STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK - April 28, 2017

The Diamond Power Supply that drives part of my radio shack.

STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK

April 28, 2017

STATION NEWS

AUSTRALIA
The ABC has just posted an excellent little video on one of their AM radio transmitters, located at Cumnock in central west New South Wales. Being on a clear channel, this 50 kW mediumwave outlet on 549 kHz is well received throughout the night in much of Australia. No wonder! The location and transmitter setup is ideal - take a look! Here are two links to click for further information on this transmitter site:

The video tour (3:35 min duration) - The ABC Central West radio transmitter

An ABC article - Rare public access into powerful Cumnock radio transmission site and how it broadcasts the ABC

JAPAN
After the A17 transmission season commenced, Radio Japan registered an additional 30-minute service to the Korean Peninsula. It is scheduled for 11990 kHz between 0815 and 0845 UTC via the Yamata transmitter site in Korean to EAs. This corresponds to 4:45 pm in Pyongyang and 5:15pm in Seoul. I've monitored the frequency both here at Mount Evelyn and through remotes in Japan and Hong Kong, but as of today (April 28), the service appears NOT to have started yet. Is this in response to heightened tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world? Other Radio Japan Korean broadcasts remain as:
0415-0445 on 13720
1100-1130 and 1200-1230 on 6090
1300-1330 and 1400-1430 on 6190
2209-2230 on 9560

SINGAPORE
There has been a change of frequency registration in the latest HFCC update for the BBC's transmitter site at Kranji. I haven't had a chance to confirm this with actual Mount Evelyn monitoring yet, but here are the details:

9510 kHz to SAs at 1330-1400 in Bengali, NF (ex 9410). Runs parallel with 11750 (via Tashkent) and 15330 (via Al Seela). Then at 1400-1430, it changes to Hindi running // 7565 (Tashkent) and 11795 (Kranji).

USA (1)
On its Facebook page, WRMI announced the following frequency change:
9455 kHz on the Air:  Several days ago, WRMI had to discontinue broadcasts on 6855 kHz due to interference with a US Army transmission on a nearby frequency. Now we have resumed our broadcasts on the new frequency of 9455 kHz 24 hours per day. The beam is toward the Southwestern United States and Mexico.

USA (2)
Again from the WRMI Facebook page re. RAE Argentina:
As of May 2, 2017, WRMI is pleased to begin relaying the daily programs in English and Spanish from RAE (Radiodifusion Argentina al Exterior, Argentina to the World) Monday-Friday. RAE is the foreign service of Argentine National Radio from Buenos Aires. The relay schedule will be:
SPANISH: Monday to Friday 22:00 to 23:00 UTC on 5950 Khz in the 49 meter band *
ENGLISH: Tuesday to Saturday UTC 01:00 to 02:00 UTC on 9395 Khz in the 31 meter band *
*Vía WRMI
ATTENTION: Reception reports for these transmissions that are sent to RAE via postal mail will be confirmed with a special numbered QSL card.

FROM THE LOG BOOK

On April 24, I had a little time during my breakfast to do a quick band scan of the 41mb. It was interesting to note 1) the number of Chinese outlets, and 2) the number of Chinese outlets that interfere with itself!

7 mHz BAND SCAN - APRIL 24 - BETWEEN 2100 AND 2200 UTC

(just after local sunrise at Mount Evelyn)

7205   CHINA/FRANCE. CRI - Xian in English to EAf and RFI - Issoudun in French to WAf, at equally good signal strength. It would be interesting to know if there is any QRM in the two African target areas.

