SIZZLINGLY HOT DX TIPS! - January 5, 2019


SIZZLINGLY HOT DX TIPS!
January 5, 2019


 Yesterday (January 4) saw the temperature on my home weather station rise to 42˚C (107.6˚F). Although it is summer in Australia right now, it is rare for the mercury to rise that high at Mount Evelyn. Not surprisingly, my ancient Soviet-made air conditioner in the radio shack had trouble cooling the room to any appreciable degree.

 Nevertheless, it was essential to stay out of the heat. So, some relaxed radio listening was the order of the day. Here are a few observations from the last 36 hours:
👍👍 4990   CHINA. PBS Hunan - Xiangtan. Listed at 10 kW output, this is one of a handful of lower-powered Chinese regionals. An early fade-in at 1125 with talks, commentaries, and interviews in Mandarin. A mostly weak signal but actually pretty good for an evening with the usual summer atmospherics.

 6010   VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. French to CAf at 2040, fair signal,

 7270   AUSTRIA. AWR - Moosbrunn. English preaching and music beamed to WAf at 2108, fair signal.

 👍 7300   ENGLAND. R. Akhbar Mufriha - Woofferton. S/on at 2100 to NAf. ID anncts in Tachelhit and regional music, and then into HCJB preaching later the address was given at 2112. Into Arabic ID and programming at 2115. Fair signal.

 👂 7340   INDIA. AIR - Mumbai. Strong signal at 1515 with long laid-back Indian grooves and anncts in the presumed scheduled Baluchi language. The audio appeared to be distorted at times in both speech and music, so definitely some transmitter issues here.

 👍 7780   USA. R. Argentina al Exterior - Okeechobee FL. The RAE German service at 2125 with its unique Argentinian-flavoured programming. This is a weekdays only service. Fair signal. [See station schedule below]

 👍 9790   SAUDI ARABIA. R. Saudi Int’l (BSKSA) - Riyadh. This station appears to have resurrected this frequency for the Arabic general service at 1550 with talks. Arabic songs and talk at 1603 after the station ID. Co-channel QRM from CNR 1 until that station stopped at 1600 after their time pips. General a good signal from Riyadh once China left the air.

 👍 11610   USA. KNLS - Anchor Point AK. S/on 1100 in Mandarin to EAs, NF (ex 7355). Fair signal.

 👍 15140   OMAN & CUBA. R. Sultanate of Oman - Thumrayt. Noted in English (not the scheduled Arabic) at 1540 with pops and anncts, mentions of Oman and coming events. Mixed at an equally fair level with R. Habana via Quivican in Spanish also with lively Latin riffs.

RADIO ARGENTINA AL EXTERIOR

Some time ago (around May 2017), this station halted shortwave transmissions from the home soil transmitter site at General Pacheco. The broadcaster indicated that repairs to the transmitters were being undertaken. However, as yet, the service has not returned to shortwave from that site. The station continues to buy broadcasting time through WRMI at Okeechobee, Florida using their 100kW transmitters. I wonder if it will ever broadcast from Argentinian soil again in the future!

 On October 5 2016, RAE rebranded itself as Argentina al Mundo (Argentina to the World). I have used several sources to draw together the current schedule for RAE, which may be of interest to some MEDXR blog readers:

 0200-0230 in English on 5950 to Caribbean and 9395 to ENAm (Tues-Sun)
0800-0900 in Japanese on 5950 to WNAm (Tues-Sun)
0800-0900 in German on 6005 to Eu (Mon-Fri) - via Kall, Germany (1kW)
0900-1000 in Mandarin on 5950 to WNAm (Tues-Sun)
1200-1300 in Portuguese on 9955 to LAm (Mon-Fri)
2100-2200 in German on 7780 to Eu (Mon-Fri)
2200-2300 in Italian on 7780 to Eu (Mon-Fri)
2330-2400 in French on 7780 to Eu (Mon-Fri)

But the really BIG question is.......
Why have I got a very old Soviet-made air conditioner in the radio shack? Here in Australia, we rarely saw ANYTHING imported from the USSR. Well, it was there when we bought the house six years ago. The local Mount Evelyn policeman (my daughter calls him the local sheriff!) owned the house before me.....so I have a feeling there may be a story in there somewhere! The back of the unit that sticks out from the external wall is all rusted out. I expect that one day the supports will give way and the thing will fall to the ground, leaving a gaping hole in my shack wall.

😁


 73 and have a great weekend everyone!

 Rob Wagner VK3BVW


 Subscribe!!








Comments

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. If your comment isn’t visible right away, it has been received and will be published shortly.

Popular posts from this blog

RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW # 21 - The Kenwood R-5000

Image
RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #21 (You can click on all photos in this article for a close-up view) KENWOOD R-5000 Performance and Innovation by ROB WAGNER VK3BVW This extended blog post first appeared as a feature article in the February 2024 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. Further details on this excellent publication are available at www.thespectrummonitor.com I have always wanted to own a Kenwood R-5000 receiver. Perhaps I was dazzled by the mystique that appeared to surround this rig. Somehow, it had always been on top of my bucket list of pre-loved rigs that I wanted sitting on the desk of the radio shack.  Finally, one showed up at a local Sunday morning Hamfest, and I happened to have just enough dollars in my pocket to make a purchase. It appeared to have lived a hard life. The case looked knocked around and was pretty dirty inside and out. So, while I would have liked to have owned a unit in better condition, the price was right, and I decided to take it on as a l...
Read more

REVIEW: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ LOOP ANTENNA

Image
PRODUCT REVIEW: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ LOOP ANTENNA by Michael Stevenson (Guest Contributor) This is a review and my opinion of the Wellbrook ALA1530S+ P–1 Active receiving Antenna. For further information, details and specifications then please visit: www.wellbrook.uk.com Background I have been a keen shortwave listener since 1970 and have had many receivers and antenna types during this time. Currently I have two wire antennas, a PAR Electronics EF-SWL 15 meter with impedance matching transformer, made in the US; and a home made 17 meter wire with balun. I also have a dedicated multi-stake ground or earthing system to compliment my receiver and antennas. I live in suburbia Port Macquarie, New South Wales on the east coast of Australia. Even though all our electricity wiring is under ground in our housing estate, I live in an environment where there are all types of man-made noises coming from modern electronic and electrical equipment used by my neighbours The wire a...
Read more

RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #20 - The SONY ICF-5900W

Image
RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #20 SONY ICF-5900W by CRAIG SEAGER VK2HBT This time around, I thought we might direct our attention to one of the many portable receivers of yesteryear, and it is perhaps appropriate that we choose a manufacturer that continued to produce quality equipment featuring shortwave coverage until long after. I’m sure our Japanese friends will concur with the submission that Japan is a land of short-lived, but enthusiastically embraced fads.  Whether it be karaoke, yo-yos with brains, electronics pets or Pokémon, each craze sweeps the country in such a way that captures the attention of the rest of the world and is usually associated with some pretty smart home-grown technology.   In the mid to late 1970s, shortwave listening (or “BCL”) was the flavour of the month, with teenagers (and some older folk!) compiling large QSL collections and forming SWL and DX clubs all over the country.  Nowadays, you’d be fairly hard-pressed to find any external broadcas...
Read more