STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK - January 13, 2017

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). There are numerous online news reports on this including http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/sarawak-chief-minister-dies-of-heart-attack

GERMANY
Deutsche Welle has just announced some frequency changed that were scheduled to begin on January 11. I haven't had a chance to check these out myself yet, but from the DW website, these are the changes:

1330-1400 on 9580 via Dhabayya, UAE in Dari to Afghanistan (ex 15215 via Nauen)
1400-1430 on 9580 via Dhabayya in Pashto to AFG (also ex 15215)
1800-1900 on 9600 via Issoudun in French to WAf (ex 11700)

The 9580 outlet is going to be tough for me with R. Australia on that frequency until its inevitable permanent closedown on January 31.

PHILIPPINES
Radio Veritas Asia is on the new frequency of 11840 kHz at 1400-1427 in Bengali (ex 11825) as of January 8. (Thanks to Alok Kr Dasgupta in the WRTH Facebook Group)

KUWAIT
Towards the end of 2016, transmitter and antenna communications specialists Ampegon presented a media release:

AMPEGON RENEWS SHORTWAVE TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS IN KUWAIT

Shortwave modernization project

Turgi, Switzerland, December 20, 2016. Ampegon has received a contract by Al Rashed company to upgrade five analog shortwave transmitters for the Kuwait Ministry of Information in Al Kabd station.

Ampegon will refurbish the five transmitters delivered in 1992 and 1995. Additionally, three transmitters delivered in 1995 will be upgraded to full digital DRM integration and converted to the new transmitter control system UCS (Unified Control System) including replacement of new motor drives within the tuning circuits. The latest DC motor technology allows faster and more accurate positioning of the transmitter tuning with digital control for fully automated frequency changes. Commissioning and on-site work by Ampegon and Al Rashed engineers will start in January 2017.

Al Rashed company provides turnkey projects in the broadcast field as well as professional services and integration solutions.

The Ministry of Information in Kuwait has one of the largest facilities in the Middle East and the project highlights that AM / DRM radio broadcasting keeps its important role in this area of the world. (Ampegon).

It will be interesting to see if and when Kuwait returns to shortwave, and in what format.

Incidentally, Ampegon has an 11 minute promotional video describing its mission and work. At 4:45 min there are some impressive aerial shots of the transmitters at Nauen, Germany. Check it out at https://vimeo.com/100690995

FROM THE LOG BOOK

3325   PAPUA NEW GUINEA. NBC - Bougainville. Tok Pisin talks at 1145, 

3344.86   INDONESIA. RRI - Ternate. A fair level of carrier present at 1135 but woefully weak audio with occasional wisps of Indonesian pop music and anncts. Pity! Jan 13.

4055   GUATEMALA. R. Verdad - Chiquimula. Hymns at 1110, banjo music on "I've Been Working on the Railroad" at 1119. Preaching in Spanish at 1124. Weak-ish signal but quite good considering it's summer here and many evening thunderstorms are around the top half of Australia, Jan 13. It never ceases to amaze me how often this station's very low power still seems to make it to the Australian continent! Must be some type of "secret sauce" or sacred propagation involved!

4765   TAJIKISTAN. R. Tajikistan - Yangi Yul. Some pretty weird local music involving drums and singing at 1940 for the Radio 1 service. Fair to poor signal, Jan 12.

4930   BOTSWANA. VoA - Moepeng Hill. News in slow English 1932, good signal on Jan 12.

4940   SAO TOME. VoA - Pinheira. 30-min Hausa service to WAf with news reports at 2040, poor signal most days. Runs parallel with 11850 (via Moepeng Hill) where it's a little stronger, Jan 12.

4949.71   ANGOLA. R. Nacional - Mulenvos. Discussion program in Portuguese at 1929. Fair signal, Jan 12.

5020   SOLOMON ISLANDS. SIBC - Honiara. Bluesy Gospel song at 1925. Fair signal, Jan 12.

5900   TAIWAN. R. Taiwan Int'l - Kouhu. Mandarin service to EAs at 1211, good signal and equal strength with CNR 1 jammer. NF (ex 11640), Jan 13.

6090   ETHIOPIA. Amhara State Radio - Addis Ababa. A discussion program (or perhaps a radio play?…bit hard to tell!) at 2002 in the Amharic language. Groovy Afro music at 2008. One of the more reliable Ethiopian signals here with very good strength on Jan 12.

6130   SWAZILAND. TWR Africa - Manzini. In the listed Umbundu language to Angola at 1840 with preaching and occasional songs by a native choir. Clear mentions of Angola on several occasions and a TWR ID at 1850. Fair signal with slight residual QRM slop from Korean jamming on 6135, Jan 12.

7270   INDIA. AIR - Chennai. Music and chat program in the Tamil service at 1202, good signal, Jan 13.

7445   MADAGASCAR. BBC - Talata Volonondry. English WS at 1915 to EAf, fair signal Jan 12.

7480   MOLDOVA. R. Payam e-Doost - Grigoriopol. Farsi talk program with soft piano in the background. Clear mentions of R. Payam e-Doost on four occasions between 1803 and 1812, Strong signal, Jan 12.

9500   SWAZILAND. TWR Africa - Manzini. English religious program to EAf (100kW) at 1815, weak but clear signal on Jan 12.

9540   EGYPT. R. Cairo. Italian service to Eu 1830. Appeared to be dead on-frequency today (sometimes operates between 100-200 Hz higher than this)! With clear-ish audio, I could actually identify the language although there was a background transmitter hum. Fair signal, Jan 12.

9545   TAIWAN. R. Taiwan Int'l - Tamsui. Mandarin to EAs at 1115, good signal but with CNR 1 jamming, and // 5900 also heard. NF on Jan 13.

9939.98   SWAZILAND. TWR Africa - Manzini. While checking TWR Africa freqs this morning, I waited for this to s/on. Carrier on at 2001, IS and ID as "This is Trans World Radio Swaziland" at 2002. Start of broadcast at 2005 (as scheduled) in the Lingala language to CAf (specifically the Dem Rep of Congo). Poor signal here but strong on the European Twente remote receiver, Jan 12.

11513   TAJIKISTAN. Voice of Tibet - Dushanbe. Tibetan news reports at 1120, good signal but with QRM CNR 1 jammer on 11515, Jan 13.

11835   JAMMING. Heavy and effective jamming here, I suspect covering VoA-Ban Dung for their service to EAf in Amharic at 1820. No doubt the Ethiopian authorities are at it again. Also noted on 12110 kHz for the parallel VoA-Lampertheim outlet. Both these frequencies were new in mid-December. I just couldn't hear a trace of either VoA broadcast under this wall of sound today, Jan 12.

11850   BOTSWANA. VoA - Moepeng Hill. Fast Hausa chat in news reports at 2034 for the 30-min service to WAf every day except Sundays, weak signal on Jan 12.

17780   SRI LANKA. AWR - Trincomalee. Arabic service to ME at 0550 with preaching and then a Kenny G song! Poor signal although Kenny came through loud and clear - that soprano sax can penetrate any noise that the shortwave bands throw at it!! Noted till s/off 0559, Jan 13.

17845   UAE. R. Ergo - Dhabayya. Somali service to EAf at 1205 with talk programming. Weak signal on Jan 13. As the sunspot count draws closer to its minimum for this cycle, the 19, 16 and 13 metre bands are becoming increasingly harder to propagate signals around the world, even in our local summer evenings.

73 and have a great weekend everyone!

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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