DX QUICK TIPS - April 19, 2018 - Guest Contributor - DAVE VALKO (USA)

DX QUICK TIPS

April 19, 2018

Guest Contributor - Dave Valko (USA)

This week, I am delighted to have Dave Valko as a guest contributor again. He has been a very busy boy with some fabulous DX observations made over the past two weeks. Many of these are pirate stations, something I generally don't cover here in the blog because we just don't have them here in Australia....and they are usually too low-powered to be heard this far from North America and Europe. However, our many northern hemisphere readers to the blog will certainly find Dave's observations of some interest - hence the reason for listing these here.

But it's not all pirates. Dave has also observed many other interesting DX signals coming into his listening location. So, there should be something for everyone! For those interested, Dave's equipment consists of a Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop and 153 foot Delta Loop.

2940.13   COLOMBIA  HJNT R. Huellas, Cali  Barely had M preacher once after 0900.  Brett Saylor mentioned someone heard R. Huellas on 1470.07 and had a YouTube video, and suggested trying the R. Huellas webstream.  Did so using the rx at TWR Bonaire, and found the exact same rapid-paced preacher I heard 2 days ago 0902-0946.  Also got the // 2940.13 harmonic very weakly.  Amazing that this is only 1 kw and the 2nd harmonic can be heard here.  Would never have solved this mystery if not for Brett and the fact Huellas is off-freq.  Apr 16.

4985.01   BRAZIL   R. Brazil Central  W w/PT TC between songs at 0211.  Soft MOR PT songs, 0215 short canned annct by M with annct of Brasil Central and ending w/”Theme to a Summer Place”, canned annct by W, TC again, and back to mx at 0216.  //11815 which was poorer.  Apr 15.

5025.03   PERU   R. Quillabamba  Noticed Rebelde’s audio was way down at 1001.  Just OC from Quillabamba to at least 1005 when I tuned away.  Came back at 1021 and found Quillabamba audio up w/apparent broadcast from children’s classroom w/singing, a lot of talking, and ending w/all children individually saying hello to “mama” & “papa”.  No adult anncrs at all.  1029 program end and many nice canned promo IDs, one lifting the laser shooting SFX from the binning of “Jungle Love” by The Steve Miller Band.  Intro for next program at 1031, but Rebelde’s audio coming up stronger by then.  Glad to see Quillabamba still there.  Apr 16

5905    GERMANY   Deutscher Wetterdienst  Signal on at 0558:06, and programming start at 0600 w/usual robo-W anncr giving wx conditions.  Some decent peaks and better than heard the first time.  And quite good when it went off at 0630:10.  Some slop QRM from 5910.37 Alcaravan.  6180 blocked by VOA Sao Tome.  Apr 3

5910.35   COLOMBIA   Alcaravan R.  Long promo/ID w/freq by M between HJ songs at 0946.  Only fair and dropped off after that.  Apr 16

5915   ZAMBIA   ZNBC/R. One  Found completely in the clear at 0247 w/Fish Eagle IS.  Into choral NA at 0250.  M w/opening annct at 0252.  Sounded like some canned anncts, then into lively Afro Pops at 0256 and studio M anncr came in at 0257 to ToH.  Not a great signal and fady but always nice to hear in the clear.  Best on the Delta Loop.  Apr 5

5917.40   CLANDESTINE (SOUTH KOREA)   V.O. Freedom  Audible w/M and W alternating in KOREAN at 1044.  Still on it’s very slow drift downward.  Apr 4

5964.96   BRAZIL   R. Transmundial  Found w/readable audio at 0945, but wasn’t there 15 min. earlier.  PT talk by soft-spoken M.  Diff M over mx w/website at 0947, Sao  Paulo 0950.  Soft rel. vcl song by W at 0952-0956.  Canned anncts of Transmundial 0958 and 0959.  Weak w/slop QRM from 5970 WEWN.  Apr 16

5995    CLANDESTINE (SOUTH KOREA)   Echo of Hope  1045 canned annct by W w/mx bed, then usual male chorus and W w/”V-O-H” ID at 1047.  Audible over the jamming.  All the Korean clandestines in and around 49m doing better than usual at this time.  Apr 2

6070    GERMANY   Channel 292  Surprised to find this plainly audible at 0549 w/”Band of Gold” by Freda Payne.  0552:30 canned ID and relay info with annct of 6070 by alternating M and W in English, then R. Caroline promo/ID starting w/”Here Comes the Sun”, and back to mx at 0554.  0603-0605 “Walk Like a Man” by Four Seasons, then 0605-0609 “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas.  0609 novelty Reggae-like song.  Fady.  QRM from a very low level het from CRFB, and some adjacent slop.  Noisy too.  Apr 3

6025    TIBET (CHINA)   Xizang PBS  Long Tibetan talk by M over instrumental mx 2345-2355, then exotic choral singing.  Very nice signal and about the strongest ever heard here, //6130 which was just slightly weaker.  Apr 9

6100   PIRATE (NA)   "The Relay Station"  Tnx John Herkimer tip, noted at 2205 w/end of annct w/annct of website welcomeradio.com, Dance mx w/DJ "Annie" giving program credits, name and "The General Store", Blues mx, ID by little girl for WXNZ, Skowhegan, ME, cont. Blues song, then "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell.  Very good signal.  Here's a link to a YouTube video of the reception:  https://youtu.be/JTRfsX5LugM  Apr 18.

