Mount Evelyn DX Report

RADIO AUSTRALIA THE LAST TWO MINUTES January 31, 2017 Hi Folks, Today I listened to Radio Australia for the very last time. 15240 kHz and 15415 kHz were plagued with local noise and not especially strong signals. So 17840 kHz was the best option for my final moments with this grand old shortwave broadcaster. The sign off came at 0100 UTC after the playing of the old "Waltzing Matilda" interval signal. Mount Evelyn is about 200 km south of the Shepparton transmitter site – not far enough for proper F layer reflection and off the side of the beam, so the signal was a bit scratchy. But I was there for the end and that’s the important thing! Thank you to all the MEDXR readers who have been so kind in their comments about our national broadcaster. I know RA meant much to so many people around the globe. But I’ll have more to say on this in the near future. Thanks also for your support of the "Save Radio Australia" cause. The fight is not over yet! Here are ...

From 1973, a Voice of Nigeria QSL for 7255 kHz. Still using that frequency after all these years! The back of this card is displayed below. AFRICA - DX QUICK TIPS January 27, 2017 Over the past week I have been monitoring a number of known frequencies from the African continent. This is a quick list of stations heard in the time I had available. It is by no means a complete list of all broadcasts from African transmitter sites. That list might come later! 3255   SOUTH AFRICA. BBC - Meyerton. English WS to SAf with music programming at 1850, poor signal on Jan 22 but some days this can be quite strong. 4930   BOTSWANA. VoA - Moepeng Hill. English service to SAf at 1815 with a political discussion, fair signal Jan 22. 5950   ETHIOPIA. VoTigray Revolution - Addis Ababa. A programming mix of East African music and talk at 1945 till s/off at 2001, very good signal, Jan 18. 6030    ETHIOPIA. R. Oromiya - Addis Ababa. Groovy Horn-of-Africa dance...

OPPOSITION LEADER & NTCA ENTER ABC DEBATE A report in the online Guardian Australia says that Australian opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has stepped into the debate by sending the Prime Minister, Mr. Turnbull, a letter pleading to work with the Labor Party, the ABC, and stakeholders in outback Northern Territory to develop a solution for this important service. Entitled  Bill Shorten calls on Turnbull to save ABC shortwave radio broadcasts , i n part the report by Helen Davidson in Darwin says: Labor leader says reasons to shut down service ‘do not account for the reality of service availability in remote areas’ On Thursday, Shorten wrote to Turnbull, asking him to work with ABC management, local stakeholders and Labor “as a matter of urgency to ensure the continued provision of shortwave radio service in the NT beyond 31 January 2017.” “The ABC’s claim that the majority of listeners will be able to access ABC services via AM/FM radio, digital radio and online stre...

TECSUN AUSTRALIA RESPONDS  TO IMPENDING CLOSURE Tecsun's distributor in Australia, Garry Cratt VK2YBX from Tecsun Radios Australia , was recently interviewed by the ABC Rural Radio Network along with Mick Hutton, a local outback tour operator from Beadell Tours. Garry has sent me his Tecsun media release about the decommissioning of both the outback Northern Territory service and the international Radio Australia service. In their ABC interviews, both Garry and Mick offered some terrific insights into the problems that will arise as a result of the closure of the services. Here's Garry's email: Tecsun Radios Australia owner Garry Cratt was interviewed by ABC Rural this week about the ABC’s decision to end their shortwave radio transmission after almost 80 years. The ABC have decided that as shortwave technology is now nearly a century old, it is outdated and serves a very limited audience. They are planning on moving towards a digital focused service instead. ...

DX QUICK TIPS January 22, 2017 4774.9   PERU. R. Tarma - Tarma, Junín. Surprised to hear this in high summer, but the weak signal was quite readable at 1054. A radio production program combining story telling about families with singing, all mashed together. Interesting. At 1058, a choral rendition of "Ave Maria". Full ID at 1100 with mention of both MW and SW frequencies, then into news reports with background music. I also checked the online R. Tarma audio and found it about 1 minute behind the terrestrial signal. Faded out by 1105, Jan 20. 4955   PERU. R. Cultural Amauta - Huanta. Laid back song with Andean pipes accompaniment and occasional dialogue over the top at 1044. Weakish signal but good for a noisy summer evening, Jan 20. 6155   FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Today's transmission began EXACTLY at 2100, bursting straight into Qur'an recitations and flattening the CNR 2 station that had signed on just 5 minutes earlier (2055). Female annou...

Iranawila transmitter site (photo by Victor Goonetilleke 4S7VK via the India DXing Cooperation Forum) VOA - IRANWILA TRANSMITTER SITE IN THE NEWS In the past few days, two interesting online news items have appeared about the recently decommissioned Voice of America transmitter site at Iranawila, Sri Lanka. Both items come from the EconomyNext website : Sri Lanka state broadcaster, military to get some VOA transmitting assets Sri Lanka's state-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), and the military will get some equipment from a closed Voice of America relay station, which is being dismantled. The Voice of America made its last broadcast from the relay station in Iranawila, Chilaw on June 10, 2016, amid budget cuts and declining viewership for shortwave radio listening. The VOA station had two 500 kiloWatt Marconi transmitters and six 250 kW transmitters when it began operations over 16 years ago, according to publicly available data. Continue reading this...

Part of the antenna system at Nauen relay site in Germany (Ampegon) STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK January 13, 2017 STATION NEWS MALAYSIA Ron Howard (CA, USA) reports in the WRTH Facebook forum: MALAYSIA. 9835, Sarawak FM, via Kajang, 1537, Jan 12. Chief Minister of Sarawak (Tan Sri Adenan Satem) passed away yesterday; there will be seven days of mourning and  flags will be at half-mast, for this popular leader. Heard mostly non-stop reciting from the Qur'an, with brief IDs;  noted a recital by a woman, which is extremely rare, so I knew something very unique was going on; certainly these recitals  are in honor of the late leader; still heard at 1629, with good reception. No other Malaysian stations were heard today, which has been the case recently; no Asyik FM (6050) and no Wai FM (11665). Thanks, Ron. Also noted here on 9835 with none of the usual FM music programming noted at 2030 to past 2100. Just Qur'an recitations and no IDs either. (Jan 12)...

Book Review PORTABLE WIRE ANTENNAS by John W Hill KF7SQQ Some months back, I purchased the latest edition (v2.1, 2015) of John W. Hill's excellent antenna compendium Portable Wire Antennas . And now having had some time over the holiday period to dig into the book, I'm mighty glad I did buy it! There are some really helpful hints for deploying antennas in portable or temporary situations. However, all of the designs presented in this book will work just fine in the home QTH environment as well. Although it is aimed principally at the licensed amateur radio operator, this book should also be read by the average shortwave listener, too! There's plenty here for all radio hobbyists to enjoy! Portable Wire Antennas is described on the Amazon site as: This is not a book on antenna theory. It does provide clear easily understood explanations on the principles of antenna operation, transmission line considerations, impedance matching, baluns, tuners, and the pro...