HOW TO IDENTIFY CHANGES IN STATION SCHEDULES

Another Aspect of the Radio Hobby

The shortwave bands are in a constant state of flux. And radio reception varies with the seasons. As a result, radio stations often need to alter their frequencies and times for best all-year-round reception at the listener’s location. There are two seasonal changeovers: the “A” transmission period coincides with the northern hemisphere summer (March to October), and the “B” transmission schedule for the winter period (October to March). Leading up to these changeovers, broadcasters plan their schedules for the coming season. The B16 transmission season began last weekend.

Want to improve your understanding of shortwave propagation characteristics? Study a few of the strategies employed by broadcast engineers at international radio stations during the twice yearly schedule changeovers. You'll quickly learn much about how it all works!

Frequency changes by international broadcasters allow you the opportunity to observe the factors that come into play at BOTH the transmitter site and the reception target zone in another part of the world. Broadly speaking, we know that when winter arrives reception of the higher frequencies declines and the lower frequencies provide better reception. The reverse applies in summer - reception on the higher frequencies are enhanced and ionospheric absorption of signals increases at lower frequencies. In addition, these characteristics change for both daytime and nighttime reception in summer and winter. Furthermore, some interesting reception opportunities occur in certain regions of the world during the summer and winter equinoxes. On top of this, factor in the 11-year sunspot cycle and the current monthly smoothed sunspot number (SSN). So, station engineers have quite a few variables to consider while selecting their preferred shortwave bands when targeting their signals to the listener's location in some other part of the world! Perhaps one could even consider that these calculations as both a science and an art!

Next, the engineers representing each station have to sit down with their colleagues (competitors?) from other broadcasters and negotiate suitable frequency allocations in each of the preferred bands. This is why we have the existence of the High Frequency Coordination Committee (HFCC). Working together to find and register suitable frequencies that don't interfere with other transmissions is an important part of successfully ensuring that everyone "wins". The HFCC describes its role this way:

The main objective of the HFCC is to provide the representation and services for the promotion of an efficient and economical use of the short-wave radio spectrum, and the improvement of radio reception of shortwave broadcast transmissions worldwide......

HFCC's main activity is a direct coordination of frequencies among frequency managers and specialists of broadcasters, administrations, transmission service providers and other organisations with the aim to facilitate the resolution or minimisation of mutual interference on short waves.....

Membership of the HFCC is open to all individuals and organisations that provide frequency management and planning for recognised shortwave broadcasters.

And it has to be said that the HFCC does a very good job at trying to resolve potential conflicts and clashes in frequency registration. But we didn't always have this informal governing body. HFCC was only formed in 1990. Prior to that, there was much "rough and tumble" as stations tried to sort it out for themselves and avoid getting in each others way. Remember also, in the 1970s and 80's there were many more shortwave broadcasters than there are today, each with very large operating schedules. For younger readers here, imagine the international bands being six or seven times busier than they are today!

Understanding propagation characteristics, frequency allocation, antenna beam headings, different time zones and many other aspects of international broadcasting have been a source of fascination for me, both as a shortwave listener and as an amateur (ham) radio operator.

Here are some things to consider when monitoring the change in transmission seasons:

Learn the basics of shortwave propagation and the characteristics on display over a 24-hour period, seasonally, annually, and within the sunspot cycle. It's a big topic and takes a while to really absorb it all!
Familiarise yourself with which part of the spectrum the broadcaster can be expected to successfully utilise during a certain season.

When finding a station on a new frequency (NF), try to locate and note down the formerly used frequency. Sometimes, that same station will return to the deleted frequency at the start of the next season (the next half of the year).

Noting the deleted frequency often reveals that another station has taken up position on that channel.

Check to see if the same transmitter site is used for the NF. With so many stations using a variety of relay sites these days, you cannot just assume that the same relay is being used for the NF as it was for the old frequency.

Some station schedules are complicated and can be hard to decipher. Time changes, language changes, an increase or decrease in the number of frequencies the station employs for a particular service, daily broadcasts, weekends only, weekdays only, or only certains days of the week can make it tricky to reveal how the NF relates to the old frequency. Expect that you might sometimes get it wrong!

A few stations (e.g. China Radio International or Radio Free Asia) use so many outlets for some broadcasts that it can be too hard to tell what was the replaced frequency. In those cases, I just throw up my hands and move on!

Maybe the target location of the broadcast has changed. Checking the transmitter's azimuth beam headings can help here.

Like other "old dudes", I have spent many years observing and documenting the schedule changes of shortwave broadcasters. This is a part of the hobby that I personally find quite absorbing. However, I'm aware that it's probably NOT something that some others might enjoy quite so much!

Since the B16 changes came in one week ago, I have been busy monitoring the bands to find the NFs and the deleted frequencies (the ex's) and any other variations to the broadcasting schedules of each station.

