. 

 9474.97   USA. WTWW - Lebanon TN. American preaching at 2340, fair signal and slightly off-freq on Feb 12.

 9490   IRAN. VOIRI - Kamalabad. Mandarin service to EAs at 2345, poor signal on Feb 12.

 9505   USA. WHRI - Cypress Creek SC. Overcomer Min with the Bro pleading for money at 2350. Fair signal, Feb 12.

 9524.95   INDONESIA. RRI - Cimanggis. Mandarin service to EAs at 1115 with talks, Fair signal but heavy QRM from VOA/CNR 1 jammer on 9530, Feb 13. 

 9535   TAKE YOUR PICK! This is a very busy channel between 2300 and 2400. You can choose from R. Havana-Bejucal in Spanish to CAm, or CRI-Kunming in English to the Philippines, or R. Free Asia via Kuwait in Tibetan to EAs, or hum along to the CNR 1 jammer meant for RFA listeners! All noted at 2353 with varying fair to poor signals. Suddenly, there is a mass rush for the exits at 2400, leaving just Cuba with some jivy music! Feb 12.

 9575   MOROCCO. R. Méditerranée Int'l - Nador. Interview program in Arabic at 0020, poor signal on Feb 13.

 9595   PALAU. T8WH - Medorn.  English religious programming from something called the Faith Free Presbyterian Church at 1140 on Sats, strong signal Feb 13.

 9690   INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. English to SEAs at 0042 with pleasant Indian instrumental music till s/off 0045. Weak signal on Feb 13. 

 9795   SINGAPORE. BBC - Kranji. Bangla service to SAs at 0036, weak signal on Feb 13.

 9800   FRANCE. Voice of Gospel (R. Sawtu Linjilia) - Issoudun. S/on 1830 with ID, African flute and cows mooing!! Quite a humorous start to the broadcast! The service is in the Fulfulde language and beamed to WAf. Very good signal on Feb 13.

 9810   SRI LANKA. AWR - Trincomalee. Service to SEAs in the Karen language at 0040 with religious programming. Fair to weak signal on Feb 13.

 9870   INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. The Vividh Bharati service in Hindi at 0050 with music programming. Variable signal but generally at a weak level (this is 11.50am local AEDT), Feb 13.

 11720   FRANCE. Voice of Assenna - Issoudun. S/on 1700 with the station ID in the Tigrinya language for EAf. A mix of talk/discussions and East African music programming. Big powerful signal on Feb 13. This service runs on Mon/Thurs/Sat. Don't confuse this with the Eritrean Forum R. which also runs here at this time on Tues/Wed/Fri/Sun.

 11720   FRANCE. Eritrean Forum R. - Issoudun. Runs this Arabic service for EAf from 1800 to 1900 on Sats only. Very good signal from its listed 250 kW on Feb 13.

 11750   SRI LANKA. Sri Lanka BC - Trincomalee. A strong and clear signal at 1716 with Sinhalese programming and music selections. This service is beamed to the ME and I think it runs daily 1630 to 1830, Feb 13. 

 11865   THAILAND. BBC - Nakhon Sawan. English WS with the "Sporting Witness" program at 1050 beamed to EAs, very good signal on Feb 13.

 15180   D.P.R.KOREA. VoKorea - Kujang. Spanish to LAm at 0350 with classical Korean song, fair signal, Feb 12.

 15420   PHILIPPINES. R. Free Sarawak - Palauig. Two classical songs at 1125, station ID at 1130 in the Iban language and into usual programming. Big signal on Feb 13.

 17510   GERMANY. AWR - Nauen. Somali religious programming at 1642 beamed to EAf. Fair signal Feb 13. 

 17615   FRANCE. RFI - Issoudun. Hausa service to CAf at 1610, weak signal, Feb 13.

 17630   FRANCE. R. Xoriyo Ogaden - Issoudun. Telephone talkback interview in Somali at 1615, heard on a Sat with a fair signal. Service is listed at 500 kW and scheduled Tues and Sats only. Feb 13.

 17755  SPAIN. REE - Noblejas. The weekends only service at 1637 with live football coverage, fair signal, Feb 13.

 17850   FRANCE. Oromo Voice Radio (Raadiyoo Sagalee Oromoo) - Issoudun. Noted at 1620 with long talks in the Oromo language and beamed to EAf. Not much of a sign-off ceremony. No clear ID, no music….just stopped, and the transmitter was switched off as soon as it hit 1630. Fair signal but with some deep fades at times. Oromo service is scheduled Weds and Sats. Feb 13.

 17895   SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Int'l R. - Riyadh. Qur'an at 0340 to CAs, fair on Feb 12.

 17895   VATICAN. VOA - SM Galeria. English service to Af at 1633 with pop music programming. A strong signal in a band that was mostly deserted here at this time, Feb 13.

AND FINALLY……

In a post I made on January 11, I reported reception of the amateur DXpedition to Antipodes Island with the callsign ZL9A. I made mention of the great difficulty the station's operator had in getting the ham community to follow instructions and good DX etiquette. I included a YouTube video as an example of the problem experienced by the ZL9A crew.

 Then last week on the YouTube page where this video resides, appeared this comment left by a viewer of the video:

 Hi there, Stan SQ8X (ex ZL9A) here. WOW! I'm so happy you recorded me, especially at that particular moment because one of Dept. of Conservation's representatives came to you shack to listen how DXing sounds like! You can hear that at the very beginning of the rec when I ask folks to behave as I'm under DoC surveillance hi hi. I kept on trying to work that station despite the ignorance. That is the only way - it's better to work a single station that to please QRM makers. You'd not believe how it sounded on the other end. Constant QRM chaos ;-) 73 de Stan SQ8X

 I was delighted that Stan had the opportunity to hear himself from Antipodes Island, and sent him the following response:

 +Stan SQ8X Hi Stan, Great to hear from you! Firstly, well done on the DXpedition. Fantastic work from you and your team there. I didn't work you but I was pleased to be able to pick up your signal. It was a fantastic effort by the team to get this island going for just a few days, and during the holiday period, too. Yes, it appears to be just a fluke that the DoC reps were in your shack as I was recording this portion of your transmission. It was pretty much a disgraceful performance by many of our amateur fraternity on that occasion, refusing to listen to your instructions and not communicating in an orderly manner. Quite disappointing, really! While listening to this, I really felt for you, Stan!! You did the very best you could under the circumstances, and as I pointed out in my blog post, in the end, no one wins. Stan, feel free to use this video recording in any way you wish if it helps to further the cause of a more orderly DXing code of conduct. Best wishes to yourself and all the team, Rob VK3BVW

 If you haven't seen the video yet, then you can see the problem there by clicking on this link:
https://youtu.be/Fn5kFKYNsr8

 73 and good DX to you all,

 Rob Wagner VK3BVW


 Subscribe!!

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2016 at 9:43 PM

    Rob, I too am skeptical that Radio Sana'a is transmitting from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I say this after looking at their website (http://www.sanaaradio.net/ ); the content describes the Saudi 'atrocities' committed against the Shi'ite Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen. The Saudi government surely would never allow Radio Sana'a to operate in Jeddah or anywhere in Saudi Arabia. An Arabic speaker needs to confirm the content and location.

    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