STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK
APRIL 21, 2017
STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK
STATION NEWS
AUSTRALIA
Looking up the Australian Communications and Media Authority's (ACMA) website, I've found the licence registration. It was only approved on March 21, so this is a very recent development. The registration has been approved for:
1) A "tuned longwire" antenna, (the station has indicated an inverted V antenna)
2) Non-directional (ND) with 2.2 dB gain.
3) Licensed for 1kW with an Equivalent (or effective) Isotropically Radiated Power (EIRP) of around 1600w,
4) Intended for "local" coverage.
5) A registered antenna height of 10 metres (33 feet).
The registration is listing a site as 3km east of the city of Innisfail, so that is the mediumwave station 4KZ transmitter site (531 kHz). Latitude: -17.529872 Longitude: 146.053299.
The site is only about 7 metres (23 feet) above sea level, so it's right on the coast. The station General Manager, Al Kirton anticipates the new outlet will begin sometime in May. The schedule is between 4pm and about 9am local time (between 0600 and 2300 UTC) seven days a week.
4KZ has FM and MW translators up and down the coast at Mission Beach, Cardwell, Hinchinbrook, Murray Falls, etc. This whole area was hit badly by Cyclone Debbie three weeks ago, resulting in much destruction and flooding. But it's a beautiful part of the world. My wife and I toured through there last July/August. Lots of banana and sugar plantations......oh, and lots of snakes and the occasional croc! When we drove north past the city of Cairns and up to Cape Tribulation, I had to switch off the AM/FM car radio and listen to my wife instead!! So there is certainly a need for better radio services beyond Cape Tribulation and right up to Cape York.
5045, 5055 and 3210 kHz have all been allocated and licensed to a few tiny backyard operators over the recent years, but nothing much has ever come of it. The idea of having a proper larger commercial broadcaster using the 60mb to extend coverage further north makes good sense. And, indeed, there is every chance that this station will be heard beyond Australia's shores. Keep an ear out for this one!
CUBA
Radio Habana always make their schedules after the new transmissions begin. This is because they are not members (by choice!) of the HFCC. So, they wait for everyone else to move and then decide on their own schedule changes. This time around, most of the Cuban A17 changes took place on or around April 9, about two weeks after the official start. I've gone through some lists and done some of my own monitoring to put the following together:
1900-2000 on 15140 to WNAm in English
1900-2000 on 5040 to CAm in English
2230-2300 on 15730 to SAm in French Mon-Sat
2230-2300 on 15730 to SAm in Esperanto on Sun only
2300-2330 on 15730 to SAm in Creole
2300-2400 on 11880 to Af in English
2330-2400 on 15730 to SAm in Portuguese
0000-0030 on 15730 to SAm in Quechua
0100-0700 on 6000 to ENAm in English
0100-0700 on 6145 to CAm in English
0500-0600 on 5040 to CAm in English
0500-0700 on 6060 to ENAm in English
0500-0700 on 6100 to WNAm in English
1100-1200 on 13670 to SoAm Spanish
1100-1300 on 6100 to WNAm Spanish
1100-1400 on 6060 to ENAm Spanish
1100-1400 on 17580 to SAm in Spanish
0100-0700 on 6145 to WNAm English (which collides with Mighty KBC on Sundays!)
2100-0400 on 7340 to SAm Spanish
This is not the complete transmission schedule for R. Habana, as I'm still working through it!
INDIA
Thanks to Jose Jacob VU2JOS from the DX India group who advises that All India Radio's domestic station at Thiruvanthapuram has been off air for the past week on both 5010 and 7290 kHz. However, as of April 19, both frequencies appear to be back up and running again. This station can be heard semi-regularly here at Mount Evelyn in our late evenings (between 1200 and 1740 UTC).
FROM THE LOG BOOK
With the peacocks in North Korea and the USA strutting their feathers over the past week, quite a few DXers have been keeping an eye (and an ear) out for broadcasts from both North and South Korea. And there are a few items below that have come about from some personal monitoring here at Mount Evelyn as well. Signals from Africa have also made themselves present on the shortwave bands over the past week, too.3219.92 D.P.R.KOREA. KCBS - Hamnung. Scheduled to be relaying Pyongyang BS (but I'm not so sure about that….) at 2015 with orchestral music, very weak signal. Running // 3250 at this time where it was much stronger, Apr 14.
