DX QUICK TIPS - FLINDERS RANGES DXPEDITION

DX QUICK TIPS

FLINDERS RANGES DXPEDITION

July 27, 2018

My wife and I have been travelling through the Flinders Ranges, the largest mountain range in South Australia. Dramatic rocky outcrops, deep gorges, and rugged wilderness are the features of this astonishing countryside. Around the ranges, the land is flat, which creates an even more striking visual impact for this striking semi-arid landscape.

It is also where our DX Quick Tips comes from this time around. In this part of Australia, the distances between towns are quite large. Manmade noise levels are very low. So, it has been interesting to observe reception differences between the ranges and my home at Mount Evelyn.

Equipment on this trip was very basic: Tecsun PL680 receiver and a 46 m (150 feet) long wire antenna in an inverted vee shape (thanks to a big old gum tree).

A three-shot panorama of a small part of the Flinders Ranges

(Click on all these images to view them in an enlarged format).

👍 3220 D.P.R.KOREA. KCBS - Hamhung. A weak signal with Korean opera selections and occasional anncts at 1130. Great to hear it in a relatively low noise environment at the Flinders Ranges, July 24.

3260 PNG. NBC - Madang. A big signal at 0930 with a live broadcast of tribal songs. July 23.

👍 3320 SOUTH AFRICA. R. Sonder Grense - Meyerton. Folk ballad style selections at 2205, a good signal and the only station I could hear on the band at this time!. I don’t usually hear this one as good as this from home, and certainly not at this time. July 22. My recording below:

👍👍 3325 INDONESIA. Voice Of Indonesia - Palangkaraya. July 22 - Mandarin service at 1130 with songs, anncts and information segments. I returned to the frequency at 1220 for the Japanese service. No sign of NBC Bougainville on this evening, fair signal. But on July 24, NBC was back there at equal strength with RRI, and noted at 2045 - NBC with Tok Pisin community anncts and VoIndonesia with the French service. And then….on July 25, an absolutely beautiful signal from NBC with regional news in English at 1012, a canned ID and frequency annct in English at 1017, then Tok Pisin anncts at 1018 before pop songs. BUT, nothing from Palangkaraya at this time. You just never know what you are going to expect to hear when tuning this frequency!

3380 KOREA REP. Vo the People - Kyonggi-do Koyang. Korean commentaries at 1140, good signal and no jamming, July 22.

👍 3900 CHINA. PBS Hulun Buir - Hailar. At 10 kW into a non-directional antenna, this is one of the few low-powered Chinese regional outlets on shortwave. Often hard to hear at Mount Evelyn, it was coming into the Flinders Ranges with a good signal at 1115 with a mix of programming in Mandarin. Hailar is located in far northeastern Inner Mongolia, near the border with Russia. July 24. My recording below:

3985 KOREA REP. Echo of Hope - Hwaseong. Korean pop music selections at 0945, good signal and very little jamming, and even stronger than 4885, July 23.

👍👍 4055 GUATEMALA. R. Verdad - Chiquimula. First noted at 1027 with the station interval signal of 6 tones on a recorder (or similar wind instrument). National anthem at 1030, then detailed station ID in English as Radio Truth and Spanish as Radio Verdad. A very weak signal and I could have possibly missed it had it not been for the repetitious IS leading up to the start of the transmission. IS serve a useful purpose that many stations seem to have forgotten! First time heard this DX season. July 23.

👍 4885 BRAZIL. R. Clube do Pará, Belém, PA. First noted at 0705 with Brazilian pops and only occasional anncts. Fair signal in amongst atmospheric static. July 22.

4930 BOTSWANA. VoA - Moepeng Hill. English with music selections at 2050, very good signal, July 24.

4949.8 ANGOLA. R. Nacional de Angola - Mulenvos. The Canal A service at 2140 with a long talk in Portuguese. Into Afro pops from 2153. Time pips at 2200 and anncts. Fair signal, July 22.