There are HUNDREDS of changes to discover. But I can't find them all - I also have to eat, sleep, and get on with life!

However, here is a list of the 93 observations I have made over just the past few days:

NOTE: Frequencies in kHz, Times in UTC
ABBREVIATIONS: NF = New Frequency, ex = deleted frequency, QRM = interference, // = another or parallel frequency used at the same time, As = Asia, SEAs = South East Asia, etc. Af = Africa, WAf = West Africa, etc. Eu = Europe, EEu = Eastern Europe, etc. NAm = Nth America, ENAm = Eastern Nth America, etc. Oc = Oceania
FORMAT: Freq - Country of Transmitter site - Station Name - Transmitter Location - comments.

5885 NTH MARIANA IS. RFA - Tinian. Korean to EAs at 1710, NF and good signal, Nov 4.

5910 OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. S/on 1700 in Dari to SEAs, NF, good signal, Nov 4.

5955 ROMANIA. RRI - Tiganesti. Italian to SEu, 1715, NF (ex 5910) and fair signal, Nov 4.

5965 NTH MARIANA IS. RFA - Tinian. Mandarin at 2030, NF and heavy jamming, Oct 31.

5970 TURKEY. VoT - Emirler. French to Eu, 2035, NF (ex 9635), fair signal Oct 31.

5980 TURKEY. VoT - Emirler. Turkish to Eu 2005, NF (ex 9460), good signal, Oct 31.

5990 ROMANIA. RRI - Galbeni. Romanian to Eu, 2040 to s/off 2100, NF (Believed to be ex 9500), good signal, Oct 31.

6010 CHINA. CRI - Urumqi. S/on 1800 in Amoy (Min Nan Chinese), NF (ex 13700) fair signal but QRM from Korean jamming on 6015, Nov 4.

6025 IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. German to Eu at s/on 1720, NF (ex 9660), good signal, Nov. 4

6040 CHINA. CRI - Urumqi. Russian to EEu at 1745 to s/off 1757, NF (possibly ex 11875 for this txer site) and excellent signal Nov 4.

6050 TURKEY. VoT - Emirler. English to Eu at 2015 to s/off 2025, NF (ex 9785), fair signal, Oct 31.

6060 IRAN. VOIRI - Zhaedan. Arabic to NAf at 1802, NF (ex 7285), fair signal, Nov 4.

6070 CHINA. CRI - Beijing. Russian to EEu at 1815, NF (ex 9560), very good signal Nov 4.

6090 OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. English WS to CAs and ME, 1820, NF (ex 7375), good signal and // 6195 also heard via Al Seela, Nov 4.

6100 CHINA. CRI - Beijing. English to Eu at 1800-1900, NF (ex 9600), excellent signal and // 7405 (via Beijing) which is also a NF and well heard on Nov 4.

6120 TURKEY. VoT - Emirler. Turkish to ME and NAf 2105, NF (ex 5960), good signal Oct 31.

6155 FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Arabic with the Qur'an at 2110, NF (possibly ex 9655?), good signal Oct 31.

6160 CHINA. CRI - Xian. German to Eu at 1835 to s/off 1857, NF (probably replacing one or both of the 25mb outlets from A16 of 11775 or 11650), good signal Nov 4.

6170 D.P.R.KOREA. VoKorea - Kujang. German at 1840 to s/off 1927, NF (ex 12015, which now runs English at this time), good signal, Nov 4.

7285 CHINA. CRI - Xian. Amoy service (a.k.a the Min Nan Chinese language) at 1800 s/on, NF (ex 11895), very good signal, Nov 4.

7310 ROMANIA. RRI - Tiganesti. English s/on 2130 to ENAm, NF (ex 11850 or 13650) and // 6170 also heard, good signal Oct 31.

7375 ROMANIA. RRI - Galbeni. English s/on 2130 to Eu, NF and fair signal Oct 31.

7425 IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. German s/on 1720 to Eu, NF (ex 7235), fair signal Nov 4.

7465 ALBANIA. R. Tirana - Shijak. English s/on 2100 to Eu, now one hour later for the Eu winter, usual terrible transmitter hum (have you tried kicking it?) on Oct 31.

9355 KUWAIT. VoA Deewa R. - Umm al-Rimam. Pashto service to Afghanistan at 1805, NF (ex 9335), good signal. Runs // 9370 via Ban Dung, which is also an NF (ex 7540) but with a much weaker signal there. Nov 5.

9400 ARMENIA. R. Denge Kurdistane - Erevan. NF for the Kurdish service at 1135, weak signal and heavy QRM from the regular co-channel FEBC, Nov 2.

9410 OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. English WS to ME and CAs 0425, NF and replaces Arabic via Woofferton at this time in A16, poor signal Nov 4.

