DX QUICK TIPS - February 17, 2017

DX QUICK TIPS

Week Ending  February 17, 2017

DX conditions have been excellent over the past week, with good reception from Asia, Middle East and Central Europe. The receiver used for these observations was the Yaesu FTDX3000 transceiver. Antennas were chosen from three double bazooka (coax dipoles) cut for 3.5, 7 and 14 mHz and the Par SWL End -Fed. 


4010.21   KYRGYZSTAN. Birinchi R. - Bishkek. Heard at 1655 in what was believed to be the Kyrgyz language. Canned and studio anncts for Birinchi Radio at 1700. Then news highlights in Russian. Weak signal on Sun, Feb 12.

4760   INDIA. AIR - Txer site unknown. A weak signal in Hindi at 1342. I'm not sure if this is from Leh or Port Blair. Only one signal heard, and Port Blair was off for a few days during January but perhaps they are back on air now. It's always hard to tell which station you are listening to as both can be audible here at different times....and neither station has a very strong signal, Feb 13.

4810   INDIA. AIR - Bhopal. Hindi studio anncts and canned anncts at 1345, fair signal Feb 13.

4835   INDIA. AIR - Gangtok. Weak signal at 1327 and difficult to identify the language in the noise (Hindi? Nepali?….). Feb 13. Heard with a weak on many nights now that ABC NT has closed down.

5009.99   INDIA. AIR Thiruvananthapuram - Chennai. Phone-in talkback programming at 1324, very good signal, Feb 13.

5040   INDIA. AIR - Jeypore. Hindi commentary at 1317, canned anncts at 1320. Very good signal on Feb 13.

5830   ARMENIA. BBC - Gavar (Erevan). Pashto service to Afghanistan at 1555, into Dari language at 1600 with BBC ID, good signal, Feb 12.

5885   UZBEKISTAN. BBC - Tashkent. Hindi service at 1422 with the news, NF (ex 7565), very good signal, Feb 13.

5935   JAPAN. Shiokaze (Sea Breeze) - Yamata. S/on 1405 with ID in Japanese to Korea. Good signal except for idling ute QRM and the weak co-channel PBS Xizang in the background. Feb 13.

6100   AFGHANISTAN. R. Afghanistan - Kabul. Long talk believed to be in Dari (at least on this occasion….and NOT Urdu as mentioned in some lists) at 1605, clear channel (no KCBS heard). Electronic Afghani song with a strong rap feel at 1610. Two clear IDs at 1615 and some mentions of Taliban in a talk that followed. Afghani pop ballad at 1624. Into the Arabic service at 1630. Fair to poor signal on Feb 12.

7455    FRANCE. R. Denge Kurdistane - Issoudun. A monster signal at 1705 in Kurdish to ME with news, Feb 12.

7510   UZBEKISTAN. Voice of the Martyrs - Tashkent. Korean/English religious talks at 1540, very good signal, Feb 12.

7510   GUAM. KTWR - Agana. Korean preaching to EAs at 1350, slight hum on the audio otherwise a good signal, Feb 13.

7615   UZBEKISTAN. Voice of Wilderness - Tashkent. S/on at 1330 with two blasts of a trumpet, ID and talk with gentle flute music in the background. Then what sounded like a religious pop song at 1335. Fair signal, no jamming, but the audio was indistinct and rather muffled, Feb 13. 

9355   UZBEKISTAN. R. Free North Korea - Tashkent. Earnest Korean talks and a weak signal at 1254 to s/off at 1300, just as the powerful VOA Deewa R. takes up the frequency. Feb 13.

9505   SUDAN. Voice of Africa - Al-Aitahab. English service to EAf at 1733 with songs, then a new program segment at 1735 on African unity. Fair signal on Feb 12. 

9508   TAJIKISTAN. Voice of Tibet - Dushanbe. Noted at 1355 till s/off 1400. Scheduled for the Tibetan service at 1330-1400. Feb 13.

9600   BULGARIA. Bible Voice - Kostinbrod. Farsi service to Iran with preaching and songs at 1750, excellent signal to s/off 1800, Feb 12.

9740   THAILAND. BBC - Nakhon Sawan. Hindi service at 1420 till s/off 1430, NF (ex 9510), fair signal, Feb 13.

9775   SRI LANKA. FEBA - Trincomalee. Very good signal in the (scheduled) Kannada language to SAs at 1410. Changes to English (on Mondays) at 1415 with ID and preaching. Feb 13.

11508   TAJIKISTAN. Voice of Tibet - Dushanbe. Tibetan service at 1248. Strong signal and only very light jamming noted on this evening. Hi-pitched het from 11505 CNR 1 jammer, easily resolved with the receiver's notch filter and listening in USB. VoTibet then moved to 11513 kHz at 1305 with more side jamming starting up from CNR 1 on 11510 kHz. Feb 13.

11600   PRIDNESTROVIE. R. Denge Kurdistane - Grigoriopol. Kurdish to ME and WAs with ID at 1313. Strong signal Feb 13.

11650   PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. Radio Teos programming in Russian with religious talks at 1550 to CAs, fair to good signal, Feb 12.

11750   SRI LANKA. SLBC - Trincomalee. City FM music programming with telephone call-ins at 1712 in Sinhala, Good signal on Feb 12. SLBC recently celebrated its 50th anniversary (on Jan 5). A short news article on this milestone can be found at http://www.slbc.lk/index.php/slbc-news/slbc-local-news/3028-slbc-turns-50-today. 

Here is a YouTube clip of SLBC on 11750:





11765   KUWAIT. R. Ashna - Umm al-Rimam. S/on 1430 with full ID in Pashto and into the news. Sometimes ID as both "Radio Ashna" and "Ashna Radio"! Good signal, Feb 13.

11790   GERMANY. Bible Voice - Nauen. Weekend service in the Hadiya language to EAf at 1748, a weak signal on Feb 12.

11965   BULGARIA. R. Erena - Kostinbrod. Discussion program at 1742 in the Oromo language. Runs with Oromo 1700-1730 and Arabic 1730-1800 daily EXCEPT for Suns when the Oromo service is extended to 1800, fair signal on Feb 12.

15140   OMAN. R. Sultanate of Oman - Thumrayt. Dramatic Arabic readings (not Qur'an) for WEu at 1526 to past 1535, fair to poor signal, Feb 12.

15250   FRANCE. Eye Radio - Issoudun. Short burst of music at 1639 then ID at 1640 with two IDs as "Eye Radio Shortwave" and frequencies listed. Then into a long talk with occasional mentions of Eye R. Seemed to be a mix of languages including both Arabic and a rapid-fire South Sudanese minority language. Interesting! Fair signal on Feb 12.





AND IN OTHER NEWS......

A new neighbour has moved in next door to us. He has brought with him something that runs 24-hours with a tick-tick-tick type of RF interference. It sounds like an idling car engine and can be heard throughout the shortwave spectrum. It's not a big problem for my listening, but I'd sure would like to know what it is. Looks like I'll be putting on my detective's hat and walking around with a snooper receiver. Hopefully I can pinpoint the culprit appliance!

73 and have a great weekend everyone!

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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