Mount Evelyn DX Report

CLOSING THE LOG BOOK ON 2016 Over the last week, reception on the higher frequencies of the shortwave broadcast bands has been quite mixed. However, there's been some interesting DX on frequencies below 13 mHz, including some afternoon Brazilian signals here in the 25mb. 5820   MADAGASCAR. R. Telefis Eireann - Talata Volonondry. S/on 1930 with the RTE Radio 1 service, beaming to CAf, weekdays only. Fair signal Dec 30. 5875   THAILAND. R. Thailand - Ban Dung. S/on 1100 with English ID and then into the 15 min Vietnamese service. Into Khmer language at 1115. Beautiful signal, Dec 26. 7500   UZBEKISTAN. North Korea Reform Radio - Tashkent. S/on 2030 with Haydn's Trumpet Concerto, station ID and talk in Korean. Fair signal with local noise, Dec 30. Initial broadcasts were in December 2007. The English version of this website is http://eng.nkreform.com/ . Frequency details on the site are incorrect! 7510   MOLDOVA. Sedoye Bahar (Voice of Spring) - Grigoriop...

FOREIGN MINISTER PRESSES ABC OVER DECISION A news report from the SBS network indicates that perhaps the recent noise over the closure of Radio Australia is starting to arouse the interest of Australia's Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop! She is currently on a visit of the Solomon Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu for a series of high level meetings relating to economic issues, disaster risk management and regional priorities. Three other parliamentarians are accompanying her on this tour. This comes at a time when some leaders of Pacific nations are openly questioning Australia's commitment to the region by the impending closure of the shortwave service. The SBS article by Stefan Armbruster is entitled " Bishop presses ABC on Pacific ‘concerns’ over shortwave radio cut ". Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop has raised the Pacific region’s “concerns” about the ABC’s planned abolition of Radio Australia’s shortwave service with the national broadcaster and will “se...

YOUTUBE PLEAS TO ABC - SAVE SHORTWAVE Further to yesterday's post here , two YouTube videos have come to light in the last 48 hours urging the ABC to reconsider it's plans to shut down both Radio Australia and the Northern Territory Shortwave Service. And an insightful opinion piece on the issue has appeared on the website of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Pacific Leaders Join Shortwave Fight Firstly, the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Henry Puna, has signed a petition demanding the ABC not axe its vital shortwave radio service. Secondly, Donald Pelam, Vanuatu’s Trade Commissioner to Australia, has made a video appeal to the broadcaster. Here are his comments and concerns: Outback Shortwave Radio Crisis The second video is an impassioned plea from one of the two Federal Government politicians who has been leading the fight to stop the closure of the NT Shortwave Service, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy. She is a former ABC newsreader an...

ABC DEFENDS CLOSURE OF NT SW SERVICE In the latest on the ABC closure saga, the national broadcaster has just released a news item entitled ABC defends decision to axe NT's shortwave radio service amid emergency update concerns . Written by Emilia Terzon, the author reports that the broadcaster met with the two Federal Government politicians McCarthy and Snowden who wrote to the Executive about their concerns at the closure. On reading the article, it seems pretty clear that the ABC administration has no idea just how many people rely on the Northern Territory Shortwave Service. The article also points out that some of the proposed alternatives such as the VAST service "did not work during cloudy weather, especially during monsoons and cyclones." Another man is quoted as saying "he was only able to access ABC Local Radio via satellite on his homestead while standing in his kitchen." Spokesman for the ABC, Richard Mannix is reported to have said it cost...

Sheoak Falls, near Lorne, The Surf Coast DX QUICK TIPS December 19, 2016 Some of these "Quick Tips" are a more than a week old now. So, they are not especially quick! This is because we were on holiday for a week in an area of Victorian coastline known as "The Surf Coast", a wonderful part of the world and spectacular along some parts of The Great Ocean Road. However, I DON'T surf. I don't even swim much! But this is a fabulous area for photography (my other passion!). So, in this post I have included two images of mine that were taken on The Surf Coast. 6145   ARMENIA. RMRC Radio (Rhein Main Radio Club) - Gavar. Special broadcast of the final DSWCI AGM at 2000. Poor signal into Mount Evelyn with local atmospherics. I ended up listening on the Twente remote receiver…..which I HATE! I'd much rather be monitoring it on one of MY radios! Dec 17. 9275.05   USA. WMLK - Bethel PA. American religious preaching, many mentions of Yahweh, weak s...