7210   D.P.R.KOREA. VoK (KCBS)- Kujang. Korean to SAf till s/off 2122, weak signal.

7215   ALBANIA/CHINA. CRI - Cerrik in Arabic to Egypt and CNR 1 - Shijiazhuang in Mandarin, at equally good strength.

7225   CHINA. CRI - Beijing. Croatian to SEu at very good strength.

7230   CHINA. CNR 1 - Xian. Good level.

7235   D.P.R.KOREA. VoK - Kujang. Mandarin s/on 2130, weak.

7240   TIBET. PBS Xizang - Lhasa. Mandarin, weak signal.

7245   CHINA. CNR 2 - Beijing. Good signal.

7255   TIBET. PBS Xizang - Lhasa. Tibetan with a weak signal.

7259.94   VANUATU. R. Vanuatu - Port Vila. In Bislama, weak signal.

7265   CHINA. CRI - Urumqui. Italian to Eu, excellent signal till s/off 2130. Then CNR 2 - Baoji is heard in the clear with a good signal.

7275   CHINA. CNR 1 - Beijing. Fair signal.

7280   VIETNAM. VoV - SonTay. Spanish to Eu 2100, English at 2130. Fair to poor signal.

7285   ALBANIA. CRI - Cerrik. English to Eu at a fair level.

7290   CHINA. CRI - Xian. Korean to EAs at very good level and CNR 1 - Beijing with a weak signal underneath.

7300   ENGLAND. HCJB R. Akhbar Mufriha - Woofferton. Arabic to NAf, fair till s/off 2145.

7305   CHINA. CNR 1 - Shijiazhuang. Fair signal.

7310   TAIWAN. Sound of Hope - Taipei. Mandarin but a very weak signal.

7315   CHINA. CNR 2 - Xian. Good signal.

7325   CHINA. CRI - Beijing. English to SAf till 2200 s/off at a good level and CRI - Xian in Serbian to Eu till s/off 2130, fair signal. Each broadcast is servicing a completely different part of the world, so co-channel interference may be minimal or nil at the respective target zones. However, there's plenty of vacant channel real estate to find an alternative frequency for one of these broadcasts without having to co-exist on 7325 kHz. For anyone not in the target zones, but wanting to listen to either the English or Serbian broadcasts, this frequency is probably going to be riddled with QRM.

7335   CHINA. CNR 2 - Baoji with fair signal and CRI - Shijiazhung in Spanish to SEu with a good signal.

7340   CUBA. R. Habana - Bauta. Spanish to SAm, weak signal.

7345   CHINA. CNR 1 - Beijing. Weak signal and CRI - Kashi in Italian to SEu till s/off 2130 with a good signal.

7355   IRAN. VOIRI - Sirjan. Japanese to Japan, fair signal until s/off 2150.

7370   CHINA. CNR 2 - Beijing. Fair signal.

7385   CHINA/TIBET. CNR 5 - Beijing with a good signal and PBS Xizang - Lhasa in Tibetan with a fair signal.

7395   CHINA. CNR 2 - Xian. Fair signal.

7415   CHINA. CRI - Kashi. English to Eu, fair to poor signal.

7425   IRAN. VOIRI - Zahedan. Arabic to NAf with a weak signal.

7435   NTH MARIANA IS./CHINA/VIETNAM. RFA - Tinian in Mandarin To EAs with a weak signal, and the CNR 1 jammer. Then it becomes a real mess when at s/on 2145 VoVietnam - Son Tay enters the fray in Vietnamese to Oc with a good signal.

7445   CHINA. CRI - Kunming. Serbian to Eu at 2100, then Hungarian 2130, fair signal.

7450   TIBET. PBS Xizang - Lhasa. Weak signal in Mandarin.

7459.90   MONGOLIA. RFA - Ulaanbaatar. Korean to EAs, good signal and no jamming.

7495   FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Arabic service with Qur'an and general programming, very good.

7505   TAJIKISTAN. RFA - Dushanbe. S/on 2200 in Tibetan to EAs with CNR 1 jammer.

7550   INDIA. AIR - Delhi. English to Eu, very good.

RX: Yaesu FTDX3000
ANT: 7 mHz Double Bazooka.

73 and have a great weekend everyone!

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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