9460 CHINA. CRI - Jinhua. The Hakka service at 0020, NF (ex 15100), running // 9460 and 9610 also heard, Nov 3.

9460 SOUTH AFRICA. BBC - Meyerton. English WS to EAf at 0430, NF and a good signal, Nov 4.

9485 ENGLAND. VoA - Woofferton. Amharic service to EAf 1820, NF, good signal but with noise jamming in the background, Nov 5.

9485 KUWAIT. VoA - Umm al-Rimam. French to Af 2020, NF (ex 9490), poor signal Nov 5.

9515 GERMANY. AWR - Nauen. French to NAf, 2000-2030, NF (ex 9610), good signal Nov 5.

9530 PHILIPPINES. VoA - Tinang. Mandarin at 1150, NF and heavy CNR jamming, Nov 2.

9560 SINGAPORE. BBC - Kranji. Burmese to SEAs at 0005, NF (ex 9810), fair signal. Into Bangla at 0030. Nov 3.

9590 CHINA. CRI - Shijiazhuang. Russian at 1215 to E Russia, fair signal and NF, Nov 2.

9590 NTH MARIANA IS. RFA - Agingan Point. At 2030 in Mandarin, NF and heavy QRM Firedrake music, Nov 5.

9610 TURKEY. VoT - Emirler. English s/on 2130 to SAs and Oceania, NF (ex 9620), booming signal Oct 31.

9610 ROMANIA. RRI - Tiganesti. Spanish to SEu 2035, NF, good signal, Nov 5.

9615 CHINA. CRI - Urumqi. German to WEu 1840, NF (ex 11650), good signal, Nov 5.

9620 PHILIPPINES. VoA - Tinang. Mandarin at 2220, NF and QRM CNR 1 jamming, Oct 31. In A16, BBC-Al Seela was here with WS at this time but has now moved to 5960 for the northern winter season.

9620 TURKEY. VoT - Emirler. French to EAf 1850, NF (ex 7360) and running one hour later for B16, good signal Nov 5.

9625 TAIWAN. RTI - Paochung. Thai service at 1120, NF and good signal Nov 2.

9625 JAPAN. R. Japan - Yamata. Japanese 2000-2100 to Oceania, NF (ex 9645), excellent signal Nov 5.

9635 FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. S/on in Arabic 1900 with the national anthem that goes for many minutes (it seems - quite a boppy little tune, too!!), then into Qur'an. NF (ex 12060), fair signal Nov 5.

9650 MADAGASCAR. Vatican R. - Talata Volonondry. Amharic service s/on 0400 to EAf, into Tigrinya at 0415. NF (ex 9650 via SM Galeria), fair signal. 11625 (SM Galeria) was also used during the A16 season but seems to have been dropped for B16, Nov 4.

9660 VATICAN. Vatican R. SM Galeria. Saturday only service in Spanish between 1900 and 1930 beamed to WAf, NF (ex 13765) and good signal, Nov 5.

9660 VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. French to WAf 2030-2115, NF (ex 13765), fair signal Nov 5.

9670 JAPAN. R. Japan - Yamata. Japanese to ME at 1920, NF (ex 11965), good signal Nov 5.

9690 SPAIN. REE - Noblejas. Spanish at 2230, NF and // 11685, Oct 31.

9700 TURKEY. VoT - Emirler. Turkish noted at 0416 to CEu, NF (ex 11980), fair signal, Nov 4.

9715 AUSTRIA. Bible Voice - Moosbrunn. English at 1931, NF and good signal, Nov 5.

9755 IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. Hebrew at s/on 0420 to ME, NF (possibly replacing 12030 Sirjan or 9880 Kamalabad, not sure!), fair signal Nov 4.

9755 VATICAN. VoA - SM Galeria. Amharic to EAf 1830, NF and good signal except for noise jamming, Nov 5.

9765 ENGLAND. VoA - Woofferton. Hausa to WAf 2030-2100, (not on Sundays), NF and fair signal Nov 5.

9770 FRANCE. R. Japan - Issoudun. S/on 0500 for English to SAf, NF (ex 11970), fair signal Nov 4.

9810 SRI LANKA. AWR - Trincomalee. Burmese to SEAs at 0010, NF (ex 11655), poor signal. In A16, BBC was here in Burmese to SEAs!! Nov 3.

9810 FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Arabic with Qur'an at 1910, NF (possibly ex 13820), good signal Nov 5.

9825 ENGLAND. BBC - Woofferton. Hausa to WAf 1935, NF and fair signal Nov 5.

9840 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. KBS World R. - Dhabayya. Arabic to NAf 2000-2100, NF (ex 13585), fair signal Nov 5.