6210.01    PIRATE (EUROPE)   Laser Hot Hits  Pop mx at 0033, 0034 ID jingle by W, then news headlines by M, ID, and back to mx.  Fairly readable but not the best.  Apr 3

6284.98    PIRATE (EUROPE)  Coast FM  Canned ID ending with annct of 2018 by M, then ads at 0625, and ending w/simple ID by W and back to Pop mx.  Apr 3

6300    PIRATE   UNID.  Found a good signal here at 2326 w/what sounded like a DT version of “Blowin in the Wind”.  More nonstop apparent DT ballads and MOR songs.  One or 2 more uptempo songs.  Even one schlager.  Not one annct.  Song ended at 2346, then the signal left the air at 2347:14.  Bet this was the same station airing the satellite Netherlands program Sky Radio back on 24 March.  Apr 16.

6304.82   PIRATE (EUROPE)   Cupid R.  Rock song at 2305.  2311 “Crazy” by Aerosmith.  Live long ID annct at 2316, into next Pop song at 2317.  Abruptly off at 2320:22.  Noticed another signal on 6305.07 while Cupid was on and found out it was R. Merlin using Iceland web rx after Cupid went off.  Much too weak for audio here though.  Apr 14

6319.86    PIRATE (EUROPE)   Focus International - NF here.  Rock mx at 2320.  2325 M anncr w/UK accent.  Finally up briefly at 2337.  M anncr again at 2338.  Too much rapid QSB, almost pulsing.  Canned annct by M at 0030 with annct of “free radio” sounding like an “Off-Shore Echoes” ad.  Novelty-sounding song.  0034 live M DJ again.  Just a bit too weak, way too much QSB, QRN, and also QRM from a huge UTE on 6319.  IDed using an Austrian web rx.  Apr 2-3

6374.76   PIRATE (EUROPE)   R. Harmony  Old-time ballad at 2334 t/in.  2335 “These Boots Were Made for Walkin” by Nancy Sinatra.  2337 short prob. ID but someone whistling on the freq.  Little better signal at 2340 and nice peak at 2341 w/Doris Day-like ballad.  2343-2345 “Gentle on My Mind” by Johnny Hartford.  2345-2347 “Que Sera Sera” by Doris Day.  2347 brief ID annct by M between songs.  2350-2354 lively Swing song w/fast beat.  2357-0000 sounded like The Platters.  0000 another ID annct by M.  Fair on peaks but noisy conditions and a lot of local static bursts.  Apr 8

6400    NORTH KOREA   Pyongyang PBS  Strong at 1125 w/choral song, 3+1 long time ticks at 1130 M anncr in Korean, then feature by W and M anncrs.  Apr 4

6905   PIRATE (NA)  Seven Trees R.  On at 0016.  SSTV ID in the not often used SC120 mode at 0101.  Good signal.  Apr 15.

6925.18v   PIRATE (NA)   Nuttin’ on Shortwave - 2328 ID and 2333 another ID.  Apr 13

6925.18    PIRATE (NA)   Yeah Man R. - 2210 w/ID.  Apr 15.

6930L   PIRATE (NA)   KOOT - 2311 final ID and said was DJ Koot.   Apr 2

6930U   PIRATE (NA)   WREC R. Free East Coast -1208 canned ID “WREC, R. Free East Coast, signing on”, Big increase in signal  w/“A Pirates Life for Me” at 1208.  Apr 8

6945U   PIRATE (NA)  Station airing sci-fi program “X Minus 1” again.  Ran his xmtr back and forth across the freq at 0000, then started mx and the program at 0002.  Big signal.  Apr 12

6950U   PIRATE (NA)   Wolverine R.  ID 0051 and 0104 ID.  SSTV ID of Giraffes at closing 0120.  Good.  Apr 15.

6950U   PIRATE (NA)   WREC R. Free East Coast -1658, 1700, 1705 nice canned IDs.  Still going at 1732.  Fairly good signal.  (Valko 7 April)

6935.63    PIRATE (NA)   UNID  Station on for the Titanic anniversary at 0005 w/instrumental mx, CW Mayday, and voice audio recreation all mixed together in various combinations.  Went off and on a few times, and gone for good at 0016.  Good signal.  Apr 15.

