STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK - April 16, 2016

My New Antenna!
This little fella was caught in our backyard last weekend.

STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK
April 16, 2016

STATION NEWS

MADAGASCAR
The World Christian Broadcasting station Madagascar World Voice at Mahajanga appears to be back on air again after several weeks off due to transmitter problems (see STATION NEWS - April 5). This morning, I noted the following transmissions from the station:

 11615   MWV - Mahajanga. Mandarin to Eu at 2103, poor signal at Mount Evelyn but strong on the Twente remote into Eu, Apr 15.

 11770   MWV - Mahajanga. Arabic to NAf at 2210, good signal, Apr 15.

 13710   MWV - Mahajanga. Arabic to NAf at 2020, weak signal here but a very good signal on the Twente remote receiver, Apr 15.

 However, the service on 9455 kHz at 2200 UTC in Mandarin to Southern China still appears to be off-air, as observed both here at Mount Evelyn and via the Twente remote in The Netherlands. So, perhaps not all services are restored as yet. Below is a screenshot of the schedule as it appears on the WCB website.


FRANCE

I have heard Manara Radio via Issoudun on 15440 kHz at 0730 for hour-long Hausa religious broadcast to WAf (specifically Nigeria) with a fair signal on Apr 11. There is a second daily service from 1600 on 17765 also via Issoudun, but it's difficult to hear as that band is not open to us in southeastern Australia at this time of year. The station's Facebook page is in Hausa, but has a short English statement describing itself as "Radio channel that enlightened Muslim Ummah, those in West Africa anad (sic) Middle East predominanatly (sic) HAUSA about Islamic teachings and way of life." Transmissions from this broadcaster began on June 12, 2015. An article appeared online at the time which gives more details on the station's purpose:
http://pulse.ng/religion/media-manara-television-and-radio-launches-in-nigeria-id3859193.html

 TURKEY
Since the A16 transmission period began, I've noted a few Voice of Turkey services on new frequencies, including the following:

 5960  VoT - Emirler. Turkish to ME at 2035, NF for this service (ex 6120). A good signal but with slight QRM from co-channel CRI-Cerrik's English to Eu.

 9620  VoT - Emirler. S/on 2030 with English to As, NF (ex 9610) and a fair signal, also one hour earlier for A16.

 9830  VoT - Emirler. English to ENAm at 2249 to s/off 2256, NF (ex 5960) and one hour earlier than for the B15 season. Poor signal and heavy QRM from co-channel CNR 1.

 11615   VoT - Emirler. Just caught the last part of the French service to WAf at 2023 with music till s/off 2027, poor signal and NF (ex 6050) and on 1 hour earlier for the A16 season.
JAPAN
One of my three daughters lives and works in Japan, specifically Osaka. She tells us that earthquakes and earth tremors are a daily part of life in Japan. So whenever news reports reach us of earthquakes in that country, we know that it must be serious! And over the past 48 hours, destruction has certainly has been devastating on the island of Kyushu. Radio Japan is able to keep listeners around the globe appraised of the situation as it happens. The latest schedule for the A16 transmission season can be downloaded at:  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/resources/brochure/pdf/rj_schedule.pdf

FROM THE LOG BOOK

As for the last Station News post, I'm still noting quite a few new frequencies (NF) and the occasional transmitter site change (NS), plus some interesting Asian DX:

 6089.88   NIGERIA. VoNigeria - Kaduna. Hausa service with a long speech at 2220, then an unaccompanied song. Fair signal on Apr 10.

 6170   ROMANIA. RRI - Galbeni. English to WEu at 2030 to s/off 2057, NF and good signal on Apr 10.

 6195   BOTSWANA. VOA - Moepeng Hill. English to EAf at 2045, NF and a good signal on Apr 10.

 7365   THAILAND. VOA - Ban Dung. Korean to EAs at 2050 to s/off 2100, NF (ex 9700), good signal, Apr 15.

 9490   SAO TOME. VOA - Pinheira. Hausa to WAf at 2045. In B15 at this time, this was French on Sat/Sun via Moepeng Hill (Botswana). Now scheduled for Hausa on six days, and French on Sundays only. Weak signal on Apr 15.

 9565   GERMANY. AWR - Nauen. French to CAf at s/on 2000, NF (ex 15480 via Meyerton), poor signal, Apr 15.

 9610   GERMANY. AWR - Nauen. French to NAf at 2010, NF (ex 9515), poor signal. Different programming to AWR's French to CAf at the same time on 9565, Apr 15.