4960 SAO TOMÉ. VoA - Pinheira. Hausa news at 2053, a weak signal on July 24.

5010 USA. R. Prague - Okeechobee FL. Music at 1144, then a transmission break for two min and back again at 1149 with Spanish anncts and more pop music. Another sudden break at 1154 and never returned. Fair signal when on the air, July 22.

👍 5025 PERU. R. Quillabamba - Quillabamba. Mumbling away with mainly talk underneath the co-channel Rebelde at 1150, poor signal, July 22.

👍 5050 CHINA. Beibu Bay R. - Nanning. Vietnamese commentary at 1114 then a soppy pop song at 1118. This is incorrectly listed at this time by EiBi as being in Cantonese. Not so! Good signal and /can also be heard // 9820 kHz where it has co-channel QRM from CNR 2. July 22.

👍👍 5910.2 COLOMBIA. R. Alcaraván - Puerto Lleras. Nice ID at 0749 between musical selections. Good signal, July 22. My recording below:

5915 ZAMBIA. ZBC - Lusaka. Local native language broadcast at 2105, good signal, July 24. My recording below:

👍👍 5939.8 BRAZIL. R. Voz Missionária - Camboriú SC. I believe this was the one heard at 2215 with vigorous religious preaching in Portuguese. Fair to weak signal until a rapid fadeout at 2223. I last heard this occasionally at this time back in 2015 where the fade out was noted at 2215. In mid-winter at Mount Evelyn, this comes via an all-darkness path across the Antarctic. But here in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, it is still being heard towards the end of July via an almost all-greyline track. Interesting! July 22. However, nothing heard on July 23.

5955 UAE. BBC - Dhabayya. English WS news at 2230 to SEAs, a better signal here in the Flinders Ranges than at Mount Evelyn. July 22.

👍 6020 VIETNAM. VoV - Buon Me Thuot. The Home Service 4 network at 2240. Unusual Asian folk style singing and instruments, with anncts in an unidentified local langauge. Weak signal and gone by 2300. This station signs on at 2200 and is not often heard at Mount Evelyn. July 22.

6110 ETHIOPIA. R. Fana - Addis Ababa. Brief s/off anncts in Amharic at 2058, followed by the national anthem, fair signal, July 24. My recording below:

7260 VATICAN. VoA - SM Galeria. Somali to EAf at 0330, good signal, July 24.

👍 7270 INDIA. AIR - Chennai. English to Sri Lanka at 1040. This is listed as 100kW into a non-directional antenna. Rarely hear it at Mount Evelyn, so surprised to catch it here in the Ranges, but only a weak signal, July 25.

7285 VIETNAM. VoV - Son Tay. Thai service at 1231 with news, weak signal and some splash from CNR 1 0n 7290, July 22.

7355 USA. KNLS - Anchor Point AK. English to EAs at 1235 with soft preaching, fair signal, July 22.

7410 PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. Service to SEAs in Khmer at 1240, good signal, July 22.

7505 USA. WRNO - New Orleans LA. English and Mandarin ID at 1058, into a new Mandarin program at 1100, weak signal, July 25.

7550 INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. English to SEAs at 2325 right through to 0045 s/off (1015 CAST) with a big signal - not usually this strong at Mount Evelyn and not always heard right through to the s/off, July 22.

👍 9265 USA. WINB - Red Lion PA. Not regularly heard back at Mount Evelyn, but a fair signal and no RFI in the Flinders Ranges at 2220 with Spanish programming on July 23.

9405 PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. IS at 2223, seven minutes before the s/on in Mandarin at 2230! Big signal on July 23.

9490 MADAGASCAR. MWV “Light of Life” - Mahajanga. Very good signal with the Mandarin service at 2235, giving website details. July 23.

9595 JAPAN. R. Nikkei - Chiba. Japanese radio play at 2240, fair signal, July 23.

9840 VIETNAM. VoV - Son Tay. Mandarin service with news at 2245, weak signal, July 23.

13645 INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. Caught the last few minutes of the Thai service at 1156 until s/off 1159, immediately followed by a test tone. Fair signal with deep fades, July 24.

73 and good DX to you all,

Rob Wagner VK3BVW