STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK - June 17, 2016


STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK
June 17, 2016

STATION NEWS

VANUATU
An interesting item came to notice via the website of Radio New Zealand International concerning the services of VBTC, the broadcaster charged with the responsibility of providing radio and television services in Vanuatu. VBTC had unpaid debts owing to the nation's electricity provider UNELCO. Last Thursday, the provider decided to cut supply, forcing the broadcaster to crank up their own generators to keep the station on air. But by Monday, the fuel supplies had dried up, plunging both the radio and TV operations into blackout mode. This lasted for a day before UNELCO decided (....or perhaps were pressured??) to flick on the power switch again. Services are now back to normal.

 Vanuatu has had a somewhat chequered history when it comes to the management of its state coffers. There have been allegations of corruption at the government level in the past. Other Pacific nations such as Australia and especially New Zealand have regularly lent a hand to keep the national broadcaster on the air. But some are of the opinion that this financial and practical support is wasted as the Vanuatu Government doesn't always want to help itself. Then things like last year's massive destruction resulting from Cyclone Pam sent the nation reeling. Radio communication is vital for a nation of more than 80 islands spread across 1300 kilometers from the northernmost to the southernmost islands in the archipelago, especially when the country and surrounding nations are subjected to regular cyclones and earthquakes. There are, indeed, many issues facing in that relatively poor island nation of Vanuatu! Quite sad, really.

 However, with the exception of Monday's "day-off", the signal from Radio Vanuatu is usually quite strong on their 41mb outlet of 7259.95 kHz. During the Mount Evelyn winter, we are hearing it fade in around 0425 UTC (2:25pm here) with a weak signal at first, then becoming much stronger by 0630 UTC. Programming is commonly in the local Bislama language, which can be a bit confusing at times as there are many English phrases thrown into the dialogue. At other times English announcements and programs are regularly featured. Below is a recording of the station as monitored here at Mount Evelyn on June 9. It includes a demonstration of the effectiveness of the Yaesu FTDX3000's digital noise reduction!


IRANAWILA OFF THE AIR
The IBB / VOA facility at Iranawila, Sri Lanka closed on June 6 after 19 years of operation relaying VOA, R. Free Asia, R. Farda, Deewa Radio, R. Liberty, and others. Apparently, the transmitter site was going to need a big injection of money to keep up its maintenance program, so it was decided to pull the plug on its operations. Long-time VOA monitor Victor Goonetilleke has remarked how sad it is to see the IBB facility in Sri Lanka closing after many years of operation in his country. Broadcasts scheduled from the now defunct Iranawila site have been distributed amongst the other transmitter sites of Biblis, Yerevan, Kuwait, Ban Dung, Lampertheim, Tinang, Woofferton, Saipan and Tinian.

 BBC ANTARCTIC BROADCAST
Just a quick reminder of the upcoming BBC special broadcast on June 21 between 2130 and 2200 UTC. Click HERE for full details. 

 THANK YOU!
I've had some lovely feedback to my recent 4-part YouTube video series on the restoration of the Kenwood R-5000 receiver, and on last week's YouTube video version of Station News and the Logbook. Your kind comments and encouragements are very much appreciated! Thanks again.

FROM THE LOG BOOK

Reception conditions have been mixed this past week. Some geomagnetic storm activity has meant that signals were of poor strength on some occasions, while at other times some good DX was observed on the bands.

4930   BOTSWANA. VOA - Moepeng Hill. African music programming at 2040 with heavily accented announcements in English, somewhat buried in the static on June 16. Here's a video clip:


4940   SAO TOME. VOA - Pinheira. Very weak signal today at 2045 with the 30-min Hausa service to WAf (English on Sats/Suns), June 16.

 4960   UNIDENTIFIED. Believed to be VOA - Pinheira. French to WAf at 0550 to s/off 0630 with a weak signal. If indeed it was Sao Tome, then this signal is received via the winter afternoon long path, June 16.

 5066.36   CONGO DEM. REP. R. Candip - Bunia. I just caught the last few minutes of this station before it closed down at 2006, some lovely music to end the transmission. A fair signal and nice to hear it again after over a year since it last reached Mount Evelyn, June 16.

