Mount Evelyn DX Report: STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK

STATION NEWS AND THE LOG BOOK

May 20, 2017

STATION NEWS

ARGENTINA
Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior (RAE) has apparently been having difficulties with its senders at the General Pacheco transmitter site recently. While they are being repaired, the station has decided to outsource its international service to WRMI. This makes great sense! And it enables the station to keep in touch with listeners. It is unclear just how long this arrangement will continue. But if you hear the broadcasts via the Okeechobee FL transmitters, it would be a nice courtesy to drop them a note to say you heard the broadcasts and value the efforts they have made to keep the service going while repairs are under way. The address is:

RAE Argentina to the World
P.O Box 555
1000 CABA
Buenos Aires
ARGENTINA

Or you can contact them via email at conexionrae@radionacional.gov.ar or via Twitter @conexionrae

Here's the schedule for RAE broadcasts via WRMI, as it currently stands:

0000-0100 on 7730 to Mexico in Spanish on Tue-Sat
0100-0200 on 9395 to ENAm in English on Tue-Sat
0100-0200 on 11580 to WeEu in English on Tue-Sat
0600-0700 on 7730 to Mexico in Japanese on Tue-Sat
0700-0800 on 5850 to WNAm in English on Tue-Sat
0700-0800 on 7730 to Mexico in English on Tue-Sat
0800-0900 on 5850 to WNAm in Mandarin on Tue-Sat
0900-1000 on 5850 to WNAm in Japanese on Tue-Sat
1100-1200 on 9955 to SAm in Portuguese on Mon-Fri
1300-1400 on 11580 to WEu in French on Mon-Fri
2100-2200 on 11580 to WEu in German on Mon-Fri
2200-2300 on 5950 to Cuba in Spanish on Mon-Fri
2200-2300 on 11580 to WEu in Italian on Mon-Fri

ARMENIA
While doing some early afternoon research on the 31mb, I noted the BBC is now operating on 9615 for the Dari service to South Asia between 0230 and 0300. The broadcast is coming from the Yerevan transmitter site in Armenia. This replaces 5875 kHz and was a fair signal at sign off. Between 0200 and 0230, you'll find the Pashto program.

NORTH KOREA
The North Korea watcher website North Korea Tech had an interesting article on the Echo of Unification propaganda broadcaster. The station beams into South Korea, and up until the end of December was using mediumwave frequencies as well as their shortwave and FM channels. However, the MW outlets were dropped, presumably because of the futility of wasting electricity when the signals just weren't getting through due to Sth Korean jammers. You can read the full article here: DPRK propaganda station drops AM broadcasts. The current schedule from Echo of Unification is:
0430-0630 on 6250, 3967, and 5905 kHz
1230-1430 on 6250, 3967 and 5905 kHz
2230-0030 on 6250, 3967 and 5905 kHz

Radio Logos announcer

PERU
Radio Logos, Chazuta, Tarapoto has been off the air on shortwave for most of 2016. However, our Facebook friend "MCruz DXer" in Axtla, Mexico reports hearing the station back on air during late April. Check out his YouTube video of the station with quite a nice signal on its old 4810 kHz at 1043 UTC on April 20 : https://youtu.be/67cTAKZaCJc As yet, I have not heard of any other reports of this station, but hopefully it will maintain a more permanent and regular schedule. It's always great to see the return of a South American broadcaster, but it happens so rarely these days!

SOUTH KOREA
Ron Howard (Asilomar State Beach, CA, USA) and several others report that the clandestine Voice of Freedom has been testing several new frequencies in addition to its usual 6135 kHz outlet. Ron has noted the station at various times between 1000 and 1245 UTC on the additional frequencies of 5920 and 6020. He says "Seems therefore that they are randomly testing their two new frequencies (5920 and 6020), as well as using their normal 6135. Certainly no pattern yet established as to their testing schedule." Thanks for the update, Ron. I've noted that 6135 has also been intermittent in its operation here, too. This is one to watch!

While in South Korea, Ron Howard, Shigenori Aoki and Hiroyuki Komatsubara (Japan) have also noted frequency changes to the Echo of Hope (a.k.a Voice of Hope) broadcasts: 0600-2400 on 5995 (ex 6003) and 6350 (ex 6348). The parallel frequencies of 3985 and 6250 remain unchanged, but are subject to DPRK jammers, as usual. Thanks guys!

USA

An opinion piece by Dan Robinson, the now retired senior VOA correspondent, entitled On Any Given Day: BBC Continues Its Live Program Dominance Over the Voice of America, offers some very insightful comments on the current state of news reporting emanating from this major shortwave broadcaster. Written twelve months ago, Dan writes that VOA is being "....outgunned by BBC and its superior planning, technical capabilities and implementation."