9850 GERMANY. AWR - Nauen. At 1930-2000 in the Tachelhit language to NAf, NF (ex 9610), fair signal Nov 5.

9860 NTH MARIANA IS. RFA - Agingan Point. Mandarin to EAs 1945, NF and heavy QRM from Firedrake jamming, Nov 5.

9890 KUWAIT. RFA - Umm al-Rimam. Tibetan at 2245, NF and QRM CNR jammer, Oct 31.

9895 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. RTI - Dhabayya. French to Eu 1950 to s/off 2000, NF (ex 7325), weak signal Nov 5.

9900 NTH MARIANA IS. RFA - Agingan Point. Mandarin at 2250, fair signal, no jamming and NF on Oct 31.

9915 ENGLAND. BBC - Woofferton. English WS to WAf 1800-2100, (in A16 was scheduled 2000-2100 via Woofferton), fair signal Nov 5.

11610 NEW ZEALAND. RNZI - Rangitaiki. S/on 1059 English to Nth Pacific and PNG, NF (ex 7425), excellent signal, Nov 2.

11650 THAILAND. VoA - Ban Dung. Mandarin at 0925 with heavy CNR jamming, NF on Nov 1.

11685 SPAIN. REE - Noblejas. Spanish 2235, NF, fair signal Oct 31.

11730 OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. Farsi to ME and SAs s/on 0430, NF (possibly ex 15310), good signal, Nov 4.

11800 ROMANIA. RRI - Tiganesti. Spanish to SAm at s/on 2200, NF (ex 15170), fair signal Oct 31.

11800 STH AFRICA. AWR - Meyerton. French s/on 2000 for 30-min service to CAf, NF (ex 9565-Nauen), fair signal Nov 5.

11825 SINGAPORE. R. Japan - Kranji. S/on 1100 in English to SEAs, NF (ex 11695), good signal, Nov 2.

11855 THAILAND. VoA - Ban Dung. Mandarin 0930 with heavy CNR jamming, NF on Nov 1.

11925 TURKEY. VoT - Emirler. Turkish service to ME 0945 to s/off 0956 after ID, NF and weak signal, Nov 1.

11945 PHILIPPINES. VoA - Tinang. Mandarin at 0035, NF and heavy CNR echo jamming, Nov 3.

11995 GUAM. KTWR - Agana. English to Australia and Oceania s/on 1000, NF (ex 11840) and a powerful signal, Nov 1.

12034.89 MONGOLIA. VoMongolia - Ulaanbaatar. Mandarin service at 1010, good signal, Nov 1.

13640 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. R. Japan - Dhabayya. S/on 0500 in English to Eu and NAf, NF (ex 5975 Woofferton), good signal, Nov 4.

13680 IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. Swahili to EAf at 0545 to s/off 0550, NF (ex 13750), fair signal on Nov 4.

13685 NTH MARIANA IS. VoA - Agingan Point. Lao service at 1100 s/on, NF and poor signal, Nov 2.

13765 THAILAND. R. Farda - Ban Dung. Farsi to Iran at 0515, NF and a poor signal. Changes to Lapertheim at 0530, Nov 4.

13765 GERMANY. R. Farda - Lampertheim. Farsi service at 1100, NF and fair signal, Nov 2.

13820 IRAN. VOIRI - Zahedan. S/on 0530 Arabic to ME, NF (ex 15750), excellent signal Nov 4.

13830 IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. Japanese service at 1115, NF and perhaps an additional service to their regular 2050 UTC transmission? - I don't remember them being on at at this time in A16. Fair signal, Nov 2.

15140 IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. Swahili to EAf at 0540 till s/off 0550, NF (ex 15630), good signal Nov 4.

15150 ROMANIA. RRI - Galbeni. S/on 1200 English to SEAs, now on an hour later for B16, weak signal on Nov 2.

15270 NTH MARIANA IS. RFA - Tinian. Tibetan service s/on 0100, NF and fair to poor signal, mixing with some CNR jamming, Nov 3.

15340 NTH Mariana IS. RFA - Agingan Point. Mandarin to EAs 0555 till 0700, NF and QRM CNR 1 jammer, Nov 4.

15360 IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. S/on 0550 in Hausa to WAf, NF (ex 17560), fair signal, Nov 4.

15420 MADAGASCAR. BBC - Talata Volonondry. English WS to EAf at 0600 till s/off 0800. In A16, this service was via the Dhabayya txer site, UAE. Fair to poor signal, Nov. 4.

15460 ROMANIA. RRI - Tiganesti. S/on 1200 in English to Eu, weak signal and NF (ex 15130), Nov 2.

15510 OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. Arabic to EAf at 0605, NF (ex 15790), good signal, Nov 4.

17765 ROMANIA. RRI - Galbeni. S/on 1200 English to SEAs, weak signal and NF (ex 17670) and on one hour later for B16, Nov 2.

Have you found other new frequencies over the past week or so? Let us know what they are! And above all, have fun!

73 and good DX to you all,

Rob Wagner VK3BVW