DX QUICK TIPS - April 27, 2018

A scene from Bhutan by Ani Modak [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

DX QUICK TIPS
April 27, 2018

It has been a busy week radio-wise here at Mount Evelyn! While experimenting with the new FT8 digital mode on the 80, 40 and 20m amateur bands, I have been also up on the roof doing some antenna maintenance on the 14mHz double bazooka (coax) dipole. 

 BUT....I have also been monitoring the shortwave broadcast bands to see what "goodies" could be discovered. These included Bhutan Broadcasting Service on 6035 kHz, Mongolian Radio 3 on 7260, Radio Sakha 7345, the clandestine Zuab Xaa Moo Zoo on 7530, and Radio Akhbar Mufriha on 9530....plus many more.

 Yes! It has been a good week, indeed! Here's the list:
3910   KOREA REP. Voice of the People - Kyonggi-do Koyang.  Korean talks with jamming QRM at 2045. Also noted // 3930, Apr 26.

 3955   ENGLAND. KBS World R. - Woofferton. German to Eu at 2020, good signal, Apr 26.

 3985   KOREA REP. Echo of Hope - Hwaseong. Korean talk at 2035, poking through the noise jamming, fair to poor signal, Apr 26.

 👀  4747.36   PERU. R. Huanta 2000 - Huanta. (Presumed) A very weak signal with Andean music and anncts at 1105, faded by 1120. Haven’t heard this in a while, Apr 22.

 4885   KOREA REP. Echo of Hope - Goyang. ID and jingle at 1019 then a commentary in Korean, fair signal, Apr 21.

 👀  4955   UNIDENTIFIED. Believed to be R. Cultural Amauta - Huanta. Much talk (possibly preaching?) and occasional bursts of music at 1125 to f/out at 1145. I have not heard this in a long time, Apr 22.

 👍  5025   CUBA. R. Rebelde - Bauta. Spanish programming with a very early fade in at 0535 (3:35pm local here), winter must be coming! Apr 22.

 👍  5040   CUBA. R. Habana - Bauta. English to CAm with another very early fade in at 0535, weak signal, Apr 22.

 5860   KUWAIT. R. Farda - Umm al-Rimam. Farsi to Iran at 2220, good signal Apr 20.

 5930   FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Friday Qur’an prayers at 2225, fair signal, Apr 20.

 5935.03   IRAN. VoIRI - Sirjan. S/on 2222 in Indonesian to SEAs. Good signal but slightly high in freq. Apr 20.

 5955   UAE. BBC - Dhabayya. English WS to SEAs at 2230 with news. A very hummy audio quality, hard to tell if it’s the txer or an audio feed issue, but certainly not up to BBC standards! Apr 20.

 5970   USA. WEWN - Vandiver AL. Spanish to CAm at 0445, weak signal via the short path, Apr 22.

 ⭐⭐⭐  6035   BHUTAN. Bhutan BS - Thimphu. Weak signal under the co-channel PBS Yunnan when first tuned in at 1100, but became stronger than Yunnan by 1135 with English programming, consisting of chat and a phone-in quiz. Phrases such as “Are you ready for the next question….?” would pop up out of the noise. 1141 - female ballad. Sudden s/off at 1145, leaving a weakened Yunnan signal in the clear. Always a difficult one to hear so a pleasing result tonight, Apr 24.

 👍  6040   JAPAN. Shiokaze Sea Breeze - Yamata. S/on 1300 with ID in Japanese on Tues, beamed to Korea. Fair signal, Apr 24.

 6100   CUBA. R. Habana - Bauta. English to WNAm at 0500, weak signal, Apr 22.
6115   USA. WWCR - Nashville TN. A crazy American conspiracy theory program called Stop the Crime at 2240. Apparently, radio frequencies are killing us. Plus Water Wars. References quoted were YouTube, the Internet and other “reliable” (cough, cough) sources. Started out as a fair signal at 2246 but fading rapidly by 2258 as this band closes for the morning, April 20.

 👍  6155   GERMANY. AWR - Nauen. French to NAf at 0435, fair to weak signal via the long path but will strengthen as we approach winter, Apr 22.