3320 SOUTH AFRICA. R. Sonder Grense - Meyerton. Classical music program at 2020, Afrikaans ID at 2030, weak signal Apr 14.
3344.90 INDONESIA. RRI - Ternate. Easy listening music and Indonesian anncts at 2027, weak signal, Apr 14.
3480 KOREA REP. Voice of the People - Goyang. A very good clear signal with no evidence of jamming at 2035 in Korean with ma/fa announcers. All other parallel freqs for this service (3912, 4450,4557, 6518 and 6600 kHz) were also heard but heavily jammed on this occasion. Operated by the South Korean National Intelligence Service. Apr 14.
3985 KOREA REP. Echo of Hope - Suwon-Osan. Korean talks breaking through the heavy jamming quite well at 2100. On the other freqs of 6003, and 6250, only jamming could be heard, but 6348 also has wisps of EoH breaking through. Apr 18.
4930 BOTSWANA. VoA - Moepeng Hill. Learning English programming at 1955, poor signal on Apr 14
4960 SAO TOME. VoA - Pinehira. The 30-min Hausa news service to WAf at 2030, fair to poor signal. Switches to English on the weekends. Apr 18.
4965 ZAMBIA. Voice of Hope - Makeni Ranch. American preaching on Good Friday in English at 1945, weak signal but starting to be more regularly here now, Apr 14. And again at 2045 on Apr 19.
5025 CUBA. R, Rebelde - Bauta. Background listening to music while on the computer at 1035, when suddenly dead air at 1043, then the carrier was gone at 1044. I was hoping to hear the co-channel R. Quillabamba, Peru but it was not propagating on this evening. Rebelde carrier back on at 1050, but no audio until 1052. No problems after that, Apr 16.
5860 KUWAIT. R. Farda - Umm al-Rimam. Big signal at 2140 with ID, then Jamiroquai and other funky offerings, Apr 14.
5900 BULGARIA. Overcomer Ministry - Kostinbrod. American preaching at 2115, slightly muffled audio and weak signal, Apr 18.
5915 ZAMBIA. Zambia NBC - Lusaka. Radio 1 service in a local language, chat and great Afro music at 2135, fair signal, Apr 14.
6065 ZAMBIA. Voice of Hope - Makeni Ranch. Soft pop style ballad at 2125 with English anncts. Fair signal and stronger than the // 4965 outlet, Apr 18.
6105 FRANCE. R. Japan - Issoudun. Japanese to CAm at 0430, fair signal and likely to get stronger as our afternoon winter approaches, Apr 19.
6115.02 PHILIPPINES. R. Veritas Asia - Palauig. Mandarin service to EAs at 2130, talks and occasional songs, fair to poor signal, Apr 18.
6180 ROMANIA. At 0435 with Romanian to SEu, fair to poor signal but likely to improve as winter approaches Mount Evelyn. Runs // 7330 where it was much stronger on Apr 19.
6195 BOTSWANA. VoA - Moepeng Hill. English to EAf at 2136, pop much programming, fair signal, Apr 18.
7295 FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Arabic to CAf at 0440, fair signal on Apr 19.
7300 CHINA. CRI - Kashi. S/on 2200 in Esperanto to SAm, weak signal and one of only two stations usuing this language on shortweave (the other is R. Habana Cuba). Apr 20.
7325 ROMANIA. RRI - Tiganesti. S/on 2200 in English to EAs, fair signal on Apr 20.
7340 CUBA. R. Habana - Bejucal. S/on 2100 in Spanish to SAm, NF and a very poor signal here, smashed between multiple China outlets on 7335 and 7345, Apr 20.
7730 USA. Overcomer Ministry - Okeechobee FL. Not Ralph himself but one of his ministers "going off" with the usual fare at 1025, good signal. Also noted on // 7780 but not at strong there, April 11. Also at 0450 with a fair signal on Apr 19.