The reason why I draw your attention to this article relates to the steady stream of domestic political news we have coming out of the U.S. each and every day. Never has the world witnessed such apparent chaos pouring out of Washington in the past three months. I don't wish to publicly comment on US domestic politics - I'll let my American friends dabble in that sport! But as a citizen of a 'foreign' country, I do have an interest in how US foreign policy affects the world. Like Dan, I've found that VOA is NOT the go-to source for news these days. The BBC stands head and shoulders above their friends across the Atlantic. Dan's article is well worth a read, especially in these confused times in American politics.

FROM THE LOG BOOK

Further to my recent Autumn Survey post, I've continued my research into early afternoon reception of European and Middle Eastern signals via the long path and US broadcasters via the short path across the Pacific. We are now one month away from the shortest day here, which should yield even more signals on the lower frequencies. We only get this sort of reception patterns for two months of the year. For the other ten months, the 6 and 7 mHz bands are dead during our early afternoons! Most of my listening over the past few weeks has been out in the bush, usually under an hour away from my home. Due to the very low noise floors found in forests, these locations are ideal for monitoring very weak signals. The weather has been kind, and it's been a lovely way to spend afternoons in the sun. Here are some highlights from the past week:

5900 BULGARIA. Bible Voice - Kostinbrod. 15 minute Arabic service to ME at s/on 0315, weak signal, May 16.

5925 VATICAN. Afia Darfur R. - SM Galeria. Arabic service to EAf at s/on 0300, fair signal on May 18.

5975 GERMANY. AWR - Nauen. The Bulgarian service at s/on 0300 to EEu, fair signal, May 19.

6135 ASCENSION IS. BBC - Ascension. French to CAf at s/on 0430, a weak signal and not regularly heard here. May 16.

7315 USA. VoVietnam - Cypress Creek SC. Spanish to SAm at 0150, weak signal but noted in a no-noise forest location so easily discernable, May 18.

7325 SAO TOMÉ. VoA - Pinheira. Fades in here around 0445 for the Kinyarwanda service to EAf, but suffers heavy QRM from R. Romania Int'l on 7330. May 16.

7340 CUBA. R. Habana - Bejucal. F/in 0310 with Spanish to SAm, weak May 12.

7350 PRIDNESTROVIE. Denge Kurdistane - Grigoriopol. Although it starts out with a weak signal at s/on 0230, this station boasts a strong signal for much of its two and a half hour transmission in Kurdish to ME. Excellent wintertime reception via the long path. May 16.

7360 AUSTRIA. BBC - Moosbrunn. Dari to SAs at 0155 till s/off 0200, very weak signal from the forest DX location, May 18.

7360 VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. English to EAf 0310, fair signal, May 12.

7425 IRAN. VOIRI - Zahedan. Surprised to hear this still going at 0200 (midday here) with the Arabic service, Middle Eastern flute and orchestral music, Arabic talk interjected at frequent intervals. Weak signal, May 8.

7490 USA. WBCQ - Monticello ME. English at f/in 0315, weak signal, May 12.

9395 USA. WRMI - Okeechobee FL.

9455 USA. R. Taiwan Int'l - Okeechobee FL. Spanish to WNAm 0330, weak on May 12.

9540 OMAN. R. Sultanate of Oman - Thumrayt. English to EAf with American pop songs 0340, fair to poor signal, May 12.

9580 CUBA. CRI - Quivican. English to ENAm 0145 with sports news, weak signal, May 8.

9600 MADAGASCAR. MWV African Pathways Radio - Mahajanga. English at 0240 to SAs, music and preaching, quite a fair signal by s/off at 0300, May 18.

9605 USA. KBS World R. - Cypress Creek SC. Spanish to SAm with Korean pop music program at 0135, weak signal and faded by 0145, May 8.

9615 ARMENIA. BBC - Yerevan. Dari to SAs at 0250 to s/off 0300, NF (ex 5875), fair signal, May 18.

9900 UZBEKISTAN. TWR India - Taskhent. The 15-min Nepali service on Mondays (various languages on other weekdays), 0115-0130 s/off, weak signal. May 8.

9915 UZBEKISTAN. BBC - Tashkent. Daily Hindi service to SAs s/on 0100, fair signal until s/off 0130, May 8.

17530 MADAGASCAR. MWV - Mahajanga. Mandarin with religious talks at 0440 to EAs, weak signal, May 3.

17830 UAE. BBC - Dhabayya. French current affairs to SAf at 0445, fair signal, May 3.

17880 THAILAND. R. Azadi - Ban Dung. Dari to Iran at 0447, good signal, May 3.