 5810   USA. WEWN - Vandiver AL. Spanish religious programming at 0415 (2:15pm here), fair to poor signal on June 16. Other US-based stations noted at this time included 5830 WTWW-Lebanon TN, 5935 WWCR-Nashville TN, 5985 WRMI-Okeechobee FL, and 6030 R. Marti-Greenville NC, June 16.

 5930   IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. Additional Arabic service for Ramadan at 2205 to ME, good signal June 16.

 5975   ENGLAND. R. Japan - Woofferton. English to Eu at s/on 0500, fair signal, June 16.

 6070   CANADA. CFRX - Toronto. F/in around 0710 with very early morning talk radio format but the signal was weak and hard to make out the content under discussion. Still weak at 0930 when it was flattened by VoKorea's Japanese service. Fabulous to hear this 1kW minnow making its annual visit down to wintery Mount Evelyn! June 9.

 6070   VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. S/on 0530 with the Latin Mass, fair to poor signal, June 16.

 6090   ANGUILLA. Caribbean Beacon - Anguilla. American preaching at f/in 0420 (2:20pm here), weak at first but improved by 0530 but with a low level long path het from Nigeria 6089.89 kHz, June 16.

 6105   GERMANY. RFE/RL - Lampertheim. Belarusian service to EEu at 0445, fair on June 16.

 6155   AUSTRIA. ORF - Moosbrunn. French to NAf (300kW at 220˚) at 0450 with fair signal till s/off 0455. Changes to German to Eu at 0500 with a stronger signal (still 300kW but the antenna used is non-directional at that time!) June 16.

 6180.02   BRAZIL. R. Nacional - Brasilia. ID at 2130 then news items. On this day it faded out by 2300, via the long path and // 11780 on June 16.

 7254.94   NIGERIA. VoNigeria - Abuja-Lugbe. Long speech in Hausa to WAf at 0645, occasional interjections of short drum rhythms, fair signal, June 16

 7375   IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. Music programming in the Azeri language to EEu at 2020, special service during Ramadan with a fair signal, June 16.

 9400   PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Iba. Mandarin service at 1014 and different programming from 9430 kHz where it's also Mandarin, good signal, June 9.

 9430   PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. Mandarin service at 1010 with easy listening pop styled song, fair signal, June 9.

 9636   VIETNAM. VoV - Son Tay. Settled right on 9636 kHz (up a little higher than its usual "off-frequency" residency of 9635.8 kHz) for the Vietnamese national service relay at 1000, good signal, June 9.

 9655   ALASKA. KNLS - Anchor Point. Pop styled music sung in English in the Mandarin service at 0955, very good signal until 1000 when some slight QRM from the R. Taiwan Int'l / CNR 1 mess on 9660 kHz, June 9.

 9665   D.P.R.KOREA. KCBS - Kanggye. Military music with orchestra and choir at 0950, fair signal, June 9.

 9655   FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Fair signal in the clear at 2035 with Qur'an, June 16.

 9760   GUAM. KSDA - Agat. AWR programming in Russian to EAs at 2025, full English ID at 2029 then s/off 2030. Huge signal on June 16.

 9805   KOREA REP. KBS WR - Kimjae. Japanese to EAs at 0940, fair to poor signal, June 9.

 9930   PALAU. T8WH - Medorn. American preaching at 0935, fair signal and a slight het from the much weaker Sound of Hope on 9930.1 kHz, June 9.

 12034.89   MONGOLIA. VoMongolia - Ulaanbaatar. Mongolian service to As at 0945, very good signal. Here's a video clip of that transmission as monitored here on June 9.


15180   D.P.R.KOREA. VoK - Kujang. English to SAm at 1115, fair signal June 12.

 15343.95   ARGENTINA. R. Argentina al Exterior - General Pacheco. A weak signal at 2145 with a discussion, then song. Time pips at 2200 then Spanish. A little distortion on the audio, June 16.

 15500   GUAM. KSDA-AWR - Agat. Indonesian programming at 1110, fair to poor signal, June 12.

 That's it for this week. 73 and have a great weekend everyone,

 Rob Wagner VK3BVW


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