 6155   AUSTRIA. Oesterreichischer Rundfunk - Moosbrunn. S/on 0530 in German to Eu with lovely choral music, fair signal, Apr 22.

 6165   GERMANY. R. Japan - Nauen. Russian to EEu at 0440, weak signal via the long path, Apr 22.

 ⭐⭐⭐  7260   MONGOLIA. Mongolian Radio 3 - Ulaanbaatar. Mongolian anncts and Asian pops at 1217, fair to weak signal. There seems to have been a network changeover since the reactivation a few weeks ago. Formerly Radio 2. Now with continuous music with only occasional anncts - pleasant programming actually! But I heard nothing on the two 60mb outlets.Apr 21.

 👍  7260   VATICAN. VoA - SM Galeria. Somali to EAf at 0335, fair signal, Apr 25.

 7275   KOREA REP. KBS WR - Kimjae. Korean to EAs at 1040 with chat program, good signal and nothing heard from PBS Xinjiang’s Uighur service (is this still operating here?).  Apr 21.

 👍  7300   ENGLAND. R. Akhbar Mufriha (HCJB) - Woofferton. Arabic preaching at 2130 to NAf, fair signal until s/off 2145, Apr 23.

 7305   OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. English WS news to SEAs at 2210, fair signal, Apr 18.

 7325   ROMANIA. RRI - Tiganesti. English to EAs at 2215, fair signal but moderate co-channel QRM from CRI-Kunming in Mandarin to SEAs. Because of this freq choice, reception of RRI may be a problem for listeners in some parts of Asia, Apr 18.

 👍  7340   CUBA. R. Habana - Bejucal. Nice to hear this with the Spanish service to the Caribbean at 1130, Spanish guitar music and chat. No sign of co-channel PBS Xinjiang and too propagationally a touch too early for AIR’s Urdu service which s/off around this time. Weak signal but readable amongst all the splash of 7345 CNR 1, Apr 21.

 ⭐⭐⭐  7345   RUSSIA (AS).   NVK R. Sakha - Yakutsk. Lovely clear signal at fair strength, at 1055 with Russian pop song. Time pips and a clear ID at 1100, into talk (possibly news?)….until the CNR 1 s/on at 1101 which covered up Sakha. // 7295 which was also in a clear channel but at weaker strength and heavy splash QRM from RTI and CNR 1 jammer on 7300. Apr 21.


7375   ROMANIA. RRI - Tiganesti. English to WNAm at 0340, fair signal, Apr 25.

 7410   PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. Khmer service to SEAs at 1208, good signal, Apr 21.

 7410.02   VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. Mandarin to EAs at 2220. Impressive signal but a touch high in freq on Apr 18.

 7425   IRAN. VoIRI - Zahedan. Arabic to NAf at 2224, weak signal, Apr 18.

 7465   GUAM. KSDA-AWR - Agat. Korean service to EAs at 1212, good signal, Apr 21.

 7490.08   USA. WBCQ - Monticello ME. Overcomer preaching at 2227, a weak signal and a fair way off freq. Apr 18.

 7500   GUAM. KTWR - Agana. S/on 1216 in Japanese with 30-min Sunday only programming, fair to poor signal, monitored until eventual s/off 1246, Apr 22.

 👍  7530   TAIWAN. Suab Xaa Moo Zoo - Tanshui. S/on 2230 in a Hmong dialect to SEAs. Sounded like a current affairs program with occasional stabs of music between items. A weak signal and eventually faded by 2245, Apr 23.

 7550   INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. English to Eu at 2226 until s/off at 2230, weak signal, Apr 18.

 9265   USA. WINB - Red Lion PA. American preaching at 2124, fair signal, Apr 18.

 9329.7   USA. WBCQ - Monticello ME. Overcomer Min programming at 2130, a fair signal but way off freq on Apr 18.

 9350   USA. WWCR - Nashville TN. Strings of adverts including Pet Insurance at 2134, then into an old radio play. Fair signal, Apr 18.

 9410.12   UAE. BBC - Dhabayya. Arabic to EAf at 0345, weak signal, odd frequency…seems typical of some Dhabayya outlets these days….often off-freq and generally to the high side. Apr 25.