NT POLITICIANS LOBBY ABC OVER CLOSURE A letter to the Managing Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Michelle Guthrie, has been released by Northern Territory politicians, outlining their concerns over the closure of the ABC's Northern Territory Shortwave Service on January 31.  The Honourable Warren Snowdon MP (Federal Member for Lingiari) and Senator Malarndirri McCarthy (Senator for the Northern Territory) wrote to Ms Guthrie on December 12 outlining their deep disappointment with the decision taken, and in particular about the lack of consultation in relation to emergency broadcasting in remote areas of Australia.  They point out that the national broadcaster should remain accessible to all Australians, accountable to community needs, including the needs of remote listeners. The two politicians point out that the decision has caused consternation and alarm amongst Northern Territorians. To be clear, this letter does not discuss the services of Ra...

Old VQO QSL card sent to the late Ernie Moore, an Australian SWL and ARDXC member. This card was scanned by Sam Dellit for The SWL QSL Card Museum ( http://www.antique-corner.com/SWLQSL/1britsil.htm ) RADIO BROADCASTING -  63 YEARS ON AND COUNTING! I came across a recent article on the early history of the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation. Here is an extract below. The full article can be read on the SIBC website at  http://www.sibconline.com.sb/sibssibc-63rd-anniversary/ At 6 pm on Tuesday 23rd September, 1952, listeners in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP) tuning to 1030 kilocycles in the mediumwave band heard these words through their radio sets: “This is station VQO Honiara commencing the initial programme of the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service”. The SIBS had been established by the British colonial Government to develop radio broadcasting within the Protectorate and to take-over from the weekly information transmissions previ...

RADIO AUSTRALIA TO CLOSE FROM JANUARY 31, 2017 It has just become official. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has just provided a media release today December 6 regarding the future of both Radio Australia and the Northern Territory Shortwave Services. Put bluntly, there is no future. It all closes from January 31, 2017. Here's the media release in full: ABC Exits Shortwave Radio Transmission 06 December 2016 The ABC will end its shortwave transmission service in the Northern Territory and to international audiences from 31 January 2017.  The move is in line with the national broadcaster’s commitment to dispense with outdated technology and to expand its digital content offerings including DAB+ digital radio, online and mobile services, together with FM services for international audiences.  The majority of ABC audiences in the Northern Territory currently access ABC services via AM and FM and all ABC radio and digital radio services are available ...

A much younger VK3BVW. The end of this post has details of what was on the desk at the time. A SMALL MILESTONE FOR MEDXR When I started the Mount Evelyn DX Report back on October 9, 2012, it was simply as an experiment: to see what blogging was all about,  to test how it worked on Google's Blogger platform, and  to see if it was something that I wanted to pursue in greater depth. That's all! I expected it to keep my interest for about, ohhh....maybe, six months - if I was lucky..... As we come to the end of 2016, the MEDXR is still chugging along and has become an important part of the enjoyment that I personally gain from the radio hobby. So, what's the milestone? Well, this website has now reached more than 250,000 page views.  Probably not quite as many page views as the Taylor Swift website!!! 😏  But for a tiny niche market about an old-fashioned hobby of listening to shortwave radio stations, I'm quite surprised to see it get t...

UPDATE: RADIO SHACK PAGE At the top of the blog, you can see a selection of pages to explore on the MEDXR website. One of these is titled Radio Shack . Up until now, it was very out-of-date. So, I've changed the information presented and included a new embedded YouTube video giving you a tour of all the gear in the shack. Also on that page is another YouTube video that I prepared some months ago, which shows the antennas currently in use here. Here's the link to the Radio Shack page . 73 and have a great weekend everyone! Rob Wagner VK3BVW   Subscribe!! Follow @robvk3bvw

RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #8 Click on each image to enlarge YAESU FR-101S by Craig Seager VK2HBT There is a fascinating story behind Japan’s Yaesu Musen Company and how in 1956 a young techie by the name of Sako Hasegawa decided to form his own company in order to design and manufacture single side band amateur radio equipment, ultimately setting up base in the Yaesu district, in Chuo, Tokyo – just to the east of Tokyo station. Sako Hasegawa (Courtesy of Yaesu Museum) Like many place names, “Yaesu” commemorates an actual person – in this case supposedly a Dutchman, Jan Joosten (or at least a Japanese translation of such), who performed some deeds that pleased the then Shogun of Edo. Early Yaesu amateur transmitters, such as the FL-100B, were able to be purchased in Australia from the mid 60’s, with dealers such as Melbourne’s Bail Radio and TV Service stocking and also servicing the equipment.  In those days, you will recall, Japanese electronic gear did not hav...