 9655   ALASKA. KNLS - Anchor Point. S/on 0800 in Mandarin to EAs, NF (ex 7355), strong signal on Apr 11.

 9730   ROMANIA. RRI - Tiganesti. Spanish to CAm at 0220, NF and starting one hour earlier for A16, fair signal, Apr12.
From the FEBA India website
9775   SRI LANKA. FEBA - Trincomalee. Noted at 1338 in a South Asian language I could not identify (perhaps Malayalam?). One list has English scheduled at 1330 on Mondays, but not on this day! Instead it changed to the English broadcast at 1345 till s/off 1400. Very good signal with only slight co-channel QRM from CNR 2, Apr 11.

 9839.84   VIETNAM. VoV - Son Tay. Noted as usual on this off-freq channel at 2245 with Mandarin to EAs, poor signal and slight QRM Malaysia on 9835, Apr 10.

 9890   OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. English WS to EAs at 2235, NF (possibly ex 5960), poor signal Apr 10.

 9895   EGYPT. R. Cairo - Abis. French to Eu at 2035, NF (ex 9900) and with the usual distorted audio, Apr 10.

 11550   TAJIKISTAN. National Unity R. - Dushanbe. S/on 1300 in Korean with long passionate talks, fair signal but with heavy co-channel QRM from WEWN's Spanish service which signs on at exactly the same time. NF (ex 7515), Apr 11.

 11560   INDIA. AIR - Panaji. Scheduled to s/on 1315, but I couldn't find it. I sat on the frequency for a while. Suddenly, at 1326 there was a short test tone for a few seconds and then Dari programming switched through in the middle of a song. A talk with many mentions of Pakistan at 1330. Fair to good signal but with a slight audio or transmitter hum, Apr 11.

 11585   GUAM. KTWR - Agana. Noted at s/on 1345 in the Dogri language beamed to SAs, very good signal and NF (ex 11590), Apr 11.

 11874.9   ENGLAND. IBRA R. Surprisingly, quite a way off freq here for the Radio Ibrahim Hausa program at 1945 to s/off 2000, NF (ex 7235) and fair signal, Apr 15.

 11935   GUAM. KTWR - Agana. Strong signal at 1335 in the Assamese language to SAs, NF (ex 15225), Apr 11.

 11955  AUSTRIA. AWR - Moosbrunn. Dyula service with full ID and address details at 2014, NF (ex 9770), poor signal, Apr 15.

 11965   JAPAN. R. Japan - Yamata. Japanese to ME and NAf at 1945, NF (ex 9670), fair on Apr 10.

 11985   FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Arabic to WAf at 0645 to s/off 0659, NF (ex 5865), seriously strong signal on Apr 11.

 12050   ASCENSION IS. Dandal Kura - Ascension. Poor signal but occasionally breaking through the noise at 2105 in the Kurani language, beamed to Nigeria, Apr 10.

 12060   FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Now here (NF) at 2015 with Arabic to WAf, good signal on Apr 10.

 13580   UZBEKISTAN. BBC - Tashkent. 30-min Hindi service to SAs at 0230, NF and a strong signal. Also // 11995 via Dhabayya (also a NF for A16), but much weaker there, Apr 12.

 13725   FRANCE. RFI - Issoudun. English to CAf 0600-0700, NF (ex 9790), strong signal on Apr 11.

 13790   NTH MARIANA IS. RFA - Agingan Point. S/on 0300 in Mandarin with CNR jamming, NF and fair signal, Apr 12.

 13840   SRI LANKA. VOA Deewa R. - Iranawila. Pashto service at 0305, NF and a strong signal. Also // with other NFs 12035  (via Kuwait) and 11700 (via Iranawila), but both those freqs were much weaker than 13840, Apr 12.

 15090   KUWAIT. R. Azadi - Kuwait. Dari service at 0325, into Pashto at 0330. NF - probably ex 12140, although 13860 (via Ban Dung) has also gone since the B15 season concluded. Fair to poor signal, Apr 12.

 15325   JAPAN. R. Japan - Yamata. Japanese to SAs at 0340, NF (ex 15590), scheduled s/off is 0500, fair signal, Apr 12.

 15480   ENGLAND. Dandal Kura - Woofferton. In the Kanuri language to Nigeria at 0710, heavy co-channel QRM from CNR 1 on Apr 11.

 15580   BOTSWANA. VOA - Moepeng Hill. English service to Af now runs 0300 to 0700 from this site. In B15, it ran 0300-0500 from Kuwait before switching to Botswana at 0500. Noted at 0350 with a fair signal here, Apr 12.

 15630   UZBEKISTAN. R. Free North Korea - Tashkent. Korean with the last few minutes of music at 1255 till s/off 1259, weak signal on Apr 11.

 17800   FRANCE. DW - Issoudun. English to WAf at s/on 0700, NS (ex Dhabayya), poor signal. // 15530 which was much stronger here, Apr 11.

 That's it from here for now. I hope there's something of interest there for you.

 73 and have a great weekend everyone!

 Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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