 9440   OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. English WS to ME at 0350, fair signal, Apr 25.

 9465   TAIWAN. Nippon no Kaze - Tanshui. Korean talks to EAs at 1306, fair to weak signal, Apr 24.

 👍  9530   ASCENSION IS. R. Akhbar Mufriha (HCJB) - Ascension Is. S/on 2145 with ID and what sounded like a radio play (!). Beams to WAf and heard with a weak signal here until f/out at 2200. Depending on which reference you look at, the language of this broadcast is either Pulaar or Hassinya. Pulaar is a Fula language spoken by people in Senegal, Mauritania, the Gambia, and western Mali. Hassinya is an Arabic language from the Maghrebi group (there are many regional varieties of Arabic!) and is spoken in Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, Libya, Senegal, Morocco and neighbouring countries. What I was listening to SOUNDED more like a derivative of Arabic to my ears…..but really I just don’t know. I remain defeated in this language identification!. Apr 23.

 9535   FRANCE. R. Algerienne - Issoudun. Qur’an prayers at 0512, fair signal, Apr 22.

 9805   KOREA REP. KBS World R. - Kimjae. S/on 2200 in Indonesian to SEAs, good signal Apr 18.

 9805   SRI LANKA. AWR - Trincomalee. Thai to SEAs at 0010, fair signal, Apr 24.

 9815   UNIDENTIFIED. I suspect this might be VoA via Pinheira (São Tomé) in Kinyarwanda to EAf. A very weak signal and impossible to ID, but should come up stronger here in mid winter. Last year this service was via the Moepeng Hill (Botswana) relay. But I usually find the Pinheira signals are always weaker here at Mount Evelyn. Apr 25.

 9860   VATICAN. R. Japan - SM Galeria. English to WAf at 0515, good signal, Apr 22.

 9880   CHINA. CRI - Kashi. Esperanto service to SAm, very good signal and // 7300 but not as strong there, Apr 18.

 👍👍  11517   TAJIKISTAN. Voice of Tibet - Dushanbe. Long talks in Mandarin at 1203. Sudden change to 11507 kHz at exactly 1207. A few seconds of music on the new frequency then a continuation of the talk. Fair signal on both frequencies and no jamming noted either here or on the Shenzhen SDR…..so I don’t know why they bother with the change! Apr 24.

 👍  11603   TAJIKISTAN. Voice of Tibet - Dushanbe. Tibetan service at 1250 with talk and occasionally interrupted by chanting and drums. Pop song at 1255. Apr 24.

 11655   SRI LANKA. AWR - Trincomalee. Burmese to SEAs at 0025, into the Karen language at 0030, fair signal, Apr 24.

 11740   INDIA (Goa). AIR - Panaji. Tamil service to SEAs at 0034, good signal, Apr 24.

 11904.97   AUSTRALIA. Reach Beyond Australia - Kununurra WA. Special English to Indonesia at 1145 with the Spotlight program, (Sat & Sun only) good signal, Apr 22.

 12055   PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. The lilting sing-song sound of the Lahu language at 0038, fair to weak signal, Apr 24.

 13760   D.P.R.KOREA. VoK - Kujang. Rather late signing on at 0734 for the 0730 service. Part way through the anthem by the time they “arc-ed it up”. Russian to Eu at a weak signal level at first but improved by 0750. // 15245 but not as strong there, Apr 23.

 👍  15215.1   UAE. Gaweylon Tibetan R. - Dhabayya. This FEBC sponsored program noted at 1215 in Tibetan with a weak signal and lots of talk. ID and an address in India was given at 1226, then the distorted FEBC “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” interval signal, and finally off at 1229. An odd frequency - registered with HFCC as 15215, so surely Dhabayya can get a little closer to that! Apr 24.

 15260   AUSTRIA. R. Sama (IBRA Media) - Moosbrunn. S/on 0800 in Arabic to ME. A very weak signal on Apr 23.

 👍  15630   UZBEKISTAN. R. Free North Korea - Tashkent. Long Korean talks at 1250 to s/off 1300 after ID and closing anncts. A grumbly jamming sound noted in the background but generally a poor signal on Apr 22. 

Hopefully, you can catch some of these stations at your listening post. 

 73 and have a great weekend everyone!

 Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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