9265 USA. WINB - Red Lion PA. American preaching at 2150, weak signal, Apr 14.
9410 AUSTRIA. BBC - Moosbrunn. Arabic to EAf at 0425, fair signal, Apr 19.
9490 MADAGASCAR. World Christian Broadcasting - Mahajanga. Mandarin at 2205, pop music and preaching. Fair signal, Apr 14.
9875 TAJIKISTAN. ShortwaveService - Bye Bye Sitkūnai - Special program on the history of the Sitkūnai transmitter site in Lithuania. S/on 1200 for the 60 min service. Signal strength was only fair and affected by noise and fading at 1200, but it improved in strength by 1220. Perhaps a frequency in the 25mb would have been an even better choice! Apr 15.
11695 GUAM. KTWR - Agana. The 30-min Saturday only English service at 1230 s/on, excellent signal, Apr 15.
11745 PHILIPPINES. Vatican R. - Tinang. Special Easter Sunday broadcast at 0935, Vietnamese commentary, weak signal on April 16.
15090 KUWAIT. R. Azadi - Umm al Rimam. Pashto service with news at 0335, poor signal, Apr 19.
15105 UNIDENTIFIED. Presumed to be VoKorea (D.P.R.K) - Kujang with a test transmission as there is no broadcast scheduled at 0305. Korean sounding song with female vocal when I first tuned in. Suddenly no audio at 0308 - just carrier. Then a transmitter test tone at 0322. Next at 0326, some sort of strange unidentified data transmission on the carrier. Finally, the VoK interval signal began at exactly 0330 and into the usual Mandarin service to SEAs. Monitored both here at Mount Evelyn (fair signal) and through the remote SDR in Chiba, Japan (excellent signal). Quite odd! Apr 19.
15170.06 SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA - Riyadh. Arabic service (sounded like news or current affairs - no Qur'an) at 0350. Weak signal, Apr 19.
15185 INDIA. AIR - Panaji (Goa). Hindi with commentary programming 0353, weak signal, Apr 19.
15320 TAIWAN. RTI - Paochung. English service to SEAs at 0355 with chat program, full ID and freq annct before switching to the Cantonese service at 0400, poor signal. CNR 1 jammer began at 0401 obliterating RTI, Apr 19.
15470 PHILIPPINES. Vatican R. - Tinang. Mandarin to EAs at 0405, good signal on Apr 19.
15490 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. BBC - Dhabayya. Somali service to EAf at 0408 with news, fair to poor signal, Apr 19.
15580 BOTSWANA. VoA - Moepeng Hill. English to Af at 0415 with current affairs show, short path across the Indian Ocean, fair signal, Apr 19.
17590 VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. Special Easter Sunday mass at 0925, Arabic commentary and beamed to ME, fair signal until f/out at 1005, April 16.
AND FINALLY......
Yesterday, I stumbled across a YouTube video that brought a big smile to my face! In Australia, for a number of decades, amateur (Ham) television has been a very popular pastime amongst a small but enthusiastic group of experimenters in both Sydney and Melbourne. And I don't just mean Slow Scan TV on the HF bands. Rather, I'm talking about transmissions on the VHF/UHF amateur bands through amateur TV repeaters. One of the pioneers of this medium in Sydney was Julius "Big Julie" Kentwell, VK2XBR. Sadly, "Big Julie" is no longer with us, passing away (silent key) in 2006. He was a brilliant man with a great mind for electronic circuitry, and an ability for being able to turn junk electronic components into working pieces of amateur radio gear. He was also a very proficient guitarist. AND....as you'll see in this YouTube video, he was a real character possessing a somewhat eccentric disposition!This video is a recording of an interview that appeared on an ABC TV nightly current affairs program (the 7:30 Report) in the late 80s or early 90s, at a time when experimental amateur television amongst local hams was quite popular. And one of the driving figures of this popularity was "Big Julie"! Enjoy!
73 and have a great weekend everyone!
Rob Wagner VK3BVW
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