6955U    PIRATE (NA)   III (although someone in HF Underground had it listed as “III%”)  Came on at 0058 vcl only singing “I’m a good ole Rebel…” song, “Dixieland”, then mx from movie “Patton”, live speech-like historical accounting of the NA/Francis Scott Key/War of 1812, then NA, and ending at 0112 w/SSTV “III” ID.  Good signal.  Apr 15.

6955U    PIRATE (NA)   XLR8  Simple “XLR8” ID at 0159, 0212, and 0216.  Apr 14

7260    MONGOLIA   Mongolian Radio 3 (pres.)  Noticed apparently slightly stronger Xinjiang on 7259.992 going off as scheduled at 1205:12 leaving this on 7260.  Heard a little bit of the mx on very brief peak at 1206 (mx and W in Mongolian alternating using South Korean web rx).  Would have guessed Mongolia would be the one off-freq.  Apr 15. And again on Apr 16, here w/Xinjiang on 7259.99.  Pretty certain I could hear the M and W talking in Mongolian at 1052 mixing w/mx on Xinjiang, which was also heard on a Korean web rx.  Although both signals were equally strong, the Xinjiang audio was on top.

7265L    USA   W1MGY (Old Coast Guard station at Eastham, Cape  Cod, MA)  Special “Titanic Memorial” event station for 106th anniversary of the Titanic disaster.  0158 operator Russ calling CQ and getting calls from W3RI (AZ), WO8L (NC), AA9L (WI)  Said was the “Titanic/Marconi Memorial Radio Association” of Cape Cod.  Also said QSL info at QRZ.com.  Nothing after 0203 and tuned out at 0207.  Apr 15.

7295    RUSSIA   R. Sakha  Ad/promo block at 1050 including one at 1052 using the old R. Moscow IS!!  Into several Pop songs.  4 time ticks at 1100 w/first and last being a double tick, then annct by M anncr including nice ID, and into news by diff. M.  Good signal and a rare day w/very little Ham QRM and none at ToH.  But did have some CNR1 7300 slop QRM.  Apr 5

9100    CLANDESTINE (SOUTH KOREA)   Echo of Hope  Nice simple Asian mx at 1157 to ToH.  1200 usual fanfare and M anncr in Korean w/pres. intro, and same M w/apparent news.  W at 1202.  Good signal this morning.  Apr 8

9885    CLANDESTINE   National Unity R. (via Tajikistan)  *1200 w/orch. fanfare mx and W anncr Korean w/opening annct.  M anncr voice-over more instrumental fanfare mx at 1201.  Poor to fair.  Apr 15.

11735   ZANZIBAR   ZBC  1809 English ID by W at end of news as "This is the English news from Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation.  Thank you for listening".  Best signal during the English news in quite a while. Apr 18.

11855.79    BRAZIL   R. Aparecida  Excellent signal w/”Voz do Brasil” program at 2256 // to massive 11780.01 Nac. Amazonia but it went off at 2359:50.  2300 full canned ID by M.  (Have been noticing what I believe is Aparecida signing on daily at 1000 on 5035, but can't get any useable audio.)  Apr 4

12255   PIRATE (EUROPE)   Reflections Europe  Surprised to find a visible signal about 1808.  Started getting a M talking at 1817.  Then women's music plainly audible at 1825.  Then M talking again at 1838, 1839, 1848, 1855, 1900, and at 1902 suddenly shouted “Eternal!!”.  Heard M and W talking 1904-1907 with anncts of Canada, New Zealand, Australia.  1907 gave US addr.  Diff. program at 1911 w/M preaching and mentioning “…Jesus name we pray, amen”, and “…in the Bible…all their children…” at 1912.  Gave scripture chapter and verse at 1914.  Still same M preaching at 1920 and giving at least 3 “Hallelujah”s at 1925.  Later, heard womens choral group at 2105.  2115 contact info, and what sounded like Reflections Europe ID at 2117.  Still a little audible when it suddenly went off at 2127:16.  Really heavy QSB, sometimes fading out for long periods.  But also audible on short peaks.  Best heard 1902-1907.  Apr 1

choir

13710    GERMANY   Missionswerk Friedensstimme (via Nauen)  Mostly M talking after 1218 t/in.  Did hear a W once or twice.  Soft rel.-like mx at 1229 s/off, then signal gone at 1230:06.  Very weak and only audible (but not readable) on peaks.  No sign of co-channel Turkey that was heard on European web rxs.  Apr 14

15360    CLANDESTINE   V.O. Amara R. (via Issoudun)  Signal on about 10 sec. before 1700 s/on w/usual routine; ID by M, bell tolling and HoA mx, then full ID by M in apparent Amharic.  Diff. bells at 1701 and W anncr.  Feature w/M reporter at 1704.  Fair and very fady.  No jamming to at least 1706.  Apr 14


Great work, Dave. Thanks for allowing us to share your wonderful logs here at MEDXR. Readers should check out Dave's YouTube channel where he has some fascinating recordings of rare and unusual DX. And while you are there, don't forget to subscribe!

73 and have a great weekend everyone!

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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